201712 In late February, the film "Fanghua" was released. In the film, the infantry unit (about a reinforced platoon) led by Liu Feng is dressed very neatly. It is particularly striking that every commander wears a helmet on his head. It is this prop that has aroused the doubts of many netizens who have certain knowledge of military history. 1979 When fighting against Vietnam, our infantry company was not equipped with helmets, which was a very obvious mistake. As the saying goes, before the 1980 s, helmets were mainly equipped for professional and technical arms such as scouts and artillery, rather than standard equipment for ordinary infantry.
Although it is not standard equipment, it does not mean that all the infantry who participated in the war at that time wore liberation caps. In fact, some companies are equipped with helmets. For example, according to the veterans of 4 1 Army 1 2/Division 36 1 who fought in the Napo direction,1Battalion and Battalion 3 all had helmets; Another example is the 50 th Army 148 Division, 5 th Company, 442 nd Regiment, which carries out offensive and defensive combat missions in the 542 highland. Judging from the photos taken during the defensive battle, they also have helmets. The source of these helmets is either transferred from the old stocks of the army or from scouts and artillery. (As far as the troops fighting in Yunnan are concerned, there is no video of infantry wearing helmets. )
Looking back on the war history of our army, during War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, as long as conditions permit, troops were generally equipped with helmets captured in combat. However, in the decades after the founding of the People's Republic of China, due to the influence of leftist ideology, I unilaterally understood the assertion that "it is people, not weapons, who decide the outcome of the war", and thought that as long as we are brave and fearless, we can be invincible, thus raising the human factor to an absolute and unique height. This has affected the understanding of the importance of weapons and equipment to a considerable extent. The withdrawal of helmet from infantry equipment sequence has a lot to do with this idea of placing great emphasis on spiritual function while ignoring material function.
In addition to ideological factors, some technical reasons also led to infantry not wearing helmets. For example, the descendants of Langya Mountain, the author of 1979 Vietnam War History, told the author that their scout comrades had helmets, but they didn't want to wear them, thinking that they were too heavy to move. For another example, Fengpai 575 wrote in the book "Memories of Rubber Forest": "Although our superiors didn't give us helmets at that time, I still don't complain today. As the company commander said, it is heavy and inflexible. If I have to take part in that jungle battle today, I still won't wear a helmet. "
Realistically speaking, the helmet does have some unsatisfactory places. On the one hand, it increases the already heavy individual load, which affects the action speed of soldiers. On the other hand, the metal material is not conducive to heat dissipation, and the cloth liberation cap is not so breathable and comfortable. Especially in the case of excessive physical consumption of soldiers, helmets increase the burden to a certain extent. However, practical experience and lessons prove that helmets are essential protective equipment in order to ensure life safety and reduce the casualty rate.
The working group of the General Logistics Department mentioned in the post-war situation report that the troops generally demanded to issue helmets, because according to the investigation of 393 martyrs wounded in Yunnan, the head injury was the most, accounting for 39.4%, and if there were helmets, the casualties could be reduced. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Health of the General Logistics Department on the hit parts of 10,000 wounded people, the skull and brain have the highest death rate, reaching 51.9%; According to the statistics of the dead and wounded, 24.8+0% of the dead and wounded were hit in the skull and brain. Therefore, it is suggested that the troops be equipped with helmets to reduce the number of casualties.
In the early 1980s, after learning the lessons of 1979 Vietnam War, the first generation bulletproof helmet of our army-GK80 helmet (made of 232 bulletproof steel) was jointly developed by the Institute of Quartermaster Equipment of the General Logistics Department and Anshan Iron and Steel Plant. This type of helmet has played its due role in the offensive and defensive operations against Vietnam on the front lines of Laoshan and Shading Mountain in Yunnan, in order to protect the lives of commanders and soldiers and reduce casualties.
The author is a master of history and a university lecturer, focusing on the history of the Sino-Vietnamese war.
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