He was an 18-year-old recruit when he entered the battlefield, and after 52 days, he became a senior in the army who received first-class merit. Such a bizarre experience really happened in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, and it came to Tang Lizhong, who was 18 years old at the time.
In the face of this soldier who bombed the bunker alone, even the veteran squad leader couldn't help but be silent for a moment, and after that, the title of "Demolition Hero" fell on Tang Lizhong, so, what kind of experience could make him so fearless?
For most soldiers, it is extremely difficult to calm down when they first enter the battlefield, and it is easy to make wrong decisions in the face of artillery fire, so Tang Lizhong, as a recruit, can complete this task, which naturally has its own uniqueness.
The war of self-defense and counterattack against Vietnam began
China and Vietnam have always had a deep foundation of friendship, and in Vietnam's war of resistance against France and the United States, China unswervingly supported Vietnam in safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests, but Vietnam obviously does not share the same idea as the mainland.
In 1975, after Vietnam achieved the goal of reunification, it no longer recognized the original friendship, and directly took the attitude of leaving after using it.
However, what is unacceptable is that Vietnam not only did not express the slightest gratitude to the mainland for its previous assistance actions, but also swaggered to discuss the Sino-Vietnamese border issue with the mainland, which is undoubtedly a provocation to the mainland's independence, sovereignty and integrity.
Therefore, we cannot afford to retreat from Vietnam's provocations, and in addition to the fact that Vietnam itself advocated the Soviet strategy at that time, there were already targeted actions against China, and it is very likely that this provocative attack will be triggered by a cascading effect.
On November 3, 1978, the Soviet-Vietnamese Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation broke the stalemate, and the Soviet Union supported Vietnam's expansion, and since then, Vietnam has invaded Cambodia, which is a great threat to mainland Southeast Asia.
The mainland has always advocated that the two sides sit down and talk, but the Vietnamese side thought that we had chosen to compromise because of their use of force, and on December 25, 1978, we overthrew the Cambodian regime, triggering a confrontation between China and Vietnam.
Tang Lizhong was an ordinary soldier who was drafted in such a social background. He was full of indignation at the Vietnamese armed forces, hoping to defend the country with his own hands and make Vietnam realize its mistakes.
However, at that time, the Chinese army had just begun to transform in 1970, and many deployments were not in place, and there were not a few recruits like Tang Lizhong in the soldier queue, but Tang Lizhong felt that this was just an opportunity for him to make meritorious contributions.
Therefore, for the training activities in the army, he has a high enthusiasm to participate, and the painful training for others has become a good thing for Tang Lizhong, and because of this, the commander who is responsible for training them remembers this unique soldier.
When assigning the team, Tang Lizhong was assigned to the reconnaissance unit because of his excellent performance and a good impression of the instructor, and this kind of vanguard unit was also the place he wanted to come to the most, so he was very excited after seeing his name.
However, in fact, due to the urgency of the recruitment for the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, and the training of a group of recruits, including Tang Lizhong, has not yet been fully implemented, the commander has more worries about them, but this group of soldiers is full of confidence and takes the initiative to take on difficult tasks.
Under Vietnam's repeated provocations, the country was full of enthusiasm for counterattacking Vietnam, and Tang Lizhong was the same, so in the face of the squad leader's worries, he was full of confidence and couldn't wait to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy immediately.
In the end, Tang Lizhong got his wish and took over the task of occupying the commanding heights, although the military training has not yet been completed, the understanding of occupying favorable terrain is still very profound, and Tang Lizhong also understands that their actions are very crucial.
Therefore, under the cover of artillery fire, Tang Lizhong and several soldiers rushed to the trenches below the two commanding heights at about 6:40, and then began to observe the specific direction of the enemy.
Fought bravely and made meritorious contributions
For our side, the strategic key point is naturally a military node that needs to be strictly defended when it is taken to the Vietnamese army, so the scale of the troops sent by the Vietnamese army is relatively large, and it will pay a great price if you want to break through head-on.
Under the reconnaissance of the squad leader, the three pillboxes of the other side were also marked on the map, in order to achieve all-round protection, the Vietnamese army put the three pillboxes in the place where they could take care of their field of vision, and each other was able to respond in time.
Therefore, if you want to reduce the casualties of the impact of the troops, you must first solve the pillboxes that look at each other, and then attack at the blind corner of the Vietnamese army's field of vision.
Originally, according to the squad leader's idea, such a task was complicated and dangerous, and it could not be handed over to recruits to complete, and experienced veterans had to be found, but Tang Lizhong suddenly volunteered to take over the task.
If it was someone else, the squad leader would probably flatly refuse, but Tang Lizhong made him hesitate, because unlike other recruits, Tang Lizhong was a very talented soldier, and in the previous operation, Tang Lizhong did a very good job.
