CHAPTER - ONE

THE PATHFINDERS

“Two to One. Target sighted. Inbound and jolly. Over”

“One here. Copy. Standby.” The ‘Lt-colonel’ spoke into the mouthpiece of his UHF radio,
avoiding any sudden movements. Then he pulled up his binoculars and again started to see
the terrain in front of him. The dust cloud was clearly visible now, coming from behind the
peaks around which the road took a bend. The cloud was a good distance away, so that
even on the binoculars it was nothing more than a small sight. But it was there, and it was
coming this way. This one was a big target, and something for which the team of five were
cooperating with a sister team in the region.

It was to be the most audacious job so far. To complicate matters, this wasn’t exactly the
ideal terrain for this kind of job. The ‘luckier’ teams had their areas of operations assigned
where there was thick forest cover, and they were happily creating merry hell for their
opponents. But that was why the Lt-Colonel had volunteered for leading this team. The
other teams had young officers leading them in action. But the two teams here had the
most difficult of tasks, and that was why the two senior men were leading them forward.

The Lt-Colonel was a lot younger than his peers but still much older than his men and he
knew it. But that was why he insisted on every man in his unit, young and old, to be as fit
as humanly possible. As his men had come to realize, the limit of ‘Humanly Possible’ as
interpreted by their leader was very much higher than what they would have imagined and
the dropout rate had been high from the volunteer pool. All that meant was that by the time
a man passed the grade for this job, he was already way ahead in terms of fitness than
most men his age. Many had questioned the need for such a regimen but out here it was all
paying off. Quite handsomely too, if I do say so myself... The team leader thought.

The situation demanded the best of men even under normal circumstances, and it only got
worse. The biggest enemy here was the weather, followed soon after by the terrain. With
the amount of killing potential within these two enemies, the actual human enemy didn’t
even come into the picture, but was still something to be wary of, as all had come to realize
in the last few weeks. At the moment, however, the skies were clear, and the ground and
the air severely cold. There was no snow yet, but it would be there after a few weeks, if the
forecast was accurate. At night here it became colder than anything anyone could even
imagine, much less endure. Before he got here, that is. But that was why the job required
and demanded the best of the best. The selected men were unique for the region, and
under no circumstances meant to fight anywhere else...

It was dark now, and the low light intensification goggles were working wonders for the
team when they moved, allowing them to see the ground in front of them before they
stepped on it. But for long range vision, the moonlight was sufficient to give them what they
wanted to see. The moon was partially out tonight, and it allowed both teams to see the
dust cloud even in the night-time and from extreme distances.

The dust cloud was much closer now, and the first signs of smaller dust clouds within the
larger one were becoming visible, allowing the two teams to identify the number of vehicles
inbound on the convoy. Okay, that’s four…No…Five Vehicles…and the first one looks like one
of the newer models…Oh well…let’s see what it can withstand. Should gain some good intel
from this attack…

The Lt-colonel removed his binoculars and rubbed his eyes again. We have been out here
for too long. Must not get complacent. Must stay alert at all times, Damn it! The
teams had been out here long enough. They had hit a few targets worth mentioning in the
time they had been here, and that was more than what the sister team had achieved. The
team’s targets had included an isolated enemy military checkpoint on the highway through
this region which had been manned by a squad of enemy troops. His men had raided this
post in the dark of the night and killed all of the enemy soldiers with bursts of silenced
gunfire in under a minute. They had taken no prisoners and shown no remorse, but they
had taken all the documents present inside the office of the dead enemy officer. The
documents had shown them all they needed to know about the convoys planned to cross
this week along this section of the road and thus given them the time line details to plan
this attack.

The raid on the outpost had been clean and efficient. The bodies had been removed and all
signs of combat cleared over. The team had made sure that the now dead enemy officer did
not make his last desperate radio call to his base to issue a warning. Not that he hadn’t
tried...the Lt-Colonel thought.

When the Colonel had slammed open the door of his office during the raid, he had found the
young officer with his hands reaching for the radio. They never got there. Three bursts of
automatic fire had sent him reeling and crashing down to the floor under the impact of the
bullets. Another burst had punched five holes on the radio sets and made them unusable.
And that was that. No more radio calls. No aborting of this convoy which was now clearly
within the view for the two teams, and no enemy troops beating the bush trying to locate
the teams.

Of course, by the time this attack was over, the entire Infantry Division garrisoning the
region would be out of their bases and looking for the culprits, but that couldn’t be helped.
In any case, one of the first attacks conducted by the teams had been way to the north, and
it had been a spectacular one at that.

The target had been an enemy communications center on top of a peak to the north of this
region. It had been catering to both the local civilian and military communication needs.
Since it had been the first target on the list for the Lt-colonel’s team, the enemy hadn’t
been expecting them. They had hit it during the night and caught the guards outside
relaxed and not alert. With them taken care of, other team members had burst into the
building, silenced everyone as they went down floor by floor, and made sure that the
military equipment was left untouched.

This had allowed the team’s Comms-Specialist to determine what all he needed to know
about the enemy Communications network before they had left, blowing up the relay station
as they left. With that explosion, however, the enemy force in the region had instantly
mobilized, and had begun searching the local region. But by that time the Lt-colonel and his
men had traveled far to the south. This meant that the enemy force was searching way to
the north when they had hit the small outpost along the road to the south and now were
poised to hit the convoy coming below them on the Highway.

“One to Two. Target jolly. Thirty seconds...” The team leader spoke slowly into the radio
transmitter. His eyes never left the road and the convoy which was approaching that one
special spot along the highway. The response was a whisper and nothing else.
“Copy”

And then there was the silence. The calm before the storm…
The Lt-colonel reflected that this was probably the first time in half a century that someone
from his side had managed to even be where his men were now, much less doing what he
was about to do. It was just too bad that he couldn’t talk about it to anyone afterward.
Assuming he survived to talk about it in the first place…he reminded himself

Just then the unsuspecting convoy finally reached that one spot on the road and a flurry of
activity erupted among the attackers…

“One to Two. This is it! Light them up!”

The explosives specialist in each team reached for the cover of their firing triggers, flipped it
open with their thumbs and then depressed the button to its entirety…

There was a gap of about a quarter second during which there was no action, causing the
heartbeats of the attackers to come to a stop…and then there was a massive flash in the
darkness that overpowered the dim light of the moon…then another…then another, after
which the flashes became almost continuous. Then came the shockwaves along the ground
followed by the thundering noise as large orange-yellow balls of fire rose into the sky one
behind the other along a stretch of the road that had been occupied by the unsuspecting
enemy vehicle convoy only a second ago. The clean painted military vehicles were now
black, burning pyres and hulks. Just as soon as the fireballs had emerged, they vanished,
leaving behind a drifting cloud of smoke and dust, and five fiercely burning vehicles…

The debris had been thrown all around. Amazingly, a crew member from the APC in the
front of the convoy stumbled out of the turret hatch moments before flames poured out,
hurt badly, and fell on the ground next to his vehicle. As the attackers watched, amazed at
the miraculous escape of an enemy in front of them, the injured survivor began to drag
himself away from the burning hulk of the APC and started to move back along the road,
hoping to meet friendly forces up on the road to the north. That the nearest friendly forces
were at least several dozen kilometers away from him was not a concern for the desperate
enemy soldier.

It was almost sad, the Lt-colonel thought, and decided to put that man out of his misery. He
picked up his rifle and fitted the magnification scope on his assault rifle before raising it up
on his shoulders and then started to take aim on the enemy soldier on the plain below him.
It took him a couple of seconds to fix his aim and was about to depress the trigger when his
target collapsed on the road and stopped moving. The Lt-colonel lowered his rifle and
looked at that small speck lying on the road below before removing the scope and tucking it
away in his pack and ordered his men to pack up and move out. Nobody spoke a word.
There was no time for it. They had a job to do, and a long way to go. The explosion had
probably been seen by a lot of people in the surrounding hills. This was now an unhealthy
place to stay.

As the team members put on their low-light goggles, put their backpacks on and pulled their
rifles up, a UHF call came through for the Lt-colonel. It was the 'Major’, who commanded his
second team and who was also his second-in-command. Out here he was ‘Two Actual’.
“Two to One. The fires are burning. Next one’s by the Playbook?”
“Roger, Two. Catch up with you guys later. Good Luck. Out” This was where the two teams
were to separate out and move towards different targets. The Lt-colonel gave the radio back
to his Comm-Specialist and signaled his ‘Point’ man to move out. His Comm-Specialist had a
question for his CO: “Where to now, sir?”

The Lt-colonel just smiled back. He felt like smiling. They had had a good night. The fact
that they had just eliminated several dozen enemy troops in a convoy in the blink of an eye
was no longer on his conscience. If they had wanted to live, they should have stayed in
their own country. But this area is mine. Step on it and you will die… the Lt-colonel
reflected.

They now had a very long walk ahead of them. The Lt-Colonel looked back at the
camouflage paint covered face of his men standing before him.

“The job’s just begun. Let’s move out.”

The moonlight was a problem, but they had no choice. As the team began their long walk to
the south-east, they disappeared within the long dark shadows of the hills surrounding the
plain. The team left behind five burning wrecks of what were military vehicles on the road in
the plain below, otherwise known as the Chinese National Highway-219…

NEW DELHI
DAY 1 + 0950 HRS

“So what can you tell me about the Lhasa situation?” the Minister asked.
“Tense.” The Ambassador replied before reaching for his cup of tea. His eyes did not move
up to match those of his host. A few seconds of silence then reminded him that more was
required from him. His eyes finally caught up with those of the host.

“Martial law is still in place. It is for the public’s own security. There have been no more
attacks in the city. Lhasa is locked down. The rebels continue to attack civilians elsewhere.
The civilian losses have been high.”

The host finally looked away from the guest and stared out of the windows at the green
grass being watered by the sprinklers. The blue sky above and a bright winter sun
dominated the skyward view. The same as over Tibet...the Indian Foreign Minister reminded
himself as he recollected the minute details from the NSC meeting the previous
night. Rebels attacking civilians...my ass. This guy speaks outrageous lies without blinking.
One needs to be dead inside for doing this job...

“You mean Chinese citizens or Tibetans?” The host said without looking away from the
windows. The response was just as profound:
“I am afraid I do not know the statistics.” The Ambassador replied with a straight face.
You predictable ********...The Indian Foreign Minister thought with an inward smile before
finally turning away from the windows to face his guest.
“Of course”

The Foreign Minister opened a file and removed a piece of paper from it and handed it to
the guest across the table before continuing:
“That is the statement that the Government of India has released as of fifteen minutes ago.
It asks for both sides to break off the cycle of violence that has been spiralling out of control
in the Tibet Autonomous region for the last few weeks and asks for a return to the
negotiating table. The violence being perpetuated by both sides is unacceptable to India.
This is the gist of the page long statement you find in front of you. The PM wanted me to
give you a personal assurance of help should Beijing need a mediator to intervene on behalf
of both sides.”

The Foreign Minister leaned back in his chair while the guest grew significantly more
uncomfortable.
“I will pass this offer back to Beijing, but I would also like to remind you and your
government that the situation in Tibet is an internal affair, not an international one. While
we thank India for taking a mature stand in these troubled times, I feel obliged to remind
you that the resolution of an internal affair does not require international mediation, similar
to your situation in Kashmir.” The Ambassador replied in an almost unnoticeable sterner
tone than before. It did not escape his Indian host though.

“The two situations are somewhat different, Mr. Ambassador. I would not advise such a
simple comparison. Further, there are historical issues to consider here. We have the
Tibetan Government-In-Exile still on our soil.”
“You mean the rebel leaders. India would better serve both India’s and China’s interests by
first removing such outlaw encampments from Indian soil before offering help to others.”
The Indian Foreign Minister now leaned forward:

“Mr. Ambassador, these may be troubled times for your government, but it is highly
advisable for you to avoid accusing other countries with outrageous and, I if do say so
myself, naive claims. You know better than that. Further, the Prime Minister has gone to
great lengths to make such statements of support at a time when the emotions of our own
citizens are high. Don’t make the situation worse for both of us.” And with that both sides
had drawn an unseen line across the table that separated them. Both also knew it was time
to back away...

“I am sorry for my emotional comments, but as you said it yourself, these are difficult
times. I will pass back your government’s offer back to my government.” The Ambassador
replied finally as he glanced the paper. A few seconds later he finally spoke again:

“There is one other matter that my government thought you might need to know. There has
been an attack yesterday on a civilian convoy that cost the lives of more than three dozen
civilians. The attack took place on the section of the highway just north of the border in
Laddakh...” The Ambassador stared back into the eyes of the host who returned the favor:
“And I express my sympathies for the loss of lives, Mr. Ambassador. But what makes the
attack different from all the others so far across Tibet?”

“Just that the close proximity of the attack near the border warranted a mention. It seems
the rebels have begun attacking civilian targets closer and closer to the border with India
ever since our security forces began pushing them out of the cities.” The Chinese
Ambassador concluded with that straight face that he was known for. Fifteen minutes later
he left, and the Indian Foreign Minister returned back to his office and sat back down in his
chair before staring out of the windows again.

They are thinking something...and its taking them in the wrong directions...
But what the hell is it that they are thinking?

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
NEW DELHI
DAY 1 + 1030 HRS

“What’s the latest figure?”

“Five vehicles neutralized. Thirty six dead and counting. Civilians of course...”
The merited a grunt and a smile from the person sitting in the chair across the table before
a subtle statement: “That figures. What else?”
“Phase-II begins tonight if nothing goes wrong.”
“Good. Keep me informed.”
“Yes sir.” The other person said before closing the door behind him as he left. The person
sitting in the chair returned back to his papers even as he decided to get some sleep. He
knew there wouldn’t be much of that in the coming weeks...

HILLS OVERLOOKING THE VILLAGE OF SHIQUANHE

SOUTHWESTERN TIBET
70 KM EAST OF L.A.C.
DAY 1 + 1830 HRS

The noise from random bursts of gunfire were still echoing in the hills as the sun began
sneaking behind the western peaks amidst a darkening orange and red sky. The rebels had
taken a beating from PLA forces after a botched ambush had turned into a drawn out fire-
fight and left dozens killed in the outskirts of the once pristine village. The battles had
shifted now into the hills outside the village as the rebels attempted to retreat to the east
across the river that cut the village along a northeast-southwest axis. The buildings east of
the river were nothing more than smouldering remains. Across the river the PLA troops
were everywhere and were now beginning to initiate movements across the river to push
the rebels out.

“There they go...” the Captain spoke without removing his eyes from the binoculars.
“There’s a lesson in here somewhere.” The Lieutenant replied as he joined the Captain
where he lay behind the rock cover with his own pair of binoculars.
“True. Absolute idiots, those rebels. You don’t engage an entire PLA Battalion in
conventional combat. Not when you are outnumbered ten to one!” The Captain continued.
“In broad daylight too. They aren’t going to last too long with such poor tactics. At this rate
this revolt will be over before it ever started. Of course, that’s where we come in...” The
Lieutenant replied. The Captain smiled without looking away.

The six members of Team-Three were holed up in the hills northwest of the village for the
past day. Movement during daylight was suicidal, and so they had watched the day long
drama played out in front of them without batting an eyelid, so to speak. They had watched
the botched attempt on the PLA convoy by the rebels that had left the lead truck burning
under the force of an improvised roadside bomb. Other such devices had apparently not
worked as they should have, and sure enough the rest of the convoy had stopped and the
dozens of soldiers had deployed into the houses bordering the road in what then became a
house to house fight between an overwhelming PLA infantry force and a small rebel unit.
But for all their flaws, the Tibetan rebels had fought bravely. That was something the
members of Team-Three had agreed unanimously. Of course, from a military standpoint it
had not been enough. The Tibetan forces within the eastern outskirts had been wiped out to
the last man, but the battle was not over. More Tibetan fighters had converged from the
east to help their besieged comrades, and they were now also retreating in a running battle
with PLA regulars.

The PLA for their part had been caught by surprise initially, but that hadn’t lasted long.
There were now APC convoys coming down the road from the northeast with their
headlights switched on in a show of defiance. Artillery had pounded the hills east of the
village for an hour before a fresh PLA infantry Battalion had begun advancing across the
river towards the eastern hills. The original Battalion that had been ambushed was now on
holding status in the western outskirts of the village, clearing the remaining houses in the
village, near the foothills of the peaks where six keen observers were keeping a close eye
on the proceedings.

“Incoming...” The Lieutenant reported as he watched a PLA mortar platoon getting ready to
drop smoke cover for the advancing troops.
“Organized, disciplined...and predictable...” the Captain continued as he made mental notes
about the PLA way of fighting, their equipment, logistics, command and control and ISR
capabilities.

That was when a burst of gunfire rang out from one of the extreme western houses in the
village. It caught everybody by surprise, Team-Three members included. The Captain and
the other members immediately jerked at the close proximity of the sounds and refocused
their binoculars to see the source of the commotion only to find a section of PLA troops
returning fire on a small house near whose door a PLA officer now lay in a pool of blood. The
tactical orientation of the PLA forces had been facing eastwards even as their first
counterattack was being launched towards the east. Now there was confusion everywhere.
There were several more grenade explosions in the streets in the western end of the village
that left three more PLA soldiers dead or wounded on the street...

“Oh Shit!!” The Captain said to no one in particular as he saw the battle going on in the
valley just at the edge of the hills they were on. Although Team-Three was not under fire,
the fact was that the Chinese would soon begin advancing into these hills and more eyes
would be facing this way. The team ran an extreme risk of detection now more by accident
rather than design. Sure enough, the first mortar shells were now hitting the foothills below
where the observers were as the PLA counterattack was pulled off and being directed
westwards...

“All right people, get ready to move. We need to get the hell out of here before they start
searching these peaks. Move! Move!”

IAF PHALCON AWACS AIRCRAFT

SKIES OVER WESTERN LADDAKH
INDIA
DAY 1 + 1848 HRS

“Inbound. Single ship formation detected bearing two-one-nine heading southeast. Range
two-one-zero kilo-mike. Angels thirty.” One of the radar console operators reported over the
intercom. The Mission Commander (MC) was already walking over to the concerned console
and peered at the computer screen from over the shoulders of the operator.

“Type?” He asked even as he absorbed in the details from the screen. The operator shifted
the interface screen to initiate inbound track. A second later the computer ran over the
flight profile parameters with a known intelligence database before displaying the result on
a corner of the screen.

“Possible J-10 variant. Designating inbound contact November-two-four. Track initiated.”

The operator was already moving through the procedure for the job even as the MC
watched over his shoulders before continuing:
“Might be a close formation two-ship flight. The commies don’t fly single aircraft patrols...or
attack missions for that matter.”
“Could be, sir. Difficult to tell at this point. The contact is trying to keep within the peaks as
best as he can. Once he gets closer we can differentiate the radar signature.” The operator
replied without looking away from the screens.

“Point of origin?”
“Bearing suggests dust off from Kashgar, but we show no J-10 deployments that far west.”
“Until now that is. This is what is called real-time intelligence. The WAC Commander needs
to know that his commie threat level just went up a notch.” The MC, a Group-Captain
himself, noted. “Anyway, where is this bugger going?”
“The current flight path seems just a circuitous path designed to go around our borders.
Hold on, the inbound is changing course...now heading south!”
“How close is he going to get to our airspace with the current heading?” the MC continued
as he stared at that inverted ‘V’ on the screen heading downwards.
“Around sixty to seventy kilometres east of the L.A.C. heading towards Shipki Pass to the
south. Doesn’t look like he is planning to approach anything important, though.”
“Doesn’t matter. That’s close enough. For all we know he might be trying to tickle our
defences and gather electronic intelligence.” The MC said as he finally walked away from the
console and walked to the airborne controller consoles.

“Who’s up today?” he asked the lead officer at the controls.

“Three Mig-29s at Leh. Alert pad readiness status.”
“Configuration?” the MC asked.
“A-to-A. BVR”
“Good. Get them in the air and direct them towards November-two-four. Keep them on
radar standby and over our airspace. Weapons release on hold. We don’t want any
accidents. Do it.” The MC ordered.
“Yes sir.”

LEH AIRBASE
INDIA
DAY 1 + 1915 HRS

The sun had gone down some time back, and now only the western edges of the sky were a
shade of dark red with the bright stars appearing on the eastern skies. On the ground, the
activities were frantic at the southern end of the airbase as the sounds of turbines spooling
up, filled the air. Inside the well lit hardened shelters, three Mig-29 pilots were strapping
into their seats while the ground crewmen armed the weapons and conducted the final
visual checks.

A minute later the first Mig-29 taxied out of the shelter into the darkness outside. This was
not war, and so the runway perimeter lights were still on, and so were the anti-collision
strobe lights of the fighters themselves as the three aircraft moved out one behind the other
towards the end of the runway. Another minute later the thunder of the afterburners
reverberated the surrounding hills and the first of the three air defense fighters streaked
down the end of the runway before lifting into the air...

HILLS OVERLOOKING THE VILLAGE OF SHIQUANHE

SOUTHWESTERN TIBET
70 KM EAST OF L.A.C.
DAY 1 + 1930 HRS

The path down the other side of the hills was not as easy to traverse on as it might have
sounded. The loose gravel and shifting rocks meant that one small mistake and one could
end up sliding down the side and end up smashing into the rocks below. But there was no
choice at the moment. The six members of Team-Three were moving down the northern
side of the slope and attempting to reach the next line of hills parallel to the current one
along an east-west axis. On the southern side of the hills the battle between the Tibetan
freedom fighters and the PLA was in full flow, with the PLA now hammering the western
outskirts of the village with artillery. In essence, the two PLA battalions in Shiquanhe were
fighting on both the eastern and western outskirts of the village while controlling the central
northeast-southwest road that ran through the village. But it was not a case encirclement
for them, just a nuisance...

The Tibetan plateau is relatively flat. Unlike the steep gradients along the Greater Himalayas
that divide the Indian and Chinese side of the borders along the southern edge of this
plateau, where the number of access points and passes for any given FEBA sector can be
counted on one hand from the Indian point of view, most urban and rural areas of Tibet are
accessible from numerous directions. Most villages and towns can be accessed from multiple
directions by both vehicles and humans. In the case of Shiquanhe, another road ran down
from the direction of the Aksai Chin from the northwest.

