A Chinese aircraft carrier sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Friday, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said, just hours before the Chinese and U.S. presidents were due to talk.
Kinmen is where the Nationalists stopped the Communists. China tried to invade, but their invasion force wasn't a fleet of battleships and landing craft like at Normandy it was...every fishing boat for 100 miles up and down the coast. Just about when they were going to land, a Nationalist patrol set off one of their own land mines, causing all of the beach guards to send up flares, spotting the invasion "fleet". Every pillbox opened up and started wreaking havoc.
Many troops still reached shore, however. An M3 Stuart light tank, stuck in the sand the day before, was still on the beach. The crew got it moving but soon ran out of ammunition. As the invaders had no anti-tank weapons, the tank simply drove up and down the beach GTA-style, running over every soldier in its path. It earned the title "Bear of Kinmen" for its service and you can still see it today if you visit the island (like I did).
A Nationalist landing ship wasn't supposed to be on Kinmen, but had gotten a delay in its return to Taiwan by radioing in to base claiming it had a broken engine. The real reason was because it was illegally loading up with smuggled coconut oil. It pulled a homer by being there with its minimal guns which were still better than the fishing boats' zero guns. It sank dozens of them and prevented a second wave of invaders from being ferried from the mainland, which would probably have won the battle.
Kinmen is where the Nationalists stopped the Communists. China tried to invade, but their invasion force wasn't a fleet of battleships and landing craft like at Normandy it was...every fishing boat for 100 miles up and down the coast. Just about when they were going to land, a Nationalist patrol set off one of their own land mines, causing all of the beach guards to send up flares, spotting the invasion "fleet". Every pillbox opened up and started wreaking havoc.
Many troops still reached shore, however. An M3 Stuart light tank, stuck in the sand the day before, was still on the beach. The crew got it moving but soon ran out of ammunition. As the invaders had no anti-tank weapons, the tank simply drove up and down the beach GTA-style, running over every soldier in its path. It earned the title "Bear of Kinmen" for its service and you can still see it today if you visit the island (like I did).
A Nationalist landing ship wasn't supposed to be on Kinmen, but had gotten a delay in its return to Taiwan by radioing in to base claiming it had a broken engine. The real reason was because it was illegally loading up with smuggled coconut oil. It pulled a homer by being there with its minimal guns which were still better than the fishing boats' zero guns. It sank dozens of them and prevented a second wave of invaders from being ferried from the mainland, which would probably have won the battle.
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