Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Although the fortress hills are not high in altitude, the terrain is extremely rugged.

Even light tanks can't climb up there, let alone heavy tanks.

The 487th Regiment could only take down points one by one in small groups.

At this point, anti-aircraft guns became the most effective weapons for both sides, and exchanges of fire between 37mm anti-aircraft guns occurred frequently.

Inside the Vietnamese army's eastern front command post, Tan Guangzhong paced back and forth, the ground littered with cigarette butts.

"Siring! We've made contact with Tongdeng!" A staff officer rushed over.

"What's the situation in Dong Deng? What are the casualties? Why was the signal cut off earlier?"

"Siring, Tongdeng Fortress is gone!" The staff officer's voice was trembling with tears.

"The Chinese army did not know what kind of bomb it used. The explosion occurred inside the fortress and directly detonated the ammunition depot, turning the fortress into ruins on the spot."

"The 339th Regiment's position has also been breached, and the remaining troops are now concentrated in the southern highlands of the fortress."

Tan Guangzhong swayed and grabbed the table with his left hand.

He had considered the difficulties of traveling together, but he hadn't expected it to turn out this way.

Tan Guangzhong let out a breath and rallied his spirits. "How many people are left on the high ground?"

"The high ground group was subjected to heavy artillery fire from the central army, and communication on each hilltop was basically cut off. We can only make a rough estimate now, and there should be less than two thousand people left."

Tan Guangzhong was heartbroken.

Before the war, there were five regiments with nearly 7000 men in the Dong Dang area.

In less than a day, the losses had exceeded three-quarters.

However, Tan Guangzhong quickly realized that now was not the time for him to be sad.

With the disappearance of Tong Dang Fortress, the situation on the fortress highlands is definitely dire.

Without reinforcements, the people on the high ground of the fortress would likely be wiped out.

Realizing what was happening, Tan Guangzhong urgently ordered: "Immediately send an order to the 3rd Division to have the 2nd Regiment send reinforcements to support Dong Dang."

"I don't ask them to take back Dong Dang, I just need them to bring the people out."

"In addition, the 327th Division is ordered to be prepared to support Lang Son at any time."

Lang Son is extremely important; if it falls, Hanoi will be exposed to the central army's advance.

"Siring, the tanks, armored vehicles, and anti-aircraft missiles that were supplied to the 327th Division have just arrived. It will probably take some time before they can be used skillfully."

“I know that,” Tan Guangzhong slammed his hand on the table, “but the central army won’t give us time!”

"Let them prepare first, and if necessary, dress the Soviets in our clothes and let them operate."

Tanks and armored vehicles are easy to handle; the Vietnamese army inherited Soviet weapons, so they are very easy to use.

However, air defense missiles involve various high-end technologies such as radar, and cannot be mastered in just a few days.

However, the Soviet Union thoughtfully provided a small number of personnel to keep these weapons operational.

However, the 3rd Division of Vietnam, having received orders from Tan Guangzhong, was now facing a major headache.

Although the 12th Regiment of Vietnam is a unit of the 3rd Division of Vietnam, the 3rd Division is already exhausted just dealing with the central forces in the Tham Long direction.

Moreover, the Loc Binh direction was also attacked by the central army, and the 3rd Vietnamese Division simply couldn't spare any manpower.

However, orders from superiors could not be disobeyed, and the Vietnamese army could only squeeze out an infantry company from the 2nd Regiment and then pair it with two local infantry companies to rescue the Dong Deng Gao group.

However, it is wishful thinking to think that three companies can break through the blocking force of a fully equipped infantry regiment.

The 488th Regiment didn't even need to call in aircraft; its heavy mortar company alone put the Vietnamese troops in a dilemma.

Unable to provide any other support, the Vietnamese army in Dong Dang was completely isolated and helpless.

However, the Vietnamese army, determined to fight to the death, was indeed difficult to deal with, especially in the karst mountain forests.

Every step forward for the central army comes at a considerable cost.

In particular, a large amount of time is consumed.

Until the early morning of the 23rd, 700 of the 2,000 Vietnamese troops in the highlands remained.

“Now the Vietnamese army has all retreated to this Hill 442.” Wang Yousheng pointed to the sand table and said, “Time is of the essence. We cannot waste time with the Vietnamese army here. We must take the Vietnamese position in one fell swoop.”

The primary objective on the eastern front in this counter-offensive is to capture Lang Son. If too much time is wasted in Dong Dang, there may not be enough time left to decisively attack Lang Son.

"Commander, judging from the Vietnamese army's sustained firepower and the combat situation, they must have tunnel fortifications on the high ground."

"The enemy has occupied advantageous terrain, and with the numerous bunkers and tunnels, a direct assault would likely result in significant casualties."

The Chinese army has brought in a large number of new recruits for this operation. If they conduct systematic operations under the cover of air force and tanks, their combat effectiveness can be guaranteed.

