Deep in the dense jungle, the night is like ink, a heavy mist fills the air, and the oppressive silence is broken by the occasional animal call. On this night in 1979, Xu Yajun and his comrades-in-arms were on a daunting mission: escorting the wounded through a dangerous war zone. Each of them knew that the route was full of unknowns and dangers, and that every step could lead to an ambush by enemy troops.
Xu Yajun checked the equipment in his hand, their only compass had failed not long ago, and no one in the team could accurately identify the direction. In this strange land, they are like blind people, relying only on vague memories and intuition to move forward. At this moment, an unusual shaking of the grass caught Xu Yajun's attention, and it seemed that some creature was quietly observing them.
Xu Yajun made a gesture and motioned for his comrades to stop. He cautiously approached the grass, wondering if it was an enemy or just a nocturnal beast hidden here.
Lost in a foreign battlefield
On February 28, 1979, when the sky was light, Xu Yajun's squad assembled in the cold wind in the early morning and received an order to escort the wounded out of the war zone. The wounded were injured to varying degrees due to the fierce fighting on the front line and needed to be evacuated to the rear for treatment as soon as possible. Due to the urgency of the war and the complexity of the terrain, they did not have much time to prepare and plan routes, and could only rely on daily training and battlefield experience to carry out their tasks.
Xu Yajun's area was a patch of hills and dense forests, and the arrival of night made the view extremely limited. Often, warriors relied on a compass to determine their direction and then advanced in conjunction with known terrain features. But unfortunately, Xu Yajun found that the compass he was carrying with him was out of order, and the pointer rotated erratically, unable to accurately indicate the direction. This unexpected situation increased the risk of the task and made the whole class feel more stressed than ever.
Faced with this situation, Xu Yajun and his comrades-in-arms had to rely on vague memories and intuition to identify the path and direction. They try to avoid open areas and choose paths shaded by trees to reduce the likelihood of enemy detection. As you travel, the sky gradually brightens, and the details of your surroundings begin to become clear. Xu Yajun and the others stopped from time to time to observe the stars in the sky, trying to judge the direction by the position of the stars, but this method was not always effective due to the obscuration of clouds and unfamiliarity with the terrain.
While traversing a narrow valley, their advance was forced to slow down. The path in the valley was winding and flanked by steep mountain walls, which made it difficult for them to evacuate quickly even if they encountered an enemy ambush. In addition, the vegetation in the valley was dense and the line of sight was greatly restricted, and they had to advance carefully to avoid unnecessary noise that would attract the attention of the enemy.
Lost and discovered
In the vast war zone, every step forward is accompanied by unknowns and dangers. The absence of maps and the failure of the compass made it extremely difficult for Xu Yajun and his comrades to navigate through the dense forests and mountains. They tried to use natural markers, such as the direction of trees, the position of the sun, and even the constellations of the night, to aid in direction determination, but these nature-oriented methods required precise knowledge and experience, which Xu Yajun did not fully grasp.
During a break and reorienting, Xu Yajun noticed unusual movement in the grass not far away. In a war zone, the slightest noise can be a sign of the enemy, so this sudden upheaval instantly increases the alertness of the entire team. Xu Yajun motioned for his teammates to remain silent, and he moved lightly towards the turbulent grass, weapon in hand clenched, ready to deal with possible threats.
As he approached the grass, Xu Yajun slowed down to minimize the sound, his eyes locked on the movement in the grass. As the distance shortened, he finally saw something moving slowly in the grass, what seemed to be some kind of animal rather than a human. This gave him a slight sigh of relief, but remained on high alert, because in a war zone, anything can happen.
When Xu Yajun finally approached the grass, he was surprised to find that it was not an ordinary beast, but a huge python. In the weak sunlight, the python's scales reflected a faint sheen, while some parts of its body were visibly scarred and looked like a recent attack. Xu Yajun carefully observed the python to make sure it would not attack suddenly.
Thrilling encounters
When Xu Yajun examined the python in detail, he noticed that its wound was deeply embedded in stones and other sharp objects, which did not look like predation in nature and more like a man-made injury. The blood stains on the python's body have not completely dried up, indicating that the attack took place not long ago. Xu Yajun was alert in his heart, and he began to search the surroundings carefully, looking for possible hidden traces of human activity.
His gaze swept the surrounding ground and trees, looking for any unnatural signs, such as broken branches, footprints, or artificially moved stones. As his search deepened, he found a series of chaotic footprints in the dirt near the grass, some of which clearly bore the characteristics of military boots. The trail follows a less obvious trail into the forest, suggesting that humans may have walked there.
