Draft:1958 air battles around Fujian Province
1958 air battles around Fujian Province (1958年台海空战.)[1][2] were a series of aerial warfare engagements between the People's Liberation Army and the Republic of China Armed Forces in southeastern China—covering the entire Fujian Province, southern Zhejiang, and the northeastern coastal areas of Guangdong—occurring around the time of the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. The period defined by the People’s Republic of China for these air battles is from July 29 to October 10, 1958[1][3]，The Republic of China considers the August 14 Pingtan Air Battle as the first engagement[4].Both sides claimed victory in the air battles.[4]
Military strength
[edit]In the 1950s, the People's Liberation Army Air Force was far inferior in strength to the Republic of China Air Force. The Republic of China Air Force maintained air superiority over southeastern China and even East China, freely conducting reconnaissance, airstrikes, and various other military missions over the mainland.[4]In the Fujian region, starting from 1955, efforts began to repair and upgrade airports to facilitate the plan for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force to be stationed in Fujian. On December 18, 1957, Mao Zedong instructed, “Please consider the issue of our Air Force entering Fujian in 1958,” in response to Chiang Kai-shek’s plan for a counterattack the mainland. In January 1958, Air Force commanders including Liu Yalou formulated detailed plans for the Air Force and Ground Forces to enter Fujian. At midnight on July 25, the plan to station the Air Force in Fujian was put into action. On the 27th, the first batch of Air Force units transferred and were deployed in Fujian. On the 29th, Republic of China Air Force fighter jets entered the eastern coastal area of Guangdong, and both sides immediately engaged in air battles over the airspace of 南澳岛.[1]
On August 23, 1958, Fred Murray Dean, commander of the Thirteenth Expeditionary Air Force, requested the relocation of the 16th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron stationed in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, to Taiwan. On August 24 and 25, respectively, the Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered the USS Essex (CV-9) and USS Midway (CV-41) carrier strike groups to proceed to the Taiwan Strait. On the 25th, Lawrence S. Kuter, commander of the Pacific Air Forces, urgently requested the deployment of the Composite Air Strike Force (CASF) from the Nineteenth Air Force, which included a squadron of North American F-100 Super Sabre fighters, Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, and others.On August 29, North American F-86 Sabre jets from the 16th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron arrived at Tainan Airport in Taiwan. On the same day, the CASF departed from California en route to the Philippines. Between August 31 and September 7, 56 aircraft from the U.S. Marine Corps 11th Aviation Battalion arrived in Taiwan. The USS Midway (CV-41) arrived in the Taiwan Strait on September 4, followed by the USS Essex (CV-9) on September 16.[5]
Previous air battles
[edit]八一四平潭空战, 八二五漳州空战, 九八澄海空战, 九一八金门空战, 九二四空战, and .双十马祖空战[6][7]
Follow-up and Evaluation
[edit]The People’s Republic of China side
[edit]The People’s Republic of China highly praised this air battle. Decades later, Lieutenant General Liu Yudi stated in an interview, “In the 1958 Taiwan Strait air battle, our military’s command tactics could be said to have struck fear across the strait.”[1]
Liu Junyu, a scholar at the Nanjing Political College, believes that through multiple air battles from July 29 to August 22, a standoff was established with the Republic of China Air Force patrolling the airspace over the Taiwan Strait during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, while the PLA maintained vigilance over the mainland. The PLA gained air superiority over the coastal areas of Fujian, providing the prerequisite conditions and laying a solid foundation for launching the Kinmen 823 Artillery Battle. Liu Junyu also stated that after November, the PLA “completely secured air superiority over the southeastern coastal regions.”[3]
The Republic of China side
[edit]In an article published by the Chinese Military History Documentation Society, Republic of China Air Force commander Tang Fei mentioned that although the ROC Air Force achieved overwhelming victory, considering that the Communist Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 fighter jets had surpassed the ROC’s North American F-86 Sabre fighters in performance, the Air Force reported to then Minister of National Defense (Taiwan) 俞大维 that it was necessary to re-equip with Lockheed F-104 Starfighter jets to maintain air superiority over the Taiwan Strait. Minister Yu then negotiated with the United States Department of Defense and obtained approval to transfer the aircraft to the ROC Air Force. The entire aircraft acquisition plan was named the “Alishan Project.”[2]
Retired ROCAF Colonel 陳偉寬 stated that due to the Air Force’s courage and ability to maintain air superiority, supplemented by the secret weapon technology of the AIM-9B Sidewinder missile system, it was truly like giving wings to a tiger. Not only was the force transformed into a powerful modern warfare unit, but it also became the key to victory in the Taiwan Strait battles.[4]From the Republic of China perspective, the author stated, “In the ten major air battles between the two air forces, the losses of the Nationalist and Communist forces were…”[4]
References
[edit]
- ^ a b c d ZHONG, zhaoyun. "1958年国共空军抢夺台湾海峡制空权大写真 (5)" [The 1958 Detailed Account of the Nationalist and Communist Air Forces Competing for Air Supremacy over the Taiwan Strait (Part 5)]. 中国共产党新闻网. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14.
- ^ a b TANG, fei. "《「乾坤一鏡」－空軍照相偵察機部隊史(一)》" ["A Mirror of Heaven and Earth" – History of the Air Force Photographic Reconnaissance Units (Part 1)]. 空軍學術雙月刊: 121–150.
- ^ a b LIU, junyu. "1958台湾海峡上空的绞杀战". Archived from the original on 2019-10-30.
- ^ a b c d e Chen, Wei-Kuan (2018). "《論「八二三臺海戰役」中之--空軍作戰》" [A Study of Air Force Operations during the "August 23 Taiwan Strait Campaign"]. 空軍軍官雙月刊: 2–16. ISSN 1683-092X.
- ^ Jacob Van Staaveren (November 1962). "1958年台海危机中的空中作战" [Air Operations in the Taiwan Crisis of 1958] (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-07-23.
- ^ "國軍光榮戰史】金門南十浬、圍頭空戰 擊落敵機戰果豐谭毅" [Glorious Military History of the Republic of China Armed Forces: Air Battles at Kinmen’s Southern Ten Li and Weitou—Significant Enemy Aircraft Shot Down]. www.ydn.com.tw. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
- ^ Hui）, 許劍虹（Samuel (2023-09-24). "九二四空戰：創下人類第一個空對空飛彈擊墜紀錄，揭開響尾蛇飛彈與台灣的緣分" [September 24 Air Battle: Setting the World’s First Record for an Air-to-Air Missile Kill, Marking the Beginning of Taiwan’s Connection with the Sidewinder Missile]. TNL The News Lens 關鍵評論網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2025-06-19.