Chapter 52: Sino-Vietnamese War (2)
On the 17th, the PLA on the eastern front quickly entered Vietnam after artillery bombardment and divided into three routes to enter Vietnam. Among them, the southern and northern routes implemented a pincer movement against Haiphong, an important town in northern Vietnam. After entering Vietnam, the troops encountered fierce resistance from the Vietnamese army. The PLA, which had not fought for over a decade, did not have a swift attack speed compared to the Vietnamese army that had just experienced war baptism.
The 41st Army Group bypassed the front-line defense of the Vietnamese 346th Division and attacked Ban Zhuang and Kou Tun. The 42nd Army Group, responsible for the southward pincer movement, formed a pincer force with the 126th Mechanized Infantry Brigade as its main force, and launched a pincer attack on Dong Xi, a town in Shi An County, Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam. A rapid pincer force composed of new-type main battle tanks and armored vehicles carrying infantry quickly attacked and successfully captured Dong Xi, a strategic location that connects northwest to Ha Tinh and southeast to Lang Son.
By the afternoon of the 17th, our army had built a circular defensive position in Dongxi, cutting off the road for the Vietnamese army's southern escape. The 346th Division of the Vietnamese army was completely surrounded. In order to block the People's Liberation Army's attack, the Vietnamese army blew up a reservoir, using water as an obstacle to block the PLA's attack. After the engineering troops' rapid bridge repair, our northern route army was able to pass through the water barrier.
On February 24, the PLA launched an attack on Cao Bang from three directions - east, west and south. After a fierce battle of seven hours, they captured Cao Bang at dawn on February 25, but only annihilated local Vietnamese forces. The fate of the 346th Division of the Vietnamese Army was unknown, and the command believed that it could not have escaped to the south, so they ordered the frontline troops to search carefully. Later, the Chinese army that captured Cao Bang conducted a clearing operation in the Cao Bang area, encountered the main force of the 346th Division of the Vietnamese Army withdrawing from Cao Bang City, and after a fierce battle, completely annihilated the 346th Division of the Vietnamese Army.
On the morning of February 27, the Battle of Chamdo began. The Eastern Army Group first carried out a 10-minute firepower raid, and then divided into three routes, with the 487th Regiment of the 164th Mountain Division launching a fierce attack on Kema Mountain, the 488th Regiment attacking Gaoyi 417; The 491st Regiment of the 164th Mountain Division directly took Bawo Mountain. At that time, the entire Chamdo area was shrouded in thick fog, and it was drizzling from the sky, with very poor visibility. Our army launched a charge under the guidance of tanks, with infantry following the tanks to advance step by step, constantly moving forward.
The Vietnamese army concentrated "hail" rocket artillery and anti-aircraft machine guns to launch a firepower strike. At the critical moment, our artillery launched a depth strike, opening up an attacking road with dense shellfire, while firing a large number of incendiary shells to indicate targets for tanks in the vast rain and fog. The attacking troops also changed their tactics, forming dense formations into different echelons, using battalions as units, adopting company and platoon dispersed formations, alternating cover, and launching multi-route attacks.
The artillery observation post followed the infantry's advance, providing firing coordinates for the artillery at any time and calling for fire support. Every time the infantry captured a high point, they fired signal flares, and the artillery unit immediately launched a 200-meter firepower strike upwards, putting the next Vietnamese firepower point under fire.
Then the infantry launched another assault. In this way, our army advanced densely like a comb, pulling out and attacking one by one, and knocked down the Vietnamese army's firepower points. The fierce battle lasted until February 28, when the outer defense points of L?ng S?n were basically cleared. Our troops approached the urban area of L?ng S?n from the east, north, and west. The Vietnamese command was hesitant, neither using reserve forces to reinforce the defenders nor ordering the three divisions to retreat.
The Vietnamese army was slow to mobilize its reserve troops for a counterattack, and the isolated garrison in L?ng S?n alone could not stop our advancing footsteps. However, L?ng S?n was too important, and losing it would put Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, directly under attack. Therefore, the "Golden Star 3rd Division" had no choice but to fight to the end, making a final desperate bid to fulfill its boastful words and share life and death with L?ng S?n.
