What happened to the Zhenbao Island incident caused by the Soviet Union?

Zhenbao Island is a small island in the Ussuri River. Russia calls it Damansky Island. It is about 1,700 meters long and 500 meters wide. There are some shrubs on the island and several rivers flowing from it. The Chinese side flows into the island, like a palm. What exactly happened on the island that year, and how the Russians view this unbearable past, the Russian media revealed some little-known details of this incident.

Damansky Island Mystery

The combat operation on the Ussuri River in the Far East in March 1969 was the largest combat operation on the Soviet border after World War II. In this regard, there have been various speculations in Russia over the years, with different opinions and it is difficult to distinguish between true and false. At that time, the Soviets did not understand why the Chinese occupied the island. Jing asked: "What were our border guards doing when the Chinese entered the island?" and "Why were no measures taken to prevent similar incidents from happening?". Some people said that "there were too many Chinese people at that time, and the border guards were simply unable to deal with them and had to use regular troops." What exactly happened was impossible to explain clearly in the environment 30 years ago. Later, the Soviet government also deliberately made people forget about this incident, and only described the conflict as the "Ussuri River Incident in March 1969."

In the early 1990s, "Damansky Island" could no longer be found on Russia's territory, so the Russians began to speculate again and began to talk about the "secret tanks" of that year and about Iman. The mysterious death of Colonel Leonov, the leader of the Border Guard Corps. Some even say, "The island no longer exists. We blew it up so that no one could get it." The Damansky incident remains shrouded in mystery. Konstantinov, a retired colonel who once served as the captain of the Iman Border Guard Corps, gave a detailed description 30 years after the incident.

Frictions from small to large

According to Konstantinov’s recollection: In the autumn of 1968, we felt that the Chinese might launch provocative actions this winter. Leonov, myself, and Pavlov, the then chief of staff of the Border Guard Corps, all agreed that this would no longer be a fist-fight on the ice as before, but a substantive conflict. The oral and written orders we received were: Use all existing means to prevent provocateurs from entering our territory, but we are not allowed to use weapons; officers and soldiers are strictly prohibited from spreading the news about what happened here and the fights. Therefore, neither local residents nor others in the country could even imagine that while the party leaders were preaching communist ideas, on the long Sino-Soviet border, along the Amur and Ussuri rivers, two Soldiers of great powers often fight.

In 1968, there were 40 fights between the two sides in the Iman border section alone. One day in November 1968, the Border Guard Corps headquarters reported to the military region that an armed provocation was possible and requested specific written instructions and reinforcements.

A week later, the commander and political commissar of the Border Guard Corps were called to Vladivostok (Vladivostok) and told them: If an armed provocation occurs, fight back. But it is just a verbal opinion and cannot be used as a basis.

There have also been some minor frictions on neighboring Kilkin Island. From January to February 1969, there were frequent conflicts on Damansky Island and Nizhny Mikhailovka. The two sides no longer used sticks but gun butts to hit each other. During a fight, we snatched 15 guns from the Chinese and found bullets in the chambers. We were very surprised. This convinced Leonov, the captain of the border guard corps, and his deputies that danger was coming. If it was going to happen, If something happens, it will definitely happen here.

The personnel on duty at posts on Damansky Island and adjacent border guards that may be threatened have been strengthened to 50 people, and armored personnel carriers have been added. At the same time, as soon as the Chinese appear, our border guards will Just shoot at them and drive these uninvited guests away.

Our border guards did not know that at the end of February, thousands of troops and a large number of weapons were secretly assembled on the left bank of the Ussuri River (on the Chinese side), and a communication station was launched. and command post. On the night of March 2, about 300 Chinese soldiers entered Damansky Island and built fire launching positions and bunkers there.

It’s only 80 meters from the nearest observation post to Damansky Island. Why didn’t the border reconnaissance team discover these situations? The main reason is that there was no night vision equipment at the time, and the Chinese operations were carried out at night, and the border guard team did not find any suspicious signs when they patrolled Damansky Island in the morning. We passed under the noses of the Chinese, and they did not. Alert us, perhaps because we don’t want to expose ourselves prematurely.

