Damansky - the Soviet-Chinese border conflict of 1969 over an island on the Ussuri River (about 1700 m long and 500 m wide), in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bwhich on March 2 and 15, 1969, battles took place between Soviet and Chinese troops. On the night of March 2, 1969, 300 Chinese troops secretly occupied Damansky and equipped camouflaged firing points there. In their rear, on the left bank of the Ussuri, reserves and artillery support (mortars and recoilless rifles) were concentrated. This act was undertaken as part of Operation Retaliation, which was led by Xiao Quanfu, Deputy Commander of the Shenyang Military Region.

In the morning, Chinese soldiers opened fire on 55 Soviet border guards marching towards the island, led by the head of the Nizhne-Mikhailovka frontier post, senior lieutenant I. Strelnikov. The border guards, led by the surviving commander - junior sergeant Yu. Babansky - lay down and entered into battle with the superior forces of the Chinese. Soon reinforcements came to their aid on armored personnel carriers, led by the head of the neighboring Kulebyakiny Sopki outpost, Senior Lieutenant V. Bubenin.

With the support of mortar fire from their shore, the Chinese secured themselves behind the embankment on the island and again forced the Soviet soldiers to lie down. But Bubenin did not back down. He regrouped his forces and organized a new attack in armored personnel carriers. Bypassing the island, he brought his mobile group to the flank of the Chinese and forced them to leave their positions on the island. During this attack, Bubenin was wounded, but did not leave the battle and brought him to victory. In the battle on March 2, 31 Soviet border guards were killed, 14 were injured.

On the morning of March 15, the Chinese again went on the offensive. They brought the strength of their forces to an infantry division, reinforced by reservists. Attacks by the method of "human waves" continued for an hour. After a fierce battle, the Chinese managed to push back the Soviet soldiers. Then, to support the defenders, a tank platoon headed by the head of the Iman border detachment (it included the Nizhne-Mikhailovka and Kulebyakiny Sopki outposts), Colonel D. Leonov, moved to counterattack.

But it turned out that the Chinese were prepared for such a turn of events and had a sufficient amount of anti-tank weapons. Due to their heavy fire, the counterattack failed. Moreover, Leonov exactly repeated Bubenin's detour maneuver, which did not come as a surprise to the Chinese. In this direction, they have already dug trenches where grenade launchers were located. The lead tank, in which Leonov was located, was hit, and the colonel himself, who was trying to get out through the lower hatch, died. Two other tanks still managed to break through to the island and take up defense there. This allowed the Soviet soldiers to hold out for another 2 hours on Damansky. Finally, having shot all the ammunition and not having received reinforcements, they left Damansky.

The failure of the counterattack and the loss of the latest T-62 combat vehicle with secret equipment finally convinced the Soviet command that the forces brought into battle were not enough to defeat the Chinese side, which was prepared very seriously. Then the forces of the 135th motorized rifle division deployed along the river entered the business, the command of which ordered its artillery (including a separate BM-21 "grad" rocket division) to open fire on the positions of the Chinese on the island. This was the first time that Grad rocket launchers were used in combat, the impact of which decided the outcome of the battle. A significant part of the Chinese soldiers on Damansky (more than 700 people) was destroyed by a firestorm.

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 Damansky 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: Colonel D. Leonov and Senior Lieutenant I. Strelnikov (posthumously), Senior Lieutenant V. Bubenin and Junior Sergeant Yu. Babansky.

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. After Sino-Soviet negotiations in September 1969, it was decided to give Damansky Island to the People's Republic of China. The new owners of the island filled up the channel, and since then it has become part of the Chinese coast (Zhalanashkol).

Used materials of the book: Nikolai Shefov. Russian battles. Military History Library. M., 2002.

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The passage of the Russian-Chinese border was established by numerous legal acts - the Nerchinsk Treaty of 1689, the Burinsky and Kyakhta treatises of 1727, the Aigun Treaty of 1858, the Beijing Treaty of 1860, and the Treaty of 1911.

