Although the ethnic detachment only existed for 5 years, its contribution to the country and the people is indelible in people's hearts.
Our army once formed two ethnic troops on the front line of Yunnan border defense. Although these two troops only existed for just over five years, they were deeply engraved in the hearts of the people of all ethnic groups in the border areas and added a glorious page to our army. Even more than ten years later, the local leaders and people are still Write a letter to the Central Military Commission demanding the restoration of the ethnic troops.
Why did our army form ethnic troops? What's special about it? What contributions have the national troops made to the motherland and the people? And why did it become so deeply engraved in the hearts of border people in such a short period of time? I once served as a soldier in the national army and personally experienced the entire process of army formation, training, overseas missions, and dismantling.
Creating miracles by fighting abroad
In early 1964, Chairman Mao’s Party Central Committee decided to form two ethnic units on the front line of Yunnan’s border defense. The requirement is that the battalion, company, platoon cadres and soldiers of the ethnic army should be dominated by ethnic minorities, that is, ethnic minorities should account for 60%. Based on this requirement, the Kunming Military Region formulated a formation plan. On May 2, 1964, the Central Military Commission approved the Kunming Military Region's "Report on the Plan for Establishing the First Ethnic Detachment."
On May 8, Zhou Yaohua, the consul of the Chinese Consulate General in Phongsali, Laos, received a notice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking him to report to the Kunming Military Region and there were other work arrangements.
At the Military Region Headquarters, Commander Qin Jiwei met with Zhou Yaohua and read out the Central Military Commission's order in person: appoint Zhou Yaohua, who had just turned 40 years old, as the captain of the First National Border Defense Detachment of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
The superiors put Zhou Yaohua in this position after careful consideration. He joined the army in March 1938 and joined the party in the same year. He successively served as platoon leader, company instructor, battalion commander, regiment commander and deputy division commander. He has gone through hundreds of battles, been injured 6 times, performed great merit once and second-class merit twice. More importantly, from March 1950 to July 1954, Zhou Yaohua participated in the 79-member Chinese Army composed of Chen Geng (then deputy commander of the Southwest Military Region and commander of the Yunnan Provincial Military Region) and Wei Guoqing (then political commissar of the Tenth Corps) The Military Advisory Group to Assist Vietnam in the Anti-French War assisted the Vietnamese army in organizing and commanding operations and won a complete victory in the Anti-French War. For this reason, Zhou Yaohua won the second-level Ho Chi Minh Medal awarded by the Democratic Party of Vietnam and the National People's Congress.
Hao Shengzhi also received orders at the same time, and he was appointed political commissar of the First National Border Guard Detachment. Hao Shengzhi participated in revolutionary work in 1938 and joined the army in 1945. He successively served as company instructor, regiment organization officer, section chief, division organization section chief, and division political department director. He participated in the battles of Jindong, Luliang, forced crossing of the Yellow River, Huaihai, crossing the Yangtze River, and the liberation of southwest China, and made two major contributions in the Huaihai Campaign. Dao Guodong, a Dai nationality, was the county magistrate of Jinghong County, Yunnan Province before being transferred. As an ethnic minority cadre, he was transferred to the Border Defense Ethnic Team as deputy political commissar. Also appointed were Chief of Staff Qin Dewang, Director of the Political Department Li Shengjie, Logistics Minister Meng Songlin and others.
After the main leaders of the detachment were determined, three independent battalions were quickly established, each with seven companies under its jurisdiction. The battalion headquarters was composed of staff officers, officers, logistics units, health centers and ethnic work teams. The 1st Battalion is mainly composed of the Dai and Hani ethnic groups, and has 4 infantry companies, 1 machine gun company, 1 artillery company, and 1 special agent company; the 2nd Battalion is a mixed ethnic minority battalion; the 3rd Battalion is mainly composed of the Miao and Zhuang ethnic groups. The entire detachment, from cadres to soldiers, is composed of 12 ethnic minorities. The directly affiliated detachment includes a special agent company, a communications company, a 75th recoilless rifle company, a 82nd mortar company, and an ethnic work company. The organizational structure of the national first team is different from that of field troops. It is an independent support organization with battalions as units, light equipment, heavy communications, sophisticated logistics, mobility and flexibility, and independent operations.
