Battle of Yiwu: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox Military Conflict |
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|conflict= The Battle of Yiwu (伊吾) |
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|partof=[[Chinese Civil War]] |
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|place=[[Xinjiang]], [[China]] |
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|date=[[March 29]], [[1950]] - [[May 7]], [[1950]] |
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|result=[[Communist]] victory |
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|combatant1=<center>[[Image:Republic of China Army Flag.svg|60px|Flag of the National Revolutionary Army]]<br> [[National Revolutionary Army]] |
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|combatant2=<center>[[Image:Peoples Liberation Army Flag of the Peoples Republic of China.svg|60px|PLA]]<br> [[People's Liberation Army]] |
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|commander1=<center>[[Image:Flag of the Republic of China.svg|60px|Flag of the ROC]]<br>Yaolebosi 尧乐博斯<BR>Abdullah 艾拜都拉 |
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|commander2=<center>[[Image:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg|60px|Flag of the PRC]] <br>Hu Qingshan 胡青山 |
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|strength1= 700+ |
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|strength2= 600+ |
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|casualties1= 700+ |
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|casualties2= ? |
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|}} |
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The battle of Yiwu (伊吾) is also called the '''Battle to Defend Yiwu''' (伊吾保卫战) by the [[Communist Party of China]], and resulted in the [[communist]] victory. After the local [[Kuomintang|nationalist]] commanders in [[Xinjiang]] defected to the [[communist]] side, there were many [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s loyal to [[Chiang Kai-shek]] refused to join the [[communist]]s, and one detachment of these loyal [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s decided to take the town of Yiwu (伊吾) to turn it into a [[Kuomintang|nationalist]] [[guerrilla]] base in order to fight on until the eventual return of Chiang. |
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==The Battle== |
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The 2nd Company of the 46th [[Regiment]] of the [[communist]] 16th [[Division (military)|Division]] with less than 100 men were stationed at the town of Yiwu (伊吾), 200 [[km]] northeast of [[Hami Prefecture|Hami]], and over 700 [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s under the nationalsit [[Hami Prefecture|Hami]] special envoy commissioner Yaolebosi (尧乐博斯) and the former nationalsit county head Abdullah (艾拜都拉) of [[Hami Prefecture|Hami]] planned to take the town in late [[March]], [[1950]]. The [[Kuomintang|nationalist]] attack on the town was launched according to schedule on [[March 29]], [[1950]]. |
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The [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s were confident in that the town could be taken within a little as three days and on the first day of the battle, the [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s had succeeded in taking the northern and southern peaks next to the town, thus seriously threatened the enemy defenders with in the town. Realizing the serious situation, the enemy defenders sent out four squads to retake both peaks, and thus solidified the defense of the town, threatening the [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s instead. The [[Kuomintang|nationalist]] attempts to take the two peaks back was met with disastrous failure after several dozens assaults were beaten back with heavy losses. Realizing the tactic must be changed in order to avoid further casualties and the two hilltops must be taken, the [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s adjusted their tactic of small scale assaults to launch a coordinated large scale attacks on [[April 5]], [[1950]]. After the five hour long battle that lasted from 3:00 AM to 8:00 AM, the [[Kuomintang|nationalist]] again suffered defeat with great loss due to favorable terrain the enemy defenders enjoyed. It was the last large scale attack the [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s were able to muster and the defeat cost the [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s so much that nothing on the similar scale could be repeated again in the battle. |
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Due to the lack of communication and the closest [[communist]] force was more than 200 [[km]] away, it was not until early [[April]] of [[1950]] did the closest enemy force learned that their comrades in the town of Yiwu (伊吾) was besieged, and sent out a token reinforcement, which was successfully stopped by the [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s more than a dozen [[kilometer]]s away from the town. Due to the lack of intelligence, the commander of the enemy reinforcement mistakenly believed that the town had fell into the [[Kuomintang|nationalist]] hands when the entire garrison was wiped out, and withdrew to Mi City (Mi Cheng, 沁城) on [[April 14]], [[1950]]. However, the enemy defending Yiwu (伊吾) was far from being wiped out, but instead, successfully beaten back seven [[Kuomintang|nationalist]] assaults, badly mauling the attacking [[Kuomintang|nationalist]] in the process by taking advantage of the favorable terrain. |
