"Commander, there is an urgent call from Premier Zhou!"
In March 1950, Chen Geng, the deputy commander of the Southwest Military Region who had just led the army to liberate Yunnan, was listening to the chief of the operations section report on recent work when he was interrupted by the chief of the communications section hurried in. .
The telegram sent by Premier Zhou was very brief, telling Chen Geng only two things. First, there would be a plane to Kunming to pick him up in Beijing tomorrow; second, his trip to Beijing must be kept strictly confidential.
The next day, the plane arrived at Kunming Airport as scheduled. Chen Geng, escorted by Director Dou of the Secret Service Department, boarded the plane and left Kunming. The staff around him also arranged Chen Geng's "itinerary" in Kunming in the next few days. To cover his trip to Beijing.
After arriving in Beijing, Chen Geng learned that the reason why the central government transferred him to Beijing urgently was because Vietnam Communist Party leader Ho Chi Minh personally ordered him to be "general".
Ho Chi Minh ventured to ask for help
In 1949, when New China was preparing to embark on a large-scale construction, Vietnam, , a neighbor of China that was separated by a narrow strip of water, was invaded by French colonists.
At that time, the army led by Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, was greatly disparate in strength from the French army. Under the pressing pressure of the French army, the country was in danger of subjugation.
When the news of the founding of New China reached Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh was greatly encouraged.
When he was leading the revolutionary struggle in Vietnam, he stayed in China for many years, established long-term friendships with many leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, and received help from party leaders.
So when he saw that the Chinese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, defeated imperialism and achieved national independence, he decided to seek help from China again.
In early 1950, regardless of his personal safety, Ho Chi Minh walked for 17 days through the virgin forest and secretly came to China.
Comrade Luo Guibo, a representative of the Liaison Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, received Ho Chi Minh. After asking about his intention, Luo Guibo asked Ho Chi Minh how much military assistance was needed so that he could ask Chairman Mao for instructions.
Hu Zhiming shook his head and told Luo Guibo that he didn't want a single soldier, only a general.
The general that Ho Chi Minh mentioned was Chen Geng. He and Ho Chi Minh were also old acquaintances.
As early as the Whampoa Military Academy period, Chen Geng, known as one of the "Three Heroes of Whampoa", had contact with Ho Chi Minh.
Huangpu Military Academy is a military academy jointly run by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. In addition to representatives of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, there is also a Soviet adviser Borodin .
Ho Chi Minh was Borodin's secretary at that time. Because of this, he got to know many people in the Communist Party, including Chen Geng.
And because he was familiar with Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou, even though he came to ask for help, Ho Chi Minh made his request "unceremoniously".
After receiving Ho Chi Minh's request for help, the central government quickly decided to support Vietnam in resisting the French. To this end, the central government also conducted an emergency study.
The original plan of the Central Committee was to secretly provide weapons, ammunition, medicine and communications assistance to the Vietnamese army, and to help them train their troops.
At the same time, the border transportation line between China and Vietnam will be opened to facilitate Vietnam to receive aid supplies from China.
At the same time, the central government decided to dispatch a military advisory group composed of 40 division-level officers and confidential personnel, with Wei Guoqing, the former commander of the Northern Jiangsu Corps, as the head of the advisory group, to allow them to enter Vietnam for support.
In addition, the central government decided to send another senior commander, who would have direct contact with the commander of the Vietnam People's Army Vo Nguyen Giap as the military staff officer of the highest authority of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
When deciding on this candidate, Chairman Mao first sought the opinion of Mr. Zhu.
Mr. Zhu asked Chairman Mao, is Lin Biao a suitable partner?
Chairman Mao shook his head and said that Lin Biao's military command was indeed great, but he went there not to serve as an advisor to Ho Chi Minh, but to ask Ho Chi Minh to serve as an advisor to him. It was not appropriate for him to go. Liu Shaoqi on the
side recommended Comrade Deng Xiaoping, who had been his partner for a long time during the revolutionary period.
Premier Zhou immediately objected after hearing this. Comrade Deng Xiaoping is needed for many domestic tasks. If he leaves, no one can replace him.
Premier Zhou thought for a while and recommended Chen Geng to everyone.
After hearing Premier Zhou's words, Mr. Zhu and Liu Shaoqi's eyes lit up and they expressed their agreement. Coupled with the recognition of Chen Geng by the leader of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, the candidate for the senior commander to aid Vietnam was decided.
After deciding on the candidate, Premier Zhou sent a message and immediately transferred Chen Geng to Beijing.
won the first battle
After receiving the order, Chen Geng rushed to Beijing to form a central delegation and rushed to Vietnam on July 7, 1950.
At that time, the French army had 230,000 troops and 150 aircraft in Vietnam. It had basically controlled the Red River Delta area in Vietnam.
On Highway 4 near the Sino-Vietnamese border, the French army fortified itself layer by layer in an attempt to cut off the traffic between China and Vietnam.