But when it comes to mountain battles, new recruits are simply not up to the task; a direct assault would only result in heavy casualties.

“How could I not know that?” Wang Yousheng said, “But we don’t have that much time.”

"Go and pass the order."

"yes!".
However, just as the soldiers were preparing to fight through the night, a telegram from the command brought the offensive to a halt.

Time passes while waiting.

It wasn't until the east gradually brightened with white light that the soldiers received orders again.

"Withdraw from position 442? Company commander, what do you mean? Are you saying we're not fighting anymore?"

"How should I know? I just do what my superiors tell me to do."

"Let me tell you, this time the higher-ups specifically emphasized that the main force should retreat to 500 meters away, and there should be no one of our soldiers within 300 meters. Snipers and scouts should also be eliminated and all should retreat."

Although the soldiers didn't understand the order, they didn't stop what they were doing.

In just over ten minutes, all the frontline troops were withdrawn.

Watching the retreating central army, the Vietnamese soldiers hidden in the shadows felt somewhat smug.

"The Chinese are afraid now."

“In the mountains and forests, tanks are useless, so they won’t fight.”

"It's not that simple," a Vietnamese veteran said. "The location of our hill group is too crucial. It blocks the road from Dong Dang to Lang Son. If the Chinese army wants to continue its offensive, it must take this place."

"Their retreat now is likely a way to conserve strength."

"Let's hurry up and prepare for artillery fire. If nothing unexpected happens, bombers and artillery shells will be coming soon."

Although the Vietnamese veterans didn't know why the Chinese army retreated so far this time, bombing was certain.

They've gotten used to this routine over the past few days.

The Vietnamese soldiers who hid in artillery shelters or even tunnels were still in the mood to joke.

At that moment, an H6 bomber appeared in the clouds.

As the bomb bay opened, a massive 8-ton bomb slowly descended.

The Vietnamese troops on the ground naturally saw the bombers high in the sky. Although their 37mm anti-aircraft guns could not reach that high, the Vietnamese troops still fired threatening shots into the air.

Just as the Vietnamese army was continuously spraying ammunition, the bombs dropped by the bombers had landed less than 50 meters above the ground.

As the fuse was activated, the bomb exploded, and the carefully prepared aerogel instantly filled the surrounding space.

Immediately afterwards, a second detonation occurred.

"boom!"

With a deafening explosion, a mushroom cloud rose into the sky.

Even though the soldiers had retreated to 300 or even 500 meters away, they instantly felt a strong hurricane sweeping over them.

In the howling wind, everyone raised their hands to shield their eyes, but that was all. They all stared in disbelief at the colossal fireball, nearly 300 meters in diameter, on Hill 442. The soldiers at 300 meters even felt some difficulty breathing.

"What the hell is this?!" someone muttered.

Even if they weren't college students, they knew what such an explosion meant.

High temperature, high pressure, and lack of oxygen.

No carbon-based life form can survive within the blast radius.

"It should be a thermobaric bomb," the commander of the 488th Regiment explained, squinting.

"The United States used it in large quantities when it fought Vietnam. I never thought that we would have our own thermobaric weapons now, and that they would be so powerful."

"With this thermobaric bomb, the Vietnamese army should be unable to resist. Order the front-line troops to enter the Vietnamese positions and mop up the remaining enemy after it is safe to do so."

The explosion was fleeting, and soon the situation on Hill 442 came into view.

The once lush forest has vanished, leaving the ground completely exposed.

So much so that the soldiers could spot the more obvious fortifications of the Vietnamese army at a glance.

But at this moment, the Vietnamese army's position was unusually quiet.

When the high temperature subsided and the soldiers climbed Hill 442, stepping over the debris scattered on the ground, the scene before them made their eyes widen in surprise.

The Vietnamese soldiers lying haphazardly inside the fortifications, shielded from artillery fire, had no wounds, but their faces were all bruised and they were silent.

Some people even tore their own necks open.

"This weapon is terrifying." Some soldiers trembled involuntarily.

Faced with such a weapon, any defense is futile; death is the only option.

Seeing the tragic state of the Vietnamese troops, some soldiers felt a pang of pity.

However, this reluctance lasted for less than two minutes before being completely washed away by anger.

The Vietnamese army built a complex tunnel over 100 meters long on Hill 442, and there were also multiple branch roads inside the tunnel.

The situation inside the tunnel filled everyone with immense anger.

"Pah! You damned ingrates!" A soldier spat at the few surviving Vietnamese prisoners hiding in the tunnel.

The tunnel was filled with grain, and the grain bags were clearly marked as rice aid from China.

"You deserve to be bombed a few more times, so you'll learn your lesson!"

During a simple battlefield cleanup, the soldiers discovered a large quantity of Chinese supplies.

