The legendary story of Chinese military martial arts in the 1969 Sino-Soviet border wars

The legendary story of Chinese military martial arts in the 1969 Sino-Soviet border wars
 "Every year on August 1st, Chinese army units from all around collect to celebrate the Birthday of the Chinese Red Army. Senior and retired officers are invited to tell tales of their glorious past in order to inspire the more youthful generation. The following story is an account as told to me by Jian Zhou, a special forces officer of the 49th field Chinese Red Army (and my instructor) in Manchuria."

On March two, 1969, Chinese & Soviet troops opened fire on another on a small piece of disputed land located along the Ussuri River on the northeast border between Chinese Manchuria & the Soviet Union. This area is known to the Chinese as "Zhenbao" island (or "treasure island"). This was the first time in modern history that these communist superpowers have clashed. The sides fought again on March 14-15. This time using a bigger number of troops & armoured vehicles. Sporadic confrontations continued along the border in the approaching months with both sides claiming victory while blaming the other side for aggressive tactics. The strain had finally escalated to the point of rumours of a "limited nuclear confrontation" as being a possibility. The Chinese government immediately began a feverish anti-Soviet propoganda campaign & ordered the nation to prepare for war against this "new menace". Extensive networks of air raid tunnels & shelters were built & key military/industrial establishments were moved in to the hinterland. All across the Manchurian border, people would be busy digging shelters & taping their glass window in addition to conducting intensive military & guerrilla war training against the likelihood of a Soviet invasion.

 The immediate threat of war finally eased on September 11, 1969 when Soviet Premier, Alexei Kosygin, made an unscheduled cease in Beijing while on his way back from Ho Chi Minh's funeral in Hanoi for a three hour meeting with Chinese Premier Zhou. The agreed that efforts ought to be made to disengage the troops along the border & open talks ought to commence.

 So what was the actual reason behind this border war? Who started it in the first place? Both sides blame the other but in order to truly understand the actual cause of the 1969 Sino-Soviet border dispute, ought to first look at and understand the social and political situation surrounding that time.

 It is widely known that the Chinese Communists, after a long struggle, finally seized power in 1949. What is not widely known is that the Soviets had a pivotal role in helping the communist Chinese gain control. In 1945, Soviet troops attacked Japanese troops with lightening speed & liberated Manchuria in month. 

Monuments to honour these Soviet troops can still be seen today in Manchuria. The Soviets then allowed the Chinese Red Army to enter Manchuria & armed them with captured Japanese weapons in addition to training them. This directly lead to speed up the liberation of China. However, relations began to go bad in 1960 when Chinese Chairman Mao became fearful of Soviet control. In order to turn the Chinese people's attention away from domestic troubles caused by his now famous Cultural Revolution (1966-69), they announced that the nation's first threat is the Soviet Union. This directly encouraged the Chinese Red Army to look for trouble with Soviet border troops along the northern border.

The border agreement made in the coursework of friendlier times clearly said that the border would be defined by the main stream of the Ussuri River. However, in the summertime of 1968, local flooding had changed the route of the main stream & cut a piece of land from the Chinese side which was later called Zhenbao island. When winter arrived, frontier guards from both sides met occassionally on the disputed territory. At first, these confrontations were calm negotiations but later these oral arguments had escalated to violent confrontations. Most of these physical confrontations resulted in the larger & stronger Soviet soldiers beating their Chinese counterparts & kicking them back to their "border side". Also, Chinese attempts to photograph these beatings (in order to document it for propoganda) were neutralized by the Soviets as they would have no hesitation beating these "journalists" & taking their film.

 However, the Chinese soldiers, being eternally loyal to their "god" Chairman Mao & his revolutionary road, would always return to Zhenbao island to be beaten again & even die happily for their great leader. This irritated the Soviet troops more but the beatings seldom did escalate beyond unarmed combat as both sides feared the consequences of any use of weapons. Hence, these confrontations became known as "group street fights".

o save face, the Chinese Red Army decided day to send well trained special forces soldiers from the 49th field army regiment than the local frontier guards to deal with the larger Soviets. In addition, the "journalist" had been replaced by a top rating instructor of the special forces in order to finally document "Soviet aggression". These special forces were taught unarmed combat according to the 1963 version of the unarmed combat handbook of the Chinese Red Army. They could basically defeat the Soviet frontier guards in these unarmed "street fights". From intercepted messages on the Soviet side, it is known that the local Soviet commander reported to his superiors the replacement of the Chinese frontier guards with the formal field army special forces. Their judgement were based on the "new" Chinese troops' fighting stance, speed, kickboxing, & arm & neck control against Soviet troops. It was clear to the Soviets what had happened since they were involved in the training of the Chinese ten years prior.

In retaliation, the Soviet army decided to deploy their special forces for upcoming "street fights". The leader of this unit was known as the "Limped Lieutenant" because of his distinguished gait. It was reported that they injured his ankle tendon in combat training in the coursework of his professional career. Nevertheless, they was still an excellent boxer and on his arrival, plenty of Chinese soldiers had their noses broken. it was a common joke among the Chinese troops that "if you ought to ever meet the Limped Lieutenant in a street fight, you ought to give up hopes in trying to discover a future spouse!", meaning that your face would be smashed up and therefore, be unattractive.

