China attacked the USSR in 1968. Political settlement of the conflict

The Soviet leadership failed to take advantage of Khrushchev's removal to normalize relations with China. On the contrary, under Brezhnev they worsened even more. The blame for this falls on both sides - from the second half of 1966, the Chinese leadership, headed by Mao Zedong, organized a number of provocations on transport and the Soviet-Chinese border. Claiming that this border was forcibly established by the Russian tsarist government, it laid claim to several thousand square kilometers of Soviet territory. Particularly acute was the situation on the river border along the Amur and Ussuri, where a hundred years after the signing of the border treaty, the fairway of the river changed, some islands disappeared, others approached the opposite bank.

The bloody events took place in March 1969 on Damansky Island on the river. Ussuri, where the Chinese fired on the Soviet border detachment, killing several people. Large Chinese forces landed on the island, being well prepared for the conduct of hostilities. Attempts to restore the situation with the help of Soviet motorized rifle units were not successful. Then the Soviet command used the Grad multiple launch rocket system. The Chinese were virtually annihilated on this small island (about 1700 m long and 500 m wide). Their losses numbered in the thousands. On this active hostilities actually stopped.

But from May to September 1969, Soviet border guards opened fire more than 300 times on violators in the Damansky area. In the battles for the island from March 2 to March 16, 1969, 58 Soviet soldiers were killed, 94 were seriously injured. For their heroism, four servicemen received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The battle for Damansky became the first serious clash between the Armed Forces of the USSR and the regular units of another major power since the Second World War. Moscow, despite its local victory, decided not to aggravate the conflict and give Damansky Island to the People's Republic of China. The Chinese side subsequently filled up the channel separating the island from their coast, and since then it has become part of China.

On September 11, 1969, at the Soviet initiative, a meeting of the heads of government of the USSR (A.N. Kosygin) and the PRC (Zhou Enlai) took place, after which protracted negotiations on border issues began in Beijing. After 40 meetings in June 1972 they were adjourned. The Chinese government preferred to improve relations with the US, Western European countries and Japan. In 1982-85. Soviet-Chinese political consultations were held alternately in Moscow and Beijing at the level of government representatives with the rank of deputy foreign ministers. There were no results for a long time. Soviet-Chinese relations were settled only by the end of the 1980s.

ALIVE MATROSOV!

Our special correspondents V. Ignatenko and L. Kuznetsov are reporting from the area of ​​Damansky Island

Here, on the front line, as soon as the smoke of the last battle cleared, we were told about the exceptional courage of the Far Eastern border guard sailors. Not on distant oceanic meridians, not in campaigns on super cruisers and submarines, sailors distinguished themselves these days. In the mortal battle with the Maoist provocateurs on March 2 and 15, guys in pea coats stood shoulder to shoulder with the officers and soldiers of the outposts.

It is not difficult to recognize them among the military people of the border region: only the sailors have black sheepskin coats, and hats and caps with anchors are pulled down somehow in a special way, sort of casually, but within the framework of the charter.

Fortunately, the sailors got out of the fire without loss. Shells and lead bursts lay side by side, spread over their heads. But, alive and unharmed, the guys rose to height, shook off the hot, smoking earth and rushed to the counterattack ... We saw these young Komsomol guys, in whose veins the blood of fathers, defenders of the legendary Malaya Zemlya, flows.

We want to talk about one sailor in particular. Long before dawn, on March 15, when there were all signs of preparing a new provocation near Damansky, Captain Vladimir Matrosov took up an observation post on a spit a few meters from the gently sloping coast of the island. He could see the provocateurs fidgeting fussily on the Chinese coast in the predawn twilight. From time to time, the hoarse sounds of motors were heard: it must have been brought up to the firing lines of the gun. Then silence again, viscous, cold.

A few hours later, the first round hit from the Chinese side, then the second, the first shells exploded ... The Maoists rushed in chains at Damansky. Our fire weapons began to speak, the vanguard of the Soviet border guards moved to the island.

I am Break! I am Break! How do you hear? The enemy is in the southern part of the island, - Matrosov shouted into the radiotelephone. This was the turn of his combat mission. - How did you understand?

I am Burav. You are understood!

A minute later, our fire became more accurate, the Chinese faltered.

I am Break! I am Break! The enemy moved to the northeast. - The sailors did not have time to finish: a mine struck nearby. He fell into the snow. It's gone! And the phone is intact.

I am Break! I am Break! Volodya continued. - How did you understand me?

And the earth shook again. Again the elastic wave pushed the sailor. And again, I just had to shake off the ground.

Then Matrosov got used to it. True, he did not get over the unpleasant feeling that someone invisible from the other side was watching him, as if he knew how much now depended on his, Volodina, adjustment of the fire. But again, the callsigns "Cliff" flew on the air ...