Team Three had been positioned to the north of the village with both these roads on either
side of them, having descended towards the village from the direct north. But now with two
PLA convoys detected inbound towards the village from both these roads, the only escape
route was back north. But doing so was not easy. The ground was barren and exposed. If
detected while crossing these open terrains, the intruders ran the risk of complete
annihilation with no hope of survival.

At the bottom of the southern slope the Captain looked left and right to see his men taking
cover behind some boulders with their heavy backpacks strapped on and their rifles at
shoulder level as they scanned the open terrain in front of them before the next line of hills
to the north. The sky above was lit with stars, but there was no moonlight. The massive
peaks to the south jutted above the ground while the top of the hill the team had been on
was now silhouetted against the continuous flashes of man made light from a mixture of
flares and explosions. The headlights of the dozen odd vehicles driving down the road from
the northwest were now visible, thanks to the good LOS from the current elevated
positions...

“Troop trucks...” the Lieutenant reported as he handed the binoculars to the Captain.
“They will be swarming these peaks by tomorrow afternoon. I doubt they will do anything
beyond securing the village tonight.” The Captain replied. A few seconds later he handed
back the binoculars to the lieutenant:
“We have till daybreak to get under cover.”
“What about the contacts, sir?” the Lieutenant asked.
“They are probably dead. Those who aren’t will be taken away. Either way, there’s nothing
for us here. Let’s move out.” The Captain answered in a deadpan voice.

“Yes sir.” The lieutenant adjusted the NVG attachment to his helmet before lowering it in
front of his eyes. A few seconds later the rest of the team members had done the same.
The Captain was the last one to do it as he gave the flashing lights silhouetting the southern
peaks a final look. The northern peaks were completely dark. But when the NVGs were
powered on, the starlight was magnified a thousand times but the hills were not. This gave
a nice green background to a black hill line that they had to reach before the PLA soldiers
began moving into these peaks. Thirty seconds later the Captain picked up his UBGL fitted
INSAS rifle and moved out behind the lieutenant leading Team Three across the cold, dark
plains...
THE SKIES ABOVE SOUTHWESTERN TIBET
DAY 1 + 1935 HRS

The air situation along the Sino-Indian border had been tense now for the past few weeks.
Both sides had been accusing each other for the violence that had broken out inside Tibet
and neither side was shying away from upping the ante. On the ground that had meant
massive troop movements on both sides of the border while in the air, it meant increasingly
aggressive patrolling. While both sides had limited aerial tanker fleets that were simply too
small to be able to support a large enough presence over the skies, both sides had areas
where one possessed an advantage over the other.

In the east the IAF Eastern Air Command was facing truly massive air patrols from a ring of
PLAAF airbases surrounding the region in a deadly arc, the IAF Central Air Command was
facing only ground to air threats, and for the most part the skies over central Tibet were
clear save for the few patrols being maintained at huge operational costs by the PLAAF in a
face saving exercise. And on the western sector the IAF faced a threat from the north but
lesser threats from the northeast. This equilibrium had been maintained by both sides until
a few days ago.
The increasing heavy handed use of the PLAAF in suppressing the Tibetan rebels was
pushing the fight further southwards towards the Indian borders. With the southern push,
the vicinity of the air strikes had also been moving southwards, and had now reached a
stage where the PLAAF was depending solely on tanker support to allow heavily loaded
strike aircrafts to be able to hit the targets in southern Tibet and still return home.

These strike aircrafts were lumbering machines on the way in, and faced little chance of
survival against the hordes of air-to-air configured IAF fighters patrolling south of the
border should hostilities break out suddenly. The only hope of support those strike aircraft
had were the thin line of SU-27s and KJ-2000s that were patrolling the region every time a
strike package headed into Tibet to attack a Tibetan rebel position...

The light in one side of the cockpit flipped green as the fuel flow stopped. A moment later
the refuelling controller came over the radio to confirm completion. The pilot acknowledged
and gently backed off from the drogue before banking to the right and gently diving away
from the swept winged tanker. Then the pilot increased throttle and conducted a visual scan
to ensure perfect formatting with the flight and pulled level on the left side of the line
abreast formation before finally increasing engine throttle, along with the three other pilots
simultaneously.

Behind him the tanker he had refueled from turned away from the southerly heading and
resumed the elliptical loitering loop with the major axis directed east-west. The four fighters
headed south. Fifty kilometers behind another aircraft entered the airspace. This one
activated the on-board radar and sent a wave of radio energy hundreds of kilometers into
the dark night skies of the southern hemisphere where it was detected by its counterpart
beyond the Himalayas...

IAF PHALCON AWACS AIRCRAFT

SKIES OVER WESTERN LADDAKH
INDIA
DAY 1 + 1948 HRS

“More inbounds! Active airborne radar signatures!” the flight controller shouted over the
intercom. The MC was behind him ten seconds later:
“SITREP!”
“Four inbound fighters in line abreast formation heading south. Active airborne radar aircraft
forty to fifty kilometres behind the fighter formation. Computer thinks that we are looking at
four Su-27s and a KJ-2000 patrol entering the airspace. I am inclined to agree.” The console
operator reported without looking away from the screen.

“Okay. These will be the CAP support for November-two-four. And they are brining AWACS
support with them. We see them, they see us. Now it’s about numbers.” The MC said more
to himself than to anybody else.

A moment later he was using his intercom headset to alert the flight crew of the aircraft
before warning the flight of three SU-30MKIs flying alongside the Phalcon as escorts. These
fighters were now moving between the inbound threats and the Phalcon that was now
taking evasive manoeuvres. All strobe lights were now switched off as combat conditions
were initiated on board all aircraft south of the border. On board the Phalcon the MC was
already in contact with Number 5 Tactical Air Centre (5-TAC) to decide the required
response level.

The problem was the same as those in the last few weeks and yet it needed only a small
error to become something new and far nastier. Misunderstandings could lead to war. And
wars based on misunderstandings were always the bloodiest ones of all. And yet every
thought of decisive action was repelled by the very next thought: we are not at war...only
to be followed by the realization that there was no way to predict whether the other side
was thinking the same thing. So the more accurate adaption of the above thought among
the Indian planners for each one of these kind of incidents in the past weeks had been: we
are not at war...Yet.

And there was no way to tell the difference between the two...
HILLS OVERLOOKING THE VILLAGE OF SHIQUANHE
SOUTHWESTERN TIBET
70 KM EAST OF L.A.C.
DAY 1 + 2010 HRS

The slippery snow and rocky terrain were not making things any easier. The next set of hills
were as far away as ever, and to their rear the sounds of the gunfire refused to die away.
The terrain was cold and they were not. Any TI system would pick them up against the
background whether it were on a UAV, and aircraft, helicopter or even in front of another
human being’s eyes. But intelligence suggested that the units involved in suppressing the
Tibetans in this sector were not equipped with these systems on a widespread scale. Even
so, it only took one...
“Sir! Inbound chopper!” one of the team members pointed out to the north as a PLA Mi-17
suddenly popped over the top of the next set of hills against the greenish background of the
NVGs. It took the others only a second to spot the threat before the sounds of the main
rotor blades whipping through the thin mountain air reached their ears.

“Oh shit! Everybody: down! Now!” the Captain shouted unnecessarily, for the others were
already doing the same: taking cover behind any clump of rocks they could find and hoping
the ragged outline would break up their own...

For all that it was clear the Mi-17 was not looking for them, and sure enough, it flew past
the crouching team members by a leisurely five hundred meters. A minute later it was
beyond the peaks the team had been on when they had been overlooking the village. The
Captain motioned for the rest to stay where they were for another minute to make sure the
threat had dissipated. Fifty seconds later it was clear that the Chinese helicopter was busy
dealing with the Tibetans.

“Doesn’t look like they know of our existence...” the Lieutenant mused. The Captain shook
his head:
“You can thank the Tibetans for that. Looks like they are giving the Chinese a run for their
money. Okay, let’s move out.”
The Lieutenant resumed his ‘point’ position for five seconds before a dark delta winged
aircraft swept over their heads and streaked to the south, the sounds of its thunder sending
the team diving for the rocky ground below...

“What the hell was that?!!!” the Lieutenant shouted as the thunder in their ears subsided.
The Captain was already on his back and staring at the southern peaks to see where the
aircraft had gone. The hills were dark, but the green sky in his NVGs picked up the dark
blob in contrast as the aircraft reached for the sky at much slower speeds now as the pilot
gained altitude to visually acquire his target...

IAF PHALCON AWACS AIRCRAFT

SKIES OVER WESTERN LADDAKH
INDIA
DAY 1 + 2018 HRS

“November-two-four has initiated attack runs. We have him gaining altitude above grid
reference three-two-november slash seven-nine-echo.” The radar console operator read off
the numbers from the screen. The MC was already on the SATCOM with Western-Air-
Command HQ:

“This is Eagle-Eye-One actual. We show enemy strike package November-two-four initiating

attack sequence. November-two-five through eight are still southbound with AWACS
support.”
Back at the WAC C3I centre the Western Air Commander was monitoring the air situation
personally along with his staff. It was the beginning of a long night for all of them. The giant
digital map overlay showed everybody exactly what the Phalcon was seeing, and it was
getting very crowded up there...

“Who do we have up today to greet the commies?” the WACinC asked his aide.
“Three Mig-29s from Leh inbound to greet the single J-10 attacking Shiquanhe to their
southeast. Three sukhois from Eagle-Eye-One have assumed BARCAP positions and we have
another four sukhois heading northwards to assume position alongside the BARCAP aircraft.
Eagle-Eye-One is being pulled southwards.” The aide replied as he read off the details
handed to him by an airman. The WACinC was already shaking his head. The aide was not
finished, though...

“Sir, Eagle-Eye-One reports the inbound KJ-2000 will soon reach detection range of
Snooper-One based on our known estimates of their airborne radar capabilities. I suggest
we pull back Snooper-One to the south to avoid detection.” The final statement caused the
WACinC to turn away from the main screen and face his aide.
“Do it. The last thing we need right now is to be caught with our pants down. Abort
Snooper-One mission immediately. Get them out of there.”
“Yes sir.” The aide walked away to a console and picked up a SATCOM link to Leh...

LEH AIRBASE
INDIA
DAY 1 + 2022 HRS

With the current tense situation at the border, the number of flights inbound and outbound
from Leh was immense. In between the massive number of transport flights during the day
bringing in a surge of troops into the region along with their supplies were the incessant
take-offs and landings by the various fighters forward deployed at the airbase. But one
section of the airbase was far from hectic. Amidst the bunch of high-tech trailers covered
with camouflage netting were a group of men whose job demanded being discrete and
quiet. Their aircraft were deployed very near to the trailers themselves and were put in
small protective shelters. An acute observer might have noticed that one of those shelters
was wide empty tonight.

The person wearing a green flight overall put down the phone in one of the trailers and
walked behind the other two sitting in their chairs and staring at the small television
screens. One of these men had his right hand sitting on a small joystick fitted into the
console even as his eyes never left the screen. The other person next to him was also
staring into a television screen of his own, only that his view was different. It was this
screen that the two other men in the room wearing similar overalls but with a whole lot
more medals on their chest were interested in watching...

“That guy must have wiped out have of that village in that first run of his...” one
commented to the other without looking away.

“An absolute lunatic. Might have killed his own people in that strike. Not a good sign of FAC
coordination... ” the other commented as both watched the screen showing the black and
white live-feed video from the onboard TI system of their ‘bird’. The screen was showing the
struggling efforts of the TI data computer to resolve the massive fluctuations in light as
white color fireballs raced into the sky and then turned black again in seconds. But for all
that the view was clear so far.

Three hundred kilometers away and ten thousand feet above them, a Heron UAV was
silently flying over south-eastern Tibet with its eyes pointed downwards. Except for the last
hour, it had been flying over the region on a reconnaissance mission to ascertain the level
of Chinese build-up in the Aksai Chin region. In the last hour its focus had changed to the
ongoing battle near Shiquanhe where it had just recorded the devastating J-10 strike
against the village outskirts that had left dozens of buildings destroyed or on fire.

But now the skies were getting crowded and with a powerful Chinese airborne radar aircraft
entering the skies, and enemy fighters approaching, it was time to leave. The Flight-
Commander inside the trailer at Leh now pushed the joystick slightly to the right even as his
eyes watched his television screen. On this screen he was essentially seeing what the UAV
was seeing as far as the flight was concerned. The ground surveillance optics was not his
responsibility, but that of his neighboring console operator. The Heron was quick to respond
to the remote pilot commands and it banked to the right before initiating a southern turn.
The view on the remote pilot’s optics confirmed the same.
As the Indian Heron initiated its escape to the south, the race began. Two hundred
kilometers to the north four Chinese SU-27s streaked through the skies on their way
south...

AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHWESTERN TIBET

TIBET
DAY 1 + 2028 HRS
Ten thousand feet above the snow clad mountains of Tibet, and three hundred and fifty
kilometres away from its Indian counterpart, a ‘red’ IL-76 tore through the cold rarefied air
on its way south. The dorsal airborne radar was fully active, and inside the aircraft fifteen
Chinese officers were now waiting for the first contacts to appear on their screens. It didn’t
take long. The lone J-10 near the border with India was soon picked up on active systems,
though the passive ones were suggesting there were Indian aircraft also in the skies, most
notably the powerful emissions of the Phalcon. The small airframe of the escaping Heron
UAV was not picked up at this range, however. The Chinese commander on board rubbed
his eyes as he walked over to the lead radar officer. Contact was imminent now...

AIRSPACE SOUTH OF THE L.A.C

LADDAKH, INDIA
DAY 1 + 2030 HRS
The three Fulcrums under the command of S/L Khurana were flying just over the peaks in
the region as they dashed to the southeast to intercept the lone Chinese J-10 just over the
border. Rough geographical features and the curving nature of the horizon prevented their
detection by enemy radar. But that was about to change. They were approaching the border
now, and it was time to show themselves to the other side...

“Okay people, look sharp.” Khurana spoke to the other two pilots over the radio before
gently pulling on the control stick. The aircraft lifted effortlessly into the higher air, and
almost immediately the threat picture lit up...

The RWR audio warning was heard in the ears of the three pilots as the emissions from the
Chinese AWACS saturated the skies around the three Indian aircraft. Khurana looked
instinctively to his left as to ‘see’ the threat far to the north, but of course the skies were as
dark as ever with only stars above and the rocky peaks below. There were SU-27s out there
somewhere, and potentially flanking his flight of three, but his job was to keep his eyes
peeled for the single J-10 doing mud work in the hills to the east and leave the SU-27s for
the Indian SU-30s somewhere behind him at the moment. As for that J-10, the Phalcon had
lost contact when the Chinese pilot had gone at low level within the hills. But he would be
poking his nose out of the hills after completing his strike, and Khurana wanted that Chinese
pilot to be greeted properly...

AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHWESTERN TIBET

TIBET
DAY 1 + 2032 HRS
The three Indian Fulcrums were now in full view of the Chinese KJ-2000, and the SU-27s
were vectored to ‘engage’. The PLAAF Commander on board the radar aircraft was Senior
Air Force Colonel Feng. He reported directly to the Commander of the 33RD Fighter Division
and had been deputed to this region for this operation. This was China’s first real
deployment of their AWACS aircraft in a potentially hostile aerial situation, and so he was
here. The PLAAF Commanders in Beijing were under serious pressure from the politburo to
re-assert aerial supremacy over a region where the Indians possessed supreme advantage
in assets, geography and thanks to these two factors, even a level of numerical superiority.
This level of superiority was more virtual than real, and had a lot to do with the ‘density’ of
air operations rather than absolute numbers.

But now he was here, and was under clear cut orders to be aggressive. The problem wasn’t
his aggressiveness, but that of his men under him. Aggressiveness without discipline can
lead to mistakes. And mistakes can lead to war. He was worried about his pilots. They had
been taught to listen and obey, not to think. And yet it was the latter that was most needed
for this unusual situation. They needed to think on their feet, and know when to be
aggressive and when to fall back to discipline. The balancing act between the two was not
as easy as appeared, especially under the circumstances.

It was because of this that he had personally chosen the pilots of the SU-27s. These were
men known to be thinkers, and despite the superficial suspicion that the party demanded
that others shower on these kinds of men, they were actually well liked by the core of the
PLAAF who saw them as the future. With such men Colonel Feng was sure that he could be
aggressive and yet prevent mistakes. The problem was, the rug had been taken from under
his feet.

The PLA had gotten itself into a mess around the village of Shiquanhe for the past day and
were having a rough time. And as a result, Feng’s carefully choreographed plan had been
trashed when the first bomb laden J-10 took off from Kashgar airbase without his
permission. In fact, he had been notified about the strike only after it had actually taken off
the ground! Even then he was told that the concerned aircraft was without CAP protection
and that its target was sixty kilometres from the Indian border and that his SU-27s were to
provide cover. But he was here now, and was relieved to see the situation still under
control. He couldn’t back off now. It was no longer in his hands and he knew it. Beijing
wanted aggressive, so he would give them aggressive...

“Order the SU-27s to activate their radars.” Feng ordered to his airborne controllers inside
the KJ-2000. A minute later the four SU-27 pilots switched on their radars...

AIRSPACE SOUTH OF THE L.A.C

LADDAKH, INDIA
DAY 1 + 2035 HRS
“Active radar signatures! We are being painted!” Khurana’s wingman shouted over the radio
as a screeching noise from the RWR filled his ears.

“Must be those SU-27s. Hold it together people: they are testing us!” Khurana shouted back
before switching the frequencies: “Eagle-Eye-One, this is Claw-One. We are being painted
by commie fighters to out north. Request permission to return the favour, over”

“Claw-One, copy. November-two-four is climbing out of the muck. Light up the bugger.
over” the radio squawked in Khurana’s ears. He smiled underneath the oxygen mask and
changed frequencies once again:

“Claw-One to all Claw elements. November-two-four is climbing to meet us. Time to light up
the sky!”

AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHWESTERN TIBET

TIBET
DAY 1 + 2037 HRS
The three fulcrum radars activated nearly simultaneously, but were looking eastwards and
not back at the SU-27s to the north, as Colonel Feng had expected. A dozen kilometres east
of the LAC, the lone J-10 was now climbing out of the hills to head home. The pilot inside
the aircraft was still inspecting the fuel gauge and wondering if he would need to refuel with
a tanker on the way. As he cleared the peaks, his worries changed. The threat board lit up
immediately to show the southern skies swarming with Indian Sukhois and a single Phalcon.
To his west there were three contacts that were now activating their missile guidance
radars...
AIRSPACE SOUTH OF THE L.A.C
LADDAKH, INDIA
DAY 1 + 2041 HRS

“Missile launch! Missile launch! November-two-four has pickled off his radar guided
missiles!” Khurana’s wingman shouted over the radio frequencies before Khurana’s voice
overrode it:

“All Claw elements: break! Break! Break!”

The three Fulcrums immediately dived out of the sky and broke formation. They also
dropped chaff as they headed face down into the hills below to force the two inbound PJ-12s
to break radar contact and miss their targets. There were three fighters and two missiles.
One of the three was therefore already out of danger. He was the first one to dive and level
out just above the peaks before engaging afterburners and heading north, rather than
south. The pilot was already switching to R-77s and selecting the active round. A few
seconds later he flipped the control stick to the right and headed into banking climb to the
northeast. The threat board was once again active and the lone J-10 was acquired as it
escaped to the northwest, low on fuel.

A few seconds and he would fall within the range of the armed R-77 hanging from the left
wing of Claw-Three...

AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHWESTERN TIBET

TIBET
DAY 1 + 2048 HRS

Come on...Come on...okay, that peak looks good enough. Time to eject off another round...

The peak swept by a moment later and Khurana flipped the control stick to the right even
as the aircraft released off another round of chaff behind it. Then he pulled back on the stick
and the aircraft swept around the top half of the peak and streaked back towards the
eastern border. The PJ-12 missile however continued towards the chaff and detonated in a
massive flash that illuminated the darkened cockpit of the fulcrum a second later. Khurana’s
night vision disappeared and he pulled up instinctively to gain altitude while his vision
restored. In but a few seconds he was above the peaks and the aircraft was soaring into the
cold skies above.

It took a second for Khurana to find his bearings. He had lost situational awareness in the
time he had been flying between the peaks below to evade the Chinese air-to-air missile.
That was not good and he knew it. He had lost sight of his teammates and right now there
was no one to his left or right. And the skies were still dangerous. His RWR was still tracking
the radar emissions from the four SU-27s to the north while friendly airborne radar was
detected to the south. But there were no friendly fighters around...

To some extent that was not unexpected. Unlike the Chinese SU-27s acting aggressive with
active radars, the Indian sukhois were running in an EW blackout mode to the south, and
somehow that seemed more deadly to Khurana despite the opinion of his RWR. But at the
moment his first priority was to find out where his teammates were and what had happened
to them. Then the radio jerked back to life with dozens of different voices simultaneously
filling the skies:

“Claw-One, this is two! Declaring emergency! I have taken a hit!”

“This is Claw-Three. I have a lock on November-two-four. Engaging!”
“This is Eagle-Eye-One to Claw-Flight. What the hell is going on over there? Over!”

This is getting out of control...Khurana thought as he began to orient himself in the skies
around him. A single Chinese pilot had misread the tense situation had bungled up, but now
it was going downhill. One Indian fulcrum had taken a hit from a Chinese missile while
another was about to take down the Chinese J-10. Four more SU-27s were bearing down
while a dozen more Indian fighters were now being vectored to the area. It was time for
him to bring things under control again:

“Claw-Three, this is One. Do not engage! Repeat, do not engage!”

“Claw-One, this is Three. We have been engaged! I have the bugger locked on a single R-77
over here.”

That’s tempting...Khurana thought. But he also knew that if that Fulcrum took down the J-
10 then the four SU-27s would return the favour with a volley of their own BVR missiles
against that lone Indian aircraft. And it would be for nothing. The two countries were not at
war yet, and Khurana knew it was all a huge mistake. There have been enough mistakes
tonight...

“Negative, Three. Do not engage! Return to formation, Two is hit and needs assistance back
to base. Standby...” he changed frequencies: “Eagle-Eye-One, this is Claw-One. Claw-Three
has taken a hit from a Chinese missile but is still aloft. Barely. What are your orders?”

