In the early spring of 1979, after the Chinese People's Liberation Army launched a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam and defending the border, the Hanoi authorities, with the support of the Soviet Union, continued to implement the regional hegemony policy of anti-China and invading Cambodia. Therefore, China and Vietnam were in a state of military confrontation for a long time. In such an era, some Vietnamese military officers risked their lives to flee Vietnam to China for all reasons, becoming an important channel for our side to understand the situation of Vietnam and the Vietnamese military.
In January 1982, the Liaison Department of the Political Department of the Guangzhou Military Region convened some former Vietnamese military officers for a discussion to understand their views on the relations and contradictions of the Vietnam-Soviet Republic. Those who participated in the discussion included Li Mou, the lieutenant and company commander of the 3rd Company of the 677th Regiment of the 346th Division of the Vietnam Army, Fan Mou, the second lieutenant and staff officer of the Heguang County Independent Battalion of the Gaoping Provincial Military Command, Ruan Mou, the second lieutenant and platoon commander of the 1st Company of the 155th Regiment of the 327th Division, and Wu Mou, the lieutenant and company commander of the 41st Regiment of the 395th Division. They reflected the following situation:
Li said that Vietnam and the Soviet Union had good relationships on the surface, but in fact, the interests of the two were not consistent, and the two sides were in a state of mutual suspicion and distrust. When the Li Duan Group "fallen" with China in 1979, it had already tasted the pain of the Soviet Union's failure to provide substantial assistance to Vietnam, and had doubts about the Soviet Union's promises and guarantees. Therefore, there were many differences between Vietnam and the Soviet Union on some major issues. As the differences become increasingly clear, people's doubts and dissatisfaction have further aroused.
According to Fan, in early 1981, the Soviet Pacific Combined Fleet visited Vietnam and docked at Danang . After the deputy commander of the fleet praised a few words at the welcoming meeting how good the Soviet-Vietnam relations were, he immediately changed his words and said that the Soviet people and the Vietnamese people can only be called two now, and cannot be called one like they did in the past. This immediately caused many Vietnamese officers present to whisper, saying that in the past, what they always said was "Su and Yue are brothers," and why has this view changed now. Everyone was talking about it, and some analysts said that it might be that the Soviet Union had become dissatisfied with Vietnam and wanted to make the contradictions public and put some pressure on Vietnam! Some people think this is to warn Vietnam to be careful in its actions, otherwise the Soviet Union would be unpolite.
Ruan said that although the two countries do not trust each other, they also seek each other. Now Vietnam cannot rely on the Soviet Union. If he left the Soviet Union, Vietnam would not dare to oppose China. If the Soviet Union cut off relations with Vietnam, its ambition to contain China and dominate the world will not be easily realized. While using each other, the two countries are also guarding against each other. Vietnam is afraid that the Soviet Union will make trouble at critical moments and abandon it at critical moments; the Soviet Union is afraid that Vietnam will follow it on the surface, but secretly wants to reconcile with China again.
These former Vietnamese military officers generally reported that in their views on the issue of Soviet aid to Vietnam, many officers and soldiers of grassroots companies did believe that the Soviet Union had assisted Vietnam with many things, saying that the Soviet Union was advanced in technology and still had great fantasies about relying on the Soviet Union to "defeat" China. But most people believe that the purpose of Soviet aid was to make Vietnam surrender to him and at his mercy. Ruan also said when she reported that the leaders of the 155th Regiment of the 327th Division complained in private that such aid would only make Vietnam increasingly dependent on the Soviet Union and eventually fall completely at his feet.
Ruan said that the Soviet Union sent an advisory group to the Vietnamese army, publicly speaking to help the Vietnamese army develop troops, but they specifically collected various information within the Vietnamese army. The Soviet advisory group stationed in the 14th Army was nominally an adviser, but actually monopolizes the power. Even the leaders at the military level should often report to them the border situation and the military and political training of the troops, the thoughts of officers and soldiers. In response, the cadres of the 155th Regiment said dissatisfiedly that with the combat experience of Soviet advisers, they were not as good as Vietnamese officers. They can't help much when an emergency occurs. Their real purpose is to control the army.
