As an important passage to Lang Son, Dong Deng Town has a self-evident geographical location. However, the interior of the town of Tongdeng was not only heavily guarded, but also the stubborn fortification "French Battery".
In order to completely take this Guitun Fort, the 489th Regiment of the 163rd Division of the 55th Army successively attacked the important gateway of the French fort - No. 5 Heights. Directly broke the myth of the defense of the Vietnamese army. Even the Vietnamese soldiers had to retract their previous arrogant words.
1. Siege No. 5 Highlands
At around 7 o'clock on February 17, 1979, shortly after the start of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, the 163rd Division of the 55th Army of the Army in the Dong Deng area quickly received an order and began to attack the important gate of Dong Deng.
As an important gateway to Vietnam, Dong Deng is naturally heavily guarded by the Vietnamese army. In particular, the French fort, which is the core position of Dong Deng, is a strong fortress left over from the French invasion of Vietnam, which not only connects Dong Deng Railway Station, but also relies on multiple positions.
In order to completely take Tongdeng, the first thing for the 489th Regiment is to conquer this strong fortress. However, after reconnaissance, it was found that the No. 5 highland, which is connected to the southwest of the French battery, not only has a very peculiar terrain, like the nose bridge of a lion, but also has a height of less than 200 meters, showing a steep terrain in the north and a steep slope in the south.
For the 489th Regiment, such terrain conditions made it easy to expose the target, and it was not easy for the infantry to attack, and it was difficult to approach the No. 5 heights. It can be said that it is an easy place to defend and difficult to attack. Only by defeating Heights 5 can the door to the French batteries be opened, and at the same time, the Vietnamese army's defense of Dong Dang will be completely defeated.
It is reported that the 12th Regiment of the "Flying Tiger Regiment" of the Vietnamese army is stationed here, with about 1,000 troops (some say more than 1,200 people). Therefore, the Vietnamese army has also put a lot of effort into this.
At the top of Heights No. 5, the Vietnamese army built a large number of trenches, each of which was connected to the left and right, and each tunnel was not only deep and wide, but also extremely difficult to cross, and had to pass through the edge to be able to pass with certainty. In addition, in terms of firepower arrangement, the Vietnamese army blocked from top to bottom and inside and outside, forming a cross-fire network, and the firepower was fierce and close.
In this situation, it was by no means easy for the 163rd Division to successfully take the No. 5 heights, and it could only be knocked out and blown up one by one by the infantry with blasting canisters under the cover of tanks from the outside. As a result, the 163rd Regiment of the 489th Division received an order from its superiors to attack the No. 5 heights in three groups to suppress the enemy's firepower.
To this end, Zhang Hehe, deputy commander of the 9th Company, was ordered to serve as the commander of the assault death squad. After receiving the order, Zhang Canal ordered the second platoon commander to lead the first batch of death squads to rush to the No. 5 high ground first to contain the enemy at the front line to ensure the attack of the rear troops.
With the support of artillery fire in the rear, the Vietnamese troops on the No. 5 heights were suppressed by the fire and did not dare to take a step.
Immediately, the second batch of 13 warriors from the 6th class of the death squad also quickly followed, and under the leadership of the 6th squad leader Huang Jincheng, the whole class quickly attacked the front of the No. 5 position. However, the attack did not go well, and the enemy spotted the rear soldiers and was frantically strafed, which led to the halting of the advance.
At that time, the situation of the fifth squad of the first batch of death squads was not good, and the soldiers rushed to the No. 5 high ground single-handedly, and were blocked by the heavy machine guns of the Vietnamese army outside the forward position. Seeing this, Huang Jincheng immediately led the whole squad to rush to the enemy's front. At this time, a soldier who followed Huang Jincheng to charge was unfortunately shot, and Huang Jincheng immediately arranged for the rear ambulance team to rescue.
And he led the rest of the team to approach the forward position in a lying position. At this time, the enemy standing on the high ground continued to strafe our troops with machine guns, and the overwhelming bullets passed the surface of the soldiers' bodies. Finally, he was assigned to the fifth class of the first death squad shortly after.
Unfortunately, the death squad of the fifth squad of the sharp knife was almost all suffering tragic casualties.
At that time, the fourth squad of the third group of death squads was also ready and launched an attack from the right side of the No. 5 heights. He Baijin, the leader of the fourth squad, led 13 warriors to charge to the high ground while dodging the enemy's strafing fire, and the battle was at a stalemate for a while, and the situation was very critical.
At this moment, the first and third platoons of the main assault company attacked on all fronts, and the friendly 7th company also joined in the assist, until about 9 o'clock in the morning, the No. 5 high ground was fully broken through and taken in one fell swoop.
2. Capture of French batteries
The Vietnamese troops who held on to the No. 5 heights saw the heroic and fearless fighting spirit of the People's Liberation Army, and could not help but sigh:
"Who said that Tongdeng Ghost Tun is a fortress that the Chinese army cannot break, they are too powerful!"
It was not easy to conquer the No. 5 heights, it can be said to be a tragic bloody battle, and it was also a tough battle for our army to break the defensive myth of the Vietnamese army's "Ghost Fort".
In the capture of No. 5 Heights, the three groups of death squads also paid a heavy price, of which only one of the 14 warriors in the fifth class was intact, while the sixth and fourth classes also suffered heavy casualties.
After occupying the No. 5 heights, our army quickly adjusted the direction of operations, and the 3rd Battalion and 7th Company of the 489th Regiment of the 163rd Division of the 55th Army, with the coordination of friendly neighbors, launched an attack on the Pingdingshan Guitun Fort located southwest of Tongdeng.
However, due to the unknown enemy situation, our troops failed to shake the enemy's pillbox in two attacks. Faced with this hard bone, the commander could only ponder deeply.
Just when they were at a loss, the arrival of a militia solved the urgent need for the 489th regiment. This veteran's name is He Guoan, and he was once captured by the French army to build a fort, so he knows the structure inside very well.
Hearing He Guoan's words, everyone couldn't help but be overjoyed and began to redeploy the battle plan. According to He Guoan's introduction, there are very strong fortifications inside the fort, and if you want to attack head-on, you will not be able to achieve effective results at all, and at the same time, you will be blocked by enemy fire.
He Guoan suggested that it is best to attack from the "skylight" of the fort, because this is like the "punching bag" of the fort, once this place is destroyed, then it is equivalent to blocking the exit of the Vietnamese soldiers, and when the time comes, the enemy will have only one exit to escape, and he will have to confront our army head-on.
It was not easy to find the "skylight", and after several encounters, most of the place was blocked by gravel and cement blocks, and He Guoan could only search for them one by one with the soldiers. In the end, with his memory, He Guoan finally found this dangerous position.
In order to completely destroy the French battery, the PLA prepared 2 tons of gasoline and 12 tons of explosives, connecting the various exits of the battery. Before launching the blast, the PLA repeatedly shouted to the Vietnamese army that as long as the other side surrendered, they would be able to spare their lives. However, the kindness of our army did not win the approval of the enemy. In desperation, in the end, our army could only announce the ignition of the explosion.
With the loud rumbling bang, the once formidable French fort disappeared in an instant. Almost all the Vietnamese troops were buried here. However, there was still one Vietnamese soldier who escaped from it, and when he was captured by our troops, he confessed that there were about 1,000 Vietnamese soldiers inside, and there were no survivors.
The collapse of the French fort also smoothly opened the passage to Lang Son. The capture of Tongdeng this time can be said to have quickly disintegrated the enemy's will, and also made a further step forward for our army's combat goals!