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"Defeat 127 and capture Zhang Wannian alive. ”
This is the enemy's propaganda slogan scattered everywhere on the battlefield of the Eastern Front of the counterattack against Vietnam.
At that time, in order to eradicate the 127th Division and Zhang Wannian, the Vietnamese army dug out their minds.
Until nothing came of it, they came up with a bad trick - pretending to be the People's Liberation Army to attack the 127th Division.
The result?
What does the Vietnamese army have to do with this army and Zhang Wannian?
Zhang Wannian and the "Iron Master"
There is a reason why the Vietnamese army is so jealous of the 127th Division and Zhang Wannian.
Although our troops have not fought in nearly 20 years, the sharp edge of the 127th Division "Iron Army Division" has not diminished in the slightest.
This unit, whose predecessor can be traced back to the Ye Ting Independent Regiment, participated in the Nanchang Uprising and the Autumn Harvest Uprising, and formed the Fourth Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
Therefore, the ministry is known as the "Iron Army".
The 127th Division is an ace unit of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and a major force in the counterattack against Vietnam.
The division commander Zhang Wannian was the first general to be officially certified as a "military strategist" in addition to the founding fathers.
Although he joined the army relatively late, he was also a brave general who had been trained all the way from the end of the Anti-Japanese War.
During the years of the revolutionary war, Zhang Wannian participated in the Jiaodong Anti-Japanese War, the Four Guarantees Linjiang, the Liaoshen Campaign, the Pingjin, Hengbao, Guangxi Campaign, etc., and made great contributions five times.
He also had the legendary experience of single-handedly taking on the Kuomintang reconnaissance platoon, and alone led more than 20 people to launch a counter-charge, capturing 1,500 people.
In March 1949, Zhang Wannian, as a representative of the heroes of the Tashan Heroic Troupe, was received by Chairman Mao.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Peng once praised him: "You are a living map." ”
In the 60s of the last century, the "Tashan Heroic Regiment" led by Zhang Wannian won the three armies in the military region's competition.
More importantly, he has a special connection with Vietnam.
In 1968, when the mainland aided Vietnam to resist the United States, Zhang Wannian and he were selected to go to Vietnam to learn war experience and participate in the Xishan and Donghe battles as a consultant.
That year, he was bombed by the US army every day, lacked medical treatment, no salt and vegetables, and suffered from malaria, losing 40 pounds.
Fortunately, the trip was worthwhile, and he accumulated rich experience in fighting in Vietnam.
Therefore, whether it is the terrain and climate of Vietnam, the tactics of the Vietnamese army to take advantage of the jungle and rainforest conditions, or the methods of survival, protection and logistics support in the field, as well as many commanders, Zhang Wannian knows it well.
As the saying goes, knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent is invincible.
This is also the reason why the military appointed him to go on the expedition.
You know, before that, he was censored for three years, and the 127th Division was questioned because of this.
The counterattack against Vietnam was a turnaround battle between him and the 127th Division, and the whole army was full of energy, putting on the momentum of killing chickens with a knife, and vowed to wash away the shame with victory.
At that time, the task assigned by Xu Shiyou to Zhang Wannian was only to contain the attack.
That is, to attack the area of Zhima, open up Luping, and protect the brother troops to attack Lang Son.
The Vietnamese troops who supported the horses were originally prepared to hold out for half a year, but as a result, Zhang Wannian's troops were full of firepower, and they were beaten into a sieve in less than a day.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Wannian made persistent efforts and continued to attack, and opened the door to enter Luping in the afternoon of the next day.
The frontal troops were still fighting fiercely, and Zhang Wannian's offensive was too fierce, which might scare away the Vietnamese army and disrupt Xu Shiyou's deployment.
He also sent a special telegram ordering Zhang Wannian to suspend the fighting.
So far, the 127th Division has swept away the previous shame and made a prestige, and the Vietnamese army was terrified.
When Zhang Wannian led his troops to Luping, what he saw was the propaganda slogan all over the street: "Defeat 127 and capture Zhang Wannian alive." ”
He laughed and said, "Although the Vietnamese army lost, the intelligence is still accurate, and we should respect it." ”
Defeated on the battlefield, the Vietnamese army did not give up the goal of "defeating 127 and capturing Zhang Wannian alive", and soon used other brains.
"Defeat 127 and capture Zhang Wannian alive"
On the night that the 127th Division was stationed in Luping County, the headquarters of the temporary division was attacked by three Vietnamese agents.
Their purpose was to capture the division commander Zhang Wannian alive.
However, Zhang Wannian was extremely familiar with the operational characteristics of the Vietnamese army and had been prepared for it for a long time.
He set up his headquarters on high ground with extremely difficult terrain, and the guards practiced a strict cross-crossing system, and the enemy was detected as soon as he emerged.
The success was successful, the Vietnamese army refused to admit defeat, fought repeatedly and repeatedly, and came up with a loss move.
On March 3, 1979, Zhang Wannian led his troops to forcibly cross the Qiqiao River, and just after passing two battalions, news came from above:
The frontal attacking troops had not yet arrived at the designated positions, the general attack was delayed, and the river crossing operation was stopped.
This is difficult to do, and if the enemy is heavily pressed, the battalion that has already crossed the river is likely to be eaten.
Then, if the enemy continues to strengthen the defense, it will be more difficult for our troops to cross the river again.
Seeing this, some people said that the two battalions should simply be withdrawn to the north bank.
At this time, Zhang Wannian proposed to simply take the offensive as the defense and guide the west.
It's like really crossing the river to attack, making the battle bigger and confusing the other party.
As Zhang Wannian expected, the enemy made an emergency movement overnight due to the unusual haste of our troops, and there was no time to take care of the ferry.