On July 1, 1964, the National Border Defense Team was formally established in Simao, Yunnan, and was stationed in Xiaomengyang, Jinghong County, Xishuangbanna.
The detachment was formed based on the rapidly changing international situation at that time. At this time, the United States is preparing to launch an aggressive war against Vietnam and Laos, and points the finger at China, threatening our border security.
The establishment of the detachment has aroused strong repercussions at home and abroad, because the Dai, Miao, Hani and other ethnic minorities in Thailand, Laos, northern Vietnam, and Shan State in Myanmar are of the same origin as the relevant ethnic minorities in my country, and their combined total population There are tens of millions of them, and they regard the ancestors of China's Dai, Miao and other ethnic minorities as their ancestors. Therefore, they regard the ethnic group as their most reliable allies and strong backing in their fight against the United States.
Facts have proved that the central government’s decision-making is quite wise. Just one month after the detachment was formed, the United States escalated its aggression in Vietnam and Laos. On August 5, 1964, the US President Johnson created the "Gulf of Tonkin Incident" and brazenly sent aircraft to air raids on Guang Khe, Nghi An, Thanh Hoa and other towns in northern Vietnam. On September 18, U.S. imperialism instigated the second "Beibu Gulf Incident" and further expanded its war of aggression in southern Vietnam to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and continued to send aircraft for large-scale bombings. At the same time, the United States directed its aggression against China, and U.S. military aircraft continued to invade the skies over the Hekou area of ??Yunnan, my country, for reconnaissance.
Faced with the severe international situation, the detachment followed Chairman Mao's instructions to "prepare for war", and the detachment leader Zhou Yaohua personally trained the troops. In view of the tasks that the detachment will undertake, military training in tropical mountain jungle warfare was focused on. On the basis of improving tactical skills, emphasis is placed on drills with special contents such as marching through forests, armed swimming, understanding and using maps, jungle survival, health and disease prevention, and attacking strongholds. While focusing on the special training of the troops, the party committee of the detachment petitioned the superiors to send cadres and soldiers to Vietnam to participate in the war in order to train the troops and cultivate cadres and soldiers with practical combat experience.
The superiors quickly approved the detachment’s request to fight. The detachment organized two high-tech companies into a battalion, led by Di Yiyong, deputy detachment leader and battalion commander, to participate in the battle. The commander of the first company was Liu Diqiang, and the commander of the second company was Le Chaoyang. Although the detachment sent two companies, its victory or defeat represented one national team. After careful selection, ethnic minority soldiers from the two companies accounted for 70% of the entire company. Detachment leader Zhou Yaohua said to the cadres and soldiers who went on the expedition: "Air combat is also an intelligence war. If the intelligence is accurate, you will be able to be flexible and let the enemy drop bombs in vain. I hope you will carry forward the advantages of our detachment and fight every battle well." Fight and win glory for the detachment!”
On August 1, 1965, the detachment’s temporarily formed high-tech battalion entered Vietnam from the mouth of our Yunnan River and served as the protection of the railway bridge at Anpei Lake in Vietnam. air combat mission. This area is where the Miao, Yao, Hani and other ethnic minorities in Vietnam live. On September 16, the 1st Machine Gun Company had just moved its position and was stationed at Position 1 on the hillside of Zhaihu. Four enemy planes suddenly flew in and bombed the position of the 3rd Battalion of the 629th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment of our brother army indiscriminately. Squad leader Cheng Weiliang and soldiers were killed. Lin Yongzhang and six other comrades died.
Company commander Liu Diqiang was shocked. Because he had visited the 3rd Battalion's position, it was well camouflaged and enemy planes couldn't detect it at all. So how did the enemy planes discover the 3rd Battalion's position? After observation, it was found that ordinary people often appeared nearby. Liu Diqiang found out the reason. It was the spies who mingled among the common people, discovered our army's artillery positions, and then instructed the target to bomb. Liu Diqiang immediately reported to the battalion commander and made suggestions to send plainclothes scouts to lure away the spies. The battalion commander agreed with Liu Diqiang's suggestion.
The detachment’s high-tech company decided to take advantage of the situation. Late that night, the company secretly moved its position to Position No. 4 in Zhaihu. At dawn, the team still appeared on the top of Position No. 1. Then they sent Miao squad leader Ma Shan and two other soldiers, disguised as ordinary people, to intentionally attack from the top of Position No. 1. Come down.
