1979, in order to protect the territorial integrity of China and the safety of people's lives and property on the border, China launched a self-defense counterattack against Viet Nam. After a month of fierce fighting, another round of war broke out on the Sino-Vietnamese border, which lasted for 10 years. It didn't stop until the disintegration of the Soviet Union. So what did China get in this war that lasted for 10 years?

Soviet Union's Containment of China

The answer is that China has a safe surrounding environment, and the Soviet Union and Viet Nam no longer pose a threat to China. To understand the logic behind this problem, we must first know the ins and outs of the counterattack against Vietnam. In fact, the reason for fighting back against Vietnam can be traced back to the change of Vietnamese leaders, namely Ho Chi Minh and Du?n. To some extent, these two leaders symbolize Vietnam's foreign relations, because Ho Chi Minh is more pro-China, and he also participated in the national revolutionary movement in China in his early years.

Ho Chi Minh is closer to the Soviet Union, or he pays more attention to the benefits given by the Soviet Union. In the 1970s, Sino-Soviet diplomatic relations deteriorated seriously, and it was once possible to meet each other. At this time, the Soviet Union put forward the strategy of wooing Vietnamese north and south to attack China. Therefore, China's self-defense counterattack against Vietnam will hit the north-south attack of Vietnam and the Soviet Union on China. Moreover, after Vietnam drove out the US troops and unified North and South Vietnam, the external environment faced by China was very bad.

There is the Soviet Union in the north, Vietnam in the south and India near the Soviet Union in the southwest. As for the northwest, the Soviet Union launched a war of aggression against Afghanistan in the same year that China counterattacked Vietnam. Once the Soviet Union cultivates stable pro-Su Zhengquan forces in Afghanistan, China will be completely surrounded by the Soviet Union except the eastern coastal areas. Coupled with the first island chain of the United States on the eastern coast, if the United States and the Soviet Union attack China at the same time, China will have to bear tremendous pressure from all directions.

Therefore, in those days, China's Afghan side, together with other unknown forces, supported the Afghan independent armed forces and resisted the Soviet Union's control over Afghanistan. In Vietnam, it was China's self-defense counterattack against Vietnam. In the counterattack against Vietnam, China not only attacked Vietnam militarily, but also systematically destroyed its industrial facilities.

Bridges, railways, hospitals and other industrial facilities in Vietnam are all demolished, and those that cannot be demolished are blown up. After a series of destruction, Vietnam's industrial capacity has been greatly hit, and it has not recovered until now. As a result, Vietnam's threat to China was greatly reduced, and the Soviet Union's plan to unite Vietnam to attack the north and south of China also went bankrupt.

Fight against Vietnam's aggression

China's counterattack against Vietnam in self-defense will be divided into two attacks against Vietnam's aggression against other countries. Before the counter-offensive against Vietnam broke out, Vietnam's strategic plan was to annex Cambodia and Laos to form an "Indo-zhina Federation". This Indo-zhina Federation is also a "legacy" of the colonial period. During the colonial period of Vietnam, France bound Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and some parts of Guangdong Province as "zhina of French India". After driving out the French and gaining independence, Vietnam hoped to inherit the French "zhina of French India" and began to invade Cambodia and Laos.

At that time, in order to win over Vietnam, the Soviet Union adopted a tacit attitude towards Vietnam's aggression. Once Viet Nam really annexed Cambodia and Laos, southern China will become a powerful country, which will pose a great threat to the security of southern China, especially the South China Sea. Therefore, no matter from the perspective of safeguarding the sovereignty of Cambodia and Laos, or from the perspective of China's strategic security, China must also fight this self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.

Moreover, after fighting back against Vietnam, China fought against Vietnam for 10 years, which led to Vietnam's continuous investment in manpower and material resources on the Sino-Vietnamese border, making it difficult to develop heavy industry after Vietnam and further weakening Vietnam's strength. The effect of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam and the 10 round war can be seen from Vietnam's current economy. At present, Vietnam's economic structure is dominated by light industry, and most of these light industries are backward production capacity eliminated by China. Vietnam has no foundation for heavy industry that directly determines its military strength. From this, it is not difficult to see how far-reaching the impact on Vietnam's self-defense counterattack is.

Strike the prestige of the Soviet Union

Three self-defense attacks on Vietnam have dealt a blow to the prestige of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is the big brother of the Soviet-East camp, and it often suppressed China with the help of the Soviet-East camp in the 1970s and 1980s. To alleviate such national defense and diplomatic pressure, the most direct means is to disintegrate the prestige of the Soviet Union in the Soviet-East camp, which played such a role in Vietnam's counterattack. Vietnam invaded Laos and Cambodia with the acquiescence of the Soviet Union, and what Vietnam did on the sovereignty of China was inspired by the Soviet Union. It can be said that Vietnam was the satellite country of the Soviet Union at that time, and it was the biggest promoter of all the turmoil in the Indo-China Peninsula of the Soviet Union.

But China's beating Vietnam in front of the whole world is equivalent to slapping the Soviet Union in front of the whole world. In the eyes of other members of the Soviet-East camp, the "little brother" of the Soviet Union was beaten, and the Soviet Union should show it anyway. But at the same time, China's main military forces have all left for Xinjiang and Northeast China, ready to deal with the Soviet Union's southward aggression. At this time, the Soviet Union was preparing to invade Afghanistan. Secondly, it was forced by China's strength at that time. Thirdly, China was very disciplined in fighting Vietnam. After fighting the army, it retreated. The Soviet Union had no excuse to fight China.

Therefore, after the Soviet Union counterattacked Vietnam, there was no sign of Vietnam at all, but it quickly invaded Afghanistan. The behavior of the Soviet Union made the countries in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe feel cold. After all, Vietnam was beaten to help the Soviet Union. Even if the Soviet Union didn't help Vietnam, it immediately went to do its own thing. Moreover, the inaction of the Soviet Union has made the countries in the Soviet-East camp further aware of the paper tiger nature of Soviet chauvinism. China directly hit the younger brother of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union didn't show any signs. Therefore, from the beginning of the counterattack against Vietnam, the Soviet-East camp gradually fell apart, until the countries headed by East Germany began to switch to the Western camp in the late 1980s.