After the start of the self-defense war against Vietnam in 79, the 43rd Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 385th Regiment of the 129th Division of the 43rd Army has been fighting on the front line against Vietnam, shouldering the important task of clearing and suppressing the Vietnamese army on the front line.
[Self-defense counterattack against Vietnam]
The combat squad of the 4th Company was the pioneer of the entire division, but they did not expect that they would become famous in the first battle and become a strong stroke in the war against Vietnam, and they were even awarded the honorary title of model of the whole army.
The vanguard of the 43 Army
In order to be responsible for the safety of the march of the large troops from the squad to the vicinity of Pozo, the commanders of the 4th Company have studied the military map for a long time and believe that the most likely place for the Vietnamese army to hide is in the area of Liunan Mountain.
【War against Vietnam】
There are high mountains on both sides, and it is very difficult to be discovered, so it is suitable for hiding in them and waiting for the arrival of our large forces before attacking.
The combat squad of the 4th Company unanimously decided to go into the ravine to reconnoiter and find out the enemy's situation, not to mention that it was just a simple reconnaissance mission, but the soldiers of the 4th Company combat squad took great risks.
This is a mountainous jungle in a foreign land, and our army knows nothing about the internal situation, Vietnam is good at jungle warfare, I don't know how many mines and traps are deployed along the way, once triggered, it will be either death or tragedy, and the soldiers can only slowly advance deep into the ravine in order to reduce the risk.
Soon, the pioneers who opened the way found traces of the Vietnamese army, confirming that the guess of the 4th Company's combat squad was not wrong.
[PLA scouts in the jungle]
There is indeed a certain scale of Vietnamese military activities here, and the Vietnamese army could never have imagined that a PLA reconnaissance team had infiltrated a seemingly absolutely safe hidden place.
Our officers and men recorded the positions of many Vietnamese troops' light and dark posts, and it stands to reason that the reconnaissance mission has been completed. However, the combat squad of the fourth company realized that these Vietnamese troops were likely to become hidden stingers beside the large units of our army, and if they were left unchecked, there would be endless troubles.
The combat squad of the 4th Company unanimously decided to kill as many Vietnamese troops as possible without arousing the vigilance of the Vietnamese army, so as to alleviate the tremendous pressure that the large army would face.
The officers and soldiers quickly locked on the location of the Vietnamese army camp and lurked around the Vietnamese army camp, waiting for an opportunity to attack.
【War against Vietnam】
Originally, a big battle was about to break out, but the squad leader and instructor both proposed that the situation of the enemy and us was unknown at night, and it would not be easy for our army to quickly annihilate them, and we should narrow the encirclement as much as possible and wait for the opportunity to wipe them out.
The combat squad used a very interesting tactic, during the 15-hour period of hidden observation, the PLA has been deliberately tightening the encirclement of the Vietnamese camp, and in the end the distance between the two sides is only about 40 meters, and the Vietnamese army is not aware of the presence of our troops.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) watched the Vietnamese army's every move through binoculars for 15 hours. One of the officers-like Vietnamese soldiers was having fun with two Vietnamese female soldiers, not even noticing that the People's Liberation Army was close at hand.
Seeing this, the instructor knew that he could prepare to move, and no one in the Vietnamese army from top to bottom was alert to the imminent attack of our army. This provides an excellent opportunity for our army to wipe them out.
Textbook victory
After a while, the Vietnamese army camp was opened, and all the Vietnamese officers and soldiers showed up in the camp, ready to have lunch, but instead of delicious food, they were fed grenades and bullets from the People's Liberation Army.
How could the commanders and fighters of our army give up the excellent opportunity for the Vietnamese troops to gather together and defeat a large number of Vietnamese officers and soldiers in a short period of time.
At this time, the remaining Vietnamese troops reacted and began to shoot everywhere like headless flies, and the camp was chaotic for a while, with Vietnamese casualties everywhere, while the 4th Company warhead suffered almost no losses, and withdrew from the battle in time before the Vietnamese reinforcements arrived.
After moving to a safe place, the officers and men began to review the battle just now, realizing that their surprise attack directly wiped out dozens of Vietnamese troops, but they themselves did not lose a single one, and it was a textbook victory.
After the experience of the combat squad of the 4th Company was reported to the military headquarters of the 43rd Army, it was praised by the whole army.
【War against Vietnam】
The higher-level departments also called on the whole army to learn from the experience of the combat squad of the 4th Company, not to blindly launch an attack, but to wait for the best opportunity to make a move.
The Vietnamese army is not a weak brigade, in fact, the Vietnamese army annihilated by the 4th company combat squad still has a very high combat quality, which can be seen from the fact that they can quickly enter the combat state from the initial shock.
If it weren't for the fact that the 4th Company killed most of the enemy and stunned them with one shot, the outcome of the battle is really hard to say. The 4th Company's combat squad was also praised for its strict discipline in combat, and when the Vietnamese camp was first discovered, many soldiers petitioned to launch an attack.
After being rejected by the instructors, everyone was not arrogant or rash, and strictly implemented the orders of the commanders and fighters, which achieved remarkable results.
During the war against Vietnam, the Vietnamese army always despised the combat effectiveness of the PLA because of the large number of recruits in our army, and it is a fact that the PLA lacks actual combat experience, but its discipline and military quality far surpass that of the Vietnamese army.
In other words, compared with the PLA, the Vietnamese army can hardly be counted as a regular army, and the guerrilla habits on it are still very strong, which is why the Vietnamese army was defeated in the 79 conflict.
【Vietnamese Army】
Incidents such as the 4th Company Combat Squad on the battlefield and small-scale units of the Vietnamese army did not occur at one time, and the PLA was always able to take the lead with better military quality and flexibly respond to the Vietnamese army's attack.
On the other hand, although the Vietnamese army has more combat experience in the jungle, due to poor combat discipline, they can only complete the initial ambush and sneak attack tactics, and once the battle enters a stalemate, they lack the ability to adapt, and finally our army finds a weak point to break through.
This is also the fundamental reason why the Vietnamese army was able to defeat the seemingly more technologically advanced US military in the Vietnam War, but it was never able to defeat the PLA.
【Vietnamese Army】
The jungle guerrilla attack also depends on the target, and the Vietnamese army obviously chose the wrong target for its war.
Sources:
[1] Zheng Haitian. 1979: My Self-Defense Counterattack Against Vietnam, VIP, 2012
[2] Pan Kane. Return to the Historical Scene: The 35th Anniversary of the Self-Defense and Counterattack War against Vietnam. WanFang》，2014