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Sino-Vietnam 79

PLA Forces x PAVN Forces
Complexity: 273.43 Map: 184x90
Dates: 2/17/1979-3/12/1979
"COMRADE AND BROTHER"
-- Sino-Vietnamese War 1979 v1.0
by Nikolai Ezhov and Mamqf

Time: February 17-March 6, 1979
Map Scale: 2.5km/hex
Time Scale: 1-day turn
Unit scale: Battalion/company
Unit colors:

*Yellow on Yellow: People's Liberation Army ground force(PLA);
*Grey on Yellow: People's Liberation Army border troops.

*Red on Red: People's Army of Vietnam(PAVN), regular forces;
*Black on Red: People's Army of Vietnam(PAVN), local forces;
*Brown on Red: People's Army of Vietnam(PAVN), public security forces;
*Red on Black: Vietnam militia.

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"The friendship between the Vietnamese and Chinese people is like comrade and brother," --Ho Chi Minh.

At the fourth year after the downfall of the Republic of Vietnam and the reunification of a communist Vietnam, the relationship between these two "comrades and brothers", the People's Republic of China, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, was getting worse and worse. Shortly after the signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the Soviet Union and Vietnam, Vietnamese forces, 200,000 soldiers of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) invaded the U.S./China-backed Pol Pot's Cambodia and overthrew the notorious Khmer Rouge regime. On January 7, 1979, the People's Republic of Kampuchea was formed as a puppet state of Vietnam.

The People's Republic of China, then recovering from the wound of the Cultural Revolution, was extremely unhappy about the Status Quo in the Indochina peninsula, where a pro-Soviet Vietnam was gradually expanding its influence to its neighbors. Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese de-facto leader, decided to launch a military operation which would "give some punishment" to the Vietnamese administration.

In December 1979, shortly after the breakout of Cambodian-Vietnamese War, two military regions at the south-western part of China--the Guangzhou Military Region and the Kunming Military Region--started mobilization. At the same time, military regions in northern China -- Shenyang, Beijing, Lanzhou, and Urumqi -- also started mobilization to prevent a presumed Soviet invasion. The confronting Vietnam forces also started mobilization at the same time.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) decided to use 9 army corps in two separated theaters of operations:
*At the Eastern Theater, 6 PLA army corps(41, 42, 43, 50, 54, 55) under the direction of Forward Command, Guangzhou Military Region would invade Cao Bang, Lang Son and Quang Ninh province,
*At the Western Theater, 3 PLA army corps(11, 13, 14) under the direction of Forward Command, Kunming Military Region would invade Lai Chau and Lao Cai province.
The confronting Vietnam forces were basically 4 infantry divisions (3, 325B, 338, 346) at eastern and 3 divisions (316A, 326 and 345) at western front, with limited local forces, public security forces and militia, the bias of forces was about 3:1 to 2.5, with overwhelming superiority for PLA forces.

However, there were still worries among the Chinese decision makers: the People's Liberation Army hadn't fought any major battle since the end of the Korean War, while the PAVN was battle-hardened; the terrain in northern Vietnam was extremely unsuitable for major military operations. and how was the actual combat readiness of the PLA after the ten-year Cultural Revolution? No one knows for sure.

February 17th, 1979.

The headline of the Renmin Ribao (People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party) was:
"IF THIS CAN BE TOLERATED, WHAT IS NOT?!"

Before the dawn of that day, 500,000 PLA forces massed across the Sino-Vietnam border.

The Sino-Vietnamese War has begun!

***********************

Scenario note:

Time is vital, especially for the PLA forces player.

Three major cities, Cao Bang, Lao Cai, and Lang Son are major objectives for the PLA forces. However, the PLA must take these cities quick, because if the war postponed, the Soviet Union would post a more aggressive attitude, or even launch a real invasion!

Therefore, there are time limits for the PLA to take these cities:

*Lao Cai must fall by D+2;
*Cao Bang must fall by D+5;
*Lang son must fall by D+15.

If the PLA forces are not able to capture these cities by the deadline, it will receive VP punishment by the time which would outnumber the VP point of the cities themselves eventually, causing a PLA failure. So be careful, and be quick!


Map and Scenario designed by Nikolai Ezhov
OOB&TO&E support by Mamqf