The Vietnamese army only has 160,000 troops, and its equipment is not comparable to that of the French army. Based on this situation, Chen Geng put forward his own battle plan.
He suggested that we first fight the " border battle " to clear the obstacles on the Sino-Vietnamese border and open the channel between China and Vietnam.
The specific battle plan is to "siege the city and fight for reinforcements": with Gaoping as the target, first seize the outer strongholds of Caoping, then concentrate the forces, annihilate the reinforcements coming from the direction of Lang Son, and finally capture Gaoping.
Gaoping City is surrounded by rivers on three sides, and there are mountains behind it. The terrain is difficult to defend and difficult to attack. Therefore, Chen Geng suggested to attack the small town of Dongxi south of Gaoping first.
According to Vietnamese army reconnaissance, the French army only deployed 800 troops here. According to Chen Geng's analysis, Dongxi Town is located in the middle of Highway 4. If we capture it, we can cut off the enemy in the middle, making it impossible to communicate between Lang Son, Qixi and Gaoping occupied by the enemy.
Another advantage is that the Vietnamese army has already gathered here in Dongxi Town, which facilitates the deployment of troops.
This suggestion was not adopted by the Vietnamese military at first. At the combat meeting held by Chen Geng, they asked questions repeatedly.
The main concern of the Vietnamese military is that if they attack Dongxi Town first, the army will be depleted. Under such circumstances, it will be more difficult to attack Gaoping again.
Moreover, after the fighting in Dongxi Town, Gaoping's defenders will definitely be more vigilant, which will also bring difficulties to the recovery of Gaoping City.
Facing the Vietnamese military's questions, Chen Geng patiently answered them one by one and explained to them the details of "siege and rescue". Finally, the Vietnamese military accepted Chen Geng's plan.
html Late at night on September 16, Vo Yuan Giap ordered the Vietnamese army to attack the French army in Dongxi according to the deployment.
After the French army was attacked, they immediately counterattacked under the cover of the aviation force. Since the battalion and regiment level command post was far away from the company, the Vietnamese army failed to convey combat orders in time. Under the enemy's counterattack, the positions they had captured were lost again.
Then the Vietnamese army organized a counterattack, but after several attacks, the gains were not much, and Vo Nguyen Giap also murmured in his heart.
If we continue to attack Dongxi Town at this time, even if it is captured, the army will be very exhausted. What if we encounter the French army again? Thinking of this, Wu Yuanjia wanted to withdraw, but he had no decision-making power, so he called Chen Geng to explain the situation, hoping that he could agree to withdraw his troops.
Chen Geng was very angry when he received a call from Vo Nguyen Giap and told him directly: Keep fighting at all costs!
Chen Geng then adjusted his deployment in time according to the battlefield conditions, changing the previous attack from one direction to a four-sided attack, focusing on the south and north directions.
Under Chen Geng’s insistence, Dongxi Town was finally captured two days later.
After the war, we found out that there were only 287 French troops in Dongxi Town, but the Vietnamese army had invested more than 7,000 troops.
With such a huge military advantage, Vietnam still captured Dongxi Town with more than 500 casualties and more than 20 French troops escaping. This made Chen Geng very sad.
When Ho Chi Minh asked Chen Geng what he thought of this victory, Chen Geng said bluntly: I think this is a victory of defeat.
Chen Geng then raised several current problems of the Vietnamese army to Ho Chi Minh, and Ho Chi Minh nodded repeatedly and praised him very much.How many generals like
are there in China?
After the Battle of Dongxi, Chen Geng analyzed the next movement of the French army and believed that the Sacdong Corps in Gaoping City would abandon the city and flee, and the French army would also arrange for the French army from Qixi to meet them.
The senior generals of the Vietnamese army naturally refused to believe it. The commander of the 308th Division even made a bet with Chen Geng. The bet was a roast suckling pig.
However, the French army's next actions were indeed carried out according to Chen Geng's expectations.
After the defeat in the Battle of Dongxi, the French army thought that the main force of the Vietnamese army had arrived, and the commander-in-chief General Cabange thought he was smart and used the plan of "encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao".
On the one hand, he gathered forces to attack Taiyuan, the seat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam. On the other hand, he asked the French army in the Gaoping area to abandon this place and move to Qixi.
At the same time, as Chen Geng expected, the French army ordered Colonel Lebarge, the French commander in Qixi, to assist Colonel Shadong's troops in Gaoping.
At this time, under Chen Geng's arrangement, a pocket targeting the French army had been opened.
On October 1, Lebarge's troops crossed Highway 4 and entered the "pocket" prepared by Chen Geng.
After the French army entered the ambush circle of the Vietnamese army, the 308th Division, which was responsible for the ambush mission, fell behind.
They have been ambushing here for 10 consecutive days. The mood of the officers and soldiers began to relax, and the army rations were exhausted. The leaders of the 308th Division ignored the advice of the Chinese military adviser and sent half of the people to the back mountains to transport food.
