Mei Zixiang guide:
The automobile regiment formed a large convoy of 10 companies to participate in the War of Resistance against the United States in Vietnam, and its task was to attach the 13th Division of the Railway Corps, which built highways No. 8, No. 10, and L2 for Vietnam, and to transport large machinery such as road rollers, bulldozers, and loaders back to China for repair and maintenance. Chen Yingbai, who was the squad leader at the time, wrote about the process of carrying out the mission: mobilizing to participate in the war, seeing and hearing on the battlefield, being brave and bold, driving a car to and from China and Vietnam in complex terrain, daily life, and successfully completing the task.
As the author said, "the memory of the details of the war is a little vague", but the macro account also has historical value, so it is recommended.
Chronicle of aid to Vietnam to resist the United States
Chen Yingbai
The War of Aid to Vietnam to Resist US Aggression was the second time since the founding of the People's Republic of China that troops were sent to aid socialist neighbors to resist US imperialist aggression.
During this period, the railway troops of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, as support units, sent the second and 13th divisions into Vietnam to participate in the war, rushing to build railways and highways, building bridges and tunnels, rebuilding railways, building and expanding railway stations, rushing to repair railway and highway facilities damaged by US planes, eliminating time bombs, and many other tasks.
During my military career, I had the privilege of participating in the war, and was a member of the only company of the Independent Automobile Regiment of the Railway Corps.
I remember that in August 1967, the company received an order from the regiment to form an automobile detachment to aid Vietnam to resist the United States, and it was assigned to fraternal units to carry out battlefield transportation tasks. The company immediately held a mobilization meeting, and all the comrades of the company signed up one after another, wrote a letter of determination, and resolutely demanded to go to the front. I also actively signed up to participate in the war, because I was a probationary party member, and I was only approved to join the party in July, which was the critical moment to accept the test of the party and the troops, and it was my duty to sign up to participate in the war. After comprehensive consideration, the company commander selected the backbone of the company with good ideological consciousness and high driving skills, and formed the 10th company to participate in the combat team. After the list was decided, first of all, they conducted education on secrecy, and demanded that they not be allowed to disclose to their families and relatives the slightest news that the troops had gone abroad to aid Vietnam, and that they could only write a letter saying that the troops had special tasks and could not contact their families for the time being, and at the same time they were to carry out preparations such as comprehensive repair and maintenance of the vehicles and painting and refitting them.
Our main task in aiding Vietnam to resist the United States is to be assigned to the 13th Division of the Railway Corps to carry out support tasks. The 13th Division built No. 8, No. 10 and No. L2 roads for Vietnam, and transported large machinery such as road rollers, bulldozers, and loaders back to China for repair and maintenance. This task was entrusted to the 10th Company of the Automobile Regiment and the 10th Company of the Automobile Regiment to complete.
The 6th Detachment of the Chinese Aid Vietnam Engineering Force (13th Division of the Railway Corps) is responsible for the construction of 3 highways, passing through the mountains and mountains, with high standards and great difficulty. The automobile regiment is assigned to the battlefield transport mission.
The first time I carried out the mission, I was led by Wang Yanhe, chief of staff of the regiment, Zhang of the organization unit, Yin Baocai, company commander, Wang Yuanxin, first platoon commander, and other regimental, company, and platoon leaders.
We sent 10 Belliette flatbed trailers imported from France. Each car was equipped with a driver, an assistant, and a mechanic, and there were nearly 20 people in total.