He saw our border guards fighting on the island. And if suddenly one of ours stumbled and fell, he knew: it was the Mao Zedong lead that threw the soldier to the ground. This was the second fight in the life of Matrosov ...

Captain Matrosov kept in touch with the command post for several hours. And all this time he was the epicenter of a barrage of fire.

Vladimir, one might say, is a border guard from the cradle. His father, Stepan Mikhailovich, only recently retired with the rank of colonel of the border troops, and the younger Matrosov, as far as he can remember, lived all the time on the edges of his native land, at outposts. From childhood, he knew the anxieties of the cutting edge, and this region planted good seeds of masculinity and kindness in his soul, and over time, having strengthened, these seeds began to grow. When the time came for Vladimir to choose his fate, there was no doubt: he chose the path of his father. Studied and became an officer. Now he is 31 years old. He is a communist. Frontier hardening before being assigned to this area was in the Kuril Islands. Probably not one of the eleven sailors who participated in the battle on Damansky is now dreaming of getting Matrosov's party recommendation. After all, Vladimir became a communist at their age, and they went through their first baptism of fire together: a communist and Komsomol members.

In the division, senior officers told us: “You noticed how similar our Matrosov is ...” And we, without listening to the end, agreed: “Yes, he is very similar to that legendary Alexander Matrosov.” Everything seems to happen on purpose. It seems that the journalistic move is naked to the limit. But no, this amazing external similarity is not more important. A hundred times brighter is the kinship of their characters - heroic, truly Russian. More important is the identity of their lofty spirit, the fieryness of their hearts in a difficult hour.

Historians of the Great Patriotic War find new evidence of many exploits of privates, sergeants, officers who repeated the feat of Matrosov. They died gloriously, and they became immortal, because in the Russian warrior there is this "sailor's" vein, this attitude to victory even at the cost of one's life.

Vladimir Matrosov is alive!

May he live happily to a ripe old age. May there be peace and harmony in his house, where his daughters are growing up: the second-grader Sveta and the five-year-old Katya. May they always have a dad...

N-sky division of maritime border guards
Red Banner Pacific
border district, March 20

YURI VASILIEVICH BABANSKY

Babansky Yuri Vasilievich - commander of the Nizhne-Mikhailovskaya border outpost department of the Ussuri Order of the Red Banner of Labor of the border detachment of the Pacific border district, junior sergeant. Born on December 20, 1948 in the village of Krasny Yar, Kemerovo Region. After graduating from an eight-year school, he graduated from a vocational school, worked in production, and then was drafted into the border troops. He served on the Soviet-Chinese border in the Pacific border district.

The commander of the department of the border outpost of Nizhne-Mikhailovskaya (Damansky Island) of the Ussuri Order of the Red Banner of Labor of the border detachment, junior sergeant Babansky Yu.V. showed heroism and courage during the border conflict on March 2 - 15, 1969. Then, for the first time in the history of the border troops, after June 22, 1941, the border guards of the detachment took battle with units of the regular army of the neighboring state. On that day, March 2, 1969, Chinese provocateurs who invaded Soviet territory shot from an ambush a group of border guards who had come out to meet them, led by the head of the outpost, Senior Lieutenant Strelnikov I.I.

Junior Sergeant Yuri Babansky took command of the group of border guards who remained at the outpost and boldly led them into the attack. The Maoists unleashed heavy machine gun and grenade launcher fire, mortars and artillery fire on the brave handful. Throughout the battle, Junior Sergeant Babansky skillfully led his subordinates, shot accurately, and assisted the wounded. When the enemy was knocked out of Soviet territory, Babansky went on reconnaissance to the island more than 10 times. It was Yuri Babansky with a search group who found the group of I.I. Strelnikov, and under the muzzles of machine guns and machine guns of the enemy organized their evacuation, it was he and his group on the night of March 15-16 who discovered the body of the heroically deceased head of the border detachment, Colonel D.V. Leonov and carried him off the island...

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 21, 1969, Junior Sergeant Yu.V. Babansky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (Gold Star medal No. 10717).

After graduating from the military-political school, Babansky Yu.V. continued to serve in the border troops of the KGB of the USSR in various officer positions, including during the period of hostilities in Afghanistan. In the 1990s, he was deputy head of the troops of the Western Border District, was a member of the Central Committee of the Komsomol, was elected a deputy of the Supreme Council of Ukraine.

Currently, reserve lieutenant general Yu.V. Babansky is a military pensioner, engaged in social activities. He is the chairman of the all-Russian organizing committee for the action "Argunskaya outpost" and at the same time is the chairman of the public organization "Union of Heroes", an honorary citizen of the Kemerovo region. Lives in Moscow.

THE COUNTRY DID NOT KNOW YET

... They loved fire training at the outpost. They often went out to shoot. And the time in recent months for study has become less and less. The Red Guards did not give rest.

