In a warlike army, being a general often means greater responsibility, and in the 1979 self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, the sons of three chiefs followed the troops to fight on the front lines and stayed in Vietnam forever.
【War against Vietnam】
These people all have prominent backgrounds and could have left the front line for safer posts, but they chose to fight on the battlefield like ordinary soldiers, and sacrificed their precious lives.
The martyrs of the war against Vietnam
The rupture of Sino-Vietnamese relations began with the rupture of Sino-Soviet relations, when China and the Soviet Union, two major socialist powers, parted ways, Vietnam finally chose to turn to the Soviet Union in light of its own external and domestic conditions, and began to turn against China.
【Vietnamese Army】
In 1979, China launched a self-defense counterattack in 1979, which took only 28 days to completely crush Vietnam's northern defenses, targeting the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.
Although the PLA won an undoubted victory in the overall war, our army still paid relatively large casualties, with a total of 8,500 officers and soldiers killed.
On the one hand, this is because the situation on the battlefield in Vietnam is relatively complicated, and our army lacks relevant experience in jungle and mountain operations, and on the other hand, the combat effectiveness of the Vietnamese army is not weak, which still causes some trouble to our army.
[The Vietnamese army still has considerable combat effectiveness]
Among the 8,500 martyrs, there are 10 soldiers who are special, they are not ordinary soldiers, but the sons of senior leaders of the army, what is the reason why these cadres and children finally go to the battlefield?
It is said that the tiger father has no dogs, and he has been exposed to it since he was a child, and he wants to join the army.
Zhang Zhixin did not interfere with his son's life aspirations, but as Zhang Zhang signed up to join the army, Zhang Zhixin still showed a long-lost smile.
After the outbreak of the war against Vietnam in 79, Zhang Li, who has always insisted on being a low-key person, found his father very rarely, hoping that his father could use his relationship to transfer himself into the combat unit, and he wanted to go to the front line to fight to protect his family and defend the country.
【Zhang Zhixin】
Zhang Zhixin was also very relieved to see his son so promising, agreed to Zhang Li's request, and transferred him to the front-line troops as an ordinary soldier.
Zhang Zhang was like a fish in water on the battlefield, and his superb combat skills made him quickly affirmed by his comrades and squad leaders, of course, everyone didn't know Zhang Li's background, and thought he was an ordinary soldier.
Zhang Zhang never said who his father was, but always fought for the most dangerous and difficult tasks for himself, acting as a pioneer for his comrades.
Veterans know that the sharp soldiers often explore the road at the cost of their lives, Zhang Zhang is like this, during a reconnaissance patrol, Zhang Zhang and his comrades encountered a large number of Vietnamese soldiers, in the fierce battle, a bullet just hit Zhang Li's waist and injured the vital point, Zhang Zhang died on the spot.
【Tension Martyrs】
After the news of Zhang Li's sacrifice reached Zhang Zhixin, Zhang Zhixin could not calm down for a while, but his strong willpower quickly brought him back to his senses, and told himself over and over again that his son was a hero who sacrificed his life for the country and deserved it.
Full of loyal generals
In addition to Zhang Li, the story of Geng Jun and Geng Xiaokang is also famous on the battlefield against Vietnam, the father of the two brothers is Geng Jinfu, deputy chief of staff of the 150th Division of the 50th Army.
【Geng Family Brothers】
The 150th Division was the first batch of troops to participate in the counterattack against Vietnam, and the two brothers of the Geng family also came to the battlefield and became ordinary soldiers fighting on the front line of the battle.
During the battle of Gaoping, the combat team led by the Geng brothers was besieged by a large army of the Vietnamese army, and the officers and soldiers fought fiercely with the Vietnamese army for two days and nights.
Seeing that the troops were about to be eaten by the Vietnamese army, the two brothers of the Geng family made up their minds, and they let the remaining soldiers wait for an opportunity to break through.
[Geng Xiaokang and Geng Jun]
When the Geng brothers gave this order, they were actually determined to die, and Geng Xiaokang was unfortunately hit by the Vietnamese army when he was attracting enemy firepower and died on the spot.
Geng Jun held on to his comrades to buy time, surrounded by the Vietnamese, he did not choose to disarm and surrender, but jumped off the cliff with his submachine gun and died for his country.
After the deeds of the Geng brothers spread, they were valued by the Central Military Commission, and their feats were widely publicized throughout the country, touching countless Chinese people and inspiring more young people to join the army to serve the country.
【Mourning Martyr】
Although Geng Jinfu was saddened by the sacrifice of his two sons, as a soldier, he knew very well that sacrifice was inevitable, and he continued to contribute to his post.
Zhou Wei is also a general, his father is Zhou Kaiyuan, the political commissar of the 121st Division of the 41st Army, who fought in the War of Resistance and the War of Liberation, and is a highly decorated general.
As a veteran, Zhou Kaiyuan is used to seeing the cruelty of the battlefield, and he hopes that his son can be an ordinary person and enjoy a peaceful life.
【General Zhou Kaiyuan】
But there is such a fierce father, Zhou Wei has had the ideal of joining the army to serve the country since he was a child, since his father did not agree, he quietly ran to other troops to join the army to sign up, and went to the battlefield of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.
Zhou Wei always thought that his father didn't know about his secret joining the army, but the army was full of Zhou Kaiyuan's old comrades-in-arms and superiors, and he was actually very aware of this matter, and the reason why he pretended to be confused was to see if his son could become an excellent soldier.
But what Zhou Kaiyuan didn't expect was that Zhou Wei would go directly to the front line of the counterattack, and unfortunately died in the battle to cover his comrades.
[Photo of martyr Zhou Wei and his family before his death]
In addition to grief, Zhou Kaiyuan also felt extremely proud of his son, and he told everyone that his son was a qualified soldier of the People's Republic of China.
Sources:
[1] Xu Linping, Guo Xiu. An Analysis of China's Self-Defense and Counter-Attack Operations Against Vietnam, VIP, 2013
[2] Zheng Haitian. 1979: My Self-Defense Counterattack Against Vietnam, VIP, 2012