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In the beginning of [[May]], [[1950]], the [[communist]] 16th [[Division (military)|Division]] learned that the 2nd Company of the 46th Regiment still had the town firmly in its hands, and thus immediately sent out two battalions for reinforcement. By [[May 7]], [[1950]], the enemy reinforcement had taken the Black Hilltop (Hei Shan Tou, 黑山头), and surrounded the [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s who besieged the town. Sandwiched between the enemy defending the town and the enemy reinforcement surrounding them, the fates of the trapped [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s were sealed. Realizing it was allover, the [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s collapsed and attempted to flee despite the fact there was nowhere to escape. The enemy defenders easily linked up with their reinforcement and completely annihilated the [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s on the same day, and not a single [[Kuomintang|nationalist]] were able to escape. For its successful defense of the town, [[Peng Dehuai]], the [[communist]] defense minister awarded the 2nd Company of the 46th [[Regiment]] of the [[communist]] 16th [[Division (military)|Division]] the title Steel and Iron 2nd Company, while the deputy [[battalion]] commander, Hu Qingshan (胡青山) was awarded the title Combat Hero. |
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==Outcome== |
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The [[Kuomintang|nationalist]] defeat was primarily due to the [[Chiang Kai-shek]]’s uncompromising doctrine of holding onto the land conquered at all costs, which was faithfully followed by the local [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s, despite that it was simply impractical and impossible to hold onto the town. As it was becoming obviously clear that attacking [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s were impossible to take the town, the [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s refused to retreat, thus exhausting all of their available supplies. The lack of supplies, in turn, forced [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s to attempt to capture the town in order to capture more supplies, and thus [[Kuomintang|nationalist]]s were locked in a dilemma they had created themselves, resulting in eventual total annihilation. |
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For the [[communist]]s, there was a special recipient of third class honor: it was not a soldier, but a military horse named Jujube Colored Horse (Zaoliu Ma, 枣骝马). During the battle, the supply line (especially for water) to the [[communist]]s defending the northern peak 211 [[metre]]s above the sea level was sealed off by the [[Kuomintang|nationalist]] fire. A [[communist]] soldier named Wu Xiaoniu (吴小牛) of the 2nd Company was sent to take the horse to supply the isolated but crucial [[communist]] position. Once fired by the enemy, the soldier immediately lie down and take cover behind rocks, and amazingly, the horse did the same by following its master, the soldier. Due the severe shortage of manpower, Wu Xiaoniu (吴小牛) only performed the supply mission once and then was tasked with other duties, and the horse was instructed to perform the mission itself by Wu Xiaoniu (吴小牛) first loading it up with supply, and then pointing toward the northern peak. Amazingly, during the forty-day battle, the horse completed every mission itself while dodging enemy fire. Due to its special contribution, not only it was awarded the third-class honor after the battle, it remained in the service until its natural death in [[November]] [[1967]], instead of being discharged when aged like all other military horses. The Jujube Colored Horse (Zaoliu Ma, 枣骝马) had a military burial at the foothill of the northern peak its helped to defend, and in [[August]], [[1985]], a marble monument was added to its tomb. |
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==See also== |
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*[[List of Chinese battles#Modern China|List of battles of the Chinese Civil War]] |
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*[[National Revolutionary Army]] |
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*[[History of the People's Liberation Army]] |
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*[[Chinese Civil War]] |
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[[Category:Battles of the Chinese Civil War|Yiwu]] |
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Revision as of 13:36, 24 June 2007
I was there