Every time we think of the islands and reefs in the South China Sea that have been invaded and occupied, the Philippines is always the first thing that comes to mind. But in fact, compared to Vietnam, the Philippines is really a drop in the bucket.
The dispute between China and the Philippines mainly revolves around the wrecked ship at Ren'ai Jiao, and if it weren't for Marcos Jr.'s recent madness, people might not have paid much attention to the issue between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. Although the dispute between China and Vietnam in the South China Sea is not very conspicuous, Vietnam actually occupies 29 islands and reefs on the mainland, including 4 islands, 15 reefs, 3 sandbanks, 5 beaches and 2 dark sands.
After years of renovation, there are already quite a few military buildings on these 29 islands and reefs, and even many islands and reefs are undergoing large-scale reclamation activities.
Since the beginning of the last century, Vietnam has been encroaching on the mainland's islands and reefs in the South China Sea. Later, with the looting of our army, we succeeded in snatching back a lot. However, there is a dark sand that is really special, when it was snatched away by Vietnam was a big storm, after the occupation of Vietnam quickly built military buildings on it, our army was in the initial stage of development, unable to snatch it back, so we had to let Vietnam illegally occupy the dark sand.
Later, after the strength of our army increased, we planned to take back this dark sand, but we didn't expect that there would be another storm at this time. The storm lasted for a long time, destroying all the military buildings on the sands, causing the Vietnamese army to retreat, and finally regaining control of the mainland without a single soldier.
The location of the thriving dark sand is special and strategically significant
This dark sand, which was lost by two storms, is the thriving dark sand, which is said to be the dark sand, but in fact it belongs to half of the reef. Unlike sandy sands, which are usually hidden under the sea, a full oval atoll is exposed at low tide.
Although it only appears at low tide, in ancient times when there were no advanced instruments, the thriving dark sand was very useful, comparable to the presence of a lighthouse and a compass. Because of it, many fishermen and navigators were able to find their way at sea and get home or travel safely.
In ancient times, the thriving dark sand was called the Ethyl Stone, mainly because it was located in the direction of the Ethoxin. During the Republic of China, it was renamed Pang Biaojiao, and after 1947, it was named the current vigorous dark sand. Although it is not strictly classified as a dark sand, because the exposed reef area is not large, only a 60-centimeter-high reef, the vigorous dark sand has not been changed to a vigorous reef.
The reason why this place is targeted by Vietnam is not only because of their ambitions, but also because of its geographical location. About 80 kilometers to the east of the bustling dark sand is the island of Palawan in the Philippines, and about 50 kilometers to the northwest is Senbin Reef, so it is of special strategic significance.
Strictly speaking, the vigorous dark sand is very close to Philippine territory, but it is more than 800 kilometers away from Vietnam. The reason why the Philippines did not act and Vietnam took the lead in occupying it was mainly because the people were decisive enough.
After losing the vigorous dark sand by a storm, it was recaptured by a storm
At the end of the 60s of the 20th century, the military strength of the mainland navy was too poor to send elite troops to station and control many islands and reefs in the South China Sea, which led to the illegal occupation of islands and reefs in the South China Sea by the Philippines, Vietnam and other countries one after another.
Later, Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan with his men, and at this time they did not give up control of the thriving dark sands. However, due to various reasons, the Taiwanese army's defense was not as strong as before, but at that time, Vietnam still had no chance to illegally occupy the thriving dark sands.
It was not until the typhoon season of 1973 that Taiwanese troops stationed in the vigorous dark sand and nearby islands and reefs began to retreat after receiving the possibility of a powerful typhoon in the South China Sea.
Although the typhoon arrived as scheduled, as soon as the typhoon ended, the Vietnamese soldiers seized the opportunity to directly and illegally occupy the booming dark sands. When the Taiwanese army came back and found that there were already Vietnamese soldiers on the vigorous dark sand, they did not carry out any combat or defense actions, but turned around and left, without even thinking of snatching. I have to say that surrendering without a fight is really an old tradition of the Taiwan military.
In this way, because of a storm, Vietnam occupied the thriving dark sands as it wished. Since then, various military projects have been carried out here, garrisoning soldiers, building stilt houses and other military installations. Although the Chinese side later sent troops to the prosperous dark sand to try to regain it, due to the reef and military strength, the Chinese side could only temporarily rest this thought. Later, the mainland devoted itself to developing its own military strength and ignored Vietnam's small moves for the time being.
In 2011, a high-intensity typhoon "Nargis" appeared in the South China Sea. The typhoon lasted for a long time and destroyed all the equipment built by the Vietnamese army on the thriving dark sands. At that time, the Vietnamese army could only be forced to evacuate, just like the Taiwanese army that fled in embarrassment.
Our army also saw the opportunity at that time, following the example of the Vietnamese army of that year, and as soon as the typhoon stopped, we immediately climbed the vigorous dark sand to clean up the mess and send troops to station. When the Vietnamese army came, they found that the People's Liberation Army had reoccupied the place, so they had no choice but to withdraw.
The reason why the Vietnamese army did not struggle hard was different from the cowardice of the Taiwan army at the beginning. First, because this is originally a mainland territory, and second, it is really not cost-effective to cause a conflict or even war between the two countries for the sake of a thriving dark sand.
In 1973, we lost a storm to the sands, and in 2011, we regained the sands in a storm. History is always strikingly similar, and no one can take away what should be ours.