The head of the 13th Iron Division, attached great importance to and cared for the arrival of the automobile regiment and the large car company, and specially sent Ouyang assistant to receive us throughout the whole process, and on the evening of the day in Kunming, Ouyang assistant specially got a performance ticket, and arranged for the comrades of our automobile regiment to go to Kunming "National Defense Grand Theater" to watch the song and dance drama "Shajiabang". Early the next morning, the convoy set off from Kunming, and after a day's march, arrived at Kaiyuan City in Yunnan Province to make preparations for entering Echizen. First of all, everyone changed their clothes, took off their military uniforms, changed into Vietnamese-style clothes, and each person was issued two gray cloth single clothes, two yellow shirts, a pair of sandals, a Vietnamese green hard hat, and a green moisture-proof cloth. The license plate number was also changed to a local license plate. The military uniforms brought by individuals are packed and stored in the Kaiyuan City Army Guest House. At that time, the dispatch of troops to Vietnam to resist the United States was not made public and was kept secret. Personnel units cannot use the original number, and they are uniformly called "Chinese Volunteer Engineering Detachment", and the 13th Iron Division is six detachments. Assistant Ouyang also conducted secrecy education for our personnel entering Vietnam, including not revealing the number of the unit, not sealing up communications, accepting inspections, and only writing email addresses when they return to their addresses. The cab of the car is covered with camouflage netting. After the personnel education, redressing, camouflage nets were completed, the convoy began to march towards Vietnam. We entered Vietnam from Jinping County, Yunnan Province. On the Chinese side, although there is an atmosphere of war, it has not affected the normal life of the border people. Entering Vietnam is different, on both sides of the big bridge, on the top of the high mountain, there are anti-aircraft artillery units defending, the high barrels are pointed to the sky, personnel, vehicles, and artillery are all covered with camouflage nets, and the further you advance, the more tense the battlefield becomes.
When I went to Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam, I saw that the fields on both sides of the highway were full of large and small bomb craters. The large pit is five or six meters in diameter and several meters deep. When you move a big rock and throw it down, you don't see any mixed water, only a few bubbles. There were also a lot of bombs that didn't explode, the big ones were more than two meters long, and the diameter was thick enough for a person to hold. After entering the depths of several tens of kilometers, I did not see a single decent house, which was basically blown up by US planes, and there were broken walls everywhere, and the scene of war damage was very tragic. We went to camp near Mong Kham, Vietnam, at the foot of a large mountain, where the mountains are high and densely forested, and where the logistics department of the 13th Iron Division is stationed, they have prepared barracks for us in advance. It is said to be a barracks, but in fact it is a simple thatched hut made of bamboo thatch, and the beds are made of logs. The platoon commander and we lived in a large bunk, and the regimental chief of staff and the company commander lived in a smaller room. The vehicle was parked in a clearing 50 meters from the barracks, and there was a camouflage net on the vehicle, and the concealment was also very good. In order to prevent air raids and bombing by US planes, the air defense requirements of the troops are very strict. The barracks are small, scattered and spread out in dense forests. During the day, there can be no fireworks for the troops to cook; There can be no lights on the eyes, and there is no room for the slightest bit of sloppiness. The head of the logistics department of the 13th Division also made a special trip to visit us at the company's station, and sent Section Chief Yang to take charge of our daily life and the assignment of tasks.
After a short rest in the camp, we put into the intense transportation task, and ten flatbed trailers went to the construction site of the 13th Division Machinery Company to load bulldozers, loaders, and road rollers to be repaired and transported them to China. Because during the war, even the roads that were repaired by the railway soldiers and engineers were not wide. Vietnam is mountainous, with steep slopes and sharp bends, and if you are not careful, you will slide off the road and cause accidents. Our trailers are tall, big, and wide, and with large machinery such as bulldozers, it's even more difficult to drive. Therefore, when performing tasks, you must be very careful, dare not be careless, hold the steering wheel one by one, keep your eyes open, and drive cautiously. In Vietnam, there was a lot of rain, a lot of rivers, a lot of floods, and the basic bridges were blown up by US planes, and the Chinese and Vietnamese people also learned from the war and invented the bridge in the water. That is, a stone is laid under the river, the water flows above the bridge, and the car walks on the bridge in the water. When the enemy planes found out that there was no bridge, they did not drop bombs. When we entered Vietnam, the railroad soldiers and engineering troops all erected new bridges over the big rivers, and the small rivers and shallow rivers also took underwater bridges, so wading across the river was a common thing. There is still a distance of 200 kilometers from Lao Cai in Vietnam to Kaiyuan City in Yunnan Province, and it takes about a week to complete each transportation task. There are two roads to Kaiyuan City, taking Jinping Road is short, the time is short, but the mountains and valleys, the road is narrow and the bends are sharp, and the danger is great. It takes a long day to walk the estuary, but the road condition is good, we mostly choose the road of the mouth of the old street, which also has to climb over a big mountain called Hoang Lien Mountain, it takes half a day to go up the mountain, it takes half a day to go down the mountain, the mountain is high and steep, the road is long and the ditch is deep, the clouds and mist are shrouded all year round, and there is snow in winter. When encountering a steep slope, you can only go up in gear, and people walk faster than cars. Every time you go up the mountain, you have to stop the car to fill the water tank to prevent the radiator from overheating and boiling the pot. When going down the mountain, you should also stop the car halfway to fill the self-made brake bucket with water to prevent the wheels from overheating and the brakes from failing. Because the French flatbed trailer we are equipped with is designed for transportation in plain docks, it is not suitable for use in such a harsh environment. Therefore, girder fractures have occurred, tire blowouts have run gas, and brake overheating has often occurred. The repairmen of the on-board workers actively tried to use the old oil drums, self-modified brake cooling buckets, and sprayed water to the wheel hub through the water pipe to dissipate heat. At the end of the day, the driver and assistant repairman worked very hard, but everyone persevered and did not complain about being tired.