Ruan said that all the Soviet Union's aid to Vietnam was conditional. The leader of the 155th Regiment said at the cadre meeting that the Soviet Union once told the Vietnamese government that Vietnam has now been liberated and should support itself and be self-sufficient. It is also said that the Soviet Union's aid to Vietnam was limited and there are conditions, and it will no longer be as "passionate" as in the past.They said that when the Soviet Union gave Vietnam food, it would take away handicrafts, mineral products, agricultural products, etc. from Vietnam. The weapons and ammunition provided by Vietnam should buy or exchange them for things. If there was really nothing to exchange, the Vietnamese government would send a large number of young and middle-aged people to the Soviet Union as coolies to repay their debts. In 1981, more than 7,000 workers and technicians were dispatched to the economic zones in the eastern Soviet Union to serve labor.
Wu said that the Soviet Union's method of aiding Vietnam was very terrible and "ingenious". Seeing that you were about to die, I would add fuel to you. Anyway, I would not let you die, nor would I let you live a good life. The Soviet Union said it had aided Vietnam, but there was actually nothing. The weapons and ammunition of aid cannot be eaten as food. On the contrary, the more weapons and ammunition are provided, the longer the war will be delayed, and the people in the end will suffer.
Wu pointed out that the Soviet Union did not trust Vietnam in the past. He just took advantage of the Vietnam-China border dispute and intervened. He has only become more enthusiastic with Vietnam in recent years. Therefore, as long as the Le Duan regime continues to exist and continues to anti-China, the "friendliness" of Vietnam and the Soviet Union can still be maintained. Even if some Vietnamese leaders are unwilling to follow the Soviet Union, they can only follow the crowd. If the Soviet Union wants to realize its ambition to contain China and dominate the world, it must also establish good relations with Vietnam and support the continued rule of the Le Duan regime.
When talking about the prospects of Vietnam-Soviet relations, Li said that it is difficult to estimate what the Vietnam-Soviet relations will be in the future, but it is certain that if you continue to rely on the Soviet Union, Vietnam's independence and freedom will gradually be lost, and it is impossible for the relationship between the two countries to not have big rifts. It is not the will of the people that Vietnam and the Soviet Union go. Fan reported that some officers from the independent battalion he was in believed that Vietnam and the Soviet Union were geographically far apart, and the difference was also very far from Vietnam's national conditions and the Soviet Union itself. Therefore, it cannot be said that the "friendly" relationship between Vietnam and the Soviet Union can be maintained.
Fan said that in the past, China has helped so many things in Vietnam and has such good relations with Vietnam, and Vietnam can treat China as its most dangerous enemy at once. So, how long can Vietnam and the Soviet Union last?
As a backward agricultural country, Vietnam has been devastated by decades of war. The fundamental reason why it can implement regional hegemony policies, invade and expand in Indochina Peninsula , armed control Laos , invade Cambodia , and military confrontation with China is that it has strong support from the Soviet Union behind it. As the Soviet Union's stalls became bigger and bigger, the burden became heavier, the economy became worse and worse, life became more and more difficult, and Vietnam received less and less aid. The Indo-Sponsored Federation's national policy was ultimately unsustainable, so it could only change its course and seek improvements in relations with China.
1 The Soviet Union collapsed One year before, on September 3, 1990, the top leader of Vietnam, Nguyen Vin Ling, and his team arrived in Chengdu from Hanoi via Nanning and met with Chinese leaders on normalization of relations. Nguyen Vin Ling expressed his statement: China has given Vietnam huge, generous and extremely valuable support and assistance in the past, and the Vietnamese people are always deeply grateful. The relations between the two countries have been severely divided over the past 12 years, and many unfortunate things have happened, which is very heartbreaking. We are determined to correct the wrong policies of the past and never be ungrateful. We must restore the policy of Chairman Ho Chi Minh to China and restore the traditional friendship between the two parties and the two countries.
The author is a master's degree in history and a university lecturer, focusing on the history of the Sino-Vietnam War.
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