Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Looking at Dong Dang and Cao Bang marked with Chinese flags on the map, Le Duan recalled a tactic he had once heard from a Chinese advisor.

This seems very suitable for Vietnam today.

"Jin Yong, the situation in the north has taken a sharp turn for the worse. We must find a way to counterattack no matter what."

"We must bring the war to Chinese territory. This will not only boost morale, but also make the Chinese army hesitant to act."

Upon hearing Le Duan's words, Wen Jinyong immediately understood his meaning, but Wen Jinyong's expression was somewhat troubled.

“Active defense can indeed boost morale, but now the front-line troops have collapsed and they are making every effort to retreat south. At this time, it is probably impossible to find suitable troops.”

The main Chinese forces were targeting the capitals of Vietnam's provinces, but China did not leave the remaining Vietnamese troops along the border unattended.

They were all subjected to heavy artillery fire.

Even the main force of the Vietnamese army was no match for the Chinese army, let alone these local troops with only light weapons.

They were all retreating south.

"Then issue the order to the two military regions and tell them to find a way to draw troops from them, and to pose a threat to China no matter what."

"Only when China feels a real threat will they dare not commit all their forces."

Le Duan persisted in his opinion.

Helpless, Wen Jinyong could only rack his brains to think of a suitable place.

And the fact is just as Wen Jinyong said, no one would be stupid enough to go to China to die.

Except for the 338th Division of Vietnam.

The 338th Division of Vietnam was stationed in the Dinh Lac area east of Loc Binh, an area with high mountains and dense forests, which was very unsuitable for large-scale military operations.

In addition, the 338th Division of Vietnam was originally just a miscellaneous division responsible for production and construction. After the outbreak of the Cambodian-Vietnamese War, Le Duan transferred a large number of main forces to attack Cambodia, which is why it was upgraded to a standard infantry division.

Therefore, when formulating the operational plan, China did not include the Vietnamese 338th Division in its target list at all.

This gave the 338th Division of Vietnam a false impression.

They felt that China would not dare to fight the Vietnamese army in the complex terrain of the Dingli area.

Wen Jinyong also discovered that China's defenses along its border with Dinh Li were relatively weak.

Wen Jinyong immediately ordered the 338th Division to launch an attack into Chinese territory.

"Commander, you mustn't!"

Wen Jinyong's order surprised the chief of staff of the 338th Division.

Although the 338th Division was strengthened into a fully-fledged infantry division, they also had their own defensive missions. The only units that could truly serve as mobile forces were the 460th Infantry Regiment and the 208th Artillery Regiment.

Putting aside the issue of artillery mobility in the dense forests to the north, even if the artillery could be moved there, attacking China with such a force would be tantamount to suicide.

"Chief of Staff." Li Zhengwen, commander of the 338th Division, confidently patted him on the shoulder, "China wouldn't dare to come and attack us."

"Commander, the Guangxi people on the other side of the mountain are not to be trifled with." The chief of staff earnestly advised, "They were known for their fighting prowess during World War II, and their combat strength is probably even greater now."

"They're not to be trifled with? Hmph! What a joke!" Le Chinh Van scoffed. "We Vietnamese warriors are even more formidable!"

"The Japanese came to fight us, but we defeated them; the French colonized us, but we defeated them; the Americans tried to stop us, but we defeated them as well."

"If China were to face us, it would also only face defeat."

"Pass on my order: the 1st Battalion of the 460th Regiment, immediately attack the Chinese-controlled Banlan area."

"I'd like to see how China responds!"

Looking at Li Zhengwen's confident face, the chief of staff was completely helpless.

The Vietnamese army has set off.

Following the path, the Vietnamese army's first battalion arrived at the border area the next day.

However, they were completely clueless about the situation within China and dared not venture too far in, especially since the orders from their superiors only specified attacking China and did not specify how far to go.

Therefore, they chose to fire cannons.

At this time, only a company from the border defense regiment was guarding the area.

With such a small force, they had to defend a large area, and they could barely hold their ground.

Fortunately, although the Vietnamese army kept firing artillery, they had no artillery observation posts, so they could only fire randomly at a rough map.

At this critical moment, the militia mortar company formed by Ningming Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant, with demobilized soldiers and Party members as its backbone, was ordered to rush to the Banlan area as reinforcements.

The two sides then engaged in an artillery duel.

Within a single day, the Vietnamese army fired more than 4,000 rounds of 82mm and 60mm mortars into Chinese territory, while the militia mortar regiment also fired more than 1,000 rounds of 82mm mortar shells.

When the mortar company was urgently sent to reinforce, Ningming County also quickly organized armed forces to rush to Banlan's aid.

Meanwhile, militiamen from 11 nearby counties and cities rushed to the scene after receiving the news, carrying heavy machine guns and mortars.

They were afraid that if they moved too slowly, they would miss the opportunity to fight.

After receiving news of the Vietnamese invasion, the military region also urgently ordered the 442nd Regiment of the 148th Division and the artillery regiment to provide reinforcements.