From childhood, Yuri Babansky was taught to consider the Chinese as brothers. But when he first saw the angry hooting mob brandishing clubs and weapons, shouting anti-Soviet slogans, he could not understand what was happening. He did not immediately learn to understand that faith in the holy bonds of brotherhood was trampled by the Maoists, that people deceived by Mao's clique are capable of any crime. The Chinese staged demonstrations with the slogans of the "great helmsman." Then they attacked the Soviet border guards with their fists. “This is how they were fooled,” Babansky thought. “But the fathers of our children fought for the liberation of China and died for People’s China.” There was a strict order: not to succumb to provocations. Machine guns in the back. And only the courage and endurance of the Soviet border guards did not allow the incidents to turn into a bloody conflict.

The Maoists were getting bolder. Almost daily in the morning they went out on the Ussuri ice, behaved cheekily. provocative.

On March 2, 1969, the border guards, as usual, had to expel the raging Maoists who had crossed the border back home. As always, the head of the outpost, Ivan Ivanovich Strelnikov, came out to meet them. Silence. You can only hear how the snow creaks under the boots. These were the last moments of silence. Babansky ran up the hillock and looked around. From the cover group, only Kuznetsov and Kozus fled after him. "I got away from the guys." Ahead, slightly to the right, stood the first group of border guards - the one that followed Strelnikov. The head of the outpost protested to the Chinese, demanding to leave Soviet territory.

And suddenly the dry frosty silence of the island was torn open by two shots. Behind them - frequent automatic bursts. Babansky did not believe. Didn't want to believe. But the bullets were already burning the snow, and he saw how one by one the border guards from Strelnikov's group fell. Babansky jerked a machine gun from behind his back, joined the store:

Get down! Fire! - he commanded and in short bursts began to mow down those who had just shot his comrades point-blank. Bullets whistled nearby, and he fired and fired. In the excitement of the battle, he did not notice how he had used up all the cartridges.

Kuznetsov, - he called the border guard, - give me a store!

They'll give you a ride. Enough for everyone. Be on the left, and I'm up to the tree.

He knelt down, threw up his machine gun and fired aimed fire from behind a tree. Cold-blooded, prudent. There is! One, second, third...

There is an invisible connection between the shooter and the target, as if you are sending a bullet not from a machine gun, but from your own heart, and it hits the enemy. He was so carried away that Sergeant Kozushu had to shout several times:

Yurka! Who is it in camouflage, ours or the Chinese?

Kozus was firing to the right of Babansky, a large group of Maoists was moving towards him, having taken refuge on the island in the evening. They walked straight ahead. The distance was shrinking every minute. Kozu fired several bursts and just had time to think that there weren’t enough cartridges, when he heard Babansky’s command: “Save cartridges!” and moved the lever to single fire.

Goat! Be careful not to go around to the right!

Like Babansky, he did not stay in place, changed positions and fired aimed. The ammo ran out.

Kuznetsov! And Kuznetsov! - he called and looked to where the border guard had just fired. Kuznetsov sat bent over, his head in his hands. The face is bloodless, the lower lip is slightly bitten. Lifeless eyes. A spasm clenched her throat, but there was no time to grieve. I took the rest of the cartridges from Kuznetsov. And then right in front of him, about thirty meters away, he saw a Chinese machine gun. Babansky fired, hit the machine gunner. Now we need to help Kozushu. Babansky acted swiftly and precisely. He shot through the channel and fired at the advancing enemy on the right. The Chinese machine gun again had a soldier. Yuri fired again. He was glad that the machine gun never fired a single burst.

Goat! Cover up! - Babansky ordered hoarsely and crawled to his group, which lay in the lowland. He crawled along the pitted island, blackened by fire and iron. Howled, mines whistled, explosions roared. In my head flashed: “How are the guys? Are you alive? How much longer can they hold out? The main thing is ammunition ... ”The guys were lying in a lowland, pressed by fire. Babansky did not have time to feel fear - there was only rage in him. I wanted to shoot, to destroy the killers. He ordered the border guards:

Swing to the tree! Observe! Bikuzin! Fire towards the parapet!

The border guards lay down in a semicircle, six meters apart. The cartridges were divided equally. Five or six per brother. Shells and mines exploded. It seemed to get off the ground - and you are gone. One bullet whistled over Babansky's ear. “Sniper,” flashed through my head. “You have to be careful.” But Kozus, who was covering him, had already removed the Chinese shooter. Suddenly, the fire died down. Preparing for a new attack, the Chinese regrouped. Babansky decided to take advantage of this:

One at a time, the distance is eight - ten meters, dashes to the leading signs! Yezhov - to the armored personnel carrier! Let support!