On board the Phalcon to the south, the Flight-Controller looked back at the MC who in turn
clenched his fists in anger at what had happened but was also professional enough to
realize the huge mistake it all was:

“Copy, Claw-One. Assist the crippled bird back to base. We have SU-30s entering the
airspace now and will take position between you and the SU-27s. Over and out”

By this time the third Fulcrum was above the peaks and Khurana took up position alongside
as they made way to Leh. Khurana turned his head to see the damage and came away with
mixed feelings. The port side of the aircraft had been shredded. The port wing trailing edge
control surfaces had been destroyed. The port side dorsal ventral fuselage area panels had
been blown away but luckily the engine was still apparently running. The port side vertical
stabilizer was also two-third the size it should have been. and one weapon pylon with its R-
77 payload on the port side had fallen off. It was not pretty, but the damage was repairable.

In a few months perhaps...Khurana thought to himself as he realized that this aircraft was
going to go off his squadron ORBAT as soon as it came to a stop on the runway. But for all
that the pilot was still alive and kicking. Khurana radioed to him the results of his visual
inspection of the aircraft even as Leh airbase ATC finally checked in. Khurana was equally
relieved to see his third aircraft return from the north a few minutes later and line up
alongside with all his R-77s still attached...

AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHWESTERN TIBET

TIBET
DAY 1 + 2100 HRS
As the Indian Phalcon crew to the south were bringing the situation under control on their
side, to the north PLAAF Colonel Feng was also in full action.

“Order all SU-27s to shut down their radars and order them to pull back to the north right
away.” Feng ordered his chief airborne control officer.

Feng walked over to the single porthole to see the dark starlit skies overhead. He knew he
would have to answer for this. Pushing the situation was all right when done within limits.
Out here, the situation had deteriorated severely and always the thinking officer, Feng had
adapted. He knew that the J-10 pilot had panicked and bungled. He knew the Indians had
evaded the missiles and were making their way back to base. But for all that they had
restrained themselves. He was obliged to do the same. This was not a time to push the
Indians. Not with just four SU-27s on hand...

One of the things that had alarmed him was the speed of the Indian response. Within
minutes of the missiles being fired, his radar controllers had detected multiple flights of SU-
30s entering the airspace against his four lone fighters. The Indians had laid claim to these
skies, and it worried Feng that those sitting at PLAAF headquarters did not realize the level
of the threat this kind of force posed to the PLAAF units in the region. He realized that the
only way he was going to be able to accomplish the task of reasserting the PLAAF presence
in these skies would be when he had a much larger force at his disposal. But that was
unlikely given the other plans.

The only way this problem in this particular region could be solved involved a process that
was as much a political storm back in Beijing as it was a military risk. But then again, what
plans of the last few weeks had not been? Feng asked himself. If it buys even a week for
the PLA Commanders to get the job done in the region then it would have served its
purpose. After that the skies would be back in Indian hands.

But by then it would be too late for them...

DAY-2
BEIJING
CHINA
DAY 2 + 0900 HRS

The walk through the corridors of power was not a relaxed one for Colonel Feng. Neither
was the thought of standing in front of some of the most powerful men in the Chinese
military. He had been having a very busy month, and this visit was just another in a series
of visits to this very building and to meet the very same people. And despite that he had not
gotten used to it. He was more at home at his base on the fringes of China rather than at
the heart of it. But it had not been his doing.

But one thing was clear: he was not here to be punished for the happenings of last night.
That much had been made clear by his CO, Air Force Lt-General Chen back at Chengdu
yesterday night. He was here to report on the air situation in the extreme west of China to
the top PLAAF commanders, as also to present remedies to the same...
Feng walked down the long empty corridor with his files in one hand and his suitcase in
another even as the only sounds to reach his ears were those of his own boots hitting the
floor. At the end of the corridor were two armed guards standing outside the door which had
a small label to the side: Commander Department

All right...here we go...Feng thought as took a deep breath and nodded to the guard to
open the door before walking in...

LEH AIRBASE
INDIA
DAY 2 + 0800 HRS (L)

The three official vehicles pulled over in front of the entrance for the Hardened Aircraft
Shelter (HAS) at one isolated corner of the airbase. A flurry of officers got out of the cars a
moment before the Air Officer Commanding, Western Air Command (AOC-WAC) got out of
his car. He was a busy man and snapped off the salutes to the young pilots standing in
flight-suits even as he walked by towards what he had come to see along with the airbase
commander. A minute later he and his entourage were inside the hardened shelters and
staring at the shredded remains of the port wing of the Fulcrums from the previous night.
There were several groups of airmen working to examine the extent of the damage even
before they could think about repairs. It had been a miracle that the aircraft undercarriage
had opened properly, allowing the pilot to make an emergency landing that saved the
aircraft from total loss. A minute later S/O Khurana walked over and saluted. The Air-
Marshal returned the salute before speaking:

“Hell of a night son. Nice work out there preventing the thing from snowballing out of
control. You and your men all right?”
“Yes sir. Some minor injuries to Verma from shrapnel to the cockpit glass. Nothing serious
though. He will make it.”
The Air-Marshal nodded as we walked around the crippled Mig-29 with the base commander
in tow before speaking again: “So what do you make of our Chinese buddies and their
intentions?”

“Bottom-line: they are testing our response times, endurance limits and overall threat to
themselves...” Khurana reported after receiving the nod from his CO. But the Air-Marshal
completed the statement for him:
“Which is of course in stark contrast to their heavy activity in the east. We know they
cannot threaten us in this region from the air. Their ground batteries are a different matter
though.” The Air-Marshal continued as he walked near the damaged port engine exhaust
and checked the deepness of the slash that a shrapnel piece had made into the panelling. It
brought a frown to his face as he continued:

“You did good work out there to control the situation. I know how easy it must have been to
let go and take down the bugger who did this. But as it happens, we are operating under a
policy of restraint from New-Delhi. The idea is to not provoke a war we don’t want.
Unfortunately, the politicians are not the ones sitting inside the cockpit as you guys are. But
this event has changed the rules...” the Air-Marshal finally turned and nodded to Khurana as
he walked away from the hanger with the base commander and his entourage. Once outside
and seeing the brown mountains of Leh and a sunny blue sky above, the Air-Marshal turned
to the base commander even as he entered the car: “The gloves are coming off, Samik. Get
your boys ready...”

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE (MOD)
NEW-DELHI
DAY 2 + 0830 HRS

“This is a mess!” one of the men in the room remarked.

“That about sums it up. Was that a regular PLA Battalion?” another asked even as the video
rolled on main screen in the room.

“Not the first one. That was a paramilitary unit. They got ambushed and mauled during the
day’s fighting. That’s when they called in their PLA buddies who, in all their genius, rolled in
with armour and heavy guns and neutralized the whole damn village. No question of civilian
losses. You see that...there on the left: that’s a complete block of civilian houses
demolished by heavy artillery. Those guys fight insurgency with a heavy hand. And
bottomline is that it works. Out Tibetan friends lost a good chunk of their men in this region
in just one day’s fighting.”

“So much for our chances of coordination and control. Their poor tactics are taking them
towards self destruction. This insurgency is going to be over before we even get to make
first damn contact!” the man behind the desk finally spoke, causing the others to turn and
face him again despite the dramatic UAV video from last night playing out in the same
room.
“What about Team-Three?”

“They were in these hills you see on the top-left corner of the screen. The UAV was to the
south of the village while the team was northeast of the village. They made good their
escape. All intercepts of Chinese comms revealed no suspicion on their part of the team’s
existence. But for all intents and purposes their mission was over before it began.”

“True. Damn idiots, those Tibetans. Now what?”

“We wait until we hear from the Tibetan resistance again on a new contact place.”
“If they haven’t been compromised by the Chinese already! We could just evac the teams
out entirely given the haphazard and uncoordinated way the Tibetans are running this thing.
We don’t want to get caught between a rock and a hard place.”

“No. Let’s give it one more shot. Only this time we pick some place less likely to turn into an
instant battlefield.” The man behind the desk said. One of the others walked over and shut
down the video on the screen before saying what everybody in the room was already
thinking:

“As if such a place exists any more in Tibet...”

HILLS NORTH OF WALONG
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
INDIA
DAY 2 + 1030 HRS

The sound of the boots trampling the grass and bushes was now louder than the sounds of
the water gushing down the rivulet had been a few minutes ago. The fifteen heavily armed
Indian soldiers moving through the thick bushes however, couldn’t have cared less at the
moment. Their job was to get on a dominant peak on the other side of the east-west
running rivulet that controlled the region around the main stream coming down the north-
south axis further to the west. A few minutes later they were at the edge of the shallow
rivulet and looking at the trees and bushes on the other side down the barrels of their
assault rifles as the sought to clear out any possibility of ambush. A few seconds later the
Major gave the all clear with a hand wave and the group moved out from the bushes and
ran over the rocks that formed the floor of the stream of ice cold water flowing down from
the hills. A few seconds later they were within the bushes on the other side and now
conducting an upward climb to the northwest from where they could control the western
stream.

Half a kilometre to their west a small armed Chinese patrol was moving down the edge of
the main stream on foot. This was neither the first time nor the last time this had
happened. And in the last few weeks it had been a daily story. They would come down from
the actual border to reassert their claim on the region and inevitably bump into some Indian
unit or the other where the tension would ensue between the commanders on the two sides.
This time, however, a Nishant UAV had picked up the Chinese even before they had crossed
the border. Thirty minutes after the Lt-Colonel at the Battalion C3I Centre had received the
call a patrolling unit of soldiers had been diverted into action. And now they were about to
take the high ground above the Chinese...

Major Kongara was leading the group of Indian soldiers. Carrying an INSAS rifle of his own
and a twenty kilo backpack hanging on his back, he was at the head of the team as they
slashed through the bushes on their way to the top of the peak from where they could look
down at the approaching Chinese soldiers. Time was of the essence.

The clearing was reached a few minutes later as the bushes fell behind and a clean blue sky
and a chilling cold wind swept through the air. And sure enough, the stream was on the
other side. No one spoke a word as each member of the team spread out into the rocks
overlooking the stream below and dropped on their stomachs to conceal themselves.
Kongara removed a pair of binoculars from his backpack and took position behind some
rocks. It was an agonizing wait, but fifteen minutes later he detected movement at the edge
of the peak to the north where the stream took a bend. Twenty odd Chinese troops were
moving down the stream...

Kongara took the SATCOM radio phone-like speaker from his radioman who was beside him.
His direct superior was the Battalion commander a few kilometres to the south.
“Okay sir, we are in position and I have them in sight. What are my orders?”
“Standby...” was the reply.

Even as Kongara waited for the reply he continued to stare silently at the Chinese coming
south on Indian Territory before him. It should have been quite simple really, but it was not.
They couldn’t just open fire without authorization from above, and at the same time they
couldn’t let them walk in the front door either. To Kongara in represented the failure of his
country to understand nation security matters that he was sitting and waiting for orders
from his superiors who were being indecisive on one end of the phone even as he could see
the Chinese on Indian soil on the other end of the phone. His hand tightened around the
speaker in silent anger before the static on the radio was replaced by a voice:

“Okay Kongara. Fire warning shots. If they return fire, take them out.”

Now we are talking...Kongara thought as he handed back the speaker to his radioman and
signalled his men to fire warning shots. A second later three of the men raised their rifles
and fired single shots into the water of the stream near where the Chinese soldiers were
walking. The Chinese soldiers were caught completely by surprise and it please Kongara to
see the confusion and fear on the faces of the Chinese as they tried to determine where
they were being shot from. He was almost hoping that they would return fire so that he and
his men to cut them all down in under a minute...

That was when the Chinese obliged. A bullet slammed into some rocks near where Kongara
was taking cover. It was all the provocation he needed...

“Open fire!”

Now fifteen INSAS rifles opened up almost simultaneously in burst fire mode that
immediately sent five Chinese soldiers crashing down under the impact of the bullets. The
others began to take cover as their leader began to rally them. But the situation was
hopeless. The Chinese had been caught by a coherent force on high ground overlooking
their position with complete surprise. Another few seconds and three other soldiers were
lying motionless on the ground. Kongara spotted the Chinese officer through his rifle optics
even as the latter was on the radio calling for support. Kongara switched to single round
mode and dispatched a carefully aimed shot into the Chinese officer who was dead before
he hit the ground. With their leader dead, the Chinese unit began to fragment and fall back.

Kongara was keeping an eye out for danger, and sure enough he detected the danger
coming:
“Incoming fire! Take cover!”

The first mortar shell slammed into the rocks several meters away from the Indian soldiers
and threw rock and gravel into the air even as the Chinese attempted to cover their retreat
with mortar fire. Several more rounds slammed into the rocks on the hilltop and sent the
Indian soldiers scrambling for cover. And then the shelling stopped almost as soon as it had
begun. But by the time Kongara and his men made it back to their original positions, the
only Chinese to be seen were a few soldiers running back north along the stream leaving
the dozen odd dead comrades on the banks of the same stream further south.

Kongara stood up and dusted off his uniform and signaled the others to follow him as the
group made their way down the slope to the stream to investigate what remained of “the
battle” even as the sounds of first of the friendly Dhruv helicopters became audible...

NEW DELHI
DAY 2 + 1430 HRS

“Planes shooting at each other, accidental gunfights, artillery shelling...” The Defence-
Minister threw the file back on the table and slid it towards the three chiefs sitting across
the table: “Where does that leave us? Or more to the point, where is it taking us?”

“To a conflict we cannot afford.” The PM said flatly from another chair before any of the
Military commanders could speak. The three service chiefs were clearly uncomfortable at
the statement: they thought they could afford the war, but not the policy of appeasement
the country’s PM was offering the Chinese.

The Defence Minister understood the concerns as he watched the military commanders
silently waiting for someone to ask for their opinion in all this. With this PM this kind of
situation wasn’t new. But the problem in Tibet was severe. It had been turned by the
Chinese into one large military base as they attempted to control yet another spasm of
Tibetan revolts that had turned especially violent in the last few weeks. There were now
more than three hundred thousand Chinese soldiers inside Tibet. And these were the
acclimatised and battle-hardened ones. It didn’t even begin to account for the hordes of
second-line combat troops that the Chinese could theoretically bring in should the situation
at the Indian border turn nasty. With more numbers of artillery pieces in Tibet than the
entire Indian army combined, and with enough supplies to fight a full intensity war at the
border, the Chinese certainly had the numbers...

“What’s the latest count, General?” the Defence-Minister spoke up finally.

“Five Group Armies confirmed and elements of three other Group armies detected.” The
Chief of Army Staff, General K. Yadav, said without looking at his papers. Those numbers
had been in his head ever since his intelligence officers had spoken them out. Yadav turned
to face the PM before continuing in a neutral tone: “That’s around three hundred and fifty
thousand soldiers across the border from us. In the east we are outnumbered four to one at
the present time.”
“What are their intentions, General?” the PM asked back.
That’s a good question. If I knew that, you think I would be sitting around wasting my time
here? Yadav thought.Besides, why the hell are you asking me? I should be asking you!
“We are not sure, sir.”

“You mean you don’t know what their intentions are!” the PM continued, and everybody in
the room could see where this argument was going. It had gone the very same way for the
last few weeks...

“I mean we have no way of knowing that just from our side. Their units are spread all over
Tibet trying to control the rebels. Having said that, it takes less than ten days for them to
be redeployed at our border by which time it’s too late for us. They have a transportation
infrastructure that completely outstrips ours. We have to be prepared for the worst case
scenario.” Yadav continued his lonely battle from his end.

“Which is?”

“That this situation at the border spirals out of control and we are faced with a border war!”
“And why would it spiral out of control?” the PM asked again, but this time the Defence-
Minister finally leaned forward in his chair as he rose to defend the COAS:

“It can happen due to a variety of reasons. Take this morning’s incident near Walong. It has
been just a few hours since the event, so we haven’t seen the Chinese response yet.
Chances are that they will let it go, or then again, they might not. They will certainly not
accept the argument that their side opened fire first to which our troops responded. In this
case if they choose to escalate the situation, we will have to respond in kind.”

“Not if we diffuse the situation diplomatically first!” the PM retorted and the Defence –
Minister could already see why that wouldn’t work. He could already see the faces of the
people in Beijing at the time when they would have heard that ten of their soldiers got killed
at the hands of Indian soldiers. There was little diplomacy could do to reduce the anger, not
that the Indian commanders cared a damn either way of course...

“That may very well be, but we have to be prepared for any irrational action that the other
side might take on the ground. We have to think about our defences. If the General wants
more troops at the border to feel more secure about that, then I think we should let him do
that.” The Defence-Minister concluded, and was relieved to see the PM at least considering
the issue. The PM finally turned to the General Yadav:
“So what kind of mobilization you are thinking about, General?”
Yadav raised an eyebrow in surprise: Are you kidding me? Total mobilization is what I had
in mind!
“At least a Three additional Divisions need to be moved to the front in the eastern sector
alone. I have the Divisions earmarked for deployment. I can have them moving to assist the
existing three Divisions in Arunachal Pradesh by the end of the day today. That will double
our current number of troops in the region and make the Chinese think twice about any
rash military actions.” Yadav said in a more professional voice than before.

“That sounds like a lot of firepower, General.” The PM continued.

“Yes it is, sir. But compared to the Chinese in Tibet, it’s still a minimum required for a good
defence.”

“And you don’t think it will be seen as a provocation on our part by the Chinese given the
current situation in Tibet as well as today morning’s incident at the border?”
“It might be seen as provocation, but remember that they have three times that many
troops in Tibet at this time engaged in combat.” Yadav continued as he saw the PM hadn’t
changed.

“For which they have a just cause. What cause do we have for mobilizing these Divisions?”

How about defending our borders? Sound like a good enough cause, you idiot? Yadav bit off
what he was actually wanting to say before finally speaking calmly: “Defending our borders,
sir. I think that’s a just enough cause, isn’t it?”

********************

Fifteen minutes later the people in the room walked out one by one after the PM had
decided to think about the issue. Finally the room was empty save for the Defence Minister
and General Yadav. The Defence Minister waited for the door to close before he spoke
again:
“How bad is it really, General?”

“Bad, sir. We are spread thin trying to control these border incursions. I have Battalion
sized units spread over large areas to try and seal the border. The nearest reinforcement
units are still at their bases in the plains to the south and it will take them several days at
the very least to deploy. The logistics are going to be a nightmare even if we decided to
surge out the other three Divisions into the hills. I have the IV Corps Commander calling me
every evening to find out when the other Divisions are supposed to be deployed and today I
will have to repeat the same story as yesterday evening.”

“We should have surged out these units weeks ago.” the Defence-Minister concluded.
“Yes we should have. But even now the situation is not too bad to try and reverse. But if we
decide to take action when the shells start falling, it’s going to be too damned late.”
“What if the PM decides that the provocation bullshit weighs far too heavily given the
current situation against moving of those Divisions?”

“Then if the Chinese decide to take decisive action, we will have a complete disaster on our
hands... ”

HILLS NORTH OF WALONG

ARUNACHAL PRADESH
INDIA
DAY 2 + 1630 HRS

“Awfully quiet...” Brigadier Malik said as he stared to the north. The peace and serenity in
the hills was momentarily broken as two Dhruv helicopters flew overhead and disappeared
behind down the valley to the south after turning around a bend.
“Yes sir, it is. Surprising.” Kongara said as he lowered his binoculars after scanning the
peaks to the north. No activity there...

It had been several hours now since the gunfight between Kongara’s men and the Chinese
patrol had taken place not hundred meters from where the two officers were standing now.
And yet there had been no Chinese response. None whatsoever. No diplomatic protests, no
localized military response to speak of other than a minor reinforcement and reshuffling of
border units. Over the last few weeks such incidents had always led to either a Chinese
military response via larger units in the same region where an incident occurred or a strong
diplomatic protest. This time, there wasn’t a sound...

“Maybe information travels slower up their chain of command than ours.” One of Kongara’s
junior officers commented offhandedly. Kongara turned around to face the man before
speaking: “That’s the kind of assumptions that can cost us dearly. Always assume the
enemy to be as good, if not better, than yourself. Trust me, the Chinese know what
happened.”
Kongara turned to face the Brigadier before continuing: “Which is exactly what makes their
silence so scary. More so than their guns, as a matter of fact. What the hell are they
thinking?”

“Whatever it is, we can be sure of one thing: we won’t like it. We need to be prepared for
the worst. Division thinks so as well. They have allocated round the clock UAV coverage for
this sector for the foreseeable future. If the Chinese move a muscle, we will know it.” Malik
said as he wore his gloves back on. The cold in the Himalayan Mountains after sunset was
severe. Even when one could see the pink-red sky to the west, the temperature had already
fallen by a rock than during the daytime.

Brigadier Malik commanded a Brigade in the 2ND Mountain Division (2ND MD) which was
responsible for the defence of Walong. It was a large sector, but his was a large force with
lot of independent firepower under his direct command. Yet for all that his force was spread
thin thanks to repeated Chinese incursions in the sector. The government demanded action,
and so instead of a large force of men concentrated to the rear, his units were down to
Battalion sized formations ‘defending’ various smaller sectors of the border from incursions.
But Malik was no fool. He knew exactly what the Chinese were doing...

It had taken a humiliating defeat fifty years ago at the hands of the Chinese during one cold
winter to hammer home the lesson that the border with China in the east could not be
defended right at the borders themselves, but at crucial choke points further south.
Napoleon had once asked his commanders if his army units spread evenly along the border
were meant for defending against smugglers, for that was exactly what the result was. A
military force, however large, if dissipated to a certain degree, ceases to be a coherent
force, especially in mountainous terrain like the Himalayas.

Malik knew it all to well, and his first plan of action in any major conflict with China was to
pull his Battalion task forces back towards a common defensive line to the south,
codenamed ‘Romeo-Line’. Here he would ensure his force regained the coherency required
to fight the Chinese. After that they would advance to some of the several choke points
within the passes in the region depending on where the Chinese were headed. Each of these
locations was named with code name ‘Juliet’ followed by a numeral. If the Chinese pushed
them off these locations then all forces were to fall back to Romeo-Line for regroup and
counter-attack. If even this line fell, the last line of defence north of Walong was the
Ragnar-Line.

