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Preamble:
Since 1950, the mainland and Vietnam have established friendly relations, and China has given Vietnam a lot of support in many aspects, both economically and militarily, and they also call each other "comrades" and "brothers" intimately.
I thought that the two countries would always maintain good relations, but what people did not expect was that at this time, Vietnam actually began to stab China in the back and oppose China everywhere, and the main reason was because of the support of the Soviet Union and Vietnam's own blind self-confidence, trying to quickly develop into the third largest military power.
China has always been a peace-loving country and adheres to the principle of not fighting if it can, but Vietnam has used our tolerance and generosity as a reason to be weak and bullied, and its provocations against the mainland have become more frequent and excessive. As the saying goes, there is no need to endure anymore, and in the end, Deng Gong directly appointed Xu Shiyou and let him take command of the battle, and teach Vietnam a lesson. The self-defense counterattack war against Vietnam is about to break out!
In fact, when the candidate of Deng Gong first came out, many people expressed puzzlement, after all, Liu Bocheng and Su Yu were still there, Deng Gong not only did not choose them, but instead chose Xu Shiyou, who was not as good as the two. So, why did Deng Gong choose Xu Shiyou among all the people? What's the meaning behind this?
Causes of the attack on Vietnam
As we all know, at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was the most difficult period of Vietnam's struggle against France, and despite our own limited capabilities, we resolutely extended a helping hand to the Vietnamese side in the face of Vietnam's request for help, and gave the Vietnamese side sufficient help in many aspects, from economic to military.
With our help, Vietnam quickly won the war, and China and Vietnam have maintained close relations ever since, during which the two sides signed a series of treaties of friendship and cooperation. It can be said that the relations between the two countries at this time were not only very harmonious and close, but also had a very deep revolutionary friendship.
Later, in Vietnam's War of Resistance Against the United States, in order to help Vietnam get rid of the control of the United States, China once again provided a large amount of material and manpower support to Vietnam.
However, all this came to an abrupt end after the death of Vietnam's first supreme leader, Ho Chi Minh, and a new leader, Le Duan, officially came to power. At that time, Vietnam's high-level perception of its own military strength was extremely skewed, and they were blindly confident, believing that they had defeated the United States, and at this time they were already the third largest military power in the world besides the United States and the Soviet Union, so they had the ambition to invade neighboring countries, and at the same time, they were also eyeing the territory of the mainland, and began to frequently provoke and harass the mainland.
But they don't want to think about whether they can win this battle so quickly without China's help, and whether the country can recover and develop so quickly.
In addition to the blind self-confidence of Vietnam itself, the instigation and support of the Soviet Union was also the main reason for its rapid expansion. In 1958, the Soviet Union proposed to form a joint fleet with China, with the aim of occupying the port of Arthur as a military base.
And maintaining the territorial integrity of the country is a principle that Chairman Mao, the leader of the mainland, has always upheld, so how could he agree to the unreasonable demands of the Soviet Union? When the Soviet Union rejected it in one fell swoop, the rejected Soviet Union instantly became angry and angry, not only withdrawing all the aid it had previously given to the mainland, but also targeting the mainland everywhere in the international community. Since then, the Soviet Union and China have officially broken up, and relations have fallen to a freezing point.
At this time, Vietnam, as an ally of the Soviet Union, happened to break into its field of vision, so the Soviet Union planned to support Vietnam to contain and suppress China, and Vietnam was willing to be a pawn of the Soviet Union.
Hand-picked Xu Shiyou to take charge
I have to say that at this time, the Vietnamese leaders have been blinded by interests and desires, and they can't see their true strength at all, and they want to wrestle with China and compete with each other, so don't blame our subordinates for being ruthless, and the taste waiting for Vietnam to taste will definitely fail!
Since 1974, Vietnam has begun to use some unseemly means to target the mainland, from the initial expulsion of Chinese in Vietnam, to the robbery of Chinese fishing boats, the brutal killing of Chinese, to the Vietnamese soldiers crossing the border to invade the mainland's Guangxi and killing mainland citizens with submachine guns, causing bloodshed, and at the same time invading and occupying the Nansha Islands in disregard of China's kind advice, posing a serious threat to the mainland's territorial sovereignty.
In the face of Vietnam's frequent provocations, the mainland has always adhered to a tolerant attitude towards China and Vietnam because it is worried about the previous friendship between China and Vietnam, but Vietnam has regarded our generosity as a reason for weakness and bullying, and its provocations against China have become more frequent and excessive.
As the saying goes, there is no need to endure anymore, and finally Deng Gong decided to send troops to Vietnam, and the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam began. Since there is going to be a war, the first thing to do next is to select a person who can command the overall situation from among many people, and Deng Gong finally finalized this candidate after careful consideration, and this candidate is 73-year-old Xu Shiyou.
