In April 1962, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru mobilized troops across the McMahon Line, declaring that "the Chinese army has been driven back two miles", arrogantly and provocatively, and he even threatened: China does not dare to fight!
When the news came, Chairman Mao learned that the first reaction was not so much surprise as doubt--he really couldn't figure out why India was doing this. I thought about it for 10 days and didn't understand why I came.
Chairman Mao could not understand Nehru's sudden provocation for no other reason than a few reasons.
First, China's military strength is clearly stronger than India's.
The soldiers under the leadership of the Communist Party have experienced major wars such as the War of Resistance Against Japan, Liberation, and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
In particular, during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the volunteer army drove out of Korea, which was known as the strongest US army in the world, which showed its strength, and where did Nehru have the courage to come and provoke?
Second, even from India's own perspective, it would be unwise to provoke a big country like China.
Compared with China, India has also experienced a long war.
In 1947, the Indian people had a hard time driving out the British colonists and declaring independence, the country was once impoverished, and the number of poor and unemployed people was innumerable, so why didn't they try to develop the economy and build the country, but instead ran to fight?
Finally, and most importantly, china and India have historically cooperated and friendshipd.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, China sent troops to the Indian-Burmese battlefield to cooperate with the Indian side to resist the Japanese invaders, and India was able to gain independence, and the Chinese side also contributed to a certain extent.
At that time, the Indian side was still quite generous, expressed gratitude for the arrival of the Chinese army, gave material and medical assistance, and also assisted the Chinese side in opening the "Hump Route" and cooperated with the Chinese side to transport back gasoline, equipment and other war materials from India.
From this point of view, the two countries can also be regarded as having "shared hardships" and are friends who have fought side by side.
Therefore, no matter from what aspect, Chairman Mao could not figure out why Nehru suddenly sent troops to provoke, which was not in India's national interest at all.
Ten thousand steps back, even if India can really win the war, what is the use of taking that part of the territory?
At that time, China, as a large country with a population of nearly 700 million, had great potential.
If India can achieve a temporary victory, it will fall into endless disputes and troubles in the future, and with this energy to deal with it, why not spend more time developing domestic economic construction?
All in all, Nehru's vision was so short-sighted that Chairman Mao did not understand his brain circuitry for a while when he heard the news.
So why does India have to live with China?
This brings us to the origin of India's historical legacy, the "McMahon Line."
The root cause of the Sino-Indian war: the temptation of the "McMahon Line"
In 1947, the Indian people, after a long struggle, forced the British to abandon and withdraw from India.
Before leaving, the vicious colonists took advantage of the interreligious contradictions in India to divide India into two, namely India and Pakistan.
The intention of the British is obvious, that is, to deliberately provoke contradictions between India and Pakistan, so that they will fall into quagmire, so that India will fall into infighting even if it is independent, and it will not be able to become a strong opponent.
When the British colonists left, they also announced in a high-profile manner that the "McMahon Line" occupied during the colonial period was still valid, deliberately provoking contradictions between India and China.
The so-called "McMahon Line" refers to the British who maliciously pushed forward the Sino-Indian border during the Indian colonial period and encroached on a vast area of about 90,000 square kilometers of land in southern Tibet, called the "McMahon Line".
When the British invaded and occupied the "McMahon Line," new China had just been founded, everything was complicated, everything was in ruins, and border affairs were not perfected for a while, so the matter was shelved and let the British be proud for a while.
The Indian side, after driving out the colonizers, experienced the pain of being invaded, did not think of opposing war, did not think of making progress, shamelessly obeyed the provocations of the British, and openly declared that the "McMahon Line" was legal and valid and belonged to the territory of India.
After driving out the colonizers, the invaders went so far as to inherit the colonists' "aggressive legacy", and india's wave of operations is really a bit disgraceful.
From 1951 to 1953, China and India negotiated many times on the "McMahon Line" issue, but no agreement was reached.
Although we have a reason, we have not been unreasonable.
With regard to the border issue, the mainland has always advocated a diplomatic, peaceful and friendly solution, and is unwilling to make a stalemate with its neighbors, after all, there has been friendship between China and India in history.
In 1954, when Nehru visited China, Chairman Mao personally received him and stressed to him that India was An "old friend" of China and that the Sino-Indian border issue was only a "difference between friends."
The following year, Premier Zhou went to Indonesia for the Bandung Conference, where he was greeted by Nehru, and the crowd shouted "China and India are friends!" ”
Nehru agreed with Premier Zhou on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and the picture of Premier Zhou shaking hands with Nehru during the meeting was also photographed by reporters.
