"Blue Sword-B" plan edit Lost in zh-Hans automatic translation contribute

Project Blue Sword-B (Chinese: “蓝剑-B”计划), was a surprise operation launched by the Chinese People's Liberation Army during the Battle of Liangshan to seize several strongholds garrisoned by the Vietnamese People's Army near Laoshan. Blue sword (Chinese: 蓝剑; pinyin: Lánjiàn), as its name implies, takes the homophonic sound of the first character in Lanzhou (Chinese: 兰州; pinyin: Lánzhōu) representing the offensive was carried out by the Lanzhou Military Region.[1]

"Blue Sword-B" plan Part of the Battle of Two Mountains

People's Liberation Army commandos attack Highland 968 date October 14, 1986 Place

Songmaoling , Wenshan County, Yunnan Province , China

result The Chinese People's Liberation Army wins and annihilates the stationed Vietnamese army Warring parties

China
Vietnam

Commanders and Leaders China Chang Wanquan ( Deputy Commander of the 139th Division ) ChinaMa Quanbin (injured) (Captain of the 1st Commando) ChinaQi Zhenwu † (Captain of the 2nd Commando) Vietnam General Wu Li (Commander of the 2nd Military Region) Colonel Vietnam Du Qingchi (Commander of the 313th Division) Participating units

Chinese People's Liberation Army Army

5th Company, 416th Infantry Regiment 56 artillery batteries Electronic Countermeasures Team Vietnam People's Army Army

1st Battalion, 122nd Regiment , 313th Division 313th Division Artillery Group 168th Artillery Brigade 457 Artillery Regiment 150 artillery regiment troops 207 people More than 500 people casualties and losses 22 people died and 56 people were injured 304 casualties Table of contents background

After the conclusion of the Laoshan Operation in 1984, the People's Republic of China decided to conduct defensive operations by assigning major military regions to take turns entering the Laoshan area near the frontline and conducting combat training. When the troops were considered ready for the combat, they would be transfered to the Malipo area in the front to proceed with combat operations.[1] Commencing on April 30, 1986, the Lanzhou Military Region began to assume control of the Yunnan Frontline Command and undertake the defense mission of Laoshan.[2]

Chinese Preparations

On April 30, 1986, troops from the Lanzhou Military Region entered the Laoshan frontline to assume control of the defense from the Jinan Military Region. Qian Shugen, commander of the 47th Group Army, identified Position 604 and Highland 968 as the main attack targets during the combat meeting. Highland 968 is an area that has frequently been contested by both sides and is sensitive to the Vietnamese army's overall defensive strategy. [2] Unlike the previous battles conducted by the Kunming Military Region , Nanjing Military Region and Jinan Military Region that only includes infantry and artillery, the Lanzhou Military Region also brought over the electronic countermeasures battalion directly under the military region. [《“蓝剑—B”计划通信对抗战例》3]

In order to improve the defense situation of the People's Liberation Army, the 47th Group Army Headquarters is determined to strengthen the 3rd platoon of the 6th company with the 5th company of the 416th regiment of the 139th division (the 5th special service company), the regiment reconnaissance platoon, the regiment engineer company ground explosive platoon, and the division ground explosive company 2nd platoon. The PLA was planning to employ border suppression and rapid tactics to capture positions 604 and 968 heights, and withdraw according to orders. The entire combat operation was set to be directed by Deputy Division Commander Chang Wanquan from the 416th Regiment Headquarters.

At the same time, the electronic countermeasures team deployed 5 ultra-short wave 100-watt jammers, 8 40-watt jammers, 12 S207 receivers, 1 monitoring panoramic receiver, 4 short-wave 1,600-watt jammers, and 2 400-watt jammers, 2 150-watt jammers, 3 bilateral band listening vehicles, and 1 IBM PC/XT microcomputer; 171 troops (including 52 cadres and 119 soldiers) were deployed to form 2 forward subgroups, 1 basic group and 1 rear group. They covertly occupied 11 positions including Bajiaoping, No. 10, and 1175.4 highlands in the direction of the east mountain of Bali River; Mahei, No. 52, No. 50, No. 49 positions, Cizhu Dam, Luoshui Cave, Anle, and Xia Lai Yuan in the direction of Laoshan. The personnel of the Group Army's Electronic Countermeasures Command (Military Region Electronic Countermeasures Working Group) respectively entered the Group Army Command Post, the Forward Command Post of the 139th Division, and the Interference Group Command Post. Before the war, PLA were tapping on 170 radio communication networks in the enemy's front[《“蓝剑—B”计划通信对抗战例》3]