In accordance with generally accepted practice, borders on rivers are drawn along the main fairway. However, taking advantage of the weakness of pre-revolutionary China, the tsarist government of Russia managed to draw a border on the Ussuri River along the water's edge along the Chinese coast. Thus, the entire river and the islands on it turned out to be Russian.

This obvious injustice persisted after the October Revolution of 1917 and the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, but did not affect Sino-Soviet relations in any way. And only at the end of the 1950s, when disagreements arose between the leadership of the CPSU and the CCP, did the situation on the border become constantly aggravated.

The Soviet leadership was sympathetic to the desire of the Chinese to draw a new border along the rivers and was even ready to transfer a number of lands to the PRC. However, this readiness disappeared as soon as the ideological and then the interstate conflict flared up. Further deterioration of relations between the two countries eventually led to an open armed confrontation on Damansky Island.

Damansky Island in the late 60s belonged to the Pozharsky district of Primorsky Krai, bordering on the Chinese province of Heilongjiang. The distance of the island from the Soviet coast was about 500 m, from the Chinese - about 300 m. From south to north, Damansky is extended by 1500 - 1800 m, and its width reaches 600 -700 m.

These figures are quite approximate, since the size of the island is highly dependent on the time of year. For example, in spring and during summer floods, the island is flooded with the waters of the Ussuri, and it is almost hidden from view, and in winter Damansky rises among the frozen river. Therefore, this island does not represent any economic or military-strategic value.

The events of March 2 and 15, 1969 on Damansky Island were preceded by numerous provocations by the Chinese to arbitrarily seize the Soviet islands on the Ussuri River (starting in 1965). At the same time, the Soviet border guards always clearly adhered to the established line of conduct: provocateurs were expelled from Soviet territory, the border guards did not use weapons.

On the night of March 1-2, 1969, about 300 Chinese troops crossed to Damansky and lay down on the higher western coast of the island among bushes and trees. The trenches were not torn off, they simply lay down in the snow, laying down mats.

The equipment of the border violators was quite consistent with the weather conditions and consisted of the following: a hat with earflaps, which differs from a similar Soviet earflap in the presence of two flaps on the left and right - in order to better capture sounds; padded jacket and the same cotton pants; insulated lace-up boots; cotton uniform and warm underwear, thick socks; army-style mittens - thumb and index finger separately, the rest of the fingers together.

The Chinese soldiers were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and SKS carbines. The commanders have TT pistols. All Chinese-made weapons, manufactured under Soviet licenses.

The offenders were in white camouflage robes, they wrapped their weapons with the same camouflage cloth. The ramrod was filled with paraffin - so as not to rattle.

There were no documents or personal belongings in the pockets of the Chinese.

The Chinese extended a telephone connection to their shore and lay in the snow until morning.

To support the intruders on the Chinese coast, positions of recoilless guns, heavy machine guns and mortars were equipped. Here the infantry with a total number of 200-300 people was waiting in the wings.

On the night of March 2, two border guards were constantly at the Soviet observation post, but they did not notice or hear anything - neither lights nor any sounds. The advance of the Chinese to their positions was well organized and completely covert.

At about 9:00 a.m., a border detachment consisting of three people passed through the island, the detachment did not find the Chinese. Violators also did not begin to unmask themselves.

At about 10.40 am, a report was received at the Nizhne-Mikhailovka outpost from the observation post that a group of up to 30 armed people was moving from the Chinese border post of Gunsy in the direction of Damansky.

The head of the outpost, Senior Lieutenant Ivan Strelnikov, raised his subordinates on command "to the gun", after which he called the operational duty officer of the border detachment.

The personnel plunged into three vehicles - GAZ-69 (7 people led by Strelnikov), BTR-60PB (about 13 people, senior - sergeant V. Rabovich) and GAZ-63 (a total of 12 border guards led by junior sergeant Yu. Babansky ).

GAZ-63, on which Yu. Babansky advanced with his group, had a weak engine, so on the way to the island they lagged behind the main group by 15 minutes.

Arriving at the place, the commander's "gazik" and the armored personnel carrier stopped at the southern tip of the island. Dismounting, the border guards moved in the direction of the violators in two groups: the first was led along the ice by the head of the outpost himself, and Rabovich's group walked in a parallel course directly along the island.

