On October 8, 1981, a report in the People's Daily that "dissatisfied with the dark rule of the Le Son clique, Vietnamese pilots flew to China" attracted worldwide attention.
After all, pilots are too precious for a country, especially for a third world country like Vietnam.
Moreover, the "escape" operation was led by 27-year-old Vietnam Air Force Captain Qiao Qinglu and jointly organized by nine other air force mechanics and engineers.
The 27-year-old Air Force captain has a bright future, why did he abandon Vietnam and throw himself into the middle? How did this surrender operation proceed? How did the next few people end up?
Escape the plan
Qiao Qinglu was a pilot in the Vietnamese Air Force, but he always wanted to escape Vietnam.
The capital spent training a pilot is too high, and the Vietnamese government has imposed strict controls on the aircraft to prevent them from escaping.
After the end of the flight mission, the pilot needs to leave immediately, and no one is allowed to approach the aircraft without permission when there is no mission.
To make matters worse, the Vietnamese government has centralized the custody of the magnetic compass and starting battery on the aircraft. If there is a task that needs to be installed, it will be dismantled when the task is over.
Under this harsh policy, Qiao Qinglu wanted to escape from Vietnam.
He also realized that he would not be able to do it on his own, and he had to find a way to pull a few more reliable people to work with.
This person is really not easy to find, not only to have a way to get the magnetic compass and the starting battery, but also to understand the structure of the aircraft, after getting these two devices can be accurately loaded on the aircraft.
The most important point is to be reliable, in case the plan is exposed, it will not implicate others.
After some screening, Qiao Qinglu targeted several engineers and mechanics in the Air Force.
Know enough about airplanes, can assemble devices, and many people who know them may be able to get magnetic compasses and start batteries. The most important thing is that people are reliable enough.
Qiao Qinglu's first target was Warrant Officer of the Air Force, Huang Chuntuan, a mechanic of the ground crew. He was also a good friend he had been friends for many years.
In the process of interacting with Huang Chuntuan, although there was no clear explanation, Qiao Qinglu vaguely felt his friend's dissatisfaction with the Vietnamese authorities.
Qiao Qinglu simply confessed his thoughts, and Huang Chuntuan was very excited when he learned about it, and it turned out that the two were not only dissatisfied with the authorities, but even had the idea of fleeing Vietnam.
So, the two hit it off and began to plan how to get the magnetic compass and the starting battery, without these two things, they could not run even if they wanted to.
In Vietnam, these two necessities are difficult to obtain through legal and formal means, but after many inquiries, some people have sold these parts privately.
At that time, shortly after the end of the Vietnam War, the hastily withdrawn US troops left a lot of supplies, and many people made a living by dismantling and selling the equipment left by the Americans.
However, because the magnetic compass and the starting battery are too rare, the price is a bit expensive, and the savings of Qiao Qinglu and Huang Chuntuan cannot be bought together.
Just when the two of them were worried about money, Qiao Qinglu found a second partner who wanted to escape from Vietnam.
This person's name is Yang Wenli, a construction engineer, the family is relatively rich, has almost 50 years old but wants to leave Vietnam.
Only because he was a soldier in South Vietnam when he was young and was later forced to work as a technical adviser to the Americans, after the collapse of the South Vietnamese government, the North Vietnamese government naturally could not let him go.
In the name of treason, he was arrested to work as a coolie, in his name: transformation.
Qiao Qinglu, Huang Chuntuan and Li Yushan took a group photo
Later, Yang Wenli was released with difficulty, his body collapsed and his heart was cold, and he did not want to continue to stay in this country.
In 1977, Yang Wenli, together with his former South Vietnamese comrades-in-arms, wanted to hijack the plane and go to Thailand. Unfortunately, the plan was exposed before it was implemented, and Yang Wenli was arrested and imprisoned for 4 years.
After his release from prison, Yang Wenli still did not give up the idea of leaving Vietnam, and by chance, he learned of Qiao Qinglu's plan and immediately said that he could provide the funds needed for the plan.
The three of them hit it off and began the detailed planning in full swing.
After some twists and turns, I bought an old battery for VND 7,000, and then I bought a magnetic compass by the same means.
Now everything is ready only to owe the East Wind.
The three of them began to make a more detailed plan, but they did not expect a seemingly simple problem, but it was difficult for the three people.
That is: "Which country are they going to?" ”
Where to escape?
