The military power of the "third military power in the world" in 1979
In 1979, the Vietnamese army proclaimed itself "the third military power in the world." Its army has a long history, dating back to the anti-Japanese period of guerrillas in various regions. On December 22, 1944, Vu Yuanjia established the "Viet Nam Liberation Army Propaganda Team" in Yuanping County, Cao Bang Province, with only 34 people and 20 guns, and Vu Yuanjia as the captain, which became the founding day of the Viet Nam People's Army. In April 1945, the Viet Cong unified and merged the domestic armed organizations into the Viet Nam Liberation Army, setting off an upsurge of anti-Japanese resistance and national salvation. After the surrender of Japan, the Viet Nam Liberation Army was renamed the Patriotic Army, with a total strength of about 50,000 troops. After France returned to Indochina, it launched an attack, and the Viet Cong reorganized the Patriotic Army into a national army to fight the colonizers. After August 1949, the Vietnamese army began to form divisional combat units.
With China's strong assistance, Viet Nam's armed forces have developed rapidly. From 1950 to 1954, China not only provided a large amount of military supplies, but also helped Viet Nam reorganize its army, train officers, and send military advisory groups to assist in the war. By the end of the War of Resistance Against France, the Vietnamese army had grown into 12 divisions, 11 independent regiments, 2 engineer regiments and 4 artillery regiments, as well as a variety of arms with a total strength of 330,000 troops. After the end of the Anti-French War, Viet Nam was divided between the north and the south and entered the stage of the War of Resistance against the United States. The Soviet Union also provided military assistance to North Vietnam after the mid-1960s, and the Vietnamese army formed the navy, the anti-chemical warfare corps and other services, and formed a combat unit at the corps level.
At the end of the War of Resistance Against the United States, North Vietnam unified South Vietnam, seized tens of billions of dollars worth of American-style equipment, and by 1979, the total strength of the Vietnamese army exceeded 1 million, including the army, navy, air force, air defense force, local forces, and public security forces.
The Viet Nam Army has 4 corps, 28 infantry divisions, 1 island garrison division, 29 independent infantry regiments, 20 armored brigades (regiments), and 19 artillery brigades (regiments), with a total strength of more than 400,000 troops. It is equipped with more than 2,200 artillery pieces of 85 mm caliber and about 2,000 tanks and armored vehicles. There are also 22 defense economic divisions with more than 200,000 troops, which can be converted into combat divisions if necessary. In addition, there are about 150,000 local troops and public security forces of the Vietnamese army, and about 100,000 people in military institutions and academies.
Local units are responsible for operational tasks in their own regions, and the provinces and counties have military departments, independent regiments and public security regiments under the jurisdiction of the provinces, independent battalions and public security battalions under the jurisdiction of the counties, militia battalions and public security cantonments in the townships, and detachments of various arms of the armed forces, which are under the unified command of the military regions.
The Vietnamese army's secret service unit is an elite branch of the army, under the direct command of the General Staff, with the highest formation level of regiment and about 1,200 troops. They often act independently in squads and groups, infiltrating the enemy's forces in depth and attacking important targets. During the Battle of 1979 and the Battle of the Two Mountains, he often attacked the logistics units and lone personnel of the Chinese army, blended into the rear of the Chinese front to attack and sabotage, and used cruel methods.
The armed public security force was established in 1959 under the leadership of Viet Nam's Ministry of the Interior (transferred to the Ministry of National Defense after the war in 1979 and reorganized into the border defense force), with a strength of about 70,000 troops, responsible for managing social security and border and coastal defense, and responsible for security, supervision and inspection of senior party, government and military cadres.
In addition, Viet Nam has a large civilian army as the basic force of "national defense". The people's armed forces are composed of men and women of a certain age group as the backbone, organized into different formations according to regions, well-equipped, tightly organized, and practiced joint defense at the village and group levels, and its combat effectiveness should not be underestimated.
In addition, the Viet Nam Navy has 1 fleet, 1 gunboat brigade, 1 marine brigade and 10 combat and service regiments, with about 30,000 troops, more than 200 ships of various types, and a displacement of more than 40,000 tons. The Air Force has about 40,000 troops, organized into three aviation divisions and 15 regiments, and has more than 500 aircraft of various types, including more than 260 combat aircraft. The Air Defense Force has about 50,000 troops, five air defense divisions and two radar divisions, equipped with more than 2,100 antiaircraft guns of various types, and more than 1,000 SAM II and III anti-aircraft missiles.
Viet Nam's military strategy and regional situation in 1979
In 1979, with the support of the Soviet Union, Viet Nam pursued a military strategic policy of "attacking the south and defending the north." This strategy has led Viet Nam to invest heavily in the military, which accounts for more than half of the country's fiscal revenue.
Under the guidance of the strategy of "attacking the south and defending the north", Viet Nam launched military operations on both the north and south fronts, and was at war with many countries. On the southern front, Viet Nam launched a large-scale military invasion of Cambodia in an attempt to achieve its ambitions for regional hegemony. Relying on its relatively strong military strength, the Vietnamese army quickly occupied a large area of Cambodia's territory, bringing heavy disasters to the Cambodian people. Cambodia's cities and villages have suffered severe damage, with countless people displaced and lives and property at great risk.
On the northern front, Viet Nam has continuously provoked China, violated China's border areas, and caused many bloody incidents. When China could not bear it anymore, it launched a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam. Although the Vietnamese army built a large number of fortifications in the border area and deployed a large number of troops, its defense line was quickly broken through under the heroic counterattack of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The Chinese army penetrated deep into Viet Nam in a short period of time and dealt a heavy blow to the Vietnamese army.
In addition to wars with Cambodia and China, Viet Nam also has military conflicts with countries such as Thailand. For 10 years, the Indochinese Peninsula was mired in constant warfare. Viet Nam's military operations not only brought huge damage and losses to neighboring countries, but also put its own economic development in trouble. A large amount of human, material and financial resources were invested in the war, the construction of domestic infrastructure stagnated, and the living standards of the people fell sharply.
However, Viet Nam did not realize the serious consequences of its erroneous military strategy and, with the support of the Soviet Union, insisted on fighting the war on both the northern and southern fronts. Such actions have not only been widely condemned by the international community, but have also left Viet Nam isolated in the region. It was not until later, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, changes in the international situation and pressure on the domestic economy, that Viet Nam, which had lost foreign aid, gradually adjusted its military strategy and sought peace and development with neighboring countries.
In short, Viet Nam's military strategic policy of "attacking the south and defending the north" implemented in 1979 brought 10 years of war to the Indochinese Peninsula and caused great damage to regional peace and stability. This historical event also reminds us that peace and development are the main themes of today's world, and that any attempt to achieve hegemony and expansion through force will be defeated.