Babansky did not yet know that the riverbed was under fire. He did not know whether Eremin, who had been sent by him to the outlet, had time (“Let them send cartridges!”) To inform the outpost of the order of the commander. The Maoists pressed on. Five Soviet border guards led by junior sergeant Yuri Babansky against an enemy battalion. The border guards took a more advantageous position - at the leading signs. The Chinese are no more than a hundred meters away. They opened heavy fire. This fire was supported from the shore by a mortar battery. For the first time for twenty-year-old guys, armed combat has become a reality: life is next to death, humanity is next to treachery. You are against the enemy. And you must defend justice, you must defend your native land.

Guys, help is coming! Bubenin should come up. We must stand, because our land!

And Bubenin came to their aid. On his armored personnel carrier, he invaded the rear of the Chinese, introduced panic into their ranks and essentially decided the outcome of the battle. Babansky did not see the armored personnel carrier, he only heard the rumble of its motors on the river, right in front of them, and understood why the enemy faltered, receded back.

Running after me! - Yuriy ordered and led the fighters to the northern part of the island, where the bells came to the rescue. "Five machine guns is also a force!" Babansky fell, froze, then crawled. Bullets whistled from all sides. The body tensed. If only there was some pothole, a funnel - no, a snow-covered meadow spread like a tablecloth. Apparently, Yuri Babansky was not destined to die, apparently, "he was born in a vest." And this time the shells and mines spared him. He reached the bushes, looked around: the guys were crawling after him. I saw: help was coming from the Soviet coast in an extended chain. Baban sighed in relief. I wanted to smoke. It didn't take long for someone to find two cigarettes. He smoked them one by one. The tension of the battle has not subsided yet. He still lived with the excitement of the struggle: he picked up the wounded, searched for the dead, carried them out of the battlefield. It seemed to him that he was numb, unable to feel. But tears came to his eyes when he saw the face of Kolya Dergach, a fellow countryman and friend, mutilated by the Chinese. Late in the evening, completely tired, he turned on the radio at the outpost. Music was on the air. It seemed unthinkable, impossible, unnatural. And then, suddenly, the meaning of the border service was revealed in a new way: for the sake of children sleeping peacefully, for the sake of this music, for the sake of life, happiness, justice, there are guys in green caps at the border. They stand to death. The country did not yet know about what happened on Damansky ...

The biggest armed conflict in the 20th century between China and the USSR occurred in 1969. For the first time, the atrocities of the Chinese invaders on Damansky Island were demonstrated to the general Soviet public. However, people learned the details of the tragedy only many years later.

Why did the Chinese bully the border guards?

According to one version, the deterioration of relations between the Soviet Union and China began after unsuccessful negotiations on the fate of Damansky Island, which arose on the fairway of the Ussuri River as a result of the shallowing of a small part of the river. According to the Paris Peace Agreement of 1919, the state border of the countries was determined in the middle of the river fairway, but if historical circumstances indicated otherwise, then the border could be determined based on priority - if one of the countries was the first to colonize the territory, then it was given preference in resolving the territorial issue .

Strength Tests

A priori, it was assumed that the island created by nature was to fall under the jurisdiction of the Chinese side, but due to unsuccessful negotiations between the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev and the leader of the PRC, Mao Zedong, the final document on this issue was not signed. The Chinese side began to use the "island" issue to establish relations with the American side. A number of Chinese historians argued that the Chinese were going to make the Americans a pleasant surprise, to show the seriousness of the break in relations with the USSR.

For many years, a small island - 0.74 square kilometers - was a tidbit that was used to test tactical and psychological maneuvers, the main purpose of which was to test the strength and adequacy of the reaction of Soviet border guards. Minor conflicts have occurred here before, but it did not come to an open clash. In 1969, the Chinese committed more than five thousand registered violations of the Soviet border.

The first landing went unnoticed

A secret directive of the Chinese military leadership is known, according to which a special plan of operation was developed for the armed seizure of the Damansky Peninsula. The first from the Chinese side moved to break through the landing, which on the night of March 1-2, 1969. They took advantage of the prevailing weather conditions. A heavy snowfall began, which allowed 77 Chinese soldiers to pass unnoticed along the frozen Ussuri River. They were dressed in white camouflage robes and armed with Kalashnikovs. This group was able to cross the border so covertly that its passage was unnoticed. And only the second group of Chinese in the amount of 33 people was discovered by an observer - a Soviet border guard. A message about a major violation was transmitted to the 2nd Nizhne-Mikhailovsk outpost, belonging to the Iman border detachment.

The border guards took a cameraman with them - Private Nikolai Petrov filmed the events on camera to the last. But the border guard did not have an accurate idea of ​​the number of violators. It was assumed that their number did not exceed three dozen. Therefore, 32 Soviet border guards were sent to eliminate it. Then they split up and advanced to the area of ​​violation in two groups. The task of the first is to neutralize the violators in a peaceful way, the task of the second is to provide reliable cover. The first group was led by twenty-eight-year-old Ivan Strelnikov, who was already preparing to enter the military academy in Moscow. Sergeant Vladimir Rabovich led the second group as cover.

