Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Troops on both the eastern and western fronts are making intensive preparations, but China still wants to give Vietnam a chance.

However, the Le Duan government, relying on the support of Soviet Russia, completely ignored all goodwill.

Vietnam's armed provocations continue.

On February 17, 1979, the People's Daily used the headline "This is intolerable" for the second time.

Meanwhile, Xinhua News Agency also broadcast the message.

[Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, February 17]

[Xinhua News Agency, acting on the orders of the Chinese government, issued the following statement on February 17, 1979:]

[Vietnamese authorities have ignored repeated warnings from China.]

[Recently, armed forces have been repeatedly deployed to infringe upon Chinese territory and attack Chinese border personnel and residents.]

The situation has deteriorated rapidly, seriously threatening peace and security along our borders.

[Chinese border troops, having reached the point of no return, were forced to launch a self-defense counterattack!]

At the time of the broadcast, 10 armed helicopters had already entered Vietnamese territory at extremely low altitudes.

The helicopter formation flew at an altitude of 15 meters, skimming the treetops as it stealthily advanced into the valley.

An hour later, the helicopter formation flew 100 kilometers and arrived near a radar station without the Vietnamese army noticing.

The brigade commander, personally leading the team, broke the radio silence: "Attention all personnel, prepare to climb!"

"Roger that!"

Reports from each machine came through the headset.

Everyone's expression was very serious.

Once they exited the valley, the helicopter would climb to the top of the mountain, at which point the Vietnamese radar would immediately detect them.

As the formation ascended, it suddenly appeared above the hilltop, and the previously quiet Vietnamese radar station instantly erupted into chaos.

The radar alarm sounded throughout the control room.

The Vietnamese soldier spat out a mouthful of water and looked at the screen in disbelief.

"What's going on?!" A Vietnamese officer rushed over.

"Enemy aircraft detected by radar!"

Where? How far?

"10 aircraft, 5 kilometers due north."

"You're talking nonsense!" the Vietnamese lieutenant roared. "Is this your first day in the army? Our radar can detect enemy aircraft hundreds of kilometers away!"

This radar station uses the Soviet/Russian P14 early warning radar, which, although less accurate, has a detection range of up to 400 kilometers.

"That's what the radar shows," the radar operator quickly explained. "But judging from the altitude and speed of the other side, it should be a helicopter, not a fighter jet."

"A helicopter?" The Vietnamese lieutenant couldn't understand what the Chinese army meant by suddenly sending a helicopter into the country.

However, he didn't think too much about it and immediately said, "Contact the air defense positions and report the enemy aircraft's location."

This radar station is an early warning radar. If an anti-aircraft missile is to be launched, the air defense forces need to turn on the guidance radar to guide the anti-aircraft missile to hit the target accurately.

While the soldiers at the radar station were making a phone call to the air defense positions, the helicopter squadron had already launched anti-radiation missiles at them.

The missile can reach a distance of 5 kilometers in the blink of an eye.

Forty anti-radiation missiles directly reduced the Vietnamese radar station to ruins.

"Radar signal has disappeared; target confirmed destroyed."

"Attention everyone, target: Vietnamese air defense base, advance at low altitude."

The air defense base, located 4 kilometers from the radar station, realized something was wrong after hearing the loud explosion.

Upon discovering that they could not contact the radar station by phone, the Vietnamese army immediately realized that something was wrong.

The battle alarm sounded instantly, and all the Vietnamese soldiers began to move.

However, before they could even turn on their radar and set up their missiles, the helicopter squadron had already roared in.

Immediately afterwards, the Vietnamese air defense base was subjected to a fierce attack.

Hundreds of rockets and 23mm cannons directly covered the entire Vietnamese air defense base.

The Vietnamese air defense battalion commander, hiding in his bunker, was devastated.

"Fire! Fire!"

For the commander of the Vietnamese air defense battalion, the best outcome now would be to die on the spot.

Vietnamese soldiers yelled and fired their AK rifles into the air.

Seeing the resistance from the Vietnamese troops on the ground, the helicopter squadron strafed them with its machine guns.

The AK rifle is excellent, but it is no match for the power of a machine gun.

With just one round of gunfire, the ground was littered with parts, and the morale of the Vietnamese army was completely shattered.

The remaining Vietnamese soldiers scattered and fled into the woods to escape.

The helicopter squadron ignored the fleeing Vietnamese soldiers, confirmed that the air defense positions had been completely destroyed, and the brigade commander of the air force brigade issued a retreat order.

From takeoff to retreat, the helicopter squadron opened a radar gap more than ten kilometers wide in just 10 minutes.

The overall command of the operation also received a report that the target had been destroyed.

A second wave of attacks followed immediately.

More than 200 cruise missiles were launched, carrying out precision strikes against power plants and military bases in northern Vietnam.