As the eldest elder, Yang Wenli also had experience in fleeing Vietnam, and his first suggestion was: "I think we flew from Cambodia to Thailand after grabbing a plane directly at Johor Bahru Airport." ”
However, As a Vietnamese officer, Qiao Qinglu felt that this proposal was not too good: "No, now Vietnam and Cambodia are at war, the main forces are on the border, we can fly over and it is easy to be set on fire, it is too dangerous." ”
"How about flying from Johor Bahru Airport to Hong Kong?" Yang Wenli put forward his own opinion again.
Hong Kong is indeed a good choice, but unfortunately it is too far from Vietnam, and it is ok to fly smoothly with a plane.
But if they want to escape, there will definitely be pursuing soldiers at that time, and they must maintain a state of full speed, so that the fuel will not be enough to fly to Hong Kong.
So Hong Kong was also rejected.
After that, the three proposed other countries, but unfortunately either too far away, or experiencing war, or too backward, in short, they could not negotiate a unified result.
On September 17, 1981, as a pilot with more than 1,800 flight hours, Qiao Qinglu received orders that on the 28th he would fly Vietnam's only U.S.-made UH-1H helicopter at Bac Mui Airport in Hanoi to escort the high-level to patrol the Sino-Vietnamese border.
At this moment, Qiao Qinglu suddenly had an idea in his mind: "They can go to China!" ”
Qiao Qinglu's father, a veteran member of the Communist Party of Vietnam and a loyal follower of former Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh, once came to China and saw a stable Chinese society, a happy Chinese people, and a disciplined Chinese Communist Party, and had a very high evaluation of China.
Under the influence of his father, Qiao Qinglu had a natural liking for China, was very eager for China, and learned a lot of Chinese with his father.
In addition, Vietnam's former vice chairman, Huang Wenhuan, is also in China, and they can also contact Huang Wenhuan for help.
Hoang Van Huan is also a champion of Vietnam's former president, Ho Chi Minh, who regards China as a good friend. However, after Ho Chi Minh's death, Li Sung came to power, and the anti-China Li Sun began to find ways to engage Huang Wenhuan.
Huang Wenhuan was so distressed that he was forced to leave Vietnam in 1979 and move to China.
On the same day, Qiao Qinglu immediately contacted two accomplices to discuss in Ho Chi Minh City.
Qiao Qinglu told the other two partners what he thought: "Let's go to China, my father told me when I was a child, Chinese is a good friend." ”
In addition, Baimei Airport is close to China, fuel is also enough, and Huang Wenhuan's help.
So, they finally decided: just go to China!
Abandon the dark and cast the light
When formulating the final plan, Qiao Qinglu proposed: It is best to have an internal response in Baimei Airport.
It just so happened that Huang Chun Tuan knew The Air Force mechanic Li Yushan, who was currently working at Bai Mei Airport and was also a person with lofty ideals who wanted to escape from Vietnam.
After some exchanges, Lê Đại chose to join them and plan to flee Vietnam together.
On the morning of September 28, Qiao Qinglu flew a helicopter to Baimei Airport on time.
At this time, the escapee had basically been determined to be 10 people, Qiao Qinglu, Huang Chuntuan, Yang Wenli, Li Yushan and their families.
According to the plan, 10 people were divided into three groups, the first group was Qiao Qinglu and Huang Chuntuan, responsible for flying the plane;
The second group, Li Yushan and Yang Wenli, was responsible for taking the magnetic compass and battery to the repair shop at the airport and installing parts;
The third group is the remaining 6 people, responsible for the helicopter flying at the Dragon Bridge.
At two o'clock in the morning of September 30, Qiao Qinglu and his party prepared for action according to the plan.
Qiao Qinglu and Huang Chuntuan followed the route surveyed in advance and approached the tarmac unimpeded.
Li Yushan and Yang Wenli immediately rushed to the helicopter, installed the magnetic compass and started the battery.
At 5:07 a.m., the helicopter took off, and three minutes later, it successfully arrived near the Dragon Bridge, picked up the remaining 6 people and flew north smoothly.
An hour after the plane took off, Baimei Airport discovered that someone had defected in a helicopter and immediately sent several MiG-21 fighters to intercept it.
MiG-21
The MiG-21 is a Soviet-developed fighter, the main performance is high altitude and high speed, especially light, firepower is also strong, Vietnam sent these aircraft for the purpose is obvious, do not want to defect the group of people alive to come back alive.
Qiao Qinglu is flying a U.S.-made UH-1H helicopter, the height can not be compared with the MiG-21, but the speed is faster than it.
In the face of the enemy's pursuit, even the experienced Qiao Qinglu was nervous and sweaty, but he knew that if he did not succeed, he would become a ren.
In order to get rid of his opponents, Qiao Qinglu constantly adjusted the flight altitude, at least 5 meters above the ground, and tried his best to get closer to the ravine.
