Battle of Lào 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	See Aftermath section
Belligerents
China	Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
Yang Dezhi	Vũ Lập ; Ma Vĩnh Lan
Units involved
11th Army 32nd Division; ; 13th Army 37th, 38th, 39th Divisions; ; 14th Army 40th, 41st, 42nd Divisions; ; 50th Army 149th Division; ; 4th Artillery Division; 65th Anti-Aircraft Division;	316th Division 98th, 148th, 174th Infantry Regiments; 187th Artillery; ; 345th Division 118th, 121st, 124th Infantry Regiments; 190th Artillery; ; 168th Artillery Regiment; 297th Anti-Aircraft Regt.; 89th Engineer Regiment; 16th Armed Police Regt.;
Strength
At least 8 regular divisions ; ~125,000 regular troops	2 regular divisions ; plus ~20,000 regional troops and militia
Casualties and losses
Chinese claim:; 7,886 casualties (including 2,812 killed); Vietnamese claim:; 11,500 casualties ; 66 tanks/APCs destroyed	Chinese claim:; ~13,500 casualties (including 33.3% of 345th Division wounded or killed, over 1,000 of 316th Division killed.)

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 surrounding towns.