Battle of Nan'ao Island

Overview

The Battle of Nan'ao island took place between the nationalists (Kuomintang) and the communists. Nan'ao Island of Swatow remained in the nationalist hands after Guangdong fell into communist hands. On February 23, 1950, the 121st division of the 41st Army of the People's Liberation Army attacked the island. Faced with such overwhelming enemy, the defenders stood no chance and after eight hours of fighting, the communists succeeded in wiping out the entire nationalist garrison and thus taking the island. 27 nationalist troops were killed, and 1348 were captured, including the nationalist local commander, the deputy commander-in-chief of the 1st Cantonese Column Wu Chaojun (吴超骏/吳超駿), and the deputy commander of the nationalist 58th division Guo Mengxiong (郭梦熊/郭夢熊). A total of 1304 firearms were also captured.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Nan'ao Island marked the elimination of the last Nationalist holdout in the Swatow area following the communist seizure of Guangdong. The island's garrison of 1,375 men was effectively destroyed in a single engagement: 27 were killed and 1,348 were captured, including two senior Nationalist officers, the deputy commander-in-chief of the 1st Cantonese Column and the deputy commander of the 58th division. The capture of 1,304 firearms added materially to PLA resources. The fall of Nan'ao completed the communist consolidation of the Guangdong coast, closing off an enclave that had persisted after the province's fall and removing a potential Nationalist foothold in the region.

Tactics

Forces & casualties