Battle of Dongshan Island

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Battle of Dongshan Island
Part of the Chinese Civil War
Date May 11, 1950 Location Dongshan Island, Fujian, China Result Communist victory
Belligerents
National Revolutionary Army	People's Liberation Army
Commanders
?	?
Strength
5,000	14,000
Casualties and losses
2,044	Minor

The Battle of Eastern Mountain (Dongshan, 东山) Island (东山岛战斗) was a battle fought between the nationalists and the communists during the Chinese Civil War for the control of the Eastern Mountain (Dongshan, 东山) Island at the southern tip of Fujian, China, and resulted in communists taking the island from the nationalists.

Order of battle:

• Defenders: nationalist order of battle:
  • The 17th Army
• Attackers: communist order of battle:
  • The 91st Division of the 31st Army
  • The 94th Division of the 32nd Army

After Zhangzhou-Xiamen Campaign, more than 5000 troops of the nationalist 17th Army retreated to Eastern Mountain (Dongshan, 东山) Island of Fujian, and the nationalists used the island as a steppingstone to launch raids against the mainland. The 91st Division of the 31st Army and the 94th Division of the 32nd Army of the People's Liberation Army launched the assault to take the island on May 11, 1950 with the help of three artillery battalions. After 10 hours of fighting, the nationalist fled the island after suffering 2,044 fatalities on land, and the island was firmly in the communist hands.

The communist victory was a result of lessons learned from previous battles with the nationalists for the control of coastal islands, such as the Battle of Kuningtou, the Battle of Denbu Island, and the Battle of Nan'ao Island, which illustrated the necessity of massing absolute numerically and technical superior force in order to achieve success for the attackers. As a result, the attackers outnumbered the defenders nearly three to one, and the victory was secured.

The nationalist defenders, on the other hand, also learned from their previous experience in that a steppingstone at the enemy’s doorsteps might serve as a good political and propaganda showpiece, it was really impractical to hold on forever at all cost. Instead, when the situation permitted, it was wise to withdraw in order to save the strength for the future fights. Therefore, although the nationalists lost the island, the defeat cannot be viewed as a total failure because more than half of the troops were saved, being able to successfully escape the enemy onslaught and fight for another day. Furthermore, the abandonment of Eastern Mountain (Dongshan, 东山) Island meant that other offshore islands could be better protected because the nationalist force was not as overstretched as before, and the nationalists could concentrate their force to strengthen their positions for better defense or even counterattack in greater scale, as shown three years later in the Dongshan Island Campaign, when they attacked this very same island previously abandoned by themselves.

[edit] See also

• List of Battles of the Chinese Civil War
• National Revolutionary Army
• History of the People's Liberation Army
• Chinese Civil War

[edit] References

• Zhu, Zongzhen and Wang, Chaoguang, Liberation War History, 1st Edition, Social Scientific Literary Publishing House in Beijing, 2000, ISBN 7801492072 (set)
• Zhang, Ping, History of the Liberation War, 1st Edition, Chinese Youth Publishing House in Beijing, 1987, ISBN 750060081X (pbk.)
• Jie, Lifu, Records of the Libration War: The Decisive Battle of Two Kinds of Fates, 1st Edition, Hebei People's Publishing House in Shijiazhuang, 1990, ISBN 7202007339 (set)
• Literary and Historical Research Committee of the Anhui Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Liberation War, 1st Edition, Anhui People's Publishing House in Hefei, 1987, ISBN 7212000078
• Li, Zuomin, Heroic Division and Iron Horse: Records of the Liberation War, 1st Edition, Chinese Communist Party History Publishing House in Beijing, 2004, ISBN 7801990293
• Wang, Xingsheng, and Zhang, Jingshan, Chinese Liberation War, 1st Edition, People's Liberation Army Literature and Art Publishing House in Beijing, 2001, ISBN 750331351X (set)
• Huang, Youlan, History of the Chinese People's Liberation War, 1st Edition, Archives Publishing House in Beijing, 1992, ISBN 7800193381
• Liu Wusheng, From Yan'an to Beijing: A Collection of Military Records and Research Publications of Important Campaigns in the Liberation War, 1st Edition, Central Literary Publishing House in Beijing, 1993, ISBN 7507300749
• Tang, Yilu and Bi, Jianzhong, History of Chinese People's Liberation Army in Chinese Liberation War, 1st Edition, Military Scientific Publishing House in Beijing, 1993 – 1997, ISBN 7800217191 (Volum 1), 7800219615 (Volum 2), 7800219631 (Volum 3), 7801370937 (Volum 4), and 7801370953 (Volum 5)