Operation March 2

Konstantinov said: The Chinese military chief who commanded this operation was resourceful, well-trained, and very cunning. The choice of March 2 was not accidental. . The publicity reports at the time did not mention the significance of this day. In fact, this day was extraordinary.

First, there was light snowfall from the evening of March 1st to the early morning of March 2nd, and the surrounding area was completely white. This allowed the Chinese to occupy Damansky Island quietly, and the snow could cover up the traces of their progress.

Secondly, March 2nd is the festival to bid farewell to winter in the North Binhai District - Meat Shelen. The Chinese estimate that someone from the Border Defense Corps headquarters may be invited to have a meal or party, causing "impediment" in communication with the command post. Indeed, the leaders of the Border Guard Corps went to the village of Viedenskaya very early, but not to attend a party, but to participate in an exercise. No one has mentioned the exercise in 30 years.

In fact, a large-scale military exercise was conducted three days before the incident. Two divisions participated, and the military region instructed the Border Guard Corps to act as the "enemy force." Couldn't the two divisions spare two companies to play the role of "enemy troops" instead of requiring the border defense corps to play the role of "enemy troops"? Perhaps the intentions of the military district headquarters at that time were good, mainly to improve their morale in the face of threats.

Third, on Sundays and Saturdays, our border guard aviation does not fly.

The Chinese military officer who commanded this operation may have chosen this day to start the operation based on the above factors. In addition, we also encountered some problems during the exercise: a tank regiment failed to reach the designated position in time and declared a tactical standstill. After 12 noon, Konstantinov returned to the command post. An "anxious" phone rang in the exercise command post. The Far East Military District Headquarters called and said: There is a battle going on at the Nizhny Mikhailovka post. There are people. Casualties. Leonov immediately gave Pavlov an order to have the sergeant school and mobile units participating in the exercise withdraw immediately and set off for Damansky Island.

That's what happened. When a bloody conflict broke out between the two posts on Damansky Island, the entire reserve force, namely the sergeant school and mobile detachment, were 100 kilometers away from the island.

Gunsmoke shrouds Damansky Island. According to Konstantinov’s recollection, the technical observation station reported on March 2, 1969 that it was discovered that two teams and about 30 Chinese had entered the Soviet border. At around 11 a.m., Captain Ivan Strelnikov of the border post led a team of 30 people in an armored personnel carrier and two cars to meet the intruders.

They decided to surround the island from both sides. Captain Strelnikov led five border guards and Captain H. Buynevich, a scout sent by the KGB Special Service, to approach the island from the front. About 300 meters behind them is the second group, led by Corporal Babansky and consisting of 12 people. The third group, led by Sergeant Labovitch and consisting of 13 men, approached the island from the flank. Suddenly, they came under machine gun fire from the front, artillery and mortars from the left bank opened fire. The two groups led by Strelnikov and Labovitch were all killed. The people led by Sergeant Babansky occupied a Ring defenses and return fire. A motorized mobile team from an adjacent outpost rushed to support, led by Captain Vitalia Bubenin. But they were unsuccessful due to heavy artillery fire from the left bank.

The mobile detachment and sergeant school of the border guards who participated in the exercise returned quickly after receiving the order. The helicopter caught up with them at the Sukhanovsky Gorge. The mobile detachment transferred to the helicopter and rushed to Damans. On Key Island, there was smoke all around, and the bushes, land, and equipment were all in flames. Observing the island of Damansky, our soldiers were spotted near a tree and our men landed. At the same time, armored personnel carriers also arrived, people from the Sergeant School in Skradarnyuka.

We occupied the island of Damansky and began to send people to find the wounded. Sergeant Babansky, who took over Strelnikov's command after his death, crawled over and told us that Strelnikov and his group had been found, all killed.