During the conversation, Premier Zhou also expressed goodwill to Nehru, hoping to use the friendly channel of peaceful diplomacy to communicate and negotiate to resolve the Sino-Indian border issue, and at this time Nehru's attitude was equally kind and did not show hostility.
But since 1959, India has made small moves in Tibet.
In 1959, the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso plotted an armed rebellion in an attempt to "independentize" Tibet from China, and the central government sent the People's Liberation Army to Tibet to quell the rebellion, and the Dalai Lama fled to India.
The Indian side not only received the Dalai Lama, but also took the opportunity to propose to China that nearly 90,000 square kilometers of land in the eastern section of the "McMahon Line" and about 30,000 square kilometers in the west be included in Indian territory.
This unreasonable demand was naturally rejected by the Chinese side, who knew that India had also embarked on a "forward policy" to create incidents in the eastern and western sectors, killing and injuring many officers and men of the Chinese border defense forces.
On the one hand, China is aware of the historical friendship between China and India and is reluctant to expand the situation; On the other hand, the Chinese side is well aware of the conspiracy of the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries to use India to contain China's development.
Therefore, for India's small actions, the Chinese side has always adopted the means of persuasion and communication to negotiate with India.
India, however, was mistaken, felt that China was weak and deceitful, and secretly supported the rebellion of the Tibetan serf owners, and as a result, it was once again destroyed by the People's Liberation Army.
So far, the Indian side has only made a small fuss, and the Chinese side is still lenient and tolerant.
It was only Chairman Mao who never expected that after a series of self-righteous "temptations," Nehru saw that the Chinese side's attitude had always been very gentle and inexplicably inflated.
Beginning in April 1962, Nehru established as many as 43 military defensive positions in China on the western section of the China-India border, and in the face of China's peaceful representations, he repeatedly refused and was determined to deal with the Chinese side by force.
What is it that makes Nehru so confident that he dares to be tough with China?
Second, nehru's source of confidence: one goes and the other
The reason why Nehru is so confident can be summed up in four words: one goes by the other.
"Elimination", that is, Nehru believes that the situation facing China at that time is not optimistic.
First of all, before the founding of the People's Republic of China, it experienced too many wars, warlord wars, anti-Japanese wars, and liberation wars, and it was already scarred, full of holes, and the domestic economy was tense, and it had not yet developed.
When Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan, he also took with him a large amount of gold, silver, and money, which also dealt a serious blow to the economy of the Chinese mainland.
Subsequently, in 1950, the Chinese side formed a volunteer army to resist the United States and aid Korea, and fought fiercely against the well-equipped US army in the Korean War, although it successfully helped North Korea drive out the US army, the Chinese side also paid the price and hurt its vitality.
By 1960, the Soviet Union tried to pull China into the Cold War vortex of the United States and the Soviet Union for hegemony, chairman Mao resolutely opposed it, and the "big brother of the Soviet Union" broke with China.
At this point, in the face of the suppression of the Soviet Union and the economic blockade of the United States and other Western countries, the domestic vitality had not yet been restored, and Chiang Kai-shek was still colluding with the Americans in Taiwan in an attempt to seize the opportunity to "counterattack" the mainland.
For a variety of reasons, Nehru believes that the situation facing China is quite grim.
"Long" is nehru's view that India is the time when "the situation is very good".
First of all, India drove out the British colonists, and the industrial base built by the colonists in India was inherited by India, which promoted India's industrial development to a certain extent.
After winning the War of Independence, Morale in India gradually rose, and the colonists' industrial base was used to produce firearms as armaments, and its strength was further enhanced.
The advanced equipment of the British has also been inherited by India, and during World War II, India's troops have fought with Britain and the United States and other countries, and have been militarized by Britain and the United States, so that the Indian side feels that it has tens of thousands of elite divisions, and the strength of its ace troops is still above the People's Liberation Army.
At the same time, in order to contain China's development, Britain and the United States and other countries have given India certain support militarily and economically, and Nehru believes that now is a good time to seize the "McMahon Line".
Every generation of Indian leaders has a "great power dream," and Nehru, of course, is no exception, he was blinded by ambition, which is where the scene at the beginning of this article occurs.
How will Chairman Mao finally respond to such a resolute provocation by India this time?
He gave Zhang Guohua an order.
Chairman Mao ordered Zhang Guohua to sweep it away
Since April, Nehru has refused to negotiate peacefully with the Chinese side, during which time he has been making a big fuss, "China does not dare to fight!" "We must deal with China to the end!" "Get rid of all the Chinese!" ”
By September, Nehru had crossed the eastern section of the McMahon Line, deploying 16,000 troops and 5,600 troops in the western section, going further and further down the road of breaking with China.