When Deng Gong's decision first came out, many people expressed puzzlement, after all, Marshal Liu Bocheng, who was known as the "God of War" at this time, and General Su Yu, the "God of War", were still there, and they were the leading generals in New China in terms of war experience and strategy, and the most important thing was that the level of the two commanding the large corps was also above Xu Shiyou, why did Deng Gong not choose the two of them, but Xu Shiyou?
In fact, Deng Gong's choice of Xu Shiyou to take command also has his own considerations. When the war broke out in 1979, Marshal Liu Bocheng was already 87 years old, and due to years of hard work, his physical condition was already very poor, especially the visual impairment was very serious, almost to the state of blindness, and he needed someone to support him in peacetime, so in this case, Marshal Liu Bocheng was definitely not suitable, and he was unable to command the battle.
Since Marshal Liu Bocheng is old and in poor physical condition, Deng Gongcai did not choose him, so what about Su Yu, the "God of War"? You must know that he was one year younger than Xu Shiyou at that time, why didn't Deng Gong choose him and let him go to the front?
Su Yu is not only experienced in a hundred battles, but also especially good at commanding large corps operations, it is obvious that he should be the commander of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, but what many people don't know is that his physical condition is even worse than that of Marshal Liu Bocheng.
In the early revolution, General Su Yu was seriously wounded, and he had three pieces of shrapnel left in his skull that could not be removed, which caused him to suffer from headaches all year round, and in severe cases, he could not even turn his head at the simplest time, let alone command the battle. When resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, Chairman Mao originally hoped that Su Yu would be able to lead the troops, but because he was worried about his physical condition, he finally gave up.
In addition to headaches, General Su Yu also had heart disease, in addition, he also had a sudden cerebral hemorrhage, part of the spleen and stomach were removed, it can be said that he was riddled with diseases, and his physical condition was quite unsatisfactory, so he was not the best person to command a self-defense counterattack.
Self-defense counterattack war against Vietnam
Unlike the two, Xu Shiyou's physical fitness is much better, he rarely gets sick when he learns martial arts since he was a child, and his physique is relatively strong. Moreover, Su Yu and Liu Bocheng had been away from the front-line troops for a long time at that time, and they were actually relatively unfamiliar with the real situation of the troops, but Xu Shiyou had always served as the commander of the Guangzhou Military Region, and he was still quite familiar with the army's training and actual combat capability.
In addition, the weather in Guangzhou is very similar to that in Vietnam, both of which are humid and hot, so the impact of the environment is not big for Xu Shiyou. In addition, Xu Shiyou's fighting style is very brave, and what he needs to fight a war is his attitude of not being afraid of death and daring to sacrifice. In addition, although Xu Shiyou's military exploits are not as good as Marshal Liu Bocheng and General Su Yu, they are also outstanding military exploits. Therefore, judging from the comprehensive qualifications, physical condition, experience, ability, and other aspects, it is very suitable for Xu Shiyou to become the commander-in-chief of Vietnam.
Subsequently, Xu Shiyou took 580,000 PLA soldiers to the Sino-Vietnamese border, kicking off the prelude to the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam. Among them, considering the factors of the war situation between countries, Xu Shiyou also took a bold decision: to use new soldiers as the main force to attack Vietnam.
The combination of "veteran recruits" may seem strange now, but when you look at the situation at the time, you will find that it was a perfect strategy. Once all the veterans were sent, it would be difficult to guarantee that the Soviet Union would not take advantage of the situation and provoke a war on the border, so we had to do this in order to prevent the possibility of such a thing happening.
When the Chinese People's Liberation Army entered Vietnam and fought all the way, the momentum was like a bamboo, while the Vietnamese army was defeated, and it took only one month for Vietnam to be completely defeated. At this time, our army was only more than 100 kilometers away from Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, and as long as the Military Commission gave an order, it would only take three days at most to conquer Hanoi.
Why did you choose to withdraw at this time? This was a question that was on the minds of many people at the time. The main reason is that China's self-defense counterattack war against Vietnam focuses on self-defense, not aggression, in order to punish Vietnam and crush its ambition to dominate, and at the same time it also shows our determination and perseverance to the Soviet Union.
Although the war of self-defense and counterattack against Vietnam lasted only a short month, the wounds on Vietnam's "young heart" and its domestic economy were extremely damaging. According to conservative estimates, Vietnam's losses are as high as $1 billion, and its economic level has regressed by at least nearly two decades, which is at their own expense.
Finally, let us pay tribute to the revolutionaries and soldiers of the older generation! Without them, we would not have such a beautiful life now, it is their efforts that have led to the current situation of the prosperous country, history will remember them, and the people will always remember them!
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