On February 17, 1979, with the People's Liberation Army attacking on all fronts, the mainland's self-defense counterattack against Vietnam officially began.
Aside from a month of all-out counterattacks, the border clashes continued intermittently for 10 years.
In order to make rational use of the opportunity, the mainland has adopted the tactic of rotational warfare on the border, taking turns to pull some troops who have not experienced the flames of war to the Sino-Vietnamese border for training.
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During this period, there was a very famous artillery battle between the mainland and Vietnam, known as the 712 artillery battle.
In this battle, our army frantically poured 3,400 tons of artillery shells in one day, and a single shell was about 34 kilograms.
In other words, a total of more than 100,000 shells fell on the positions of the Vietnamese army, of which more than 13 tons of individual artillery shells were fired, shocking China and foreign countries.
Due to the extremely large scale of this artillery battle and the extremely classic combat examples, this battle was included in the military teaching materials of the National Defense University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the West Point Military Academy of the United States.
What kind of country is Vietnam? How did it provoke the mainland? How tragic was the 712 artillery battle?
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Vietnam: Capricious and ungrateful
The founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 proclaimed that a century of suffering had become a thing of the past, but peace had not yet come, and after World War II, the world was still a very complex pattern.
In particular, the invisible iron curtain between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Cold War began to affect the vast majority of countries in the world.
After the end of World War II, the whole of China and Southeast Asia was in urgent need of recuperation after the ravages and devastation of the Japanese invaders.
After the Liberation War and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the mainland gradually moved on the right track, and our neighbors were not so lucky.
When it comes to Vietnam, mainland people usually comment on it with the words "capricious" and "ungrateful", or even worse than that.
The reason why the mainland's evaluation of Vietnam is relatively negative is that in just a few decades, Vietnam's perfect virtue has shown the mainland what it means to be a "villain".
After the surrender of Japan, a revolution broke out in Vietnam to resist the second invasion from France.
The mainland, on the other hand, extended a helping hand to Vietnam at a time when it was in great difficulty, and it can be said that it unconditionally provided more than 100 billion yuan in funds and millions of tons of supplies.
Vietnam, with the support of the mainland, fought a war against French aggression with great difficulty.
It is fair to say here that in addition to the mainland, the Soviet Union also provided Vietnam with a large amount of assistance and provided Vietnam with countless weapons and equipment.
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The mainland's assistance to Vietnam was not under the Soviet Union, not to mention how difficult it was for New China in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, everyone must know very well in their hearts.
Although France was defeated, the United States jumped out to meddle in Vietnam's internal affairs.
In 1955, the United States brazenly tore up the Geneva Accords and supported the establishment of the Republic of Vietnam (also known as South Vietnam).
Then, in 1961, the Vietnamese Civil War broke out.
Like North Korea, the United States joined South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and other countries to intervene in the civil war in Vietnam.
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According to the international situation at that time, although the mainland did not directly send troops to support, it did not hesitate to provide assistance to Vietnam. With the support of the mainland, Vietnam will be able to hold on until the United States gives up its interests in Vietnam and withdraws from Vietnam in the face of internal and external troubles.
South Vietnam, which had lost the support of American GIs, was no match for North Vietnam, and in May 1975 South Vietnam was destroyed and Vietnam was reunified.
But unexpectedly, the reunification of Vietnam was actually the beginning of a painful experience for the mainland.
In the international situation, changes in Sino-US and Sino-Soviet relations led the Soviet Union to make other plans and began to provide substantial support to Vietnam, and Vietnam, with the dual support of the mainland and the Soviet Union, achieved a qualitative leap in military strength.
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In addition, the arrogance of the U.S. military, which the Vietnamese government had always believed that it had defeated head-on with its capabilities, began to spread, and its ambitions for expansion could no longer be controlled.
While Vietnam sent troops to occupy Cambodia, it began to turn its back on the mainland.
The Vietnamese side first repeatedly caused friction along the Sino-Vietnamese border, injuring civilians on many occasions, and then provoked the PLA several times.
In the eyes of the Vietnamese authorities, although the PLA fought back and forth with the US military on the Korean battlefield, they finally signed an armistice agreement, and they actually defeated the US army.
Therefore, in the eyes of the Vietnamese army at that time, the PLA was even "vulnerable".
