Battlefield Taiwan

Out of the Darkness

The ground surrounding Colonel Wang shook and vibrated with the force of constant explosions. He looked nervously at the walls of the bunker around him, hoping they would hold.

Two days before the invasion, the tanks in his 542^nd Armored Brigade had been moved to a series of underground tunnels. They were being held in reserve for when the PLA began to land their heavy tanks at the beaches. When the air raid sirens had first blared, they had all thought this was another drill. False alarms were common on Formosa. However, as the first series of explosions rocked the earth, it was clear that the threat was very real.

The next hour brought a nearly constant barrage of explosions, some near, some far, but all violent in the destruction they caused to the villages and cities above them. While Colonel Wang was glad he and his men were underground, he felt sorry for the civilian population that was having to ride out the attack in less-fortified bunkers than his tank unit was currently surrounded by.

After being cooped up in the tunnels for nearly three hours, Colonel Wang received a radio call. “This is Iron Mountain. The communist forces have officially landed at the beaches. They are presently being engaged. Get your brigade ready to respond to your assigned targets and prepare to exit the tunnels.”

“It’s about time they get us into the fight,” Wang thought. “If the PLA is able to land a large enough land force, we won’t be able to push them back into the sea.”

He turned to his executive officer. “Send word to the other battalion commanders that we are to prepare to leave the tunnels. They are to head to their assigned sectors and begin engaging the PLA ground forces as soon as they encounter them. Also, tell our air defense units to be ready to engage enemy aircraft shortly after exiting the tunnels. I have no idea if the air force has been able to maintain air superiority or not, but we’ll need them to cover our advance to the beach. Understood?” he asked.

His XO just nodded, smiling at the thought that they were finally going to get into the action.

Once he had given his XO the green light to move ahead, Wang turned and walked down the line of tanks he would be traveling with, informing each tank commander that they would be leaving shortly. As he stopped to talk to commanders, a group of the tankers gathered around him. He got the sense that they might be a bit nervous.

“This is it, men,” he said, getting their attention. “All our training and long days and nights in the field have led us to this point. When we leave the tunnels, you need to head as quickly as possible to the various beach locations we’ve been assigned. By the time we arrive, the PLA will probably have a substantial amount of armor already landed, so identify your targets quickly and take them out. Keep moving and make yourselves hard targets to hit. We have some mechanized infantry support, but do not rely on them exclusively to keep you safe,” Wang said, hoping his speech would give them the reassurance they needed.

After Wang’s impromptu speech, his men returned to their tanks with a bit more grit and determination than they had a few minutes before. Almost all at once, the tanks and other armored vehicles began starting up their engines in the tunnels. As Colonel Wang made his way back to his command vehicle, he could hear the sound of the tunnel entrance being opened up, which meant the order to move must have come while he was giving his little pep talk. Wang picked up his pace a bit and trotted quickly back to his vehicle, where he was greeted by his tank gunner.

“Sir, the order came down for everyone to prepare to advance,” confirmed his gunner.

The radio in his vehicle suddenly sprang to life. “Striker Six, this is Iron Mountain One. How copy?”

Colonel Wang recognized the voice of his division commander, but it sounded a bit more strained than usual. “This is Striker Six. Good copy, Iron Mountain. What do you have for me?” he asked.

“Striker One, we have lost air superiority. Expect heavy enemy aircraft support when you approach the beach. The international airport has been placed out of commission, and there are currently enemy airborne troops landing across the airport. Your orders are being amended to support the 232^nd Infantry Brigade as they attempt to retake the airport. Once that has been accomplished, resume your attacks against the beach landing zones. How copy?”

Shocked by the response, Colonel Wang was lost in thought for a moment before responding. Once his unit left the tunnels, they would be fully exposed and moving as quickly as they could to engage the enemy at the beach. If they redirected to the airport, then chances were a lot of his forces would be destroyed by the enemy aircraft that would undoubtedly be supporting the airborne troopers.

“Iron Mountain, I copy the request. If we do this, my brigade will most likely not be combat effective to engage the beach zones. Do you want me to focus on the airport over the beach zones?” he asked.

There was a pause in the conversation. Clearly the division commander was thinking about that and trying to decide what was more important.

“Striker Six, this is Iron Mountain. Disregard my last order. Continue with your original plans. Hit the beach zones hard. Prepare to fall back to Zone B if air opposition is too high. How copy?” asked the general.

Colonel Wang keyed his mic. “That’s a good copy, Iron Mountain. Good luck and happy hunting. Out,” he responded before he switched over to the brigade net.

“Listen up,” Wang said to his men. “We are a go to attack the beach zones. I want each battalion to hit their objectives and do as much damage as you can. When your units reach 70 % casualties, I want you to fall back to Zone B and be ready to defend from the entrenched positions the engineers have ready for us. Happy hunting, gentlemen. Let’s go kill us some commies!” he shouted.

In minutes, the tanks revved their engines and surged forward out of the tunnels. As Colonel Wang’s tank emerged from the tunnel, he stood in the turret so that he could gain a better sense of their surroundings. His jaw dropped; the destruction before them was astounding. While the area around the tunnels was not that bad, black columns of smoke filled the skyline in nearly every direction. As he looked further down to the beach zones, all he could see was explosions and large billowing clouds of black smoke.

