In 1989, the Sino Vietnam Laoshan Round War was not over yet. The Ministry of Defense of Vietnam sent a notice to the garrison in the six northern border provinces:
"Except that the defense forces on the opposite side of Laoshan will stay and be ready to leave, the main forces in other places will withdraw within four months."
Is Vietnam's initiative to withdraw troops for another purpose or for another purpose?
1、 Vietnam voluntarily withdraws its troops
In 1979, after the end of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, the border between China and Vietnam was temporarily stable. However, Vietnam gathered heavy troops in Laoshan area and once again issued a provocation to the Chinese army.
After a short rest, the Vietnamese army was ready to go, decided to wipe out the humiliation and dispatched more than 300000 troops to seize some of our strongholds in Laoshan. At that time, the Soviet Union, as the "strong backing" of the Vietnamese army, gave great support to Vietnam both economically and militarily, which led to the confidence of the Litun authorities.
As if, Vietnam did not remember the lesson of the "punitive war" in 79 years. This time, after discussion, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China decided to go all out to drag the Vietnamese army to the Laoshan area, even with the Soviet Union behind it.
After the strategic deployment, the Central Military Commission ordered that the ten major military regions take turns to go to the battlefield, so that all soldiers can be trained on the battlefield. For a while, Kunming Military Region, Nanjing Military Region, Lanzhou Military Region, Jinan Military Region, Beijing Military Region and other military regions went to the battlefield one after another, and the military regions cooperated with each other to completely drag down the Vietnamese army in Laoshan area.
At the same time, the Vietnamese army also sent the Second Military Region to command the front line operations. Under the intense fighting, Laoshan area was known as the "large-scale meat grinder battlefield". In order to win the war, the Vietnamese government would call on millions of troops to attack the PLA. However, many Vietnamese raids ended in failure.
The main reason is not only the weak military strength, but also the difficulty in logistics supply. The Vietnamese authorities had never thought that the PLA had dragged on the battle that should have ended in a few months for nearly 10 years. This has also led to Vietnam's domestic economic depression and excessive consumption of materials. If the Soviet Union was not behind the support, I am afraid the Vietnamese army would have abandoned its arms and surrendered.
At that time, Vietnam, which had always needed external assistance, had undoubtedly lowered its military level by several grades. Ordinary soldiers were not enough to eat and wear, and even the most basic ammunition was insufficient. How can such an army go to the battlefield and fight with the PLA?
The exhausted Vietnamese army gradually "ran out of strength", and the Vietnamese authorities had to ask the Soviet Union for help, hoping that the other side could support more weapons and materials. However, at this time, the Soviet Union began to be in a weak state, coupled with the internal intensification of its rule over Afghanistan, and it itself was too busy.
In order to punish Vietnam, the Soviet Union was severely wounded. In 1988, the PLA launched the "3.14 Naval Battle" in Nansha to lengthen the front against Vietnam. Under such decentralized layout, Vietnam was directly beaten back to its original shape. The Soviet Union also began to stop meddling in the Laoshan issue, which led to Vietnam's restrictions on front-line supplies.
In fact, as early as the later stage of the Round War, Vietnamese front-line soldiers had no intention of fighting, and they were more willing to make friends with our army. In the later period, our army launched a "canning war" to break the will of the enemy.
Until the end of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union adjusted its foreign policy. Since Ruan Wenling took over, Vietnam began to actively adjust its policy towards China.
On January 21, 1989, the Ministry of National Defense of Vietnam ordered:
"Before May of the same year, some of the main forces of the six border provinces had all returned to the mainland, and Vietnamese soldiers and public security personnel were not allowed to shoot at Chinese border residents."
2、 Purpose of withdrawal
The reason why Viet Nam announced the withdrawal of its troops was that Vietnam was already suffering from internal and external problems and could no longer afford any scale of war.
Among them, the morale of officers and soldiers in Vietnam's proud army is low and their morale is shaken. Vietnamese veterans recalled that they did not know how the PLA played in the battle on Laoshan Highland, and even it was difficult to judge when the PLA would launch an attack, which led to the Chinese army gaining great initiative in the battlefield.
The long warning of the Vietnamese army made the soldiers physically and mentally exhausted. In particular, the PLA's artillery power made great achievements in Laoshan. At most, more than 60000 artillery shells were fired in one day. What made the Vietnamese army collapse was that the Chinese army's artillery shells seemed to be endless, which made them envious and sad.
The Chief of Staff of the Vietnamese Army was even more forthright: no one can defend it!
But at the later stage of Laoshan Round War, the officers and soldiers could not eat enough and wear warm all day, and even the basic food became a problem. The Vietnamese general said frankly that such an army could not complete basic training.
At that time, Vietnam was even more miserable. The life of ordinary people was worse than that of officers and soldiers. There were many complaints in Vietnam. After 79 years of heavy losses, Vietnam's economy had no chance to develop its domestic economy, leading to a further gap with China.
In the face of the economic boom after China's reform and opening up, Vietnam's new leader Nguyen Van Ling began to change his policy towards China, hoping to make friends with China and promote domestic economic development like most Southeast Asian countries.
However, the ten-year war between the two countries has affected the friendship between China and Vietnam, and even Vietnam's stationing of troops in Cambodia has made it even more critical. At this time, the only thing Ruan Wenling can do is to take the initiative to open his heart to China and solve contradictions and problems together.
In response to the goodwill of the Vietnamese authorities, China proposed a condition: troops must be withdrawn from Cambodia.
At this time, Vietnam's dilemma is imminent. In order to ensure the normalization of China Vietnam relations, Ruan Wenling had to order the withdrawal of troops from Cambodia as a condition to return to China as soon as possible in exchange for huge interest space for economic development.
Obviously, at this sensitive moment, the only thing the Vietnamese government can rely on is China, the "big brother". Even if the Soviet Union is willing, it is not enough. The Soviet Union, faced with domestic crises, could not ignore Vietnam as an "ally". Therefore, Vietnam can only rely on China if it wants to exchange space for economic development.
Until November 1991, the new General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Du Mei, visited China, and the leaders of the two countries jointly issued a joint announcement announcing the normalization of China Vietnam relations.
It has to be said that the reason why Vietnam made changes in advance in the Laoshan Round War is not only driven by its own interests, but also from external pressure. Without the support of the Soviet Union, Vietnam could only find itself in an awkward position in the international community. Faced with a small area in Southeast Asia, Vietnam can only rely on China to survive if it wants to survive. This is also regarded as a hero who knows current affairs.
