On February 17, 1979, a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam broke out, and when the war broke out, Zhang Wannian was the commander of the "Iron Army Division". Speaking of Master Zhang Wannian, he has a deep relationship with Vietnam.
In 1967, Zhang Wannian, then chief of the operations section of the Operations Department of the Guangzhou Military Region, suddenly disappeared from the sight of his colleagues, and even his wife did not know where he was going, only that he was on a top-secret mission. A year later, Zhang Wannian returned, and the whole person became vicissitudes, and his weight lost dozens of pounds.
This mysterious time of the year, Zhang Wannian spent in Vietnam, as a military adviser sent by China to the Viet Cong, carrying out the task of resisting the United States and aiding Vietnam. After returning to China, Zhang Wannian always talked about his days in the Viet Cong, and his eyes flashed with tears, he said: "If you catch anything in the jungle, you can eat..." During those difficult years, ordinary people could not imagine.
It can be said that Vietnam's independence is inseparable from China's assistance, but Vietnam chose the Soviet Union and began to take hostile behavior toward China. In 1979, China took countermeasures. Zhang Wannian participated in the war as the commander of the 127th Division.
At 19:00 on March 3, 1979, Zhang Wannian suddenly received instructions from the military commander: "Originally planned to attack a certain city in Vietnam, but because the troops have not yet reached the designated position, the time had to be changed to 7 o'clock on the 4th." The rear troops immediately stopped crossing the river, but the two battalions that had already crossed the river fell into a lone position.
At this time, Zhang Wannian was very anxious. If the two battalions are withdrawn, the river bank that is difficult to occupy is likely to be reoccupied by the Vietnamese army, and it will pay a greater price to cross the river again; if it is not withdrawn, the two battalions are likely to be eaten by the Vietnamese army and suffer huge losses.
The military chief reminded Zhang Wannian: "Withdraw the two battalions that have crossed the river to the north bank, and if the other side eats the two battalions, the loss will be too great and not worth it." Faced with the most severe test since the beginning of the war, Zhang Wannian smoked one cigarette after another, thinking about how to be the most secure?
After Zhang Wannian's deliberation, he made up his mind and reported to the chief: "Chief, instead of withdrawing the two battalions crossing the river, we can adopt the tactic of 'guiding the west' to confuse the nerves of the other side and disintegrate in advance the attack operations that the heavy troops of the other side may attack our troops crossing the river." ”
The head of the army and the chief of the Guangxi front approved his deployment and reminded Zhang Wannian again: "Since we have adopted the tactic of guiding the west, we must calm down, use falsehood and confusion, and completely put the other side into a state of panic, all we have to do is drag them down, and we will win until dawn." ”
This battle concerned the lives of the soldiers of two battalions of our army, and Zhang Wannian commanded the battle all night long, impatient, and could only smoke one cigarette after another. Thankfully, the Vietnamese were so flustered that they had no time to take care of the ferry port controlled by the 127th Division. At dawn, Zhang Wannian breathed a sigh of relief, and this night, he smoked seven packs of cigarettes!
When Zhang Wannian was about to walk back to the command post, he only heard a sudden burst of gunfire on the hill where the command post was located, and a soldier rushed over to report to Zhang Wannian, saying: "Division commander, the agents of the other side attacked our headquarters, your command vehicle was punched in 16 holes, our translator unfortunately died, and the other side fled..."
Zhang Wannian immediately rushed back, when the military commander Zhu Chuanyu called, the tone was very severe, and asked him twice whether he was Zhang Wannian, Zhang Wannian felt a little strange. Zhu Chuanyu roared on the other side of the phone: "The other side's radio station is broadcasting, and their special agent team has taken the division headquarters of the 'Iron Army Division', and also captured Zhang Wannian alive, and is on the way to escort him." ”
Zhang Wannian was furious: "Nonsense! After reporting to the commander of the army, the division commander became angry: "You look at the ordinance, where should your command post be placed?" And where are you now? Zhang Wannian knew that the military commander was worried about his own safety, so he replied humorously: "Commander, I am fighting on the front line, how can I bring orders?" ”
Under the command of Zhang Wannian, the "Iron Army Division" fought five battles and won five victories, and the progress was rapid. The soldiers once picked up a Vietnamese flyer on the front line, which read in Chinese with the words "Eliminate 127, Capture Zhang Wannian Alive". In the counterattack against Vietnam, Zhang Wannian was the nemesis of the Vietnamese army.
At 17:00 on January 14, 2015, Comrade Zhang Wannian died in Beijing at the age of 87 due to ineffective medical treatment.
However, what is thought-provoking is that two days after Zhang Wannian's death, a second-line female singer in the mainland, Yao Beina, also died, and the news also bombed the circle of friends, while Zhang Wannian, the former chairman of the Central Military Commission who fought Japan and Vietnam, died but no one cared.
Netizens joked: "After a lifetime of fighting, it is better to sing a few songs, sad, the general has gone all the way!" The backbone of the nation! ”