Together with Strelnikov, there was a photographer from the political department of the border detachment, Private Nikolai Petrov, who filmed what was happening with a movie camera, as well as with a Zorkiy-4 camera.

Approaching the provocateurs (at about 11.10), I. Strelnikov protested about the violation of the border and demanded that the Chinese military personnel leave the territory of the USSR. One of the Chinese answered something loudly, then two pistol shots rang out. The first line parted, and the second opened a sudden automatic fire on Strelnikov's group.

Strelnikov's group and the head of the outpost himself died immediately. The Chinese who ran up snatched a movie camera from Petrov's hands, but did not notice the camera: the soldier fell on him, covering him with a short fur coat.

The ambush on Damansky also opened fire - on Rabovich's group. Rabovich managed to shout "To battle", "but this did not solve anything: several border guards were killed and wounded, the survivors were in the middle of a frozen lake in full view of the Chinese.

Part of the Chinese got up from their "beds" and went on the attack on a handful of Soviet border guards. They took an unequal battle and fired back to the last.

It was at this moment that Y. Babansky's group arrived in time. Having taken a position at some distance behind the dying comrades, the border guards met the advancing Chinese with machine gun fire.

The raiders reached the positions of the Rabovich group and here they finished off several wounded border guards with automatic bursts and edged weapons (bayonets, knives).

The only one who survived literally by a miracle was Private Gennady Serebrov. He told about the last minutes of the life of his friends.

There were fewer and fewer fighters left in the Babansky group, ammunition was running out. The junior sergeant decided to retreat to the parking lot, but at that moment the Chinese artillery covered both vehicles. The car drivers took refuge in an armored personnel carrier left by Strelnikov and tried to enter the island. They did not succeed, because the coast was too steep and high. After several unsuccessful attempts to overcome the rise, the armored personnel carrier retreated to a shelter on the Soviet coast. At this time, the reserve of the neighboring outpost, led by Vitaly Bubenin, arrived in time.

Senior Lieutenant V. Bubenin commanded the neighboring outpost of Sopka Kulebyakina, located 17-18 km north of Damansky. Having received a telephone message on the morning of March 2 about shooting on the island, Bubenin put about twenty fighters in an armored personnel carrier and hurried to the rescue of his neighbors.

At about 11.30 am, the armored personnel carrier reached Damansky and entered one of the ice-covered channels. Hearing heavy gunfire, the border guards disembarked from the car and deployed in a chain in the direction of the gunshots. Almost immediately they ran into a group of Chinese, and a fight ensued.

The violators (still the same, in "beds") noticed Bubenin and transferred fire to his group. The senior lieutenant was wounded and shell-shocked, but did not lose control of the battle.

Leaving in place a group of soldiers led by junior sergeant V. Kanygin, Bubenin and 4 border guards plunged into an armored personnel carrier and moved around the island, going into the rear of the Chinese ambush. Bubenin himself stood up to a heavy machine gun, and his subordinates fired through the loopholes on both flanks.

Despite the multiple superiority in manpower, the Chinese found themselves in an extremely unpleasant situation: from the island they were fired upon by groups of Babansky and Kanygin, and from the rear - by a maneuvering armored personnel carrier. But the Bubeninskaya car also got it: the sight was damaged by fire from the Chinese coast on the armored personnel carrier, the hydraulic system could no longer maintain the necessary pressure in the tires. The head of the outpost himself received a new wound and concussion.

Bubenin managed to bypass the island and take cover on the river bank. Having reported by phone to the detachment about the situation and then reseeding in Strelnikov's armored personnel carrier, the senior lieutenant again went out to the channel. But now he drove the car directly across the island along the Chinese ambush.

The climax of the battle came at the moment when Bubenin destroyed the Chinese command post. After that, the violators began to leave their positions, taking with them the dead and wounded. The Chinese left mats, telephones, shops, and several pieces of small arms in place of the "beds". In the same place, in a large number (almost in half of the “beds”), used individual dressing bags were found.

Having shot the ammunition, Bubenin's armored personnel carrier retreated to the ice between the island and the Soviet coast. They stopped to take on board two wounded, but at that moment the car was hit.

