▁" be ▁taught ▁a ▁less on ". ▁In ▁February , ▁a ▁full - scale ▁Chinese ▁attack ▁was ▁launched ▁on ▁the ▁Vietnam ese ▁border . ▁Although ▁China ▁with d rew ▁after ▁three ▁weeks ▁and ▁declared ▁its ▁object ives ▁met , ▁the ▁war ▁had ▁not ▁gone ▁well ▁and ▁demonstrated ▁the ▁country ' s ▁weak ness . ▁The ▁P LA ▁lost ▁over ▁ 2 0 , 0 0 0 ▁men ▁due ▁to ▁weapons ▁and ▁equipment ▁that ▁were ▁out dated , ▁poor ly ▁made , ▁and ▁in ▁short ▁supply ▁( a ▁side ▁effect ▁of ▁the ▁dis ruption ▁caused ▁by ▁the ▁Cultural ▁Revolution ), ▁maps ▁that ▁were ▁dec ades ▁old , ▁the ▁continued ▁use ▁of ▁human - wave ▁tact ics ▁from ▁the ▁Korean ▁War , ▁and ▁the ▁fact ▁that ▁the ▁army ▁had ▁no ▁system ▁of ▁ranks . ▁Even ▁worse ▁was ▁the ▁fact ▁that ▁the ▁Chinese ▁had ▁not ▁even ▁engaged ▁Vietnam ' s ▁regular ▁army ▁( which ▁was ▁in ▁Camb odia ), ▁but ▁instead ▁fought ▁milit ia ▁and ▁home ▁guard ▁units . ▁On ▁the ▁other ▁hand , ▁it ▁was ▁a ▁political ▁victory ▁since ▁the ▁Soviet ▁Union ▁had ▁failed ▁to ▁come ▁to ▁its ▁al ly ' s ▁aid ▁and ▁content ed ▁itself ▁with ▁ver bal ▁protest s . ▁In ▁reference ▁to ▁Moscow ' s ▁in action , ▁D eng ▁X ia op ing ▁re iter ated ▁Ma o ▁Z ed ong ' s ▁saying ▁that ▁" You ▁can ' t ▁know ▁how ▁the ▁t iger ▁will ▁react ▁until ▁you ▁po ke ▁its ▁back side ." ▁ ▁China ▁finally ▁fully ▁established