The Chinese clearly imagined in advance the task of destroying the Soviet border guards. Whereas the Soviet border guards planned to resolve the conflict peacefully, as it happened more than once: after all, minor violations constantly occurred in this area.

Raised Chinese hand - a signal to attack

Strelnikov, as the most experienced commander and head of the outpost, was ordered to negotiate. When Ivan Strelnikov approached the violators and offered to leave Soviet territory peacefully, the Chinese officer raised his hand - this was the signal to open fire - the first line of the Chinese fired the first volley. Strelnikov was the first to die. Seven border guards accompanying Strelnikov died almost immediately.

Private Petrov filmed everything that happened until the last minute.

Gray hair and gouged out eyes

Rabovich's cover group was unable to come to the aid of their comrades: they were ambushed and died one by one. All border guards were killed. The Chinese were already mocking the dead border guard with all the sophistication. The photographs show that his eyes were gouged out, his face was mutilated with bayonets.

The surviving corporal Pavel Akulov was in for a terrible fate - torture and painful death. They captured him, tortured him for a long time, and then threw him into Soviet territory from a helicopter only in April. On the body of the deceased, doctors counted 28 stab wounds, it was clear that he had been tortured for a long time - all the hair on his head was pulled out, and a small strand was all gray.

True, one Soviet border guard managed to survive in this battle. Private Gennady Serebrov was seriously wounded in the back, lost consciousness, and a repeated blow with a bayonet in the chest was not fatal. He managed to survive and wait for help from his comrades: the commander of the neighboring outpost Vitaly Bubenin and his subordinates, as well as the group of junior sergeant Vitaly Babansky, were able to put up serious resistance to the Chinese side. With a small supply of forces and weapons, they forced the Chinese to retreat.

31 dead border guards at the cost of their lives offered worthy resistance to the enemy.

Losik and Grad stopped the conflict

The second round of the conflict took place on 14 March. By this time, the Chinese military had deployed a five thousandth regiment, the Soviet side - the 135th motorized rifle division, equipped with Grad installations, which were used after receiving a number of conflicting orders: the party leadership - the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee - urgently demanded to remove and not send Soviet troops to Island. And as soon as this was done, the Chinese immediately occupied the territory. Then the commander of the Far Eastern Military District, Oleg Losik, who went through the Second World War, ordered to open fire on the enemy with the Grad multiple launch rocket system: in one salvo - 40 shells within 20 seconds were capable of destroying the enemy within a radius of four hectares. After such shelling, the Chinese military did not undertake any more large-scale military operations.

The final point in the conflict was put by the politicians of the two countries: already in September 1969, an agreement was reached that neither Chinese nor Soviet troops would occupy the disputed island. This meant that de facto Damansky passed to China, in 1991 the island became de jure Chinese.

On October 7, 1966, amid political disagreements between Maoist China and the Soviet Union, all Chinese students were expelled from the USSR. In general, China was an ally of the USSR, and there were no fundamental and large-scale conflicts between the countries, however, some outbreaks of tension were still observed. We decided to recall the five most acute conflicts between the USSR and China.

This is how historians call the diplomatic conflict between China and the USSR that began in the late 1950s. The conflict peaked in 1969, while the end of the conflict is considered to be the end of the 1980s. The conflict was accompanied by a split in the international communist movement. Criticism of Stalin in Khrushchev's report at the end of the 20th Congress of the CPSU, the new Soviet course for economic development under the policy of "peaceful coexistence" with the capitalist countries displeased Mao Zedong as contradicting the idea of ​​"Lenin's sword" and the entire communist ideology. Khrushchev's policy was called revisionist, and its supporters in the CCP (Liu Shaoqi and others) were subjected to repression during the years of the "cultural revolution".

The “Great War of Ideas between China and the USSR” (as the conflict was called in the PRC) was started by Mao Zedong in order to strengthen his power in the PRC. During the conflict, the Chinese demanded that the USSR transfer Mongolia to China, demanded permission to create an atomic bomb, "lost territories" and more.

Border conflict on Damansky Island

On March 2 and 15, 1969, the largest Soviet-Chinese armed clashes took place in the region of Damansky Island on the Ussuri River, 230 km south of Khabarovsk and 35 km west of the regional center Luchegorsk. Moreover, they were the largest in the modern history of Russia and China.

After the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, a provision appeared that the borders between states should, as a rule (but not necessarily), pass in the middle of the main fairway of the river. But it also had exceptions.

The Chinese used the new border regulations as an excuse to revise the Sino-Soviet border. The leadership of the USSR was ready to go for it: in 1964, a consultation was held on border issues, but ended to no avail. In connection with ideological differences during the "cultural revolution" in China and after the Prague Spring of 1968, when the PRC authorities announced that the USSR had embarked on the path of "socialist imperialism", relations became especially aggravated.