Closer to 12.00, a helicopter with the command of the Iman border detachment landed near the island. The head of the detachment, Colonel D.V. Leonov remained on the shore, and the head of the political department, Lieutenant Colonel A.D. Konstantinov, organized a search for the wounded and dead directly on Damansky.

A little later, reinforcements from neighboring outposts arrived at the scene. Thus ended the first combat clash on Damansky on March 2, 1969.

After the events of March 2, reinforced detachments (at least 10 border guards armed with group weapons) constantly went to Damansky.

In the rear, at a distance of several kilometers from Damansky, a motorized rifle division of the Soviet Army was deployed (artillery, Grad multiple rocket launchers).

The Chinese side also accumulated forces for the next offensive. The 24th Infantry Regiment of the National Liberation Army of China (PLA) numbering about 5,000 (five thousand military personnel) was preparing for combat operations near the island in the territory of the PRC.

At about 15.00 on March 14, 1969, the Imansky border detachment received an order from a higher authority: to remove the Soviet border guards from the island (the logic of this order is not clear, just as the person who gave this order is unknown).

The border guards withdrew from Damansky, and immediately a revival began on the Chinese side. Chinese servicemen in small groups of 10-15 people began to advance to the island in dashes, others began to take up combat positions opposite the island, on the Chinese coast of the Ussuri.

In response to these actions, the Soviet border guards on 8 armored personnel carriers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel E. Yanshin turned into battle formation and began to advance towards Damansky Island. The Chinese immediately withdrew from the island to their shore.

After 00.00 on March 15, a detachment of Lieutenant Colonel Yanshin, consisting of 60 border guards in 4 armored personnel carriers, entered the island.

The detachment settled down on the island in four groups, at a distance of about 100 meters from each other, dug trenches for prone firing. The groups were commanded by officers L. Mankovsky, N. Popov, V. Solovyov, A. Klyga. Armored personnel carriers constantly moved around the island, changing firing positions.

Around 9:00 am on March 15, a loudspeaker installation was launched on the Chinese side. Soviet border guards were urged to leave "Chinese" territory, to renounce "revisionism", and so on.

A loudspeaker was also turned on on the Soviet coast. The broadcast was conducted in Chinese and in rather simple words: "Think about it before it's too late, before you are the sons of those who liberated China from the Japanese invaders."

After some time, silence fell on both sides, and closer to 10.00, Chinese artillery and mortars (from 60 to 90 barrels) began shelling the island. At the same time, 3 companies of Chinese infantry went on the attack.

A fierce battle began, which lasted about an hour. By 11:00, the defenders began to run out of ammunition, and then Yanshin delivered them from the Soviet coast in an armored personnel carrier.

Colonel Leonov reported to his superiors about the superior forces of the enemy and the need to use artillery, but to no avail.

At about 12.00 the first armored personnel carrier was knocked out, twenty minutes later - the second. Nevertheless, Yanshin's detachment steadfastly held its position even in the face of the threat of encirclement.

Stepping back, the Chinese began to group on their shore opposite the southern tip of the island. From 400 to 500 soldiers clearly intended to hit the rear of the Soviet border guards.

The situation was aggravated by the fact that communication between Yanshin and Leonov was lost: the antennas on the armored personnel carriers were cut off by machine-gun fire.

In order to frustrate the enemy's plan, the grenade launcher crew of I. Kobets opened well-aimed fire from his shore. This was not enough under the circumstances, and then Colonel Leonov decided to make a raid on three tanks. The tank company was promised to Leonov on March 13, but 9 vehicles came up only at the height of the battle.

Leonov took a seat in the lead car, and three T-62s moved towards the southern tip of Damansky.

Approximately at the place where Strelnikov died, the command tank was hit by the Chinese with a grenade launcher (RPG). Leonov and some crew members were injured. Leaving the tank, we headed for our shore. Here a bullet hit Colonel Leonov - right in the heart.

The border guards continued to fight in scattered groups and did not allow the Chinese to reach the western coast of the island. The situation was heating up, the island could be lost. At this time, it was decided to use artillery and bring motorized rifles into battle.

