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mao zedong had directed and commanded many wars in his life. the army he created and commanded defeated powerful enemies at home and abroad with backward weapons and equipment, and became an invincible and indestructible people's armed forces. in 1974, mao zedong was 81 years old. although he was in poor health at this time and joked that he was about to "meet marx", his mind was still clear and wise, and he was tenaciously concerned about the interests of the country and the nation and the integrity of territorial sovereignty. this year, under mao zedong's decision and guidance, our army launched a small-scale but significant maritime self-defense counterattack in the xisha sea. this battle was not only the first time that the chinese naval ship unit fought abroad, but also the last battle decided by mao zedong in his life.

one

february 21, 1972 was the coldest day in beijing, but zhongnanhai was full of warmth. on this day, zhongnanhai was decorated inside and outside, and mao zedong's study was filled with flowers. although he worked until late last night, he got up early today. the barber not only trimmed his hair, but also shaved his face carefully; the nurse xiao zhang took out the gray "mao-style" zhongshan suit and carefully helped him change... after everything was ready, mao zedong sat on the sofa, holding up a book, quietly waiting for the arrival of guests.

nixon, the president of a great country that had been hostile to china for more than 20 years, crossed the ocean to visit mao zedong's study as promised. mao zedong originally planned to talk to him for only 15 minutes, but the conversation lasted for more than an hour...

mao zedong was excited about this meeting! after years of hard work, the door to sino-us relations has finally been opened, and the relationship between the two countries will enter a new era in history! this will greatly contain the soviet union, whose army is pressing in from the north of china, and create a relatively stable international environment for china.

fortunately, despite the severe situation of war between china and the soviet union on many occasions, everything has become a thing of the past. "dig deep holes, store up grain" and "prepare for war and famine" cost china a lot of manpower, money and material resources, but it stopped a war and china did not lose an inch of land, which is very rare!

as sino-us relations improved, mao zedong could devote more energy to other matters. however, as the supreme leader of a republic, what mao zedong considered most at this time was still the major issues concerning national security and territorial sovereignty.

at that time, the central military commission mentioned several times in the reports submitted: in the south china sea, some neighboring countries are eyeing my country's islands, and some countries have secretly sent personnel and ships to the islands and reefs to conduct surveys, explorations and forge territorial marks...

mao zedong smoked slowly. he had a very rich knowledge of history and geography, and knew everything about the south china sea without any reference. but for a more vivid and intuitive view, he asked his secretary to find a map of the south china sea. then he stood up from the sofa, paced around the study, and muttered to himself: "we need to come up with some ideas..."

after a while, the secretary came in and said, "chairman, here is the map you requested!"

"oh, put it on the table!" mao zedong gestured.

the secretary put down the map and left. after a long time, mao zedong's thoughts finally calmed down. then, he walked to the table, unfolded the map, and looked at it carefully...

two years have passed since then, and mao zedong has continued to receive reports from the central military commission on the situation in the south china sea.

two

one day in january 1974, beijing was freezing cold. at 10 a.m., mao zedong had not yet gotten up. he had worked all night last night. at this time, a report was carefully placed on his desk.

the report was signed by premier zhou enlai and vice chairman of the central military commission ye jianying. the report pointed out that in recent times, the south vietnamese army's violations of my country's sovereignty in the waters of the yongle islands in the xisha islands have intensified... at the same time, in response to the south vietnamese army's invasion, the report proposed countermeasures that should be taken, namely, to defend the xisha islands through strengthening patrols and other corresponding military measures!

after mao zedong got up, he read the report and fell into deep memories and thoughts...

he was very familiar with the situation in the paracel islands! he was also well aware of the movements of the south vietnamese army in the paracel area in recent years.

