The 1979 self-defense counterattack against Vietnam was a major test for our army, exposing equipment like the Type 63 amphibious tank with a series of problems.
As China's first self-designed and independently developed amphibious armored vehicle, the performance of the Type 63 amphibious tank during the war against Vietnam was really unsatisfactory, mainly in three aspects:
First, it is too large to fit into the mountainous areas of northern Vietnam.
The northern part of Vietnam belongs to the mountainous and jungle landform of the first zone, showing the characteristics of vast mountainous areas, high mountains and steep slopes, dense jungles, weedy cover, deep valleys and many holes, scarce roads, rivers and rivers, high temperature and humidity, heavy rain and fog, and harsh climate, which makes it very difficult for the army to deploy and move.
The Type 63 amphibious tank is very large, and the commander is 73 meters, more than 30 meters longer than the Type 59 medium tank of more than 30 tons, it is more difficult for such a large tank to advance on narrow roads in the mountains.
In addition, the Type 63 is not designed as a mountain combat project, and its climbing ability is not good, and it is even more difficult to move forward.
The Independent Tank Regiment of the Guangzhou Military Region was the only tank regiment equipped with Type 63 amphibious tanks participating in the battle. In the interspersed battles with the 123rd Division in the Koutun area, the 2nd Battalion of the regiment failed to keep up with the team because of the large size of the amphibious tanks and the difficulty of climbing in complex terrain.
Second, the engine overheated.
The Power Plant of the Type 63 amphibious tank is a 12150-L diesel engine, which produces 400 horsepower, which is significantly more powerful than the 240 horsepower on the previous Soviet PT-76 tank.
However, on the battlefield in Vietnam, the engine was frequently overheated, resulting in frequent failures of the Type 63 amphibious tank, and in just two days of the war, half of the tanks broke down.
Third, the protection is too weak.
The maximum armor thickness of the Type 63 amphibious tank is 14 mm, which is only enough to deal with small **, and it is a fatal danger to encounter any anti-tank **, and the 40 rocket launcher is the standard equipment of the Vietnamese army at that time, and the main infantry squad has a 2-person rocket launcher team, which has anti-tank capabilities, which leads to the Type 63 causing heavy losses and ** in military conflicts.
During the entire war against Vietnam, the Type 63 amphibious tank lost more than 30 units, and the loss rate was the highest, much higher than that of the Type 59 medium tank, and also higher than the Type 62 light tank with thin skin and big stuffing.
Although the commanders and fighters and equipment were all participating in actual combat for the first time, and despite their lack of experience, the soldiers who participated in the battle fought bravely and tenaciously, and a number of heroic model representatives emerged, among which Regiment Commander Zhu Fujun was a typical example.
Zhu Fujun, a native of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, was born in 1937, joined the army at the age of 18, joined the party at the age of 20, was promoted to a cadre at the age of 21, and became the commander of the tank regiment at the age of 38.
On February 19, 1979, when the main force of the 375th Regiment of the 125th Division of the 42nd Army attacked in the northwest direction of Koxin, it was besieged by the Vietnamese army from three sides. The sound of tank movement was heard behind the flank of the 375th Regiment, and in the absence of reconnaissance and confirmation, the regimental commander reported upwards that "the enemy is surrounded on all sides, the situation is urgent, and reinforcements are requested" and "100,000 are urgent", and the scene was very chaotic.
After receiving the order, Commander Zhu ordered Deputy Regiment Commander Cai Guoxiong to lead the 2nd and 3rd Battalions to advance in the direction of Fuhe, while he himself boarded an armored car and led two tank companies along Highway 3 to the Batuo area.
Due to the unfamiliar terrain and the backwardness of our army's infantry and communication at that time, the tank column lost contact with the tank guidance group that was advancing with the forward fingers of the division, so that it did not know the location of the infantry of the 375th Regiment and did not know the direction of identification.
This is the important town leading to Lang Son, located at the northern foot of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, the jungle landform in the territory, there are many valleys, dense vegetation, fog is large, and there are very few passages suitable for the march of large troops. The Vietnamese army deployed all kinds of firepower here, built three lines of defense, including 37 hidden bunkers, 17 shelters such as anti-artillery holes, and dug dense trenches and communication trenches.
At the same time, the Vietnamese army also laid a large number of anti-tank mines and anti-infantry mines on the road leading to Nong Ko, forming a defensive circle that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and was known as an "impregnable" defensive line.
Seeing a Chinese tank unit breaking through here, the Vietnamese army immediately **.
Commander Zhu, who found that the situation was wrong, immediately ordered the troops to evacuate quickly, but the enemy's fire was too fierce, and during the battle, a rocket hit Commander Zhu's car, the driver died on the spot, and Commander Zhu was also seriously injured, he asked the commander of the first battalion to withdraw with everyone, "I can't do it, you take everyone to retreat north, you must find your own troops, and bring the soldiers back safely!" If you don't go, I'll shoot you! ”
After that, Commander Zhu was placed in a hidden cave, and finally died heroically due to his injuries and excessive bleeding, and died at the age of 42.
When the news of the sacrifice of Regiment Commander Zhu reached the front headquarters, the head of the military region was shocked, and this was the highest commander of our army who had died since the beginning of the war at that time (our army sacrificed two full-time regiment commanders in the war against Vietnam).
After that, when our army **, when the body of Commander Zhu was found, it had begun to deform because of the hot weather.
The head of the military region was very distressed by the sacrifice of Regiment Commander Zhu, and specially sent someone to buy a good coffin and buried him and the remains of 42 subordinates who died in Brother Lang in the Longzhou Martyrs Cemetery in Guangxi. In the Martyrs' Cemetery, the tombstone of Captain Zhu is numbered No. 12 in Row 5 of District 4.
Regiment Commander Zhu's son was only 8 years old at the time, and when he grew up, he was admitted to the PLA Armored Forces Engineering Academy, and later became an expert in the science and engineering of armored forces control in our army.