As soon as he arrived at the foot of the mountain, Ma Shan found a man and a woman poking their heads, acting suspiciously. He knew they were coming with bad intentions. At this moment, two Vietnamese militiamen discovered them and wanted to take them for interrogation. Mashan had an idea and explained to the militiamen in Miao language that they were from Zhaihu West Village and were their relatives. The Miao people have been one family since ancient times, and the Miao people have the same language in Southeast Asia. The militiamen saw that Mashan was a member of the same tribe, so they let them go. As soon as the militiamen left, Ma Shan pulled the man and woman aside and claimed that they had just gone up the mountain to collect medicine. He pointed at Position 1 and said that he had discovered the artillery position of the Vietnamese army and was not allowed to go up the mountain and asked them to leave quickly. When the man heard this, he quickly asked how many cannons he saw. Mashan said there were many.
The man and woman said thank you and took out some money to give to Mashan. Mashan refused, and the two men left in a hurry.
It was later confirmed that the man and woman were indeed spies.
The next day, that is, at 10 a.m. on September 28, four American planes flew in and soon appeared on Position 1, followed by indiscriminate bombing and machine gun fire. When the enemy plane dived at low altitude, the well-prepared high-speed aircraft company of the detachment opened fire fiercely from position No. 4, shooting down one enemy plane on the spot and damaging two others. Another enemy plane saw that it had been ambushed and fled in panic.
After the machine gun company won the battle, it immediately moved its position so that the enemy could not figure out our position. In the next year, a team of two high-altitude aircraft companies conducted reconnaissance first, got accurate information, cleverly disguised themselves, and frequently changed positions. The detachment also sent ethnic minority soldiers to disguise themselves as local people, spread false information, be flexible, take the initiative, and fight 25 times. Four enemy planes were shot down and seven were damaged, but the detachment's two machine gun companies of 240 people suffered no casualties, creating a miracle in the history of our army's air combat.
Successfully completed the security mission to aid Laos and resist the U.S.
The victory of the detachment in participating in the war to aid Vietnam and resist the U.S. greatly inspired the cadres and soldiers of the entire detachment, and the entire detachment became more targeted Set off training***. In November 1964, Chief of General Staff Luo Ruiqing once put forward training requirements for the detachment and said: "The training of your detachment must be like that of the Bayi team. You must develop excellent skills so that you can fight when you go out and win in one fight." 1966 In September 2019, Deputy Chief of General Staff Peng Shaohui, Kunming Military Region Commander Qin Jiwei, and Deputy Commander Chen Kang visited the detachment successively, which shows that the commander attaches great importance to the detachment. All the officers and soldiers of the detachment lived up to the expectations of the leader. The troops started from actual combat. All officers and soldiers took mules, horses and weapons and equipment to swim across the Lancang River, Menglun River, Liusha River, etc. many times. In terms of training methods, we adopt the basics before application, cadres before soldiers, and practice command and coordination under complex and changeable backgrounds. After hard training, the entire detachment basically fulfilled the requirements of Commander Luo Ruiqing.
You sweat more in normal times and bleed less in war. Training is to win the war. The time has come to put the troops to the test again. On April 26, 1968, the First National Detachment received an order from the Central Military Commission to assume the task of guarding combat operations in aiding Laos and resisting the United States.
On May 8, the 9th and 11th companies of the 3rd Battalion of the detachment, as the advance team, put on Laotian army uniforms and were led by battalion commander Sun Xuecheng. They left the barracks late at night and secretly headed towards the Laos border.
The mission of the advance team is to find out the enemy's situation, guard the eight experts and headquarters sent by our Ministry of Communications, and resolutely annihilate the enemy when they encounter it. The headquarters includes Liu Dedong (deputy corps level), captain of the 5th detachment of the Chinese People's Army of Engineers, Fang Yougen, chief of the operations section of the Kunming Military Region, Tai Shihe, the detachment staff officer, and others. Together with the radio station and the transport mule and horse team, the entire force has more than 500 people. . The advance team must ensure that the experts and headquarters safely walk through Poting, Muang Phu, Muang Sai, and Muang Kwa in Laos, a total distance of more than 600 kilometers. China is conducting on-site surveys to implement the "Minutes of the China-Laos Meeting on the Construction of Highways". These areas are all virgin forests, and some of them have to pass through enemy-occupied areas.