there are more than 200 islands, reefs and beaches in the south china sea, which are divided into four major archipelagos: dongsha, xisha, zhongsha and nansha. the xisha islands are located about 330 kilometers southeast of hainan island. they are composed of the xuande and yongle islands and other islands and reefs, with a total area of ​​about 10 square kilometers. among them, the xuande islands are composed of yongxing, zhaoshu and shidao, dongdao, beidao and nandao. yongxing island has the largest area (about 1.85 square kilometers) and is the main island of xisha. the yongle islands are composed of ganquan, shanhu, jinyin, chenhang and jinqing islands. this is not only a must-go place for maritime transportation between china and southeast asian countries, but also an important waterway to africa, europe and oceania. these islands are extremely rich in natural resources. they are not only rich in sea cucumbers, turtles, bird's nests, seaweed and other kinds of fish, but also have extremely rich oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. it is known as the "second persian gulf". it occupies an extremely important position in politics, economy and military.

the xisha islands, like the other three major islands, were first discovered, developed and operated by the chinese. as early as the qin dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, my country's shipbuilding technology had reached a certain level; during the reign of emperor wu of the han dynasty, the xisha and nansha islands were discovered and then developed and operated here. during the song dynasty, my country applied the compass to navigation, enabling ships to cross the ocean, and from then on began to effectively govern the two islands. during the ming dynasty, from 1405 (the third year of yongle) to 1433 (the eighth year of xuande), the great navigator zheng he led tens of thousands of people to "go to the west seven times" and erected flags and stones on the two major islands, naming them one by one. the "yongle" and "xuande" of the xisha islands today were named at that time.

zheng he traveled through the xisha islands several decades before columbus discovered america. as for da gama's discovery of the cape of good hope and magellan's circumnavigation of the earth, that was even later. therefore, "xisha has belonged to china since ancient times". the working people of our country have fished and started businesses there for generations, leaving behind many scenic spots and historical sites. it was only in modern times that western powers repeatedly trampled on chinese civilization from the sea, causing china to once present a state of "having a sea but no defense". before world war ii, xisha was occupied by japanese and french imperialism, but it was returned to china after the war. the chinese people have never given up their sovereignty over xisha.

after the founding of the people's republic of china, the chinese government has repeatedly issued solemn statements, repeatedly stating that china has indisputable sovereignty over the south china sea islands; xisha and the other three archipelagos are an integral part of china's territory. this fact and position is not only respected and accepted by countries around the world, but also recognized by countries and international organizations around the world, including the democratic republic of vietnam. in 1974, the ninth-grade geography textbook for ordinary schools published by the vietnam education press clearly stated: "... from the nansha and xisha islands to hainan island, taiwan island, penghu islands, zhoushan islands... these islands are in the shape of a bow, forming a "great wall" to defend the chinese mainland." the map in the book clearly indicates that the xisha, nansha and other islands are all chinese territory.

however, the south vietnamese authorities ignored these historical facts. soon after the outbreak of the "vietnam war", that is, in the late 1950s, the south vietnamese regime began to make territorial claims against china with the support and connivance of the united states, and successively sent troops to invade some islands in my country's xisha islands and erected so-called "sovereignty monuments" on the islands. however, under the pressure of the chinese government's repeated solemn statements, severe warnings and fair public opinion in the world, the south vietnamese army had to withdraw from the three islands of ganquan, chenhang and jinyin that it illegally occupied (only one platoon of troops was stranded on coral island). at the same time, from march 17, 1959, according to the instructions of chairman mao zedong, our naval ship forces went to the xisha waters and began to carry out patrol missions on the xisha islands.

in 1973, the "vietnam war" was coming to an end, and the united states was eager to get out of the "quagmire" of the vietnam war. however, in order to delay the united states and maintain its shaky rule, the south vietnamese authorities continued to intensify their repeated creation of incidents in my south china sea. according to statistics, by the end of august of this year, the south vietnamese army had brazenly occupied 6 islands in my nansha and xisha islands. in the winter of the same year, south vietnamese warships also savagely rammed and destroyed chinese fishing boats in my xisha waters, arrested chinese fishermen, and tortured them to force them to admit that the xisha islands were south vietnamese territory. according to mao zedong's instructions, the chinese government decided to adopt the policy of first courtesy and then force, and then strike back. on january 11, 1974, the ministry of foreign affairs of the people's republic of china was ordered to issue a statement, issuing a solemn warning to south vietnam's aggression and atrocities, and reaffirming china's indisputable sovereignty over the xisha, nansha, zhongsha and dongsha islands...

