The 712 Artillery Battle was a fierce local conflict in the Sino-Vietnamese border war, considered a victory for the PLA and a nightmare for the Vietnamese army. The battle took place in 1979, when Vietnam adopted a pro-Soviet and anti-China policy, constantly provoked the Sino-Vietnamese border, and even tried to invade Chinese territory, angering the Chinese people and eventually triggering a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.
During the 712 artillery battle, the PLA took effective measures to defeat several Vietnamese units that claimed to be able to occupy Nanning before the Spring Festival. Although our army also suffered considerable losses, on the whole, the PLA was the victorious side.
However, the Chinese government underestimated Vietnam's stubbornness and hoped that Vietnam would return to friendly relations. But Vietnam did not appreciate China's goodwill, but deployed a large number of troops on the border and continued its provocations. The Vietnamese army not only illegally occupied Lao Son and other places, but also opened fire on Chinese territory, resulting in casualties among border residents. Faced with this situation, the Chinese government ordered the People's Liberation Army to move quickly to retake the territory.
In the battle of Lao Son , the PLA used artillery to cover with fire, destroyed the fortifications of the Vietnamese army, and easily recaptured the Lao Son area. However, the Vietnamese army was not willing to accept defeat and launched several counterattacks, the largest of which was in 1984. Our troops received an unexpected attack with heavy losses, but in the end managed to recapture the lost positions with rocket artillery clusters.
Before the outbreak of the 712 artillery battle, our army detected the unusual military movements of the Vietnamese army and sent reconnaissance units to obtain intelligence. Although our army obtained information about the Vietnamese attack in advance, the Vietnamese army was unaware. In the end, the Vietnamese army launched an offensive in the early hours of 712, and our artillery strikes destroyed a large number of Vietnamese soldiers, but the Vietnamese still resisted stubbornly. Our artillery consumed a lot of ammunition, but in the end won the battle.
The Battle of 712 achieved a major victory, which caused the Vietnamese army to suffer from a serious loss of vitality and could not launch another large-scale offensive. The artillery units of the People's Liberation Army performed well, and the losses of the Vietnamese were enormous.