The Vietnamese army had never seen such a battle before. As the enemy's numbers increased and their firepower intensified, the 1st Battalion of the 460th Regiment abandoned hundreds of corpses and wounded soldiers and chose to flee.

When the 442nd Regiment and the artillery regiment rushed to the Banlan area, they found that the militia were already cleaning up the battlefield.

After understanding the situation, Ren Zhenbang, the deputy division commander in charge, couldn't help but slap his thigh.

"Walk too slow! Walk too slow!"

"If only the car could go a little faster!"

The commander of the 442nd Regiment, standing to the side, was also somewhat speechless.

The soldiers were incredibly excited about this sudden battle.

Along the way, the truck driver's feet were practically touching the fuel tank, and the soldiers inside were jolted and disoriented. For most of the journey, their buttocks were suspended in the air.

As a result, they didn't make it in time.

One can imagine how disappointed the soldiers must have been.

At this moment, the artillery regimental commander spoke up, "Deputy Division Commander, we can't just let this go."

"Our superiors have ordered us to resolutely eliminate the Vietnamese troops who dare to invade. We should catch up with them and complete their mission."

Ok?
"That's right, that's right." The commander of the 442nd Regiment, realizing what was happening, quickly said, "We must resolutely wipe out this Vietnamese army and make them never dare to invade again."

"Deputy Division Commander, hurry up and chase them, or they'll get far ahead."

Seeing that everyone thought the same way, Ren Zhenbang didn't waste any words. "Pass on my order: the 442nd Regiment will send out a spearhead company to strike directly at Dingli!"

Although we don't know which unit of the Vietnamese army came, attacking Dingli is definitely the right thing to do.

Only the Vietnamese 338th Division could launch attacks in this area.

The dozen or so militia companies that hadn't left yet, seeing that the main force was catching up, couldn't hold back any longer and started to follow while requesting orders from their superiors.

With the cooperation of the militia, the 442nd Regiment advanced in one fell swoop to the headquarters of the 460th Regiment of Vietnam, the Narran Hill 542.

Upon learning that Hill 542 had been captured and the 460th Regiment had retreated in disarray, Cai Zhengwen immediately became anxious.

"Pass on my order: the entire army must assemble immediately! We must retake Hill 542!"

Although the Dingli area is mountainous and densely forested, making it unsuitable for large-scale troop movements, Hill 542 is extremely important.

If this place falls into the hands of the Central Army, not only will Dingli County be fatally threatened, but the Second and Third Military Regions will also be cut in two.

Upon detecting the Vietnamese army's movements, Ren Zhenbang was overjoyed. "Good! Excellent!"

"We were struggling to find the Vietnamese troops who had broken up into smaller groups in the woods, but now they've delivered themselves to our doorstep!"

When they captured Hill 542, the 442nd Regiment made rapid progress, but they actually killed relatively few Vietnamese soldiers.

The vast majority of the Vietnamese troops were scattered in the dense forest.

Now that they've taken the initiative to attack, we can just bombard them with artillery; we have plenty of shells.

In order to retake Hill 542, Li Zhengwen launched a series of strong attacks over the next few days.

Both sides continued to bombard each other with artillery.

Although the 148th Division's artillery regiment did not bring artillery radar this time, the Chinese army far surpassed the Vietnamese 338th Division in both the performance of its artillery and the quality of its artillerymen.

The Vietnamese army was decimated, with corpses strewn across the battlefield.

A few days later, the heavily wounded Vietnamese army was no longer able to attack and withdrew from the battle.

"Deputy Division Commander, the Vietnamese army has confirmed that they have withdrawn to Dingli. Their fighting capacity should be almost gone."

Near Hill 542, over a thousand bodies abandoned by Vietnamese soldiers were found. If the bodies and wounded that were taken away are included, the 338th Division suffered at least three to four thousand casualties.

Ren Zhenbang threw his pencil on the table. "Now is the time to kick a man when he's down. March forward! Target set!"

Upon learning that the 338th Division of the Vietnamese Army had been utterly routed and that Ding Li had been threatened, Tan Quang Trung, commander of the First Military Region of the Vietnamese Army, was so anxious that his mouth was covered in blisters.

"Fuck you, you idiots, you're all idiots!"

There had been no fighting in the Dingli area, and Tan Guangzhong's original plan was to send the 338th Division to reinforce Luping and hold the eastern gateway to Lang Son.

In this way, Lang Son will only be attacked from the Dong Dang direction, reducing the pressure by half.

But now everything has been ruined by Wen Jinyong and Li Zhengwen.

Those nearby, unsure whether Tan Guangzhong was criticizing the 338th Division or the Ministry of National Defense, all chose not to hear him.

But no matter how much he was criticized, Tan Guangzhong ultimately had no choice but to clean up the mess.

"Pass on my order to dispatch the 312th and 327th Divisions to reinforce immediately."