Immediately afterwards, the fighter jets and bomber formations that had taken off flew into Vietnamese territory through the radar gap.

Hanoi's communications center, military base, and airport were all severely attacked.

In the darkness, the Vietnamese troops could only hear the roar of warplanes and the sounds of violent explosions.

The thousands of anti-aircraft guns and machine guns deployed by the Vietnamese army in Hanoi could only fire randomly into the sky because they lacked radar guidance.

The whole of Hanoi was even more lively than during the Lunar New Year.

However, despite the Vietnamese anti-aircraft guns firing countless shells, they failed to shoot down a single aircraft.

The massive H6 bomber formation carried out precision strikes on Hanoi's air defense system, signal towers, and power facilities from outside the artillery fire zone.

Most of these facilities were built by the Chinese engineering corps, so their locations are naturally very clear.

After the H6 bomber group completed its attack, the JH-7 bombers entered the Vietnamese air defense zone and once again launched a fierce bombing raid on the Vietnamese defense buildings and power facilities with heavy bombs.

Hanoi's entire power supply system and command center were almost paralyzed.

At the same time, hundreds of warplanes carried out planned bombing strikes against key Vietnamese military bases in the north.

The Hanoi H2 Air Base is Vietnam's largest air base, equipped with the SAM-3 air defense missile system, which was recently provided by the Soviet Union and is the most advanced in the Vietnamese military.

However, to the Vietnamese army's horror, although they had all been attacked, nothing was displayed on the radar.

The radar and the base seemed to exist in two different times and spaces.

In just 20 minutes, H2 Air Force Base was completely destroyed, with more than 50 fighter jets being destroyed directly on the runway.

Inside the rear command post, the central leaders watched the live broadcast and were almost speechless with astonishment.

Before the war, everyone thought it would be a fierce battle.

If it weren't for Chen Chengxing's strong insistence on giving it a try and withdrawing immediately if it didn't work, plus the fact that the planes could be easily transferred to the north at any time, the central government would never have agreed to send out so many planes.

The original plan of the Central Committee was to only deploy infantry, with aircraft mainly used to confront Soviet Russia.

As a result, the Vietnamese army is now being beaten so badly that they have no chance to fight back.

In Xining, Li Yunlong stared in disbelief as he watched the reports being delivered one after another.

"Damn it, what is Chen Chengxing up to in the Northwest?" "I don't understand, I really don't understand." Ding Wei also looked bewildered.

They've lived in the Northwest for so many years, yet they had absolutely no idea.

Moreover, neither of them had ever heard of this fighting style.

When the United States fought in Vietnam, it also gained absolute air superiority, but it didn't fight in this way at the time.

Despite possessing tens of thousands of anti-aircraft guns, anti-aircraft machine guns, and thousands of anti-aircraft missiles, Vietnam acted as if it were blind, failing to retaliate when attacked.

Inside the safe house in Hanoi, both high-ranking Vietnamese officials and members of the Soviet advisory group remained silent.

They were equally bewildered by the attack.

Watching the continuous explosions on television, Li Xun glared at Wen Jinyong and roared, "Why aren't the anti-aircraft missiles being launched yet! Shoot down the enemy's warplanes right now!"

Vietnam possesses thousands of missiles from the United States and the Soviet Union, yet it allows enemy aircraft to wreak havoc in its capital. Vietnam has truly lost face.

"Radar unit reports, there is no display on the radar," Wen Jinyong said dejectedly.

"What did you say? Nothing?" Le Duan pointed at the television: "Then tell me, what is bombing Hanoi?!"

"For some reason, the radar definitely didn't detect it."

Wen Jinyong didn't know how to report it.

The planes above them were dropping bombs, but no matter how hard they struggled, the radar wouldn't react at all. In their frustration, the radar even stopped working altogether.

Obaturov, the head of the Soviet Russian advisory group standing nearby, said, "It should be electronic suppression."

"I never imagined that China would progress so quickly!"

Obaturov's heart was in turmoil.

As early as 1904, when Tsarist Russia was at war with Japan, they used electronic warfare for the first time. Although at that time it could only interfere with radio communications, China was still fighting with cold weapons.

It is surprising that in just a few decades, China has already been able to use such advanced tactics.

Even the Soviet Union couldn't execute this tactic.

Although Obaturov was unaware of the Soviet Union's electronic warfare capabilities, he assumed that it would be impossible for them to carry such equipment on fighter jets.

To counter the extreme electromagnetic environment following a nuclear war, the Soviet Union adopted vacuum tube technology. Although it had strong anti-jamming capabilities, it was a behemoth that could only be used by establishing fixed radar stations.

"Electronic warfare? How can they have such strong combat capabilities?" Le Duan looked incredulous.

It's not that he hasn't encountered electronic warfare before; the US used it when it fought Vietnam, but not in this way.

"General Obaturov, Vietnam urgently needs support! I would like to know when the Soviet army will move in."

