The Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979
By Andrew Dang
Quora
February 1, 2023
Vietnamese border guards during the fierce fighting near Lạng Sơn, 1979.
The Battle of Lạng Sơn (17 February-16 March 1979) was the greatest and
also the bloodiest battle during the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979.
In order to occupy Lạng Sơn as a strategic point at the Sino-Vietnamese borders, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (P.L.A) mobilized the 55th Army from the Guangzhou Military Region as the main strike force. Meanwhile, the 54th and 43rd Armies from the Wuhan Military Region played the supporting roles during the battle.
Additionally, three regiments were also mobilized from the from the Chengdu Military Region. In general, around 130,000 regular P.L.A troops participated in this battle. Moreover, the PL.A also deployed 160 tanks and 350 field artillery pieces for the Battle of Lạng Sơn.
A Chinese artillery unit during the Battle of Lạng Sơn, 1979.
On the opposite side of the border, the Vietnamese People’s Army (V.P.A) deployed the 3rd Infantry Division or the “Yellow Star Division” as a regular division, together with several regional divisions such as the 327th, 337th and 338th divisions to defend the border towns of Đồng Đăng and Lạng Sơn.
At the beginning of the war (17 February 1979), the number of Vietnamese troops at Lạng Sơn area were approximately 13,000, including the regulars, militia, regional troops and border guards. During the conduct of the war, there were around 40,000 Vietnamese troops took part in the Battle of Lạng Sơn.
A Vietnamese soldier during the Battle of Lạng Sơn, 1979.
Although with an overwhelming force, the conduct of the Battle of Lạng Sơn was indeed a difficult task for the P.L.A. From 17–19 February 1979, the 55th Army attacked Đồng Đăng as the main military fortress located in front of the town of Lạng Sơn and it was a costly battle for the P.L.A, as they suffered numerous casualties during the first two days of battle due to the massive waves attacks.
Afterwards, the P.L.A commanders decided to use the small and mobile units to attack the flanks of the Vietnamese positions instead of frontal. Finally, the town of Đồng Đăng was eventually captured by the P.L.A on 23 February 1979.
Map: The Battlefield of Đồng Đăng and Lạng Sơn, February 1979.
Then, it came the bloody Battle of Lạng Sơn after the fall of Đồng Đăng. From 24 to 26 February 1979, the fighting at the front was de-escalated as the P.L.A was regrouping and preparing for the new offensive against the town of Lạng Sơn. On 27 February 1979, they renewed the offensive against Lạng Sơn. On 01 March 1979, the 55th Army reached the outskirt of Lạng Sơn at the northwest. On 02 March 1979, all of the hills around Lạng Sơn was occupied by the P.L.A, as the town was virtually besieged.
Finally, the town of Lạng Sơn was occupied by Chinese troops on 05 March 1979. Meanwhile, most of the Vietnamese troops of the 3rd, 327th, 337th and 338th divisions withdraw from the town. Also on 05 March 1979, the Chinese government announced the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam, as the Vietnamese government also announced the “Tổng động viên” or the general mobilization of troops against the Chinese forces.
A Vietnamese T-34 tank of 407th Tank Regiment at Lạng Sơn, March 1979.
On the other hand, during the Chinese withdrawal from Vietnam, the 337th and 338th divisions of the V.P.A continued harassing and ambushing Chinese forces, as they were moving back to the Sino-Vietnamese borders at Chi Ma.
The Battle of Lạng Sơn was indeed the greatest and the bloodiest battle during the Sino-Vietnamese War. According to a P.L.A report of the battle, the 55th Army alone suffered 1,271 killed and 3,779 wounded during battles at Đồng Đăng and Lạng Sơn. Moreover, the Vietnamese casualties were also high, as the 3rd Infantry Division suffered 6.6% killed and 8.4% wounded, while the 337th Division suffered 650 killed and the 338th Division suffered 260 killed.
The destroyed Vietnamese border town of Lạng Sơn after the battle, 1979.
In conclusion, although with an overwhelming force at the beginning of the battle, the P.L.A did not successfully encircle or destroy any Vietnamese divisions around Đồng Đăng and Lạng Sơn, as it could be described as follows:
“Although the superior Chinese forces had partially damaged several Vietnamese regular divisions, such as the 3rd at Dong Dang, the 345th and 316th (A) at Lao Cai and possibly the 346th at Lang Son, they had not been able to destroy substantially one or two divisions. One of the biggest Chinese weaknesses was the backward weaponry and logistics….For instance, Deputy Defense Minister Su Yu reported to the 3rd Plenum of the C.C.P in late December 1978 that the P.L.A could take Hanoi in one week with only partial strength from the Guangzhou and Kunming Military Regions. In fact, it took the P.L.A 16 full days to capture Lang Son (85 miles to Hanoi) with a strength of 10 divisions drawing from six military regions-a strength almost as much as that of the Guangzhou and Kunming MR's combined.”
(King C. Chen, “China’s War Against Vietnam, 1979: A Military Analysis”, 1983, pp. 26–27)
No comments:
Post a Comment