"If the Central Committee decides to fight back and we are not prepared, then we will become sinners of the nation."
This sentence is a sentence that General Luo Ruiqing said to the deputy director of the Ministry of Operations, so what role did General Luo Ruiqing play in the counterattack against India in 1962? How much effort did he put into this border war? What is the relationship between General Luo Ruiqing and Zhang Guohua? After the 1962 Border War, how did Zhang Guohua evaluate the strength of the Indian army when he reported to the central government?
India was relatively honest when it first became independent in 1947, but in the mid-1950s it began to go crazy, and there were two main reasons for the madness: the first was the help of the United States and the Soviet Union to India in the cold war environment, and both the United States and the Soviet Union wanted to pull India into their camp, so for a while India became a fragrant feast, which also made Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru float up.
The second reason is the improvement of India's status in the international community, india was the boss of non-aligned countries at that time, very respected, which directly increased Nehru's self-confidence.
With india's smooth sailing and the encouragement behind the old United States, Nehru has become more and more unscrupulous on the Sino-Indian border issue.
In 1959, the Indian army pressed against us in the eastern part of the border, provoking bloodshed such as the Langjiu Incident and the Khlong Kazan Pass.
Luo Ruiqing, chief of the general staff at that time, was one of the ten founding generals of our country, and he knew very well that this battle was likely to be unavoidable, so he sent some cadres to the Tibetan border areas to understand the situation.
Before leaving, General Luo Ruiqing instructed the deputy director of the War Department: "Can you go to the border to see if the indian army's aggressive activities can be stopped?" What if I can't stop? If necessary, you must fight, you are the deputy director of the War Department, guangqian will not let you, people will say your second words, the War Department is not a concession department, we must be prepared, but we must pay attention to the fact that no shots are allowed until Chairman Mao has made up his mind. ”
After listening to General Luo Ruiqing's arrangement, the personnel of the War Department hurried to the Tibetan border, and when they arrived at the border area, they found that the other side was becoming more and more rampant, and the Indian army also stationed their sentries behind our army, forming a state of encirclement of our army's sentries.
The other side was very crazy at that time, it is said that when the Indian army patrolled, the chin was raised as high as the eyes, walking with its head up, looking like the first in the world, very arrogant, after understanding the specific situation on the border, General Luo Ruiqing made a report to Chairman Mao in a timely manner.
On October 12, 1962, after some consideration, Chairman Mao finally made up his mind to start a counterattack against India's self-defense, and after Chairman Mao made up his mind, General Luo Ruiqing immediately drafted a telegram to the border guard unit, in which he instructed: "This operation is related to the prestige of the country and the military, and it is imperative that the initial battle must be won, and can only be fought well and cannot be broken; in view of military command work, political mobilization work, and logistical support work, it is necessary to make meticulous plans, make preparations in advance, and constantly educate the soldiers participating in the war not to take the enemy lightly. We must not be careless, we must always bear in mind Chairman Mao's teachings, despise the enemy strategically, and attach importance to the enemy tactically. ”
After receiving the telegram from General Luo Ruiqing, the front-line border defense unit made full preparations according to the instructions, and the counterattack task in the eastern section was handed over to Zhang Guohua, commander of the Tibet Military Region, and the commander-in-chief of the western section was He Jiachan, commander of the Xinjiang Southern Xinjiang Military Region.
In response to the counterattack in the east, General Luo Ruiqing was very concerned, because the main target of this battle was the Kejielang area.
The 7th Brigade of the Century-old Ace Brigade of the Indian Army was stationed in the Kojang area, which was arguably the strongest unit in India at that time, so the importance of the Battle of Kojlang is self-evident.
After laying out the general battle plan, General Luo Ruiqing always paid close attention to the development of the war, and our army did not disappoint the people, and soon the other side's Seventh Brigade was almost wiped out.
When the last good news came, General Luo Ruiqing stood in a temporary war room looking at the war report, looking at the military map hanging on the wall, he smiled, although he had not rested much for several days and nights, but he was still insisting.
General Luo Ruiqing did not hesitate, and he drafted a telegram to the Border Defense Department again overnight, instructing: "After the completion of the campaign in the Kejielang area, our army will take a short break or not rest, and immediately take advantage of the victory to pursue and prepare to attack the Tawang area." ”
The purpose of this plan is twofold: first, in fact, we do not recognize the so-called McMahon Line, and second, to create favorable conditions for a negotiated settlement of the Sino-Indian border.
After receiving instructions from General Luo Ruiqing, the border guards first divided their troops into five routes and pulled out the Indian base in the rear of the Kejielang area, and then on October 25, our army successively occupied Tawang and the area north of Tawang, recovering a large amount of territory.
At the same time, in the western section of Xinjiang's Wanhe Valley and Hongshantou and other areas, the border defense forces used the tactic of "pulling out points to attack the strongholds" and launched counterattacks against more than 40 Indian military strongholds that invaded China.
After moving to 700 kilometers, on October 28, 1962, our army successfully recaptured Zhangduo, Barigas and other places, uprooted 37 of their strongholds, and finally completed the counterattack operation in the western section, and the first phase of the counterattack ended in victory.
