Chapter 2 2. February 17th of Blood and Fire

Perhaps it is a coincidence, since China entered the modern history in 1919, the end of the year when the end of the year is "nine" is a big event.It became more and more obvious in the future; the young Socialist People's Republic was established in 1949; the Tibetan rebellion broke out in 1959, and the central government sent troops to quell it; and in 1969, the serious military confrontation between China and the Soviet Union and border conflicts almost led to a large-scale war . So, what will happen in 1979 AD? Every day in the annual reincarnation is superimposed with an indelible historical load by a ring of ruthless annual rings.Projecting the day listed in the title of this section onto the same day in history, it is undoubtedly one of, if not the most ordinary, least eye-catching, least memorable, and least memorable day, at least one of such days.

However, in 1979, when February 17 was placed in the number sequence ending in "nine", the fireball that stunned the world ignited to the root of the fuse. History remembers this day. Both peace and war remember this day. The day is black for Vietnam. Of course, the years of self-willedness were exhilarating.Under the banner of sovereignty and internal affairs, without any restrictions, they can fight and occupy their neighbors whenever they want.Driven by the inertia of rumbling wars, they don't know that after the victory of the just war, they will fall into injustice.Finally came one day, and found that the giant beside him had clenched his fists after several years of warnings, and even though Vietnam was not afraid of shouting, he was covered in cold sweat.

The panic at this time is in stark contrast to the prestige of the past, but it is also in direct proportion.Vietnam began to flirt with international law and public opinion that it raped.Hastily signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union on November 3, 1978.Call on the UN Security Council to stop the punishment China has announced.There is nothing more rascal than this - in January 7, 1979, the Vietnamese army captured Phnom Penh, the capital of neighboring Cambodia, and on January 8, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement accusing the Chinese authorities of intensifying the massing of a large number of troops on the Sino-Vietnamese border. Representatives to the United Nations submitted to the Security Council.

late! The southern border of China is full of tents, and the army is gathering. The field troops marching on the railway and road are constantly flowing, and it has become a bow and a full moon. I am afraid that there are very few people in the world who do not express serious concern about this situation, and make judgments based on their respective positions and interests: deterrence, or real fighting? Among the various opinions, the "Malayan Bulletin" started with "Will China punish Vietnam?" "is the title of the editorial, writing: "After Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping returned to Beijing the day before yesterday from his trip to the United States and Japan, the situation on the Sino-Vietnamese border has become more tense. After the expulsion of overseas Chinese, the occupation of Cambodia, and frequent small-scale armed conflicts with the Chinese military and civilians at the border, China seems to have to take action.” This kind of sober prediction of the inevitability of the development of the situation reveals a politician’s realistic vision .This editorial even predicts quite accurately: "The punishment and lessons Deng Xiaoping mentioned are just like China's attack on India back then. They retreated after a limited fight and did not occupy human territory. This kind of lightning-like war, It can not only cheer the hearts of all countries, but also suppress the arrogance of Vietnam, the oriental Cuba.” At this time, there are only seven days before February 17.

For Vietnam, it is crucial to know the date when the Chinese army will launch the offensive.Undoubtedly, although it cannot be said that the Vietnamese authorities, who often miscalculate the strength of themselves and their opponents, do not have certain illusions, those who are accustomed to taking the initiative are also the most sensitive to their own beatings. Today, the world is getting smaller and smaller, and there is no secret to mobilize large forces.Vietnamese intelligence agencies have paid close attention to the elite divisions of the People's Liberation Army that have assembled in the northern front of China's Yunnan and Guangxi since the fourth quarter of 1978. They believe that this force of about 20 divisions has the ability to deal a heavy blow at any time.

The Chinese team will attack on New Year's Day in 1979.The front-line troops on the northern border of Vietnam received such war alerts.The positions, outposts, police stations, and stationed troops were waiting in the cave, and there was a false alarm.On Christmas Day, six days before New Year's Day, more than 100,000 troops from the Vietnamese army invaded Cambodia. It is inevitable to be suspicious of the show. Another warning: January 5th. Another night of imprisonment awaits. Re-tighten your tired nerves. Then came January 15th.The Vietnamese army was tossing every five days, and the price of false alarms was part of the general mental disorder of comprehensive fatigue.No wonder, at this time, the Chinese soldiers do not know when they will enter the starting position.Objectively speaking, the Vietnamese army did not relax their vigilance because of this, and their daily fortifications can be traced back to Che and five years ago.

From the analysis of the trend, Deng Xiaoping seldom showed up in the courtyard when he left in the middle and late January.As one of the signs, the Vietnamese army is staring at the coming Spring Festival with great nervousness.Not only because of the importance of the Spring Festival to the daily life of the two countries, but also because of the psychological effect of preferring to believe what is there or not to believe what is not, or to make false reports rather than omissions.Whether it is an enemy or a friend, there is no reason to laugh at the repeated preparations of the Vietnamese army.Soldiers all over the world respect such a creed: be prepared.