Besides rice, the 10 37mm anti-aircraft guns that the Vietnamese army deployed here were all aid from China.

As for other things, there are many more.

The more they cleaned up the battlefield, the angrier they became.

If it weren't for the policies in place, the soldiers would have been tempted to skin the Vietnamese prisoners alive.

Using weapons provided by China to fight China—what's the difference between that and being an animal?

While the army was besieging Dong Dang, the Dong Khe Reservoir in the Cao Bang direction was blown up by the Vietnamese special forces.

The water in the reservoir surged and gushed down.

It was the tail end of the dry season, and the reservoir did not hold much water, only forming a flooded area of ​​more than ten square kilometers and a depth of one meter.

However, after careful calculation, Vietnamese spies discovered that this flooded area was positioned directly in front of the main force of the central army.

Standing atop the hill, looking down at the still-flowing floodwaters, the commander of the 124th Division felt a pang of pity.

Don't be fooled by the small scale of the disaster now; it's only because the rainy season hasn't arrived yet. Once the rainy season comes, the rainwater from the surrounding mountains will accumulate, and the breach that the Vietnamese army blew open will be widened. That will be the real disaster.

"Commander." The reconnaissance company commander ran over, covered in mud.

"What's going on ahead?"

"This is not good." The reconnaissance company commander took a few breaths. "All the bridges along the way have been blown up by the Vietnamese army, and the highway is full of deep craters."

"The armored forces will likely find it difficult to advance."

"Damn it, the Vietnamese army is really decisive."

The 124th Division hadn't even arrived yet, and they'd already cut off the road; they were determined to delay the central army's progress.

"Pass on my order: the infantry, carrying seven days' worth of rations, will advance past the tanks and wade through the water."

"The engineering corps searched for wood to build a road in the flooded area and bring the tanks out of the mud."

"As for those bridges, we'll go around them if we can, and if we really can't, the engineers will find a way to repair them."

Tanks are no longer the old-fashioned "millet and rifles"; they weigh as much as 40 tons and can't move without a road.

However, the Chinese army is not incapable of fighting without tanks. The Vietnamese army's idea of ​​using floods to block the Chinese army was wishful thinking.

The 124th Division left two infantry battalions to cover the tanks, heavy artillery, and logistics units, while the rest of the units continued to advance on foot.

In order to reach Gaoping on time, the soldiers worked day and night, advancing all the way.

Since the start of the war, the Vietnamese army has become accustomed to the constant deployment of aircraft, artillery, and tanks. This time, the infantry's solo mission was completely unexpected.

A company of local Vietnamese armed forces stationed in Dongxi was shot in their sleep.

In just 15 minutes, the vanguard of the 124th Division captured Dongxi and continued to advance toward Gaoping.

However, just as the vanguard of the 124th Division occupied Dongxi, the situation changed.

The garrison in Gaoping has disappeared.

When Tan Guangzhong learned that the blasting of the reservoir had failed to stop the central army, he knew that Gaoping could not be defended.

Moreover, with the fall of Dong Dang Fortress, Lang Son is in grave danger.

In order to hold back the main force of the Central Army in the Cao Bang direction, Tan Quang Trung decided to resort to Vietnam's old tricks.

fight as a guerrilla.

More than 20,000 troops in the Gaoping area broke up into smaller units and entered the deep mountains.

Moreover, the Vietnamese army also took the opportunity to implement a scorched-earth policy, forcibly taking tens of thousands of people from the Cao Bang area into the mountains, in addition to the militia.

All the houses in the village were burned down, and the facilities in Gaoping City were also destroyed.

The Chinese troops had just arrived in Cao Bang and had not yet set up camp when they were harassed by Vietnamese guerrillas.

The Vietnamese army bombarded Cao Bang with mortars and single-barreled rocket launchers. By the time the Chinese army chased after them, the Vietnamese army had already disappeared.

This situation occurs frequently throughout Cao Bang province.

Left with no other choice, the 124th Division and the 126th Division, which had come from both sides of Shuojiang, had to switch to a search and suppression operation.

Subsequently, Li Yunlong deployed reserve troops to the Gaoping battlefield, while the main force carried out repeated sweeping operations throughout Gaoping Province.

To facilitate the clearing forces calling for fire support, more than a dozen attack aircraft circled back and forth over Cao Bang province.

As soon as the signal is received, machine guns and rockets are used to bombard the ground.

At the same time, two armies on the western front launched surprise attacks along both banks of the Red River, successively capturing Lao Cai, Gan Tang and other places.

The 345th Division of the Vietnamese Army was surrounded and annihilated. The 316A Division, after suffering heavy losses, took the initiative to withdraw from the battlefield, thus avoiding being infiltrated and surrounded.

It was clear that both of the northern military regions were being fought so badly that they were completely disoriented.

Le Duan couldn't sit still any longer.

(End of this chapter)