At dawn, the advance team arrived at the Mohan Port on the China-Laos border, and the Lao military intelligence director Kanson and battalion commander Yangen who came to respond also arrived. Kanson introduced the enemy situation to us: During the talks on building a road between China and Laos, the United States threatened to wipe out the Chinese troops on the China-Laos border as long as they left the country. Because the enemy knows that the place where the road is being built is a virgin forest and anti-aircraft artillery cannot penetrate, they can use air superiority to bomb the Chinese army with aircraft. At the same time, an unknown right-wing army supported by the United States will set up an ambush halfway, vowing to fight the Chinese army decisively. When Canson learned that China had only sent two companies, he shook his head and said it was too few and suggested that China send another battalion. Sun Xuecheng knew that the biggest threat to the troops was enemy aircraft. If there were more troops, they would be easily exposed. Therefore, he did not agree to increase the number of troops. As for the enemies on the ground, no matter how many they came, they would be easy to deal with.
Battalion Commander Sun decided to immediately form two reconnaissance teams. Company Commander Song Minggui of the 11th Company organized scouts to conduct reconnaissance along the route surveyed by our army.
The 10th Company, led by Deputy Company Commander Lu Zhibang and 9 Miao and Dai warriors including Ma Wenliang, Pu Zhenghua, Yan En, and Ba Ge, went deep into the enemy-occupied area to find out the direction of the enemy's movement. If there were enemies close to the troop line, they would be determined Eliminate or lure them away.
After the troops entered Laos, due to the tight camouflage, although enemy planes circled the sky every day, the advance team was never found.
On June 20, a reconnaissance team led by Lu Zhibang discovered an armed group of more than 600 people in various uniforms in Mengtong, an enemy-occupied area. They spoke Miao. After observation, Lu Zhibang found an officer carrying a revolver walking listlessly, yawning and having a runny nose. He knew this symptom was a symptom of drug addiction. Lu Zhibang had an idea and entered the village to buy opium and continued to follow. At night the team entered a forest and camped. When the opportunity came, Lu Zhibang ordered Ba Ge and Yan En to arrest the drug-addicted officer. Lu Zhibang deliberately raised the cigarette stick in front of him, and the officer rushed over to grab the cigarette stick. We want him to tell the truth before giving him a big smoke. The officer told the truth so that he could smoke a lot.
It turns out that this unit is a battalion, and the captured Tongue is a company commander. He is a Laotian Hmong reactionary armed force who was trained by the CIA. Their mission is to go to Mengqua to stop the Chinese army. It is said that Meng Kua has only one company in the direction of China. If the blockade fails, reinforcements will be added. The scout told him that what China sent was the National Border Guard Team of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. With two regiments of troops, they would definitely die if they tried to block it. When they heard that they were from the ethnic detachment, the company knelt down and begged for mercy: Since we are of the same origin and race, please let me go. We will never dare to attack you. The reconnaissance team let him go and asked him to send a message, saying that a large force from the Chinese National Team had arrived.
In order to confuse the enemy, once the prisoners left, the reconnaissance squad quickly occupied a commanding height, and under the cover of night, opened fire at the enemy camp command post. After 20 minutes, the reconnaissance squad quickly evacuated.
When our advance team and expert headquarters arrived in Mengkua, they were not blocked by the enemy on the ground.
On June 28, the Mengkua Nanwu River blocked the way of our army. It is the rainy season at this time. The Nan Ou River is 160 meters wide and 18 meters deep. The lower reaches are the Mekong River in Vietnam. Facing the torrential floods, the advance team immediately set up bamboo rafts and prepared to transport troops across the river. At 11 o'clock in the morning, the bamboo rafts of class 1 were rowing towards the river. Suddenly four F104 American bombers appeared over the troops, and then dropped giant bombs one after another, followed by machine gun fire. The situation was extremely critical. In order to divert the enemy plane away, the deputy platoon leader of the 3rd Platoon of the 10th Company, Lu Jiaqing (Zhuang ethnic group), jumped on a bamboo raft and rowed into the river, firing violently at the low-altitude diving enemy plane with a submachine gun. At this time, a heavy bomb exploded next to Lu Jiaqing, and Lu Jiaqing died heroically.