however, the south vietnamese authorities ignored the solemn statement of the chinese government and intensified their actions. on january 15, they successively dispatched the naval destroyers "tran ching yu", "tran ping chung", "li chang jie" and the escort ship "nu tao" to invade the waters of the yongle islands in the xisha islands again, and continued to frantically provoke the no. 402 and no. 407 fishing boats of the south china sea fisheries company engaged in production operations. they also fired at ganquan island flying the chinese flag, killing and injuring many chinese fishermen and militiamen. on the morning of the 17th, the south vietnamese army brazenly occupied the treasure island in the xisha islands, and further occupied ganquan island in the afternoon, and openly took down the chinese flag! the intention of the south vietnamese authorities is very clear, that is, to force the chinese government to make concessions by using its actual military presence in the xisha islands to realize its illegal territorial demands.

the chinese government's response to this is of extraordinary significance for curbing the hegemonism and expansionism of the south vietnamese authorities and neighboring countries, maintaining peace and security in the asia-pacific region and even the stability of the world situation...

thinking of this, mao zedong picked up a pen and solemnly wrote two words on the report submitted by zhou enlai and ye jianying: "agree!" he said to himself: "it seems that not fighting a war is not enough to safeguard china's maritime rights and interests! enlai and jianying's opinions are very correct!..."

after mao zedong made the decision, zhou enlai and other military leaders immediately began to formulate combat plans, mobilize and deploy troops. a just war to defend the dignity of the motherland and the sacred territorial sovereignty quietly began...

three

faced with the escalating provocative actions of the south vietnamese army, with mao zedong's approval, on january 17, the naval forces of our south china sea fleet, which were carrying out patrol missions in the south china sea, followed the orders of the central military commission and cooperated with the armed militia sent by the hainan military region to enter the jinqing, chenhang and guangjin islands in the xisha islands.

at the same time, premier zhou enlai also began to get busy: first, he personally called the operations department and inquired in detail about the situation in the xisha islands and whether there were conditions for building fortifications; then he personally revised the plan on mobilizing and using troops drafted by the operations department on behalf of the military commission and approved by the guangzhou military region.

at 20:00 on the same day, with the authorization and support of mao zedong, zhou enlai presided over a meeting on the xisha islands in beijing attended by leaders of the party central committee, the state council, the central military commission and relevant parties, and made a full assessment of the possible armed conflict. late at night, zhou enlai presided over a meeting of the political bureau and proposed that the central military commission set up a five-member group headed by ye jianying and participated by wang hongwen, zhang chunqiao, deng xiaoping and chen xilian to discuss and handle major military affairs and emergency combat matters. later, he and wang hongwen jointly reported to mao zedong, and mao zedong again agreed.

at this time, according to the order of the central military commission, our guangzhou military region also quickly made corresponding decisions, namely: on the one hand, "dispatching the 396th and 389th ships of the 10th brigade of the minesweeper fleet of the guangzhou base of the south china sea fleet and the 271st and 274th boats of the 73rd brigade of the yulin base to the waters near the yongle islands in the paracel islands to perform patrol missions, and dispatching 4 armed militia platoons to station in the three islands of jinqing, chenhang and guangjin respectively", and on the other hand, "dispatching the 281st and 282nd boats of the 74th brigade of the anti-submarine boat to the vicinity of yongxing island in the paracel islands to perform support missions; at the same time, ordering the 22nd regiment of the aviation force of the south china sea fleet to send two aircraft to conduct reconnaissance and patrol over the yongle islands, and ordering the military region air force to send another part of its forces for reinforcement." in this way, a just battle to defend the dignity of the motherland and protect the inviolability of the sacred territorial sovereignty of the motherland quietly kicked off...

