Forty-two years have passed since the 1979 self-defense counterattack against Vietnam. In that 28-day counterattack against Vietnam, a large number of combat heroes emerged, of which 79 were commended by the Central Military Commission.
To this day, among the 79 personnel who have been commended, some have died bravely on the battlefield, some have been disarmed and returned to the fields, and some have continued to serve in the army and fought for the safety of the motherland, such as General Li Zuocheng, who came out of the self-defense counterattack.
They fought bloody battles for the interests of the motherland and the people, were not afraid of sacrifice, and marched forward bravely, they were the pride of the people, and they were the heroes of the country.
But in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, in stark contrast to the combat heroes, it was those hateful and shameful traitors on the battlefield.
For the sake of their own selfishness and to achieve their own goals, they have become morally corrupt, breaking through the bottom line of being a member of the Chinese nation, and are willing to be pawns driven by the invaders and become traitors, and they will surely become the scum of the nation referred to by Qianfu.
And Zhang Donglin is one of them.
Zhang Donglin was born in Chongzuo City, Guangxi, in a rural village on the Sino-Vietnamese border. Because his aunt married into Vietnam, Zhang Donglin, who often came and went, learned to speak fluent Vietnamese.
What I didn't expect was that this fluent Vietnamese later became not only a stepping stone for Zhang Donglin to glory, but also a stumbling block for him to fall.
Because Zhang Donglin's fate is closely linked to the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.
Before the start of the self-defense and counterattack war against Vietnam, the Vietnamese army would have friction with our Yunnan border troops from time to time, and in the process, because of the language barrier, our army encountered a lot of trouble in dealing with the border issue.
At this time, Zhang Donglin's role came into play, because Zhang Donglin could speak Vietnamese and was familiar with the situation in Vietnam, so when dealing with border issues, Zhang Donglin began to act as an interpreter for the troops to help the border guards deal with border issues.
At this time, Zhang Donglin was simply a sweetheart, because most of the soldiers of the border guards at that time came from all over the country, and few of them knew Vietnamese, even if the local people, although they were on the Sino-Vietnamese border, there were still not many people who could really speak Vietnamese fluently. In this case, the importance of Zhang Donglin is also highlighted.
In view of Zhang Donglin's superior conditions and his excellent performance, Zhang Donglin was soon conscripted into the army. This is undoubtedly a great good thing for Zhang Donglin and his family.
Because for the rural people at that time, there was a thought that was absolutely deeply rooted in their hearts, that is, dreaming of getting ahead.
And Zhang Donglin's enlistment is definitely a matter of glory for the ancestors and the glory of the family for the Zhang family, who have been farming for generations.
Soon after, in view of Vietnam's repeated ignorance of the mainland's warnings, the mainland government decided to launch a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam when it could no longer bear it.
In February 1979, the founding general Xu Shiyou was appointed commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front.
In the face of the arrogant Vietnamese army, Xu Shiyou said angrily: "Don't say that you are just a Li Duan, even a bamboo will have to be pulled out for you." ”
Zhang Donglin was also assigned to the combat sequence with his unit to conduct operations.
In the army, because Zhang Donglin could speak Vietnamese, his job was mainly to take care of Vietnamese prisoners of war and to educate them in persuasion.
Because of his fluent Vietnamese, Zhang Donglin had a smooth life in the army, and when his fluent Vietnamese dialect came out, the other soldiers in the army cast envious eyes on him. At that time, the army also cultivated it as a key object. It can be said that Zhang Donglin's future is immeasurable.
But something unfortunate happened, in one of the battles, Zhang Donglin was captured.
In the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, our army captured more than 2,000 Vietnamese soldiers, while more than 200 of our troops were captured.
Although our army has also been captured, it is actually very difficult for the Vietnamese army to capture a PLA soldier.
Therefore, Zhang Donglin's capture was particularly important to the Vietnamese army.
After being captured, Zhang Donglin was imprisoned in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp, and then the Vietnamese army interrogated Zhang Donglin.
During the interrogation, the Vietnamese army unexpectedly discovered that Zhang Donglin could speak fluent Vietnamese, which surprised and surprised the Vietnamese army.
Surprisingly, there are Vietnamese speaking soldiers in the Chinese army.
Surprisingly, they can use this to hype up the superiority of Vietnam.
They regarded Zhang Donglin as a key target of rebellion, and wanted to use him as a breakthrough to persuade more PLA soldiers to "surrender".
The Vietnamese army put on a friendly posture towards Zhang Donglin and entertained him with delicious food and drink.
In order to express his "concern" for Zhang Donglin, the leader of the Vietnamese army personally invited him to his home as a guest.
The praise of the Vietnamese army, coupled with everything in front of him, made Zhang Donglin mistakenly believe that he was not a prisoner of war, but a guest of honor of the Vietnamese army.
In the face of the "warm" offensive of the Vietnamese army, Zhang Donglin was completely relaxed, he regarded the other party as a close friend, knew everything, and chatted with the Vietnamese army endlessly.
He said that his aunt married into Vietnam, and when he was a child, he often came to his aunt's house as a guest, and slowly he learned Vietnamese.
Because his aunt was very good to Zhang Donglin, when it came to emotion, he burst into tears, and he especially wanted to see his aunt.
