One day in early March 1979, the warm spring of Vietnam in the Cao Bang region was already showing a gentle and affectionate atmosphere. The bright spring light flows quietly in the mountains and fields with the tranquility and softness unique to spring.
Plants are flourishing and sprouting everywhere, and the air is filled with the fragrance of the emerald green branches of the sandalwood trees. Everything on the earth is full of life and hope.
On this bright and warm spring day, the soldiers of the 448th Regiment of the 150th Division, dressed in the new uniform of Type 77, walked proudly on the front line of operations in Cao Bang Province. When they crossed the Sino-Vietnamese border with great vigour, everyone's mood was extremely excited and joyful.
Their hearts, like this spring, are full of hope. They hope that this advance will kill the enemy for the country and make meritorious contributions.
Although they once cherished the dream of killing the enemy and serving the country, in the end they were burdened with the stigma of a lifetime and could not hold their heads up. The culprit of all this was a company commander named Feng Zengmin in the mid-70s of the 20th century.
At that time, after ending the War of Resistance Against US Aggression and realizing national reunification, China's neighbor Vietnam began to embark on the road of anti-China and anti-Chinese reunification, openly regarded China as the number one enemy, and constantly invaded China's border areas by force.
On February 17, 1979, the border guards of the Chinese People's Liberation Army had to take action to counter Vietnam's hegemonic acts and safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
After fierce fighting, after successfully completing the scheduled combat mission on 16 March, our border troops withdrew to China in an orderly manner in accordance with the orders of their superiors.
The 150th Division lined up neatly on the front line of the battle and advanced towards Vietnam. However, their task was not to fight directly, but to carry out the task of clearing out the remnants of the enemy and escorting the smooth evacuation of our border guards.
When they met the soldiers who were returning from the battlefield on the Sino-Vietnamese border, their brand-new military uniforms, neat steps, and everyone's joy and excitement attracted the attention of the retreating soldiers along the road.
They belonged to the 50th Army, which was adapted from the 60th Army of the Dian Army, which had revolted in the Liaoshen Campaign, and made great achievements in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
The 150 Division gradually moved from a front-line combat unit to a non-main force, and due to the tight military budget in the sixties and seventies, they began to take on production tasks, supporting the main forces with side jobs, and gradually moved away from military training.
Their main work included production tasks unrelated to military training, such as building bridges, paving roads, and building barracks. However, at the end of 1978, with the urgency of the war at the front and the urgent expansion and preparation of major troops, the 150th Division also rapidly expanded in size, from more than 6,000 to more than 11,000.
In order to enhance the strength of the troops under the emergency situation of war, the 150th Division actively expanded and prepared for war, expanding from more than 6,000 to more than 11,000.
Although serving as a theater reserve, the soldiers of the 150th Division are eager to go to the battlefield and win glory for the country. Seeing that the war was coming to an end, they asked their superiors to go to the battlefield in Vietnam to carry out the task of cleaning up the battlefield and encircling and suppressing the remnants of the Vietnamese army.
The front command finally agreed to their request, considering that the recruits of the 150th Division had fewer opportunities for actual combat, and that clearing out the remnants of the Vietnamese army at this time was a rare opportunity for training.
On a sunny morning, the 448th Regiment of the 150th Division, in the envy and inner excitement of its comrades-in-arms, wore brand-new military uniforms and shiny guns in their hands, and rushed to the front line in Vietnam with fighting spirit.
As soon as they arrived on the battlefield, they showed a heroic and fearless spirit. In less than a week, they successfully completed the combat mission of clearing out many remnants of the Vietnamese army, and lived up to expectations.
Originally, the 448th Regiment was about to complete its mission and was preparing to return home. However, in order to achieve a greater victory, they decided to expand the search area, eliminate more remnants of the Vietnamese army, and seize more strategic supplies.
Subsequently, instead of returning along the same route, they chose to return from the north in order to better find the Vietnamese army and expand the results of the battle. However, during the march from the north, the soldiers blew up all the culverts because they were too light or careless.
This loud ** sound and smoke exposed the marching route of the whole regiment. At this time, the enemy is in the shadows, and we are in the light. The Vietnamese army is very familiar with the mountains and rivers here, far surpassing us.
In Naga Village, Cao Ping, Vietnam, at around 11 p.m. on March 11, the 448th Regiment was raided by Vietnamese troops. Due to the complex terrain and the premeditation of the Vietnamese army, the 448 regiment was forced to divide into two parts and fight separately.
Deputy regiment commander Hu Qingzhong led the reconnaissance platoon and the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion to conduct a surprise attack through the forest path, while the regimental headquarters and the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion retreated along the main road. The two teams fought alternately and retreated in turn.
At that time, the 448th Regiment was attacked by the strength of a reinforced battalion of the Vietnamese army. Under these circumstances, if the 448th Regiment chooses to break through by force, it is entirely possible to successfully get rid of the Vietnamese army.
However, due to the sudden attack of the enemy, and the 448 team hiding in the depths of the jungle, it was impossible to estimate the true strength of the Vietnamese army. Therefore, in order to ensure that nothing goes wrong, the 448th regiment chose to defend in place and called in the division headquarters for support.
While waiting for the support of the division headquarters, an afternoon passed in vain. At that time, the soldiers of the 448th Regiment did not realize that during the period of their anxious waiting, a reinforced battalion of the Vietnamese army had quietly increased to a regiment, and took advantage of the terrain to quickly occupy the only way to retreat the troops, and sent heavy troops to defend it to the death, forming a heavy encirclement.
At six o'clock in the evening, the sun was slowly setting, the twilight was getting thicker, and the soldiers of the 448th Regiment, who were anxiously waiting, still did not wait for support, so they had no choice but to start breaking through on their own.