At 5:00 pm, the "Grad" installation division launched a fire attack on the places of accumulation of manpower and equipment of the Chinese and their firing positions. At the same time, the cannon artillery regiment opened fire on identified targets.

The raid turned out to be extremely accurate: the shells destroyed the Chinese reserves, mortars, shell piles, etc.

Artillery hit for 10 minutes, and at 17.10 motorized infantry and border guards went on the attack under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov and Lieutenant Colonel Konstantinov. The armored personnel carriers entered the canal, after which the fighters dismounted and turned towards the rampart along the western bank.

The enemy began a hasty retreat from the island. Damansky was liberated, but around 19.00 some Chinese firing points came to life. Perhaps at that moment it was necessary to deliver another artillery strike, but the command considered it inappropriate.

The Chinese tried to recapture Damansky, but three of their attempts ended in failure. After that, the Soviet soldiers retreated to their shore, and the enemy did not take any more hostile actions.

Epilogue (Russian version)

On October 20, 1969, talks were held in Beijing between the heads of government of the USSR and the PRC. The result of these negotiations: it was possible to reach an agreement on the need to carry out demarcation measures on sections of the Soviet-Chinese border. As a result: during the demarcation of the border between the USSR and China in 1991, Damansky Island went to the PRC. Now he has a different name - Zhenbao-dao.

One of the points of view widespread in Russia is that the point is not to whom, in the end, Damansky went, but what the circumstances were at a particular historical moment in time. If the island had then been given to the Chinese, this would, in turn, have created a precedent and would have encouraged the then Chinese leadership to further territorial claims to the USSR.

According to many Russian citizens, in 1969, for the first time after the Great Patriotic War, real aggression was repelled on the Ussuri River, which was aimed at seizing foreign territories and resolving specific political issues.

Ryabushkin Dmitry Sergeevich
www.damanski-zhenbao.ru
Photo - http://lifecontrary.ru/?p=35

In the 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.

1. Patch of contention
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.

2. Black Chinese ingratitude
The border conflict on Damansky occurred just 20 years after the formation of the People's Republic of China. More recently, the Celestial Empire was a semi-colonial formation with a poor and poorly organized population, with a territory that was constantly divided into spheres of influence by the strongest world powers. So, for example, the famous Tibet from 1912 to 1950 was an independent state, which was under the "trusteeship" of Great Britain. It was the help of the USSR that allowed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to take power and unite the country. Moreover, the economic, scientific and technical support of the Soviet Union allowed the ancient "sleeping empire" in a few years to create the newest, most modern sectors of the economy, strengthen the army, and create conditions for the modernization of the country. The war in Korea of ​​1950-1953, in which the troops of the Celestial Empire actively, albeit tacitly, took part, showed the West and the whole world that the PRC is a new political and military force that can no longer be ignored. However, after Stalin's death, a period of cooling began in Soviet-Chinese relations. Mao Zedong now claimed almost the role of the leading world leader of the communist movement, which, of course, could not please the ambitious Nikita Khrushchev. In addition, the policy of the Cultural Revolution pursued by Zedong constantly demanded to keep society in suspense, to create more and more new images of the enemy, both inside and outside the country. And the course towards “de-Stalinization” pursued in the USSR threatened the cult of the “great Mao” himself, which began to take shape in China since the 1950s. Played a role and a very peculiar style of behavior of Nikita Sergeevich. If in the West, kicking the podium and “Kuzkin’s mother” were perceived mainly as a good informational reason for hype in the media, then a much more subtle East, even in Khrushchev’s rather risky proposal to place a million Chinese workers in Siberia at the suggestion of Mao Zedong, saw “the imperial manners of the USSR ". As a result, already in 1960, the CPC officially announced the “wrong” course of the CPSU, relations between previously friendly countries escalated to the limit, and conflicts began to arise on the border, which was more than 7.5 thousand kilometers long.

3. 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.

4. Originally 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.

5. "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 retreat, 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.

6. 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 the 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 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.

7. 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.