Vietnamese Preparations

Within 12 kilometers of frontage and 10 kilometers of depth in Laoshan and Balihe Dongshan, the Vietnamese army deployed 2 infantry divisions, 1 artillery brigade, 3 artillery regiments and 1 special agent regiment. The 1st Battalion of the 122nd Regiment of the 313th Division of the Vietnamese Army was garrisoned at Position 604, Highland 968 and the Diamond Position (3 platoons undermanned). Before the war, the Vietnamese radio stations were operating normally [3] .

process

The operation was originally planned to start in the early morning of October 14th, to quickly capture the two highlands by sneak attacks to catch the enemy unawares. However, the war zone was covered in heavy fog in the early morning of that day, so the start of the battle had to be postponed until the fog dissipated. At noon, the clouds cleared and the fog dispersed, revealing the position. At this time, it was no longer possible to carry out a sneak attack. The headquarters decisively changed its determination, turned the sneak attack into a strong attack, and then issued an artillery preparation order [3].

At 4:30 on October 14, the commando team began attacking the starting position; at 5:59, the commando team entered Highland 603, occupied the attack starting position, and interspersed the team to the east side of Hill 993 to wait. At 12:59: The People's Liberation Army shelled highlands 305, 395, and 405 in the direction of the feint attack. One minute later, the infantry network of the 818th Regiment of the 314th Division of the Vietnamese Army rushed out. The electronic countermeasures troops of PLA in Mahei position carried out intermittent interference against it as planned. [3] .

At 13:03, the People's Liberation Army began direct fire preparations for targets in Position 604, Highland 968 and adjacent positions, destroying the Vietnamese defense facilities at Position 604 and Highland 968, as well as the Vietnamese military fortifications, firepower points and fortresses in the Highlands 1058 and 832 areas. PLA also shelled the artillery position, and conduct interception fire between position 604, the south and southeast side of the 968 highland, the communication trench, the 605 position, and the 832 highland to prevent the Vietnamese army from escaping. At the same time, the engineering team quickly moved forward under the cover of artillery fire, using rocket blasters to open passages through minefields and obstacles. During the preparation of firepower, the Vietnam People's Army radio stations suddenly went out in large numbers for emergency communication. In addition to leaving a set of 40-watt jammers to continue to contain and interfere with the 818th Regiment, the People's Liberation Army jamming group concentrated all jamming forces. According to the enemy's radio communication situation, PLA targeted the two Vietnamese artilley command units. The ultra-shortwave and shortwave networks (specialized) of the 313th Division firepower group, the observation posts of the battalions of the 168th Artillery Brigade, the 150th Artillery Regiment, the 457th Artillery Regiment and other units implemented strong suppressive interference.[3]

Attack the position

At 13:30, the People's Liberation Army's artillery fire shifted from damaging shooting to suppressing shooting, and the main force of the commando launched an attack in the direction of Position 604 and Highland 968. At the same time, electronic countermeasures jamming stations (groups) at Laoshan No. 52 and No. 49 positions continued to carry out suppressive interference against the enemy's 122nd Regiment Battalion and 1st Battalion Battalion command networks. At 13:36, the People's Liberation Army commandos captured the surface positions of Position 604 and began to search and dig holes. According to the records of the People's Liberation Army's electronic countermeasures team , the Vietnamese army tried to contact the front troops many times during this period, but to no avail. At 3:19 PAVN's 122nd Regiment responded to its subordinates: "The enemy is shooting at... The order..." was drowned by interference. At 13:22, PAN's 168th Artillery Brigade's 1st Battalion cursed at the artillery watch: "... Why can't I hear the radio you sent,... Damn it, China is jamming... "[3]

The First Infantry Commando of the People's Liberation Army quickly attacked and rushed through the minefield through the passage to attack Position 604. At the same time, the mortar company of the 416th Regiment conducted escort firing using 82 mm mortar to cover the infantry assault.