January 28, the Lunar New Year.The fiery red sun is rising.The foggy transit was silent.One hour, one hour, the northern front of the Vietnamese army, the southern front of the Chinese army, there is no fighting on the front line.In the morning of the same day, Deng Xiaoping's special plane arrived in Shanghai at Capital Airport in Beijing, China.Shanghai is not a destination, and the choice of route is very reminiscent of the cornerstone of the world-famous "Shanghai Communiqué" in February 1972.Immediately, the special plane pulled up its nose again at the end of the runway, and the route pointed directly at the vast Pacific Ocean with high winds and high waves.

The war alarm of the Vietnamese army failed again. The day when the war broke out, before the curtain was lifted, was a mystery to the whole world. US reconnaissance satellites have photographed and counted the entire deployment of Chinese troops along the Sino-Vietnamese border. The New York Times reported in the week before the war that there were two Chinese armies of elite divisions on the border. Yunnan, Guangxi.West Front, East Front.The judgment of the two assault armies was correct. The curtain is in Chinese hands. Closed in the safe of the High Command on February 17, the whole world is asking: Where are you on the day of the outbreak?

On February 10, Hong Kong's "Far Eastern Economic Review" published an article "Assembling Forces to Prepare for a Battle on the Border": "China has assembled 160,000 troops, 700 aircraft, and a large number of armored vehicles and artillery along the border. Evidence suggests that Beijing is likely to turn its 'teach Vietnam a lesson' threat into action. Hanoi has also shown that it takes the situation seriously, quickly adding a new missile launch site to its border defense network and placing some MiG- 21 planes were transferred from the south to the north." "The leaders of Beijing will now listen to Deng's assessment of the global situation and the possible reactions of countries around the world to China's attack on Vietnam before giving the final hands-on order. Western intelligence agency sources said Well, the Chinese are serious, they spent so much effort not just to scare Vietnam, they will do it, no matter how unreasonable it seems to us."

