Counterattack against Vietnam
Author: Forgotten in the rivers and lakes.
Statement: Bing said that the original debut, the whole network has been opened to protect rights, and plagiarism and handling must be investigated
In the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, our army's tank units have achieved outstanding results and learned many lessons.
As an important part of the army, compared with the step-by-step advance of the "Big Brother" infantry and the great power of the "God of War" artillery, the tank unit is of course a supporting role.
On the one hand, the tank units achieved brilliant results. There was even a tank company with five Type 62 light tanks staged the Chinese version of "Fury" in Vietnam, which simply blocked more than 8,000 people from one division of the Vietnamese army for one day, no less than one tank of the US army in World War II stopped thousands of German troops.
In 1979, the counterattack against Vietnam, the pledge meeting of the tank troops
But on the other hand, in the 28 days of fierce fighting, our tank units also suffered heavy losses. In total, more than 500 tanks took part in the battle, and 48 were damaged, with a battle loss rate of nearly 10%. And the tanks that destroyed the Vietnamese army were only 17.
Why did our tanks show valor, but the losses were also large?
The Hollywood war blockbuster "Fury" (2014) tells the story of tank soldiers in World War II.
In April 1945, World War II had come to an end, and the Allies were moving deeper into the German hinterland step by step, and the 5 tank formations of the old gun (Brad Pitt) were ordered to cover the infantry to rush to the designated location. During the march, 1 vehicle was killed by a sneak attack by German anti-tank guns in the woods, and 3 more vehicles were killed in a fierce duel with the German "Tiger", and in the end only 1 vehicle remained.
It was the only remaining "Firefly" tank "Fury", in the case of the track was blown up by mines, using the "bluff death" tactic, sneak attack on thousands of German soldiers passing by, and finally the "old gun" and 3 old comrades-in-arms were killed, only the recruit Norman hid under the tank, was rescued by the Allied forces who rushed in, and survived by luck.
"Fury", which took place in Vietnam, was on the first day of the counterattack against Vietnam (February 17, 1979).
The location is at the Cao Sheng Bridge on the Ba Po River in Cao Bang Province, Vietnam, and the protagonist of the story is the 5 tank formations of the Sharp Knife Company of the Tank Regiment directly under the 42nd Army of the Guangzhou Military Region (company commander He Siyuan and instructor Lin Mengzhu).
At the beginning of the battle, Xu Shiyou mobilized 100,000 troops to outflank the military town of Cao Ping, an important military town in northern Vietnam, and eliminated 40,000 people from the 346th Division of the Vietnamese Army. Among them, the formation of 6 companies and 10 vehicles of the 2nd Battalion of the Tank Regiment directly under the 42nd Army to which He Siyuan belonged was responsible for covering the infantry task force, interspersed with Shi'an County (Dongxi) southwest of Gaoping to block enemy support.
He Siyuan's tank company suffered the same fate as the "old gun".
During the march, the infantry contingent of the 42nd Army was attacked by a large number of local troops of the Vietnamese army, and 5 of the 10 Type 62 light tanks were lost one after another, and the instructor Lin Mengzhu died. Company Commander He Siyuan led five wounded tanks to Dongxi, the west gate of Gaoping, in the afternoon.
Vietnam's First Military Region also sent three regiments, the 338th Division and the 327th Division, to go straight to the Bampo River with the support of the 1st Tank Brigade directly under the First Military Region. They thought that as long as they preemptively entered the No. 670 area of Shi'an County, they would be able to crack Xu Shiyou's plan to encircle and annihilate the Gaoping Vietnamese army.
In a hurry, Xu Shiyou stuck a pole to the end like the 135th Division in the Hengbao area commanded by General Lin back then, jumped Wu Zhong's Southern Group, Wei Huajie's 42nd Army, and Song Zonghan's 126th Division, directly commanded He Siyuan's 5 tanks, and rushed to No. 670 in Shi'an County, and the Vietnamese army grabbed time to take the Gaosheng Bridge on the Banbo River.
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, Company Commander Ho Si Yuan arrived north of the Gao Sheng Bridge with five Type 62 tanks, and the Vietnamese army, which was the first three Type 62 tanks and one company of the Vietnamese army, also arrived on the south side of the Gao Sheng Bridge. Thus, a battle for control of the bridge began.
Ho Si Yuan ordered the tank formation to use armor fragments to blow up the piers of the bridge, while machine gun fire was fired at the Vietnamese infantry. However, three Vietnamese tanks crossed the river before the collapse of the Gao Sheng Bridge and fired at our first tank together, one of Ho Siyuan's legs was blown off, and he fell into a coma with two other soldiers, and the driver died heroically on the spot.
Four tanks of our army quickly counterattacked and destroyed three tanks of the Vietnamese army.
Dozens of infantrymen who followed the tanks across the bridge were also wiped out by our troops. The tank battle was thrilling, and the two battalions and one tank company of the Vietnamese army's vanguard on the south bank of the Bambau River, despite the presence of anti-tank missiles, 82 recoilless guns, and 82 mortars, were frightened by the fearless spirit of our tank formation, and they cowered on the south side of the bridge and fired indiscriminately.
is completely different from the movie "Fury", when counterattacking Vietnam, our tanks did not have time to "cheat death", let alone camouflage, so they could only fight with the superior Vietnamese army, if the other side was desperate, our army's 4 tanks would definitely not last long, but the vanguard of the Vietnamese army collapsed without a fight, so that the commander of the 338th Division was also caught off guard.
