In the film "The Garland Under the High Mountain", which reflects the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, Company Commander Liang Sanxi once said with emotion when he was surveying the enemy's situation at the front: Twenty billion can raise a wolf cub!
"Wreaths under the Mountains"
Later, during the break of the battle, deputy company commander Jin Kailai saw the soldiers suffering from hunger and thirst. When he was about to chop some sugar cane, he said angrily: Two hundred One hundred million cannot be exchanged for a bundle of sugar cane.
"Garlands under the Mountains"
But just for a bundle of sugar cane, he stepped on a thunder and died!
"Wreaths under the Mountains"
Song Zipei's "Records of the Gaoping Battle of the Eighteen Days of Life and Death - The 41st Army's War against Vietnam" records this war period in detail.
Where does the saying "20 billion" come from? Why is it so difficult to counterattack Vietnam in self-defense? Let us review together that heroic history of "self-defense, counterattack, and defense of the frontier."
20 billion how did it raise a wolf cub
After the founding of New China, China and Vietnam established diplomatic relations on January 18, 1950. As neighboring countries, the peoples of China and Vietnam have a long-standing traditional friendship.
At that time, Vietnam was deep in the quagmire of the "Vietnam-French War". When diplomatic relations were established, Vietnam Communist Party leader Ho Chi Minh requested our army to assist Vietnam. At that time, we were just exhausted, but we still extended a helping hand to Vietnam. Political and military advisory groups went to Vietnam one after another to assist and provided military support around the border.
In July 1953, after our army won the victory in the "War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea," in July of the following year, with the help of our army, the Vietnamese army finally won.
According to statistics, during this period, in addition to the assistance from the advisory group, we also provided Vietnam with approximately 116,000 firearms and more than artillery pieces 4,600. These victories and assistance allowed Vietnam to gradually establish its own regular army.
"Wreaths Under the Mountains"
The United States, which had retreated from the Korean battlefield, did not want the socialist countries in Asia to unite. They began to intervene in the situation in Vietnam, supporting Ngo Dinh Diem 's "South Vietnamese Government" and destroying the entire people of Vietnam. Referendum. Vietnam entered a turbulent period of division between north and south and constant fighting.
At that time, Ho Chi Minh's "North Vietnamese Government" mainly received assistance from the Soviet Union and China, while Ngo Dinh Diem's "South Vietnamese Government" was mainly supported by the West, led by the United States.
In 1961, the United States launched a "special war" in South Vietnam with the United States providing guns, money, and consultants, and South Vietnam providing personnel, allowing the Vietnamese to fight the Vietnamese themselves. On August 5, 1964, the United States concocted the "Beibu Gulf Incident", and then directly sent planes to bomb North Vietnam, officially intervening in the Vietnam conflict.
At Ho Chi Minh's strong request, Chairman Mao responded in a telegram on September 1, 1965, saying: The Chinese people are fully prepared and determined to fight side by side with the Vietnamese people to thwart the aggression of U.S. imperialism. After that, our army not only provided a large amount of weapons, equipment and supplies, but also dispatched support troops. During this period, at least 4,000 commanders and fighters shed blood in Vietnam.
In 1972, China and the United States established diplomatic relations. The following year, under the influence of various factors, the United States withdrew its troops from South Vietnam. In 1976, Vietnam was unified.
According to statistics, from 1950 to 1978, my country provided various types of assistance to Vietnam with a total value of up to 20.3 billion US dollars, and completed 339 infrastructure projects, as well as about 320,000 troops. It can be said that the reunification of Vietnam cannot be separated from our support and help.
Battle of Zhenbao Island
However, after the "Battle of Zhenbao Island" in 1969, Sino-Soviet relations completely broke down. The newly unified Vietnam signed the "Soviet-Vietnam Friendly Cooperation Agreement" with the Soviet Union on November 3, 1978, completely siding with the Soviet Union, and the two sides formed a military alliance. According to
analysis, after the relaxation of Sino-US relations, China accelerated its economic development. The Soviet Union attempted to contain China by wooing Vietnam.However, Vietnam had just achieved reunification with our help, and then fell into the arms of the Soviet Union. It is not an exaggeration to say that it was "ambitious" and "ungrateful".