Private Petrov came from the Political Department of the Border Guard Corps. A camera was found under his short coat. The photos were later developed. These were the last three photos taken before his death. We saw in one of the photos that when Strelnikov was leading people approaching, a Chinese soldier raised his hand, obviously signaling to the people ambushing in the trench. At this moment, the battle here we go.

The fighting on this day was brutal, with 31 Soviet soldiers killed and 14 wounded. The border guards recaptured Damansky Island and dug trenches, and a reinforced squad was on duty there.

The colonel was killed and the "secret tank" fell

In order to prevent the Chinese from invading the island again, a mobile detachment led by Lieutenant Colonel Yashen came here. 45 people, 4 armored personnel carriers, with grenade launchers on board; a reserve of 80 people and armored personnel carriers were also assembled on the shore. On the night of March 12, the 135th Motorized Rifle Division of the Far East Military Region came to the conflict area. There is a motorized infantry regiment, an artillery regiment, an independent tank battalion, and a "Hail"-BM-21 rocket battalion.

For some unknown reason, the team on duty on the island received an order from their superiors on March 14 to evacuate the island. Konstantinov still retains the report transcript of the team leader Sarakin who was on duty on the island at the time. The transcript reads: "On March 14, the border patrol team heard the shouts of the Chinese on the other side. Later we took the call. Got the order and withdrew." It can be seen from the recorded time that the order was issued 15 hours before the start of the new battle. I asked Leonov who gave the order, and he said it was the "Military District". But I estimate that the order was not issued by the military region. We left and the Chinese took over the island again. We're not sure what's going on, but it's not normal.

At midnight on March 14, Leonov received another order from the military district to retake Damansky Island. About 1-2 hours later, Lieutenant Colonel Yashen led the mobile detachment to arrive. The battle begins, and little is known about the situation on the island. It was reported from the highest observation post that the Chinese had gone to the southern end of the island, and after occupying the southern end, they were preparing to attack Yashen's flank. Later, nine more tanks came to support. After discovering the tank, Leonov said: "I will go to the island now." After saying that, he set off in a hurry, without even having time to confirm the contact signal. Although the border guards have radio stations, they don't know the frequency. The tank went to participate in the battle, but we had no contact with it.

The Chinese approached Leonov's tank, and the two tanks following him returned, not to the command post on the shore, but to the outpost. Why are you so panicked? Because some people think that the Chinese tanks have arrived at our side and the situation is very serious. Leonov was seriously injured in the tank. The incident was reported to Moscow, which ordered the rapid rescue of the tank and Colonel Leonov. As a result, several attempts to rush towards the tank were unsuccessful.

On the night of the 15th and early morning of the 16th, the division reconnaissance company commander Boltkovsky led the reconnaissance and rescue team to rescue. When they arrived at the tank, Colonel Leonov was already dead. As he tried to come out of the lower hatch, he was shot in the heart by a sniper. The Chinese left him alone but took away the instruments on the tank. We tried to use landmines to blow up the tanks, but failed; then we decided to use rocket launchers, each weighing 180 kilograms, fired from the bank of the Ussuri River, but the shots were not accurate. The tank was knocked crooked, and it was no longer visible to the aiming hand. At the end of April, the Chinese dragged it out and it is now an exhibit in their museum.

Due to the obvious advantage of the Chinese, Damansky Island could not be captured for a long time. The only way to succeed is to use artillery. But this meant escalating the conflict. At that time, no one had the courage to issue such an order and could only wait for orders from superiors. Finally, at 17, an order was received from superiors (Moscow) to strike with "Hail". "Hail" was still a "secret weapon" at the time. It is said that it was Brezhnev who gave the order to use the "Hail" rocket launcher.