in order to win this battle, zhou enlai promptly conveyed the politburo meeting decision agreed by mao zedong to all parties concerned. in the early morning of the 19th, zhou enlai told ye jianying to convene a five-member military team (later su zhenhua was added) to study and discuss specific combat plans for the xisha islands and deploy self-defense counterattacks. afterwards, he called the general staff headquarters: "the situation in the xisha islands is developing very quickly. i am afraid that a fight may break out today. therefore, after research by the central committee, it was decided that a leadership group consisting of six people, including ye jianying, deng xiaoping, wang hongwen, zhang chunqiao, chen xilian, and su zhenhua, would be formed to handle the xisha combat issue on behalf of the party central committee, with ye jianying and deng xiaoping taking overall responsibility."

on the morning of that day, ye, deng and other members of the leadership team came to the operations department to directly deploy and command the military operations against the invading south vietnamese warships...

this was the first battle between the chinese navy and a foreign navy since its establishment. it broke out on january 19, 1974!

four

early in the morning of that day, the south vietnamese navy, as it had planned for a long time, sent three destroyers and one escort ship to enter the waters of yongle island in the xisha islands again, despite the chinese government's repeated solemn statements and warnings. among them, the destroyer "li changjie" and the escort ship "nu tao" approached our naval fleet from the sea north of guangjin island; the two destroyers "chen qingyu" and "chen pingzhong" approached our chenhang and guangjin islands from the open sea south of lingyang reef. then they arrogantly threatened the fishermen who were engaged in normal operations in this waters with weapons, and in the same provocative manner as in the previous times, they first fired guns and artillery at our fishing boats, fishermen and militia, causing casualties to us again.

in response to the new provocation of the south vietnamese navy, the south china sea fleet of the chinese navy quickly ordered the two minesweepers no. 396 and no. 389 to advance to the northwest of guangjin island to intercept the "li changjie" and "nu tao" ships; and ordered the four anti-submarine ships no. 271, 274, 281 and 389 to advance to the southeast of guangjin island to monitor the "chen qingyu" and "chen pingzhong" ships. in an instant, the situation in the xisha sea was tense and the battle was about to break out!

at this time, the situation on the entire battlefield was obviously that the enemy was strong and we were weak. in terms of equipment, the south vietnamese navy had three destroyers and one escort ship, the largest of which was 1,770 tons and the smallest of which was 650 tons, with a total tonnage of more than 6,000 tons. at the same time, the ships were equipped with 50 guns with a caliber of less than 127 mm. the four ships in our fleet, the largest of which was only 570 tons, 80 tons less than the smallest of the enemy, and the smallest of which was only 300 tons. the total tonnage added up to only 1,760 tons, which was not as large as the tonnage of the largest ship of the enemy. moreover, our four ships were only equipped with 16 85 mm caliber guns, most of which were double-barreled small-caliber guns. the south vietnamese navy, with its "strong ships and large guns", was in a favorable outer position at the moment, while we were in a passive inner position. therefore, the south vietnamese warships did not take our warships seriously. despite several stern warnings from our side, they still refused to retreat; on the contrary, as if to test the courage of the chinese naval officers and soldiers, the "li changjie" was the first to go full steam ahead, with its guns held high, and rushed straight towards the chinese naval formation...

faced with an opponent with a tonnage four times larger than their own, our south china sea fleet's minesweepers no. 396 and no. 389 showed no fear and bravely stepped forward, while once again issuing a stern warning, ordering them to leave chinese waters immediately.

however, relying on its thick steel plate, the "li changjie" not only did not change its course, but instead used its bow to ram our fleet, causing serious damage to the command tower column, port railing and minesweeper of our ship no. 396. then, it arrogantly crossed between the two ships of our army, sailed to the vicinity of chenhang and guangjin islands, and lowered four rubber boats, escorting more than 40 south vietnamese soldiers to land on the beach in full view of our naval officers and soldiers. among them, the south vietnamese soldiers who landed on guangjin island also first shot at our island guarding militia, creating a new bloody incident that had been planned for a long time. our island guarding militia immediately fought back in self-defense, killing one enemy on the spot and injuring three enemies. the invaders were hit hard and had to retreat, fleeing back to the ship in embarrassment.

