When Chen Geng returned to the motherland, the Vietnamese asked: How many generals like him are there in China? In 1950, the Vietnamese People's Army (VPA) struggled under the weight of the French colonizers. At this time, Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh specially invited Chen Geng, a senior general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, to take command.
Two old friends who met at the Whampoa Military Academy reunited decades later in this exotic mountain forest to fight together for the liberation of Vietnam. In the face of the French army's strong stronghold in Gaoping, Chen Geng did not panic in the face of danger, strategized, carefully deployed the battle plan, and lost no time in opening up the Sino-Vietnamese border communication line. Let's take a look at this extraordinary historical picture scroll and see how General Chen Geng commanded back then!
In January 1950, Chen Geng led the PLA troops to Guangxi, and soon Ho Chi Minh traveled thousands of miles from Vietnam to meet him. These two old friends, who have known each other since their youth, one is now a senior general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and the other has become the leader of the Vietnamese party and state.
Vietnam's anti-French struggle at that time entered the most difficult period. Except for the two base areas in the central part and a few strongholds in the south, the main forces were concentrated in the mountainous areas of northern Vietnam. With more than 100,000 troops and cadres, plus millions of ordinary people, life is undoubtedly very difficult. New China had just been born and was in a state of ruin, the war of liberation had not yet ended, and its finances were strained. But Chairman Mao decisively decided to aid Vietnam and let Chen Geng personally go to command the operation.
After careful consideration, Chen Geng proposed a tactical method of "besieging the city and sending reinforcements" in view of the deployment of the French army: "If we do not attack Gaoping, first cut off the middle section of the enemy's defense line on Highway No. 4, lure the enemy to reinforcements, and then concentrate our superior forces to annihilate them." Ho Chi Minh and Vietnamese generals were critical of this idea, questioning why they could not attack Cao Binh directly and take this key stronghold in one fell swoop. They understood that Chen Geng was a well-known general who had been scheming for a long time, but it was difficult to change his thinking about long-term guerrilla warfare, and this new tactic was really incomprehensible.
Chen Geng personally explained to everyone: "Gaoping is only one of the goals, the focus is to destroy the enemy's living forces and open up the lines of communication. Just by capturing Gao Ping, the enemy will retake it. First of all, cut off the enemy's defense line, lure the enemy to come to help, and then our regular army will encircle and annihilate, so as to completely defeat the enemy army. The Vietnamese side was relieved.
As a result, the campaign decided to target Dongxi. Dong Xi is located 40 kilometers south of Cao Ping and 20 kilometers north of Lang Son, and is known as the "waist" of the enemy's No. 4 defense line. The defenders only have more than 300 people, and capturing it can cut off the connection with the Gao Lang section, attract the enemy to reinforcements, and then set up an ambush to reinforce it.
Day and night, Chen Geng repeatedly discussed with the commanders of the Vietnamese army and determined the battle plan. He demanded four principles: not to fight a war of indeceasement, to fight a war of annihilation, not to fight a rout, to concentrate superiority to attack a weak enemy first and then a strong enemy, to besiege the city and send reinforcements, and to persist in mobile warfare to annihilate the enemy.
In the end, Chen Geng was very satisfied with this plan: "Destroying the enemy's vital forces and opening up the Sino-Vietnamese communication line is the ultimate goal." When the operational meeting was conveyed, some officers and men participating in the battle were still puzzled, so Chen Geng simply went to the meeting site to solve his doubts for four hours.
On the 23rd, the Vietnamese combat troops received the task assigned by Chen Geng: the local armed forces besieged Gao Ping, and the regular army attacked Dongxi. When everything is ready, the battle begins... Half a month later, Chen Geng's carefully deployed tactic of "besieging the city and sending reinforcements" finally succeeded, annihilating the three battalions of the defending enemy and liberating Dongxi. Since then, the enemies of Gaoping have been isolated from the outside world, and they have no time to take care of anything else.
Although decades have passed, that scene is still vivid: the French Army's Land Rover armored vehicles and troop carriers assembled at Dongxi and vowed to fight to the death with the Vietnamese army. Under Chen Geng's personal command, the main force of the Vietnamese army ambushed on the spot, and the artillery fire rained down, and in less than three hours, the enemy repulsed a reinforcement. Chen Geng immediately made a decision and instructed the Vietnamese army to continue to chase and fight... In this way, within a few days, all three enemy reinforcements were completely annihilated.
After the fierce battle, when the Vietnamese army liberated Dongxi County, the common people surrounded them and shouted "Long live victory". Chen Geng looked at the embarrassed French army in the smoke of artillery fire, and looked proud. He said to his comrades-in-arms: "Although the battlefield in Vietnam is difficult, as long as we implement the correct policy and fight bravely, we will definitely be able to defeat the strong enemy!"
The leaders of the Communist Party of Vietnam are also proud of Tran Geng, an old friend. Ho Chi Minh said: "General Tran, as in those years, is a good commander and strategist, and he is indeed a good master for us in future battles."
This glorious battle won Chen Geng's reputation and injected more confidence into Vietnam's anti-French struggle. It can be said that this veteran general of guerrilla warfare was astonishingly astonishing, wise and martial, and in the midst of strategizing, he turned defeat into victory and achieved this landmark battle. Chen Geng's lessons and lessons are of very important guiding significance for the Vietnamese People's Army in the future War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Just like the bold saying of those years: "Although the battlefield in Vietnam is difficult, as long as we adhere to the correct policy and fight bravely, we will definitely be able to defeat a strong enemy!" Although the road of the Anti-Japanese War is difficult and tortuous, as long as you adhere to justice and persevere, you will eventually defeat all strong enemies #Headline Starter Competition#