PRC

Soviet-Chinese border conflict on Damansky Island- armed clashes between the USSR and the PRC and March 15, 1969 in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bDamansky Island (Chinese 珍宝, Zhenbao- "Precious") on the Ussuri River, 230 km south of Khabarovsk and 35 km west of the regional center Luchegorsk ( 46°29′08″ s. sh. 133°50′40″ E d. HGIO). The largest Soviet-Chinese armed conflict in the modern history of Russia and China.

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Background and causes of the conflict

Damansky Island, which was part of the Pozharsky District, Primorsky Territory, was located on the Chinese side of the main channel of the Ussuri. Its dimensions are 1500-1800 m from north to south and 600-700 m from west to east (an area of ​​about 0.74 km²). During the flood period, the island is completely hidden under water, and flood meadows are a valuable natural resource. However, there are several brick buildings on the island.

Since the early 1960s, the situation in the area of ​​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: mowing and grazing, declaring that they were on Chinese territory. The number of such provocations increased dramatically: in 1960 there were 100 of them, in - more than 5000. Then the Red Guards began to attack border patrols. The number of such events was in the thousands, each of them involved up to several hundred people. On January 4, 1969, a Chinese provocation involving 500 people was carried out on Kirkinsky Island (Qiliqingdao). [ ]

According to the Chinese version of events, the Soviet border guards themselves “arranged” provocations and beat up Chinese citizens who were engaged in economic activities where they always did it. During the Kirkinsky incident, Soviet border guards used armored personnel carriers to force out civilians, and on February 7, 1969, they fired several single automatic shots in the direction of the Chinese border detachment.

However, it has been repeatedly noted that none of these clashes, no matter whose fault it occurred, could result in a serious armed conflict without the approval of the authorities. The assertion that the events around Damansky Island on March 2 and 15 were the result of an action carefully planned by the Chinese side is now the most widely spread; including directly or indirectly recognized by many Chinese historians. For example, Li Danhui writes that in 1968-1969 the directives of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China limited the response to "Soviet provocations", only on January 25, 1969, it was allowed to plan "retaliatory military operations" near Damansky Island with the forces of three companies. On February 19, the General Staff and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC agreed to this. There is a version according to which the leadership of the USSR was aware in advance through Marshal Lin Biao of the upcoming action of the Chinese, which resulted in a conflict.

In a US State Department Intelligence Bulletin dated July 13, 1969: “Chinese propaganda emphasized the need for internal unity and urged the population to prepare for war. It can be assumed that the incidents were set up solely to strengthen domestic politics.

Chronology of events

Events March 1-2 and the next week

The command over the surviving border guards was taken over by junior sergeant Yuri Babansky, whose squad managed to covertly disperse near the island due to a delay in moving out from the outpost and, together with the crew of the armored personnel carrier, took on a firefight.

“After 20 minutes of the battle,” Babansky recalled, “out of 12 guys, eight remained alive, after another 15 - five. Of course, it was still possible to retreat, 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.

Around 13:00, the Chinese began their retreat.

In the battle on March 2, 31 Soviet border guards were killed, 14 were injured. The losses of the Chinese side (according to the assessment of the KGB USSR commission chaired by Colonel-General N. S. Zakharov) amounted to 39 people killed.

At about 13:20, a helicopter arrived at Damansky with the command of the Imansky border detachment and its chief, Colonel D.V. Leonov, and reinforcements from neighboring outposts, the reserves of the Pacific and Far Eastern border districts were involved. Reinforced detachments of border guards went to Damansky, and the 135th motorized rifle division of the Soviet Army was deployed in the rear with artillery and installations of the BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket system. On the Chinese side, the 24th Infantry Regiment, numbering 5,000 men, was preparing for combat operations.

For their heroism, five servicemen received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union: Colonel D. V. Leonov I. Strelnikov (posthumously), junior sergeant V. Orekhov (posthumously), senior lieutenant V. Bubenin, junior sergeant Yu. Babansky. Many border guards and military personnel of the Soviet Army were awarded state awards: 3 - Orders of Lenin, 10 - Orders of the Red Banner, 31 - Orders of the Red Star, 10 - Orders of Glory, III degree, 63 - medals "For Courage", 31 - medals of Merit .

