Nie Fengwu said: "You see that the topography of Taiwan is north-south, the entire central mountain range runs through the north and south, the west coastline is relatively flat, and the east coast has a coast mountain range, so I decided to temporarily abandon the eastern coastline to attack the fortified operations, and hit Liliang from south to north, focusing on the west coastline and the central mountainous area to advance northward." In this way, we can speed up the speed, as long as we take the port of Kaohsiung, the key points of the eastern coastline will be at our fingertips. ”

Fan Tao's eyes lit up and said, "Commander Nie, your move is fantastic. Originally, I was worried about the war criminals who attacked the sea, but now the opportunity has come. Liu Mingchuan was a little confused and said: "Originally, the enemy fleet wanted you to dispatch, isn't this just in the right hands?" Nie Fengwu said: "This is called killing two birds with one stone, so that our enemy has a false impression, the headquarters judges, the enemy is impossible to increase troops on the island of Taiwan on a large scale, and the Japanese army stubbornly defends on the island of Taiwan, that is, to cooperate with the enemy fleet to lure our fleet to attack." ”

Fan Tao agreed: "Commander Nie's analysis is correct, the enemy has such a plan, we will come to him to plan for him, since it is to invite you into the urn, we will sing in the tower, the opportunity must not be lost, I will immediately submit the sea attack battle to the headquarters for approval." Nie Fengwu said: "The purpose of ordering the New 3rd Army to launch a feint attack on Taitung is to attract enemy warships to stay in the waters of Taitung and create an opportunity for our fleet to annihilate the enemy." ”

At the beginning of May, in the Alishan area in the central part of the country, the 1st Division of the New 1st Army advanced here. Shao Bo, commander of the New 1st Brigade, received an order from the division commander to make sure that the New 1st Brigade must take the Cuipingshan Heights to create conditions for the whole army to attack the Japanese defense line in Alishan. After launching an attack for two days in a row, the Japanese position on Cuiping Mountain was still immovable, and the Japanese army deployed a brigade on Cuiping Mountain. The defense was tenacious. Cuiping Mountain is high and densely forested, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the frontal attack is blocked, which makes the brigade commander Shao Bo very depressed.

It's dusk. Shao Bo studied operations at the brigade command post, and the chief of staff said: "The 1st Regiment launched 8 consecutive attacks on Heights 155, but they all returned in vain. The 2nd Regiment's attack on Heights 161 was also blocked, and the terrain of Cuiping Mountain was narrow, making it unsuitable for large corps operations. Shao Bo said: "The vanguard of the 2nd Army has taken so-and-so and approached Taichung, and the Japanese headquarters has retreated north. If we can't lay down Cuiping Mountain as scheduled. It will drag the whole army back. What are your best plans for the stubborn defense of the Japanese army? ”

There is no good way for everyone, if the attack is too big. At this time, an officer walked in with a man dressed in minority clothing and reported: "Report to the brigade commander." The brother, who claimed to be from the Gaoshan tribe, offered to help us, saying that there was a trail to the back of Cuiping Mountain. Shao Bo was overjoyed when he heard this. That night, Shao Bo sent a battalion under the guidance of this Gaoshan man. Take advantage of the night. The purpose was to disrupt the defensive system of the Japanese army and cooperate with the main attacking force to take Cuiping Mountain in one fell swoop.

The local Gaoshan compatriots were familiar with the terrain, and with their help, the battle situation quickly became clear. Two days later, the troops that returned to the rear of Cuiping Mountain cooperated with the main attacking force and took the Japanese position at Cuiping Mountain in one fell swoop. A brigade of Japanese troops was mostly annihilated, and the remnants of the Japanese retreated north. The 1st Brigade captured the important place of Cuiping Mountain, creating conditions for the whole army to take the Japanese defense line in Alishan. In mid-May, the New 2nd Army captured Taichung. In addition to the eastern coastline, half of the island of Taiwan is in the bag.

this day. The atmosphere in the Kaohsiung Port Fleet Headquarters was extremely tense. There was a huge sand table in the center of the headquarters, and Fan Tao said to the sand table: "The headquarters has approved our sea attack Jihua. For nearly a month, we rats did not come out of the hole, and the enemy thought that we were cowardly. According to reconnaissance, the enemy fleet had three battleships in the waters of Taitung in order to lure us into attack. The enemy's calculations were very good, and their main fleet must have been ambushed on the high seas to outflank them. ”

Fan Tao continued: "The so-called naval sabotage war is an asymmetrical battle, Dai Hui!" "Here! Commander's instructions! "Dai Hui stands tall." It's up to you to lead the battleship USS Renaissance (the captured USS Washington was named the USS Renaissance!) 5 gunboats and 10 torpedo boats went to the Philippine waterway to attack the enemy's transport fleet." "Humble Order!" Dai Hui had a happy smile on his face. "Zheng Haitao, Wen Biao!" "Here!" "You two led the battleships Fuzhou and Awakening, 10 gunboats, and 20 torpedo boats to the Philippines and launched an attack on the port of Manila." "Yes! Humble Order! ”

Early that morning, Dai Hui led a fleet to appear in the waters southeast of Taiwan. In the command cabin, the deputy captain muttered: "Captain, it's been two days, and there is no trace of the enemy ship, not even a ghost." Dai Hui said: "As the saying goes: you can't eat hot tofu if you are in a hurry, there is uncertainty in the sea raid battle itself, if we are lucky, we will do a good job, and there is no loss if we are unlucky!" "Report! Lookout posts spot enemy ships! ”

The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and sure enough, an enemy fleet appeared in the southern seas. "It was reported that 12 enemy transport ships and 4 escort gunboats were found." Dai Hui heard Daxi and ordered: "The fleet will meet in battle formation. "The enemy ships did not expect that the fleet that appeared in front of them was the Chinese Navy, especially the huge fuselage of the Xinsheng, which made the enemy ships miscalculate. By the time the enemy ships found out that something was wrong, it was already too late, and the heavy shelling quickly covered the enemy transport fleet.