In the end, the 127th Division had a safe night.
Zhang Wannian let out a long sigh of relief and prepared to walk back to the command post a hundred meters away.
Unexpectedly, at this time, a burst of gunfire broke out, and the Vietnamese army agents attacked the command vehicle!
When he arrived, the interpreter in the car was dead.
If it weren't for Zhang Wannian's worries about the war and stayed up all night guarding the shore, he might have really been hit.
As soon as he finished dealing with the chaos, he received a call from the army commander Zhu Chuanyu, and as soon as he came up, he asked with a face: "Are you Zhang Wannian!"
Zhang Wannian looked puzzled, it turned out that after the Vietnamese army launched a sneak attack, they broadcast that they had eliminated the 127th Division and captured Zhang Wannian alive, and they were on the way to escort at the moment!
It's a rumor that makes people angry and funny.
Subsequently, Zhang Wannian led the 127th Division to attack, and after a brave battle, he once again completed the final stage of the combat mission ahead of schedule.
The next day (March 5, 1979), China announced the withdrawal of its troops from Vietnam, and all units of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) were withdrawn one after another.
The Vietnamese army felt that this was a good opportunity to take advantage of the chaos of the retreat to attack Zhang Wannian.
They pursued all the way, but they kept encountering ambushes from the 127th Division and returned to the carbine, and they still refused to admit defeat.
During this period, a scene was also staged in disguise as the People's Liberation Army to carry out a surprise attack.
What's going on?
The Vietnamese army pretended to be the People's Liberation Army
The plan of the Vietnamese army was like this, the 338th Regiment of the 462nd Division partially changed into PLA uniforms, set off behind the 127th Division, launched a surprise attack from the rear of the position, and took the headquarters in one go.
The key to the success of the program is the disguise.
I have to say that the enemy has put a lot of thought into this, not only changing their clothes as officers and soldiers, but also as militiamen, guides and other roles.
Even the details such as the kettle and belt are in place.
On the evening of March 8, a group of about 300 troops appeared in the area of Bankeng Village, northeast of Luping County.
They wore PLA uniforms, sang Chinese songs, and the leaders spoke fluent Chinese.
At first glance, it really looks like that, and if you're not careful, it's easy for them to get by.
However, these tricks have long been outdated for Zhang Wannian.
As soon as he arrived at the Sino-Vietnamese border, he instituted a strict identification system for friend and foe.
First of all, all levels of the 127th Division received orders that if some troops wanted to leave the defense area, they must notify their friendly neighbors in advance and go through the formalities before they can pass.
Even if 100,000 people are too anxious to go through the formalities, they must be reported by the company, battalion, and regiment at all levels, otherwise anyone who forcibly passes through the defense area will be treated as an enemy.
Secondly, the headquarters of the 127th Division is less than 3 kilometers away from the front line, and any wind and grass in front can be reacted to immediately, and the orders of the command can also be conveyed at a rapid pace.
When this 300-strong team approached the area of Bankeng Village, the 3rd Battalion and 8th Company of the 379th Regiment stationed nearby did not receive any notice, and no one took the initiative to contact the sentry when passing by.
Almost immediately, the 8th Company was sure that this unit was not a friendly force, and then quietly sent the veterans out to report.
After Zhang Wannian received the news, he immediately understood the small abacus of the Vietnamese army.
So, he pushed the boat down the river and gave instructions: hold your troops and wait for the enemy to enter the firing range, and then concentrate the attack.
In this way, when this group of Vietnamese troops came to the front of our position, they still had a successful smile on their faces, but they did not know that they had jumped into the ambush circle specially prepared for them.
In the next moment, as a group of signal flares rose in the air, raindrops of bullets smashed into the Vietnamese army, causing casualties in an instant.
The enemy at the back of the group scattered in all directions, some of them fled into nearby settlements, and some of them fled into the mountains and forests.
Zhang Wannian, second from left
Since then, these two Vietnamese troops have repeatedly used the cover of night to break through, but they have been beaten back by the PLA.
Our army was persuaded to surrender many times, but the other side insisted on stubbornly resisting.
Early the next morning, our troops launched an attack on two enemies at the same time.
In order to resolve the battle as quickly as possible, we chose to bombard directly with artillery fire, and then strafe with machine guns.
An hour later, three companies of our army killed more than 200 Vietnamese troops, and a few enemies were missing.
Eventually, the 127th Division was withdrawn to China on 11 March.
Before that, Zhang Wannian left the last big gift to the Vietnamese army.
At that time, the enemy was completely frightened, and he no longer dared to think of "capturing Zhang Wannian alive", so he withdrew to the south bank of the Qiqiu River.
But Zhang Wannian didn't plan to stop there.
"After fighting for so long, tell them goodbye", he said, he concentrated all the artillery on the Vietnamese army's assembly area, and killed them by surprise.
In the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, the 127th Division won five battles and five victories, making rapid progress, killing and capturing a total of 2,125 Vietnamese soldiers.
After the war, Comrade Deng Xiaoping praised and recognized Zhang Wannian's super-useful soldiers.
After that, he successively served as commander of the Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Jinan Military Regions, chief of the General Staff, and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and was awarded the rank of general in 1993.
In 2015, Zhang Wannian passed away, and he was called an "outstanding leader" by the central government.
This is an extremely high rating.
Resources
ZHANG Wannian in 1979[J].Leadership Wencui,2015,(14):59-63.DOI:10.13533/j.cnki.ldwc.2015.14.013.
The truth of Vietnam's "capturing Zhang Wannian alive" during the self-defense counterattack[J].Friends of the Farmer,2014,(08):34-35.)