Damansky Island, which was part of the Pozharsky district of Primorsky Krai, is located on the Chinese side of the main channel of the Ussuri. Since the early 1960s, the situation around the island has been heating up. According to the statements of the Soviet side, groups of civilians and military personnel began to systematically violate the border regime and enter Soviet territory, from where they were expelled each time by border guards without the use of weapons. At first, on the instructions of the Chinese authorities, peasants entered the territory of the USSR and defiantly engaged in economic activities there. The number of such provocations increased dramatically: in 1960 there were 100 of them, in 1962 - more than 5,000. Then the Red Guards began to attack border patrols.

On October 20, 1969, new negotiations were held between the heads of government of the USSR and the PRC, and the parties managed to reach an agreement on the need to revise the Soviet-Chinese border. But only in 1991 Damansky finally went to the PRC.

In total, during the clashes, Soviet troops lost 58 people killed and died from wounds (including 4 officers), 94 people were wounded (including 9 officers). The losses of the Chinese side are still classified information and, according to various estimates, range from 500-1000 to 1500 and even 3 thousand people.

Border conflict near Lake Zhalanashkol

This battle is part of the "Damansky conflict", it took place on August 13, 1969 between Soviet border guards and Chinese soldiers who violated the border of the USSR. As a result, the violators were pushed out of Soviet territory. In China, this border conflict is known as the Terekta incident, after the name of the river flowing from the Chinese Yumin county towards Lake Zhalanashkol.

Conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway

The conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) occurred in 1929 after the control of the Chinese Eastern Railway, which was a joint Soviet-Chinese enterprise, was seized by the ruler of Manchuria, Zhang Xueliang. In the course of subsequent hostilities, the Red Army defeated the enemy. The Khabarovsk protocol, signed on December 22, ended the conflict and restored the status of the road that existed before the clashes.

Vietnamese-Chinese military conflict

The last serious crisis between China and the USSR occurred in 1979, when the PLA of the PRC (Chinese army) attacked Vietnam. According to Taiwanese writer Long Yingtai, this act was largely related to the internal political struggle in the Communist Party of China. The then leader of the People's Republic of China, Deng Xiaoping, needed to consolidate his position in the party, and he tried to achieve this through a "small victorious campaign."

Already from the first days of the war, Soviet specialists, who were both in Vietnam and in neighboring countries, began combat activities together with the Vietnamese. In addition to them, reinforcements began to arrive from the USSR. An air bridge between the USSR and Vietnam was installed.

The USSR expelled the Chinese embassy from Moscow, and sent its staff not by plane, but by rail. In fact, after the Ural ridge to the very border with China and Mongolia, they could see columns of tanks going east. Naturally, such preparations did not go unnoticed, and the Chinese troops were forced to leave Vietnam and return to their original positions.

Video

Damansky Island. 1969

In the early spring of 1969, a conflict began on the Soviet-Chinese border. During the clashes, 58 Soviet soldiers and officers were killed. However, at the cost of their lives, they managed to stop a big war.

0.74 square km

The two most powerful socialist powers at that time, the USSR and the PRC, almost started a full-scale war over a piece of land called Damansky Island. Its area is only 0.74 square kilometers. In addition, during the flood on the Ussuri River, he was completely hidden under water.
There is a version that Damansky became an island only in 1915, when the current eroded part of the spit on the Chinese coast. Be that as it may, the island, which in Chinese was called Zhenbao, was located closer to the coast of the PRC. According to the international position adopted at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the borders between states should run along the middle of the main fairway of the river. This agreement provided for exceptions: if the border had historically developed along one of the banks, with the consent of the parties, it could be left unchanged. In order not to aggravate relations with a neighbor gaining international influence, the leadership of the USSR allowed the transfer of a number of islands on the Soviet-Chinese border. On this occasion, 5 years before the conflict on Damansky Island, negotiations were held, which, however, ended in nothing, both because of the political ambitions of the leader of the PRC, Mao Zedong, and because of the inconsistency of the USSR Secretary General Nikita Khrushchev.

Five thousand provocations

For the USSR, which, by and large, has not yet recovered either demographically or economically after a series of wars and revolutions in the first half of the 20th century and especially after World War II, an armed conflict, and even more so full-scale military operations with a nuclear power, in which, moreover, at that time, every fifth inhabitant of the planet lived, were unnecessary and extremely dangerous. Only this can explain the amazing patience with which the Soviet border guards endured constant provocations from the "Chinese comrades" in the border areas.
In 1962 alone, there were more than 5 thousand (!) Various violations of the border regime by Chinese citizens.