It was difficult for the Vietnamese fighters to exert their fists and feet in the mountains, and they could only watch as Qiao Qinglu continued to approach China, but there was nothing they could do.
In this way, after more than two hours and nearly 130 kilometers of flight, Qiao Qinglu and his party successfully evaded the encirclement and interception of the Vietnamese army and successfully entered the territory of China.
At 8:57 a.m. local time in China, the UH-1H machine fell into a large pit in a sweet potato field in Daxin County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
He was granted asylum in China
The movement of the plane's landing was very large, which directly alarmed the border guards.
Qiao Qinglu and his party immediately got off the plane, all raised their hands, and looked at a group of Chinese soldiers pointing machine guns at them, and Qiao Qinglu immediately shouted with Chinese: "We are Vietnamese, we have come to defect to China!" ”
The border guards took control of them and took them to the county seat of Yongxin.
After Huang Wenhuan received the news, he implored the People's Liberation Army not to move first, because these people should have abandoned the secret and surrendered to the light and come to China.
After preliminary negotiations, it was basically determined that this group of people did not belong to the Li Sun Group and had come to defect to China.
Lee Sun
On October 8, 1981, the People's Daily published a report directly under the headline "Dissatisfied with the dark rule of the Le Son clique, Vietnamese pilots flew to China."
The report said:
Vietnamese Air Force second lieutenant pilot Qiao Qinglu and Vietnamese Air Force warrant officer and air mechanic Hoang Xuan Tuan, dissatisfied with the dark rule of the Le Thanh group, fled Vietnam in a Vietnamese military helicopter to the mainland. The UH-1H helicopter, piloted by Qiao Qinglu, landed on September 30 in the border area of Guangxi on the mainland.
Also coming to China are construction engineer Yang Wenli and others. They said they had fled Vietnam to China to oppose the dark rule of the Le Son reactionary clique. They told our border guards and people that after the LiSun clique seized power, it practiced a policy of aggression and expansion abroad and carried out cruel rule at home, and the people's lives were very poor and there was no way out. In pursuit of freedom and happiness, they resolved to take this action. ”
The report attracted widespread attention around the world, and at this time Vietnam also received the news, and the government's top level sent a fire but could not do anything.
Therefore, the angry vietnam directly claimed to the outside world that these 10 people were Vietnam's extraordinarily large murderers, who absconded to China in fear of crime, and demanded that China repatriate these "murderers."
Not only did the Chinese government not believe Vietnam's lies, but it also directly held a press conference to help several people clarify and let them say the reasons for defecting to Vietnam on the spot.
On the afternoon of October 16, a press conference was held, and Qiao Qinglu and his party tearfully accused the LiSun Group.
The encounter with Air Force Captain Qiao Qinglu has also received widespread attention from everyone.
Cho Thanh Lu entered the Vietnamese army in 1969 and fought in the Civil War under the slogan "Drive out US imperialism and welcome liberation".
After the reunification of Vietnam in 1975, the long-awaited peace of Cho Thanh Lu did not come, as Lê Duần began to implement the "Federation of Indochina" plan with the support of the Soviet Union.
It intends to turn Laos into a "satellite country", send 200,000 troops to invade Cambodia, wantonly provoke China in a vain attempt to provoke war, and so on.
In addition to maliciously provoking war, Li Sun's policy toward China was also unacceptable to Qiao Qinglu.
Influenced by his father, Qiao Qinglu believes that China is a good friend, and China's materials and facilities to support Vietnam have improved the quality of life of the Vietnamese people.
However, the Le Son clique instigated Vietnamese residents to oppose China, and all the pro-Chinese government personnel were ostracized and persecuted, and Qiao Qinglu's father was one of the victims.
Qiao Qinglu often consoled himself that these were all temporary, and everything would be fine. But this is nothing more than a self-deceptive idea.
When performing border patrol tasks, Qiao Qinglu can often see soldiers oppressing the local people, in his heart, the army is to protect the country and protect the safety of the people, why should he aim his fist at his own people?
So Qiao Qinglu had the idea of leaving Vietnam.
After coming to China, qiao Qing, in order to show his sincerity, provided the core data such as the manual, procedures and characteristics of the UH-1H helicopter at the first time.
The UH-1H helicopter also made a great contribution to the mainland's national defense cause, and was sent to nanjing university of aeronautics and astronautics to treasure.
Because Yang Wenli was old and missed his relatives very much, he went to France to reunite with his relatives.
Qiao Qinglu was assigned to work as a professor at a university because of his excellent driving skills, and has since settled in China.
The other eight were also properly arranged to be permanently resident in China.