In front of the transport ship were two gunboats to open the way, and the main guns in front of the Xinsheng hit a gunboat, and the enemy gunboats were so frightened that they immediately fled. The enemy gunboat, which had been shot, fell behind and became entangled in two attack torpedo boats. The sea was in chaos. The enemy transport ships are basically old-fashioned sail warships, with slow maneuverability, flexibility, and speed, and with the flight of the enemy gunboats, the enemy transport fleet is in a catastrophe and becomes a lamb to the slaughter. Soon wounded enemy gunboats were sent to the bottom by torpedo boats, and the naval battle became a pursuit.

Due to the entanglement of the attacking torpedo boats, the enemy transports could not escape, four transports were sunk, and the other 8 surrendered. Dai Hui's first expedition was fruitful and full of returns. After the battle, Dai Hui ordered to return immediately. There were no radio transmissions during this period, so it was impossible for the enemy to know the situation at the first time, and this is the characteristic of sabotage warfare at sea, where you don't think of it, asymmetrical operations.

A few days later, Zheng Haitao and Wen Biao led a fleet to launch an attack on the port of Manila. Since the main warships of the 3rd Pacific Fleet stationed in the Philippines were transferred to Taiwan, there were only a dozen gunboats and dozens of torpedo boats in the Manila military port. The enemy ships were frightened when they saw the huge Chinese fleet coming, and the enemy gunboats and torpedo boats hid in the military harbor, using the cover of coastal batteries and did not dare to attack at all.

Zheng Haitao and Wen Biao flaunted their might in Manila Bay for two days, sinking dozens of merchant ships, and then sailed away. When the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Martin, heard that the transport fleet had been attacked and the port of Manila had been attacked, he was furious and immediately ordered the 3rd Fleet to turn back to the Philippines. In addition, the transport fleet was attacked, and the commander Martin was forced to send a fleet to escort it, and Jihua, who was trying to annihilate the Chinese fleet, had to be aborted.

In this regard, the headquarters of the coalition forces decided to continue to deploy more warships to the Pacific theater and increase the number of combat liliang. Especially in the face of the rising rise of the Chinese Navy, it is not to be taken lightly. Han Ruowei ordered the commander of the fleet, Martin, to temporarily cancel the operation of luring and annihilating the Chinese fleet to prevent a sneak attack by the Chinese warships. The Chinese warship actually attacked the port of Manila, which made the absolute hegemony of Western countries lose face.

The key is that Chinese warships attacked many civilian merchant ships of Westerners, which in turn caused strong shocks in Western countries. If the Chinese are defeated again and again on the ocean, then in the future, the Western countries can only obediently bow to China. The birth of the Chinese Navy has made the upper echelons of Western countries feel that the end is coming. In this regard, Britain, the United States and other powers once again set off a wave of frenzied warships. Britain and the United States and other countries quickly introduced a new Jihua that manufactures large warships, in a word, it is necessary to strangle the young Chinese Navy in the cradle at any cost.

The Battle of Taiwan exposed the true liliang of the Chinese Navy, which in turn caused panic in Western countries. Once the Chinese Navy has the capability to fight in the ocean, it will definitely be the end of Shijie. In this regard, the Western countries decided after consultations to increase the number of liliang of the Pacific Fleet on a large scale. In response to the loss of the battleships Breaking Wave and Washington, on the basis of 11 battleships, 10 more large battleships were added. To increase the survivability of battleships, gunboats of about 2 thousand tons were built that served as frigates for large battleships.

According to the new mode of operation, the coalition headquarters will eliminate all sail warships. Even transport ships must become ironclad warships to enhance their own protection capabilities. In response to the attack of the Chinese warship, the headquarters of the coalition forces ordered the Pacific Fleet to temporarily escort and defend various ports and terminals to prevent the attack of the Chinese fleet. The 3rd Fleet turned back to the Philippines, Martin led the flagship Great Britain and the 1st Pacific Fleet back to Tokyo.

The original Keelung Detachment of the 2nd Fleet continued to stay in Keelung Harbor, and Martin demanded that the Keelung Detachment not attack and fight without authorization, and that if the war situation in Taiwan was eroded, it could retreat to Tokyo, Japan. Without the support of enemy warships, the defense of Taiwan's eastern coast was difficult to parry. In mid-May, the 3rd Army captured Taitung, annihilated a Japanese division, and then advanced north along the coastline. Although the Japanese army still resisted stubbornly, the situation of the battle was clear. (To be continued......)

PS: Surprise to attack unprepared.