After the first commando team broke through the Vietnamese army's forward position, the second commando team surpassed the first commando team and launched an attack on Highland 968. The artillery also quickly turned to suppress the Vietnamese mortars on the south side of the 832 and 1058 highland areas and in the shallow depth, and carried out surveillance and shooting at positions 605, 606, 607, and 608, and the remaining Vietnamese firepower points in the 832 and 1058 highland areas. Soon after the second commando team reached the enemy, they were violently fired by the Vietnamese army's concealed machine guns, and their progress was blocked. It only took 10 minutes to rush to the main peak of 968 Highland, and then switched to search and suppression to dig holes. At the same time, two combat groups occupied the favorable terrain on the southeast side of Highland 968 to form an internal and external front to monitor the Vietnamese army.

Retreat and follow-up

Starting at 13:52, the Vietnamese army organized squads and groups of troops and launched two counterattacks along Highland 832 and Position 605 towards Highland 968. After receiving the battle report, the command headquarters ordered the two commandos to retreat immediately after destroying the Vietnamese army fortifications on the position. At 14:53, the group army headquarters ordered to suppress PAVN's artillery units to cover the retreat of the commando units.

At the same time, four indirect-aiming artillery companies and regimental direct-aiming fire units were organized to conduct fire blockades between Highland 832 and Position 605, as well as on the south side of Highland 968, from the prismatic position to the traffic trenches of Highland 968, to prevent the Vietnamese army from pursuing them and providing cover. After the first and second commandos blew up the Vietnamese army's garrison caves, shelters and other fortifications on the position, they began to retreat with the captured weapons and materials and the bodies of the wounded, prisoners and deceased.

By 15:58, all commandos had withdrawn to their original starting positions. The command headquarters also ordered some artillery units to switch to surveillance shooting, and the remaining calibrated targets were monitored.

Significance

artillery

Learning from the lessons of the 1979 Sino-Vietnam War, the People's Liberation Army has attached great importance to and relied on artillery since the beginning of the Liangshan Campaign to reduce casualties by reducing the time for infantry to engage in close combat with the enemy. The effect has been remarkable. After the million-dollar disarmament in 1985 , the People's Liberation Army decentralized larger-caliber artillery to lower levels [Note 1] . In this operation, the People's Liberation Army mobilized 56 artillery batteries with a total of 336 artillery pieces of various types to support a reinforced battery. The attack was considered by some reports as "finally a grand battle" [6] [7] .

Electronic Warfare

This battle was also the first actual combat example of the Chinese People's Liberation Army's electronic countermeasures force being disclosed. Since then, the Chinese People's Liberation Army has begun to pay more attention to the development of electronic warfare troops. After the war, the Electronic Countermeasures Radar Department of the Lanzhou Military Region Communications Department concluded in combat cases [3] :

(1) Solid and sufficient pre-war preparations laid a solid foundation for victory in the first battle. Those who are good at using troops should be careful in their first battles, and do not fight unprepared battles or uncertain battles. Before the war, the battalion carefully organized pre-war assault training, simulation training, supplementary reconnaissance, and preparations for various service support, and focused on optimizing combat plans during simulation training. Practice has proved that if you sweat and pay enough "tuition" before the war, you can shed less blood and hand over your ideal "answer sheet" during the war.

(2) Close collaboration. Active cooperation is the key to exerting the electronic countermeasures power of jamming groups and forming an overall strike capability. In modern warfare, good organization and coordination are an important guarantee for victory in battle. To this end, on the basis of carefully formulating coordination plans, we directly participate in the combat command of the combined forces and dispatch liaison officers to forward command posts to grasp battlefield dynamics and improve the timeliness and pertinence of coordination. Secondly, we cultivate electronic Confront the collaborative awareness and intelligence awareness of the department (detachment) commanders, and improve the awareness and initiative of collaborative cooperation. Therefore, in the whole process of the battle, not only the contradiction between electronic countermeasures operations, communications and intelligence was properly resolved, but also the coordination of "soft and hard" killing was achieved, and electronic offense and sortie operations were closely coordinated. This allows electronic countermeasures to show their power.

