In the second half of the 1970s, Vietnam had the courage to launch a war of aggression and expansion against neighboring countries in Southeast Asia, not only because it accumulated extremely high combat technology after completing the War to Resist US Aggression, but also because it was inseparable from the support of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had been supporting Vietnam in the 1960s, assisting Vietnam with many advanced weapons and equipment, which made Vietnam's military combat level continue to improve.
After two decades of competition with the United States, the Vietnamese army has gained rich practical combat experience and can be said to be the most militarily powerful country in Southeast Asia. After the fruits of vietnam's victory, it was no longer satisfied with the remote corner, and the expansion of its territory became the next combat target.
Vietnamese Army
The Soviet Union saw Vietnam's ambitions and pushed Vietnam behind its back, making Vietnam think that with the help of the Soviet Union, it could worry about the future, even if the advance in Southeast Asia was not smooth, the Soviet Union would send troops to help. The reason why the Soviet Union supported Vietnam was to expand its power in Southeast Asia through Vietnam's hand, but when Vietnam ignored China's warnings and launched repeated armed provocations against China, China launched a counterattack against Vietnam, but the Soviet Union did not support Vietnam. It turned out that it was because the United States had warned the Soviet Union.
A corner of the counterattack against Vietnamese self-defense
Sino-US relations eased
Sino-Soviet relations took a sharp turn for a while after Khrushchev came to power, the Soviet Union constantly exerted tremendous strategic pressure on China, and The international environment in which China was located was very embarrassing, in order to change this anxious state, ping-pong diplomacy opened a dialogue between China and the United States. When Nixon decided to improve Sino-AMERICAN relations during his visit to China in 1972, it doubled the pressure on the Soviet Union in the struggle for hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union.
By 1978, the Soviet Union had signed a treaty of military cooperation with Vietnam, and Vietnam began its own territorial expansion plan with military assistance from the Soviet Union.
Nixon visited the Great Wall during his visit to China
Relying on the support of the Soviet Union, Vietnam invaded other Southeast Asian countries, vainly wanted to dominate Southeast Asia, and constantly provoked incidents on the Sino-Vietnamese border. Under such circumstances, Sino-US relations, which had not formally established diplomatic relations since Nixon's visit to China, accelerated rapidly at the end of 1978 and formally established Sino-US relations in 1979.
The Sino-US exchange program was quickly put on the agenda at the end of 1978, and the reasons for this could not be more obvious. After the outbreak of the war of self-defense against Vietnam, China faced the pressure of the Soviet Union and Vietnam, but the relaxation of Sino-US relations made China no longer isolated and helpless in the world, at least the factors that the Soviet Union had to consider when sending troops.
News reports on the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States in that year
Soviet concerns
Although the United States was neutral in the international community after the outbreak of the war of counterattack against Vietnam, believing that both China and Vietnam should withdraw their troops, the then President of the United States, Carter, called the Soviet Union to warn it not to take actions that would worsen the situation. Perhaps in view of the détente in Sino-US relations, the Soviet Union had to carefully consider whether to send troops to help Vietnam in the Sino-Vietnamese war. The Situation of the Soviet Union in the Cold War has already prevailed, and sending troops to help Vietnam is undoubtedly giving the United States the opportunity to dominate the world.
U.S. President Carter
Even if the Soviet Union raises troops to the south, it may not be able to win victory, and China itself has nuclear weapons and its equipment strength is not weak. The Soviet Union was also afraid that the United States would provide China with a lot of military assistance, and it would certainly be extremely difficult to end the war as soon as possible. Moreover, the Soviet Union at that time also encountered difficulties in afghanistan and intended to send troops to Afghanistan.
To solve the Afghan problem and send troops to support Vietnam, the Soviet Union will be very busy. It can be said that at this time, the Soviet Union had taken care of itself, and it was impossible to lose the more important interests for itself in order to support Vietnam.
Old photos of the Soviet-Afghan War
In general, the improvement of Sino-US relations has restrained the Soviet Union to a certain extent, made the International situation of the Soviet Union difficult and tense, and forced it to appear cautious on the issue of sending troops to support Vietnam, and finally only supported Vietnam with military equipment, and did not take substantive military action against China.
In fact, regardless of whether the Soviet Union will support Vietnam or not, China has the confidence to defend southern Xinjiang, and finally China has proved to the world the true strength of the Chinese army with nearly a month's achievements, indicating that China is by no means a country that can be threatened or intimidated.
The People's Liberation Army during the Self-Defense Counterattack Against Vietnam