Vietnam sent troops to Cambodia
The dazzling Soviet-style and American-style equipment blinded the Vietnamese. In fact, the withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam has little to do with the combat effectiveness of the Vietnamese army.
For reasons of internal affairs, the United States gave up its vested interests in Vietnam, and the so-called frontal defeat of the American army by Vietnam is only the fantasy of the Vietnamese themselves.
However, Vietnam's white-eyed wolf behavior has not ended, and large-scale "anti-Chinese" riots have broken out in Vietnam, and countless Vietnamese overseas Chinese have been deported.
The Vietnamese side ate the grain of the Chinese and scolded the mother of the Chinese. Vietnam's navy has also created a large number of military conflicts in the South China Sea, illegally occupying most of the islands and reefs on the mainland's Spratly Islands.
Vietnam expelled overseas Chinese
To this day, Vietnam is still the country that illegally occupies the most islands and reefs on the mainland.
Based on the above background, the mainland side said: "If children are disobedient, they will be spanked." ”
In front of the mainland, Vietnam is just a child, and it must be spanked in the ass.
Self-defense and counterattack war against Vietnam!
Neither the Vietnamese government nor the Vietnamese army at that time expected that the mainland's counterattack would come so quickly and so fiercely.
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In the eyes of Vietnam, the mainland was at war with the Soviet Union at this time, the great leader had just left the people, and the whole country had just ended a special period, so it should not be able to start a major war.
Deng Gong taught the Vietnamese army a painful lesson with thunderous means, and Vietnam finally saw how terrifying the army of the US military was.
On February 17, 1979, the People's Daily published a front-page headline titled "Is it tolerable or intolerable?", announcing to the world that China would launch a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.
At the same time, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) attacked from three directions, aiming directly at Gaoping, and conquered the strategic target in only seven hours of fierce fighting.
The next strategic goal is Lang Son.
On 27 February, the PLA launched an offensive on Lang Son, and the Vietnamese army was horrified to find itself in front of the PLA with little defense.
The outlying strongholds were swept one after another, and the 308th Division of the Vietnamese Army was almost completely annihilated by our army, and then our side completely annihilated the 346th Division of the Vietnamese Army. At this point, the entire defense line of the Vietnamese army was completely penetrated.
When the whole world thought that the mainland would teach Vietnam another painful lesson, our army announced:
The results of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam have been achieved, and the gradual withdrawal has begun.
The Party Central Committee ordered the orderly withdrawal of all troops, and the blowing up of all factories and other facilities established by China with support for Vietnam during the evacuation.
Vietnam has paid the price for its arrogance and shamelessness, and the mainland has also fully demonstrated the wind of a great power and has not fallen into the trap of Vietnam.
Will Vietnam admit it? Not really.
If they had confessed, they would not have occupied the islands and reefs of the mainland now, and the degree of ingratitude of the country of Vietnam is far beyond our imagination.
The mainland's concession did not bring Vietnam gratitude, but made Vietnam feel that the mainland was afraid of the Soviet Union's interference, so it did not dare to continue the attack.
After the withdrawal of our troops, Vietnam did not relent, but once again created friction on the border, and built a large number of permanent fortifications along the border for warfare.
If it is just ordinary defense fortifications, it is understandable, after all, every country must do national defense.
But the shamelessness of the Vietnamese lies in the fact that they took the opportunity of building fortifications to once again encroach on the border territories belonging to the mainland.
Yes, they built permanent fortifications on the territory of the mainland.
A new round of border clashes began.
In 1984, after the People's Liberation Army recaptured Lao Son, the Vietnamese side began to secretly prepare a counterattack plan.
The Vietnamese side is preparing to secretly transfer troops to pin down the main forces of our army from the east and west, and then open the way with heavy artillery, break through the defense line of our army from the center, and recapture the lost positions.
The enemy's movements were quickly detected by our troops, and in order to reduce the casualties of the troops, our command made a major decision: to repel the enemy's offensive front with artillery battles.
At this time, the level of the mainland's military industry has advanced by leaps and bounds, and it is no longer the People's Liberation Army (PLA) that was always at a "firepower disadvantage" back then.
General Liu Changyou, the commander of our army's front, deployed more than 700 artillery pieces, and after deciphering the telegram from the Vietnamese side, he once again mobilized the military vehicles of the whole division to deploy artillery shells to the Songmaoling front.