Wang’s tank followed the others in the lead, heading towards Beach Zone Foxtrot, roughly twelve kilometers away from their current position. As they moved across the roads that were not bombed out, he heard the swooshing sound of several missiles. He craned his neck around to see where the noise had come from and spotted one of his air defense vehicles firing off a third anti-aircraft missile at an unseen target high above them.

“As long as his air defense vehicles can keep the enemy aircraft off my tanks, we still have a fighting chance of crushing the landing operations that are underway,” Colonel Wang thought, trying to remain optimistic.

Within the next fifteen minutes, Wang had already seen two enemy helicopters blown up, as well as three enemy aircraft that had attempted to attack his armored column. Three of his tanks and two infantry fighting vehicles were also blown up, his first casualties of the war.

When his column came within three kilometers of the beach, they encountered their first enemy armor resistance, a group of Type 96 main battle tanks, the ZTZ-96s. While not as formidable as the T-99s, they were still dangerous, and Colonel Wang was exceptionally lucky that his M60s caught the enemy tanks by surprise. They were able to get off the first shots, destroying the four ZTZ-96s before they knew what hit them. In seconds, his lead company of tanks punched past the burning wreckage and moved aggressively towards the beach, where the PLA was clearly in the process of offloading additional armor.

The lead company soon radioed back to Colonel Wang. “Sir, we are engaging dozens of mainland infantry fighting vehicles and light tanks. Request assistance to take them out. How copy?”

“That’s a good copy. Sending reinforcements your way,” Wang replied.

Just as the rest of the battalion was moving forward to assist their fellow tankers, nearly two dozen light and heavy tanks emerged from the beach sector two kilometers to their right and charged his units.

“Tank, stop!” Colonel Wang yelled to his driver. “Gunner, turn forty-five degrees and engage enemy tanks!”

The following three minutes were pure chaos as dozens upon dozens of tanks began to engage each other. While projectiles from both sides filled the air like a swarm of killer bees, the Chinese ships added to the fray and shot off quite a few three-inch rounds to try and produce some indirect fire support for their ground forces.

Wang’s tank was rocked twice by near-misses before his driver began to move the tank to another firing position. As the pandemonium subsided, the Taiwanese battalion broke through the remaining defenders and pushed forward to hit the beach directly.

Colonel Wang’s tank followed another vehicle through a cut in the sand that led them straight across the highway to the beach. Just as Wang’s tank cleared the cut, the vehicle in front of him exploded in spectacular fashion, showering Colonel Wang’s tank with shrapnel. Despite the shock of losing their comrades so violently, they pressed on.

As they cleared the wreckage of the tank, Wang had to do a double take at what he saw. There were dozens of amphibious assault ships in the water and driving up the beach towards his tanks. A hovercraft flew in from the water and drove ten meters up the beach before dropping its forward landing deck to offload two ZTZ-96 main battle tanks.

“Gunner, target the tanks on that hovercraft!” Colonel Wang shouted over the intercom.

In seconds, their turret turned to point right at the enemy tanks less than 500 meters away and fired. The first tank blew up as it began to leave the hovercraft; Wang’s gunner had scored a direct hit. A mere second later, the other tank exploded in a blaze of glory — another one of Colonel Wang’s tanks had had the same idea.

While they engaged the tanks and amphibious assault vehicles arriving at the beach, Wang’s gunner grabbed the coax machine gun and poured fire onto the infantry soldiers who were trying to charge toward them. The other Taiwanese tanks followed suit, splattering the enemy forces with heavy and accurate tank and machine gun fire.

When it looked like they might finally succeed in securing the beach, a sudden series of thunderous explosions rocked their tanks. Colonel Wang peeled himself off the floor of his tank and reoriented himself to reality. Through the daze of what was most likely a mild concussion, he realized that they had just been hit by a series of bombs dropped by enemy aircraft. Several more of his vehicles had been completely obliterated. Wang’s only comfort was the thought that those soldiers had not had to suffer in their demise.

“Everyone, fall back to Zone B!” the colonel yelled into the radio. “I say again, everyone fall back to Zone B immediately! We’ve done all the damage we can do here!” he shouted over the battalion net.

“At least we did our best to crush this invasion force right here,” Wang thought. “I hope my other battalions had as much luck as we just had.”

As the battalion fell back, Wang heard the telltale sounds of chopper blades approaching as a series of PLA ground attack helicopters flew in. They strafed Wang’s tanks with machine gun fire. The colonel held his breath; the armor on their tanks seemed to be holding up well against the incoming bullets. A moment later, Wang heard the unmistakable whistle of antipersonnel rockets and his stomach sank. A couple of the rockets did not connect with their targets as Wang’s brigade all performed evasive maneuvers; however, two more tanks were completely destroyed. The losses were adding up.

One of Wang’s anti-aircraft gun trucks sprang to life, rapidly firing heavy machine gun rounds into the choppers above them. Within seconds, one of the helicopters was turned into a fireball, descending quickly from the sky. Two more enemy helos were damaged as several of Wang’s tank commanders returned fire with the M2 .50 machine guns they had on board. They were able to break free from the aerial attack fairly quickly.

It took nearly forty minutes for his entire brigade to make it back to Zone B and begin to prepare to meet the enemy in their fixed fortification. While Wang hated using his tanks in fixed positions like this, he realized that his tanks should have no problem beating back a PLA ground attack from there. Colonel Wang’s main concern was that enemy aircraft and helicopters would still be able to snipe at them with their long-range antitank missiles.

“If that happens, what’s left of my brigade will be ripped apart before they can even make a difference,” he thought with dread.