Since the other party is obsessed, if I continue to tolerate it, won't I appear weak and deceitful?
We must let the Anglo-American, Soviet Union, and other countries behind India know that safeguarding national territorial integrity is the obligation and responsibility of every son and daughter of China, and that the issue of territorial sovereignty is the bottom line that China cannot be crossed by any force!
On October 10 of the same year, Chairman Mao convened a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee to discuss the response to the Sino-Indian border issue.
"Elementary school students know that China's territory is 9.6 million square kilometers, if I lose one foot and one inch in my hands, how do I explain it to the people of the whole country?"
This was chairman Mao's own bold remark at the meeting, which showed firm determination.
"India's behavior has seriously violated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and we can no longer let them go."
Some of the less tempered revolutionary veterans immediately responded to the president's determination.
But there are also some veterans who are cautious, believing that India inherits British industry, and in recent years, there have been British and American support behind it, and the equipment and troops are only afraid of being bad, once the war starts, can it win the war?
Chairman Mao then asked Zhang Guohua, commander of the Tibet Military Region, "Do you have the confidence to fight with the Indian army?" ”
Zhang Guohua had been stationed in Tibet for a long time, had a certain understanding of the Indian army, and immediately replied confidently: "Yes, the chairman just rest assured!" ”
Chairman Mao pointed to the Sino-Indian border on the map and issued an order: "Then you sweep it for me!" ”
As a result, the self-defense counterattack operation began, and Zhang Guohua returned to the Tibet Military Region to deploy the strategy.
On 20 October, the Indian army launched a full-scale attack on the Chinese border garrison, and the two sides officially launched a battle in the Kojlang area.
However, both the Chinese side and the Indian side completely misestimated the duration of this war, and the war process was too short to be prevented.
In the western section of the border, Zhang Guohua found out the enemy's deployment, learned that the other side had the characteristics of heavy forward and rear light and flank exposed in deployment, and adopted flexible tactics such as two wings of knife and roundabout encirclement.
The Indian army originally relied on complex terrain such as mountains, canyons, and dense forests to suppress the PLA, but they completely miscalculated.
The combat effectiveness and will to fight of the Chinese People's Liberation Army are far superior to those of Indian soldiers, and the equipment is not bad, the most important thing is that the combat experience completely crushes the Indian side.
How many difficulties did the Red Army overcome during the Long March? India's desire to rely on this terrain advantage to suppress the People's Liberation Army is a complete fool's dream.
To interject, Zhang Guohua was actually sick at that time, and even so, only three days after the battle began, the People's Liberation Army rushed south of the "McMahon Line", annihilated the Indian 7th Brigade, and recovered most of the land south of the border.
The situation in the western sector was also smooth, and it took only eight days to clear the Indian troops invading China and destroy 37 enemy strongholds.
However, china has always adhered to the principle of peaceful coexistence, and as early as the great victory on the eastern front, it had already expressed goodwill to the Indian army, hoping to solve the border issue by peaceful means.
Unexpectedly, Nehru was still stubborn, so Chairman Mao ordered: Fight until he is served.
A month passed, the Indian army suffered consecutive defeats on the battlefield, whether it was the eastern or western front, all the enemy strongholds were destroyed by our side, and the Indian army was forced to withdraw from the border line.
The war lasted only a month, and it was unexpectedly short.
After the end of the war, our army killed and captured more than 8,700 Indian troops and captured a large number of equipment and materials.
The Sino-Indian border self-defense counterattack shattered Nehru's illusory dreams and smashed the conspiracies of Britain, the United States and other countries hidden behind the war.
After the war, the mainland took the initiative to release the captured Indian soldiers and return materials and equipment, regardless of the previous suspicions, but continued to communicate with India with a moderate attitude.
This demeanor of repaying grievances with virtue has made the whole world realize that China is a peace-loving, tolerant and generous country.
We will not allow anyone to invade their territory, and at the same time we will not invade other countries, whether before or after the war, China has fully demonstrated the demeanor of a great power!
The author of this article: Feng Zhengyang, "This is the war" to join the author, without the author himself and "this is the war" permission, may not be reproduced, violators will be investigated for legal responsibility.
Editor's Profile: Wang Zhengxing, former officer of a field unit of the People's Liberation Army, has served in infantry detachments, headquarters, logistics departments and other units, is committed to the study of war history and tactics, and has a unique understanding of military tactics and non-war operations. His book "This is War" was recommended in two issues in May and June 2014 by Phoenix TV's "Eight Minutes of Open Volume" column. His public account name is also "This is war", welcome to pay attention