Hanoi (VNA) – On February17, 1979, China launched a large-scale attack on Vietnam’s territory along allthe northern border line shared by the two countries from Phong Tho (Lai Chauprovince) to Mong Cai (Quang Ninh province).   

 Exercising their legitimate right to defence,Vietnam’s army and people fought back with great fortitude.

Suffering heavy losses withoutachieving the initial goal of the attack while being condemned by the world opinion,China withdrew all its military forces from Vietnam on March 18 that year.

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Vietnam’s war to defend its northern border, Dr Tran Huu Huy,member of the Vietnam Association of Historical Sciences, analysed the victoryand historic lessons drawn from the war.

*An unjust war on the side of China

China is a neighbour of Vietnam.People of the two countries supported and helped each other during theirrespective revolutionary causes. But after Vietnam won the anti-US resistancewar for national liberation in 1975, bilateral ties gradually degraded. Inearly 1979, when the Vietnam People’s Army defeated the reactionary Pol Pot gangand rescued the Cambodian nation from genocide, China and some other countriestried to distort the presence of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers in Cambodia, withthe aim of undermining Vietnam’s revolution and backing reactionary forces,thus imposing their own interests in the Indochinese peninsula.

The international circumstancesat the time also saw complicated developments, with contradictions between theSoviet Union and China intensifying while China-US ties improved and bothcountries considered the Soviet Union their Number One enemy.

Following a series of smallscale military provocations, on February 17, 1979, China mobilized 600,000troopes, more than 500 tanks and armoured vehicles along with thousands ofartillery weapons to launch an attack on Vietnam’s territory along the entireborder line shared by the two countries.

China had several aims behind theassault. First, it wanted to force Vietnam to pull its voluntary troops out of Cambodia,thus giving some room for the Pol Pot army to recover and keep their remainingbases to continue fighting the newly-established revolutionary administrationin Cambodia.

Second, it hoped to win supportfrom some powers hostile to Vietnam, including the US, for its scheme of “four modernization”.

Third, China intended to damageVietnam’s economic and defence strength, incite disturbance in Vietnam and lowerVietnam’s military and political prestige in the international arena.  

Fourth, China wanted to show offits strength to countries in the Southeast Asian region, while sounding out thereaction of the Soviet Union and the world opinion in preparing for latermilitary manoeuvres.

*Vietnam’s legitimate right todefence

Immediately after the victory ofthe anti-US resistance war for national liberation in 1975, many high-leveldelegations of Vietnam, including General Secretary of the Communist Party ofVietnam Central Committee Le Duan, visited China and affirmed that Vietnamalways bears in mind with deep gratitude the great support and help that China’sParty, State and people had given to Vietnam during the two resistance wars fornational liberation. The Vietnamese delegations also reiterated the importancethat Vietnam attaches to the friendly neighbourliness and cooperation with China.

 At the end of 1978 and in early 1979, amidsttension in bilateral ties and continuous small military conflicts along the border,Vietnam persistently appealed to China to hold negotiations to address disputesand contradictions in a peaceful manner on the basis of equality and respectfor each other’s independence and national sovereignty and integrity. Despite Vietnam’sgood will, China pursued an anti-Vietnam policy, cut all committed aid and putout unreasonable demands in negotiations. At the same time, it continued to spreadslanderous propaganda against Vietnam and declared that it wanted to teachVietnam a lesson.

Forecast the possibility of awar, at the end of 1978, Vietnam shored up its defence forces along thenorthern border. When China started the full-scale attack, the VietnameseGovernment issued a statement the same day, declaring that the Chinese authoritiesare acting against the people’s interest, seriously damaging the solidarity andfriendship between the two countries. The statement stressed that Vietnam hadno other choice than to exercise its just right to defence.

In the first days of the war,Vietnam did not use the strategic reserve force for fighting, neither did it mobilisethe mobile main force from the south. Instead, the country mobilized thecombined strength of the local militia forces and on-the-spot forces of MilitaryRegions 1 and 2, along with some units from the rear.

Ten days into the war, the armedforces of Military Regions 1 and 2 and militia in northern border localities foughtbravely, thus foiling China’s intention of “quick attack, quick occupation” andforcing China to use its strategic reserve force.

With the advantages of largenumber of troops equipped with many weapons, Chinese forces advanced deeplyinto Vietnam’s territories and occupied several key townships such as Lao Caitown (on February 19), Cao Bang (February 24), Cam Duong (February 25) and LangSon (March 5).

In such an urgent situation,Vietnam decided to use its key army corps and got ready to open large-scalecounter-attacks. In early March 1979, the Central Military Commission and theDefence Ministry order the Army Corp No 2, which was performing its internationalmission in Cambodia, to move all its units to the northern region, and issued adecision dated March 2, 1979 on establishing Army Corp No 5 right at the borderbattlefield. Key units of Army Corp No 1, the Air and Air Defence Force andother technical arms were order to get prepared to join battle.  

On March 4, 1979, the NationalAssembly Standing Committee issued a decision on a general mobilization todefend the country.

Suffering from heavy losseswhile failing to achieve the basic set targets, and at the same time beingcondemned by world opinion, China declared the withdrawal of troops fromVietnam on March 5, 1979.

To show good will and the wishto restore the friendly ties between the two countries, the Party andGovernment of Vietnam ordered the armed forces and people in the northernborder region to stop their counter-attack campaigns to allow Chinese troops towithdraw. As of March 18, 1979, China completed the pull-out from Vietnam.

*Historical lessons from thevictory

The northern border defence wartook place in just a little more than one month (from February 17 to March 18,1979) but it has significant meanings.

Vietnam’s military and people putout of combat 62,500 Chinese troops, destroyed 550 military vehicles including280 tanks and armoured vehicles, and demolished 115 artillery pieces, forcingthe enemy army to withdraw early, thus defeating the intention of the Chineseauthorities to impose their interests on the Indochinese peninsula.

 The fight once more reiterated the firm willand strength of the Vietnamese people in overcoming all hardships and challengesto safeguard the country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. 

The northern border defence warcontributed to proving the sound political and military policies, and the sharpand skillful strategic leadership of the Party’s Politburo and the CentralMilitary Commission.

 During the war, the Party Central Committeeand Government of Vietnam always asserted the country’s legitimate right todefence and the resolve to fight any attacks on Vietnam’s sovereignty, while demonstratingmagnanimity, the aspiration for peace and the wish to end conflict to buildgood relations between the Vietnamese and Chinese nations, thus contributing topreserving a peaceful and stable environment in the region and world as awhole.

Vietnam also suffered from heavylosses during the war, with more than 30,000 military members killed andinjured, and tens of thousands of civilians losing their lives. The four townsof Cao Bang, Lang Son, Cam Duong and Lao Cai were almost flattened out. A totalof 320 communes, 735 schools, 41 State farms, 81 factories and mines and 38forestry farms were destroyed. About half of the 3.5-million population in thesix northern border provinces lost their homes, assets and means of livingduring the war.

According to Dr. Tran Huy Huy, variouslessons can be drawn out from the northern border defence war in 1979, one ofwhich is to keeping up vigilance while following the guideline of independenceand self-reliance. The war also taught Vietnam to build strong defence regions andcombine traditional military techniques with modern warfare, as well as thehumanistic ideology of the country’s ancestors and the revolutionary heroism inthe Ho Chi Minh era.-VNA