After that, if need be, we will fight them house to house in Walong...Malik thought as he
walked down the bank of the river towards the waiting Dhruv helicopter parked further
down. Major Kongara followed the Brigadier along with his direct CO: the Colonel
Commanding the Battalion responsible for this sector.

The three man crew of the parked Dhruv saw the Brigadier and his entourage approaching
and immediately climbed back into the cockpit. A minute later the sounds of the turbines
spooling up filled the ever darkening valley. The Army Aviation Captain flying the helicopter
lowered his helmet mounted NVGs to help see the valley more clearly now as they prepared
to head back to Brigade HQ in the northern outskirts of Walong. Even as the Brigadier
climbed back into the cabin, the Colonel turned to face Kongara:

“Stay vigilant tonight. We can expect a night time incursion by a Chinese force seeking
revenge on your unit. We will give every support we can muster, including UAV intelligence
on inbound enemy units. But there is a possibility that the Chinese might sneak through, in
which case, the last thing we need is a night time confusion filled battle. Report anything
suspicious directly to me. Any updates and I will pass them back to you. Understood?”

“Yes sir. We will hold the line.” Kongara said even as he snapped off the salute and walked
away from the chilling winds induced by the helicopter downwash. Thirty seconds later he
watched as the helicopter flew down the valley and headed south before disappearing in the
darkness. The sounds of the helicopter still echoed in the valley for more than a minute
before the silence ensued. Major Kongara stood there and glanced back at the imposing
darkened silhouettes of the peaks beyond the border to the north as if expecting to see the
Chinese there.

A minute later he wore his own gloves and watched his breath as a small puff in the cold air
before walking away to where his temporary Company CP existed on the southern slope of
the peak from near to where he had ambushed the Chinese in the morning. His hundred
odd men were now settled in for a long cold night...

BEIJING
DAY 2 + 2130 HRS

Colonel Feng was sitting in his car as the official vehicle sped though the streets of Beijing
back to the PLAAF Headquarters building and his temporary office. He was sitting in the
back seat even as his driver raced down the streets as best he could. It was relatively easy
driving given that almost everybody was on the way out of their offices while the Colonel’s
car was one of the few vehicles going back into the complex. For now...Feng thought

Once the current issue had been cleared, it would be decided whether to bring them back or
not. But for now the Colonel continued to read through the single page document that lay in
his hands:

‘Priority category one message to all PLAAF MR Commanders:

Report combat readiness status to PLAAF Commander Department for immediate western
deployments. All MR Commanders are authorized to recall inactive duty personnel and
retain active duty personnel for indefinite periods.
All Operations Commanders are authorized to prepare action plans Alpha-Two-Five. Await
further information and updates and standby for deployment orders.’

Feng folded that page and put it in his uniform coat pocket even as the car came to a stop
in front of the Commander Department building where there was obvious frantic activity by
the look of things. Dozens of mid-grade and senior officers were moving about in obvious
urgency with their aides struggling to keep up with their files and documents. Colonel Feng
got out of his car before his driver could step out to open the door for him like he normally
did.

The Colonel nodded to him to move off even as another car came to a stop behind his. He
recognized the person getting out of the car immediately. It was Lt-General Chen, the
PLAAF Commander for the Chengdu region. Colonel Feng had just gotten to the building in
time to meet his CO. It was a brief but warm welcome after which both men walked up the
stairs and then through the main doors of the Commander Department followed by a horde
of aides. Chen was not at all pleased to have been dragged back into office after a long day
of work far from his real command in Chengdu.

He was one of the few commanders in the PLAAF who did not wish to be posted to Beijing.
But current circumstances had seen him boarding a plane a few hours ago from Chengdu to
arrive back in Beijing for an important briefing. Of course Feng still hadn’t been told what
was going on. That changed when they entered the normally empty corridors of the
Commander Department that were now somewhat crowded. General Chen was to the point
in his talk:
“We are being mobilized. Every single unit across the board. Plan Alpha-Two-One.”

Feng was still not sure of the overall picture. Only this morning he had met the senior
commanders and gotten approval for his plans for the Air-Defence of the south-western
sector and had been told to be ready in ten days. Now he was being told that they were to
be ready within for imminent action...

“Alpha-Two-One? But the message I got was for Two-Five!”

“That’s for the rest of the MRCs. We just got our owl little orders not five minutes ago. It’s
Two-One for us Colonel, as it is for the PLA 13TH Group Army which is already swinging into
Two-One mode as we speak. ” Chen said without turning to face the Colonel. They were
now heading for the office of the PLAAF Commander. Feng was still absorbing the situation:
The 13TH GA could afford to go ‘Two-One’, which entailed surprise strategic attacks on the
enemy within D+1 days of activation and tactical operations within D+2 days. But they were
already deployed the best they could and were near to their Area of Operations or AO.

The PLAAF could also go ‘Two-Zero’ in the eastern sector where most of their assets were
based anyway. But Colonel Feng had seen for himself the disastrous possibilities on the
western sector and he knew he wasn’t ready there for sure. Of course, now that his MR was
in ‘Two-One’ mode, his plan would get all assets on absolute priority, which would reduce
his preparation time down to three days or so. He was also sure the PLA Western
Commanders would also be crying foul for their ‘Two-One’ status given that they were
waiting for proper air protection before they were ready.

“Feng, tell me that we are prepared.” General Chen asked as they neared their final
destination in the building.
“The eastern sector is ready, sir. The western sector is not. It will take three days or more
to get them ready to face battle.”
“Not good enough, Feng. Get on it right away. Get on the ground there if need be and take
Command of the local units. We cannot lose in that sector.” Chen continued without slowing
down as both men strode down the long corridor.

Get down there? Take personal Command? Feng realized that the next few weeks were
going to be very dangerous for him and his Command. But as Lt-General Chen and his
Operations Commander entered the office of the PLAAF Commander, both knew that events
had overtaken their plans...

OVER CENTRAL CHINA

DAY 2 + 2330 HRS

At four hundred kilometres above the earth, a lone satellite passed silently over the central
Asian landmass. It had been going over similar routes for weeks now. Almost habitually
now, its small but powerful optics focused on the landmass below. The real-time image
provided was absolutely stunning to those seeing it no matter how many times they saw it.
If it was daytime in the region the resulting images were in color. Right now, however, the
images were in IR. It made it easier to detect man made activity than ever before. Using
the same technique, the people at the Indian Aerospace Command had been keeping a
wary eye on the Chinese bases in the region surrounding the Indian border...or trying to.
But the Indian space assets were stretched thin trying to cover a two thousand kilometer
front.

The problem was that there were too large a region to cover and not enough assets to cover
it with. At the present rate the people at the Aerospace Command had been able to
maintain a constant vigil only on selected high priority targets. Some of these included PLA
units in Tibet but for the most part included Chinese missile bases that were capable of
lobbing cruise missiles and ballistic missiles at Indian targets. In addition, the Indian Navy
wanted high resolution images of the PLAN shipyards and they were getting that though not
at the frequency they had requested. Nevertheless, naval assets on both sides were not
something that affected the situation on a per minute basis.

Simply put, if the ships of both sides were to surge out at a given time, it would still require
days before major contact was made between them. On the other hand, the missiles aimed
at India through northern Tibet and central China could hit targets within minutes, and so
they demanded more regular attention. The Cartosat was coming up on one such cruise
missile base now...

“Okay. Here we go...” One of the three senior people at the Aerospace Command C3 centre
said to no-one in particular even as his eyes continued to stare at the main screen showing
the mountain ranges just northeast of the Chinese base.

“What the hell!” another commented as the base burst into view beyond the hills but the
dark background was dotted with white puffs throughout the base. These represented hot
regions against the cold winter terrain. Some of these white puffs were more like clouds and
seems to be slowly drifting away...

“God damn it! They have launched!” The Air Marshal shouted so everybody knew what they
were looking at. As if on cue, everybody’s attention was brought back to the screen as
another white flash erupted against the black background and a hot white speck leaped into
the air and began moving southwest as the optics on the satellite were zoomed back to try
and track the course it was taking. The Air-Marshal moved decisively even as other
struggled to come to terms with the quickness at which things were happening. He moved
across the room and picked up the phone to contact the Strategic Forces Command. The
phone call was answered immediately as it was supposed to be. The Air-Marshal spoke
quietly:

“This is the ASC Commander. We are detecting large numbers of launch plumes on Chinese
cruise missile bases across Central China. Launches are ongoing at this time with rough
directions being southeast. I say again, we have in-bound Chinese cruise missiles. We are
looking at a category one alpha strike...”

In the large hall of the underground bunker outside his office at the Aerospace Command,
the people under the Air Marshal’s command were attempting to make sense of things.
They were already adjusting the satellite’s view to detect other bases in the region and the
same thing was detected everywhere. The Air Marshal completed his call and came back to
see his juniors struggling to handle the vast amount of data pouring in. Luckily the
computers were handling it for them as they classed the threats and passed them via
satellite communications networks to various IAF ADGES centres.

“What’s the count?” the Air Marshal asked.

“Hundred plus and still counting...” the officer in charge reported.

As both men watched their team work around them, the large screen showing the images
was clear: hundreds of launches across Central China were taking place before their eyes...
CHAPTER-2
STRATEGIC WAR

NEW DELHI
DAY 3 + 0000 HRS

The three men in suits broke into the reading room of the Prime Minister after some
commotion outside. They found him standing near his personal library of books, looking
alarmed and somewhat shocked at the rude and loud entry into the room. But he knew the
faces of the men before him since he saw them everyday. They were in charge of his
personal security and at the moment he knew something was wrong with the latter. The
leader of the group spoke in an urgent tone of voice:
“Sir, please come with us now!”
“What’s going on Sunil?” the PM asked immediately.
“Sir, no time! We can brief you along the way. There is an Air Force helicopter approaching
the helipad outside in a few minutes to evacuate you and your family! We need to move!”
“But wait! What...” the PM continued.

The leader of the security group now nearly forced the confused and somewhat frightened
PM to walk with them as they led him out of the room. In the other rooms he saw other
members of the security team leading his family members outside and near the helipad
where heavily armed members of the SPG were standing guard all around the perimeter.
The first sounds of the approaching helicopter were already filling the starlit skies now...

“Sunil, I demand to know what the hell is going on!” the PM shouted above the other
noises.
“Sir, we have reports from the Army Commander that the Chinese have launched an all out
missile attack against us. They detected the attack and are tracking them now. We are now
evacuating you and other members of government and Military to Palam from where you
will take off on board an Air Force aircraft and stay there until the threat is reduced.” The
Security group leader reported as he watched the approaching Dhruv helicopter coming for
a landing on the helipad.

“My god! But why are they attacking? We have done nothing but been friendly with them.
I...” the PM continued almost to himself. The security group leader watched neutrally as his
country’s leader was foundering in front of his eyes now that the threat of nuclear
annihilation hanged over his head. But he was a professional like his other colleagues who
were bursting into the rooms of the other government ministers and doing a similar job as
himself. But he read the newspapers too, and knew that if there was one member in this
government that should be saved at all cost to save this country, it was the Defence
Minister, not the indecisive man he saw standing in front of him.

“Are they launching Nuclear Weapons?” the PM finally asked.

“We don’t know, sir. That’s why it is extremely important to get you out of here right now.”
“How much time do we have before the warheads hit Delhi?” the PM continued. The security
group leader looked at his watch and nodded. They had just enough time to get the PM out.

At least to Palam airport, that is...

THE INDIAN NORTH-EAST

DAY 3 + 0005 HRS

The Chinese had achieved strategic surprise, but had lost the tactical one. A variety of
factors including political ineptitude and lack of understanding of all things military by the
leaders of the government over the last few weeks of the border dispute with China had
finally culminated with the Chinese launching an all out strategic attack against a mentally
and to a degree, physically, unprepared Indian government. But the Indian military had
detected the launches with equal input from prowess and luck...

Now, the klaxons were sounding off on all Indian airbases in the Eastern, Central and
Western Air Commands of the Indian Air Force even as headquarters in each of those
commands began to take over the situation. The Chinese cruise missiles had been launched,
with final number of detected launches being a staggering one hundred and seventy five in
the first wave and more signs of other waves being prepared.

The Air Force had been luckier. Most of its assets were based deeper inside the country with
strategic depth in this war being measured in the north-south axis rather than the east-west
one if the enemy had been Pakistan. The Chinese cruise missiles had been launched far to
the north of the border and that meant that chances of hitting southern bases were low. But
preserving aircraft was not the whole picture. An Air Force is measured as a system
including infrastructure, weapons, aircraft, personnel and morale, and not just on aircraft
alone. If the northern airbases were lost, the ability of the IAF to preserve aerial density
over the battlefield would disappear to the level of the PLAAF, and that was bad news.

But worse off was the Indian Army’s Eastern Command. The Eastern infrastructure was
already poor and the Prime Minister had ensured that the Army Commanders had not been
able to forward deploy their Divisions to the border yet. If the railway marshalling yards and
roads were cut off or severely damaged, the Indian Army’s ability to reinforce the border
would reduce to a trickle, which when combined with serious reduction in IAF capability
would lead to defeat on the battlefield.

The only thing standing between that and the Chinese missiles was the Indian Air Force’s Air
Defence Ground Environment system or ADGES, which was now swinging into action with
launchers adjusting azimuth to allow Akash surface to air missiles to face the distant
Himalayan peaks to the north waiting for the Chinese missiles to pop up into view. Twenty
thousand feet above them three IAF aircraft, including a Phalcon AWACS and two
indigenous AEW&C aircraft were now active as they waited for the first contacts to appear
on their radar screens...
NEW DELHI
DAY 3 + 0010 HRS

The Defence Minister was just as abruptly interrupted from his sleep as the PM had been in
his office, but his reaction was more composed than that of the PM. He immediately got up
and walked along with the three men from his personal security group even as he ordered
for the phone. After he had ensured that his family was on the way to safety, and that the
PM was already on the way to Palam for evacuation, he picked up the phone and called up
the Army Commander, who was also the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff committee at
the moment. The latter was at the Army Headquarters where another frantic midnight
evacuation was underway. The Defence Minister was to the point:

“General, what’s the final count?”

“One hundred and seventy five counted during launch from central China. We were damn
lucky to have detected it in time. But the region showed signs of preparation for second
wave attacks. We still have some time to react, though, because at the current speed the
missiles are still roughly an hour away.”

By this time the Defence Minister was in his car and on the way to the nearest helipad
where he would be picked up and taken to Palam. He looked out at the empty midnight
streets in the distance and saw a sleeping New-Delhi that knew nothing of the threat...
“Do we know what their targets are?”
“We have a preliminary idea. Mostly the targets are in the northeast and a few missiles
were detected heading towards the Laddakh region. In addition roughly thirty-six missiles
were seen heading in the rough direction of Delhi, Bareilly and Agra. It is a safe bet that
they are attempting a decapitating strike against this government and its armed forces. But
we have been lucky and should be able to evacuate almost everybody out of here in time.”

“That’s good to hear, General, but what about civilian casualties?” the Defence Minister
asked, and he half expected the reply before it came:
“There are going to be some casualties. The Air Force is getting ready to present a
maximum effort to try and take down as many of the missiles as they can once the latter
cross the Himalayas but some are bound to get through. The Chinese navigation systems
are not accurate enough for very high precision strikes. We are attempting to get as many
people away from what we think are the major targets but an overall city level warning will
have to come from the government, and that, sir, is your decision to make within the next
few minutes...”
The Defence-Minister looked away from the windows and collected his own thoughts. The
Chinese had launched an all out attack on this country which, even if it was conventional,
was massive. And they had gone about it very smartly too. High level talks on the border
issue had still been going as late as twelve hours ago. The PLA was not deployed at the
borders and had given no reason of thinking about it either. But they had hundreds of
thousands of fully acclimatized soldiers in Tibet who would now be moving at breaking
speed to the border with India.
All of the cruise missiles that were on their way had been their new long ranged missiles
thanks to which they had launched two thousand kilometres away from the border to evade
detection, hoping to evade the snooping Indian eyes that they had estimated, mostly
correctly, to be aimed at the regions near the border. Thanks to their game of political
deception the PM had been fooled into forcing the border to not be reinforced in time. So
now the nearest reinforcements for the Indian Army’s three Divisions in Arunachal Pradesh
and Laddakh were still in their peace mode bases about to be severely attacked along with
all transportation nodes that would have allowed them to enter the Himalayan peaks north
of Assam. In addition the Chinese had attempted to decapitate the Indian side with
unprecedented attacks on the Capital city.

But that was where they had failed. For all their planning, it depended a lot on good-luck.
Unfortunately for them, the luck had been on the Indian side. Their missile launches had
been detected almost by accident, and because they had launched from as far away as
northern Tibet and other central Chinese regions, they had ended up giving that crucial hour
of time to the Indian side to prepare themselves. The decapitation effort was failing by the
moment while their strike effectiveness also decreased every time an IAF surface to air
missile battery came online all along the border. But it wasn’t enough. One hour was still
one hour no matter what you do. The Indian side would take losses. Heavy ones too...

The Defence Minister finally recovered from his thoughts before speaking into the phone
again:
“General, what are our options for striking back at the Chinese?”

“Sir, we have several batteries of Brahmos cruise missiles in the northeast. I have ordered
them active. One of the major targets at this time will have to include the PLAAF airbases in
the Chengdu region as well as in Tibet. The Air Force will need some time before their
aircraft can deliver the weapons, but the cruise missile batteries can be made active
immediately.”
“Then do it! We have to start taking apart the Chinese ability to wage war in these first few
hours the best we can. They won’t be expecting it either. Now’s the time for us to strike
back when they least expect it. God only knows what the shape of our forces will be an hour
from now when their missiles have done their dirty work. They may have taken us by
surprise but we won’t make it easy for them!”

**************************

Fifteen minutes later the IV Corps Commander got a priority message while he was on
board a Army Aviation helicopter evacuating him and his staff from their headquarters even
as the Chinese cruise missiles bored down on the Indian border. He read it and looked back
at his Operations Commander, A Major-General himself; sitting across from him in the
Dhruv helicopter as it sped through the dark valley to the new alternate advanced HQ. The
smile on the face of the Lt-General at such a grim time forced his operations chief to ask the
question to satisfy his curiosity:
“What’s that?”

“Finally some good news...”

AIRSPACE OVER THE GREAT HIMALAYAN RANGE
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
INDIA
DAY 3 + 0050 HRS

It was all a game of mathematics. Missiles travelling at nine hundred kilometres per hour
launched from over two thousand kilometres away meant a flight time of more than two
hours. Under the circumstances, the Chinese commanders were feeling every second in that
time to span an hour each while their counterparts on the Indian side felt the reverse. The
latter were mobilizing and preparing their defences the best they could, but now less than
half an hour remained before the missiles broke through the skies over the Great Himalayan
ranges...

The crew of the Embraer AEW aircraft flying northeast of Chabua near the Chaukan Pass
hills at the extreme tip of the Indian defences was expecting to be the first ISR node to spot
the incoming cruise missiles, followed by another similar aircraft and a Phalcon much further
to the south. On board the aircraft the pilot and co-pilot stared out of the cockpit to see the
dark night sky. The aircraft was basically flying along a northwest-southeast axis in order to
present the radar broadside to the inbounds.

The aircraft did not have the radar range required in the forward arc to fly and the airborne
dorsal mounting could not be moved about nor was it aligned in a triangle format like the
Phalcon so that the flight profile could be varied. But then again, this aircraft was not the
heavy hitter that the Phalcon was supposed to be. It was the main reason why the people at
the Eastern Air Command Air Defence C3I had placed them here, just inside the Indian
border.

In the cabin behind, the small crew of radar operators was already pouring over the data
coming onto their main screens to try and spot the small radar contacts that fit the flight
profile of the Chinese LACMs. All of them were also keeping an eye on the time to estimated
contact as the latter wound down to single digit minutes...

LEH AIRBASE
DAY 3 + 0055 HRS

“Let’s go people! Move!” Khurana shouted as he ran over to the hardened aircraft shelter.
He could see the flashing strobe lights of the last of the fulcrums waiting at the end of the
runway while another was spotted with the full afterburner tail as it raced into the sky.
Khurana’s flight was the last to be scrambled as his squadron had waited for the last
possible moment to scramble. It was simple logic. The Fulcrum only had so much endurance
once in the air, and with every single aircraft in the IAF inventory rushing for the safety of
the skies, there weren’t enough IL-78s around to refuel everyone. And once the missiles
broke through, and some definitely would, it was anyone’s guess whether or not they would
be able to land back here or not. They would need to stay up there in the minutes after the
attack for the confusion to be sorted out before recovering to one airbase or another. But
with the missiles now less than half an hour out, there was no more time to waste...

Khurana was already climbing into the cockpit by the time the last two Fulcrums to leave
before him taxied past his shelter towards the runway. He could see them in the distance as
he settled into his cockpit while the ground crewmen ran all around checking the live
weapons hanging from the pylons as also doing a last minute check. Khurana knew that
these men he saw working around him would have to bear the attacks here while most of
his pilots would be in the air. He wished them the best of luck and ordered them to seek
shelter immediately before closing the cockpit around him. A minute later the Mig-29’s nose
emerged from the shelter into the cold Laddakh air and headed for the runway.

Most of the Fulcrums were in the air now except for the one just ahead of Khurana’s. The
one damaged aircraft from the incident with the Chinese J-10 two days ago would have to
be left behind at the mercy of the Chinese cruise missiles. The Squadron’s CO, W/C Suri and
Khurana had both decided based on the engineering report that there was no choice. It had
been placed in one of the outer HAS and secured and that was about all that could be done
for it.
Khurana now regretted his order to his wingman two days to disengage from the Chinese J-
10. He pulled himself out of his thoughts a minute later as the voice from the ATC ran out
on the R/T:

“...Claw-One, this is Tower-One. You are clear for immediate take-off.”

