Chapter 32: The Battle of the Paracel Islands (Part 2)

  January 19, 1974 at 5:47, "Chen Pingzhong" led "Chen Qingyu" from the southern waters of Jinyin Island and Lingyang Reef towards Xuanhua and Guangjin Islands; then "Nu Tao" and "Li Changjie" approached Chinese warships from northwest of Guangjin Island. General Zhang Yuanpei, commander of the South China Sea Fleet, immediately ordered: minesweepers 396 and 389 to proceed to the waters northwest of Guangjin Island to intercept enemy ships "Li Changjie" and "Nu Tao"; boats 271 and 274 to proceed to the waters southeast of Guangjin Island to monitor "Chen Qingyu" and "Chen Pingzhong".

  In the early morning, dozens of South Vietnamese soldiers landed on Guangjin Island and opened fire on Chinese military and civilians. The Chinese military and civilians fought back, forcing them to retreat to their ships. After the landing failed, the South Vietnamese Navy, with its "strong ship and big gun", turned to attack Chinese warships.

  At 10:23, the "Chen Pingzhong" speedboat rushed towards China's No. 274 submarine chaser. He Wenguang received orders from the South Vietnamese command and first opened fire on the No. 274 vessel's bridge, with the Chinese vessel returning fire. The sea battle officially began. This sea battle was basically a 2-on-2 confrontation. China's No. 271 and No. 274 vessels attacked the "Chen Qingyou" and "Chen Pingzhong", while the No. 396 and No. 389 vessels attacked the "Li Changjie" and "Nu Tao".

  In the face of this situation, the South Vietnamese naval vessels attempted to pull away from the Chinese fleet in order to utilize their long-range artillery. However, the Chinese naval vessels stuck close to the enemy ships and pursued them relentlessly at full speed. The small-caliber rapid-fire guns on board the Chinese warships fired a salvo. During the battle, the 271st boat took advantage of the blind spot of the enemy's "Chen Qingyou" ship's firepower and launched a concentrated attack, causing the enemy ship to lose communication, its flag fell into the sea, forcing it to retreat while trailing smoke; The 396th and 389th warships approached the "Li Changjie" for close-range concentrated fire, with multiple fires breaking out on the deck of the "Li Changjie".

  At this time, the "Raging Wave" took advantage of the situation to launch a sneak attack on my 389 ship. In an emergency, two anti-submarine boats from the 271 formation fired a burst at the right side of the "Raging Wave", and the enemy ship caught fire. At 11:49, the Chinese Navy's 74th Anti-Submarine Boat Squadron (with 281 and 282 numbers, arrived on the 18th to wait for orders near Yongxing Island in the Xisha Islands) rushed to the scene quickly and entered the battlefield.

  The South Vietnamese fleet thought it was the main force, at 12:00 they hastily turned around and retreated. The "Raging Torrent" itself had a slow speed, plus being damaged, could not keep up with its escaping companions. At 12:12, the 74th Squadron received an attack order, and Boat 281 sped forward, firing fiercely at the "Raging Torrent", sinking it at 14:52.

  In this battle, four Chinese ships were damaged, 18 people died and 67 wounded; South Vietnam suffered even greater losses, with the "Rach Gia" sunk, 53 killed, including Captain Nguyen Van Da (sound translation), 16 wounded and 48 captured. However, the main force of the South Vietnamese Navy was still intact, and on the second day, January 20, at 0935 hours, Chinese troops launched a landing operation to retake the three islands. The South Vietnamese army on the island, which had lost naval support, had actually become a turtle in a jar.

  After about 4 hours of fighting, the five-star red flag was once again planted on the islands of Coral, Ganquan and Jinyin. After the battle, South Vietnam took a revenge posture, sending six warships from Da Nang to sail towards the Xisha Islands, and dispatching two destroyers to reinforce Da Nang, ordering all naval, land and air forces in the region to join the battle.

  In response, the Central Military Commission and the Navy Command approved Zhang Yupeng's request to "urgently dispatch three missile destroyers from the East Sea Fleet to support the South Sea Fleet". In the past, due to tensions in the Taiwan Strait, Chinese naval vessels traveling from the East China Sea to the South China Sea had to take a detour through the Pacific Ocean and pass through the Bashi Channel.

  This time, with the active cooperation of Taiwan, the Donghai Fleet arrived smoothly at Keelung Military Port. Here, the People's Liberation Army Navy will join forces with the Nationalist Party Navy to form a new fleet, which will set out together for the South China Sea. With the approval of Chairman Mao Zedong, the commander of this temporary fleet is Major General Lin Feng from Taiwan, and Vice Commander Zhang Yuanpei, Commander of the South China Sea Fleet.

  The fleet consists of a missile cruiser "Yue Fei", two missile destroyers "Taipei" and "Taichung", and several small-tonnage missile frigates. In terms of tonnage, the Chinese Navy is not as good as the South Vietnamese Navy, but the Vietnamese Navy is far inferior to the advanced Chinese Navy.

  January 21, the Chinese Navy approached the waters near Coral Island, now guarded by China's militia on the island. The South Vietnamese Navy has withdrawn from this sea area and is gathering in the part of the South China Sea close to Vietnam. Historically, this naval battle did not occur for many reasons. First, the South Vietnamese side had to face the strong military pressure from North Vietnam alone, and they did not want to conflict with China for the time being. If it were not for the US backing him up, he would not have dared to put his entire navy here to confront China; secondly, although China had the intention, its own strength was too weak to fight, and in the end, both sides ended with the withdrawal of the South Vietnamese Navy.

  But this time Lin Feng is going to severely punish the Vietnamese and make them understand that some things cannot be easily trifled with.