In just a few dozen days after coming to the position, he had already killed dozens of people on the other side, and the squad leader knew that such a genius could not speculate with common sense, and assigning the task to him might produce some surprises, but Tang Lizhong had no relevant experience after all.
Therefore, in the end, although Tang Lizhong was added to the team, it was still dominated by veterans, but sadly, the two veterans failed to break through each other's firepower circle and died in front of Tang Lizhong.
And Tang Lizhong's first feeling was not fear, but resentment, along the way, one by one soldiers fell in front of him, their purpose was the same, that is, to protect the territorial security of the mainland and make the people feel at ease.
Such an idea made Tang Lizhong break the fear of death, resolutely rushed up and approached the enemy's pillbox, and then successfully completed the task.
If it is a little more biased and slower, Tang Lizhong will close his eyes forever, but Tang Lizhong bluntly said that if he wants to go up, then he is ready to do it again, and after this incident, the chief is also impressed by him.
Originally, even if Tang Lizhong was quite talented, after making military achievements, his position in the army was becoming more and more important, and after the end of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, Tang Lizhong was awarded the title of "Demolition Hero", although he was only in the army for 52 days, but he has become a senior in the army.
But Tang Lizhong's consciousness is very high, after winning many honors, he was not burdened by fame, he directly chose to enrich his knowledge level, joined the queue of learning, and after coming to the military academy, he also gave full play to his excellent character of taking the lead.
Tang Lizhong's experience
In addition to the various training tasks and prescribed courses of the military academy, Tang Lizhong adhered to the principle of enriching himself, and often added tasks to himself. In 1984, Tang Lizhong graduated as an outstanding graduate and returned to his original army.
At this point, Tang Lizhong became an instructor, although his identity was different from that of enlisting at that time, but his original intention has not changed, and he treats the recruits who have just joined the army with high requirements, because he understands that the laissez-faire at this time is very likely to let them die on the battlefield.
For Tang Lizhong, who has actually experienced the departure of his comrades-in-arms, this is his eternal regret, and he also hopes that these sorrows will not happen to his juniors again, and the soldiers trained under him also understand this truth, so most of them have developed the habit of hard struggle.
After that, less than three years later, Tang Lizhong was promoted to platoon commander again, but after 2000, Tang Lizhong, who had been active in front-line combat units, was transferred to the Ministry of People's Armed Forces, began to manage conscription and militia issues, and then was promoted all the way to the rank of colonel.
However, it has been proven that "gold shines wherever it is", and even if he is no longer in charge of front-line work, his strategy is perfectly in line with the actual situation on the ground, and has played a significant role in promoting the corresponding work and achieving standardization.
In 2015, Tang Lizhong retired honorably and began his later life, in the memories of his life, he was very pleased that he did not give up his dream when he was young, and chose to join the army to serve the country, and now he is proud of this choice.
In fact, we can understand when we look back at the history of Tang Lizhong's military service that he is undoubtedly a soldier who has been pursuing the road of serving the country, and after he was born in 1961, he could not afford to go to school due to his family's poverty.
But he himself is full of thirst for knowledge, hoping to learn more through his own efforts, and then make his own contribution to society. Therefore, in addition to working in the field, Tang Lizhong's most frequent place when he was a child was outside the school.
When playing with other school students, I asked them for some knowledge and borrowed some books to read, so Tang Lizhong had a basic level of knowledge, and the local villagers felt more sorry for him when they saw Tang Lizhong working so hard.
Therefore, whenever Tang Lizhong borrowed a book, he would agree, and the school teacher would also allow him to listen to the window for a period of time, so in the military training of the army, although Tang Lizhong was a big soldier on the surface, he actually had a certain foundation.
This brought him great convenience, so after retirement, he also paid extra attention to the field of education, believing that only when the level of national education was raised, could he have the corresponding confidence to maintain the country's prosperity and strength.
In the course of the rise of the mainland, there are many such ancestors, and more devotees will emerge in the future to promote China's development.
Although the ancestors of the past have died or grown old, the spiritual connotation will not fade. As future generations, we should inherit the patriotic spirit and pass it on to the next generation and even beyond.
Bibliography:
1. Decision-making on the internal situation of the self-defense and counterattack war against Vietnam (huanqiu.com) (Global website)
https://china.huanqiu.com/article/9CaKrnJlUnI
2. Tang Lizhong of "Oral History: The Legend of Veterans": "Demolition Hero" Five Bombing Bunkers Interprets the True Colors of Soldiers
www.igongyi.org.cn/News/List/Detail/?ID=42136&Category=SpecialFund
3. During the Vietnam War, Tang Lizhong, who had been in the army for 52 days, won the title of first-class merit and hero, and was promoted to colonel all the way
hatps://baijiyahao.baidu.com/s?id=1734177211218059766&dfr=spider&for=pc