At the end of the 70s, relations between China and Vietnam deteriorated, and in addition to territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the frequent provocation of the Soviet Union also gave Vietnam the idea of invading mainland territory.
In order to defend the territory, the mainland launched a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam in 1979 and achieved brilliant results.
However, after the withdrawal of troops from the mainland, the Vietnamese side still did not repent, sent troops to occupy the cavalry line high ground on the Sino-Vietnamese border, and established strong fortifications in Lao Son and Zheyin Mountain, posing a serious threat to the border security of the mainland.
To this end, the Continental People's Liberation Army launched the famous Battle of Laoshan in 1984 and recaptured these key heights in one fell swoop.
Many heroes emerged in this battle, among which An Zhongwen, the "Rolling Thunder Warrior" in the Battle of Yinshan Mountain, was the most famous.
A Yi warrior who dreams of joining the army
An Zhongwen was born in 1963 in a small mountain village of Yijia at the foot of Longtou Mountain in Yanbian County, southwest Sichuan, and has lived in the depths of the mountains since he was a child, which has allowed him to practice a good cross-country skill.
Moreover, he often used a homemade shotgun to hunt in the mountains, and was a well-known local hunter, which laid the foundation for his outstanding performance in the military camp later.
In 1979, the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam began, and newspapers and magazines across the country were all about the battle.
Especially after reading the article about the Yi battle hero Al Ziri, his idea became even stronger.
However, at that time, the mainland's conscription policy did not encourage only sons to join the army, and An Zhongwen happened to have no other brothers, which made him very distressed.
After graduating from high school in 1981, An Zhongwen expressed to his family that he wanted to join the army, and sure enough, he was unanimously opposed.
These difficulties did not deter An Zhongwen, when he was recruiting in the local army, he secretly signed up without telling his family, and finally successfully passed the examination and physical examination, which made An Zhongwen overjoyed.
In the end, he was assigned to the combat readiness duty battalion of the Kunming Military Region, and once any fighting occurred around the Kunming Military Region, the battalion would quickly participate in the battle, which made An Zhongwen excited.
After joining the army, An Zhongwen, who was not tall, won the unanimous recognition of his comrades with his outstanding military ability, and before the battle of Laoshan began, he had joined the 31st Division of the 11th Army of the Kunming Military Region, which had a glorious tradition.
The predecessor of the unit once followed Liu Deng's army thousands of miles into the Dabie Mountain, and also made great achievements in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam in 1979.
Before the Battle of Lao Son began, An Trung Van had become a squad leader, and his relationship with the soldiers was very harmonious, and after learning that the Vietnamese army occupied the high ground of the cavalry line, they were also ready for battle.
The Battle of Yinshan began
In January 1984, after seeing Vietnam's increasing deployment of military forces on the border, the Kunming Military Region immediately formulated an operational plan to recapture Laoshan, Zheyinshan and other highlands.
Since the enemy occupied the commanding heights with a wide field of vision at this time, it became a difficult problem to secretly move the army close to the battlefield.
In the end, after deliberations, the soldiers of various combat units, including the 31st Division of the 11th Army, went to the vicinity of the border in a liberation truck enclosed with tarpaulins.
Believing that the vehicles were convoys carrying supplies, the Vietnamese soldiers were not on guard, and An Trung Van and his comrades were sent to a location in Wenshan Prefecture where they underwent adaptation training, and their target was the Zhiyin Mountain, which is located on the border between the two countries.
Zheyin Mountain is located in the No. 9 boundary monument area of the Sino-Vietnamese border in Yangwan Township, Malipo County, Yunnan Province, and the mountain range is trending from northeast to southwest, which is an important border riding point.
The occupier Yin Mountain, can look north to Yunnan Yang Wanxiang and other areas, to the south can clearly see the important highway leading to Ha Giang Province in Vietnam, is an important strategic commanding height, and it is close to Lao Mountain, if you can't control Yin Mountain, then the Lao Son position will also be threatened.
In the Battle of Laoshan, the capture of the main peak of Laoshan and Songmaoling was the most important battle link, so the participating troops would give priority to concentrating firepower to seize these two key positions, and the 31st Division would need to wait for an opportunity to move after the battle of the main peak of Laoshan.
In order to improve command efficiency, the front-line command post of this battle was set up in a karst cave at the foot of the old mountain, which is now also known as the General's Cave, and the logistics department of the 31st Division prepared 200 coffins before the war.
After learning about it, division commander Liao Xilong said that if he really wanted to use so much, then he would be removed from his post as the division commander, and let the logistics department leave only 100 coffins, which showed that the commanders and fighters of the 31st Division had full confidence in winning the battle.
In the early morning of April 27, 1984, the Battle of Laoshan officially began, and with the cooperation of artillery units, the troops responsible for seizing the Laoshan position took less than half a day to capture the main peak of Laoshan.
They then took the Songmaoling Heights on April 29, annihilating nearly 1,000 Vietnamese soldiers and capturing a large amount of weapons and ammunition.
With the main peak of Laoshan and Songmaoling being regained one after another, An Zhongwen and his comrades-in-arms also set foot on the battlefield, and they will launch an attack on the enemy's position on Zheyin Mountain in the early morning of April 30.