The Soviet soldiers failed to return the downed T-62 tail number 545 due to constant Chinese shelling. An attempt to destroy it with mortars was unsuccessful, and the tank fell through the ice. Subsequently, the Chinese were able to pull it to their shore, and now it stands in the Beijing Military Museum.

After the ice melted, the exit of Soviet border guards to Damansky turned out to be difficult, and Chinese attempts to capture it had to be hindered by sniper and machine-gun fire. On September 10, 1969, the fire was ordered to cease fire, apparently to create a favorable background for negotiations that began the next day at the Beijing airport. Immediately, the Damansky and Kirkinsky islands were occupied by Chinese armed forces.

On September 11, in Beijing, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A. N. Kosygin, who was returning from the funeral of Ho Chi Minh, and the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai, agreed to stop hostile actions and that the troops remain in their positions. In fact, this meant the transfer of Damansky to China.

On October 20, 1969, new negotiations were held between the heads of government of the USSR and the PRC, and an agreement was reached on the need to revise the Soviet-Chinese border. Further, a series of negotiations were held in Beijing and Moscow, and in 1991 Damansky Island finally passed to the PRC (de facto it was transferred to China at the end of 1969).

In 2001, photographs of the discovered bodies of Soviet soldiers from the archives of the KGB of the USSR were declassified, testifying to the facts of abuse by the Chinese side, the materials were transferred to the museum of the city of Dalnerechensk.

Americans, recalling the Cuban Missile Crisis, call it the most dangerous moment in the Cold War, when the world stood on the brink of catastrophe. Despite some tense moments, Washington and Moscow managed to resolve this crisis, but only after the death of US Air Force pilot Major Rudolph Anderson Jr. (Rudolph Anderson Jr.).

Seven years later, in March 1969, a unit of soldiers from the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) attacked the Soviet frontier post on Damansky Island, killing dozens and injuring more border guards. Because of this incident, Russia and China were on the brink of war, which could lead to the use of nuclear weapons. But after two weeks of clashes, the conflict subsided.

What if the brief 1969 conflict between China and the Soviet Union escalated into a war?

Story

The incident on Damansky Island, where the ambush was set up and the main fighting took place, became the lowest point in Soviet-Chinese relations. Even ten years earlier, Beijing and Moscow stood shoulder to shoulder as the main stronghold of the communist world. But the struggle over issues of ideology, leadership and resources led to a sharp rift between the allies, and this had global consequences. The split intensified territorial disputes that had existed since tsarist times. There were many gray areas along the long, loosely marked border that both China and the USSR claimed possession of.

Context

It's time for Americans to understand: China is not the USSR

Qiushi 05/10/2012

Why won't China become the next USSR?

U.S. News & World Report 22.06.2014

If China collapses like the USSR

Xinhua 08/14/2013
After a few minor incidents, the skirmishes on Damansky escalated the tension to a maximum. The Soviets launched a counter-offensive but suffered heavy losses, as they did during the August incident in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The parties have become stronger in the opinion that the Chinese leadership was preparing for these clashes and led them. Why would the Chinese provoke their much stronger neighbor? And what if the Soviets had reacted more aggressively to Chinese provocations?

Immediately after this conflict, the USSR and China began preparations for war. The Red Army transferred its forces and assets to the Far East, and the PLA conducted a full mobilization. In 1969, the Soviets had a huge technical advantage over China. But Beijing created the largest army in the world, and a significant part of it was concentrated near the Soviet-Chinese border. In contrast, the Red Army concentrated the bulk of its forces and resources in Eastern Europe, where they could prepare for a conflict with NATO. Consequently, at the moment of the clash, the Chinese may well have had superior conventional forces along much of the frontier.

However, Chinese superiority in manpower did not mean that the PLA would be able to carry out a long-term invasion of the USSR. The Chinese did not have the logistics and air force to capture and hold large swathes of Soviet territory. Moreover, the long Sino-Soviet border gave the Soviets plenty of room to respond. Since a NATO offensive was unlikely, the Soviets could move significant forces and equipment from Europe to the east to attack Xinjiang and other border territories.

