Battle
The battle started before the dawn. On October 10, 1948 at 3:00 AM, the nationalists successfully launched a surprise attack with numerical and technical superiority, taking the Fishing Mountain (Da Yu Shan, 打鱼山) Island held by the enemy at low tide. The Fishing Mountain (Da Yu Shan, 打鱼山) Island was a critical position in that whoever controlled the islands would threaten flank of Pagoda Mountain (Ta Shan, 塔山). The grave danger was realized by the commander of the communist 4th Column, Wu Kehua (吴克华), who immediately ordered a counterattack to take back the island, which was successfully accomplished, and the island remained firmly in the communist hands for the entire battle.
Although the nationalist aircraft dropped over 5,000 heavy bombs on the enemy position with the further help of naval shelling, the attack was not well coordinated because the local nationalist commanders on the ground lacked the authority to command nationalist air and naval assets, which were under the direct control of Chiang Kai-shek and his high command. As a result, the enemy was able to escape underground without suffering significant casualties despite most of their fortifications above the ground was destroyed by the nationalist attack from air and sea. Despite nationalist encouragements including half a million dollar incentive rewards for each troop, the repeated nationalist army-sized charges on the enemy positions were beaten back. The enemy used nationalist cadavers to build temporary fortifications above the ground, which proved to be a psychological shock to the attacking nationalists.
On October 15, 1948, the news of the fall of Jinzhou had reached the nationalist reinforcement stopped at Pagoda Mountain (Ta Shan, 塔山), realizing there was not any meaning for further attack and fearful of an all out counterattack by the enemy which by now had most of their troops freed after taking Jinzhou, the nationalist reinforcement at Pagoda Mountain (Ta Shan, 塔山) made a hasty retreat at noon, leaving a total of 6,549 cadavers behind, and the battle concluded with communist victory. The price communists paid for their victory included 7827 killed, 15922 wounded, 3 captured and 22 missing.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Tashan
Famous quotes containing the word battle:
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