In 79, the recruit who fought against Vietnam and enlisted for 52 days was awarded a first-class meritorious service, but was he later promoted?
In March 1979, under the clean offensive of hundreds of thousands of people of the People's Liberation Army, Vietnam's self-defense counterattack ended in only 28 days, and Vietnam also woke up from the dream of becoming a military power.
There is no doubt that the reason why our army was able to win this war in such a short period of time is not only due to the proper deployment of the army, but also an important reason is that the front-line soldiers are not afraid of sacrifice and are brave and fearless.
During these 28 days of war, the PLA has emerged some combat heroes that will be remembered forever by the Chinese people. One of the combat heroes enlisted in the army for only 52 days and blew up two hidden bunkers of the Vietnamese army in a row, which amazed countless Chinese people.
The hero of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam is Tang Lizhong.
Tang Lizhong was born in Hunan, his family conditions are average, and he is the only seedling in the family. Although his father originally strongly opposed his son's joining the army, Tang Lizhong resolutely stepped into the bloody military camp out of a strong desire to serve the country, which was on December 10, 1978.
Tang Lizhong's military training was extremely hard. While the other fighters finished their training early and went to sleep, he spontaneously increased the amount of training for himself, adding 1-2 hours of training for himself almost every day.
It is precisely because of this that Tang Lizhong was not only able to successfully blow up 2 hidden bunkers in the later counterattack, but also was able to retreat with his whole body, all thanks to Tang Lizhong's solid military skills.
On February 17, 1979, Tang Lizhong became an engineer in the 368th Regiment of the 41st Army.
In the counterattack war, there is a battle that has attracted the attention of later generations, that is, the Gaoping Battle, whose tragedy can be called the peak of the counterattack. The entire Gaoping Battle lasted 28 days, and the total strength of the PLA was as high as 150,000, with nearly 100,000 on both sides, and more than 11,000 people in the PLA.
The 41st Army was one of the main forces of the Cao Ping Campaign, and the tragedy of this battle was not only due to the complex terrain of the jungle in Vietnam and the fact that all the people were soldiers, but also from the strong fortifications in the Cao Ping area.
On February 17, 1979, the 368th Regiment, in which recruit Tang Lizhong belonged, was tasked with capturing Badaling and Baguling, two strategic areas, and capturing them would help to quickly cross to the Gaoping area.
However, the terrain of these two ridges is extremely complex, and although the enemy has only deployed a battalion of troops here, it is fully equipped and has strong firepower. More critically, dense forts of fire were built on many high grounds, in which the density of machine-gun fire ports often caused a huge ** for our troops.
The 368th Regiment performed valiantly, but gradually climbed under the enemy's dense chain of fortress fortifications. Eventually, Tang Lizhong's engineering unit was also sent to the front line to destroy the Vietnamese army's fortifications.
On the 103 heights, Tang Lizhong and his comrade-in-arms Chen Guohua successfully destroyed a fortress firepower point, but another fort firepower point with a higher position was still a huge threat. Under the crossfire of three enemy machine guns, several of our fighters have fallen.
Tang Lizhong took the initiative to take on the task of destroying the fortress, and he struggled forward under the cover of enemy machine-gun fire. Although the first blasting failed due to the dampness of the explosives bag due to several days of rain, Tang Lizhong was not discouraged. After getting a new explosive bag again, he threw it into the Vietnamese army's bunker despite the danger, but unfortunately this time it was still unsuccessful.
After getting the new explosives package for the third time, Tang Lizhong learned his lesson and cut the fuse short to only five or six centimeters. This increased the likelihood of a successful blast, but it also increased the danger for him several times over.
However, in order to ensure victory in the battle, Tang Lizhong has put his life on the line. In the third blast, he finally succeeded. With his excellent military skills, Tang Lizhong quickly jumped into the bunker and dodged the shock wave of **.
Five explosions, blowing up two Vietnamese forts, and killing nine enemy soldiers, this is enough to shock the whole army. What is even more surprising is that Tang Lizhong at that time was only a recruit who had only been in the army for 52 days.
After this battle, Tang Lizhong's heroic deeds spread throughout the army, and he was awarded the glorious title of "Demolition Hero" and was awarded the "First Class Merit".
Subsequently, Tang Lizhong was promoted all the way because of his merits, and was finally promoted to the rank of "colonel". What's more worth mentioning is that in the eventful military years, he also won the personal third-class merit twice.
In the great victory of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, many combat heroes who were not afraid of sacrifice emerged, such as Tang Lizhong. Among them, Jiang Jinzhu, a first-class combat hero personally awarded by the Military Commission, is also a hero worthy of being remembered forever by future generations.
On March 7, 1979, Jiang Jinzhu's company fought a reconquest battle on Heights 148. In the fierce battle, Jiang Jinzhu led the knife platoon to break through the enemy's four lines of defense in succession, but was shot in the head and fell unconscious in this battle.
Although Jiang Jinzhu was seriously wounded in the head, fractured his left arm, and unconscious three times, he still did not listen to the dissuasion of his subordinates, but crawled with all his strength to the enemy's heavy machine gun position. In the end, he threw a grenade and blew up the enemy's machine-gun position, and died a heroic martyr at the age of 24.
Also worthy of praise are the Miao warrior Tao Shaowen.
In the battle of Musang on February 17, 1979, Tao Shaowen was ordered to destroy a hidden bunker fire point of the enemy army. When he inserted the firing holes in the enemy bunker, the enemy repeatedly pushed out the bazooka. Faced with this situation, Tao Shaowen used his left hand and left shoulder to support the bazooka, and finally died with the enemy. After Tao Shaowen was martyred, the state posthumously awarded him first-class merit.
Another battle hero to be admired is the Dai warrior Yanlong. On February 21, 1979, he single-handedly eliminated more than 20 enemies of the Vietnamese army, fought alone for four hours, and made indelible achievements for the victory of the battle. However, four days later, during the march, Yan Long, who had been walking at the forefront of the company, was unfortunately killed by the enemy. After the war, the Military Commission awarded him the glorious title of "Lone Hero".
Similarly, Liu Hongsheng, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 41st Army Tank Regiment, also composed a heroic hymn.
On February 19, 1979, Liu Hongsheng received an order to cover the transfer of troops, and during the battle, the tank was hit by the enemy, and Liu Hongsheng's left leg was broken by a bullet. Despite this situation, he continued to fight until the last shell and bullet were used, and finally died a heroic martyr. After the war, Liu Hongsheng was awarded first-class merit.
In this war that has gone down in history, there are nearly 100 heroic combat heroes like Tang Lizhong and Jiang Jinzhu, and it is precisely because of so many brave soldiers who are not afraid of sacrifice that our country can achieve victory in foreign wars again and again.
Of course, there were many more heroic warriors in this war, and although they were not awarded the title of battle heroes by the state, these loyal and brave soldiers were equally worthy of posterity.