“Roger, Tower-One. Claw-One is rolling.” Khurana released the brakes and pushed the
throttle forward and into afterburner. The aircraft leaped forward on the runway. several
seconds later the aircraft was in the air and climbing out of Leh and above the Laddakh
peaks. The ATC controller’s voice came back again:

“Tower-One to all Claw elements. Switch to Eagle-Eye-One for airborne control. Score one
for all of us down here. Good luck. Tower-One is shutting down... ”

AIRSPACE OVER THE GREAT HIMALAYAN RANGE

ARUNACHAL PRADESH
INDIA
DAY 3 + 0105 HRS

“We have contact! Multiple inbounds detected on bearing zero-three-five!” the radar
controller shouted into his headset for all inside the aircraft to hear. Even as the MC was
rushing down the central corridor between the consoles the radar operator was already
switching the computer to track mode and the latter was checking the flight profile data. A
few seconds later it was confirmed.

“Confirmed Chinese cruise missiles inbound. Tracking seventeen, eighteen and counting!”
By this time the MC was behind the console operator and seeing the data for himself while
other operators were also now confirming detection. The MC switched the comms network
so that he was able to talk with his seniors in the massive underground bunkers at the
Eastern Air Command HQ. There the EAC Commander was looking at the same large screen
showing the radar tracks of the inbound missiles. The small timer on the side had switched
from showing estimated time to contact to estimated time of impact. The EAC Commander
leaned back as he stood and silently watched his Command go to war.

Okay. Here we go...

DAY 3 + 0115 HRS
War officially broke out between India and China on the eastern front when the first of the
Chinese cruise missiles cleared the peaks of the northern Arunachal Pradesh and streaked
southwards. Almost every type of defence that could be erected on the Indian side to
defend against such an attack was up and running. But for all that the worst off were the
three Mountain Divisions of the IV Corps deployed in the hills of Arunachal Pradesh. They
faced the worst odds including shortest reaction time, difficult terrain for high end surface to
air missiles and difficult radar coverage. The only defences that had any chance whatsoever
were the radar directed gun batteries and the hand held surface to air missiles trying to
intercept the missiles as they headed past them towards the south.

Of the three dozen Chinese missiles aimed at the Indian Army in the region, most went
through unscathed after streaking down the valleys. A few were knocked out of the sky near
the Tawang sector as the few Tunguska systems in the region took their toll on the enemy.
A handful of others were also knocked out of the sky in the east more by sheer luck than
anything else. But with only a dozen or so missiles aimed per Division, the Chinese
intentions were light anyway. Their missiles lacked the accuracy required to take down very
minute targets at such long ranges, and so they were more aimed at the various HQs in
each Division as also the major artillery batteries. All three Division HQs and the Corps HQ
had been evacuated to alternate sites in the past hour. But the evacuation had been hectic
and incomplete and that was to prove costly.

The ground shook violently throughout the region as the first of the Chinese missiles
slammed into their targets in the hills of Arunachal Pradesh. Brigade and Division HQs in all
three Divisions of IV Corps took hits and many went offline with attempts to save the
equipment having been incomplete at the time of the attack. The skies lit up with orange
fireballs rising into the sky as the Indian Army defences took a beating. Most of the artillery
batteries in the region were mauled because of their immobility and lack of time. The UAV
feed had been shut down since the past half hour as the ground crews had attempted to
recover their aircraft and their equipment before the attack. But it hadn’t been possible to
evacuate the entire equipment in an hour. The biggest blow came when the UAV bases near
Tawang, Bomdila and Walong took direct hits. Most of the command trailers were destroyed
while others were thrown about like junk under the force of the explosions. One crucial ISR
node had now gone down, and the attacks had just begun...

Even as the three Indian Divisions in the hills of Arunachal Pradesh reeled under the
attacks, the rest of the Chinese missiles were already streaking overhead as they went
south towards the main focus of the attack: the Indian infrastructure south of the
Himalayas. This was where the cleared the hills and presented themselves to the main
Indian air defences. Battery after battery of Akash SAMs now came online as the Rajendra
Radars immediately picked up the contacts. But the numbers were against them: with over
seventy missiles for this region diving into their targets in the region around the
Brahmaputra River, the engagement time was short. But for all that the Akash missiles
leaped into the sky in ripples, one after another until the launcher rails were empty. Of the
seventy odd missiles racing in, thirty one were knocked out of the sky in massive fireballs
throughout the region. But with that short and brutal engagement complete, the crews of
the Akash batteries watched helplessly as the remaining missiles flew into their targets...

Airbases at Chabua, Jorhat and Tezpur received the brunt of the damage despite the efforts
of the Akash batteries. There were just too many missiles in the sky to take care of. The
massive thunderclaps and orange-yellow fireballs raced skywards and shook the region.
Contact with all three airbases was immediately lost and not recovered. The road junctions
north of Tezpur received a direct hit from a Chinese missile, though the others heading for
the same area had been knocked out by the Akash missile battery to the east.

Further to the west, Hashimara airbase received multiple hits and went offline with major
craters on the runway while raging fires gripped the ATC building. Most of the buildings at
the airbase were shredded by the force of the explosions going off around them.
In the central sector the losses were less heavy. With barely twenty five missiles targeted at
the entire sector of the border stretching from Sikkim to Himachal Pradesh, the damage
reports were sporadic. Most of the missiles fell prey to the critically placed SAMs in the
region. But a few of the forward airbases received a few hits but whose damage outweighed
the number of impacts. At Bareilly airbase the main runway was severely cratered while at
Agra the main ATC building was decimated to the ground, also destroying a good portion of
the tarmac nearby. The destruction of the ATC would cause hindrance to the handling of
large traffic at the airbase in the days to come.

In New-Delhi the damage was again minimal. With a combination of the single S-300
battery north of the city and two Akash Batteries for the city alone, the defensive fire to the
few incoming Chinese missiles was massive. Only one of the latter made it into the city
where it slammed into the Air HQ building in a shattering explosion and fire that was visible
though out the city. The building itself had been evacuated before the attack, but the first
visible signs of the war to the mainstream Indian public was that of the furiously burning HQ
building of the Indian Air Force. Although in realistic terms the damage to the IAF’s war
waging abilities was near zero, the effect on the morale was bound to be significant.

The last of the hits to be suffered was in the Laddakh region which was again mainly
centred on a few of the critical airbases at Leh, Daulat Beg Oldi, Chushul and Thoise as also
the main Indian Army centres. Leh was the only airbase to suffer massive damage to its
tarmac areas and buildings. Just as it was in the east, the worst damage to be suffered by
the forces in the west was the losses in artillery. The Chinese had taken particular care to
target these units, and the results were lopsided in their favour. Several of the MLRS
batteries of the Indian army in Laddakh were now no more than scrap metal...

***************************

The Defence Minister read through the single page message he had received from the Army
Commander before removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. The realization finally sank
in: India had been attacked. The Defence Minister was no fool. Even as the people around
him frantically tried to determine the scale of the losses, he knew exactly what had
happened and that a long and bitter struggle now beckoned on the horizon...

1ST BATTALION C.P.,

3RD INFANTRY COMBAT GROUP (AD-HOC), 5TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION
HILLS NORTH OF WALONG
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
DAY 3 + 0230 HRS

“Foxtrot-Three, this is Three-Alpha, come in. Over” The radio communications officer waited
for a reply that was answered with static. Again...
“Foxtrot-Three, this is Three-Alpha, do you read? Over” and yet again there was nothing but
static. The Captian looked back at Major Kongara and Lt-Colonel Nath standing behind him:
“Still no reception, sir”

“Keep trying” was the answer as Kongara and Nath moved off outside the improvised
bunker carved out of the hillside and into the cold morning air outside. Everybody had been
issued with warm protective gear to protect against the cold, but the chilling winds still
made their way through to the very bones of anybody exposed to it. Lt-Colonel Nath was
the man leading 1ST Battalion out here in the Himalayan peaks of Walong. Other sister
Battalions of the 3TH ICG (ad-hoc)/5TH MD were out here as well, protecting each other’s
flanks as well as a sector of the border with China. He was also Major Kongara’s direct
superior.

The last hour had been pure chaos. All battalions in the region, 1ST Battalion included, had
lost contact with Brigadier Malik and 3RD ICG HQ and had not been able to regain contact so
far. They had received scattered eyewitness reports from various Jawans sitting in their
observation posts about the low flying cruise missiles minutes before they had heard the
distant rumbling thunder to the south and lost contact. But that was not the entire picture.

All 3RD ICG units had lost direct UAV support in the minutes leading up to the Chinese
attacks. The Army had tried to hastily recover the drones already in the air before relocating
to a new location. To some extent they had been successful, with several squadrons having
recovered all their aircraft and equipment while others losing a good chunk of men and
material to the Chinese missiles. And the problem was that the need for the UAV support
was at its peak at the moment. Every Indian Commander wanted news of what was going
on north of the border with the PLA, and there just weren’t enough assets to go around
now.

To make matters worse, the communications blackout meant that not only there was no
contact with anybody up the chain of command for the scattered Indian Army units in the
region, there was also no hope of indirect support fire should they make contact with the
Chinese. The local artillery had taken a mauling at the hands of the Chinese missiles, with
several batteries wiped off the Indian ORBAT board while others down to a fraction of their
strength. And with the IAF also reeling from the attacks, the chances of close air support
were low to say the least.

Overall, it was a bleak picture. But that was to be expected following such a heavy surprise
attack, and things would improve as the Indian Military shifted into the war mode at both
the mental and physical levels, something which would take at least a day. So for the time
being, however, field commanders like Lt-Colonel Nath and Major Kongara had to
improvise:

“Kongara, send out a small reconnaissance patrol to the border. Tell them to set up an
observation post and report back on what they see directly to me. In the meantime I will try
and see if we can get this damned mess cleared up.”

“Yes sir.” Major Kongara replied before staring northwards and continuing: “They are
coming south all right. The question is when. They are going to try and take as much
advantage of this mess they have created on our side. So what is our plan of action if we
make contact with the Chinese before we re-establish contact with the Brigadier?”

Nath took out a cigarette and lit it up before answering Kongara’s question: “At the moment
we are electronically blind, deaf and speechless. We have no support of any kind and cannot
make contact with anybody else higher up on the chain of command. So what do we do?
What are we supposed to do?” he turned to Kongara in the moonlight before smiling:

“We stand and fight!”

IV CORPS HQ (RELOCATED)
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
DAY 3 + 0246 HRS

“How are you getting on with our reply message?” General Yadav asked his Corps
Commander.

“They are getting ready. We will hit them in the Lhasa region which is about the farthest we
can go anyway. And with limited numbers at my disposal I am primarily looking at this
purely from the tactical perspective. This may not be a fitting reply to the Chinese attack,
but it will buy us some time at the worst and decimate the PLA’s 13TH GA ability to get off
their staging areas in the best case scenario. We will have to wait and see how that turns
out, though.” The IV Corps Commander replied from his makeshift HQ. He was sitting and
talking over the SATCOM with the Army Commander while his staff around him literally ran
about trying to get the situation back under control. It was making Lt-General Chatterjee,
commander of the Indian IV Corps, somewhat irritated with regard to the situation he was
talking about.

On the one hand he relished the idea of taking the war to the enemy using the series of
strikes being planned by the Brahmos batteries under his command. Yet on the other hand
he was furious at the state of affairs around him in what he perceived to be a big blunder of
leadership from those above him as also those in the Government. His requested Divisional
reinforcements that he had been asking for weeks were only now beginning to move thanks
to the PM’s orders on non-provocation. At the same time he had a paper lying in front of
him on the table which detailed the first preliminary reports of the damage done by the
Chinese missiles to the road and bridge infrastructure throughout Assam.

Simply put, the Divisions that were now beginning to move into the region would now have
to cross damaged road and rail links, destroyed bridges and probably more attacks even
before they got to the battlefield. In the meantime he was supposed to hold off the Chinese
with what remained of his artillery and UAV support, disrupted chain of command and
displaced or dead commanders throughout the region who, like him, were only now
beginning to get control over their units back. Worst part was that he had predicted exactly
this scenario to those above him, pleading for them to listen. But his requests and warnings
had fallen on deaf ears...

“You are not exactly brimming with confidence on the issue.” Was the bland statement from
Yadav.

“No I am not. Look, this mess has happened despite all of our warnings. What the hell are
our warnings useful for if nobody listens! And now that the roof has fallen over our heads,
all of a sudden people are listening. But guess what, I have dozens and dozens of dead and
wounded soldiers and officers already and the list is not even complete and neither has
there been any contact with the enemy! I have Divisions trying to arrive into the region with
no bridges for them to cross. I have men and supplies waiting to be airlifted but the main
airbases are out of commission for the next twelve hours at least. And that is assuming that
the Chinese don’t do another number on us between now and then!” Lt-Gen Chatterjee had
finally lost control of his temper and said what had to be said even though he knew that the
man at the other end of the line was on his side...

“I understand that, damn it! Who do you think you are talking to? Now tell me what you
need to get things moving.” General Yadav replied. He realized that his IV Corps
Commander was handling hundred different things at the moment. He also knew that most
of the things he had been told just now were in fact correct, but that couldn’t be helped at
the moment. There was a war on...

“Okay, firstly I need real-time intelligence on what’s happening across the border. My UAV
squadrons are coming back on line now, but I could use additional support.” Chatterjee
replied after a gap of ten seconds. The reply was immediate and clear:

“Done. I will direct the Air Force to transfer their UAVs under you control for the time being.
Also, I have ordered the transfer of some units from the west to replace your losses. They
should be there by the end of the day. And we should be getting the latest update on the
13TH GA deployments north of the border from the Aerospace Command boys. What else?”
General Yadav asked.

“I am going to request emergency transfer of additional artillery units to this sector to

replace my losses there but not until I can get a full assessment done. It will take a few
hours. Most of the other stuff is housecleaning on my end. I will get back to you with the
strike plans once I have the target list completed, and that depends on how fast we can get
the latest satellite info analyzed.”
“It’s being done now. Get your units deployed, armed and ready. And remember, I want
that Chinese Army stopped before they reach the border...”
LEH AIRBASE
LADDAKH
DAY 3 + 0350 HRS

The small puffs of smoke left the rolling rubber as the first Mig-29 touched down on the
main runway and rolled down further before slowing down. Half a minute later the aircraft
was rolling onto the taxiway to the hardened shelters with full urgency. Khurana looked left
and right through the cockpit glass even as he followed the small Gypsy vehicle with striped
yellow-black paint job that was guiding him and his aircraft through the section of the track
cleared of the debris. The view on either side of the track was not pretty...

The base was in full blackout mode and seemed quite deserted to Khurana. But with the
dark night sky he could see the contrasting yellow flames of the various smouldering
buildings around him. His was the first of three Fulcrums to be returning back to Leh from
Avantipur after the missile attacks had pummelled the Indian defences throughout the
region. The rest of the squadron was to stay at Avantipur for the time being but Leh needed
its own cover. Besides, the squadron had no intention of staying at Avantipur for a minute
longer than necessary.

The Mig-29 was not exactly a high endurance fighter compared with the other types in
service. With limited numbers of tankers available there was no way that a decent sized CAP
could be maintained constantly over Laddakh using the Mig-29s if the latter were based as
far away as Avantipur. Bottom line was that Leh airbase needed to be recovered from the
smoke and ashes and returned to service by morning when the first offensive strikes were
to begin on the first real morning of the war.

This first flight of three was here to determine the level of the damage to the airfield’s
ability to hold fighters. Khurana and the Squadron Commander were among the pilots
returning now. Sure enough, Khurana jerked his head around back to see the second Mig-
29 touching down behind him while the third circled overhead. Several thousand feet above
the first CAP of three Fulcrums, also from the same squadron, were now taking position as
the IAF began returning to the skies throughout the region.

But all of that didn’t change the reality on the ground as Khurana saw it. He could see the
burning buildings on the other side of the airbase where the transports bringing in supplies
were based. He also realized that this first landing had been directed under the control of an
ad-hoc ATC since the original ATC building was now smoldering rubble. That was bad news
as it affected the ability of large number of larger aircraft to operate effectively from the
airbase. With the Army only now beginning to bring in reinforcements thanks to the lifting of
political restrictions in the last half hour, they would be restricted to land routes like the
Srinagar-Leh highway for the time being.

A minute later Khurana was shutting down the engines as the aircraft had come to a stop
inside one of the undamaged hardened shelters. He was happy to see most of the airmen
around him who had survived the attacks on the base though he also noticed some faces
missing from the group. He and the Squadron Commander had been notified by the Base
Commander of the losses in personnel and the list was not exactly short. In addition,
theSiachen Pioneers: a helicopter squadron based on the same base, had lost two of its
Cheetah helicopters on the ground during the attack as they had been down for
maintenance. As Khurana jumped off the cockpit and walked out of the shelter and into the
cold winds outside, he saw the loss his own squadron had suffered...

The smoke silently bellowing out of the collapsed cover of the shelter half a kilometre away
was now what remained of the one damaged Fulcrum the squadron had been forced to
leave behind. What was repairable damage a day ago was now a total loss. As he stood
there watching the pillar of smoke rising into the starlit sky, Khurana now reflected to
himself his decision to hold back his flight member two days ago when he had that J-10 in
his sights.

Not again...

A few minutes later the Base Commander pulled up near the shelter after having picked up
Khurana’s Squadron Commander and the trio drove away towards the Base Operations
Centre as the planning began for the squadron’s role in the large IAF offensive air campaign
scheduled to begin in a few hours time, now code named, Operation Phoenix...

CHENGDU
SOUTHWESTERN CHINA
DAY 3 + 0400 HRS

The Chinese weren’t sitting around waiting either. Colonel Feng was back where he thought
he belonged. But not for long. His bags were still packed from his trip to Beijing and he had
returned along with Lt-General Chen back to the main PLAAF centre of C3I for this war.
General Chen had his hands full as he had already started to coordinate the massive
numbers of reinforcements that were “pouring” into his Command. It wasn’t physical
inbounds, of course, only on paper. Aircraft such as the SU-27/30 did not actually have to
deploy to the potentially vulnerable airbases in the region in order to be under Chen’s
command. Neither did the H-6 tankers and cruise missile carrier aircraft. The only aircraft
that were really forward deployed were the JH-7s, J-8IIs and a few J-10 squadrons.

The war for the PLAAF was about to begin. The cruise missile barrage had done its job and
now the manned fighters would do theirs. From all indications coming in, the cruise missile
attack had been a fraction of the success it was supposed to have been as far as the IAF
was concerned.

Bad luck...Feng thought as he went over the numbers from the latest satellite pass over the
Indian airfields. But the damage had been severe, if only for a day or two. The main idea
had never been to destroy the IAF on the ground, and indeed, the idea itself was ridiculous.
The main idea was to push the IAF south by destroying the infrastructure that gave them
the advantage over the PLAAF. Now both sides were far from the border and had almost
similar aircraft types and numbers that could be maintained over the battlefield. And that
was good as far as Feng was concerned.

Overall, the PLAAF Commanders knew very well that the terrain handed the IAF a clear
advnatgae of operating close to the borders. That meant that they could maintain a higher
‘aerial density’ over the battlefield. Now that density had been reduced for at least a day.
Colonel Feng and General Chen had both realized long ago that if the PLAAF was going to
keep the IAF from stopping the PLA convoys dead in their tracks as the headed for the
border, they would have to maintain this pressure on the IAF airbases throughout the region
using missiles and manned attacks. Actual destruction of IAF aircraft was secondary to the
main objective, contrary to popular belief regarding air warfare. If their pilots shoot down
the IAF fighters and bombers while doing their main job of attacking the airbases, then that
was cream on the cake, but nothing more.

Feng looked at his watch as he put the papers away on the table inside the main command
centre building. Lt-General Feng was looked up from his chair from across the table:
“When do you leave?”
“In an hour. You sure you don’t want me here?” Feng asked again.

“Of course I want you commanding the first wave of attacks when they begin, but we have
another sector to handle, and the Commander there is more politics and less military. I
need you to take over. I will handle this sector. You know what to do.”

Feng nodded and walked out of the office to head for the airfield where a specially ordered
CRJ-200 transport was to take him to Kashgar airbase in the Sinkiang region. When he
would arrive there, Feng would virtually take command of the PLAAF ground and air
defences covering the PLA forces in the Aksai Chin...

NORTHWEST TIBET
DAY 3 + 0424 HRS

“Copy that, Blue-One. Out” the Captain handed back the receiver to his communications
expert before turning to face the others with a grin on his face that the darkness could not
hide.
“What was that, sir?” one of the team-members asked out of curiosity.
“That, boys, were our orders to blow things up. Let’s move!”

13TH GROUP ARMY A.O. (PLA)

NORTH OF THE MACMAHON LINE
EASTERN TIBET
DAY 3 + 0500 HRS

The command from the officers still ringing in their ears, the Chinese soldiers now picked up
the first shells from the small dumps near each gun and loaded them inside the chamber in
total synchronization that would have made any drill instructor proud. The gun azimuth and
elevation was already set. The ammo dumps were ready to resupply and the first Chinese
UAV crews awaited their orders to fly south and conduct joint BDA and FAC operations. With
everything ready, time seemed to slow down and an eerie silence filled the skies in the
northeast before it was disrupted by the shout from the battery commanders...

“Open fire!”

And with that the skies to the north of the Indian defenders struggling to recover their own
artillery and wounded comrades from the smoke were beset by continuous flashes followed
by a deep rumbling thunder...

ALPHA COMPANY
1ST BATTALION, 3RD INFANTRY COMBAT GROUP (AD-HOC)
HILLS NORTH OF WALONG
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
DAY 3 + 0505 HRS

“Incoming fire! Take cover! Now!”

Major Kongara shouted as he picked up his rifle and ran from where he was standing
towards the line of trenches that he and his men and dug for protection on the hill above
the riverbank near the border. Even as he ran, the line of hills north of the border were
silhouetted against the continuous flash of lights while the sounds of the incoming shells
sweeping down through the skies were now becoming ever louder. Kongara and his men
had barely jumped into their trenches when the ground shook violently and the dirt and
smoke clouds enveloped the air around them in a massive show of light and thunder...

Kongara was crouching inside his trench along with his communications team even as the
latter were contacting the Battalion CP further south. Contact was made with the Battalion
Commander, Lt-Colonel Nath to the south amidst the thunderclaps and the dirt falling
around and Kongara took the R/T from his comms officer:

“Three-Alpha, Three-Alpha, this is Quebec-One. We are under heavy fire from short range
Chinese indirect artillery! Requesting priority counter-battery fire support! Over!”
“Roger, Quebec-One. Stand-by!” Lt-Colonel Nath replied over the R/T.

