Monument to the Victory of the Decisive Battle in the Campaign to Liberate Hainan

　　The monument is located 1 kilometer west of the old Meiting Market in Meiting Township, Chengmai County. It was completed on April 22, 1995. Covering a land area of 1,656 square meters with a building area of 212 square meters, the monument faces northeast and is situated southwest. It stands 8 meters tall, with a base 2.8 meters wide and a pedestal 1.3 meters high. The base platform is rectangular and made of reinforced concrete, surrounded by railings. A cement path about 2 meters wide and 100 meters long leads directly from the front of the monument to the highway. The front of the monument is inscribed with “Monument to the Victory of the Decisive Battle in the Campaign to Liberate Hainan,” while the back describes an overview of the victory achieved by the People’s Liberation Army landing forces in their decisive battle against the Nationalist troops in the Meiting area.

　　The monument was built by the Hainan Military District to commemorate the revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the Meiting decisive battle. It is a designated patriotic education base of Hainan Province.

　　Inscription on the Monument to the Victory of the Decisive Battle in the Campaign to Liberate Hainan ①:

　　From April 19 to April 22, 1950, in the areas around Fushan, Meiting, Huangzhu, and Bailian, the largest and most brutal decisive battle in Hainan’s history took place. The reactionary Kuomintang forces deployed a total of six divisions and over 50,000 troops, more than 500 combat vehicles, and four air squadrons to besiege and counter-siege nearly 30,000 troops of the PLA’s 43rd and 40th Armies and the Qiongya Column in a fight to the death. In the end, our army paid a huge price but won a glorious victory in the decisive battle, laying the foundation for the liberation of Hainan.

　　Eternal glory to the revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed gloriously for the liberation of Hainan!

　　The Meiting Decisive Battle was the largest and fiercest battle fought between the landing forces of the People’s Liberation Army, supported by the Qiongya Column, and the Kuomintang troops stationed on Hainan Island. The victory of this battle accelerated the liberation of Hainan Island. On April 17, 1950, with the support of the Qiongya Column and the aid of over 20,000 civilian laborers, the main forces of the PLA defeated parts of the KMT’s 64th and 62nd Armies, broke through the enemy defense lines in Lingao and Chengmai, and landed in large numbers. KMT Hainan Defense Commander Xue Yue gathered 6 divisions and over 50,000 troops in the Meiting and Bailian areas of Chengmai County. With the aerial support of 4 air squadrons, he attempted to engage the landing main forces of the PLA in a decisive battle. On the 20th, the main forces of the 128th Division of the 43rd Army arrived in the Meiting and Huangzhu areas, where they encountered the headquarters of the KMT 252nd Division and the 754th and one battalion of the 755th Regiments that had come to reinforce Chengmai. The 128th Division immediately surrounded the KMT troops and launched a fierce attack. Meanwhile, the 127th Division of the 43rd Army and one battalion of the 128th Division swiftly moved to the Meiting and Bailian areas to block the main forces of the 62nd Army, the remnants of the Provisional 13th Division, most of the Instructional Division, and parts of the 32nd Army, ensuring that the main force of the 128th Division could annihilate the enemy. The main force of the 151st Division of the KMT 62nd Army rushed from Tuncheng, and the majority of the 765th and 755th Regiments of the 252nd Division hurriedly reinforced Huangzhu and Meiting from Jinjiang, launching a counter-surrounding maneuver against the 128th Division of the PLA. Despite being attacked from both inside and outside, the 43rd Army fought tenaciously. According to orders from the 15th Corps, the 40th Army led nearly 20,000 troops from six main regiments and set out from the Lingao area on the 19th. Braving enemy aircraft bombings and strafing, they arrived at the eastern and western sides of Meiting on the 21st, effectively carrying out a pincer encirclement of the KMT troops surrounding the 128th Division. The battle became extremely complex, with close-quarters combat breaking out and some positions changing hands multiple times as both sides engaged in hand-to-hand fighting. On the 22nd, with the support of civilian laborers, the main forces of the 40th and 43rd Armies, together with the 1st and 3rd Regiments of the 3rd Brigade of the Qiongya Column, launched a general offensive against the enemy, completely annihilating the 252nd Division of the KMT 32nd Army, and defeating and heavily damaging the 62nd Army, Provisional 13th Division, Instructional Division, and others. The victory in the Meiting and Huangzhu decisive battles played a decisive role in the liberation of Hainan Island.

　　Source: Party History Research Office of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the CPC