The 2nd Battalion of the 448th Regiment was heavily surrounded, and tried to break through but fell into the ambush circle of the Vietnamese army, and was forced to confront the Vietnamese army head-on. With rich experience in mountain and jungle operations and reinforcements from elite troops, the Vietnamese army controlled the 2nd Battalion within the ambush circle, making it impossible to advance.
By the early hours of the morning, the 2nd Battalion had broken through to a narrow valley with difficulty, thinking that it would be hidden and could rest, but it was found that the commanding heights on both sides of the valley had been occupied by Vietnamese troops.
The Vietnamese army was condescending and the firepower was intensive, and the 2nd Battalion was forced to disperse again, and once again requested support from the division headquarters. Faced with an unfavorable situation, the 150th Division decided to send the 448 and 1 companies of the 8th Regiment to support.
Under the threat of difficult terrain and heavy fire from the Vietnamese army, the 1st and 8th companies quickly rushed to the ambush circle of the Vietnamese army, and they bravely moved forward and decided to break through the siege by scattering the attack.
In this fierce battle, the commander of the 1st company and all the soldiers showed a tenacious fighting spirit, and they fought a bloody battle with the Vietnamese army in a desperate situation. Although only two mortally wounded soldiers survived, their bravery was awe-inspiring, and the rest died heroically.
In the Vietnam War, the soldiers led by Wang Lixin, deputy commander of the 8th Company, were surrounded by Vietnamese troops. The trumpeter persuaded him to surrender, but he was killed in a fit of rage. In the breakthrough battle, Wang Lixin took the lead and died bravely.
At the same time, Xiao Jiaxi, a supply officer of the machine gun company under the command of the 2nd Battalion, was seriously wounded in covering his comrades-in-arms to break through. He hid alone in the cave, resisted stubbornly, and finally miraculously returned to his homeland after eight days and nights by virtue of tenacious perseverance and longing for his motherland.
Although the heroic performance of Wang Lixin and Xiao Jiaxi is admirable, compared with the performance of Feng Zengmin, the commander of the 8th Company of the 448th Regiment, on the battlefield, we feel ashamed and disdainful.
During the battle, the soldiers of the 8th Company led by Feng Zengmin were scattered by the Vietnamese army and forced to hide in a cave. Due to the exhaustion of ammunition and food, the Vietnamese army fought a guerrilla war for three days, but was never able to break through.
With little hope of breaking out, the morale of the fighters was generally low. Company Commander Feng Zengmin was anxious when he saw all this.
When night falls, the cave is cold and damp; Outside the cave, the Vietnamese army was heavily defended. For this company, to break through in such an environment is like a pipe dream.
Feng Zengmin leaned against the cold and rough rock wall, sleepless all night. The guns of the Vietnamese army in the early morning rang out again, to live or to die, to fight in the end or to be captured, this is the decision that Feng Zengmin must make.
The sunlight shone through the ferns at the entrance of the cave and shone on Feng Zengmin. He looked out of the cave and saw the immature faces of two hundred recruits, two hundred complete and happy families, and the greatest concern and longing in the hearts of two hundred mothers.
At that moment, Feng Zengmin was confused. The hearts of his soldiers are occupied by the affection of their children. He coughed lightly, subconsciously tidied up his military coat and hat, dragged his tired body, and slowly walked out of the cave.
Surrender to the whole company! He stood on an oval-shaped rock, facing more than 200 warriors, with a solemn face, but a firm tone of command. He knew his heart was dripping blood, and he felt dizzy at his temples.
Don't shoot, I'm Chinese, I led 218 soldiers to surrender. ”
In order to humiliate the PLA, the Vietnamese army even asked a female militia to be responsible for escorting the soldiers of the Eighth Company who surrendered to our army. During the more than two months he was captured, Feng Zengmin and his comrades-in-arms did not receive the treatment they deserved, but suffered all kinds of inhumane torture by the Vietnamese army.
Under the coordination of the International Committee of the Red Cross, China and Vietnam held a month-long prisoner exchange in the border area. During this event, a total of 239 prisoners of war of our army were exchanged and returned to China, and except for one soldier who died in the prisoner of war camp, the remaining 238 returned safely to the motherland.
Sadly, 218 of the 238 men came from the same regiment of the 150th Division to which Feng Zengmin belonged, and this regiment set a record for the largest surrender of our army since its creation.
Feng Zengmin was tried by a military court shortly after returning to China and was finally sentenced to ten years in prison because he led the soldiers of the whole company to surrender, and the circumstances were serious.
Ten years have passed like a white horse, and when he was released from prison after completing his sentence, he was already described as haggard and his face was withered, and his comrades-in-arms who had fought with him in the bloody battles in Vietnam had quietly left this world for ten years.
He was imprisoned for ten years, and ten years of loss of freedom and countless humiliations and humiliations were exchanged for the possibility of returning to his homeland. I don't want to talk about the past.
However, there are still people who remember him, and there are still people who come to interview him and ask him why he chose to surrender to the Vietnamese army. In the face of the reporter's question, he was in pain, and just said softly: "Helpless." ”
Ten years ago, "the whole company surrendered", and ten years later, "helpless move" were just four simple words, but they changed the fate of too many people and plunged them into the abyss of self-blame and sadness.
Feng Zengmin once said: "Helpless move", on the battlefield of killing the enemy for the country and fighting bloody battles, no matter how many legitimate reasons and difficult situations there are, they cannot shirk the sacred duty of soldiers.
In 1985, due to the bad nature and great impact of this matter, the 50th Army was abolished, and on December 1, 1985, the number of the 50th Army was permanently revoked, leaving only a sigh for posterity.