A captured Chinese tank crewman being guarded by a Vietnamese soldier, during the Sino-Vietnamese War, which began on this day in 1979. Less than four years after the end of the Vietnam War, the former communist allies turned against each other and a new war broke out in Indochina involving Vietnam

 

A captured Chinese tank crewman being guarded by a Vietnamese soldier, during the Sino-Vietnamese War, which began on this day in 1979. Less than four years after the end of the Vietnam War, the former communist allies turned against each other and a new war broke out in Indochina involving Vietnam

A captured Chinese tank crewman being guarded by a Vietnamese soldier, during the Sino-Vietnamese War, which began on this day in 1979. Less than four years after the end of the Vietnam War, the former communist allies turned against each other, and a new war broke out in Indochina involving Vietnam, China and Cambodia.

On 25 December 1978, following a series of bloody cross-border raids into Vietnam by Pol Pot's troops, Vietnam launched a full-scale invasion of Cambodia and overthrew the genocidal Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge regime in two weeks. In response to Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia, China launched a punitive operation against Vietnam.

After a massive artillery bombardment on February 17, 1979, hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops crossed Vietnam's northern border to invade the country. Despite initial progress and enjoying numerical superiority, the PLA soon found itself bogged down in a costly conflict against Vietnamese irregulars, even though many battle-hardened NVA troops were still fighting in Cambodia.

Vietnamese militias launched deadly raids and ambushes on PLA supply lines, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. As a result of the Sino-Soviet split, the Soviet Union provided aid and support to Vietnam and deployed troops to the Chinese border. After about two weeks of heavy fighting, the PLA began its withdrawal from Vietnam, which was completed by March 16.

Both sides reported exaggerated enemy casualties, but according to Western observers the Chinese suffered 26,000 killed and 37,000 wounded while the Vietnamese casualties were 20,000–30,000 killed and 32,000 wounded. In less than a month, the Chinese military suffered 45 percent of the deaths of American forces in Vietnam in over 10 years. Border clashes between China and Vietnam lasted until 1991.