Chapter 183: The Great Power Game

It is said that the withdrawal of troops began on March 5, but the vast majority of troops did not do so quickly. The reason is that there are many preparations to be done for the retreat, and there must be a retreat and coordination between the various troops.

Some people may think that it is not easy to evacuate and retreat, and it is not enough to call a few automobile battalions to send the troops back in batches, and the more devils will not be able to keep up even if they are behind.

But a real battlefield retreat is not so simple, and it can even be said that it is much more difficult than fighting a frontal battle.

The main reason for this is that everyone is mentally prepared to fight the enemy during the attack, and even the various units can go hand in hand to cover each other...... If the friendly forces on the left and right flanks are slower, you can just stop and wait.

But retreat is different, especially for a unit that does not often go to battle...... The first time they went to the battlefield, they had long been fed up with the blood, death, and bad weather on the battlefield, but they had to hold on because of orders and military regulations...... So the order to retreat came as soon as it came, and he didn't care about anything, and he couldn't take it back if he ran back.

This is obviously very dangerous, because such a force is actually in a state of unstable morale, and once pursued or blocked by the enemy, it can easily turn into a panicked flight or rout. As a result, the gains made in the frontal battlefield will be wiped out because the retreat is poorly organized.

Although I do not want to admit that our army will be such a force, the facts are in front of me...... Most of our army are recruits, and they are seriously undertrained. If the retreat is not well organized, there is a high risk of chaos and an opportunity for the Vietnamese army.

That's exactly what happened. The higher authorities were cautious about the preparations before the retreat of the troops.

The first to enter the retreat process were our artillery units, tank units, and logistics personnel. They were the first to retreat because it was difficult for these troops to move and be vulnerable to attack in the inaccessible battlefield of Vietnam. In particular, towed artillery and tanks, once attacked or malfunctioning, they will block the road, bringing danger to the retreat of other troops.

The second is the main force of infantry.

This is undoubtedly the focus of the retreat, because our army's infantry units are very large, with a total of more than 200,000 people from nine armies on the eastern and western fronts, and this is also the life of our army.

So, at this stage, the main forces took "alternate cover." retreat in batches". The so-called "alternate cover and retreat in batches" means that each unit does not withdraw to the end at once, but that one unit withdraws a few kilometers to build fortifications today, and that unit withdraws a few kilometers tomorrow...... In this way, whenever the Vietnamese army launched an attack on the retreating troops of our army, a few kilometers on the way of our army's retreat, there was always a unit that had built fortifications and was ready to take action.

Zuihou retreated with sappers and a small number of infantry units.

This unit is a special unit, and the task of the engineer unit is to cover the roads of our army's retreat with mines, and at the same time blow up railways, roads, bridges and other facilities. Obviously, the result of this will greatly delay the pursuit of the Vietnamese army.

Of course. Because the combat capability of the engineer unit is poor, a small number of infantry must be left as cover for the engineers.

That's exactly what happened. So in this retreat phase, the mines were truckload by cart to the front line...... Fortunately, this minelaying is not a complicated project, otherwise I am afraid that the sappers will be tired to death.

So these days it was the world of the engineer troops, and there were mine-laying sappers in the jungle, on mountain roads, in the fields, and even in the rivers. After laying mines during the day, in order to prevent their own people from straying into the minefield, they would always plant small red flags on the side, so they looked at the sunset...... There were small red flags fluttering in the wind everywhere on the ground.

The explosions also came one after another, no need to ask...... It was the Ministry of Engineers that blew up the military installations left behind by the Vietnamese army, and the roads, railways, bridges, etc. were also loaded with explosives in advance, and they were only detonated after the retreat of our infantry.

Of course, there is no problem with the superiors organizing the retreat work so cautiously, but I have always had a question in my mind...... A big retreat like this is hard to organize, isn't it? The higher authorities want to announce the news of our retreat in advance, and even the date of the retreat?

How many wars have there been throughout the ages, whether they have been won in retreat or lost in retreat...... Almost without exception, they are regarded as important military information and are not publicized, and even often make a false impression that the enemy has not retreated. The reason for this is simple: if the enemy does not know when the enemy will retreat, it means that our army has more time to retreat, which is undoubtedly very important on the battlefield.

