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Battle of Kuningtou Wikipedia

The Battle of Kuningtou (古寧頭之役) was a battle fought over Quemoy in the Taiwan Strait during the Chinese Civil War in 1949. The failure of the Communist Party of China|Communists to take the island left it in the hands of the Kuomintang and crushed their chances of taking Taiwan to defeat the Nationalists completely in the war.

Following establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, the government of the Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek began withdrawing its forces from mainland China to Taiwan. However, ROC garrisons remained stationed on the islands of Quemoy and Matsu Islands|Matsu, located off the coast in Fujian Province.

At around 2AM on October 25, 1949, roughly 9,000 to 10,000 People's Liberation Army troops landed on Quemoy near Kuningtou (古寧頭) and Lungtou (龍頭). Upon landing the PLA forces continued to advance inland leaving one group to guard the beachhead. However, due to a failure to account for the low tide, the PLA landing vessels became beached and were unable to return to the mainland to transport the second wave of reinforcements.

The advancing PLA forces were met by the ROC 18th Army and ROC U.S.-made M5A1 tank|tanks. Meanwhile ROC naval and air support destroyed the beached PLA landing craft, trapping the PLA troops on Quemoy. After fierce fighting, the remaining PLA troops were surrounded at the beachhead at Kuningtou and surrendered to ROC forces in the afternoon of October 28. Of the 9,000 PLA troops that landed on Quemoy, roughly half were killed during the fighting while the remainder were taken prisoner.

The defeat of the PLA at Kuningtou halted the PRC advance towards Taiwan. With the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 and the signing of the US-ROC Mutual Defense Treaty, the PRC's plans for the "liberation" of Taiwan were effectively put on hold.

Due to its defeat, the Battle of Kuningtou was not widely publicized in the PRC until recently with the publication of articles within the PLA examining reasons for its failure. The battle is seen as being highly significant in Taiwan as it laid the foundation for the current status quo between mainland China and Taiwan. ROC Vice-President Annette Lu, who belongs to the pan-green camp, is quoted as having said that "At the Battle of Kuningtou, the two sides of the strait became two countries" (古寧頭大戰，兩岸變兩國).

See also: List of battles of Quemoy

Category:1949
Category:Battles of China|Kuningtou 1949
Category:History of the Republic of China

Last Modified:   2005-11-04