Battle of Dongshan Island

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23°41′58″N 117°25′13″E / 23.699453°N 117.420397°E / 23.699453; 117.420397

Battle of Dongshan Island
Part of the Cross-Strait conflict
Date May 11, 1950 Location Dongshan Island, Fujian, China Result Communist victory
Belligerents
Republic of China	People's Republic of China
Commanders and leaders
Hu Lien	You Meiyao
Strength
5,000	14,000
Casualties and losses
2,044	Minor

The Battle of Dongshan Island (

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 soldiers of the Nationalist 17th Army retreated to Eastern Mountain (Dongshan, 东山) Island off Fujian. Since the Nationalists were using the island as a stepping-stone 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 an assault to take the island on 11 May 1950 with the help of three artillery battalions. After 10 hours of fighting, the Nationalists retreated from the island, having suffered some 2,044 fatalities.

The

While a strategic loss for the Nationalists, the abandonment of the Eastern Mountain (Dongshan, 东山/東山) Island did teach valuable lessons. Primarily it resulted in less overstretch and better handling of defence on islands closer to Taiwan proper. The Nationalists also learned from the mistakes used in their defence and battle, as shown three years later during the Dongshan Island Campaign, when they attacked and seized islands they'd previously abandoned.

See also

• Outline of the Chinese Civil War
• Outline of the military history of the People's Republic of China
• National Revolutionary Army
• History of the People's Liberation Army
• Chinese Civil War

References

• Zhu, Zongzhen and Wang, Chaoguang, Liberation War History, 1st Edition, Social Scientific Literary Publishing House in
  ISBN 7-80149-207-2
  (set)
• Zhang, Ping, History of the Liberation War, 1st Edition, Chinese Youth Publishing House in
  ISBN 7-5006-0081-X
  (pbk.)
• Jie, Lifu, Records of the Liberation War: The Decisive Battle of Two Kinds of Fates, 1st Edition,
  ISBN 7-202-00733-9
  (set)
• Literary and Historical Research Committee of the
  ISBN 7-212-00007-8
• Li, Zuomin, Heroic Division and Iron Horse: Records of the Liberation War, 1st Edition,
  ISBN 7-80199-029-3
• Wang, Xingsheng, and Zhang, Jingshan, Chinese Liberation War, 1st Edition,
  ISBN 7-5033-1351-X
  (set)
• Huang, Youlan, History of the Chinese People's Liberation War, 1st Edition, Archives Publishing House in
  ISBN 7-80019-338-1
• Liu Wusheng, From
  ISBN 7-5073-0074-9
• Tang, Yilu and Bi, Jianzhong, History of Chinese
  ISBN 7-80021-719-1
  (Volum 1), 7800219615 (Volum 2), 7800219631 (Volum 3), 7801370937 (Volum 4), and 7801370953 (Volum 5)