Common sense can infer what the Chinese leaders were doing in the final moments before the war.The intelligence value lies in pinpointing the moment at the right time. In the flood of information, Japan's "Mainichi Shimbun" on February 12 will not fail to attract Vietnam's attention, but it is also difficult to attract extra attention.Looking back, it is quite worth aftertaste. ——According to a person in the US government who has been tracking the military situation on the Sino-Vietnamese border, it seems that China has the realistic possibility of launching a military attack. On the 11th, he said that whether China will start a large-scale offensive depends on the developments in the next week.The U.S. government judged that the assembled Chinese army had fully completed its combat deployment about 10 days ago. Judging from the Chinese army's assembly, logistics station movements, and communications between various troops in the past month, the reality of such an offensive will become very small. up.The Chinese army will choose two roads to attack: 1. The road from Friendship Pass to Tongdeng, Vietnam; 2. About 100 kilometers northwest of this road, connecting with Gaoping, Vietnam, which has become a fixed road among American experts view. There is no fraud in the strategy. The whole world knows what China is going to do. It seems to be a big taboo of the militia. How can it even ignore surprises and surprise attacks?This is what China wants to do, to be upright, to learn from famous people, to learn from their intentions, and to attack them with preparation.Remind the audience to pay attention first, and then start the fight. It means punishment. But it wasn't kind enough to inform the opponent of every punch.It is neither a "five" nor a holiday.Why it was chosen in the early morning of February 17th can be researched into a book, or it can be left alone.When the orange-red ballistics of the rockets overwhelming the sky cocoon themselves, the first dawn light is high on the black Saturday morning, when the thousands of tons of pride broadcast by cannons, howitzers, and mortars are planted all over the fiery red forest in a vast area with a wide front and a deep depth , when the roaring sound of the tank group flattened the obstacles and minefields, when the motorized troops advanced rapidly along the unfamiliar red dirt road to the predetermined combat direction, when the reconnaissance unit with submachine guns, grenades, and flamethrowers would be entangled in the nest The fact that Vietnamese soldiers woke up loudly and put them back to sleep for eternity should be acknowledged by the realists as a miracle, and the history of war should issue a certificate of qualification for the suddenness of the Chinese army's campaign tactics. Anyone with a discerning eye can see at a glance that the article "Tolerable and Unbearable" published by "People's Daily" on February 16 has unreservedly announced China's final choice.On the same day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China sent a note to the Vietnamese embassy in China, strongly protesting Vietnam's invasion of Chinese territory and creating new bloodshed.This is another unreserved statement of the solemn position of the Chinese government. Peaceful Beijing. February 17. Scoops, of course, belong to China's official mouthpiece.Xinhua News Agency issued a statement on the order of the Chinese government, condemning the Vietnamese authorities for continuously violating Chinese territory, and announcing that the Chinese border guards were forced to fight back. The expected thing finally happened, and the faces of the citizens commuting to and from get off work were now showing excitement and tension. Except for the combat command organization, foreigners are busier than Chinese in Beijing.Urgent telegrams, long-distance calls, fax telegrams, scrambling for seconds.The foreign journalists in the capital of the country involved were like a duck to water, shuttling around.In the face of serious and tight-lipped Chinese officials, the reporters tried every means to pry their mouths.Those who have acquaintances come to the door to ask for an interview before it's too late.Before 7:00 p.m., I hurriedly returned to the TV screen, waiting for the latest release of the "News Network". China's postal and telecommunications business revenue increased significantly. United Nations Building, New York. February 17. What happened, what happened, Waldheim made an exception and rushed back to the UN headquarters at noon.The work schedule of the Secretary-General of the United Nations has been completely disrupted. He heard the news of the outbreak of the Sino-Vietnamese war in the morning. The reliability is beyond doubt, but the details are unknown.There are countless possibilities in other people's minds, but his dignified secretary-general must immediately enter the situation. Who told him that he is equivalent to the length of the earth's ball.He is just an honorary ball captain. As a result of Waldheim's restless work, all parts of the earth can do whatever they want.I ask you to be the referee in a lawsuit, but I don't want to listen to the verdict.Whether he listened or not, he Waldheim had to be patient and do his best, he had to understand the situation in detail, and he had to rush back to the headquarters to stick to his post as soon as the gun was fired. In the afternoon, Chen Chu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, met with Waldheim and Abdullah Bishara, the chair of the Security Council for the month, respectively, and handed over the statement issued by Xinhua News Agency at the order of the Chinese government. Vietnam was a step behind.When Vietnam's representative to the United Nations, Ho Van Lou, made an emergency appointment with Waldheim, the telegram was still being translated.Ho insisted on meeting at Wa's headquarters office so that Wa could immediately do what Ho expected of him.At 5:45 p.m., He Wenlou submitted a letter from Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Duy Trinh to Waldheim.The letter stated: "Mr. Secretary-General, I am honored to inform you that on February 17, 1979, several Chinese infantry divisions, tank divisions, and artillery divisions, under the cover of the Air Force, launched a large-scale attack on the entire Vietnam-China border. They have occupied some Vietnamese border posts and many villages in the counties of Trang Dinh, Luc Binh and Ha Quang in Cao Binh province, Muong Giang and Ba Sa in Hoang Lien Son province, Feng Tu in Lai Chau province, and Quang Ninh province. Binh Liao County. Not to mention in particular that the Chinese army attacked the provincial capital of Lao Cai and occupied the two populous cities of Dong Daeng and Meng Jiang, which are located ten kilometers within the territory of Vietnam.” Followed by a routine confrontation China condemns and asks the Secretary-General to do something. There is also a document on the Secretary-General's desk, which is a proposal by many countries to strongly condemn Vietnam's crimes of aggression against Cambodia and demand Vietnam unconditionally and quickly withdraw from Cambodia.There are frequent wars in the world, and Waldheim is well versed in procedures to deal with such incidents.However, Vietnam's two-pronged attack, where it is cheap and good-looking, and it is yelling when it loses, really "honoured" the Secretary-General. Hanoi in a festive atmosphere. February 17. The people are unhappy, but the newspapers are happy. No matter how poor you are, there is still good wine and delicious food.Cheers to the friendship between the two countries!Fan Wentong raised his glass.This is in Phnom Penh, and Han Sanglin hosted a banquet to welcome Pham Van Tong's "visit".The puppet regime created by the Vietnamese army is not so much a "visit" as an inspection.Rather than saying that Han Sanglin was the host, it would be better to say that Fan Wentong was treating guests.One gave the instructions and the other obeyed the orders. It’s okay to eat and drink, so there is no need for an extra procedure. The hypocritical Han Sanglin made a toast first, and Fan Wentong gave a thank you speech. The Hanoi newspaper on February 17 prominently published these two speeches, showing its people the fruits of victory. The people continued the joys and sorrows of yesterday and the day before yesterday.Housewives hustling for Saturday family dinner.There are more women than men on the street, which is a true reflection of the sex ratio of the country's population.On the first day of the war, the whole world was talking about it, except the Vietnamese people.The people don't know how bad their government has messed up its relations with many countries, especially how unmanageable it has messed up its relations with China, and they don't even know the consequences of pursuing this policy.The news was temporarily blocked, in the morning, noon, afternoon, and evening.The army command system does not know the situation on the front line, and many troops cannot be contacted on the radio or telephone.The report said that China used the air force, and the false military information was stabbed to the United Nations, but in the end it went wrong in chaos.The authorities should not only find out the situation of the war, but also consider how to explain this situation to the people.It is not difficult to shift the responsibility to Chinese herbal medicine, it is a big country bullying a small country.The key is how to reconcile this logic with Vietnam's fight against Cambodia, and then convince the people that isolation in the world is glorious.The radio station did not broadcast the first report in a hurry until after eleven o'clock at night. Although the vast majority of Vietnamese citizens learned about it by reading the "People's Daily" the next morning, the authorities finally announced it in the last few minutes of the first day. I don't know whose fear it is aimed at. Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, who returned to Hanoi on the 19th after the "visit", told his Defense Minister Vo Nguyen Giap: "We have the Soviet Union following us, and we have no fear."