Retired colonel Krubeynikov, former commander of the 199th Regiment, recalled, “A hail battalion and a regiment equipped with 122mm howitzers launched a violent attack on the island and the opposite shore at a depth of 5-6 kilometers. Later, they were stationed in Upper Ugin. A motorized infantry battalion from Sksk (now Ulan-Ude) participated in the battle. The battalion commander was Major Smirnov. Many of the men in the battalion were under 20 years old. In this battle, 7 people were killed and 9 were injured. , 4 armored vehicles were destroyed. In the end, the Chinese abandoned the island. At first, the 135th Motorized Infantry Division was responsible for the island's defense. It was not until April that the situation gradually stabilized and the island's defense was returned to the border guards. . Until September of that year, gunshots could still be heard there, and there were casualties.

Why not tell the truth

Konstantinov said that in March. What happened on the 2nd, the government propaganda at the time said this: "At 10:40, the combat alarm sounded at the post, armored personnel carriers and cars entered combat readiness, and the post leader, Captain Strelnikov, reported the situation to Bubenin and Shoholov from adjacent units reported to Leonov, the captain of the border guard corps. After receiving the news, in order to drive away the Chinese, the chief decided..."

Who is it? At what time was this incident reported to whom? It was not obviously a fabrication of facts as stated in the above propaganda. Why was this happening for only one purpose: to show our people and the Chinese people that our Everything was normal and orderly at the border, and everyone was at their posts. However, the mobile unit and the sergeant school were actually 100 kilometers away.

At that time. The report did not mention the participation of the sergeant school and armored personnel carriers. In fact, it was their participation that gave us an advantage. The reason why we did not mention them was to let the world know that we had very few. The troops drove away the Chinese.

When reporting on the second battle on Damansky Island in mid-March, the government said: The border guards defeated Mao Zedong's troops. But that was not the case. , the border guard's charge was frustrated and suffered heavy casualties. The Chinese had a clear advantage in numbers, technical equipment and weapons, and the island was in their hands before the battle began. There was no mention of the use of regular troops and tanks in the propaganda. The death of Colonel Leonov was even more secretive.

Efforts for peace

On March 6, 1969, the Soviet Politburo held a meeting to discuss what happened in the Ussuri River. The members of the Politburo spoke highly of the border guards, but also pointed out many shortcomings, such as the lack of "good troop clusters" in conflict areas, whether of border guards or conventional troops; combat and troop reconnaissance organizations Ineffective; no night observation, etc. The Politburo's line at the meeting was: the island has been the territory of the Soviet Union since ancient times, and there will be no concessions and resolute confrontation.

However, before that. It is not that there are no peaceful efforts. The Soviet border guards have always advocated peaceful settlement of territorial disputes through dialogue. In 1964, the then commander of the border guards, General Zilyanov, was ordered to negotiate with China on these issues. To accomplish this mission, he was given the title of Deputy Minister. Zirianov had the courage to state at a consultation meeting that it was possible to make concessions on some islands, including Damansky Island. After learning about it, Khrushchev recalled him from Beijing, became furious and gave him a harsh reprimand. One year before the conflict, in the summer of 1968, Zyrianov once again stated that disputes should be resolved peacefully through dialogue.

At a meeting held by the Khabarovsk Territory Committee, the situation in the border area with China was discussed. The host was then Deputy Foreign Minister Kuznetsov. At the meeting, he asked everyone to stand up and answer: "What do you think should be done?" No one among the border guards said that they would use force to resolve the worsening territorial dispute. Zirianov still stands by his point of view. In addition, after the meeting, he issued a supplementary order to his subordinates: "Take all necessary measures to prevent the Chinese from entering our territory, but do not use weapons." Only at the end, when he was about to say goodbye to everyone, did he hint: "If the situation is very serious, then fight back."

After that battle, mines were laid on all roads entering the island from China; and a large number of troops were assembled on the right bank of the Ussuri River. It was not until September 1969, when the leaders of the two governments met in Beijing, that tensions gradually subsided.

Now that the demarcation of the Russian-Chinese border has been completed, we no longer have Damansky Island. It has been assigned to China because it is located on the Chinese side of the main channel of the Ussuri River. If we had followed General Zilyanov's advice in 1964, the tragedy of March 1969 would not have happened.

The whole article is finished, thank you for your patience in reading it ^_^