1ST BATTALION C.P.,

3RD INFANTRY COMBAT GROUP (AD-HOC), 5TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION
HILLS NORTH OF WALONG
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
DAY 3 + 0510 HRS

Lt-Colonel Nath handed back the R/T to his comms officer and turned to face a Major who
was on another R/T set talking to the Artillery commander of the battery of heavy guns
responsible for providing support to 1ST Battalion positions. The Major was not too happy at
what he was hearing and looked back at Nath and shook his head before speaking:
“Sir, the battery is still in bad shape. They say they need another hour to get back on their
feet before they can be in a position to respond.”

Nath’s facial expression now turned to extreme anger as he stormed over to snatch the R/T
away from the Major and speak with the other Major commanding the artillery battery:
“What the hell is your problem out there? I have men dying to the north under Chinese light
artillery and you are telling me we cannot respond!”

“Sir, I am telling you the facts! We have taken serious damage from the Chinese attack. I
am down to sixty percent manpower and thirty percent equipment levels here. My gun
crews are working as fast as they can to get the guns back into action but they cannot work
faster than they currently are!”

“God damn it!” Nath threw the R/T piece out of frustration on the table before turning to
face his aide again:

“Where’s that MLRS Group?”

“The 3RD ICG MLRS Group?” the Major asked as his eyebrows went up in surprise.

“Yes, damn it! Where is it? Is it still operational?” Nath thundered back.
“North of Walong, sir. But that has not been deputed to us yet.”

“Doesn’t matter now. When Brigadier Malik and the Colonel have been found alive, we will
return it to them. For now I am the senior officer present and am taking command of
3RD ICG. Contact the Group and inform them of the situation. Then contact the other
Battalions and ask them what they need in terms of support. I am pretty sure they will be
under a similar situation. Move!” Lt-Colonel Nath ordered the Major who immediately ran
over to the communications section and started making calls. In the meantime Nath walked
over to the other R/T section and spoke to one of the two lieutenants sitting there:

“Contact Division HQ and tell them that 3RD ICG is taking artillery fire from Chinese forces
north of the border. Tell them we are under attack and that the attacks are a precursor to a
major push southwards by the PLA 13TH GA towards Walong. God knows what’s happening
further west of here but we will make our stand here. Tell him that I have taken over
3RD ICG until contact can be re-established with Brigadier Malik at his HQ. In the meantime
all 3RDICG Battalions will hold their ground.”

Nath now turned to the other officer: “You, contact Major Kongara and tell him to hold his
ground and that help is on the way. Let’s see if we can rain down some steel rain on the
Chinese guns...”
EASTERN BANK OF THE LOHIT RIVER
NORTHEAST OF WALONG
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
DAY 3 + 0525 HRS

The valley down from the border was more or less a straight line north of Walong. And right
now the flashes of light erupting from hills south of the border were visible even as far back
as the peaks near Walong thanks to the all enveloping darkness. Dawn was fast
approaching and the first organized and brutal day of the war was about to start in earnest
after a night of chaos and confusion...

The distant rumbling that followed the flashes on the peaks could be felt to the very bone
for anyone and everyone in the region. Almost all forward deployed infantry units of the
3RD ICG were taking fire from Chinese artillery north of the border. And so far there was no
return fire from the Indian side. But that was about to change.

Lt-Colonel Misra jumped out of the AXE transport he had drove in on along the ‘road’ from
Walong and walked down to the edge of the rocky bank of the Lohit River as he stared
northwards. Behind him three of the Tatra Kolos vehicles were rumbling into the flat patch
of ground to the east as their drivers navigated the rough terrain using the onboard passive
night vision systems. To the north a single Weapon Locating Radar or WLR system was
silently and actively monitoring the Chinese artillery barrages. And further south of the
three launchers themselves, several camouflaged trailers had been placed among the thick
foliage of the region and contained the command and control equipment along with the rest
of the men under Lt-Col Misra’s MLRS Group. At least, all those who had been left
alive...Misra thought bitterly as he waited for his men to do their jobs behind him.

The 3RD ICG MLRS Group had taken some serious attention from the Chinese cruise missiles.
It was obvious to anyone who appreciated the kind of destructive firepower that Misra had
under his command, that the enemy would in fact try to put his unit of commission as soon
as possible. And the Chinese had tried their best to try and catch the MLRS Group, like
other Indian targets, off guard. But Misra was no fool. He knew the Chinese had been
monitoring the location and movement of his unit’s vehicles for weeks before the actual
attack a few hours ago. They had probably been using everything down from local informers
in the region to high tech satellites to get an accurate description of the disposition of the
unit.
And so the simple solution had been moving the vehicles around every odd hour to a new
location somewhere else in the region. It had provided mixed results for Misra and his men
when the Chinese missiles had struck. Most of the unit, consisting of one battery of six
launchers and two attrition reserves had escaped destruction, though two launchers had
been destroyed in a direct hit with cent percent casualties among the two crews. In
addition, several support vehicles had been lost, including one rearming vehicle, which was
a bad blow for the unit’s ability to sustain high intensity operations. Lt-Colonel Misra had
thus been forced to deploy his full attrition reserve into the fight within hours of the war
beginning, and it could only get worse, as everybody, including Misra, knew. He was not in
a happy mood.

He shook his head and recovered from his thoughts after his radioman shouted out to him
from the AXE troop transport. Misra turned back behind to see the three launch vehicles
now dispersed and deployed out on the large field, silent and deadly. He walked over to the
radioman to receive the call from his mobile CP that was coordinating with Lt-Colonel Nath
to provide fire-support to the three 3RD ICG Battalions. Misra had enough confidence in the
professional ability of his men to know when he was not needed around. But that time had
now passed. It was his command, and the final orders were his alone.

Misra picked up the receiver and listened to the sit-rep from his officers before speaking:
“All BAKER elements, this is BAKER-ONE. A few hours ago the Chinese handed this unit their
first casualties of this battle. They tried to liquidate this unit before the battle could even
begin. They failed. The battle has begun, and we are still alive. Now it’s our turn to return
the favour, and we shall not fail. We will make the enemy beg for mercy and hand them
none. All BAKER Elements are now weapons free for counter-battery barrage...

Commence Fire!”

EASTERN BANK OF THE LOHIT RIVER

NORTHEAST OF WALONG
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
DAY 3 + 0540 HRS

The three Pinaka launchers now adjusted pod elevation and azimuth based on the data
coming in from the northern WLR unit. The vehicle’s own sensors had already established
outside atmospheric conditions that would affect the flight of the rockets and had
compensated for it. The crewman inside the sealed front cabin of the Tatra Kolos vehicle
had now fixed the launch data within seconds of the orders coming in. He, along with two of
his other counterparts in the other launchers, now switched the launch mode to “Ripple” for
the twelve rounds on each launcher.

The rockets themselves were armed for the required scatter on target. Finally, on command
from the Group C3I control, the three crewmen depressed the launch button and the vehicle
shuddered violently. Outside, the vehicle was already enveloped in a cloud of smoke while
all neighbouring snow on the field had disappeared, with small steams of water now
remaining.

Above the smoke cloud were streaks of light that were racing across the early morning sky
as they headed north...

NORTH OF THE MACMAHON LINE

DAY 3 + 0550 HRS

The attack was unexpected and the damage was total. The three Pinaka vehicles had
individually targeted one Chinese Mountain gun deployment that had been dropping shells
on the forward deployed Indian Battalions for quite some time now. These gun detachments
had been well dispersed so that a single concentrated attack from Misra’s launchers could
not suppress all of them at once, but since each launcher was now directed against each
such target, there was sufficient concentrated firepower within the twelve rockets of each
launcher to wipe out the detachments as a whole.

And that was exactly what happened. A few hundred feet above the ground the twelve
rockets dispersed the smaller sub-munitions that carpeted a large tract of ground
underneath them. With ripple fire inbounds, once the first rocket appeared over the Chinese
guns, it was all over in just as many seconds as it had taken between the first and last
rocket release for each launcher. A massive crumbling noise echoed the valley as hundreds
of sub-munitions scattered red-hot shrapnel pieces all around the Chinese guns and crews
and sympathetic explosions added to the devastation. By the time the last rocket from each
launcher appeared over the target, the ground below was one big cloud of smoke...

ALPHA COMPANY
1ST BATTALION, 3RD INFANTRY COMBAT GROUP (AD-HOC)
HILLS NORTH OF WALONG
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
DAY 3 + 0605 HRS

It stopped just as abruptly as it had started. The last shell slammed into the hillside that
had been turned into a lunar surface by the Chinese artillery before the frightening howl of
the incoming shells stopped. It took several minutes before the echoing noises receded and
some more minutes before the ringing in the ears of the Indian soldiers receded. Major
Kongara stood up from his trench and dusted off his uniform and weapon even as he looked
around to check the status of the other soldiers. He wasn’t taking any chances that the halt
in the attack was a feint designed to draw the victims out in the open to tend to the
wounded and recover, only to begin shelling again and catch the opposing force off guard.
But after several minutes it was clear even to Kongara that something else had happened...

EASTERN BANK OF THE LOHIT RIVER

NORTHEAST OF WALONG
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
DAY 3 + 0615 HRS

Lt-Colonel Misra removed his binoculars and stared at the north to see with satisfaction that
the flashes of light had now stopped. But the battle had only begun. His deadly strikes had
warned the Chinese that he was still around despite their efforts, and that was unlikely to
go unpunished. Misra walked back to his AXE troop transport and sat down in the front seat
even as his driver pulled out of the rock and gravel laden river bank with a jerk. Behind him
the three Pinaka launchers were already beginning to move out while their crews considered
their next location, next reload and next attack...
1ST BATTALION C.P.,
3RD INFANTRY COMBAT GROUP (AD-HOC), 5TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION
HILLS NORTH OF WALONG
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
DAY 3 + 0630 HRS

Lt-Colonel Nath was also busy formulating his next movement plans. While his officers and
men deployed to the north were feeling relieved to have ridden themselves free from the
Chinese fire, it was only temporary. Nath was already looking at the bunch of papers in his
hand that had arrived from Division HQ, Brigade HQ and his forward deployed companies.

His Company Commanders were reporting no actual sight of the enemy other than the
shelling, but that was only temporary. Division HQ had forwarded along the first updated
intelligence estimates regarding the 13TH GA movements just north of the border and sure
enough, the real might of the PLA was only now approaching the fronts. And despite his
tactical victory against the Chinese so far, the current deployment of the 3RD ICG Battalions
and the single MLRS Group under Lt-Colonel Misra was unlikely to withstand the massed
mobile artillery systems coming south towards the front within the next few hours. And his
own reinforcements would take roughly the same time to arrive...including the new Brigade
Commander, Nath realized as he checked the third report from Brigade HQ.

Contact had been re-established with the Brigade HQ at Walong in the last half hour. The
news was not pleasant. The HQ had taken a brutal attack and had been mauled. Brigadier
Malik was wounded and had been evacuated via helicopter to the south while the Colonel
had been killed. Most of the staff officers among the team there had been wounded to some
degree or another and their ability to provide the crucial administration control over the
Brigade was now non-existent. And it didn’t stop there. Lt-Colonel Nath had been acting as
the ad-hoc commander for the 3RD ICG for some time now, and unfortunately that would
have to continue until the new Brigade CO had arrived and taken over the Brigade back at
Walong.

Given his seniority, GOC 5TH Division had made Nath the acting commander of 3RD ICG for
the time being, given the extraordinary circumstances. As the first rays of sunlight shined
through the valley on the first morning of the war, Lt-Colonel Nath found himself
commanding the Indian side in what was essentially the Second Battle of Walong...

THE SKIES ABOVE MADHYA PRADESH

DAY 3 + 0700 HRS (L)

“All right people, let’s get started. There’s no time to waste.” The Defence Minister said as
watched the Brigadier and a few other junior officers in front of him settle into their seats
around him. There were four Tele-Conference-Display or TCD screens in front of the Minister
that allowed him to conduct his briefing with important people not inside the room. At the
moment that meant the senior Army Commanders. The Home Minister also walked inside
the room a few moments later. The PM was not present. He had just finished his meeting
with the Defence Minister and Home Minister who were physically present and also the three
Service Chiefs and the External Affairs Minister via TCDs. The meeting had been preliminary
at best and had been designed to get everybody on the same page as far as events so far
had occurred.
The Indian response strategy was far from clear due to a variety of reasons. Firstly the
damage caused to the communications in the northeast was still being repaired, with new
reports pouring in to help build the larger picture. New Commanders were replacing dead
ones and only now were these decapitated units recovering from the initial attacks.
Secondly, the reports of Chinese ground offensives was unclear. With recovering
communications still patchy, and with no “actual” ground offensives having taken place
other than Company level engagements, the priority was to re-establish the ISR network in
the skies above the northeast to determine what exactly was going on north of the border.
Then there was the issue of retaliations...

Three of the four TCD screens lit up immediately to announce that the meeting was
beginning. There were now three Generals “present” in the conference room. These included
the COAS, General Yadav, Eastern Command GOC, Lt-General Suman and the IV Corps
Commander, Lt-General Chatterjee. In addition, other Generals including the Northern
Command GOC and XV Corps Commander were on standby in case their input was required.
The Defence Minister started off the briefing with his usual optimism that concealed his
professionalism:

“Good morning, gentlemen. Let’s get started. I know we have had a hell of a morning so
far, but just so we are on the same page regarding the situation, let’s have a recap of the
situation so far. General Yadav?” The Defence Minister now lay back in his chair as the
General began his brief. The fourth screen shifted to show a digital map of the current
situation in the Northeast.

“Okay, at 0130 today we absorbed a massive Chinese attack using cruise missiles along the
entire northern border. Communications went down with many units in the northeast and
we encountered large scale damage to road and rail infrastructure as well as equipment.
Especially in artillery. The Air Force also lost contact with several main airbases that serve
as part of our logistical nodes. We are in the process of recovering from this attack as of
0630 hours today.

“Region wise speaking, we have four sectors of the land border with China. These being in
Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Laddakh when moving from east to west. As of
0630 hours there has been no aggressive activities from the Chinese in Uttarakhand and
Laddakh, although the latter sector will open up by the end of the day as per our
predictions. North of Sikkim we are detecting significant movement of enemy forces that
suggest the front will open up in the next few hours. The Arunachal sector has already
opened up.
“At 0500 hours the Chinese opened up with light artillery barrages along most of the border
defensive positions in the Arunachal region, specifically the Lohit, Upper Subansiri and
Tawang Districts. Our forces responded as best as they could under the circumstances and
in several sectors were able to defeat, or currently in the process of defeating, the Chinese
using available long range artillery systems. This action is ongoing as we speak. DIPAC
detected further Chinese activity in central China which suggests further Chinese cruise
missile strikes later today when they have completed BDA.” Yadav concluded for everybody.
The Defence Minister now spoke up after a few seconds of absorbing the information given
to him.

“General Yadav. What Chinese units are we facing in these sectors?”

“One PLA Group Army assembling in the Aksai Chin and one north of Arunachal Pradesh.
Two Division plus forces are north of Sikkim. But you have to understand that except in
Laddakh and opposite Sikkim, these units are not yet fully concentrated. It seems to have
been part of the strategic aims of the Chinese. Their units are spread, or at least they were
spread as of yesterday morning, throughout Tibet ostensibly to combat the current rebellion
that was underway there. On our side the Government did not allow mobilization of forces
to the border in fear of provoking the Chinese.

"So now both sides are rushing to the border. Whoever concentrates faster than the other
will win the running battles. The only difference is that the Chinese infrastructure in Tibet as
also the geography allows much faster concentration than our side, which has also now
suffered some damage due to the Chinese surprise attacks to further slow us down.” Yadav
said impassively, although the Defence Minister clearly saw the concealed bitterness within
the Army Commander who was now having his avoidable predictions of the last several
weeks being vindicated in front of him.

“Noted, General. So what kind of time-lines are we looking at for complete deployments in
the field?”

“At the moment it is difficult to say. We need to get the ISR network back on its feet to
determine what the Chinese are aiming for here. Once that happens we can calculate what
we need to feed reinforcements into the region to plug any holes. For now, however, we are
mobilizing across the board. XXXIII Corps is deploying all remaining Divisions to Sikkim and
IV Corps is already fully in the field.
"III Corps is moving to reinforce from the south. We also have some other additional units
earmarked for movement but what you have to realize is that we are not attempting to
match the Chinese man for man. Its not about the numbers as much as how well we can
supply what units we already have deployed. That’s going to be our main aim. The
geography allows good defensive positions if only the units manning them have their needs
met. Once that happens the Chinese can break their heads on the Himalayan rocks for all
the good it will do them.” Yadav said.

“So it’s a race then. But we are lagging behind. We cannot run faster than we are now so
the trick is to slow the Chinese down. How do we do that, General?” the Defence Minister
asked.

“Okay, that brings us to the issue of Operation SNOW-THUNDER...”

KASHGAR AIRBASE
SINKIANG AUTONOMOUS REGION
CHINA
DAY 3 + 0730 HRS (L)

The CRJ-200 touched down on the runway at Kashgar in the cool morning air and a minute
later rolled off the runway while three fully armed J-10s waited their turn to take off.
Colonel Feng peered out of the small oval windows of the aircraft to see the soldiers and
personnel working feverishly in the cold but clear morning as the PLAAF swung into action
north of Laddakh.

Feng looked back at the papers in his hand that had arrived for him to read during the
flight. These dealt with the current air situation in the Aksai Chin region south of here and
detailed a summary of the BDA achieved by the missile strikes of the night. In essence it
labelled out the starting point for the PLAAF strikes. Feng was here to take over the role of
chief of operations in this sector. As he read the documents in his hands Feng realized that
the missile strikes had failed to achieve what they had been expected to. The IAF airbases
had not been knocked out to the level required by the PLAAF commanders in order to push
the IAF southwards. The accidental detection of the cruise missile launches had proven
costly for the Chinese as it had allowed the IAF to prepare a heavy defence against the
missiles, most of which never made it to their targets. Such were the luck factors of war...

So now it’s up to us to do the job... Feng thought as he rubbed his eyes and found the
aircraft coming to a halt in front of the main terminal building. Feng knew that
there were further missile attacks planned for the day, but that the surprise element had
been lost for such measures. Now it would have to be done the old fashioned way...

EASTERN BANK OF THE RIVER KHOUMA

EAST OF DIRANG
WESTERN ARUNACHAL PRADESH
DAY 3 + 0840 HRS

The activity was feverish. Soldiers were busy removing the snow camouflage netting over
the two white painted vehicles spread out over two sections of a grassy clearing on the
eastern bank of the frozen Khouma River. The road from Bomdila to Dirang to Se-La and
then to Tawang was parallel to the river along this section. And the soldiers on this side of
the river bank could see the endless convoys of trucks moving through the morning snowfall
on to Tawang. The officers of this particular unit, however, were busy with their own little
war...
The two vehicles now being uncovered were what were technically known as Mobile
Autonomous Launchers or MAL, for short. Each vehicle was armed with three Transport
Launch Canisters or TLCs, each armed with three of the supersonic short range Brahmos
cruise missiles. And at the moment it was a game of numbers and science for this
detachment’s officers.

Two vehicles with three missiles each meant a total of six deadly warheads. A cruise speed
of Mach 3 and a travel distance of three hundred kilometres allowed for a roughly five
minute flight. That number was five minutes. Such a short launch to impact time could
surprise anybody, anytime and anywhere. The issue, however, was terrain. The current
launch point was at around six thousand feet above Mean Sea Level or MSL. Se-La peaks to
the northwest were at fourteen to fifteen thousand feet MSL. The Great Himalayan Peaks
went as high as sixteen thousand feet MSL, and then the Tibetan peaks remained at roughly
the same altitude. In other words, any missile launched from near Dirang would have to do
a quick rise to altitude to be able to cross these peaks as high supersonic velocities like
those of the Brahmos do not allow TERCOM flights through the valleys without drastic
reduction in range.

If, on the other hand, the missile had to go over the peaks, it would be cruising at altitudes
of around seventeen thousand feet, which again would eat up on range given the thin air of
the mountains. And for ramjet engines the devil was in these details. And the Air Force
would not be launching any Brahmos missiles in support of the Army in the next few days at
the very least. They had their own problems to counter with the PLAAF and the deadly S-
300s deployed all over Tibet. It was for that reason that this detachment of vehicles had to
be airlifted using Mi-26 helicopters to this region. If launched from the foothills of Northern
Assam, there was no range left to reach the target itself. This was a classic case of the
wrong weapon in the wrong theatre of war. Unfortunately, the Nirbhay was only now rolling
off the production lines and available only in smaller numbers for more inaccessible targets.
As always, the Indian Army would have to improvise...

A few minutes after the final checks were completed; the MALs came to life with the
hydraulic pumps pushing the TLC tubes from horizontal position to near vertical and then
initiated an azimuth change to bring them to face the magnificent snow covered Se-La
peaks against the blue morning sky. Half a kilometre away, a camouflaged trailer sat quietly
among the edge of the trees where several officers were busy loading the target information
into the Fire-Control-System. The Colonel in command of the detachment was monitoring
the activities over the shoulder of the men sitting on the consoles before nodding to one of
them. By this time small orange warning lights were flashing near the MALs as a sign for
everybody to clear the area. The Major sitting at the FCS Console announced a “Ready” to
all in Mobile Command Trailer before the Colonel gave the order they had been waiting for:

“Execute Salvo Launch. All containers.”

The Major leaned forward and flipped open the cover over the lighted button labelled
‘LAUNCH’ and then depressed the button...

A few seconds later the ground shook with all abruptness as the first Brahmos cruise missile
streaked out of the TLC tube under the force of the solid rocket booster underneath and
raced vertically for the sky. Several seconds later the booster ran out and was ejected a
second before the ramjet blasted into operation and propelled the missile even higher. With
the booster ejection the missile had lost all smoke trails.

And as a thunderclap raced through the skies to announce the achievement of Mach one, it
had also shed all sounds...