In order to protect the experts and the headquarters, the battalion commander formed a machine gun squad to shoot in the air downstream to attract enemy aircraft; at the same time, he organized troops to cross the river through strict camouflage in a narrow area upstream. Until evening, the experts and the head of the headquarters were safe and sound, and more than 500 people had crossed the Nanwu River. In addition to Lu Jiaqing who died, eight others were injured.
As a result of mastering first-hand survey and mapping data and understanding the enemy's situation, it provided the most reliable basis for superiors' decision-making, completely ruining the United States' conspiracy to eliminate our advance team. On August 16, 1968, road construction in Laos was fully launched, and more than 20,000 engineering and technical personnel, migrant workers, security guards, and air defense troops entered Laos.
On October 25, due to bombing by enemy planes, the transportation team was unable to transport food. More than 200 engineers working in the front had no food. The superior ordered the ethnic group to send troops to quickly transport food to the front. After receiving the order, Song Minggui, the commander of the 11th company, led all the soldiers of the company to carry the grain on their backs and transport it into Laos. Just about 20 kilometers into Myanmar, they were suddenly bombed by enemy planes. Four comrades died and 10 others were injured. The company commander immediately left a platoon leader and three soldiers to take care of the wounded, continued to advance, and arrived at Mengyue on time. Wei Haisheng, the company commander of the engineering corps, had already received news that the troops transporting food had been bombed by enemy planes, causing heavy casualties. He thought that the food would not be delivered today. When he saw Song Minggui and the soldiers arriving carrying food on their shoulders, he held Song Minggui's hand tightly and shed tears.
On September 7, 1969, the 3rd Battalion was performing security duties in the Menghong area of ??the New Western Front in Laos. Wang Bao, the commander of the Laotian Miao reactionary armed forces supported by the CIA, led the special team on the straight Get off the plane, and contact us from the ground to spy on the location of our headquarters. After the enemy discovered my headquarters, they mistook me, a soldier who was riding a horse due to illness, for a senior commander. Wang Bao quickly called for US planes to bomb. At 10:30 in the morning, six American bombers continued bombing along the route passed by the 3rd Battalion of our detachment, firing low-altitude machine guns. In order to protect the safety of the leader, Squad 6 of the 10th Company, squad leader Zhang Fashun led the entire squad to organize firepower and air-to-air shooting in Shanggang Village. Soon the enemy planes were attracted and bombed the 6th squadron's position. Machine gun fire lasted for two hours. All 12 people in the class, except soldier Meng Renzhong, died heroically. Our road construction experts and the head of the headquarters all evacuated safely.
Immediately afterwards, Wang Bao led his agents to rush towards our 6th squadron position. He wants to steal the body to claim credit from the CIA. After the superiors learned this information, they ordered the 11th Company to rush in front of the enemy and retrieve the bodies of my fallen comrades. Under the leadership of the company commander, the 11th company rushed to Shanggang, 40 kilometers away, at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour. They transferred all the bodies of 12 people from the 6th class an hour in advance, and they were all empty when the enemy arrived.
Although the detachment made huge sacrifices in carrying out the anti-U.S. guard mission in aiding Laos, the 131 highway bridges built with our assistance have never been damaged by the enemy. Our headquarters in aiding Laos and some Important targets were never bombed by enemy aircraft. A group of soldiers such as Lu Jiaqing and Yang Houqing were awarded the title of heroic model by the Lao Aid and Anti-U.S. Command. The 10th Company was honored with the third-class collective merit, and the Central Military Commission of the State Council awarded each of the 1st and 2nd Battalions a pennant medal for the Guard Operation in Aid of Laos and the Anti-U.S. Army.
Mass work is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people
A team stationed on the front line of border defense in turns never forgets to do a good job in mass work in ethnic areas and has established a good relationship between the military and civilians with the local people of all ethnic groups.
The detachment party committee first cultivates warrior culture. Because among the more than 3,000 ethnic minority fighters, the vast majority are illiterate, and some cannot even speak or understand Chinese. To this end, the leaders of the detachment have adopted educational measures that are different from those of general troops: First, starting from learning Chinese characters, cultural education is popularized among ethnic warriors, so that they can master political, military and scientific knowledge as soon as possible. The second is to use battalions and companies as literacy classes and improvement classes to give full play to the role of ethnic cadres and let them provide guidance to ethnic warriors, attend small classes, and do in-depth ideological work. The third is to carry out one-gang-one activities. After unremitting efforts, many soldiers who were originally illiterate and could not speak Chinese learned Chinese in half a year, and some reached the upper elementary or junior middle school level in two or three years. Every year, more than 700 ethnic soldiers are evaluated at all levels. To be a model of academic culture and a good warrior.