  At 8:23, the Chinese Navy's joint fleet set off from Coral Island to the gathering place of the Vietnamese Navy. To ensure victory in the naval battle, Lin Feng also called up communication satellites to monitor the South Vietnamese Navy. In order to prevent US satellites from detecting our military movements, all warships adopted advanced camouflage and stealth technology.

  Half an hour later, the Chinese joint fleet was hiding in ambush 500 nautical miles away from the South Vietnamese Navy. To prevent the attack of the Vietnamese land-based air force, Lin Feng and Zhang Yuanpei decided to send a frigate to lure the enemy, and the main fleet would ambush in the designated sea area to annihilate the South Vietnamese Navy. At 9:00, the 051 frigate, which was tasked with luring the enemy, approached the South Vietnamese Navy. When the South Vietnamese Navy found that China had only one frigate, they were suddenly excited and eager to sink it. Therefore, the six main fleets of the South Vietnamese Navy chased after the "fleeing" 051 frigate in order to compete for the honor of sinking the Chinese fleet.

  At 9:23, on the " Yue Fei" cruiser, Zhang Yuanpei was discussing enemy intelligence with Lin Feng. General Zhang was in the advanced combat command room, his emotions surging. His previous worries had vanished without a trace. Suddenly, the radio in the command room emitted a "beep" sound, and Lin Feng took over the battle report from the operations staff officer, saying: "The enemy has taken the bait, ordering all ships to quickly head to the attack area. General Zhang, let's get ready too, the good show is about to begin."

  At 9:40, the five warships of Taipei, Taichung, Yue Fei, 052 and 053 arrived at the combat sea area, letting our own escort ship pass by to lure the enemy. When the main force of the South Vietnamese Navy entered the striking range of the Chinese fleet, all missile launchers were in a state of readiness. Lin Feng looked at the radar display showing the position of the enemy warships and revealed a cold smile. "First wave saturation attack one minute preparation, last ten seconds countdown, 10, 9, 8...2, 1 Missile launch!" With Lin Feng's order, more than sixty ship-to-ship missiles and more than ten cruise missiles were launched. The South Vietnamese commander only saw dozens of bright lights flying towards his fleet, but before he could react, the entire fleet was under intense bombardment. Everywhere were warships being blown up, everywhere were soldiers falling into the water, everywhere were the sounds of ammunition explosions. The South Vietnamese commander knew that the South Vietnamese Navy was completely finished.

  The South Vietnamese naval commander was right, five minutes later the sea battle completely ended, the Chinese navy annihilated the main force of the South Vietnamese navy with zero casualties, capturing or killing more than a thousand South Vietnamese sailors. General Zhang Yuanpei was completely shocked by this advanced way of fighting from the Taiwanese Navy, without even encountering the enemy face-to-face, the battle was over, it seems that the mainland navy is too far behind.

  General Zhang looked at Lin Feng, who was busy, and said: "After seeing your equipment and combat level, I realized that we are far behind. Do these warships have American advanced technology, General Lin?"

  Looking at Zhang Yuanpei's hopeful face, Lin Feng confidently said: "We are at least ten years ahead of them." Then Lin Feng continued to say: "General Zhang, let's set off for Haikou according to the original plan. This time we will thoroughly dispel the ambition of Southeast Asian countries to covet our country's territorial waters." Thinking about the next action, General Zhang Yuanpei, who had experienced gunfire and rain, couldn't help but get excited. This is the first time in the history of the Republic that they are taking the initiative to attack.

  At 11:00, the Chinese joint fleet gathered at a location 100 nautical miles from Haiphong. The South Vietnamese side had already received news of the naval defeat and also learned that a large number of Chinese warships were heading towards the coastal cities of Vietnam. The Vietnamese government was panicked, and they hastily sought help from the US government on one hand, while actively seeking reconciliation with China on the other. However, the message from Beijing made them feel like they had fallen into an ice cellar. Beijing refused to have any contact with the South Vietnamese side, citing that both sides were in a state of war. In the end, having no other choice, the South Vietnamese government dispatched only a few dozen aircraft to Haiphong and laid mines densely around Haiphong. The South Vietnamese army urgently sent one division to defend Haiphong and prevent Chinese troops from landing and occupying Haiphong.

  At 11:14, the Chinese joint fleet entered the combat radius of South Vietnam's land-based aircraft. The South Vietnamese air force, except for defending against North Vietnamese warplanes, deployed all other aircraft to the Da Nang front line. All actions of the South Vietnamese army were not hidden from Lin Feng's reconnaissance satellites and radar surveillance. As soon as the South Vietnamese planes took off, Lin Feng and his team grasped their route of action. The air defense anti-missile systems of the two destroyers were searching for targets, waiting for the command to attack. "Begin the attack!" With Lin Feng's order, the Chinese Divine Shield system started a full-power search and automatically attacked the enemy planes after inputting data by the operating personnel. In less than ten minutes, all South Vietnamese aircraft were shot down. Then, the Yanwang-style cruise missile flew straight to Da Nang with a deadly whistle.

  At 11:20, Cam Ranh was reduced to rubble. The port city was turned into a hell in less than ten minutes by the missile attack. After the incident, according to information revealed by Vietnam, more than 100,000 civilians were killed or injured in this attack. Lin Feng didn't have the mood to consider how much damage Vietnam had suffered. This battle was a rare actual combat test for the Chinese Navy. The Vietnamese Navy was powerless against the well-equipped Chinese Navy. The advanced warships and weapons of the Taiwanese Navy withstood the actual combat test. The Chinese Navy completed its previously set strategic goal, annihilating the entire South Vietnamese Navy and recovering the entire Paracel Islands.