LHASA AIRPORT
TIBET
DAY 3 + 0855 HRS
The cold light blue morning sky above Lhasa was littered with pairs of thin white contrails
forming large circles at the high altitude. The almost complete transparency of the thin
mountain air showed the new sets of pairs coming in an almost straight line from the
northeast while others left for the same region. The airspace over Lhasa was a busy one this
morning. There were at least twelve J-8IIs flying overhead on Combat Air Patrol missions
while another six were on the ground being refuelled to provide security to the small groups
of IL-76s that had been plying back and forth for the whole night between Lhasa and other
airbases in the plains to the northeast. On the ground, there were two Il-76s being hurriedly
unloaded while another two loitered high above waiting for their chance to land in what was
an endless supply chain for the PLA 13TH Group Army that was now deploying to the
southern front of the Tibetan Frontier...

There was no warning.

The six brahmos missiles streaking across the cold morning skies over Tibet were detected
by Chinese radar as they crossed the McMahon line and headed north. But with less than
three minutes before impact, there was little that could be achieved with that warning other
than the klaxons being sounded all over Lhasa that saw everybody heading for cover even
as the first Brahmos missile flashed over the peaks around Lhasa and dived into the airport
with the sun glinting over the sleek metallic body. That was when the ground shook like an
earthquake.

The two IL-76s on the ground didn’t stand a chance. The Indian DIPAC had been watching
the Chinese activities at Lhasa for hours now. They knew that a certain section of the
tarmac was always being occupied by the incoming IL-76s and they had promptly handed
over that piece of information in their Intelligence Estimate to the Army. One of the six
incoming Indian missiles slammed into the ground between the two parked aircraft, such
was the accuracy of the Brahmos. Both aircraft and the PLA’s precious cargo inside them
were shredded and left burning as an inverted cone of fire and smoke raced for the sky like
a volcano. The clear shock-wave from the explosion shook building for kilometers around
and decimated all windows around.

The second missile slammed into the main terminal building at the airport and literally razed
it into the ground with its large explosive warhead destroying the building inside out. The
debris was still falling with two other Brahmos slammed into the sections of the main
runway at equal intervals and cratered whole sections of it, dividing the runway into three
one-third sections. That coupled with long runway requirements in the mountains meant
that no aircraft could now this runway. The final two missiles found the parked radar
directed gun battery in the approach valley to Lhasa airfield and the parked J-8IIs and
flattened both targets using proximity detonated warheads.

Dozens of sympathetic explosions coupled with these warheads neutralized the complete
airfield and all aerial resupply operations at Lhasa airport. The PLAAF was already diverting
the aircraft flying overhead to other airbases in the north. As the smoke and debris settled
around the airport, the skies above no longer had circular contrails, only straight ones
heading northeast...

SNOW-THUNDER had begun.

P.L.A.A.F. SECTOR COMMAND

SOUTH OF KASHGAR
SINKIANG AUTONOMOUS REGION
CHINA
DAY 3 + 0930 HRS (L)

“Is that all that they achieved?” Colonel Feng asked the Staff Officer handling the
Intelligence operations for Major-General Xhigao, the PLAAF sector commander. He handed
the satellite images across to General Xhigao who looked at the results impassively. He was
the optimist in the room who had enough confidence in his pilots that the situation did not
seem very worrying to him. His Operations chief held the opposite views. Xhigao knew why
General Chen had sent Feng over here to take over the role of General Staff Officer
(Operations) or GSO-Ops for short. He believed Feng to be another of the new generation
officers whose loyalty to the Communist Party was suspect, and whose confidence in his
soldiers were always lacking. The fact that General Chen had taken Feng as his protégé was
all the more worrying for Xhigao to the level that he had in fact mentioned his concerns to
Chen, only to be dismissed on grounds of Feng’s supposed capabilities. Unfortunately for
Feng though, General Chen and the rest of the PLAAF Command were now thousands of
kilometres to the east. Out here, General Xhigao was in command...

“Yes Sir. The Leh airbase is operational again as far as eyewitnesses report. We did manage
to do some damage to their ability to bring in larger transports. As you can see in the third
image, the runway is damaged to the point that the Indians cannot bring in IL-76 transports
into Leh for some time. But the Mig-29s are back at the airbase. Our attacks also destroyed
two Indian cheetah helicopters and one Mig-29 on the ground as is seen in image five and
six respectively.” The Lt-Colonel handling Intelligence for the PLAAF in this sector reported
from his notes. Feng nodded but was not impressed. He looked to Xhigao:

“We will not be able to hold off the Indian air attacks against our ground forces if we do not
knock out these high altitude airbases and push them south. Our missile attacks haven’t
done the required amount of damage. The initial estimates were overly optimistic. The idea
was that we would be able to inflict enough damage on their airbases to buy us time to
deploy. It seems that it worked better in the eastern sectors. But out here the damage to
these Himalayan airbases has been nominal. And now while we begin our own operations,
we can expect them to launch attacks against our convoys on the Aksai Chin road in the
next few hours.”

General Xhigao dismissed the assessment: “Perhaps. But we have the S-300s deployed all
along the roads, do we not? They can handle the pesky attacks by their low level bombers.”

Really? Then how would you explain the complete demolition of the airbase at Lhasa? Were
those “pesky” attacks too? Feng thought out in anger as he heard his CO dismiss his advice.
Xhigao continued:

“What we need to do is draw out their heavy fighters into a decisive battle and end their
hopes for air superiority. After that we can crush the attempts of their low level bombers to
prevent the PLA from advancing. What is our operational status?”

A full scale attack! He wants to engage the Indian SU-30s head on! Feng thought with
disbelief while his commander laid out his grand strategy for the air war in the east. He
recovered enough to respond to his CO’s questions:

“We have a regiment of SU-27s and another of J-8IIs ready for air combat. A composite
regiment of J-10s and H-6s have been placed at our disposal for the bomber missions.
Several tankers and special mission aircraft are on standby as well. With these we can
initiate attacks in piecemeal fashion and take out the Indian airbases one by one.” Take the
hint...Feng thought as he finished his overview of the readiness status.

“No. We will concentrate on taking out their fighters first. They pose the biggest threat to
us. We can use the bombers as bait to lure out the Indians into out back yards where we
will shoot them down. Once the skies over Laddakh are clear, the bombers can finish their
missions.”

Brilliant! And if the Indians shoot down our fighters, we can hand them our bombers on a
tray as well...Feng thought as wished for General Chen to be around. But half an hour later
the plans had solidified despite his efforts. In the end he had to give his consent, not that it
mattered, of course. Then again, if the plan did work out, Colonel Feng did not fancy being
branded as a coward in the wake of the successes. But if it didn’t work, the disaster that
would follow would see most of the men in this room facing a firing squad. The thing was,
there was a fine line between being rash and being bold. The question was, which side of
the line General Xhigao was on? Only time would answer that question...

With the meeting coming to a close to allow everybody to prepare for their jobs, Feng
picked up his fur cap and prepared to leave the room. With the decision made, the time for
doubts was gone. Now all that mattered was for him to make the best of the situation and
aim for success. Colonel Feng grunted to himself as he hoped for someone else to take the
job from him as he left the room behind his General...
OPERATION PHOENIX
THE SKIES OVER LADDAKH
DAY 3 + 1040 HRS (L)

Squadron Leader Khurana looked at the data in the HUD screen to see the current aircraft
status. The altitude was what it should have been, speed indicator, attitude and bearing.
The Fulcrum was cruising in the thin mountain skies with full weapons payload underneath
the wings. Khurana looked left and right to see his Finger-Four formation of four Mig-29s in
perfect sync with his own. They were patrolling fifteen kilometers west of the LAC beyond
the reach of the long range S-300 batteries the Chinese had deployed east of their strategic
highway through the Aksai Chin. Khurana was making sure that his flight did not drift into
the fuzzy region of radar detection for the Chinese missile radars where there was a high
probability of bumping into range of some odd anti-air system. Like his own flight of four, all
other Indian aircraft were staying away from the deadly S-300s...

The skies were filling up pretty quickly. The Indian Air Force was coming out in force in the
skies west of the LAC in the first phase of what was now Operation PHOENIX, as the Indian
aerial counter-strikes following the Chinese attacks had been named. At the vanguard were
several flights of Mig-29s from Leh and Avantipur who were tasked primarily for the air
superiority missions. Two hundred kilometers to the south, a single Phalcon AWACS was
also on patrol, providing the eyes for the Indian commanders. Then there were the two
large groups of SU-30MKIs just to the west of Khurana’s crews. One group of eight fighters
was on standby to support the Mig-29s should the PLAAF appear in force. These were also
tasked with the job of putting themselves between the Mig-29s and the Phalcon in case the
former were fully committed into the fight. Nobody at Western Command wanted nasty
anti-AWACS surprises at this time.

Khurana was checking the display status of the RWR mounted on the aircraft. It was
showing some long range Chinese radars in the Laddakh hills around the highway and to the
north beyond the Karakoram pass. Then there were two KJ-2000 AWACS aircraft flying to
the extreme north. No fighter emissions were being detected. Chinese ones, that is. A
hundred kilometres to the west beyond the Siachen Glacier, two Pakistani F-16 radars were
active and tracking the Indian aerial armada gathering over the Laddakh skies. That was
worrisome. The Pakistanis were acting aggressive already, and the war between India and
China was less than a day old...

Khurana was rocked back into action as the UHF R/T squawked with the latest chatter from
the other group of four SU-30s that were now approaching the Aksai Chin...

OPERATION PHOENIX
THE SKIES OVER LADDAKH
DAY 3 + 1050 HRS (L)

The four SU-30s now heading directly for the LAC were not about to go on a kamikaze
mission. These were armed specially for a specific job. In fact they were not even going to
enter the S-300 kill zones east of the LAC. Each aircraft was armed with a single Air-
Launched Brahmos missile. The four aircraft were spread out in line abreast formation and
were barely a thousand feet above the peaks of the Laddakh Mountains as they streaked
towards the border. Just beyond the Chinese “Fuzzy Detection Range” the aircrafts
accelerated to very high subsonic mach numbers, pulled up level and released their deadly
cargo.

The long tube shaped missiles fell cleanly off the four aircraft and ignited their motors after
dropping a few dozen feet. By this time the four aircraft were already pulling tight “pitch-
out” manoeuvres as they headed back out of the FDR and into friendly airspace.

The missiles were heading the opposite way. The targeting information had been fed in
before the launches and they had been launched from around one hundred and fifty
kilometres out, allowing for a time-to-target of less than three minutes. The missiles
streaked across the Laddakh peaks with a massive thunderclap following in their wake. They
were detected immediately after release from the SU-30s by the Chinese radars. West of
the highway passing through the Aksai Chin, multiple S-300 systems engaged the four
missiles with several launches. Even with the phenomenal speeds and low reaction times
involved for both the target and the interceptor missiles, the S-300 proved to be a worthy
opponent.

These systems had been placed east of the highway only because of the clear line of sight
the plains provided to the defenders. Once the Brahmos missiles cleared the peaks around
the Galwan River to the north and the Mobdi La peaks to the south, they had entered
relatively clear terrain in full view of the deadly defences. With more than a dozen
interceptor missiles targeting the four inbound Brahmos missiles, losses were inevitable.
Two of the four Brahmos missiles were blown out of the sky by several interceptor missile
hits.

The remaining two, however, streaked past the defences and slammed into the two BIG-
BIRD radar systems for a battery in the central sector. The result explosions destroyed the
two radar systems completely, shutting down the anti-missile radar capability for that sector
of the highway. But the system was designed to be robust and included overlaps with other
batteries and redundant auxiliary radar systems that went active minutes after the primary
ones went down.

Back on board the Phalcon, the MC noted that there had been a temporary shut down of
radar activity in the central sector that had opened up like a hole in the coverage, but it had
now covered up again as new radar sources were tagged by the on-board computer as
coming online. Until and unless the coverage of this network of defenses was reduced
severely, the Jaguars could not dare penetrate the Aksai Chin region to take out the
individual launchers around these batteries. And if that could not happen, the Indian
fighters could not go north and take the fight to the PLAAF. It was all linked to one another.

But as it was turning out, the S-300 defensive belt around the Aksai Chin was proving to be
a tough opponent at the moment...
P.L.A.A.F. SECTOR COMMAND
SOUTH OF KASHGAR
SINKIANG AUTONOMOUS REGION
CHINA
DAY 3 + 1120 HRS (L)

Colonel Feng was staring at the giant display screen in the command centre as he observed
his suggestion of moving S-300s into the Aksai Chin being vindicated. Two radars had gone
down but they had been replaced. The system was now buying time for the PLAAF by
forcing the Indians to stay south while the aerial armada of SU-27s assembled over the
northern skies under the direction of the two KJ-2000s.

Feng still considered General Xhigao’s plan to be ill-advised at best. But seeing the results
on the screen he could not help but wonder if the plan just might work out, and that
brought a rare smile to the Colonel’s grizzled face...

THE SKIES OVER SINKIANG

SINKIANG AUTONOMOUS REGION
CHINA
DAY 3 + 1140 HRS (L)

The last of the SU-27s dropped below the altitude of the patrolling H-6 tankers and
accelerated south. The thirty SU-27s stacked in groups of ten each were well north of the
border with India and even further from the prying eyes of the Phalcon far to the south. All
fighter radars were on standby. General Xhigao had committed his entire SU-27 force for
this mission to the level that Colonel Feng had to divert incoming reinforcements from the
northeast to take over the vital job of protecting the two KJ-2000s which would be left nude
once the SU-27s moved southwards.

Fifty kilometers behind the SU-27 force now heading south, and a few thousand feet below
in altitude, three H-6 cruise missile carriers approached launched bearing and released four
long range cruise missiles each. That had been the only aspect of the mission on which
General Xhigao had agreed with Feng. If the former was intent on engaging the Indian
fighters head on, then there was no one below him who could reverse that thought, but at
the very least the situation could be mined for all its worth. A full frontal engagement with
Indian fighters would leave the airbases relatively undefended against incoming missiles,
and so even if the engaging fighters failed to defeat the Indians in the skies above, Feng
had every intention of doing so on the ground below.

The long tube shaped missiles fell dozens of feet below the pylons once they were jettisoned
before their small engines kicked in and propelled them forward of the launch aircraft. A few
seconds later the small flight control surfaces deployed and the missiles began their journey
south, followed by the SU-27s above them...

THE SKIES OVER LADDAKH

INDIA
DAY 3 + 1150 HRS (L)
Khurana looked through his HUD display to see the two green horizontal squares being
projected above the Himalayan peaks to the west against a bright blue sky. The two
Pakistani F-16s in front of him were now less than seventy five kilometers west of the
Siachen Glacier and well within range of his R-77s. But by the same token he was well
within the range of the latter’s AMRAAMs. Further to the west, two more F-16s had been
detected as having entered the skies. Given the current situation, the PAF was playing with
fire, patrolling aggressively as it was against the IAF who was already in a shooting war with
the Chinese. But unlike the Chinese, the PAF’s abilities to challenge the skies over Kashmir
were limited at best given the concentration of IAF forces now in the skies above. And they
knew it.

Khurana was merely tracking the F-16s because somebody had to. His real focus was on
listening to the chatter coming in from the four SU-30MKIs that had just “tickled” the
Chinese S-300 defensive belt around the Aksai Chin with their Brahmos cruise missiles. He
knew the lethality of the S-300 from the IAF’s evaluation of its own handful of S-300
batteries in service. But for all that fifty percent of the Brahmos missiles had made it to the
target and flattened two long range BIG-BIRD radars, and despite the Chinese having
covered up that hole with other redundant systems, he knew it had hurt them. Long range
radars don’t exactly come cheap or quickly enough. The next effort in Op PHOENIX was not
so much a tickle as it would be a punch, provided the situation remained much as the same
as it was now. And the likelihood of that happening was about as much as the Chinese
packing up their S-300s and leaving the region. Sure enough, the UHF R/T squawked again:

“EAGLE-EYE-ONE to all CLAW elements, we have confirmed inbounds from the northeast. Thirty
plus bandits and possible cruise missiles at Angels thirty, two hundred out. CLAW Flight is
now under tight leash control. Out”

‘Tight-Leash-Control’ was the colloquial terminology for fighters operating directly under the
command of a Phalcon controller after being pulled away from defensive patrols. That being
said, it was not dependent on the distances involved, nor did it take away any maneuvering
flexibility from the fighter commanders, should the situation arise. It merely informed the
concerned flight that it was on point for the job at hand...

“CLAW-ONE to all CLAW elements, axis reorientation to bearing two-one-five. Look sharp
everybody, this is the real deal. Out.”

The voice of Khurana’s squadron commander rang out over the R/T before Khurana himself
was directing his flight to the south after initiating a ninety degree turn to the left. They
were currently within fifteen kilometers of the LAC, flying just outside the S-300 kill zones.
If they were to engage the Chinese fighters head on, they could not afford to overfly that
active kill zone. So the idea was to fly south for thirty odd kilometers and then wait there
until the last possible moment before heading on a reciprocal bearing towards the Chinese
without overflying the Chinese ground defenses.

Khurana’s flight of four was the western most within CLAW squadron. As such he had been
facing the Pakistani F-16s south of the Karakoram peaks. Now his flight was flying alongside
the LOC with the Karakoram peaks to his right as they headed south. They were achieving
axis reorientation with respect to the Chinese, but in such congested skies as over Laddakh,
they were now presenting their open flanks to the Pakistani F-16s. Khurana quietly looked
to the right after having initiated his helmet mounted sights now that he was being forced
to look away from the HUD to track the Pakistanis.

Sure enough, the off-bore sight target acquisition system immediately reacquired the two F-
16s, but there was now no denying the fact that the skies over Laddakh were now getting
really crowded...
THE SKIES OVER LADDAKH
INDIA
DAY 3 + 1200 HRS (L)

Now...now...now! Khurana thought, and sure enough, the R/T squawked: “This is CLAW-
ONE to CLAW squadron: bring the birds about!”

Khurana and his flight pulled the control stick to the left and then backwards to conduct a
tight formation turn to the left and head back out on reciprocal bearing that would bring
them face to face with the Chinese fighters coming south towards the LAC. Sure enough,
the dozens of green squares that had been at the edge of his HUD display now jerked back
into the centre with his R-77s trying to achieve a lock on the lead most Chinese SU-27
within his reach. He knew the others on his either side were doing the same as well.

Time ticked by as Khurana waited for the lead most SU-27s to enter the extreme range of
his R-77s...

EAGLE-EYE ONE
SOUTHERN LADDAKH
DAY 3 + 1205 HRS (L)
The skies were busy all right, but the numbers weren’t right. There were over thirty Chinese
SU-27s attempting to make what was in fact an alpha strike on the first day of the war. On
the other side were fourteen Indian Mig-29s from CLAW squadron and two groups of SU-
30MKIs of eight and four each. The latter group was currently not even configured for heavy
long range aerial battles as they headed south after completing their ALCM launch missions
against the Chinese anti-air system in the Aksai Chin. And even that group of eight SU-
30MKIs was actually the only defence the Phalcon had until further fighters scrambling
northwards could take position.

What reinforcements CLAW squadron could count on were either still on the way northwards
or being scrambled to face off the four PAF F-16s now heading to the LOC on the western
front. The MC on board the Phalcon who was coordinating the Indian side of the Air War
over Laddakh grumbled as he realized that the Pakistanis were playing their part to assist
the Chinese without firing a shot: they were diverting the Indian resources at a time when
the latter needed those most. In practical terms it would have been much easier to divert
the fourteen Mig-29s to swat the four odd F-16s out of the sky before taking on the
Chinese, but that would open up another front in a war where the Indian side was struggling
to get under control because of previous political restrictions that had allowed the Chinese
to gain strategic surprise.

So for the moment CLAW squadron was alone in its battle against the Chinese SU-27s as it
bought time for the Indian Air Force to deploy in strength...

THE SKIES OVER LADDAKH

INDIA
DAY 3 + 1230 HRS (L)

The audio tune changed the moment lock-on was achieved and sure enough, a diamond
square positioned itself inside the earlier green square to indicate the target acquisition on
the leading Chinese SU-27. Khurana now flipped open the launch button on the control stick
as he waited for the squadron leader to give the command. That command arrived a few
seconds later:

“CLAW-ONE to CLAW squadron. Engage! Engage! Engage!”

Khurana depressed the button and felt the aircraft get lighter a second before the blinding
flash of rocket motor ignition appeared from the front and below the nose of his aircraft.
Then there was another release and a few seconds later Khurana was tracking the thin
white smoke trails against the bright blue skies through his HUD as his two missiles
streaked at targets still beyond visual range represented only by two small green
rectangles. He noticed the dozen other trails left and right of his own that were heading the
same way as CLAW squadron engaged the enemy.

The Chinese were just as quick to reciprocate. Thirty Chinese R-77s headed in the opposite
direction of the twenty eight Indian R-77s. The game of chicken was on...

The screeching audio warning tone lit up in the cockpits of the Indian Mig-29s as the threats
were detected. But no one broke formation. No one could; not if there was to be any hope
of their missile hitting a SU-27 at such long ranges. This was a game of nerves. With both
sets of fighters now less than a hundred kilometres away and closing in on each other at a
closure rate of two thousand kilometres an hour, the time to visual contact was less than
two minutes. For the missiles streaking at high mach numbers, the closure rate meant a
time line of seconds. Such was the nature of modern air combat.

A few seconds later the time came to break formation and dive for safety before the
incoming Chinese missiles wiped CLAW squadron from the skies over Laddakh. Ever the
alert warrior, the CO was on the R/T in sync with Khurana’s own thoughts:

“CLAW-ONE to CLAW Squadron: Evasive manoeuvres! Break!”

Khurana and his flight immediately dived for cover just as the Chinese R-77 trails were
spotted at the extreme edge of the horizon. The only safety lay within the peaks of the
Laddakh ranges below. Khurana pushed the throttle all the way forward and clicked into
afterburner that bumped his aircraft at a whole new level of acceleration with a large push
that he felt within his own body. Fuel conservation be damned, the first priority was to live!