"Wreaths under the Mountains"
Starting in 1978, Vietnam brazenly invaded China's ally Cambodia , and at the same time encroached on our territory on the southern border. As of February 16, 1979, the Vietnamese army fired 168 rounds of artillery in our territory, killing and wounding 132 our border guards and civilians.
The "unfamiliar" wolf cub is arrogant. "What is tolerable, what is intolerable?" If we do not deal a heavy blow to the invaders, it will not be enough to calm the anger and comfort the heroes.
Twenty-Eight Days of Life and Death
Beginning on December 7, 1978, our army decided to punish Vietnam with military struggle, and formulated the strategy of "killing chickens with more strikes and fewer blows, killing chickens with a sledgehammer, and achieving quick victory". Deng Xiaoping personally appointed General Xu Shiyou as the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front to lead the Guangxi border defense forces. General Yang Dezhi was ordered to be the commander-in-chief of the Western Front and lead the Yunnan border defense forces. Various deployments are carried out intensively.
The picture comes from the Internet
Before the war, everyone believed that we still knew the Vietnamese army well, and its combat power was several times that of the Vietnamese army, so we could "wipe them all out". .
After the war, many old Red Army, Old Eighth Route Army and commanders lamented: We have never fought such a battle!
In the two directions of Yunnan and Guangxi, our army mobilized a total of 29 infantry divisions from 9 corps, with a total strength of about 560,000, to launch a full-scale raid on the Vietnamese army along the border line of more than 500 kilometers. The Vietnamese army has a total of 6 infantry divisions on the border, about 100,000 regular troops, and countless militia forces.
With the huge disparity between the enemy and ourselves, the war did not go smoothly from the beginning. why? We tried to follow the perspective of Song Zipei, then deputy director of the Political Department of the 41st Army, and follow the combat footprints of the 41st Army to take a look at the real situation at that time.
Before the war, of the three divisions under the 41st Army, only Division 1 was considered an A division. The 2nd and 3rd divisions were both B divisions. Almost half of the soldiers and weapons were missing. To this end, while recruiting a large number of new soldiers, a large number of commanders and backbones were transferred from the 1st Division to the 2nd and 3rd Divisions. Many recruits trained for more than a month before the war and were ready to participate in the battle.
The picture comes from the Internet
The frontline troops at that time were faced with many problems such as not having fought for many years, insufficient combat experience, insufficient field experience, insufficient familiarity with the combat area, and insufficient estimation of the actual strength of the Vietnamese army. At the last combat meeting, the 41st Army set the goal of wiping out 2 to 3 enemy divisions in the first stage and striving to end the battle in 3 to 5 days; and wiping out 4 to 5 enemy divisions in the second stage.
The southwest region is thick with bushes, has complex terrain, and the weather is humid and hot. The soldiers began to march in an unfamiliar environment. The average weight per person was 20 to 30 kilograms. Marching day and night was very tiring. Some people had to discard a lot of equipment in order to reduce the weight.
The picture comes from the Internet
html At 18:00 on February 16, more than 43,000 troops of the 41st Army completed their pre-war deployment on the front lines of Jingxi County and Napo County on the Guangxi border. On the 117th, with a series of artillery fire coverage, the battle officially started.The first thing to start was the "Battle of Shuojiang". The area has towering stone peaks and numerous mountains, which is known as a natural danger. The 246th enemy regiment defended the place with various fortifications criss-crossed.
At 4:40 in the morning, the 8th Company attached to the 2nd Division and 4th Regiment was responsible for breaking obstacles. The commander of the 8th company was eager to complete the task and led more than 10 people to attack the No. 1 Highland. As a result, he accidentally stepped on a mine and died heroically. During the demining process of , , the 8th company suffered a total of 32 casualties.