The improvement of culture has laid a solid foundation for national warriors to do mass work. In September 1964, Deputy Political Commissar Dao Guodong led the ethnic working team to go deep into more than 40 villages to do mass work, publicize the party's ethnic policies and communist thoughts, and carry out activities to compare the old and new societies, which enabled more than 20,000 Dai, Hani, and The Jinuo people received education and raised their awareness.
While doing mass work, in Manmonai Village, the detachment sent a large number of cadres and soldiers to dig ditches for the masses, carry out irrigation, accumulate fertilizer and use it, and farm scientifically, changing the old habit of not applying fertilizer to crops. The local rice yield per mu has increased from 600 kilograms in the past to 1,100 kilograms. There are 86 households and 535 people in the village. Every household has savings and surplus food. Every household has renovated or built a Hsinchu building, making it an advanced village in Xiaomengyang area.
In addition to participating in various tasks such as flood fighting and disaster relief, extinguishing wildfires, and harvesting crops, the officers and soldiers of the detachment also provide free power supply to nearby villages, see doctors, show movies, and help people work two days a month. In the past five years, a total of 15 patrol medical teams have been dispatched, 87,600 people have been treated for free, and malaria and dysentery preventive medicines have been distributed to the people; free power supply has been provided to a rural area, more than 1,080 voluntary movie screenings, and more than 30 people have been assisted in labor Ten thousand working days; more than 300 acres of terraced fields, reclaimed wasteland, and 6 kilometers of canals built to irrigate dry farmland in villages.
In the defense area where the detachment is stationed, there is a village called Mannazhuang and Manyaxinzhai of the Jino ethnic group on Youle Mountain. Since the Qing Dynasty, there have been conflicts and they often fight with each other. Dao Guodong, the deputy political commissar of the detachment, personally led the ethnic working team to the two villages and conducted in-depth mediation. Eventually, the people of the two villages shook hands and talked happily. Enemies that had been enemies for more than 100 years finally became friendly villages.
The officers and soldiers of the detachment always keep the safety of the people of all ethnic groups at heart. In August 1966, the Jinghong area suffered a once-in-a-century flood. 36,000 acres of fertile farmland in the dam area was submerged. What's even more dangerous is that the floodwater crossed the 400-meter-long Lancang River Bridge and was in danger of being washed away at any time. If the bridge is washed away, the lives of 100,000 people of all ethnic groups downstream will be endangered. The place *** is ready to blow up the bridge. After the party committee of the detachment learned about it, it decisively decided that as long as there was 10% hope, it would make 100% effort to defend property and protect the lives of the people, and did not agree to bomb the bridge. 200 officers and soldiers with good water resistance were immediately dispatched to guard the bridge day and night to dredge and increase the water flow. As long as there are floating objects blocking the bridge or on the bridge, clear them immediately. At the same time, more than 300 officers and soldiers were organized to weave baskets of stones and transport them to the bridge head by car to protect the approach bridge roadbed from impact. After 22 days of hard work day and night, the water level finally receded below the bridge deck and the bridge was saved.
Just when the ethnic detachment lived up to the trust of the party and the people, withstood various tests, and was preparing to make greater achievements, in December 1969, the Central Military Commission ordered the dissolution of the first and second ethnic detachments. 12 On March 25, the First National Detachment was reorganized into the 32nd Division of the 11th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
After the ethnic first team was abolished, the local *** and people seemed to be missing something. *** from Xiaomengyang, Jinghong, Menghai counties and people of all ethnic groups wrote to the central government one after another. , the Central Military Commission, urgently demanded the restoration of the ethnic detachment, and more than ten years later, the people are still demanding the restoration of the ethnic detachment. In March 1973, during the National Land Border Defense Work Conference chaired by Vice Chairman of the Military Commission ***, he responded to the Yunnan border people's request for the restoration of a detachment and clearly announced that the organization of ethnic detachments could be restored. Later, due to various reasons, the ethnic detachment failed to be restored.
Zhou Enlai