Comrade Zhou Deli's book was published.This is a documentary literary work reflecting our army's self-defense counterattack against Vietnam in 1979. It is interspersed with many anecdotes from Comrade Xu Shiyou's history. The story is strong and full of legend.Comrade Xu Shiyou is a fierce general with outstanding military exploits in the history of our army and has fought many beautiful battles in his life.I have worked with him in the Nanjing Military Region for more than ten years, and I deeply feel that he is sincere and straightforward, cares about the suffering of soldiers, and is very supportive of political work.Reminiscing about the past again today, I feel very cordial.

Our army fought back in self-defense against Vietnam, which was a just war to defend the sovereignty and territorial security of the motherland.At that time, our country smashed the "Gang of Four" in one fell swoop, the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party, which had great historical significance, had just ended, and the whole country was embarking on a new Long March with full confidence.The Vietnamese authorities, who thought they had hegemony as their backing, extended their aggression claws to our lovely motherland, and yelled to "turn China's hope of modernization into a bubble."It expelled and persecuted overseas Chinese in large numbers in the country, created troubles in the Sino-Vietnamese border area, and finally developed into an open armed invasion of our border, seizing our territory, plundering our property, shooting our soldiers and civilians, and making the Sino-Vietnamese border uneasy.The Chinese government cherishes the traditional friendship between my country and Vietnam, and has repeatedly restrained and retreated, but the Vietnamese authorities regard it as weak and deceitful.Under the unbearable situation, the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission judged the situation and made a wise decision to launch a limited self-defense counterattack against Vietnam. the support of the people.

This self-defense counterattack not only maintained the dignity and territorial integrity of the country, defended the construction of the four modernizations, but also attacked the Vietnamese invaders, which is conducive to peace and stability in Southeast Asia.The great cause of our country's four modernizations requires a peaceful and stable environment, and it is up to the people of the whole country to strive for such an environment.This war tells us: when the river is clear and the country is jubilant, we should still be prepared for danger in times of peace, strengthen the concept of national defense, strengthen the construction of the People's Liberation Army, the Armed Police Force and the militia, and strengthen the unity of the army and the people.We should understand, care for and support the soldiers who have been stationed at the border and sea areas for a long time, and connect with them to defend our great Great Wall.

This battle has comprehensively tested and tempered the troops and promoted the revolutionization, modernization and regularization of our army.Since the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, there has been no major battle for more than 30 years. This self-defense counterattack provides us with an opportunity for actual combat training.In the war, our veterans are still majestic and resourceful; our young cadres are good at learning wars from wars, and command better from one battle to the next; The fine tradition of the country has played a national prestige and a military prestige.In this battle, a large number of commanders and combat backbones with actual combat experience have been discovered and trained. They will be a new force in the history of our army's military establishment.

This operation is a large-scale military operation of our army after the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and it has provided us with many special and new experiences different from previous wars.We should be good at exploring the general law of war guidance from the war practice under these special conditions, and strengthen our military construction in a targeted manner.Comrade Zhou Deli's book has made some valuable explorations in this area, and we can draw some lessons from it.Therefore, Comrade Deli asked me to write a preface, and I readily accepted it.