Before attacking Lang Son, General Xu Shiyou instructed the Military Region Command: Tell the Eastern Group to continue its efforts and resolutely capture Lang Son City. The general particularly pointed out that Lang Son is the northern gate of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, which is very important and has a strong defensive position, with solid fortifications and caves. We should first use sudden and intense artillery fire to destroy the city's military installations thoroughly, demonstrating national power and military might. The general decided to attack Lang Son using the same method as Dong Dang, concentrating intense artillery fire to destroy the enemy's various facilities, causing massive casualties among the enemy's effective forces, and then using tanks and infantry to launch a surprise attack.
At 9:30 on March 1, General Xu Shiyou gave the order, and the Eastern Group concentrated more than 20 battalions of high artillery and artillery regiments from the 41st and 42nd Army Groups, with over 600 guns, launched a fierce bombardment of L?ng S?n. The sudden attack lasted for 30 minutes, firing over 60,000 shells. The ground shook, houses collapsed! L?ng S?n instantly turned into a sea of flames. The newly built barracks of the Vietnamese army were instantly flattened, and the solid military targets in the city were destroyed. Ammunition depots exploded continuously, power plants, post offices, public security bureaus, and other buildings were riddled with holes, and the entire power system was destroyed, cutting off communication with Hanoi.
The so-called king of the Vietnamese army used wireless telegraphy to call Hanoi: "The enemy started shelling at 8:30 am (Hanoi time is one hour earlier than Beijing time), with extremely fierce firepower, unimaginable, the sound of cannons rumbling, never seen such intense artillery fire, shells continuously bombarding, countless rounds, all roads blocked by them, we simply cannot resist, can only retreat by climbing mountains."
As the last shell landed in Liangshan City, the 41st Group Army's direct missile brigade began to conduct "surgical strikes" on enemy hidden firepower with the help of our reconnaissance satellites and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. Suddenly, cruise missiles and various special bombs fell again on the Vietnamese army's positions. At this time, the South China Sea Fleet's missile cruisers patrolling in the Beibu Gulf also provided fire support for the eastern front troops.
After the firepower strike, the 41st Group Army's 121st Armored Division and 164th Mountain Brigade launched an attack on Liangshan City under the cover of the Aviation Brigade. The 164th and 121st Divisions quickly broke through the urban area of Lianshan City. Among them, the 3rd Battalion of the 491st Regiment of the 164th Division directly attacked the provincial government building of Lianshan Province.
The Vietnamese army on the high ground south of the city locked down the intersection with dense firepower, and the sound of artillery explosions was deafening. The squad leader of the 7th company of the 8th battalion, Xie Zhongqing, led his entire squad to advance flexibly in the Vietnamese artillery network, and they charged into the provincial government building in just 5 minutes. In the office of the provincial government building in L?ng S?n City, smoke filled the air, flames raged, and it was a mess. The official seal that the provincial officials had left behind when they fled south was thrown to the corner of the house, and documents and papers were blowing wildly in the wind... Immediately after, the 491st Brigade also captured the L?ng S?n City Public Security Bureau, International Travel Agency, and K? Cùng River Bridge... The northern district of L?ng S?n City is now firmly under our army's control.
Lang Son city is divided into two parts, north and south. The area north of Ky Cung River is the new town district, while the area to the south is the old town district. Our army captured the northern part of Lang Son city and occupied the provincial government building. But the Vietnamese government, with a guilty conscience, declared through propaganda tools to the whole world: "The Chinese army has not occupied Lang Son city!"
"Ryanggang City is indestructible!"
General Xu Shiyou, the frontline commander, was furious upon hearing the news and personally issued a combat order: "At dawn, attack will begin, not a single house in Lang Son can be left." Early in the morning, General Xu Shiyou arrived at the command center. He first asked about the artillery preparation, the changes on the Vietnamese front line, the enemy's movement in depth, whether there were signs of counterattack; whether the Vietnamese reserve troops had moved positions and so on.
