In 1979, the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam was launched, which was the closest time to us, but it seemed that it was forgotten faster. There are occasional documentary memoirs about the Korean War. However, the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam was publicized during the war and during the border conflict in the following decade. There was no propaganda after the Sino Vietnamese border conflict completely stopped in the 1990s.
The historical background of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam is that Vietnam has just driven out the United States and completed the war of unifying the whole country, while a new era of China's smashing the gang of four has just begun. The reason for the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, according to the official statement, is that Vietnam's Anti China and Anti China cause trouble and provoke China on the Sino Vietnamese border. China can't bear it, so it launched a self-defense counterattack to teach Vietnam lessons. In fact, these are only superficial phenomena, or excuses for launching a war. It is unreasonable for Vietnam to take the initiative to provoke China just after the end of the war without recuperation. Of course, there are deeper reasons.
During the Vietnam War, Vietnam was the eldest son of the socialist camp. China and the Soviet Union supported it at the same time. At that time, China and the Soviet Union had broken up, and Vietnam was sandwiched in the middle. In order to get the assistance of both countries, Vietnam tried to maintain a balance between the two countries. After the Treasure Island conflict between China and the Soviet Union in 1969, the tension between China and the Soviet Union reached the extreme. The two sides had millions of soldiers on the border. The Soviet Union was ready to carry out a nuclear attack on China. However, China began the construction of the three front lines, digging holes everywhere for strategic transfer. Under the strong pressure of the Soviet Union, China's foreign policy had to turn to the relaxation of relations with the United States. The United States, out of its strategic needs for the Soviet Union, also needed China's containment of the Soviet Union. The two sides immediately agreed, which also contributed to the visit of us President Nixon to China in 1972.
At that time, Vietnam and the United States were still at war. China's move made Vietnam very unhappy, which undoubtedly foreshadowed Vietnam's fall to the Soviet Union. By the way, Albania was extremely dissatisfied with the beginning of improving relations between China and the United States. As a result, huocha firmly criticized and opposed Mao's theory of three worlds in 1974, which was also later the case between Albania and the United States One of the important reasons for China's breakup is, of course, that China can't satisfy the lion's big mouth in Albania economically.
In 1975, because the South Vietnamese government supported by the United States did not suck up and the anti war sentiment in the United States rose, the United States had to sign an agreement with Vietnam to remove Vietnam. Then the Vietnamese Communist Party completely defeated South Vietnam and unified the whole country. After the reunification of Vietnam, China reduced its aid to Vietnam because of the extremely severe situation of its domestic economy, and hoped that Vietnam could be self reliant. This is not suitable for Vietnam, which is used to living on the aid of China and the Soviet Union. It also causes Vietnam's dissatisfaction, which is exactly the same as that of Albania!
The Soviet Union did not reduce its aid to Vietnam, but increased its strength. In addition, in order to contain China, the Soviet Union also increased closer military cooperation with Vietnam, renting Vietnam's Jinlan Bay, and Vietnam's balance began to obviously incline to the Soviet Union. Vietnam has gained tens of billions of US dollars after defeating the United States. The weapons and other military equipment and materials left by the United States to South Vietnam also make Vietnam more and more arrogant. This also made China extremely unhappy and felt a lot of pressure.
Later, the Khmer Rouge in Pol Pot, Cambodia, seized power and carried out an extremely cruel policy, slaughtering its own citizens on a large scale. During the three years in power, more than 2 million people died abnormally, accounting for almost one third of the national population. Among them, nearly all of the 20000 Vietnamese in Cambodia were killed, 430000 Chinese died, 215000 died, 10000 Laotians died, and 20000 Thai 8000 people of ethnic Chinese died, 250000 Islamists died, 90000.
We once publicized that Vietnam invaded Cambodia in order to dominate Southeast Asia. This is not true. The reason why Vietnam sent troops to Cambodia is very simple. The real reason is that the Khmer Rouge massacred 20000 Vietnamese people. This has aroused the great anger of Vietnam. On December 25, 1978, Vietnam launched a Blitzkrieg war against Cambodia. Thanks to the support of the Cambodian people, the Vietnamese army occupied the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, on January 7, 1979, and completely defeated the Khmer Rouge. Since then, January 7 has become the most important national day of Cambodia, to thank Vietnam for the invasion and end Pol Pot tyranny!
At that time, Khmer Rouge was China's ally and the most friendly country. Although 210000 Chinese were slaughtered, there was no response. One month after Vietnam occupied Cambodia, China launched a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam on February 17, 1979. There is no doubt that Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia is an important direct cause of China's self-defense counterattack against Vietnam. The aim is, of course, to punish Vietnam's betrayal to China by the Soviet Union and to save the Khmer Rouge regime.
In the first few days of the war, there were thousands of casualties every day. This was due to the fact that the Cultural Revolution had just ended, and the military construction and combat effectiveness were also greatly affected. Even though Vietnam's weapons and equipment were not as good as those of Vietnam, which had just finished the war with the United States, Vietnam was obviously better than the PLA in terms of war experience, although the main forces of Vietnam were still in Cambodia. China is also reluctant to love war. Coupled with the frequent actions of the Soviet Union on the northern border, the PLA announced its withdrawal after the capture of Liangshan, ending a month long self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.