"The 312th Division will advance north of the mountain to flank Dong Dang and draw the enemy's attention away from Dong Dang; the 327th Division will advance to Chi Linh, and if the central army surrounds Lang Son, the 327th Division will attack its flank."

"Lang Son must not be lost!"

Lang Son is extremely important; if it falls, the central army can reach Hanoi directly along the highway.

In order to defend Lang Son, the Vietnamese army built an iron fortress around the perimeter, with cannons everywhere on the hilltops, and even hollowed out the rocky hills to build permanent fortifications.

In addition to the 3rd Division, a large number of elite troops were also transferred here, with Leng Hoang Dan, deputy commander of the 1st Military Region of the Vietnamese Army, personally in charge.

But even this wasn't enough to guarantee safety, so Tan Guangzhong chose to reinforce the 312th and 327th Divisions by sending them to patrol the perimeter and distract the central army.

He had made up his mind to fight the Chinese army to the death in Lang Son.

Upon receiving the order to advance on Zhiling, Ruan Binh Hai, the commander of the 327th Division, was actually quite unwilling.

Although a large number of Chinese aircraft were redeployed to the north due to Soviet constraints and no longer roamed freely throughout northern Vietnam as they had at the beginning, Vietnam still did not completely regain air superiority.

Moving a large army at this time would be far too dangerous.

Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly received the latest intelligence: the central army had begun its advance towards Lang Son.

Moreover, the simultaneous approach from three directions forced Nguyen Binh Hai to make an immediate decision.

"Commander, Minister Wen has come again, ordering us to advance on Zhiling immediately. The 312th Division has already set off in full force."

Upon hearing the chief of staff's report, Nguyen Binh Hai looked at the map and weighed his options repeatedly.

Ultimately, he decided to send additional main force divisions to support Lang Son.

To reiterate, Lang Son is too important; Vietnam cannot afford the consequences of its fall.

"Order the 148th Regiment to set off first and establish an advance position in Zhiling."

"The tank regiment then set off, followed by the 187th Regiment, and finally the artillery regiment."

"The 98th Regiment will remain in place to cover the flank of Zhiling."

Nguyen Binh Hai never forgot the Chinese army's specialty.

The tactics of large-scale infiltration and encirclement are still in the textbooks of West Point Military Academy.

He didn't want the 327th Division to become a scapegoat.

If possible, Nguyen Binh Hai even wanted to use aircraft for cover.

However, after the previous battle, the Vietnamese Air Force no longer dared to act rashly.

Even with a significant reduction in the number of Chinese aircraft, this remained the case. In fact, in order to preserve strategic deterrence and the capital for post-war reconstruction, Le Duan transferred all of his air force personnel away from the front lines.

The 327th Division can now only rely on its attached air defense battalion for cover.

Nguyen Binh Hai's decision to reinforce was very timely. The 148th Regiment of Vietnam had just arrived in the Chi Linh area when they encountered a small central army unit that had slipped through.

The fierce exchange of fire between the two sides ended with the Chinese army taking the initiative to retreat.

However, instead of feeling happy, Ruan Binh Hai became tense.

"From now on, air defense radars must be kept on 24 hours a day to prevent air attacks by the Chinese military."

"Commander, our air defense supplies are insufficient."

The radar cannot be turned on during the relocation.

If it needs to be continuous 24 hours a day, it means that the 327th Division's only air defense force will have to be divided into two groups and rotated.

The 327th Division's air defense capabilities were already stretched thin, and splitting it into two groups would make effective coverage impossible.

“Then we’ll just provide cover for the tank regiment and the artillery regiment,” Nguyen Binh Hai said definitively.

Ruan Binh Hai knew very well that if the 327th Division wanted to fight against the Central Army, it would rely on tanks and artillery.

Moreover, infantry can travel on any road, while tank and artillery regiments can only move along highways, which naturally exposes their positions.

Of course, Nguyen Binh Hai also knew that for the 327th Division, marching was not the most dangerous thing, because at this time, tanks or artillery were marching in a dispersed manner.

The real danger will come when the attack is launched from Zhiling.

Once the offensive phase begins, the tanks must be concentrated in order to launch an attack.

If a blanket blanket approach were to be launched at this time, the consequences would be unimaginable.

As Ruan Binh Hai had predicted, although planes flew by and bombed the marching troops from time to time, no large-scale air strikes occurred.

However, the situation changed when they arrived in Zhiling.

At this time, the central army had already established positions in the southern part of Lang Son, forming a stalemate with the Vietnamese army in the Chi Linh area.

If the 327th Division of Vietnam wants to advance, it has to be prepared for a head-on battle.

Standing atop the hill, Nguyen Binh Hai gazed northwards; Lang Son lay just over thirty kilometers away.

"I hope the 312th Division can give me a chance," Ruan Pinghai muttered.

If the 312th Division can draw away one or two divisions of the Central Army, Nguyen Binh Hai will dare to launch a surprise attack and try to make contact with Lang Son.

(End of this chapter)