My dad served during this crisis. His vessel, the USS John McCain, escorted Taiwanese supply vessels carrying ordnance to those islands.
Using artillery, the Chicoms sank the Taiwanese vessel in front to them. My dad said his vessel was ordered to not stop, and they passed hundreds of screaming, drowning men.
One of the forgotten battles in the communist drive to conquer the world.
What I remember from a 1958 Nat Geo article were women & children emerging from caves for the first time after the ChiCom shelling subsided. They were joyful to be breathing fresh air for the first time in months.