A battlefield full of dangers
After arriving at the battlefield, An Zhongwen led the whole squad of soldiers, the heavy machine gun squad and some of the brothers to secretly enter the 180-meter north side of Plateau 12 to stand by.
At 6:40 a.m., the artillery positions of our troops began to pour fire on the positions of the Vietnamese troops, the main purpose of which was to suppress the enemy's movements, as well as to clear the minefields in front of the positions.
However, after the artillery fire was over, An Zhongwen found that the minefield had not been completely cleared, and the sappers who were fighting with them had not arrived on time for various reasons.
In front of the minefield, An Zhongwen found the location of several mines in front of him with experience and led the soldiers to eradicate them, but at this time, the horn of the charge had sounded, and An Zhongwen had no time to clear the mines.
At that time, the troops led by him were mainly responsible for attacking the No. 12 and No. 13 heights on the Yin Mountain, and the No. 12 heights also formed a strong momentum with the other two nearby highlands, so it was necessary to cooperate with the brother troops to attack at the same time.
Faced with a minefield full of dangers, An Zhongwen led by example and rushed into the battlefield with platoon commander Zhang Jiazheng.
A few steps after entering the minefield, Zhang Jiazheng and An Zhongwen triggered the mine almost at the same time, and the huge air wave generated by the explosion overturned An Zhongwen, and after a period of dizziness, An Zhongwen wanted to continue to charge, but at this time he found that his right foot had been blown away by the mine, and his leg was already bleeding.
Ahn used the bandage he carried with him to tie the femoral artery to prevent massive blood loss, and the machine gunner next to him gave him his only first aid kit, which brought his injuries under control.
After completing the bandage, An Zhongwen began to observe the situation on the battlefield, because the minefield blocked that it was difficult for our soldiers to approach the enemy's fortifications, and the stormtroopers exposed to machine guns were in great danger.
The machine gun squad in charge of rear support began to move to the high ground in order to see the enemy's fire points clearly, and as a result, mines were also triggered, causing casualties, which made An Zhongwen anxious.
Rolling Thunder Warriors
Seeing his comrades-in-arms fall one by one, An Zhongwen continued to crawl forward regardless of his injuries, he was thinking at this time that every more meter he advanced, he would have more hope of victory, even if he detonated one more mine for his comrades, he could make his comrades suffer fewer casualties.
Despite losing his right foot, Ahn was still able to move closer to the enemy's position with his prostrate forward and sideways rolling skills.
Suddenly, An Zhongwen saw a bright spot on the battlefield, and he knew that it was the position of the enemy's machine gun, so he immediately raised his rifle and fired, wanting to end this fire point.
But at the moment of shooting, a mixing line mine in front of An Zhongwen was triggered by a bullet, and the explosion at close range overturned An Zhongwen directly, and he felt a bloody red light flash in front of him, and hot blood flowed down his head.
An Zhongwen, who knew that he was unable to continue fighting, was unwilling to sit still, and he wanted to do something for his comrades with his life, so he turned his heart sideways and rolled forward with all his might, and his body triggered several mines one after another, and finally stopped more than ten meters away.
An Zhongwen's comrades-in-arms were greatly encouraged by his heroic actions, and rushed to the enemy's position together on the safe zone that An Zhongwen had swept out with his body.
After a fierce exchange of fire, Heights 12 was finally captured, only fourteen minutes after they began to charge, after which they took Heights 13 without much difficulty, and completed the battle mission brilliantly.
The soldiers of the other participants in the Battle of Yinshan also eliminated the Vietnamese defenders in a short period of time, with a total of 98 soldiers killed in the 31st Division, and the 100 coffins prepared by Liao Xilong were not used up, which reflected the outstanding combat effectiveness of the officers and men of the 31st Division.
An Zhongwen, who was seriously injured, still retained a vague consciousness at the time, and he vaguely heard the cheers of his comrades after occupying the high ground, and the action of the ambulance personnel to remove the gun for him, but then An Zhongwen fell asleep.
Xie Zhenhua, who was the political commissar of the Kunming Military Region at that time, was very moved when he heard the report on An Zhongwen, and asked all departments to save the hero's life, and also wrote down An Zhongwen's name in his notebook.
When An Zhongwen woke up again, he was already in the rear military hospital, and because of his injuries, the doctors and nurses who rescued him had to perform five surgeries to save his life.
In addition to the loss of his right leg, An Zhongwen's eyes also lost their light, which made him feel hopeless for a while, but he then rekindled his fighting spirit and returned to the army to inspire the younger generations of soldiers with his spirit and deeds.
Write at the end
In this campaign, An Zhongwen's platoon was awarded the collective third-class merit, and his squad was awarded the collective second-class merit, while An Zhongwen was awarded the first-class merit and was awarded the title of "Combat Hero" by the Kunming Military Region, and was also known as the "Rolling Thunder Hero".
His deeds were widely circulated by the media and became an important heroic figure in the history of the self-defense and counterattack against Vietnam.
Resources
Part of the content of this article is based on ""Combat Hero" An Zhongwen: Burning Life", which was published in the A04 edition of Guizhou National Daily on June 12, 2020.
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