Forty-five minutes later, the soldiers of the 378th Regiment of the 126th Division of the 42nd Army and the 2nd Tank Battalion arrived at Dongxi City, and the 6th Company and 4 vehicles rushed to the 661 area of Shi'an County to carry out the task of blocking the enemy. The commander of the 338th Division of the Vietnamese Army saw that there was no hope of reinforcing Gao Ping, and he had no choice but to marvel at the "flying general" coming from China.
After the war, the commanders of the Southern Group, the army, and the division rushed to the field hospital to visit He Siyuan, who was awarded a first-class meritorious service. He Siyuan's Heroic Tank Company No. 6 was also awarded the collective first-class meritorious service, and was awarded the title of "Heroic Tank Company" by the Military Commission, and the Military Region awarded the honorary title of "Ironclad Cavalry Sharp Knife Hero Company".
But in a number of other battles, the tank units of our army also suffered setbacks.
Major General of the Vietnamese Army, Chen Youhuan, recalled that the Vietnamese army once destroyed seven tanks of our army in one fell swoop. During the war, he served as the commander of the 11th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 246th Regiment of the 346th Division of the First Military Region, and after the war, he climbed all the way to the commander of the Gaoping Provincial Military Headquarters and the deputy chief of staff of the First Military Region.
The battle of "destroying seven tanks of our army" mentioned by Chen Youhuan took place at about 3:30 p.m. on February 20, 1979, at the bend of the highway on the east side of the Shuojiang River. At that time, the 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 364th Regiment of the 122nd Division of the 41st Army (3 platoons was owed) took 7 tanks from the 9th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 41st Army Tank Regiment to attack from Guoru to Shuojiang and open up the highway line from Pingmeng to Shuojiang.
The first tank of our army was hit by the Vietnamese anti-tank **, because the infantry had not yet occupied the unnamed heights southwest of Kuo Tho and the stone mountain north of the road, resulting in the 2nd Infantry Company and the 9th Tank Company 7 tanks caught in the Vietnamese crossfire network, and the battle situation was very passive.
In just over 10 minutes, 49 people were killed and 59 were wounded in the 2nd Company, and 2 of the 7 tanks of the 9th Tank Company were destroyed and 5 were wounded. Although it was not as Chen Youhuan said, "all 7 tanks were destroyed", the losses of infantry and tanks were indeed large.
Similar to the battle on the Shuo River, the Vietnamese army also claimed to have "destroyed 12 tanks in the village of Ta Lan".
Dalan Village, 12 kilometers southeast is Gaoping, which is the only place for our army to attack Gaoping from He'an County. At about 7 o'clock in the morning of February 18, 1979, the 1st Battalion of the 41st Tank Regiment of our 41st Army was suddenly attacked by the 10th Company of the 9th Battalion of the 851st Regiment of the 346th Division of the Vietnamese Army.
Using 82 recoilless guns, 60 mortars, and rocket launchers, the Vietnamese army suddenly attacked our tank formations on both sides of the one-mile-long road, and each tank also carried about 10 fighters. Under the fire of Vietnamese rocket launchers, light and heavy machine guns, and submachine guns, 12 of our tanks were reimbursed, and hundreds of soldiers were killed, and the Vietnamese army recorded that they were only 4 killed and 12 wounded.
Our army recorded that 6 tanks were destroyed, 2 were wounded, and 1 was overturned.
In the counterattack for nearly a month, our army lost 48 tanks and the Vietnamese army lost 17.
The tank losses of our army are much higher than those of the Vietnamese army, and there are many reasons, mainly the following four points.
First of all, the complex geographical environment of northern Vietnam, with steep mountains, ravines and dense forests, is extremely unfavorable for tank movement, and it is even more difficult to play the role of maneuvering. The Vietnamese army was passively defensive, and fewer tanks were touched and destroyed.
Secondly, the main battle tank of our army at that time, the Type 62, was "too thin" and weighed only 21 tons. The Type 59 is small in number, so it is easy to be pierced by the Vietnamese army's hand-held anti-tank **, anti-aircraft machine gun armor-piercing shells and artillery shells.
Third, the Vietnamese army imitated the M79 40mm grenade launchers and 40mm rocket launchers of the US army in World War II, so the seven tank regiments and one tank battalion invested by our army have created a world record in jungle tank warfare, and the losses are also quite heavy.
Fourth, our army's infantry and tanks are not able to coordinate operations, which often puts the tank units in a situation where rapid assault is fighting alone, and the infantry commanders do not know much about the technical and tactical performance of the tanks, and cannot well follow up and protect the tanks against the Vietnamese infantry.
All kinds of lessons and lessons are the direction of our army's improvement after the war.
References:
1. "The Inside Story of the Self-Defense and Counterattack War against Vietnam", by Wang Lili, Jilin Publishing House;
2. "The Secret Record of the Sino-Vietnamese War", written by Jin Hui, Zhang Huisheng and Zhang Weiming, Times Literature and Art Publishing House.
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