Native Chinese territories

Gradually, Mao Zedong convinced himself and the entire population of the Celestial Empire that the USSR illegally owns vast territories of 1.5 million square kilometers, which supposedly should belong to China. Such sentiments were actively inflated in the Western press - the capitalist world, during the period of the Soviet-Chinese friendship, was strongly frightened by the red-yellow threat, now rubbed its hands in anticipation of the clash of two socialist "monsters".
In such a situation, only a pretext was needed to unleash hostilities. And such an occasion was the disputed island on the Ussuri River.

"Put as many of them as possible..."

The fact that the conflict on Damansky was carefully planned is indirectly recognized even by Chinese historians themselves. For example, Li Danhui notes that in response to "Soviet provocations" it was decided to conduct a military operation with the forces of three companies. There is a version that the leadership of the USSR was aware in advance through Marshal Lin Biao of the upcoming action of the Chinese.
On the night of March 2, about 300 Chinese soldiers crossed the ice to the island. Due to the fact that it was snowing, they managed to go unnoticed until 10 am. When the Chinese were discovered, the Soviet border guards did not have an adequate idea of ​​their numbers for several hours. According to a report received at the 2nd outpost "Nizhne-Mikhailovka" of the 57th Iman border detachment, the number of armed Chinese was 30 people. 32 Soviet border guards left for the scene. Near the island, they split into two groups. The first group, under the command of Senior Lieutenant Ivan Strelnikov, headed straight for the Chinese, who were standing on the ice southwest of the island.

The second group, under the command of Sergeant Vladimir Rabovich, was supposed to cover Strelnikov's group from the southern coast of the island. As soon as Strelnikov's detachment approached the Chinese, a hurricane of fire was opened on him. Rabovich's group was also ambushed. Almost all border guards were killed on the spot. Corporal Pavel Akulov was captured in an unconscious state. His body with signs of torture was later handed over to the Soviet side. The squad of junior sergeant Yuri Babansky entered the battle, which was somewhat delayed, advancing from the outpost, and therefore the Chinese could not destroy it using the surprise factor. It was this unit, together with the help of 24 border guards who came to the rescue from the neighboring Kulebyakiny Sopki outpost, in a fierce battle, showed the Chinese how high the morale of their opponents was. “Of course, it was still possible to withdraw, return to the outpost, wait for reinforcements from the detachment. But we were seized with such fierce anger at these bastards that in those moments we wanted only one thing - to put as many of them as possible. For the guys, for ourselves, for this span of land that no one needs, but still our land, ”recalled Yuri Babansky, who was later awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his heroism.
As a result of the battle, which lasted about 5 hours, 31 Soviet border guards were killed. The irretrievable losses of the Chinese, according to the Soviet side, amounted to 248 people.
The surviving Chinese were forced to withdraw. But in the border area, the 24th Chinese Infantry Regiment, numbering 5,000 people, was already preparing for combat operations. The Soviet side pulled up the 135th motorized rifle division to Damanskoye, which was given installations of the then secret Grad multiple launch rocket systems.

Preventive "Grad"

If the officers and soldiers of the Soviet army demonstrated determination and heroism, then the same cannot be said about the top leadership of the USSR. In the following days of the conflict, the border guards received very conflicting orders. For example, at 15-00 on March 14 they were ordered to leave Damansky. But after the island was immediately occupied by the Chinese, 8 of our armored personnel carriers advanced in battle order from the side of the Soviet frontier post. The Chinese retreated, and the Soviet border guards at 20-00 of the same day were ordered to return to Damansky.
On March 15, about 500 Chinese attacked the island again. They were supported by 30 to 60 artillery pieces and mortars. From our side, about 60 border guards on 4 armored personnel carriers entered the battle. At the decisive moment of the battle, they were supported by 4 T-62 tanks. However, after a few hours of battle, it became clear that the forces were too unequal. The Soviet border guards, having shot all the ammunition, were forced to retreat to their own shore.
The situation was critical - the Chinese could launch an attack already on the frontier post, and according to the instructions of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, in no case could Soviet troops be brought into conflict. That is, the border guards were left face to face with the many times superior units of the Chinese army. And then the commander of the troops of the Far Eastern Military District, Colonel-General Oleg Losik, at his own peril and risk, gives an order that greatly sobered up the militancy of the Chinese, and, perhaps, forced them to abandon full-scale armed aggression against the USSR. Multiple launch rocket systems "Grad" were introduced into the battle. Their fire practically swept away all the Chinese units concentrated in the Damansky area. Already 10 minutes after the shelling of the Grad, organized Chinese resistance was out of the question. Those who survived began to retreat from Damansky. True, two hours later, the approaching Chinese units unsuccessfully tried to attack the island again. However, the "Chinese comrades" learned the lesson they learned. After March 15, they no longer made serious attempts to seize Damansky.

