Battlefield Taiwan

At the Gates

The sound of planes rumbling in the air was nearly constant as a new flight of Xian Y-20 transport craft landed on the runway at this once-quiet airport. Several weeks ago, a battalion of engineers had arrived at Shaxian and constructed a second runway, additional hangars and a massive tent city for several battalions of paratroopers from the 43^rd Airborne Division’s arrival. When Captain Ma Qiliang’s company arrived in the middle of this hustle and bustle, he knew something big was being planned. His best guess was that they were going to invade Formosa.

Ma lit a cigarette as he watched the two new transports taxi up to a hangar. The ground crew immediately went to work on getting the aircraft shut down and ready for whatever might happen next. They shuttled back and forth in a predetermined pattern, like bees navigating a hive.

The roar of engines drew Captain Ma’s attention, and he turned to look at the main gate of the airport. Another convoy of transport trucks arrived under heavy guard. They were either transporting additional paratroopers or bringing in a lot of ammunition. While Ma suspected he knew what their next mission would be, he did not want to openly speculate or offer up his own opinions in front of his men. He’d wait, just like everyone else, until he was briefed on what they were going to do.

“I just hope we don’t have to stay at this airport for too long,” he thought. “There’s not a lot of room for my troops to do anything more than basic exercises and runs around the perimeter. If we are going to be here for a while, I really want my men to be able to spend some additional time at the rifle range and practice patrolling through the surrounding hills.”

Ma took one last pull on his cigarette before flicking it to the ground and stomping on it with his boot. Then he turned away from the runway and headed back to the officers’ tent to catch some shut-eye.

“Maybe tomorrow at the briefing, I’ll at least be able to find out how long we are supposed to be here,” he hoped.

The hangar at the far side of the airport was nearly full of officers and senior sergeants as Captain Ma and his senior sergeant and platoon leaders sat waiting for their brigade commander to begin the briefing. Eventually, the commander finished his conversation with someone over to the side and walked up to the lectern to begin the brief. The lights in the hangar dimmed, and a PowerPoint image covered a white sheet someone had hung against the wall to act as a screen.

A hush came over the room as the paratroopers examined the image. Once the reality of what they were looking at began to settle in, the mood turned very serious. On the screen was a picture of the renegade province of Formosa, or “Taiwan,” as the West called it.

“I knew it,” Captain Ma thought with satisfaction.

The colonel started talking, and a new image appeared, this one showing images around Taipei. The Shanshuilu Ecological Park was highlighted, along with several key parks on the east side of the city and the major road junctions that linked the eastern half of the country with the western half.

“Gentlemen, this is going to be our greatest hour as paratroopers,” the colonel announced, beaming with pride. “Our brigade has been given the task of securing a series of major road junctions and tunnels that connect the eastern and western halves of the country. Our objective is to block these major traffic routes from being used by the nationalist army here, here and here.” He used a laser pointer to indicate the major intersections leading to the city.

“Our actions will block additional reinforcements from coming to the capital and stop any possible retreat to the western side of the island. We will box them in and hold the enemy in place for the main PLA ground forces to smash them. The rest of the division will be hitting objectives in other parts of the city, to include the international airport. We are being ordered to hold our positions until we are relieved by the ground forces, which will be making multiple landings across the island.”

The crowd was a very eager audience. The colonel continued the briefing for another hour as each battalion was given their specific assignments. Once the battalion commanders had their orders, they’d discuss with their company commanders how best to execute the missions.

As Captain Ma walked out of the room after the meeting, he realized, “This is going to be one tough mission. Most of my men and I may not make it back from this one.”