First from left: Major General Liu Changyou
With batches of shells in place, the famous tactics of the PLA are about to begin to show!
The Battle of Songmaoling, open the artillery! Open the artillery!
If you are poor, you will be interspersed with tactics, and if you are up to it, you will be covered by firepower!
In the early morning of July 12, the Vietnamese army, under the cover of fire, began a full-scale offensive towards Songmaoling.
Our army, which had long been aware of the enemy's movements, made full use of its intelligence superiority, and after the PLA and the Vietnamese army came into close contact, General Liu Changyou decisively ordered the artillery to open fire at the predetermined coordinates.
The firepower covered the offensive line of the Vietnamese army, and more than 700 artillery pieces opened fire at the same time, and the artillery fire lasted for a full 20 minutes.
After the war, the veterans who survived the Vietnamese side recalled with palpitation the tragic situation at that time, and in the first round of shelling alone, two battalion commanders were killed on the spot, and the morale of the Vietnamese army plummeted.
However, the nightmare of the Vietnamese army was not over, and after a short reconnaissance to find out the enemy's position again, the second round of artillery shelling of the PLA came.
Under the blockade of firepower, the Vietnamese army not only completely lost the ability to attack, but could not even escape, and the Vietnamese army did not die on the way to charge, but died in batches on the way to flee.
According to statistics, our army poured 3,400 tons of artillery shells on the Vietnamese army in the First Battle of Songmaoling, and on average, each artillery soldier fired more than 13 tons of shells, and the total amount was estimated to be more than 100,000 rounds.
Such terrifying firepower made the Vietnamese army understand that they were completely incapable of breaking through the fire blockade of the People's Liberation Army.
When the photos and battle reports of the front line were transmitted back to the Guangdong Military Region, Marshal Ye Jianying couldn't help but sigh after reading the photos and videos of the front line:
"Since the Battle of Huaihai, I have not seen so many enemy corpses. ”
In this battle, our army killed more than 3,000 Vietnamese soldiers by artillery bombardment alone, and the 712 artillery battle deeply pierced the proud hearts of the Vietnamese army, and they also had to re-examine the gap between themselves and the PLA.
Looking back at the batches of materials printed with the word "China", the Vietnamese people at this moment may be extremely complicated in their hearts.
After that, despite the state of confrontation and local skirmishes that lasted until October 1989, the line between Laoshan and Zheyinshan remained firmly in the hands of our army.
In the end, the Vietnamese side gave up the provocation and competition for our troops on the border, and withdrew its troops from Cambodia, acquiescing in the loss of this protracted tug-of-war.
Despite this, Vietnam is still not satisfied with the mainland.
In particular, in the South China Sea, Vietnam has never given up its occupation of islands and reefs in the South China Sea, and has worked with the United States to exploit a large amount of natural gas resources.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Vietnam's biggest backer, the authorities had to begin to rebuild relations with the mainland.
Diplomatic relations between the mainland and Vietnam were restored in 1991, and friendly exchanges and visits between them gradually increased.
But after that, Vietnam hugged the Americans' thighs again.
When a country takes the initiative to throw itself into the arms of an enemy who has invaded its own country, Vietnam's approach has always been intriguing.
Perhaps this is the fate of small countries, which must rely on large countries to survive in today's world pattern, but they cannot give up the huge interests they have achieved in the South China Sea, so they can survive so awkwardly.
The mainland also continues to uphold the spirit of a great power, and although it opposes Vietnam's actions, it is unwilling to escalate the friction into a local war.
After all, war will bring great harm to the people of both countries, even if our strength is completely stronger than the other.
In the 10-year self-defense and counterattack war against Vietnam, on the more than 1,300-kilometer Sino-Vietnamese border, at least 14 cemeteries are buried with the martyrs who died in the war, and they are still sticking to the border of the motherland.
The motherland will not forget these heroes who sacrificed their lives for the country, and it is their dedication that allows us to straighten our backs and face challenges from all directions.
It is precisely because our ancestors resisted foreign enemies again and again that the whole world can no longer despise the mainland, and now our powerful national defense strength has also discouraged all enemies who covet the mainland.
May there be no more wars, and may the martyrs rest in peace.