As for China's self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, many people generally feel relaxed. Although the war broke out recently, the scale of the war was not small - more than a million troops on both sides fought for more than 10 years.
However, because this local war on China's southern frontier was not capable of threatening the security of China's hinterland, and China had a firm grip on the progress and intensity of the war from beginning to end.
Therefore, many people mention that the general tone of this war is lighthearted, and the words of the chief designer are quoted: children are disobedient and will be spanked.
In particular, in the narrow self-defense counterattack war against Vietnam that broke out in 1979, the Chinese People's Liberation Army severely damaged 10 regiments of four regular divisions of the Vietnamese army in nearly a month, killing more than 37,300 enemies and capturing more than 2,200 people.
Not only did it seize a large amount of weapons, equipment, and war materials, but it also destroyed a large number of military facilities built against China in northern Vietnam, dealing a huge blow to Vietnam politically and militarily, and winning a hearty victory.
Moreover, in this operation, the PLA did not love war at all, so it did not fall into the quagmire of war like the US army, but returned home without any nostalgia after completing the punishment task and achieving victory.
However, although this war achieved a brilliant victory and achieved great results, this does not mean that the Chinese People's Liberation Army that participated in the war did not pay the slightest price.
As a matter of fact, the Vietnamese army at that time had been fighting against the French and American armies for more than 30 years, and not only was it extremely experienced in combat and had a very high combat quality, but also its combat effectiveness was quite strong.
Therefore, the Chinese People's Liberation Army actually paid huge sacrifices in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.
In 1979, China had just implemented reform and opening up, and it urgently needed border stability to create a peaceful environment for its own development. Therefore, China at that time was actually very reluctant to fight.
However, because of Vietnam's frequent provocations and even aggression on the Sino-Vietnamese border, China could not bear it anymore and was forced to launch a war of self-defense and counterattack.
Why, then, does this small Southeast Asian country, which is located at the southern tip of China and has only been able to become independent and unified with China's help, have the audacity to frequently provoke China?
This is directly related to Vietnam's overly exploding ambitions after the completion of reunification.
In March 1975, Vietnam violated the Paris Agreement and decided to launch a war to unify the North and the South. At this time, although the U.S. military had withdrawn, it still left a large amount of weapons and equipment for South Vietnam, which was supported by it.
On paper, the South Vietnamese regime was not in any way weak, either in terms of the number of troops or the armament of the army. Therefore, this war to unify the north and the south will become a protracted civil war in the minds of many people.
However, unexpectedly, after only 55 days, North Vietnam was completely reunified, and the regime of Nguyen Van Thieu in South Vietnam, which had a million-strong army, was almost vulnerable.
At this time, the United States, which was eager to get out of the quagmire of the Vietnam War, and China, which was mired in a special period of 10 years, watched as Vietnam completed its reunification. After the completion of reunification, the Vietnamese people's self-confidence has reached the extreme.
Vietnam has even begun to think from the bottom of its heart that it is truly the world's third military power, with a chance to repeat Japan's success at the end of the 19th century.
Where does Vietnamese self-confidence come from?
First of all, the Vietnamese believe that they have an extremely brilliant record. The Vietnamese firmly believe that it is the only country of color in human history to defeat two powerful Caucasian powers in a row.
In a sense, this is actually not a bad point. After the Japanese surrendered, France and the United States, which were trying to occupy Vietnam, were naturally within the target of Vietnam's resistance.
Moreover, in the war that lasted for more than 30 years, Vietnam defeated France, the old European power, and the United States, the world's largest power.
The Vietnamese believe that such a brilliant record is unique among countries of color. Even Japan, the first great power of the yellow race, and China, which has a long history and is the world's most populous country, have not achieved this.
In the face of the world's largest power, the United States, Japan was finally forced to surrender unconditionally, and although China repeatedly defeated the American army on the Korean battlefield, it only divided the Korean Peninsula in two.
Vietnam was the only country that completely defeated the United States and drove it away, preventing Vietnam from falling into the division of the Korean Peninsula.
Therefore, the strong self-confidence of the Vietnamese is not unreasonable.
