Air raids After the main battle of the Battle of Yijiangshan Islands had subsided, the PLA immediately turned their attentions to Dachen Archipelago before declaring the Yijiangshan Islands secured. In fact, it was not a battle as people think, because the Liberation Army was mainly using their air force to keep bombing Dachen Archipelago and the Nationalist army was unable to strike back. Another disadvantage to the Nationalist army was that since the Liberation Army used Nationalist army equipment captured during the Chinese Civil War, they were able to intercept Nationalist communications, since both sides used radios manufactured in the United States. So during the battle, despite the casualties being minimal, the local Nationalist garrison was forced to use unencrypted radios to communicate with Taiwan and among themselves. On 19 January 1955, the first PLA bombing mission specifically targeting Dachen was carried out by combat-hardened aircrew with experience. Due to the previous two unsuccessful PLA bombing missions, the Nationalists believed that this third air raid would be equally inept and were not fully prepared. As a result, the infrastructures on the islands, especially those for communication, were severely damaged. The second wave of attack also occurred on the same day on 19 January 1955. Although the local Nationalist garrison regrouped and set up more effective air defense, the effort was ultimately futile. The reason was that the second wave of attack struck a place completely unexpected by the Nationalist garrison: the reservoir, which was not considered a significant military target by the Nationalists. Through the bombing, the reservoir was completely destroyed and without any fresh water supply readily available, it was nearly impossible to defend the archipelago. On 2 February 1955, the PLA air force bombed the Southern Deer Mountain Archipelago.
Evacuation , Deputy
Chief of Naval Operations, Fleet Operations and Readiness, holding a press conference at
the Pentagon on the evacuation of the Dachen Islands, February 2, 1955 After the battle and bombing in the Dachen Archipelago, the
Nationalist government of the Republic of China realized that it was hard to control the Dachen and adjacent archipelagos. They finally agreed with the American government to hold out until an evacuation was carried out by the U.S. Navy in February 1955 to Taiwan, more than 200 miles away to the south, to conserve military strength. The United States Navy used the code name "Operation King Kong" for this retreat. The main content of the Operation included two military forces, and how to distribute different duties would be very important. In this case, the U.S. Navy and the Nationalist army of the Republic of China were in charge of different areas: • The
U.S. Seventh Fleet helped to protect the retreat of soldiers, people and military resources in Dachen archipelago, Pishan Island, Yushan Island. • U.S. Navy and Nationalist army cooperated for minesweeping. • U.S. Navy and Nationalist army cooperated for air monitor and garrison. • Divided operation into 3 plans (plan A, B and C) base on different islands, Plan A and C combine, implemented on February 8 in Dachen archipelago. Plan B implemented on February 9 in Pishan and Yushan islands. The decision was made to withdraw on 5 February 1955, and the
U.S. Seventh Fleet used 132 boats and 400 aircraft to move 14,500 civilians, 10,000
Republic of China servicemen, and 4,000 guerrilla fighters, along with 40,000 tons of military equipment and supplies from the island. After the evacuation, the last
flag of the Republic of China in Dachen was lowered by
Chiang Ching-kuo, and the Zhejiang province government of the Republic of China was dissolved as Dachen was their last stronghold in the province.
Capture After the retreat, Northern Muntjac Island () was the first to be taken by the
People's Liberation Army on 8 February 1955, and by 12 February 1955, the entire Dachen Archipelago had fallen into the enemy hands. On 13 February 1955, the entire Southern Muntjac Archipelago was taken by the PLA. The Nationalists had left a single
regiment to garrison the Southern Deer Mountain Archipelago to the south of Dachen Archipelago for a symbolic struggle, and the regiment held out until late February 1955. The local commander realized the struggle was futile and was unwilling to waste troops in the lost cause, and thus asked and received permission to withdraw. On 26 February 1955, the People's Liberation Army took the Southern Deer Mountain Archipelago and the battle concluded. ==Outcome==