At dawn on the 17th, the 6th Company of the 6th Regiment was ordered to flank the landslide pass and was blocked by the enemy on the north side of Langyong Village. The company commander and 8 soldiers died. The troops retreated in a hurry under the attack of enemy artillery fire, which not only scattered the 2nd Battalion. , the reinforcements of the third battalion also triggered a chain reaction of retreat.
html At noon on the 18th, the 5th regiment was blocked near Huangtu Mountain, and the two sides were in a standoff. After analysis, the 2nd Battalion decided to attack the nearby Changbai Mountain highlands in a sneak attack, and then attack the enemy from top to bottom. In the dark night, facing a mountain with a height of more than 700 meters, a slope of more than 70 degrees, rocks, and no trees to climb, I climbed up by picking at the cracks in the rocks with my hands and stepping on the stone edges. It took more than 2 hours to finally occupy the top of the mountain.html In the early morning of the 19th, all units of the 2nd Battalion climbed to the main peak. At that time, the enemies were in groups of two or three, scattered and hidden in caves and crevices. Troops can only pass through one hole after another, blowing up one as they approach. After fighting for one day, I blew up 4 caves and killed 12 people.
The soldiers searched for stone cracks
5 company soldier He Xuegao was suddenly injured by the enemy in the bunker during the battle. Immediately afterwards, two more enemies jumped out of the bamboo forest nearby. Just as he was about to fight back, the enemies who rushed over hugged him. At the critical moment of life and death, he fired the grenade and died with the enemy.
These are just a microcosm of that time. The battle was originally scheduled to end in 3 to 5 days, but there has been no progress. The enemy defended themselves in danger. There were enemies everywhere, including fake scarecrows, among mountains, ravines, bunkers, villages, bamboo forests, caves, and crevices between rocks. No one knew where the enemy was, and they were ambushed by the enemy from time to time. The battle was extremely difficult, and every time a blockade was broken through, a heavy price had to be paid.
In addition, many cadres and soldiers were on the battlefield for the first time. Facing the elusive enemy, they were under tremendous psychological pressure. They were prone to fear, panic, and mistakes, and the battle was very stalemate.
It was not until the 22nd that our army basically annihilated the Shuojiang defenders, killing a total of 2,080 people and seizing more than 1,000 sets of equipment.
Complex environment
At that time, the task of the 1st regiment was to penetrate in the direction of Kotun. On both sides of the road in Sanjian, there are dense forests and high mountains and steep slopes. Every time you turn a hill, you will be ambushed by the enemy. It took 19 hours to walk about 8 kilometers away from the national border.
The soldiers traveled day and night and were constantly harassed. The cold wind in the three rooms made the soldiers shiver. The heavy equipment also caused the skin on the soldiers' shoulders to peel off and their feet to have blisters.
Suddenly, there was a rapid firefight. The regiment leader inquired about the situation, and a staff officer came back and reported: There was an old man sitting outside a straw hut in a rice field on the roadside. When the militiamen passed by, the old man suddenly picked up his weapon and shot, killing four of our militiamen. Injured 3 people.
This was the situation faced by many troops at that time. "Everyone is a soldier and there is no way to defend against it."
Vietnamese female agent
html On the 20th, she struggled to capture the 1st regiment of Highland 809 and was ordered to move towards Anle. Due to equipment damage, terrain effects and other reasons, communications between battalions and regiment commanders were basically interrupted. At 6 o'clock on the 21st, when the regimental commander marched alone to the south of Dongtai, there were towering trees and thick fog locking the mountains, and nothing could be seen. At9, when the morning fog dissipated, I suddenly discovered that there was only a group of enemy barracks on the other side of the river. During the exchange of fire, the regiment leader was shot in the head, and eight members of the organization died on the spot. The troops retreated while fighting and came to a nearby hilltop to await reinforcements. After hearing the gunshots, the
2 battalion rushed over for reinforcements. Ding Zhongchao, leader of the 1st platoon, led his soldiers to rush into the hail of bullets three times, rescued 30 martyrs and 17 wounded from the regiment command post, and also carried back the regiment leader's body. During the entire journey north to Anle, the
1 regiment was constantly ambushed, blocked, and attacked by the enemy, resulting in a total of 185 casualties, and many commanders died heroically. 51 people, including the deputy division commander accompanying the regiment, were also injured.