The second point that boosted the self-confidence of the Vietnamese was the glorious victory in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
In March 1954, the Vietnamese army gathered four infantry divisions, one artillery division and other troops, totaling more than 40,000 men, to encircle the French-occupied Dien Bien Phu base from two directions and launched the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
The battle, which lasted nearly two months, annihilated more than 16,000 French troops in one fell swoop and destroyed and shot down 62 French fighters. It not only recovered Dien Bien Phu in one fell swoop, but also dealt a great blow to France's ambition to return to Vietnam and re-integrate the three Indochinese countries into the colony.
During the same period, although the Chinese People's Volunteers who fought bloodily on the Korean battlefield also achieved a series of victories, in the perception of the Vietnamese, the Chinese did not achieve a single battle to annihilate a white army of more than 5,000 people.
In contrast, the Vietnamese army, which annihilated more than 16,000 white regular troops in World War I, seems to be much stronger than the volunteer army.
Therefore, the Vietnamese, who had defeated France and the United States in successive victories in the War of Independence, reached the peak of their self-confidence after their complete reunification. At that time, Vietnam even thought that it was better than China, and Vietnam was the best representative of the yellow race.
Moreover, Vietnam, which has always had close ties with China and has spared no effort from China during the decades of war, has a very detailed understanding of their northern neighbor.
Vietnam knows that during the 10-year special period, China's people's livelihood has not only withered, economic development has been unfavorable, and even the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has experienced insufficient training and equipment and a decline in combat effectiveness.
Therefore, after taking the opportunity to conduct on-the-spot inspections of the Chinese army, some Vietnamese generals even believed that Vietnamese soldiers who had experienced countless actual combat experiences could "stand up to 30 of China's."
Perhaps, the Vietnamese at that time not only had a plan to annex Cambodia, Laos and other countries and dominate Southeast Asia, but even the Vietnamese may not have reproduced Japan's ambition to swallow elephants in the past: to take advantage of China's weakness to go north to defeat China.
However, the Vietnamese, who had been carried away by the victory at this time, did not think about the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, which they were proud of annihilating 16,000 white French troops, although the Vietnamese Vo Nguyen Gia was nominally the commander-in-chief of the front.
In reality, however, the actual commander of the brilliant victory campaign was the Chinese military advisory group headed by General Wei Guoqing. Moreover, although they are both Caucasian armies, the combat effectiveness and weapons and equipment of the French and American armies are very different.
The U.S. military is armed to the teeth, and it has been tested by World War I and World War II. The French army after World War II can be called the shame of World War II, and there is a huge gap between the French army and the US military in terms of combat will, equipment and combat effectiveness. Defeating the French does not mean defeating the Americans.
As for Vietnam's great victory over France and the United States to achieve independence, the Vietnamese army did show strong and tenacious combat effectiveness, and the Vietnamese military and people also paid great sacrifices.
However, this sacrifice and victory was not accomplished by the Vietnamese alone. Without the help of China and later the Soviet Union, it was impossible for Vietnam to defeat the French and American forces, or even to maintain its independence.
Moreover, it has been proven that during World War II, France fell into the hands of Germany, and Vietnam, as a French colony, also fell into the hands of the Japanese.
You must know that the Japanese army's weaponry and logistical supply are not only very different from those of the US army, but even inferior to the French army. However, in the absence of foreign aid, Vietnam and the Viet Cong at that time did not even put up large-scale resistance, let alone defeat the Japanese army.
Therefore, Vietnam's bursting confidence in the late 70s was nothing more than the triumph of a poor man after he became rich.
The brutal truth that followed also gave the Vietnamese the loudest slap in the face. Because of Vietnam's frequent provocations, in 1979, China launched a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.
This battle not only annihilated tens of thousands of Vietnamese troops in one fell swoop, but also destroyed a large number of military installations built against China in northern Vietnam, dealing a huge blow to Vietnam.
Not only that, but in the following 10 years, China began to adopt the method of rotational warfare, sending troops to fight the Vietnamese army on the Sino-Vietnamese border in turn, dragging Vietnam, which had just completed the reunification of the war, into the quagmire of war.
This brought Vietnam's economy to the brink of collapse, and eventually, despite the support of the Soviet Union, Vietnam paid a huge price and eventually had to give up its ambition to dominate Indochina and withdraw its troops that were trying to annex Laos and Cambodia. The third military power in the world has become a complete joke.