ABSTRACT
By August 1949, the Nationalists were in full retreat, with the vast majority of their forces fleeing to Taiwan, but with smaller groups fortifying the Penghu Islands, Pratas (Dongsha) Island, Paracel (Xisha) Island, and a series of smaller offshore islands in a long arc running from Shandong Province in the North to Hainan Island and the Spratlys (Nansha) Islands in the South. Many of the Nationalists’ most important ships defected to the Communists, including Chongqing and most of the ships in the Second Squadron. For the first time, the Nationalists’ enemies had a naval component. The Nationalist blockade of China from 1949 to 1958 was made possible only because the Nationalists and their guerrilla allies established bases on a large number of offshore islands right off China’s southeastern coastline.