after the direct landing was thwarted, the south vietnamese navy changed its tactics and tried to gain an advantage in the naval battle. at 10:22 that day, after occupying a favorable outer line position, four south vietnamese warships suddenly launched a fierce artillery attack on four ships of the chinese naval formation, causing our naval ships to be hit one after another under their intensive artillery fire, causing casualties again.

according to the equipment of both sides and the battlefield situation, our fleet commander decisively ordered to use close combat means to fight the enemy. after receiving the order, our two ship formations began to approach the target at high speed: the 271 and 274 boats of the 73rd anti-submarine brigade attacked the "chen qingyu" and "chen pingzhong" respectively; the 396 and 389 boats attacked the "li changjie" and "nu tao" respectively.

faced with this situation, the south vietnamese navy immediately fled far away and tried to distance themselves from us so as to exert the power of their long-range artillery. however, our naval vessels kept on chasing the south vietnamese warships at full speed, and soon our naval vessels were "side by side" with the south vietnamese warships. then, we saw our small-caliber artillery with extremely fast firing speed roaring together...

after 13 minutes of fierce fighting, the south vietnamese navy was completely disrupted. as the command ship of the south vietnamese navy, the "tran khanh ngau" tried several times to regain the initiative on the battlefield with its artillery advantage, but our boats no. 271 and no. 274 focused on the target and took advantage of the blind spot of the enemy ship's firepower to concentrate on attacking its main guns. they soon hit its reinforcement platform and command and communication facilities, causing the ship's communication to be interrupted, command to fail, the ship's flag to be shot down into the sea, and it was forced to flee in a hurry with billowing smoke.

during the battle, although generally speaking our side could not be said to have "concentrated superior forces to fight a war of annihilation," the strategic and tactical principles that mao zedong had always advocated were flexibly applied and utilized here.

while boats 271 and 274 were concentrating their firepower to attack the enemy command ship "tran ching yu", our ships 396 and 389 were also approaching the "li changjie" to conduct concentrated close-range shooting, and explosions frequently occurred on the enemy ship's deck, and many fires broke out on the deck... at this time, the south vietnamese navy "nu tao" took the opportunity to sneak attack ships 389 and 396. in an emergency, our two minesweepers immediately turned their guns and fired at their vital parts. a series of shells fell on the enemy's deck and ammunition compartment, and the "nu tao" exploded and caught fire in an instant.

in order to prevent the severely damaged "nu tao" from escaping, our ship 389 continued to attack fiercely and drove towards the "nu tao". when the ship 389 was only more than ten meters away from the "nu tao", the soldiers rushed out of the cabin, picked up machine guns and submachine guns and swept the enemy ships' battle positions, and threw a series of grenades at the same time... the south vietnamese warships had never seen such a naval battle formation and were panicked for a while. but in a panic, an enemy shell fell between the two main engines of our ship 389, and the cabin of the ship 389 exploded and caught fire. the officers and soldiers on the ship insisted on fighting while organizing manpower to put out the fire. the fire was finally extinguished, but six of my soldiers died in the flames, and many others were seriously burned.

the 389 ship was seriously injured, the hull began to tilt, and the speed also slowed down significantly. at this time, the south vietnamese "li changjie" that had been watching from the outside thought that the time had come, so it turned its bow and rushed towards our 389 ship. at this time, the shells on the ship had been used up. seeing this, captain xiao dewan immediately ordered to load the only depth charges and wait for the enemy ship to approach before giving a heavy counterattack. just at this time, our 396 ship came to support. seeing that the situation was not good, the "li changjie" was afraid of being attacked by the two ships, so it hurriedly turned around and fled to the open sea.

seeing the "li changjie" fleeing in panic, the "chen qingyu" and "chen pingzhong" also had no intention of fighting, so they fled to the northwest and southeast respectively. however, the "nu tao" was seriously injured and was left far behind. at this time, i saw that my boat no. 281 approached the "nu tao" at full speed from a favorable position, and still approached the enemy ship with a "close-fit" tactic, and then used 10 gun barrels to bombard the "nu tao" at the same time, causing the ship to be hit again and caught fire, and exploded at 14:52 and sank in the waters south of lingyang reef. so far, the first battle of the xisha sea battle was won!