When he learned that the Vietnamese army had no new movement, still in a defensive state, seemingly waiting for a miracle to appear. He instructed that the Vietnamese army's various strongholds, barracks and command posts on the south bank of the Gianh River should be shelled!
He said angrily: Beat those bastards hard, see if I can beat down Mount Tai!
At 6:15, General Xu Shiyou gave the order, and the Eastern Front Army's battle to attack the southern district of Lang Son began. The army's artillery launched the most intense artillery raid in the self-defensive counterattack against Vietnam. Waves of shells carrying the anger of the Chinese people, hatred for the aggressors, punishment for those who forgot their gratitude and justice, and lessons for regional tyrants flew over the dark and cloudy sky above the Qi Yun River, accurately landing on the Vietnamese army's positions, barracks... The sound of artillery boomed, flames flashed, and smoke billowed.
Tank troops advancing to the north shore under cover of night, direct-fire artillery directly targeting firepower points on the south shore, making precise strikes. At 7:00, assault troops that had already entered the attack departure position formed seven assault teams, taking advantage of the effect of the artillery bombardment, braving the dense fog covering the sky and earth, they rushed across the Qiánjīn River from the Qiánjīn River Bridge and various crossing points in rubber boats and assault boats, directly inserting into the southern urban area of Yuèshān. The sixth company successfully crossed the river from under the bridge.
At 7:40, the 4th Battalion captured the South City District barracks of the Vietnamese army, the 6th Battalion captured the sanatorium and the 5th Battalion captured the train station. The 3rd Battalion followed closely behind, but when crossing the big bridge, it was blocked by the high-altitude artillery, anti-aircraft machine guns and depth artillery fire from the Vietnamese military's airport, Wen Temple heights, 428 heights and 391 heights. The division's artillery group and brigade direct-fire cannons carried out firepower suppression on the above-mentioned locations, covering the 3rd Battalion's rapid crossing of the big bridge, surpassing the 2nd Battalion's combat formation to launch a charge against the 391 and 428 heights.
At 09:15, the 9th Company captured Hill 391 with the support of the 7th Company, killing 71 enemies. The 8th Company, with part of its force pinning down the enemy from the front and the main force circling around from both east and west sides, took Hill 428 at 10:25, annihilating 48 enemies. Immediately after, the 6th Company captured Wenmiao Hill, killing 23 enemies. The remaining enemies fled towards Bomon.
Just past noon, the 7th and 8th companies cooperated to capture the 465 high ground; after 4 pm, the 6th company captured Bermont, and the 4th company captured Tung Kang and nearby strongpoints. Our troops advanced into the Vietnamese army's positions, the barrels of their artillery were still hot to the touch, some shells that had been loaded into the breeches hadn't even been fired yet.
On a high artillery position, the piled-up ammunition was as many as five carts. The main position in Nanshi District was captured by our army, and the entire defense of Lianshan collapsed completely.
Throughout the Battle of V?nh Yên, our army achieved brilliant results, and the "invincible" Viet Minh's "ace" Third Regiment was basically annihilated. Our army captured the Mysterious Mountain, marking that we had taken control of areas including the urban districts of V?nh Yên City, Nam city district, as well as areas within five kilometers south of V?nh Yên City.
Occupying the Mysterious and Delightful Mountains, we can point our swords at Hebei Province. Further south, it's a flat plain with no danger to defend. If the motherland needs us, with just one order, our army can practice martial arts in Hebei Province and drink from the Red River, waiting for the signal is just a matter of time.
The Hanoi authorities were now as silent as a cicada in winter, no longer shouting "Hanoi is unshakeable". The Le Duan group was terrified and hastily ordered the First Military Region to retreat, but the command post had already fled; at the same time, a general mobilization order was issued, and preparations began for urban defense operations by digging fortifications on main roads in Hanoi, and notifying diplomatic missions of various countries to prepare for evacuation to safe areas outside the city.