Xu Yajun returned to the group, and they tacitly began to move along these tracks, everyone was on high alert, their eyes scanning the surrounding bushes and trees from time to time, and the weapons in their hands were ready to deal with possible threats. The team advances at a slow and steady pace to avoid attracting unwanted attention. They judged their direction by broken branches and flattened grass, and these subtle marks became their only clues.
As the tracking deepened, Xu noticed that the footprints became more concentrated and orderly, which could mean that they were approaching their target. At this moment, a relatively open area appeared in front of them, and a hole partially hidden by rocks and grass came into view. Judging by the scattered objects and partially covered traces on the ground, it appears to be the site of human activity.
A hiding place for enemy troops
Xu Yajun was extremely careful when approaching the entrance of the cave, so as not to make any noise to alarm the people in the cave. He clinged to the ground, using his surroundings as cover, and slowly crawled towards the hole. As he approached, the muffled conversations coming from inside the cave became clearer and clearer, and through the rhythm and intonation of the voices, Xu Yajun judged that these conversations were not Chinese, but Vietnamese. This discovery further confirmed his suspicion that it was indeed the Vietnamese army hiding in the cave.
Xu Yajun returned to the team, quickly exchanged information with his comrades, and made a surprise attack plan. They decided to use elemental suddenness to create an advantage to ensure that they could quickly suppress the enemies inside the cave. Every member of the team adjusted their weapons and prepared them to attack. Xu Yajun took out a grenade, pulled out the safety pin, and then threw it at the entrance of the cave in full view.
The grenade arced through the air and landed into the hole with unmistakable accuracy. Seconds later, a loud bang exploded through the tranquil forest, a deafening explosion and shock wave sending dust flying and leaves falling near the cave entrance. Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the explosion, Xu Yajun and his comrades immediately rushed to the entrance of the cave, preparing to carry out the final subduing of the enemy inside the cave.
Before the smoke and dust of the explosion had completely cleared, Xu Yajun was the first to rush into the cave, followed by his comrades. Inside the dimly lit cave, two female Vietnamese agents were in shock because of the sudden explosion. They were wearing uniforms, their weapons tossed aside by the blast wave of the explosion, and they were clearly incapacitated.
Xu Yajun and his comrades quickly took control of the two female agents, pointing their weapons at them to make sure they no longer posed a threat. Subsequently, the other team members set up a cordon on the periphery of the cave entrance to prevent possible reinforcements from other Vietnamese troops.
After ensuring safety inside and outside the cave, Xu Yajun's team began a brief search and interrogation of the two female agents. Their equipment and belongings were found to point to them as agents of the Vietnamese army. The members of the team who knew Vietnamese made initial inquiries about them, trying to learn more about the enemy forces.
A strange fate between friend and foe
After a tense confrontation and initial interrogation, Vietnamese female soldiers realized that their situation was irreversible and that they were on the brink of life and death. Faced with such a situation, they decided to help Xu Yajun and his team. One of the female soldiers revealed to Xu Yajun in blunt Chinese that they had deviated from a safe retreat route and told him a path to avoid being searched by the main Vietnamese forces.
After a brief discussion, Xu Yajun's team decided to adopt this suggestion. They quickly marked the direction offered by the female soldiers and began to reorganize their ranks in preparation for the new route. Under the direction of Xu Yajun, the Vietnamese female soldiers carefully described the key landmarks and possible danger points on the route, and this information was extremely valuable to Xu Yajun and them, helping them avoid the risk of getting lost again.
After ensuring the feasibility of the new route, Xu Yajun's team began to move in the direction offered by the Vietnamese female soldiers. They made their way through an untapped forest, bypassed several possible ambush points, and gradually moved away from the enemy's range. Although the road was difficult, Xu Yajun and his comrades could feel that they were steadily advancing towards a safe area.
Along the way, Xu Yajun's team maintained a high level of alertness, constantly checking the terrain and surroundings to ensure that they did not fall into the enemy's trap again. The teams maintained a strict formation on the march in anticipation of a battle that might arise suddenly. They crossed creeks and climbed low hills, taking every step carefully so as not to attract unwanted attention.
After several hours of arduous marching, Xu Yajun's team finally reached a relatively safe location, which was not far from their original destination. Although tired, everyone felt a sense of peace from the inside out, knowing that they had successfully left the enemy-controlled zone and completed the most critical step of the mission.
In the safe zone, Xu Yajun and his comrades-in-arms carried out the necessary treatment and comfort of the wounded, and at the same time made a brief review and summary of the entire operation. Through this experience, they not only rescued their own wounded, but also unexpectedly received help from the enemy, and this flash of humanity on the battlefield gave everyone a deeper understanding of war.
Li Gang.1979 The Inside Story of the Decision-making of the Self-Defense Counterattack War against Vietnam[J].Archives and Society,2010(5):14-15