In the course of the first phase of the counterattack, the good news from the front line continued to reach the General Staff Headquarters in Beijing, and General Luo Ruiqing was very moved, praising the border guards one after another, and then he drafted a commendation order.
The commendation order stated: "In this counterattack battle, the participating troops and all the commanders have high morale under the difficult conditions of the harsh cold of the plateau, bravely and well fought, and simply annihilated the enemy, which is worthy of commendation." ”
At the same time, he also warned: "The other side is likely to launch a second counterattack, and we must be prepared for continuous combat and long-term struggle until the other side agrees to a reasonable settlement of the border issue." ”
In addition, at the end, General Luo Ruiqing also explained: "At this moment, we must not take the enemy lightly, and the troops participating in the battle must consolidate the victory they have won in a timely manner, sum up their combat experience, guard against arrogance and impetuosity, and continue to make efforts, and be ready to strike at the invading enemy again." ”
On 24 October 1962 we issued a statement proposing three proposals for a renegotiation of a peaceful settlement, and on 28 October our army ceased its counterattack, but Nehru did not heed our good advice.
On November 14, 1962, the other side once again launched an attack on the entire border line, and on November 16, our army was forced to launch a counterattack in self-defense again.
In order to fight the second stage of the counterattack, General Luo Ruiqing drafted operational instructions overnight, and revised more than a dozen inappropriate points, and then sent them to He Long and Nie Rongzhen for review, and after reviewing no problems, they were immediately sent to the front line.
The content of this operational instruction mainly has two points: These two points are popularly said to encourage the soldiers not to be afraid, as long as the other side does not obey, then continue to fight, the more enemies annihilated, the more painful they are, and the more favorable we will be in the negotiations later.
In addition, at the end of this instruction report, General Luo Ruiqing once again stressed one thing, that is, we must not take the enemy lightly, and we must be prepared to fight a hard battle and a complex and difficult environment.
The report also pointed out: "In mountain warfare, all units must pay attention to good liaison and coordination, and at the same time, they must be prepared for the worst situation, and every regiment, company, platoon, and even every person must have the preparation for independent combat and the spirit of being lonely." ”
This instruction of General Luo Ruiqing showed a very good example, Pang Guoxing and other three-man group fought alone, captured three artillery positions on the other side, and also captured 7 artillery pieces, after the battle, Pang Guoxing also said "The enemy not only did not surrender, but also dared to attack me back", this domineering sentence.
After receiving this instruction from General Luo Ruiqing, the border troops adjusted themselves, and then officially launched the second phase of the counterattack.
After four days, our army swept away the fallen leaves with the autumn wind, took down the West Pass in the eastern section, and eliminated all the foreign troops that invaded our Pangongluo area in the western section.
On November 21, our army announced to the world that from 00:00 on November 22, 1962, our army took the initiative to cease fire on the entire border line, and in order to maintain the traditional friendship between the two countries, Chairman Mao, while deciding to withdraw from the ceasefire, also ordered the return of all weapons, equipment and other materials captured in this self-defense counterattack to India.
General Luo Ruiqing also knew Chairman Mao's intentions, and he implemented them without any opinion, but in the process of sorting out the materials, some cadres in the border defense forces suggested that a few mountain vehicles with better performance be left behind, but they were vetoed by General Luo Ruiqing, and Luo Ruiqing's chief of staff said: "Don't stay, return them all." ”
Instead of killing, beating, cursing, or insulting the prisoners, we gave them preferential treatment in their lives, and on May 26, 1963, all of these prisoners of war were released.
After the end of the counterattack against India, Zhang Guohua, commander of the Tibet Military Region, came to the central authorities to make a report, and Zhang Guohua said: "After the victory of the troops in the first stage of counterattack, many soldiers had some pride. ”
Zhang Guohua also said: "This counterattack war is quite arduous, and our army is actually facing two enemies, one is the bearded soldiers of India, and the other is the natural environment. ”
The Seventh Brigade of the Indian Army's Ace Brigade, which has a century-old history, is indeed not vegetarian, and our side has also suffered a little loss, on the whole, the other side's individual combat strength is still relatively tenacious, and the bayonet is also very powerful, not exactly "tofu soldiers", they are mainly commanding. ”
The natural environment is another enemy, the front line climate is harsh, the plateau is cold.
When Zhang Guohua said this, General Luo Ruiqing also said: "In the Second World War, the Japanese army and the Indian army fought a battle in the Assam area, this battle the Japanese army suffered a big defeat, more than 100,000 people were almost completely annihilated, to a large extent, it was to eat the loss of the harsh natural environment, our army rarely fought in such a harsh climate in the past, this counterattack war not only defeated the invading enemy army, but also defeated the harsh natural environment, and defeated two enemies at the same time. This proves that no enemy is invincible. ”
Later, when meeting with Chairman Mao, General Luo Ruiqing relayed the contents of Zhang Guohua's speech to his face, and Chairman Mao was very happy after listening to it, and Chairman Mao said: "Yue Fei said, civilian officials do not want money, military generals are not afraid of death, the world is too peaceful, this sentence is one-sided, as if civilian officials do not want money, but they can be afraid of death, and military generals are not afraid of death, but they can ask for money." ”
Chairman Mao then went on to say: "Our civilian officials do not want money nor fear death, and military attaches are neither afraid of death nor money. ”