The picture comes from the Internet
The Vietnamese army at that time was not only fierce and cunning in combat, but its equipment was actually not bad. Except for relatively few cannons, the infantry equipment was basically the best made in China, the United States and the Soviet Union. However, when our troops go abroad to fight, their logistics and supplies often fail to keep up due to reasons such as roads and terrain. The troops show their tenacious fighting will despite the lack of ammunition and supplies.
According to the overall battle division, on February 26, our army completed the first phase of the combat mission. Under the Vietnamese army's plan to trade space for time, although our army suffered a lot of losses, it still captured the border as planned. Many important strategic points in the surrounding area.
At that time, although the 41st Army also captured important areas such as and Gaoping , it failed to annihilate the enemy's 346th Division. The Vietnamese troops in the Gaoping area "divided into pieces" and scattered into the deep mountains and dense forests.
From February 27th to March 5th, the troops continued to carry out the second phase of the combat mission, advancing step by step, constantly seizing strategic locations, and successively captured Lang Son, Quang Yuan, Sapa, Fengtu, Pulou and other places. The furthest advancement distance reached 100 kilometers, basically achieving the combat plan.
htmlOn March 5, my country announced that it would begin withdrawing its self-defense counterattack troops from Vietnam. Our army began to retreat while clearing out the remaining enemies. At the same time, it destroyed important military and political facilities in Vietnam and recovered a large amount of aid supplies. During this process, the Vietnamese army pressed forward step by step, constantly sending agents and militiamen to carry out guerrilla attacks on me, but I also resolutely fought back. htmlOn March 16, all our troops withdrew into the territory.
But Vietnam is reluctant to let go and continues to provoke. This also paved the way for the subsequent "Two Mountains Controversy" between Laoshan and Yinshan .
The picture comes from the Internet
Post-war summary: This war was not a big victory, nor a small victory, but a victory.
From February 17 to March 16, 1979, the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam ended. This 28-day war was the latest large-scale combat operation of our army, and it also left us with a lot of inspiration.
Many people have made realistic evaluations of this war, for example:
"This war is not a big victory, nor a small victory, but a medium victory."
"A political victory is greater than a military victory. , the military victory is greater than the victory on the battlefield. "
" This is a special war, a special war. "
" The Chinese People's Liberation Army has demonstrated its military power and national prestige. "
carefully analyzed this "short-term". Although the war was victorious, it also exposed many problems. In particular, the performance of the 41st Army is worthy of a careful summary:
① overestimated one's own combat power and underestimated the opponent's combat power. There are " "Underestimating the enemy" problem.
② The plan is too win-win-oriented and too optimistic about the war, which is deviated from reality to a certain extent.
③ Combat preparations are insufficient. Many people do not have a clear understanding of why this "comrade plus brother" war is being fought, and many people do not have sufficient mastery of combat skills.
④Commanders and combatants, due to the long-term lack of actual combat testing, there are many problems in combat command and combat skills.
⑤ There is also a lack of strong support in terms of equipment support, logistical supplies, etc.
⑥ Problems such as inadequate and inappropriate combat coordination and emergency response also appeared.
summarizes war in order to better respond to war. Summarizing lessons is to avoid similar problems again.
After this battle, we deeply learned from experience and lessons, and began to vigorously increase the combat experience of the troops, vigorously improve the training level of the troops, vigorously improve the troops' command system, and vigorously streamline the troops' combat personnel. So: " Two Mountains Battle " cultivated a large number of combat heroes and accumulated combat experience. " million major disarmament" reduces the burden on the army, slims down, and reshapes the skeleton. The development and updating of various high-tech equipment have been accelerated. The military's various support systems have also been continuously improved.
It can be said that the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam was not only a powerful blow to the "wolf cubs raised by 20 billion", but also allowed us to see our own gaps and shortcomings, and began to modernize the military. .
The battlefield is always cruel, but the soldiers are so brave and adorable.
History will never forget those heroes and martyrs who forged peace with their blood.
Statement: Some information and data come from Song Zipei's "Records of the Gaoping Battle of the 11th and 41st Army in the Battle of Vietnam in the Eighteen Days of Life and Death"
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