five

ye jianying, who had been in charge of the operations department, was very excited when he heard the news of the victory in the naval battle and the sinking of the "nutao" from the front line. he kept saying, "well done! well done!" deng xiaoping also put out the cigarette in his hand and said calmly, "it's time for us to eat." then, ye jianying quickly instructed the operations department to immediately compile a briefing on the battle situation, which he would personally sign and report to mao zedong. then he walked out of the operations command center with deng xiaoping and others, chatting and laughing, and walked towards the restaurant.

with mao zedong's approval, ye and deng decided to expand the victory and recover the three islands of shanhu, ganquan and jinyin. from then on, the chinese navy strode to the south china sea and took solid steps to defend and recover the sacred south china sea islands of the motherland.

the victory of the "1.19" naval battle was achieved under conditions where the chinese navy was at an absolute disadvantage, relying entirely on the spirit of sacrifice and flexible strategies and tactics of our officers and men. therefore, after the naval battle, the south vietnamese authorities tried their best to cover up their failure, and on the day when the "nu tao" was sunk, they created a series of shocking "news", saying that the chinese navy dispatched a powerful "comar-class destroyer" in the naval battle and used "styx missiles" in the battle, in an attempt to deceive world public opinion and find excuses for their failure.

in order to teach the south vietnamese invaders a lesson, recover the xisha islands occupied by them, and defend china's sovereignty and territorial integrity, after reporting to mao zedong for approval, ye jianying, deng xiaoping and others decided to continue to expand the results of the war, immediately launch a landing operation, and recover the three islands of coral, ganquan, and gold and silver from south vietnam. on the afternoon of the 19th, according to the instructions of the central military commission, the guangzhou military region made the following arrangements for this landing operation, namely: the yulin fortress sent 3 companies of the 10th garrison regiment, 1 amphibious reconnaissance team and some reinforced detachments and militia, totaling more than 500 people, to set off on naval ships and fishing boats of the south china sea fisheries company, first concentrating forces to attack ganquan island, which is located between coral and gold and silver islands and has no strong fortifications; then launch an attack on coral island, which has strong fortifications and more troops; and finally capture gold and silver island. at the same time, organize and deploy maritime forces to attack the naval ships of the south vietnamese army that reinforce the yongle islands at any time.

the landing operation was deployed on the 19th. at 9:35 am on the 20th, our landing troops and militia launched the landing operation to recapture the three islands according to the established plan!

at this time, the south vietnamese army, which had lost the support of the navy, was actually completely unable to resist and had long been trapped. therefore, after only more than 10 minutes of fighting, the enemies on ganquan island surrendered one after another.

afterwards, our landing troops and militiamen began to divide into three groups to encircle coral island. unexpectedly, the enemy on coral island only resisted for a while before our army launched an attack. as soon as our landing troops occupied the beachhead, the enemy guarding the island immediately gave up resistance and fled and hid everywhere. some hid in the bushes and woods, trembling; some took off their pants, then used bayonets to pick up their white shorts and walked out of the bunker, raising their hands in surrender... at this time, the south vietnamese army occupying our treasure island had already fled with the ship because they were afraid of being annihilated. therefore, our army's landing operation was a success. it took only 4 hours (the actual battle did not exceed 20 minutes in total) for our army to successfully recover the three islands of coral, ganquan, and treasure, and planted the five-star red flag on the highest point of the three islands again.

in this heroic naval battle in which the chinese military and civilians swore to defend the xisha islands, the inferiorly equipped chinese navy sank one south vietnamese naval escort ship, damaged three destroyers, and killed or wounded more than 100 officers and soldiers including the captain of the "nu tao" ship. at the same time, in the landing operations to recover ganquan, shanhu, and jinyin islands, the chinese army and militia also captured alive 48 officers and soldiers including major fan wenhong of the south vietnamese army, and made kosh, the liaison officer of the u.s. consulate in da nang, south vietnam, a prisoner of the chinese military and civilians.