The Vietnamese army felt that they had found a breakthrough for Zhang Donglin, and immediately said to Zhang Donglin that if Zhang Donglin was willing to cooperate, they were willing to help Zhang Donglin find his aunt, and would give them a lot of money to ensure that they would have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives, and promised that Zhang Donglin could come and go freely after taking the money, and if he didn't want to live in Vietnam in the future, he could also return to China as an overseas Chinese.
Zhang Donglin was moved, and after listening to the conditions offered to him by the leader of the Vietnamese army, he decided to stay in Vietnam and cooperate with the Vietnamese invaders.
Zhang Donglin's attitude made the Vietnamese army overjoyed, and they handed over the broadcast propaganda draft that had been prepared to Zhang Donglin, and the Vietnamese army did not need him to "broadcast live" before the war, but only needed him to record the sound in advance.
Zhang Donglin agreed.
If Zhang Donglin had even a little bit of integrity when he was captured, then he could still get the pity of the people, but at this time, Zhang Donglin was a complete traitor and would definitely be spurned by the people.
When Zhang Donglin recorded the music, the Vietnamese army was very satisfied with it, and placed Zhang Donglin as if he were a guest on the throne.
At that time, in order to break the will to fight of the soldiers of our PLA, the Vietnamese army installed loudspeakers in the forward positions and carried out a "warm offensive" against the positions of our troops without interruption, to the effect that it was nothing more than how good life in Vietnam was and how difficult life was in China.
On the third day of Zhang Donglin's capture, the Vietnamese army's radio horns continued their "rebellion" propaganda as usual. In fact, the PLA fighters have long been accustomed to this propaganda method of the Vietnamese army, and all the fighters scoffed at it.
But today's broadcast surprised the PLA soldiers, because what was broadcast on the radio was not the voice of the Vietnamese army announcer that they had long been tired of hearing, but the recording of Zhang Donglin, who had been specially arranged by the Vietnamese army.
"Soldiers, don't fight Vietnam anymore, as a Vietnamese prisoner of war, we really can't bear to see this tragic war continue.
China and Vietnam, which have been friendly friends for generations, have turned their faces today. Here, China bears the main responsibility.
You think, how can a small country attack a big country? This is obviously China bullying Vietnam.
The official propaganda against you is all a lie to you, please don't believe that, hurry up and lay down your arms!"
After this paragraph, it simply blew up all the PLA soldiers.
All the fighters began to shout loudly in the direction of the Vietnamese army's broadcast: spineless traitor!
Immediately, under the order of the head of the unit, the artillery lined up in a neat formation, and fired a salvo of multiple artillery in the direction of the enemy's broadcast, and the Vietnamese army's position was instantly dusty, the cannon roared, and the fire soared into the sky. The loudspeaker that was broadcasting never made a sound again, and I don't know where it was blown up.
The Vietnamese army took advantage of Zhang Donglin's battlefield "rebellion" work, but it did not show any value at all, but instead received more fierce artillery attacks from the PLA. In the eyes of the Vietnamese army, Zhang Donglin naturally lost the value of use.
Slowly, Zhang Donglin was left out in the cold, and he no longer had the treatment of "sitting as a guest". Naturally, the promises made to him by the leaders of the Vietnamese army could not be fulfilled.
Having lost his usefulness, Zhang Donglin was arranged to cook in a prisoner of war camp for several months, and he still dreamed of the promises made to him by the Vietnamese army.
Sometimes he would go to the leader of the Vietnamese army who had promised him, hoping that he would fulfill his promise and reunite him with his aunt.
But as far as Zhang Donglin's situation at this time is concerned, it is simply wishful thinking, and the Vietnamese army can't even see him.
It was only then that he discovered that he had been deceived by the Vietnamese army, but what could he do? In the eyes of all PLA soldiers, he was already a traitor, and in the eyes of others, he was a national scum and a heinous traitor.
Two months after the end of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, China and Vietnam reached an agreement to exchange prisoners of war. From May 21, 1979, China and Vietnam released prisoners of war in five batches.
Among the prisoners of war returned to our army in Vietnam was Zhang Donglin.
After being told that he would be returned to China, the self-aware Zhang Donglin realized what he would find after he returned, and even he was ashamed. Therefore, he begged the Vietnamese side to let him stay in Vietnam and do whatever he wanted. However, his request was not agreed to by the Vietnamese side.
Therefore, Zhang Donglin had to be handed back to China with shame and reluctance.
Zhang Donglin, who returned to China, was quickly brought to justice, and in the end, Zhang Donglin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for treason and traitor.
After the end of the war, after the news of Zhang Donglin's treason and collaboration with the enemy came home, Zhang Donglin, who was originally proud of his parents, may have been awarded for meritorious service in his parents' minds, and he would return home with a medal on his chest.
But what I didn't expect was that I waited and waited, but what I was waiting for was the news of his treason and collaboration with the enemy, I originally wanted to glorify my ancestors, but I didn't expect to do something that humiliated my ancestors.
His parents couldn't accept this reality at all, and in a fit of rage, they both died not long after.
In prison, when the people in prison knew that Zhang Donglin had become a traitor and collaborator on the battlefield, they sneered at him one after another, and they were unwilling to even pay attention to him, expressing their disdain for his behavior.
The state spared him a life, but how could he live, the condemnation of conscience made him live in agony every day, it was worse than death.
As one of Zang Ke's poems says: Some people are alive, but they are dead.
And Zhang Donglin is a living "dead man".