(3) Reasonable electronic countermeasures deployment is the prerequisite for the effectiveness of electronic countermeasures weapons. In order to give full play to the effectiveness of electronic countermeasures weapons, the battalion takes into account factors such as the enemy's combat formation, position formation, command (observation) allocation, and battlefield terrain conditions, and comprehensively considers the quantity, performance, and communication services of our army's electronic countermeasures weapons. Support capabilities and human resources living conditions and other factors, adopt the method of combining large and small, combining far and near, combining front and side, combining high and low, combining ultra-short wave and short wave, appropriately "pre-arrange" some jamming positions, and establish multi-level and all-round electronic countermeasures The deployment forms a wide front, large angle, high density, overlapping electromagnetic coverage, which makes up for the dead spots of listening and interference caused by terrain conditions, and broadens the interference suppression area and frequency domain.

(4) Flexible and changeable tactical means are the "magic weapon" to seize the initiative in communication confrontation. In a sense, electronic countermeasures operations are not only a contest of technology, but also a contest of wisdom. In this battle, we interfered with the various electronic defense measures taken by the troops against the enemy, and adopted tactical methods such as "striking in the east and attacking in the west", "stopping with silence", and "stopping with close proximity", and achieved remarkable results. The enemy's 818th Infantry Regiment, which was interfered by our feints, panicked and falsely reported the battle situation; the enemy's 168th Artillery Brigade, 457th Artillery Regiment, and 150th Artillery Regiment, which were interfered by me, had difficulty in issuing firing orders in time, and basically did not attack our army in mountain attacks. The enemy's 122nd Regiment, which posed a threat and was severely damaged by our assault team, only found out the true intention of our army after our commando retreated for more than three hours.

—  Lanzhou Military Region Communications Department Electronic Countermeasures Radar Division, "LJ-B Plan" Communications Countermeasures Battle Example

[3]

live TV broadcast

During this battle, a film crew led by field photographer Wang Hong followed the commandos throughout their operations and took photos and videos. The distance was so close that Wang Hong himself was shot and injured. Photos and videos of this operation were widely circulated.[5][3] .

footnote

Before 1985, the largest caliber artillery of the People's Liberation Army Army Division was only the Type 54 122mm howitzer , which was smaller in caliber than the 155/152mm howitzer that was the mainstream army division-level firepower in the world at that time. After 1985, the infantry division began to equip the Type 66 152mm plus howitzer , which greatly enhanced its firepower.

References

Shen Tingxue. Laoshan Purgatory: 78 commandos spilled their blood in the battle of Lanjian-B on the highlands . Sohu . 2017-05-30.

In Operation Blue Sword B in 1986, the army commander bought Maotai for the soldiers, and all participants were assigned work . Tencent .

Lanzhou Military Region Communications Department. "Blue Sword-B" Plan Communications Countermeasures Example. 1986.
Reflection of Laoshan. Heroic Flag: Laoshan's "Blue Sword-B" Operation Commando Captain - Ma Quanbin . Tencent . 2021-06-08 [ 2022-03-31 ] . (Original content archived on 2022-03-31 ).
Hey meow. Leave me alone, save the captain first! Operation Blue Sword B, China’s first live broadcast of the brutal counterattack against Vietnam . Sohu . 2018-01-03 [ 2022-03-31 ] . (Original content archived on 2022-03-20).

During the Sino-Vietnam War, comparison of the number of artillery between China and Vietnam, Vietnamese Army: How to fight this battle . Sina . 2018-01-13.

Shen Tingxue. The People's Liberation Army artillery in the Laoshan battle, more than 8,000 artillery pieces fired 2.4 million rounds . Tencent. 2020-04-30.
  1. ^ Chinese Military Strategy in the Third Indochina War: The Last Maoist War. p. 101.
  2. ^ "从中越边境扫雷回顾两山轮战:最可怕的是地雷". 腾讯网. Archived from the original on 2015-11-19.
  3. ^ a b "我军老兵回顾老山前线兰剑-B行动悲壮经历(图)_新浪军事_新浪网". mil.news.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2024-04-09.