For example, now, our army has not announced the withdrawal of its troops to the outside world, but has made a big show of attacking Hanoi...... Well, I'm afraid that all the forces and energy of the Yue devils will be transferred to Hanoi and organize defense. Next, our army can withdraw calmly, and wait for the Yue devils to react and then organize troops to catch up, but I am afraid that it will be too late.

However, the news of this withdrawal was even announced as soon as the timing was announced...... The only one who is happy is the Vietnamese army.

On the one hand, they can deceive the Vietnamese people, saying that the PLA has been defeated by the Vietnamese People's Army on the battlefield and will soon begin to retreat under the heroic fighting of the Vietnamese People's Army.

It seems that it is not difficult for the Vietnamese government to do this, because Vietnam is a very closed country, and most of what the Vietnamese people hear and see is what the Vietnamese government wants them to hear. As a result, the Vietnamese government was able to make a big splash at home and claim that it would soon be able to move on to a counteroffensive. In fact, that's exactly what the Vietnamese government did.

On the other hand, let the Vietnamese army know the time of retreat of our army...... Then there is no doubt that Jihua can be organized to pursue, and even infantry and artillery can be deployed in advance to prepare for the pursuit. Just waiting for the moment when our troops withdrew, they began a large-scale "counteroffensive".

Either way, it will only be bad for our army, so I can't guess the intentions of my superiors.

This mystery was finally solved by Company Commander Luo, he took a puff of cigarette, sighed long and said: "Of course, there is no military benefit in doing this, this is out of political considerations!" ”

"Political considerations?" When I heard this, the soldiers and I couldn't help but be stunned, and no one knew what other political benefits this would have.

"Didn't we emphasize from the very beginning of the war that we would not encroach on an inch of Vietnam's land?" Company Commander Luo nodded and continued: "Before launching this war, our army emphasized that this was a limited war, in order to teach the Vietnamese government a lesson. Now, our strategic goal has been achieved, so we announced the withdrawal of our troops from the whole Shijie, which is also to further state our position and reiterate the significance and purpose of our army to fight this war! ”

"Oh!" As soon as Company Commander Luo said this, I understood. These words are not for the Vietnamese devils, but for the international community, especially the two major powers, the United States and the Soviet Union.

There is a saying that "the sandpiper and the clam compete, and the fisherman profits". In the past, China was fighting with the Soviet Union, and Vietnam, a small country, was in the middle, and it extended one hand to China and the other hand to the Soviet Union...... This kind of putting China directly in the front line of international competition is obviously disadvantageous, not to mention that China itself is a poor country at this time, and it has suffered from it after tightening its belt and helping Vietnam......

However, once diplomatic relations with China and the United States were established, this balance was upset. On the surface, the United States and the Soviet Union were fighting, while China took a back seat and played a role in the United States and the Soviet Union.

Did the USSR dare to offend China? Once China is forced to completely lean towards the United States, it will face the result of being attacked from both sides.

Does the United States need to offend China? He also wished to pull China together to confront the Soviet Union, and it was better to have one more friend than one more enemy.

As for Vietnam...... On the surface, it seems that it has won the support of the Soviet Union to flank China from the north and the south, but in this situation even the Soviet Union does not dare to do things. As a result, Vietnam could only be innocently discarded as a pawn.

The struggle between countries is such a bare relationship of interests, and the Soviet Union will not be stupid enough to put itself in a situation of being caught between China and the United States for the sake of Vietnam.

Therefore, in the big picture, it makes sense to declare the withdrawal of troops in advance. After all, the military serves politics, and when there is a conflict between the military and politics, the military must unconditionally obey politics.

It's just that...... But this has hurt us who are soldiers...... But I don't know how many more people will have to be sacrificed because of this.

The soldiers only knew that the war was about to end and they were about to withdraw their troops and go home, so they were all so excited that they prepared their salutes early and waited for the order to retreat, and even some soldiers went to the battlefield to look for some souvenirs......

In the words of the soldiers, it means that we have all walked on this battlefield once, and we can be regarded as going abroad, and we are still alive...... You have to bring something back and testify! You have to show off something in front of your friends and family!

So some collected the badges of the Vietnamese army, some collected the military hats of the Vietnamese army, and the most popular was the military thorn...... This thing is not only beautiful and easy to use, but also because my military thorns are folded and difficult to remove, so it is rare.

As for those who usually don't pay these things, they will be miserable at this time, so they have to take cigarettes and exchange them with other comrades-in-arms...... Soon the barracks was like a bazaar, full of bargaining sounds. (To be continued......)