On an autumn afternoon in 1959, Duan Haizhen and his 12 comrades-in-arms of the Sixth Cavalry Regiment of the Chinese Frontier Force marched at the foot of Shengli Mountain on the heavy task of defending the country's borders. They did not anticipate that there would be a severe test with an Indian army here.
The Indian Army, led by two commanders, Diaji and Singh, totaling more than 60 men, is an armed patrol with the aim of establishing a military outpost in the Samor region of China. When the Indian army discovered that only 13 Chinese border guards were carrying light weapons, they arrogantly divided into two lines and surrounded the Chinese soldiers.
In the face of this sudden provocation, the Chinese border guards maintained great restraint and calmness, quickly occupied favorable terrain, and prepared for battle. Waving their arms, they ordered the Indian army to retreat by shouting, making it clear that they would not infringe on Chinese territory.
The Indian army seemed to have turned a deaf ear to China's warnings, and instead of retreating, they not only forcibly seized the Chinese horses, but also continued to approach the Chinese positions and demanded that the Chinese border guards lay down their arms.
Despite such unreasonable treatment, the Chinese fighters remained true to their principles and never fired the first shot lightly, hoping to avoid unnecessary clashes with maximum patience.
But contrary to expectations, at 15:09 on October 21, 1959, the Indian army suddenly opened fire on the Chinese position, and the Chinese border guards still chose restraint and did not return fire, but continued to try to persuade the Indian army to act rationally by shouting.
Unfortunately, the Indian army did not stop provoking. At 15:19, they opened fire again and gradually approached the Chinese position, and their behavior became more and more rampant, even trying to capture the Chinese border guards alive.
At 15:27, the Chinese border guard detachment finally fired a warning shot. Wu Qingguo, the deputy squad leader, bravely stood on the top of the rock, waved his arms, faced the guns of the Indian army, and loudly ordered them to stop the provocation.
The Indian army did not restrain because of this, but counterattacked with intensive firepower, and Wu Qingguo unfortunately died heroically in the process.
Faced with the blood of their comrades-in-arms, the Chinese border guards finally reached the point where they could not bear it anymore, and they were forced to fight back in self-defense. At 19:15, they concentrated their fire on the Indian army on the right and sent a combat group to outflank them from the flank and rear.
The clashes ended at 19:30 with nine people killed and three wounded and seven captured, including Deputy Commander Singh. On the Chinese side, 1 of the 13 fighters was killed.