Western boxing techniques, the front jab, impressed the Chinese. As mentioned earlier, the Chinese special forces were trained according to the 1963 manual which taught the use of the rear hand (which was kept low for protection of the groin) for offense and the front hand as a defensive shield. therefore, the front jab was a new idea as was keeping the rear hand high. In addition, in the coursework of the winter, it was found that kicks were difficult to execute safely because of the terrain and clothing worn. Therefore, the Chinese had lost any superiority with the introduction of Western boxing techniques. This later led the 49th field army to incorporate Western boxing in to their unarmed combat skills. This was achieved with the help of a branch of Red Army Intelligence known as the Department of Enemy Studies. Another lesson learnt from these border confrontations was that given equal skills, size of the combatants DOES matter. Therefore, soldiers chosen for the special forces tend to be larger in stature. in fact, this was how my instructor, Jian Zhou, was originally chosen. Given his physical demeanor (ht.=182 cm, wt.=85 kg), having a martial arts/wrestling background, and coming from a military relatives in Mongolia, choice in to the special forces was inevitable. In addition, it was discovered that wrestling skills and well-trained attacking skills from behind was useful in the coursework of "group street fights". From these lessons, it was decided to create a better training program for the Chinese soldiers based on application of scientific principles and direct observation in order to compensate for their overall smaller size and strength.

However, meanwhile, the Chinese special forces became frustrated with the defeat of their troops in these encounters. of the junior officers nicknamed "Xiao Shang Dong" (translation "the Shang Dong Kid") was famous for his martial arts & his skills in the broadsword. It ought to be noted that Shang Dong is of the Chinese provinces that plenty of think about the homeland of Chinese martial arts. Xiao Shang Dong had suggested a solution to these humiliating defeats would be to train their soldiers in broadsword techniques. However, in battle, they would use wooden sticks in lieu of swords so as it (the stick) would not be thought about a weapon. His superiors approved of his suggestion. In the following confrontation, Chinese soldiers, with their sticks hidden up their long sleeved jackets, basically chased away their Soviet counterparts who were taken by surprise by the speed & power of their stick techniques. Later on, the Soviets also tried to make use of sticks. However, their skills were not comparable to the Chinese. In famous confrontation, an angry & desperate Limped Lieutenant, having had his arm broken by Xiao Shang Dong, decided to open fire along with his handgun in order to survive & protect his troops. This caused a speedy escalation from both sides using heavy automatic weapons & a blood bath ensued. Oddly , the sole survivor of this confrontation was Xiao Shang Dong, despite having 7 shots entering his body from both sides. The Chinese government formally decorated him as "Red Army Hero" & every year on August 1st, they is invited to tell his story to the new soldiers of the 49th field army special forces.

The last crisis between China and the USSR occurred in 1979 when the Chinese had started an assault of Vietnam, the Soviet Union's "smaller brother". In order to help Vietnam, the Soviet volunteer army gathered on the Manchurian border near my homeland threatening invasion if the Chinese did not immediately withdraw from vietnam. I was in my second year of service in the 5th defense regiment of the Sheiyong defensive regional army group. They were based in the Great Xinan Range. They decided to move most of our forces behing the mountain ranges so as not to be vulnerable. It was reported that the Soviets had 25 mechanized infantry units and about 250,000 man gathered in front of us with air backup and they were asked to hold off the invasion for at least 24 hours so as reinforcements could be sent from the 23rd field army in Daqin Gas Field. They had available 12,000 men as well as a network of underground tunnels and fortresses built within the last twenty years. Casual rumours said that our commander had no confidence in our ability to hold off a Soviet invasion for 24 hours given the complexities of a dimensional assault (ie. air, tank, and troops). Hence, they helped train civilians in guerilla warfare tactics and the use of explosives and time bombs ought to an invasion and occupation occur. Fortunately, the Soviet invasion seldom did materialize as the Chinese withdrew from Vietnam after 9 days of assault.

After the collapse of the USSR, the border area remains calm. People can travel to the area without applying for special permission. The former Chinese secret police unit, anti-Soviet division, in the border area is known today as the Division of International and Political Security.

Today, former enemies visit each other for trade and exchange. in Canada, I had first introduced Chinese military martial arts to North The united states by a manual (Paladin Press 1996) I had written based on the 49th field army special forces and their experiences in the 1969 border dispute. Interestingly , I have met several former Russian military men here in my new found home, and have established a friendly relationship with the American Middle of Russian Martial Art who have also successfully submitted a manual on Russian combat skill to Paladin-Press. So who is process is better? I cannot honestly tell you. They probably must check our systems again in order to improve each other. However, this time, 27 years after the border disputes, it won't be for the sake of war, but in lieu an academic study and check.

Finally, to complete this legendary story, I would like to comment that soldiers from both sides were innocent pawns in this struggle between great communist superpowers. However, the soldiers' love, hate, bravery, & fears still deserve to be revealed & it is like a pretty song that someday I will be happy to share with everyone on stage.