In response to Vietnam’s self-defense counterattack, Xu Shiyou angrily ordered: bombard Lang Son without leaving a single house behind.

The mention of self-defense and counterattack against Vietnam made the Chinese people angry and hateful. Vietnam, which hates receiving all the help from the Chinese people, turns its back on China, which can be described as ungrateful. Speaking of this tragic war after the founding of the People's Republic of China, we have to think of the determined and courageous General of the People's Liberation Army. He was the founding general Xu Shiyou who made the Vietnamese people change their colors and made the Chinese people awe.

Speaking of General Xu Shiyou, I have to briefly introduce the historical background of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.

Shortly after the founding of New China, at the request of the Communist Party of Vietnam, our party leaders decided to do their best to help this neighbor brother who resisted French colonial rule. They also deployed outstanding officers at all levels from the entire army to form an advisory group. They traveled thousands of miles to the Sino-Vietnamese border and secretly equipped and trained a main division for Vietnam on the Chinese border. This played a decisive role in the final victory of the Vietnamese Anti-French War. . Later, China aided the war between Vietnam and the United States, and eventually won.

Perhaps it was these victories that made Vietnamese leaders mistakenly believe that they were so powerful that they were invincible. So much so that after China broke up with the Soviet Union, Vietnam repeatedly invaded China's borders and killed our nationals. Against this background, the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam officially broke out in 1979.

Shortly after the war broke out, General Xu Shiyou, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front at the time, issued a shocking order: after the dawn attack began, not a single house in Lang Son area could be left behind! Upon hearing such a cruel order, the officers and soldiers were shocked. This sentence was obviously what angered the powerful general. We may also want to know what caused General Xu Shiyou to issue this earth-shattering order?

As mentioned in the previous war background, Vietnam won the war with the United States with the full help of our country. This formerly poor and weak Southeast Asian country seemed to rise instantly, and its arrogance became increasingly intense. In addition, the Soviet Union suddenly turned against our country and began to support Vietnam. All this made Vietnam expand to the extreme. Vietnam increasingly feels that it is an Asian hegemon and a world power. It has even begun to claim to be the world's third military power, and its ambitions are rapidly expanding.

Then there were scenes of constant provocations on our border, killing many Chinese. This has become intolerable to the Chinese people. Soon, Vietnam colluded with the Soviet Union and falsely accused our country of so-called unjust acts in the United Nations, which further broke the hearts of the Chinese people.

As we all know, the most difficult time in Vietnam was during the Anti-French War. At that time, Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh secretly came to the Soviet Union and China to ask for help. The powerful Soviet Union refused to help. Only our country, based on the principle of communist assistance, selflessly provided military advisors, weapons and equipment, and logistical support to Vietnam. It provided irreplaceable services in the Anti-French War, especially the later Dien Bien Campaign. help. The victory of the Dien Bien Battle played a decisive role in Vietnam's final victory and also played a key role in the successful signing of the Geneva Agreement.

According to rough calculations, in the three years of aiding Vietnam, my country has provided more than 20 billion US dollars in free materials, which was a huge help to China, which was still economically backward at the time. How could it not be outrageous that Vietnam did not know how to repay the favor and instead bit back the favor. Under this circumstance, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to launch a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.

At this time, the domestic unrest has basically subsided, and the People's Liberation Army has not participated in a large-scale war for more than ten years. The Central Military Commission decided to appoint General Xu Shiyou as the commander-in-chief of the Guangxi border defense, and General Yang Dezhi as the commander of the Kunming Military Region. The two men led hundreds of thousands of troops to attack Vietnam from the east and west according to the central deployment.

In February 1979, the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam officially broke out with the firing of Chinese artillery.

In several days of fighting, the Chinese army successfully broke through the border towns of Vietnam and reached the Lang Son area, the northern gate of Vietnam. The Battle of Lang Son was of unprecedented strategic significance to the entire self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.

However, this battle was also the most intense, the most casualty and the most destructive. Under Xu Shiyou's precise command and the heroic fighting of the entire army, this tragic battle was finally won.

We also paid a heavy price in this battle. The reason was not how powerful the Vietnamese army was, but the fact that Vietnam blatantly violated the international laws of war and used chemical weapons on a large scale. Japan's militaristic behavior is no different, and it has aroused the indignation of all our soldiers.

Lang Son is a strategic location in Vietnam. As long as Lang Son is captured, it means opening the door to the north of Vietnam. It means that the northern region of Vietnam, including Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, will be wide open to no one. Danger can be relied upon. In view of the importance of Lang Son, our Party Central Committee, proceeding from the strategic overall situation, required Xu Shiyou's troops to conquer the entire territory of Lang Son within a week and seize the initiative on the Vietnamese battlefield. Of course, Vietnam is not an idiot and is fully aware of our next strategic intentions for Vietnam. Before our army came to Lang Son, a large number of elite troops were deployed in Lang Son, showing the momentum of a decisive battle with our army in Lang Son.

