The View from the Top

Affected by the previous amphibious landing on Dachen incurring of heavy casualties, Mao ZeDong rejected the PLA’s both proposals of air raid and amphibious assault on Kinmen.  His barrage-only insistence was based on the considerations: First, poor air ground coordination was still the soft belly of PLA; a barrage battle was political and diplomatic oriented, for identifying US’s specific intent without being beleaguered.  Second, taking fortress-like Kinmen held by six divisions would be suicidal, leaving it as a geopolitical link was more beneficial to Chinese interest.  Third, Taiwan’s retaliation thrusting into coastal area was fully expected, even a dangerous confrontation with the US if PLAAF bombed Kinmen.  Fourth, an expensive amphibious attack’s outcome had never been in question while Taiwan had the air superiority.  His strategy worked, it has the effect of making the obvious seem complex.       

Accessed the real US attitude, China managed to reopen the 1954 Geneva Conference in Warsaw, in order to delapidate the US support to Taiwan.  After the last major barrage on Jan. 7, 1959, 30 240mm howitzer M-1 were transferred to Kinmen and Matsu to guard against potential Reds aggression, ever since these big guns were in active service but not surprisingly, never came into action.  And the ferocious M-55 self-propelled howitzers were replaced by 8” towed gun M-115s.  Went into hiatus, both sides merely exchanged desultory fire on odd days of the month, shunned military targets and villages.  Listened to the supersized loudspeakers of broadcasting station in Kinmen, the Red’s artillery walked shells up the rise paddy if they mistakenly hit the road.  

The massive US aid was given significant credit for air and counter-barrage victories, it also accelerated the ROC Army into missile age.  For re-enforcing the medium and high-altitude long-range air defense over northern Taiwan, in 1958 a SAM-A-25 heavy surface-to-air missile battalion was urgent deployed at Lingkou from Anchorage, Alaska.  As one of the five Nike Hercules export recipients, the complete battalion equipment was transferred to the ROCA on Aug. 15, 1959.  In 1971 the second Nike battalion with a conventional warhead was received from Texas, which stationed at Gangshan in southern Taiwan.  All twelve Nike companies were deactivated in 1997, without ever being fired in anger.