Before the outbreak of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, Vietnam could be said to be extremely defensive against China. At that time, Vietnam planted tens of thousands of anti-infantry mines and thousands of anti-tank mines on the Sino-Vietnamese border, and laid a large number of traps. Throughout the late 1970s, Vietnam was basically in a state of first-degree combat readiness. But over time, Vietnam gradually let down its guard, and the day after Vietnam lowered its first-level war readiness to second-level, war broke out between China and Vietnam.
Vietnam believes that China does not dare to attack
On February 16, 1979, the commander of Vietnam's First Military Region, Tan Quang Trung, said that the Chinese army did not dare to fight, so he downgraded the first-level combat readiness to the second-level combat readiness, and then Tan Guangzhong went to Cambodia on the Sino-Vietnamese border. But what the Vietnamese side did not expect was that China launched a large-scale offensive from the Two regions of Laizhou and Quang Ninh in Vietnam on February 17.
This completely surprised Vietnam. At that time, Vietnam was sure that China would not attack them, so Vietnam had already sent a large number of main forces to the south to attack Cambodia and Laos. But the actions of the Chinese army completely caught Vietnam by surprise, and when Vietnam thought that China would not attack, China came over. So Vietnam quickly abandoned the plan to attack Cambodia and Laos, and urgently transferred the main force to the north.
During this time difference, China used its strong firepower superiority to hit Lang Son all the way, leaving the Vietnamese capital Hanoi with no natural danger to defend. At this time, the main Vietnamese army was still 18,000 miles away from the Sino-Vietnamese front, and just when Vietnam thought that its capital was about to fall, the Chinese army decisively withdrew from Vietnam. Later, in the history of the Vietnamese army, he also clearly admitted that he was a light enemy.
Why does Vietnam think China does not dare to attack?
At that time, Vietnam decided that China did not dare to attack for a reason, because Vietnam and the Soviet Union signed a military alliance treaty. Once the Chinese army attacked Vietnam, the Soviet Union would also march south, and by that time China would be in a state of two-front combat. Moreover, at that time, when Facing Vietnam's violation of a series of sovereignty acts of China, China had been talking with the Vietnamese side with considerable restraint and wanted to peacefully resolve the border dispute, which made the Vietnamese side even more convinced that China did not dare to move.
In addition, even if China did attack Vietnam, it would certainly be impossible for a large army to attack. Because at that time, the Soviet Union had millions of troops in northern China, and as soon as There was a disturbance in China, the Soviet Union would immediately move. If China sends non-main forces, Vietnam is confident of beating the Chinese troops out.
Vietnam's light enemy
But Vietnam clearly overestimated its own strength, and although China sent new recruits to Vietnam at the time, China had an absolute firepower advantage. At that time, in order to deal with the Soviet Union, China carried out more than ten or twenty years of military production, and the warehouse was stockpiled with endless shells. Vietnam just planted on China's head this time, allowing China to clear its inventory.
Under the indiscriminate bombardment of our army, the Vietnamese army had no ability to counterattack at all, and even Vietnam could not even organize a counterattack. So my army was able to push all the way to Langshan in just half a month. When our army withdrew, our army also laid a large number of mines, which made the Vietnamese army taste a series of hardships.