In this important battle, the person responsible for holding the main Vietnamese position in Lang Son was the 3rd Division of the Vietnamese People's Army that China assisted in building. It was also Vietnam's ace elite division. Therefore, our main force was The division's combat effectiveness is still somewhat known. Although it is Vietnam's ace division, this unit was defeated many times by our 55th Army in the early stages of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam. It may be a bit like a teacher beating his apprentice. After simple modifications and reinforcements, this unit was put into the battle to defend Lang Son, and its combat effectiveness was also greatly reduced.

On March 1 of the same year, the Battle of Lang Son finally started. Under the command of Xu Shiyou, our army launched many attacks. Both sides suffered heavy casualties and the battle was extremely fierce. Faced with this stalemate situation, our army relied on its advantages in strength, technology and equipment to control the initiative on the battlefield in one fell swoop, and also brought a rare turning point to this tragic battle. When Lang Son was about to be captured by our army, Vietnamese reinforcements arrived in Lang Son. Originally, there was nothing to be afraid of when reinforcements arrived. After all, our side had an absolute advantage. What was completely unexpected was that the extremely vicious Vietnamese army, at the critical moment when it was about to face defeat, ignored the international laws of war and used brutal chemical weapons, forcing our army to choose to retreat to reduce casualties.

The use of chemical weapons made Xu Shiyou, the commander-in-chief, very angry. He immediately became furious, so he issued a ruthless order to concentrate artillery fire and continue the attack. Not a single house was left to Vietnam! It was this order that created a battle that terrified Vietnam and gave Vietnam a fatal blow.

In order to achieve the strategic goal of capturing Lang Son with lightning speed in the shortest possible time, Xu Shiyou’s troops concentrated their strongest firepower on Lang Son and surrounding areas to launch an unprecedented scale attack. Lang Son instantly turned into a sea of ??flames, and the brutality of the battlefield was frightening. However, this did not make the stubborn Vietnamese army surrender. They took advantage of the terrain advantage to slowly consume our infantry strength when our army stopped artillery attacks, and used artillery many times to assist the defenders, causing the Lang Son position to change hands repeatedly.

Faced with this situation, in order to completely control the main position of Lang Son, Xu Shiyou decided to launch another large-scale attack. The next day, under the strong cover of artillery fire, we once again launched a coordinated attack battle with infantry and artillery, and finally broke through the Vietnamese position, completely occupied the Vietnamese main position, and controlled Lang Son in one fell swoop.

In order to prevent the remaining Vietnamese forces from counterattack, we decided to concentrate our firepower and destroyed all the surrounding construction fortifications. The area around Lang Son was almost razed to the ground. The brutality of the battle can be imagined.

The great Chinese nation was ravaged by Japanese militarism during the Anti-Japanese War. It also suffered from Japanese biological and chemical weapons many times. It hates such inhumane weapons in its bones. However, the arrogant Vietnamese army, regardless of the feelings of the Chinese people, rashly used chemical weapons in an attempt to block the Chinese army.

However, they ignored the determination of the Chinese people to regard death as homecoming, and what kind of army the Chinese People's Liberation Army is. They are not the French army, let alone the US military, but the Chinese army unique to the world. The use of chemical weapons completely aroused the long-standing anger deep in the hearts of Chinese soldiers, reminding the Chinese military of the scenes of the brutality they suffered at the hands of Japanese imperialism. Therefore, during the war against Vietnam, as long as we found soldiers using chemical weapons, we would pursue them fiercely.

The Battle of Lang Son ended with China's complete victory. By taking Lang Son, it can be said that we have the absolute initiative in this war against Vietnam. The city gates of Hanoi, Vietnam are almost wide open, and victory in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam has become inevitable.

Later, the troops on the Western Front also successfully crossed the Red River and approached the city. Vietnam faced a complete defeat. China kept its promise and after conquering the capital Hanoi and other major Vietnamese cities, China ordered its withdrawal from Vietnam and declared a complete victory in Vietnam's self-defense counterattack. During the retreat, the Chinese army adopted the strategy of retreating and suppressing at the same time to eliminate reactionary forces and completely destroy Vietnam's military and fortification facilities, so as to cause a devastating blow to Vietnam and achieve the ultimate goal of deterrence.

Some people say that the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam is too cruel, but I think that in the context of Vietnam's arrogance, failure to abide by international laws of war, and random use of chemical weapons, if it is not given a strong and timely response If we strike, we will not be able to stop him from invading our borders, and we will not be able to wake Vietnam up from its dream of becoming a military power. Perhaps this is the true meaning of force.

In short, the Chinese nation is not a warlike nation, but it is not afraid of war. As the old saying goes: Anyone who offends China will be punished no matter how far away it is! This is a warning to neighboring countries and a warning to the world.

The Chinese nation loves peace and longs for peace, but if war has to ignite Chinese soil, our people will never be afraid.