In March 1969, the "Zhenbao Island Conflict" broke out between the two major powers of China and the Soviet Union, and the Soviet army suffered losses in the incident. Since diplomatic relations between the two countries had deteriorated markedly over the past decade or so, the Zhenbaodao incident had undoubtedly added fuel to the fire, and Sino-Soviet relations were tense in an instant, and both countries had made war preparations from the perspective of national defense. The Soviet side conducted a detailed assessment of the combat strength of China's various armies and divisions, and believed that the 127th Division was the ace unit of the PLA, and the division commander at that time was Zhang Wannian.
Later, there was no large-scale war between China and the Soviet Union, but it was not surprising that the other side was able to draw the above conclusions. Before the liberation, the Soviet Union supported the Chinese revolution and had a relatively in-depth understanding of our party history and military history. One of the predecessors of the 127th Division of the People's Liberation Army was the "Ye Ting Independent Regiment", which participated in the Northern Expedition and the Nanchang Uprising, and was the unit with the longest history and the strongest combat effectiveness of our army. The 127th Division was hailed as the "Iron Division, and there were no problems with the assessment of the Soviet side." The division commander Zhang Wannian himself is also extraordinary, 48 years of Liaoshen Campaign Tashan Blockade Battle, he made great contributions to the Northeast Field Army 4 column, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he also studied at the Military Academy, in June 1968 as the commander of the 127th Division.
More importantly, before being transferred to the 127th Division, Zhang Wannian participated in supporting the Vietnamese people's liberation war as deputy director of the Operations Department of the Guangzhou Military Region and played a very important role. Therefore, Zhang Wannian's ability has long been able to be listed in the high-level of the Vietnamese army. After the reunification of Vietnam in the 70s, Le Duan, the man in power, actually changed his policy toward China and defected to the Soviet Union to actively oppose China. In 1978, the Soviet Union sent an advisory group to guide the Vietnamese army, and General Obaturov from the Soviet Union once again proposed to the Vietnamese commanders: In the future, you must be more vigilant against Zhang Wannian on the battlefield, he is your number one enemy!
Obaturov knew Zhang Wannian very well, and he not only reminded the Vietnamese army based on the assessment of combat strength several years ago, but also analyzed it in combination with Zhang Wannian's actual resume. Zhang Wannian served as the commander of the Iron Army Division in 1968, and until the eve of the counterattack against Vietnam, he was still responsible for commanding this ace unit, and also served as the deputy commander of the 43rd Army. The military commander of a first-class main division has not been replaced for more than 10 years, and there is no doubt that the degree of cohesion and control is very strong, and the combat effectiveness of the unit can be imagined. In addition, Zhang Wannian stood firm after experiencing political events such as "913", which made Obaturov even more impressed, and stressed that the Vietnamese army must attach great importance to this Chinese general.
In the face of the warning of the "big brother of the Soviet Union," the Vietnamese officers and men naturally did not dare to slack off, and they were always very jealous of Zhang Wannian, hoping to seize the opportunity to get rid of him. After the counterattack in 79 years began, the Vietnamese really suffered from Zhang Wannian, and in the face of the new guerrilla warfare method he pioneered, they were beaten to the point that they lost their armor. Xu Shiyou, commander-in-chief of our army's eastern front, was Zhang Wannian's old chief during the War of Resistance Against Japan. The general was happy in his heart, but he had to remind Zhang Wannian: The 127th Division should not advance too fast, lest the large army be unable to keep up and affect the overall progress.
Zhang Wannian likes to command close to the front line. On March 4, 79, the Vietnamese army organized a sneak attack detachment and carried out a frantic strafing of Zhang Wannian's command vehicle, resulting in the death of a correspondent of our army on the spot, and Zhang Wannian himself was not injured. The enemy mistakenly thought that the headquarters of the 127th Division had been defeated, so he happily activated the propaganda machine, claiming that the 127th Division had been defeated and the famous Zhang Wannian had been "captured"! Because of the temporary interruption of contact, the military headquarters of the 43rd Army of the People's Liberation Army, which did not know the truth, was also very anxious for a while.
* After finally connecting, the superior head was still not at ease when he heard Zhang Wannian's voice, and repeatedly confirmed:Are you Zhang Wannian? The enemy says you've been captured and you're in the car! Zhang Wannian laughed and said: They are talking nonsense, I'm not good! Despite this, his superiors criticized Zhang Wannian, saying that he did not set up a headquarters according to the regulations. In fact, Zhang Wannian was indeed very close to the front line, less than 100 meters, far below the distance stipulated by the military regulations.
The Vietnamese were happy in vain. The Soviet adviser's reminder to the Vietnamese army was not wrong, and Zhang Wannian, the commander of the 127th Division, was indeed the world's tiger general, who made the enemy suffer a lot, but there was nothing he could do. After Zhang Wannian played the national and military prestige in the Vietnam battlefield, he returned to China to be further promoted and reused, and was later promoted to the commander of the large military region, the chief of the general staff of the whole army, and the first vice chairman of the ** Military Commission. In January 2015, Zhang Wannian, a generation of famous generals, passed away at the age of 87.