Battle of Dadan & Erdan: Ma Commemorates 70th Anniversary on the Old Battlefield

 Battle of Dadan & Erdan: Ma Commemorates 70^th Anniversary on the Old Battlefield

Source: UDN

July 27, 2020

Yesterday marks the 70^th anniversary of the battle of Dadan and Erdan, islands located to the southwest of Lesser Kinmen. Former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), along with the family members of two heroes who saw action in the battle, i.e., Maj. Gen. Shi Heng-feng (史恆豐) and Lai Sheng-ming (賴生明), the commander’s orderly, returned to the battlefield to commemorate the crucial battle that safeguarded the security of Taiwan.  

Ma points out that on July 26, 1950, the year following its defeat in the “Battle of Guningtou” of 1949, the PLA unexpectedly bombarded Dadan and Erdan Islands, adding that Battalion Commander Shi, with fewer than 300 men of the ROC Armed Forces under his command, engaged in a fierce fight day and night against over 700 invading PLA troops. Ma went on to state that after the 17-hour-long battle, the Armed Forces won a brilliant victory by killing over 300 enemy men in uniform and capturing over 200.  

The Armed Forces’ victory in the battle not only made the PLA scrap the idea of invading and occupying Kinmen henceforth, but also paved the way for the Armed Forces’ triumph in the August 23rd artillery duel, Ma indicated.  

Ma called on the public to cherish the hard-earned peace, preventing both sides of the Taiwan Strait from becoming mired in another crisis. In addition, Ma expressed the hope that there would never be another war between the two sides of the Strait.

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