of course, the chinese military and civilians also paid a certain price to defend the xisha islands: feng songbai, the political commissar of the chinese navy's no. 274 boat, and 18 other officers and soldiers died heroically, and another 67 participants were injured; at the same time, our no. 389 ship was also severely damaged by the enemy.

six

after the victory in the xisha naval battle, the south vietnamese authorities frequently mobilized aircraft and warships in preparation for revenge in order to save face. in addition to sending two destroyers to da nang for assembly, they also sent six warships from da nang to maneuver in the direction of the xisha islands, and ordered the navy and air force in the area to be on emergency alert, once again sending a war signal to china. in response, the chinese government authorized the chinese ministry of foreign affairs to issue another statement on january 20, warning the south vietnamese authorities to immediately stop all military provocations and aggressive activities against china. at the same time, the central military commission ordered our army, navy, and air force stationed in the south china sea to remain on high alert at all times and be ready to annihilate the invading enemy at any time.

in view of the fact that the three chinese armed forces had fully entered a state of war, the south vietnamese authorities felt that they would only lose more miserably if they continued to fight, so they had to make the decision on january 21 to "avoid the next step of fighting with china", and retreated. but they could not swallow this breath, and tried to submit a motion to the united nations through south vietnamese observer to the united nations nguyen youzhi, asking the security council to discuss and intervene in the issue of the xisha islands. for this reason, huang hua, my country's permanent ambassador to the united nations, lodged a strong protest and reiterated that the xisha islands are china's indisputable sacred territory and belong to "china's internal affairs" and do not need to be discussed by the united nations. in the end, due to the strong opposition of china and other member states, south vietnam's unreasonable demands were rejected.

on february 27, 1974, the chinese ministry of foreign affairs issued a statement, publicly announcing to the world that the chinese government had decided to repatriate all 48 south vietnamese officers and soldiers including pham van hong and one american liaison officer captured in the self-defense counterattack in the paracel islands.

world public opinion was in an uproar. countries highly praised and supported the just war that the chinese people were engaged in to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and strongly condemned the south vietnamese authorities' banditry invading china's xisha islands. even the us government adopted a "non-interference policy" before and after this, and flatly rejected the south vietnamese authorities' request for assistance from the us seventh fleet. the chinese kuomintang authorities also strongly condemned the south vietnamese authorities' illegal acts of invading chinese islands, and soon (may 1974) the central military commission decided to "draw three missile frigates from the east china sea fleet to the south urgently to support the south china sea fleet." when mao zedong asked for "direct passage through the taiwan strait" (in the past 20 years, the chinese fleet had to detour through the ryukyu islands, enter the pacific ocean, and cross the bashi channel from the east china sea to the south china sea), chiang kai-shek personally ordered and made an exception to light up the "please pass" signal to our naval fleet.

the victory of the xisha islands defense war greatly inspired the chinese people and enhanced the cohesion of the whole nation. the xisha defense war, which was decided and commanded by mao zedong, zhou enlai, ye jianying, deng xiaoping and other older generation proletarian revolutionaries, has not only won praise from countries around the world, but also won the support of people of all ethnic groups in china. its victory dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the south vietnamese authorities and effectively defended my country's sovereignty and territorial integrity; the people's liberation army has also accumulated certain maritime combat experience and created a successful example of "small boats fighting large ships".

more importantly, this naval battle made the leaders of the republic pay more attention to the south china sea, and gradually changed the past situation that "the most important ships of the navy were almost all deployed in the bohai fleet, which had never fought, while the vast south china sea was guarded by only some light ships and even armed fishing boats." from then on, not only did the chinese navy establish the confidence to win battles away from the mainland, but also our country's senior decision-makers began to gradually adjust the deployment of the navy and enrich and strengthen the defense force of our south china sea. in this sense, the victory of the xisha naval battle has taken a solid step for the chinese army to go to the south china sea, defend and recover the sacred south china sea islands of the motherland!

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this article was originally published in wenshi jinghua