As a result, the food transporters left, and Lebarge's army came back. The 308th Division hurriedly organized a blockade, but due to insufficient troops, they watched Lebarge's army pass through the encirclement.
Seeing such a battle situation, Chen Geng was angry and laughing. In order to take the overall situation into consideration, he suppressed all negative emotions and studied a feasible battle plan again.
After reviewing the battlefield situation again, Chen Geng suggested to Ho Chi Minh: ignore the French army's actions in the Taiyuan area, only concentrate on superior forces, and fight this war of annihilation in the border areas.
Ho Chi Minh also quickly accepted Chen Geng's suggestion and once again launched a blocking battle against the French army in the Gushe Mountain area. Not long after the battle of
started, the Vietnamese army suffered a small setback. Senior generals of the Vietnamese army, including Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap, wanted to quit.
Seeing this sentiment spreading among the Vietnamese army, Chen Geng constantly encouraged the Vietnamese generals, analyzed to them the conditions that were favorable to the Vietnamese army, and encouraged them to fight the French army to the end.
Despite this, on the evening of October 4, Vo Yuan Giap still called Chen Geng to discuss and wanted to withdraw the troops from Gu Sheshan.
When Chen Geng heard Vo Nguyen Giap's words on the phone, he stood up anxiously and said categorically to Vo Nguyen Giap: Fight, we must fight. If we don't fight this battle, there will be no easy wars in the future!
Vo Yuan Giap was still hesitating and added: Should we let the troops rest for a while?
Chen Geng was completely angry now. He held the microphone in one hand and put his hand on his hips and shouted: If you don't do this profitable business, I will have no choice but to pack up and leave!
Hearing Chen Geng's anger, Vo Yuan Giap immediately said that Chen Geng could not leave, and he immediately reorganized the battle.
After finishing the call with Vo Nguyen Giap, Chen Geng was still worried and called Ho Chi Minh again, asking him to personally boost the morale of the troops.
After Ho Chi Minh asked what was going on, he immediately ordered the Vietnamese army to attack the French army in the encirclement.
Vo Yuan Giap no longer hesitated and ordered the 308th Division to immediately pursue the enemy. After five days and five nights of fighting, the deputy commander of the French Lebarge Corps was killed, and Lebarge himself was captured.
On the same day, the Sakdong regiment that tried to escape was also wiped out. Sakdong and the governor of the puppet Gaoping Province were captured, winning the victory in the Sino-Vietnamese border battle.
In this battle, the two French regiments of Sacdon and Lebarge were completely wiped out. The French army also retreated one after another in the Sino-Vietnamese border area.
The French army stationed on Highway 4 also staged an "escape race" to see who could run faster. The defense line on Highway 4, which the French army had spent three years working on, completely collapsed.
At the celebration banquet, the commander of the 308th Division presented a roast suckling pig in accordance with the bet. The senior generals of the Vietnamese army were also convinced by Chen Geng and rushed up to toast him.
During four months of serving as a staff officer in Vietnam, Chen Geng established a great advantage for the Vietnamese army and laid a solid foundation for Vietnam's future independence.
After Chen Geng returned to China, Wei Guoqing and other Chinese military advisory groups remained in Vietnam. They implemented Chen Geng's strategic policy and made suggestions for the final victory of the Viet Cong.
When Chen Geng returned, the Vietnamese general asked the people on the Chinese military advisory group: How many outstanding generals like Chen Geng do China have?
Vietnam naturally wanted to keep Chen Geng, but at this time the campaign to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea had begun, and there were other tasks waiting for Chen Geng.
On November 1, after completing the tasks assigned to him by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Comrade Chen Geng returned to China, and then went into the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, leading the volunteer army to show the majesty of the Chinese army on the Korean battlefield.
Conclusion:
After the First World War in Dongxi, when Chen Geng was summarizing the battle, he once told Ho Chi Minh that the reason why the Vietnamese army fought so hard was because its cadres lacked actual combat experience. He suggested that the Vietnamese army train them from veterans. , select cadres.
He also wrote a "Opinions on Work after the Victory of the Battle" and gave it to Ho Chi Minh. At the summary meeting of the border battle, Ho Chi Minh spoke highly of Chen Geng's views and compared Chen Geng's opinions with the victory of the border battle.
Chen Geng not only won victory for the Vietnamese People's Army, but also left them a valuable asset.
References
1. Song Dianming. General Chen Geng in Vietnam [J]. Party History Wenhui, 1995, (Issue 6).
2. Editorial Department of this Journal. Chen Geng "conquered" Vo Nguyen Giap in one battle [J]. Phoenix News , 2014, (Issue 1).
3. Ke Yun. The whole story of Ho Chi Minh’s command of Chen Gengzhi [J]. Literature and History Monthly, 2006(07):8-9.