The most important direction of a possible strike was Manchuria, where the Red Army at the end of World War II carried out a crushing and lightning offensive. Despite the large numerical superiority, the PLA in 1969 had no more hope of stopping such an offensive than the Kwantung Army had in 1945. And the loss of Manchuria would be a colossal blow to China's economic power and political legitimacy. In any case, Soviet aviation would very quickly disable the Chinese Air Force and subject cities, communications centers and military bases on Chinese territory to powerful air strikes.

After capturing Manchuria in 1945, the Soviets plundered Japanese industry and withdrew. They could play the same scenario in 1969, but only if the Chinese leadership looked reality in the eye. With the excesses of the Cultural Revolution now a thing of the past and rival factions still competing in ideological radicalism, it would be difficult for Moscow to find a constructive partner for peace talks. The Soviet offensive, if it developed, would have been very similar to the offensive of the Japanese troops in 1937, however, without the superiority at sea, which the Imperial Japanese Navy enjoyed. In anticipation of such strikes, the PLA could withdraw into the hinterland, leaving scorched earth in its wake.

Nuclear weapon?

China tested its first nuclear weapon in 1964, theoretically giving Beijing a nuclear deterrent. However, the systems for delivering such charges to the target left much to be desired. Liquid fuel rockets did not inspire much confidence in terms of reliability, they took several hours to prepare, and they could be on the launch pad for a strictly limited time. Moreover, at that time, Chinese missiles did not have enough launch range to strike at key Soviet targets located in the European part of Russia. Chinese bomber aircraft, represented by a few Tu-4s (a Soviet copy of the American B-29) and H-6 (a copy of the Soviet Tu-16), did not have much chance of overcoming the modern air defense system of the Soviet Union.

The Soviets, for their part, were close to achieving nuclear parity with the US. The USSR had a modern and advanced arsenal of operational-tactical and strategic nuclear weapons, capable of easily destroying the Chinese nuclear deterrence forces, military formations and large cities. Sensitively listening to world public opinion, the Soviet leadership would not have dared to launch a full-scale nuclear attack on China (in this case, American and Chinese propaganda would have frolic with might and main). But limited strikes against Chinese nuclear facilities, as well as strikes with tactical weapons against deployed Chinese military formations, could seem quite reasonable and expedient. Much would depend on how the Chinese react to defeats on the battlefield. If the Chinese leadership had decided to act on the principle of "make or break" and use their nuclear forces in order to forestall the decisive and victorious actions of the Soviets, they could well receive a preemptive strike from the Soviets. And since Moscow considered China to be completely insane, it could well decide to destroy Chinese nuclear forces before they create problems for it.

US reaction

The United States has responded to these clashes with caution and apprehension. The border conflict convinced Washington that the Sino-Soviet split remained in place. However, officials differed in assessing the likelihood of a larger conflict and its consequences. The Soviets, through various official and unofficial channels, tried to find out the attitude of the United States towards China. Allegedly, the United States reacted negatively in 1969 to Soviet soundings in an attempt to propose joint strikes against Chinese nuclear facilities. But even if Washington did not want to burn China in a nuclear fire, it would hardly take any serious steps to protect Beijing from Moscow's wrath.

Ten years earlier, Dwight Eisenhower laid out the biggest obstacles in the Soviet Union's war against China: what to do after victory. The Soviets had neither the ability nor the desire to rule another territory the size of a continent, especially when massive resistance from a disaffected population could arise there. And the United States, courting the "legitimate" government in Formosa (Taiwan), would gladly support the various forces of resistance to the Soviet occupation. If Beijing had survived the war, the United States could well have "unleashed Chiang Kai-shek" in an attempt to take part of its territories from mainland China and place them under Western rule.

The most likely outcome of such a war would be a short-term success for China, after which the USSR would strike at it quickly and crushingly in retaliation. Beijing would then fall into an even stronger embrace of the United States, and perhaps for this reason the Soviets decided not to risk it.

Robert Farley is a frequent contributor to The National Interest. He is the author of The Battleship Book. Farley teaches at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky. His areas of specialization include military doctrine, national security and maritime affairs.