According to the treaty signed between the Soviet Union and Vietnam, an attack on Vietnam meant an attack on Soviet Russia, and the Soviet army was to intervene in the war within half an hour.

"I have already reported it to Moscow; we just need to wait patiently."

Meanwhile, Soviet Russia, on which Le Duan had pinned his hopes, was completely bewildered.

Inside the Kremlin, the attendees watched the live broadcast without uttering a word.

After picking up the remote and turning off the TV, the leader turned around and asked, "What do you think?"

Someone spoke up: "According to the agreement, we should send troops immediately."

“No!” someone immediately retorted. “If we send troops now, we will inevitably be drawn into a full-scale war with China.”

"It would be foolish to go to war with China over Vietnam!"

When the Zhenbao Island incident broke out, tensions between China and the Soviet Union were high, but even then, the Soviet Union was not confident in defeating China, let alone now.

“I also support not sending troops.” Someone added, “Don’t forget Afghanistan. The situation there is unstable now. If we go to war with China, American forces will inevitably retaliate.”

Afghanistan's geographical location is far more important than Vietnam's.

This directly concerns the safety of the Soviet Union's backyard.

In April 1978, a political party supported by Soviet Russia launched a military coup and successfully came to power.

However, from the very first day of the successful coup, things were already spiraling out of control.

At this point, Soviet Russia was no longer able to control the Afghan government.

This is even worse than the situation before the coup.

"In the past few decades, Vietnam has driven out France and the United States. I think this time, the Vietnamese people can also defend themselves."

"We can provide all support except for direct military intervention, such as equipment support and military deterrence."

"But we absolutely cannot directly intervene in this war."

This proposal received the support of the vast majority of people.

They're all too familiar with this kind of operation.

This is how the United States lost, from the Korean War to the Vietnam War.

If we were to replicate this again, China would also get lost in the mountains.

Soviet Russia held a series of emergency meetings and debates all night, but ultimately decided not to launch any attacks.

Soviet Russia decided to provide Vietnam with tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, missiles, and other equipment to rapidly strengthen their firepower and prepare for the next phase of guerrilla warfare.

However, they soon discovered an awkward situation: they could not directly provide aid to Vietnam via land transport.

During the Vietnam War, although China and the Soviet Union had broken ties, Soviet aid was still transported to Vietnam smoothly via Chinese railways.

But the situation is different now; they can no longer transport supplies to Vietnam through China.

Ultimately, the Soviet Union had no choice but to urgently establish an air bridge using A22 transport aircraft to provide military assistance to Vietnam.

The first items transported were the most important air defense weapons: 28 Volga missile battalions and 40 S125 missile battalions were urgently transported to Vietnam.

Vietnam is currently being pinned down by Chinese aircraft, which can freely enter and exit the airspace. To retaliate, Vietnam must regain air superiority.

However, because Hanoi was under direct attack, Soviet Russia had no choice but to select Saigon as a transit point.

This also meant that these air defense weapons were far from the front lines, and even if the Soviet Union had the necessary operators, it would still take some time to transport them to participate in the war.

Just as Soviet Russia made its decision and began to transport supplies at full speed, China's second wave of attacks arrived with the rising sun.

A large number of warplanes once again launched a fierce bombing campaign against key military locations in northern Vietnam.

After recovering from their shock, Vietnam did not surrender easily. Hundreds of fighter jets that had been urgently recalled from the Cambodian front took off to engage in combat.

However, the Vietnamese pilots soon learned what it meant to be like a moth drawn to a flame.

When the Vietnamese aircraft were still tens of kilometers away, their radar suddenly started alarming frantically.

Although the pilot saw nothing, he knew that a missile was hurtling towards him at several Mach, and he only had a few dozen seconds to react.

The plane began to maneuver wildly, sometimes climbing to an altitude of 8 meters, and sometimes flying close to the ground at an altitude of 300 meters.

The aircraft performed various extreme evasive maneuvers, including S-shaped and spiral maneuvers.

During this process, the pilot can experience a G-force of up to 9G, which is equivalent to 9 times his own body weight pressing down on him.

Even though the anti-G suit squeezes the pilot's legs to prevent blood from flowing down, blood still seeps from the corners of his eyes.

The pilot's breathing grew heavier, his vision gradually darkened, and he was on the verge of losing consciousness.

However, this was of no use. Once locked on by a missile, Vietnamese aircraft had no chance at all if they couldn't outrun the missile.

Before the Vietnamese planes even saw the Chinese fighter jets, they were turned into fireballs in the air.

Some Vietnamese aircraft were even brought back down by a missile as soon as they took off from the runway.

In just five hours, almost all of the Vietnamese aircraft were destroyed, and the Chinese side gained complete air superiority.

Vietnam's communication facilities and infrastructure were almost completely destroyed.

(End of this chapter)