Cowards, Commanders, and Casualties in the Sino-Vietnamese War (Patreon)

Dear PLAtrons,

When the PLA was ordered to war against Vietnam at the beginning of 1979, the tippy-top brass panicked with good reason. Their army’s readiness was in the toilet, and they lacked everything from food to vehicles. Though they had plenty of (fairly raw) basic riflemen, they scarcely had anyone qualified to lead them in small-unit combat. The few experienced leaders they did have were devoured in days, as if in a huge Vietnamese woodchipper, and the General Political Department was reduced to offering to commissions to almost anyone brave enough to accept them.  

Today, a reminiscence from one of those survivors about cowards, casualties, and commanders.