Battle of Lao Cai

Battle of Lào Cai
Part of the Sino-Vietnamese War
Sapa town in Lào Cai Province
Date 17 February – 5 March 1979 Location Northern Hoàng Liên Sơn Province and northeastern Lai Châu Province, Vietnam Result Chinese pyrrhic victory
Belligerents
China	Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
Yang Dezhi	Unknown
Units involved
11th Army 13th Army 14th Army 50th Army 149th Division	316th Division 345th Division Militia, regional, and border guard units
Strength
~125,000	2 regular divisions ~20,000 regional troops and militia
Casualties and losses
Unknown Chinese claim: 7,886 casualties including 2,812 killed Vietnamese claim: 11,500 casualties	Unknown Chinese claim: ~13,500 casualties

11th Army
13th Army
14th Army
50th Army

The Battle of Lào Cai was fought between Chinese and Vietnamese forces during the Sino-Vietnamese War. Though the Chinese sustained heavy losses in fighting, they were successful in capturing and occupying the city of Lào Cai and the vicinal towns.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Kunming Military Region took responsibility for Chinese operations in Lào Cai direction, which involved the 11th and 13th Armies from the Kunming Military Region itself, and the 14th Army from the Chengdu Military Region, totaling about 125,000 troops. The three armies was followed by the reserve 149th Division of the 50th Army, as well as many support units. The invasion comprised three prongs of advances: while the 11th Army was assigned to attack Phong Thổ before hooking up to Sapa and Lào Cai from the west, the 14th Army was ordered to take Mường Khương and move against Lào Cai from the east; the central thrust was undertaken by the 13th Army, targeting Lào Cai itself, as well as the township of Cam Đường to the south.

For the Vietnamese side, historians believe that the defense of the Hoàng Liên Sơn Province (modern-day Lào Cai and Yên Bái Provinces) was conducted by several regiments of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA), some of which consisted of the regular 345th and 316th Divisions. The 345th, which had originally been an economic construction unit transformed into a combat division, took responsibility for defending Bảo Thắng, while the elite 316th was garrisoned in the Bình Lư area. The two regular divisions were backed up by some 20,000 troops from regional and militia units.

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