In Vietnam, the troops ate quite well, and the rice was all Northeast rice, which was white and delicious. White sugar, peanuts can be eaten as much as you like, served in a large pot, and eaten as you like. In order to support Vietnam in resisting the United States, the people of the motherland provided Vietnam with the best food, the best weapons and ammunition, and the best equipment, as well as to the troops participating in the war. The Chinese Government and people have fulfilled their obligations and sacrifices to the greatest extent. When we were eating, Vietnamese children often went to the company's cooking squad to ask for food, and the comrades-in-arms of the cooking squad did not pick the door and served them spoonfuls of food. At that time, Vietnam was also very poor, and with years of war, it was difficult for the people to eat, wear, and shelter.
During our time in Vietnam, we could only use vouchers and not RMB. Purchases must be made at the Military Service Agency, and you are not allowed to act alone.
Our company went to Vietnam several times to support the 13th Division of the Railway Corps in carrying out tasks, and Company Commander Su Zhoukui (then deputy company commander) led the team there. Gan Shuiqing, Yang Anlun, Liu Anyin, Liu Nanfeng, Qiu Xiqin, Wu Shaozhong, Ye Jinhua, Xue Xingdai, Shang Xiaoxiang, Jiangxi Xi'an (worker), Liu Yuwen (repairman) and other comrades all went abroad to aid Vietnam in resisting the United States. All the comrades-in-arms who participated in the war were not afraid of hardship, tiredness, and sacrifice, and they overcame all kinds of difficulties and fulfilled their tasks. Thankfully, each mission was dangerous and heavy, but everyone was safe. There were no accidents involving people or vehicles. The longest time to participate in the war in Vietnam was the first time, half a year, and I went there several times later, and after completing the task of transporting large machinery, I withdrew to the domestic Lufeng company station, and I participated in every time I went abroad to participate in the war to carry out the transportation mission. With the signing of the "Vietnam-US Peace Talks" and the completion of the construction of No. 8, No. 10 and No. 12 highways in Vietnam with the assistance of the 13th Railway Division, the mission was completed and the mission was completed after the withdrawal from Vietnam and the return of China.
During the war abroad, the most worried and difficult people should be their families, parents, and wives. After going abroad for half a year, I couldn't communicate with my family, and I didn't know where we went, dead or alive. In my hometown, people who don't know the truth even say that I was killed and can't come back. My parents and fiancée Fu Dafang cried many times, and they were about to die. When I returned to the company, I wrote a letter to my family and reported that I was safe, and the family's hanging hearts were relieved.
Time flies, when I joined the war, I was a young squad leader, only in my twenties. Now that I am in my old age, I am filled with emotion when I look back on my past war experiences. Due to his age and too long, his memory of the details of his participation in the war is somewhat vague and not detailed enough. I also asked a few surviving old comrades-in-arms to help me recall, and I remembered some more. For those who went to Vietnam to fight, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, a set of commemorative medals were issued to each person at that time.
Chen Yingbai, a native of Anyue County, Sichuan Province, is a member of the Communist Party of China. He joined the army in March 1965 and served as squad leader, platoon leader, deputy instructor and instructor of the 10th Company of the Independent Automobile Regiment of the Railway Corps; In August 1967, he entered Vietnam with the army to participate in the aid of Vietnam to resist the United States. In October 1979, he transferred to work in the Construction Bureau of Neijiang City, Sichuan Province. At the time of his retirement, he was a chief staff member. He retired in January 1997.
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