Surrendered without a fight

In the battles for Damansky, 58 Soviet border guards were killed and, according to various sources, from 500 to 3,000 Chinese troops (this information is still kept secret by the Chinese side). However, as happened more than once in Russian history, diplomats surrendered what they managed to keep by force of arms. Already in the autumn of 1969, negotiations were held, as a result of which it was decided that the Chinese and Soviet border guards would remain on the banks of the Ussuri without going to Damansky. In fact, this meant the transfer of the island to China. The island was legally transferred to China in 1991.

The Damansky conflict of 1969 is an armed clash between the troops of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. The geographical location gave the name to the event - the battle took place in the area of ​​​​Damansky Island (sometimes it is mistakenly called the Damansky Peninsula) on the Ussuri River, which flows 230 kilometers south of Khabarovsk. It is believed that the Daman events are the largest Soviet-Chinese conflict in modern history.

Background and causes of the conflict

After the end of the Second Opium War (1856-1860), Russia signed an extremely beneficial treaty with China, which went down in history as the Beijing Treaty. According to official documents, the Russian border now ended on the Chinese bank of the Amur River, which meant that only the Russian side could fully use the water resources. No one thought about the belonging of the deserted Amur Islands due to the small population in that territory.

In the middle of the 20th century, China was no longer satisfied with this situation. The first attempt to move the border ended in failure. In the late 1960s, the leadership of the PRC began to assert that the USSR was following the path of socialist imperialism, which meant that aggravation of relations could not be avoided. According to some historians, a sense of superiority over the Chinese was cultivated in the Soviet Union. The servicemen, as never before, began to zealously monitor the observance of the Soviet-Chinese border.

The situation in the area of ​​Damansky Island began to heat up in the early 1960s. The Chinese military and civilians constantly violated the border regime, penetrated into foreign territory, but the Soviet border guards expelled them without the use of weapons. The number of provocations grew every year. In the middle of the decade, attacks on Soviet border patrols by Chinese Red Guards became more frequent.

In the late 60s, the fights between the parties ceased to resemble fights, first firearms were used, and then military equipment. On February 7, 1969, for the first time, Soviet border guards fired several single shots from machine guns in the direction of the Chinese military.

The course of the armed conflict

On the night of March 1-2, 1969, more than 70 Chinese soldiers, armed with Kalashnikovs and SKS carbines, took up a position on the high coast of Damansky Island. This group was noticed only at 10:20 in the morning. At 10:40, a border detachment of 32 people, led by Senior Lieutenant Ivan Strelnikov, arrived on the island. They demanded to leave the territory of the USSR, but the Chinese opened fire. Most of the Soviet detachment, including the commander, died.

Reinforcements arrived on Damansky Island in the person of Senior Lieutenant Vitaly Bubenin and 23 soldiers. The shooting continued for about half an hour. On the armored personnel carrier of Bubenin, the heavy machine gun failed, the Chinese fired from mortars. They brought ammunition to the Soviet soldiers and helped to evacuate the wounded residents of the village of Nizhnemikhailovka.

After the death of the commander, junior sergeant Yuri Babansky took over the operation. His squad was dispersed on the island, the soldiers took the fight. After 25 minutes, only 5 fighters survived, but they continued to fight. At about 13:00, the Chinese military began to retreat.

On the Chinese side, 39 people died, on the Soviet side - 31 (and another 14 were injured). At 13:20, reinforcements from the Far Eastern and Pacific border districts began to flock to the island. The Chinese were preparing a regiment of 5,000 soldiers for the offensive.

On March 3, a demonstration took place near the Soviet embassy in Beijing. On March 4, the Chinese newspapers reported that only the Soviet side was to blame for the incident on Damansky Island. On the same day, Pravda published completely opposite data. On March 7, a picket was held near the Chinese embassy in Moscow. The demonstrators threw dozens of vials of ink into the walls of the building.

On the morning of March 14, a group of Chinese military men moving towards Damansky Island was fired upon by Soviet border guards. The Chinese retreated. At 15:00, a unit of Soviet army fighters left the island. It was immediately occupied by Chinese soldiers. Several times that day the island changed hands.

On the morning of March 15, a serious battle ensued. The Soviet soldiers did not have enough weapons, and what they had was constantly out of order. The numerical superiority was also on the side of the Chinese. At 17:00, the commander of the army of the Far Eastern District, Lieutenant General O.A. Losik violated the order of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU and was forced to enter into battle the secret Grad multiple launch rocket systems. This decided the outcome of the battle.

The Chinese side on this section of the border no longer dared to engage in serious provocations and hostilities.

Consequences of the conflict

During the Damansky conflict of 1969, 58 people died and died from wounds from the Soviet side, 94 more people were injured. The Chinese lost from 100 to 300 people (this is still classified information).

On September 11, in Beijing, Premier of the State Council of the PRC Zhou Enlai and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A. Kosygin signed a truce, which in fact meant that Damansky Island now belongs to China. On October 20, an agreement was reached on revising the Soviet-Chinese border. Finally, Damansky Island became the official territory of the PRC only in 1991.