The snow clad mountains now occupied the entire front view through the HUD as the
aircraft dived for the hills. It took but a second for the hills to appear big enough to prompt
Khurana to pull back on the control stick and be crushed into his seat as the aircraft pulled
level below the maximum level peaks in the region. That was good news in that despite the
advancement in radars, they could not see through solid rocks. Despite that Khurana was
punching put loads of chaff as his aircraft streaked within the peaks below. The audio
warning was screeching continuously now as missiles were all over the skies above. Unit
coherence had been lost and now it was every pilot for himself until the missile threat
dissipated as each missile ran out of fuel.
In all the frantic seconds of flying Khurana had lost track of the missile that must have been
aimed for him. There was no way to know among the chaos of the skies above. He could
see the odd Mig-29 from his squadron as others like him were doing exactly what he was
doing. There was no way to know even if their own missiles had claimed any Chinese SU-
27s or not. By now the threat level was reducing to the level that Khurana remembered that
he was still on afterburner! He pulled the throttle back and clicked it through the afterburner
shutdown to feel the aircraft make lesser noise and become slower. Khurana also realized
that he had been on afterburner for a long time now and the Mig-29 was not exactly a high
endurance fighter. He checked the fuel indicator to show that he still had fuel left for re-
entering combat. It was time to do that now...

He pulled back on the control stick that pitched up the nose of the Mig-29 sharply and
quickly brought him above the peaks and into the clear blue skies south of the Karakoram
peaks. Khurana immediately checked the radar display to find the disposition of friendly and
enemy fighters but there seemed to be a clutter all around. He then heard a friendly tune in
his ears:
“CLAW-TWO, this is EAGLE-EYE-ONE. Single bandit at 0300, Relative. Range twenty
kilometres and closing. Breaking peak cover. Out”

As the R/T switched off, Khurana was glad to see the Phalcon was still in control of the
situational awareness that he was struggling to get a hold on. But that didn’t matter now.
All he knew was that a Chinese pilot like himself had also evaded a missile aimed at him and
had broken cover to see what the situation was. Khurana flipped his aircraft to the right and
pulled back on the control stick to bring the Chinese SU-27 within the centre of the HUD
display. The green square was immediately followed by a smaller diamond one and Khurana
depressed the button that sent his third R-77 into the enemy fighter. This time the initiative
was with Khurana who detected no counter-attack by the Chinese pilot who was clearly not
aware of the situation around him. Several seconds later Khurana did in fact detect a
Chinese R-77 launch heading towards him but it was too late.

His R-77 slammed into the SU-27 head on and blotted the latter out of the sky in a ball of
fire. Back inside the cockpit Khurana noticed that the small green square fluctuated for a
few seconds before it disappeared...

Score one!

But the battle wasn’t over. The single Chinese R-77 was still heading towards him albeit
without the SU-27 radar helping it. Khurana again dived for the peaks below but this time
he had barely reached the level below the peaks when the threat level reduced to indicate
the R-77 had lost track and wandered off...

It was at this time that Khurana’s eye caught hold of a massive orange flash directly above
his cockpit. He jerked his head up and saw the flaming debris of a Mig-29 falling out of the
sky while two others were busy in a classic within visual range dogfight with several SU-27s
a thousand feet above. It was time to enter the fray and assist his outnumbered colleagues.
Khurana pulled back on the stick yet again but this time carefully pulled the aircraft as he
entered the raging air battle from below, hoping to catch a chinese pilot by surprise. He
switched now to the short range R-60 missiles that were cued to his HMD. The nature of the
audio tune now changed as the R-60 seekers looked for a target. Khurana finally found the
large size of a Sukhoi with a red star on it and headed for him from behind and below. It
was a classic position for a shot.

A few seconds later the missile left the pylons and headed quickly towards the SU-27 before
hitting the port engine from below. The problem was, the R-60 had a very small warhead
that wasn’t equipped for taking down heavy fighters with its 3.5 kilogram warhead. And
sure enough, the SU-27’s port engine flamed out even as metallic debris fell out through the
exhaust nozzle but the aircraft kept flying.

Khurana’s eyebrows went up as well as his respect for the Sukhoi company to see the SU-
27 still flying. But the latter was crippled. Khurana now switched his weapon system to
GUNS and moved in for the kill. As his aircraft jittered with burst fire from his cannon, the
skies in front of him were lined with tracers that headed out and slammed into the
underside of SU-27 with shuddering hits before the aircraft was enveloped in a massive ball
of fire...

Khurana had to pull his aircraft frantically to avoid flying though the flaming debris and he
barely managed to skim though the smoke at the side of the fireball and streaked back into
the blue skies above with a evil smile within his oxygen mask...

Score two!

THE SKIES OVER LADDAKH

INDIA
DAY 3 + 1250 HRS (L)
The skies were now lined with bursts of tracers, white hot falling flares and corkscrewed
smoke trails from missiles long past having used up their fuels and either having hit their
targets or lost track. And then there were the small smoke columns of burning debris falling
against the blue skies as the dozens of original Indian and Chinese fighters neared
exhaustion level in numbers, fuel and weapons...

The sudden flight of a dozen yellow tracers two dozen meters above his head caused
Khurana to jerk his head to the left even as he pulled his control stick to the right, forcing
him from breaking off his slashing attack on a SU-27 pulling high g’s below him. There was
another of his intended victim’s buddies behind him now who was as intent on killing
Khurana as Khurana had been in killing the former’s comrade. With crews from both sides
having seen their comrades blown to smithereens in the deadly skies above Laddakh, it was
all personal now...

Even as Khurana was pulling his aircraft down into a accelerating dive towards the hills
below with the red star SU-27 behind him doing the same, he was scanning two other
potential dangers in front of his eyes. The HUD was showing that the fuel level was getting
dangerously low with combat manoeuvres requiring excessive and uncontrolled use of
engine reheat. It was not all the way into the red yet, but it was getting there to the level
that Khurana was being forced to keep an eye on it. The Mig-29 was not a high endurance
fighter designed for extended combat. And it showed. On the other hand, Khurana realized
that the guys in the SU-27s had no such worries about fuel.

Secondly, the HUD display was indicating no remaining air-to-air missiles save for a single
R-77 hanging off the port wing which was completely useless in the merge, which was what
it was now. Only a hundred odd rounds of gun ammo remained in the Mig-29 now while
Khurana had seen the half a dozen or more weapons still hanging from some of the SU-27s
in the skies around him. It was now getting to the point that the Indians were in serious risk
of being outgunned and outnumbered in this battle followed soon after by being out flown
when their engines flamed out for lack of fuel.

And we cannot disengage either...Khurana thought as he flipped his aircraft yet again to
evade another slashing pass from the SU-27 behind him with the latter’s tracers streaking
by the cockpit. He punched off another round of flares and realized that sooner or later that
would disappear too. Khurana was having difficulty losing his attacker who was clearly an
experienced pilot and not a rookie like his earlier two kills of the day...
“TWO, this is SEVEN, I have the bugger on your tail in my sights. Break on my mark. Let’s
see if I can shove an R-60 up this guy’s jetpipe. Break left, NOW!” the R/T squawked, and
Khurana didn’t hesitate as he flipped his aircraft right and a second later the SU-27 pilot did
the same, or at least attempted to, before a R-60 slammed right into his port engine
exhaust. This time, however, the aircraft disappeared into a ball of fire as the primary fuel
cells exploded. Khurana felt the jolt from the shockwave not more than a few hundred
meters behind him even as a flash as bright as the sun appeared from the rear horizon. He
jerked his head to see the other Mig-29 that had saved his life appear from behind the
earthbound fireball and streak upwards into the blue skies.

“TWO to SEVEN: thanks! That’s one more down! Let’s see who else is left out there!”
Khurana shouted over the R/T even as he let out a momentary breath of relief. But the
battle was not over.

“SEVEN here, I see three bad guys and two of ours at 3 O’Clock high. Can’t find any other
friendlies though...”

Damn! What the hell happened to the rest of CLAW? Khurana thought a fraction of a second
before the R/T squawked again:

“CLAW-TWO, this is EAGLE-EYE. We show inbound J-10s on our scopes. Ten bandits from
Kashgar heading south for the Karakoram peaks. Angels twenty, bearing three four zero.
Over.”
“EAGLE-EYE-ONE, this is CLAW-TWO. We cannot, repeat cannot engage. We are getting
chewed out against what we have here! Requesting priority assistance!

We need help over here right freaking now!”

EAGLE-EYE-ONE
SOUTHERN LADDAKH
INDIA
DAY 3 + 1300 HRS (L)

“Roger, CLAW-TWO. Standby” the flight controller looked back at the MC who in turn walked
over to the other flight controllers that had been monitoring the skies in parallel with the
first operator but had been tasked with simply keeping an eye on things. CLAW squadron
had done the job of buying time for the Indian fighters to deploy in depth to the south. The
skies to the south had now piled up with Indian fighters. And although these could not enter
the skies near the LAC where Khurana and his men were fighting out the Chinese, they
could take over the BARCAP mission around the Phalcon and the tankers, thus relieving the
current flight of SU-30s to move further north and join the fight. The MC nodded for the
other flight controller to initiate this changeover maneuver with the incoming fighters even
as he turned back to the first controller and ordered the release of the SU-30s.

Thirty seconds later the senior flight leader for the eight SU-30s flying shotgun for the
Phalcon spoke over the R/T with the rest of his flight in the familiar gruff voice:

“Okay people, it’s time for the big boys to enter the fight. Time to show everyone how this
is done.”

A few seconds after that the eight SU-30MKIs punched in the engine reheat in unison and
streaked across the skies towards the north...

THE SKIES OVER LADDAKH

INDIA
DAY 3 + 1310 HRS (L)

“All CLAW elements, break, break, break! Let’s get out of here!” Khurana shouted out over
the R/T as the first fuel warning audio tone sounded out in his ears. The squadron had been
committed for far too long in a battle far too drawn out. They had received heavy casualties
and handed out even worse. But now it was time to leave. Nearly all fighters were out of
weapons and now nearly out of fuel, but for all that it was now difficult to spot the enemy in
the skies around. And the same went for friendly aircraft as well...

Khurana flipped the aircraft to the side and pulled back on the stick to pull the aircraft out in
the opposite direction followed quickly by CLAW-SEVEN, his new found wingman. Three
other Mig-29s visible as mere black specks against the blue skies were making similar
movements to the south even as all remaining Indian pilots kept a wary eye out for any
lurking enemy sukhoi. With ten of the J-10s coming in now from the north and the skies still
deadly south of the FDR of the Chinese S-300 belt in the Aksai chin, the results of this
drawn out battle were fuzzy at best to those involved. Both sides were now thrusting in
fresh fighters, with the Chinese sending in a bunch of J-10s and the Indians sending north a
bunch of Su-30s to replace the exhausted first aerial defensive lines. Khurana and his men
were now detecting the friendly radar signatures of single Su-30 radar coming north.
Khurana smiled to himself when he saw that single radar signature because he knew the J-
10 pilots were seeing the same. Only difference was, he knew what was wrong with that
picture...

THE SKIES OVER LADDAKH

INDIA
DAY 3 + 1315 HRS (L)

Act-II of the battle of the Laddakh skies was a shadow of the one before it. The SU-27s had
hoped to draw out the Indian sukhoi fighters in a critical battle to wrest control of the skies.
That effort had been frustrated from an unexpected quarter: CLAW squadron. Now their
second line fighters were coming up against the actual Indian first line fighters, and the
battle was almost a washout for the Chinese J-10 crews. They passively detected single
active Indian sukhoi radar to the south, and were way out of range of the actual
engagement zones when the first massive electronic jamming from eight Indian fighters was
detected. One sukhoi is capable of painting the targets for others, and the J-10 crews never
saw how many of their opponents were stacked up against them until they actually reached
within range of their own radars. And this far to the south, the KJ-2000 was also operating
at the extreme edge of its detection range.

Even so, when the J-10 radars did go active, they lit up the eight spread out Indian sukhois
boring down on them from wide arcs. The jamming interference prevented them from
immediately launching their missiles for those crucial seconds during which the Indian
sukhois managed to get their rounds off. And at this range, those crucial seconds were
everything...

The leading J-10 was blown out of the sky right from the front of the formation of ten it was
leading in full view of the other pilots. The red hot shrapnel cut into two other aircrafts even
as the others jinked left and right to evade the incoming missiles. Three more J-10s
received direct hits in that opening salvo. In return, four J-10s managed to get multiple
rounds pickled off moments before a second salvo slammed into their ranks like the scythe
of death and wiped off two more J-10s in a single slash. But the losses were not one way,
and a single Su-30MKI fell from the sky in a ball of fire as the law of probability caught up
with its crew against the swarms of incoming Chinese missiles. The two crewmembers
ejected cleanly and were over friendly soil. But for the Chinese crews the battle was already
over.

The two remaining J-10s decided to call it a bad day and began punching out clouds of chaff
and flares before diving to the east and entering the relative safety of their S-300 kill zones
around the Aksai chin. The gruff old flight leader of the Indian sukhois decided to let it go at
that: there was no need to lose more of their own in return for chasing a bunch of J-
10s. Besides, we will be here if they ever decide to come back...he thought behind his
breathing apparatus in the front seat of the cockpit. A moment later he switched R/T over to
the Phalcon:

“EAGLE-EYE-ONE, the skies are clear of all things red. Now how about those four F-16s and
let’s call it a day?”

“Negative, GRIFFON-ONE. Assume BARCAP positions in place of CLAW. The day isn’t over
yet. Out.”

THE SKIES OVER LADDAKH

INDIA
DAY 3 + 1320 HRS (L)

Five survivors...nine shot down...seven confirmed dead...including the wingco...my

god...Khurana lowered the visor over his face as the intense bright afternoon sunlight over
the Laddakh skies flashed across the cockpit after being reflected off the shiny surfaces of
the massive IL-78 cruising several hundred meters ahead. The three refuelling hoses were
buffeting in the strong winds and the wake of the massive beast of an aircraft even as
Khurana saw the refuelling controller sitting in what was the gunner’s position in the original
transport version of the same aircraft. The controller’s voice was on the R/T but Khurana
was barely listening. He could do this in his sleep, and that was the problem. His mind was
going over the statistics of the battle...

The Phalcon had confirmed during their flight back south that only five Mig-29s out of the
original fourteen were still in the air. The squadron commander was among the dead that
included six other pilots. Two remaining pilots had ejected over the rocky peaks of eastern
Laddakh near the border and over friendly airspace but were still missing among the
windswept and snow capped Laddakh Mountains. The losses in men and airframes coupled
with the losses on the ground at Leh during the Chinese cruise missile attack twelve hours
ago made it clear that CLAW squadron was now at around thirty percent of its original
strength and was now combat ineffective. And morale was not exactly being boosted by the
losses either...

“CLAW-TWO, this is EAGLE-EYE-ONE. We are unable to re-establish contact with Leh

TOWER-ONE. The base took heavy dedicated cruise missile attack during the time CLAW
and GRIFFON engaged the inbounds. Redirect to Avantipur. Leh airbase is now shut down.
Out” the R/T squawked in Khurana’s ears even as he cleanly detached from the refuelling
hose and dropped altitude to take up position away from the tanker while the remaining two
fighters behind him took up refuelling positions. His mind went over the latest bit of
information coming in:

Leh is shut down...of course, those cruise missile inbounds must have broken through while
we were engaged with the SU-27s. Damn! Damn! Damn!
And this is just the first day of the war! Fantastic! What else can go wrong?
P.L.A.A.F. SECTOR COMMAND
SOUTH OF KASHGAR
SINKIANG AUTONOMOUS REGION
CHINA
DAY 3 + 1400 HRS (L)

Colonel Feng looked over the papers that detailed the initial estimates of the losses. The
operation had gone wrong at all levels except one. Well, maybe two...Feng thought as he
again read over the reports. The losses in airframes were staggering. Five SU-27s had made
it back to friendly airspace along with two other J-10s. That amounted to a loss of thirty odd
fighters in return for ten of the enemy. The entire SU-27 force had been mauled and the
follow on bomber attack had been personally aborted by Feng after he had seen the disaster
approaching.

The only aspect of the plan that had worked other than the mauling of the Indian Mig-29
squadron at Leh had been the simultaneous cruise missile attacks by the H-6 bombers
behind the southbound SU-27s. Leh had been shut down as far the current BDA assessment
went...

Now he had also ordered the two KJ-2000s to fall back further and had ordered the advance
of two more batteries of S-300s to the Aksai chin. These were the only aspect of the
PLAAF’s regional air defence system that had performed as predicted so far, and were
keeping the Indian bombers far to the south. Combined with the data from the KJ-2000s,
the S-300s could prove deadly.

Major-General Zhigao had meekly accepted these “suggestions” from Feng after he had had
time to absorb the results of his disastrous plan of head on engagement with the enemy on
their turf. The disaster had widespread consequences for both him and the region. Lt-
General Chen had announced his plan to come to Kashgar personally to be briefed on
exactly what had happened. Needless to say, Zhigao was none too happy about that
particular visit...

“Leh has definitely been shut down. I cannot see how they can operate aircraft from such a
heavily damaged airbase.” Zhigao said as he passed back the satellite images to Feng who
took it without a word. Zhigao continued: “That will hurt their ability to bring in heavy
reinforcements by air when the ground offensive starts.”

Feng nodded before speaking up: “Yes. In addition the bases at Chushul, Fukche and Daulat
Beg Oldi are well under rocket artillery range. The PLA has assured us that they can shut
those Himalayan airbases down when their attack begins. With the Indian political leaders
having forced their Army commanders to maintain lower levels of deployments for the last
few weeks, and with the Aksai chin skies secured by our S-300 systems, our ground forces
should be able to sweep away the Indian defences and attain their objectives within the
week if everything else goes according to plan”

And that, is a very big if...Feng thought as he poured over the data again. There was not
much else they could do until Lt-Gen Chen arrived later in the evening and the aerial
reinforcements arrived from the russian border...
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
NEW DELHI
DAY 3 + 1530 HRS

“So when does team five cross over?” the man behind the desk asked the others.
“Well, their last R/T contact put them here...north of the Kongra-La. Now that place is
crawling with PLA ever since this mess began north of Sikkim two weeks ago. So my guess
is that the team will have to go further west and then cross the Sikkim border between
Naku-La and Kongra-La. I would say another two or three days.” The Lt-Colonel reported.

“Your guess?”
“Yes. My guess. We don’t micromanage our people. It works best that way. We set up a
meeting point on our side of the border and they meet us there. Apart from that and their
final destinations, the only people who know the actual paths they will be taking are the
team members themselves.”

“Okay, point taken. So where are we meeting them on this side of the border?” the civilian
standing by the digital map asked again as he turned to face the map. The Lt-Colonel
walked over and jabbed his finger at a location marked ‘Dokung’ before speaking up:
“Here.”
“And who do we have there to meet them?” this time the fourth and final member in the
room spoke up.

“We have a RAW debriefing team heading there now. They will hold up at the meeting place
and debrief the team. SOCOM is also sending a logistics team to resupply the team with
whatever they need. The air force has promised one Mi-17 for the job but it will be flown by
ARC crews. The Air Force has no pilots to spare now that the ground operations in the east
are beginning.”

“Why are we depending on the Air Force for the helicopters? Doesn’t the ARC have its own
choppers to do the job?” the man behind the desk asked the others. The Lt-Colonel
responded without looking away from the map.
“They do, but we want to keep this low profile. Now the air force flies Mi-17 resupply flights
to the regular Army Battalion east of Dokung on a routine basis. Besides, the ARC birds
couldn’t reach that altitude anyway with the amount of supplies and men we need to
transport up there.”

“How high is this place?”

“Around sixteen thousand feet. I hope your RAW boys are acclimatized to the high altitude
because I can assure you they are going to need it. The region around these passes in
northern Sikkim is the most inhospitable in the world. You cannot run fifty meters without
the wind being knocked out of you. The temperature freezes you up to your bones and you
have to walk everywhere you go. And that’s the altitude at which the damn passes are. Our
boys in Tibet have to cross altitudes much higher than that to cross over to our side on foot.
I don’t know if you noticed, but there is no pass between Naku and Kongra-la. They will
have to cross the peaks to be able to come back over to Dokung.”

“And we appreciate their effort, Colonel. But remember that this needs to be done for this
country’s security. What information they bring back is crucial to our efforts.” The man
behind the desk said. The Lt-Colonel walked over and sat back down in his chair and leaned
back. The other man by the map spoke up:

“So when do you leave, Colonel?”

That merited a grunt from the Lt-Colonel followed by a smile...
NAGPUR AIRBASE
CENTRAL INDIA
DAY 3 + 1540 HRS

The small puffs of smoke flew off sideways as the massive rear undercarriage of the BBJ
touched on the hot concrete runway at the airbase. The escorting Mirage-2000s streaked
overhead through the bright hot afternoon and banked away to take their own landing
patterns. All five aircraft including the BBJ had been airborne for hours now, and could have
stayed aloft for more hours in a stretch, but unlike the fancier American versions of the
Airborne Command Post or ACP concept, the Indian one was not equipped for long
endurance C3I capability. In other words, a war could be run from aboard the aircraft in an
emergency such as nuclear attacks and so forth, but it was extremely hard to run a
conventional one and unnecessary at that too.

Nagpur was far enough south so that in case of any renewed decapitation attacks by the
Chinese on the airbase, there remained sufficient time for evacuating the BBJ along with its
VIP passengers. But until that time, the war could be run from the ground far more
effectively. The base had been equipped as a command and control node by the Air Force to
allow for its use as a control centre for any air campaign against the Chinese to the north.
Now it was being tested in active operations...

The Boeing built aircraft rolled off the runway with a ground convoy of Air Force Police
vehicles driving alongside the aircraft and brimming with heavily armed police personnel.
The airbase perimeter itself was being guarded by INSAS totting soldiers as well as patrol
dogs. In the skies around the base perimeter three army Dhruv helicopters were flying with
sniper, controller and observation teams even as they kept an eagle’s eye view on the BBJ
rolling on to the central tarmac area on the base alongside one of the parked IL-76s.

There was a large entourage of people waiting outside on the tarmac area in the sweltering
heat of Nagpur when the B-737 came to a halt and the massive turbine engines began
spooling down. Even as the noise dwindled down, tanker trucks were already rushing for the
aircraft while ground crews ran over to get to work on the aircraft. The doors were opened
and the mass of people began pouring out. The PM was one of the first people to step out of
the aircraft and he was whisked away by his security team towards the waiting convoy of
three bulletproof vehicles towards the secure operations centre. Behind him stepped out the
various military and civilian officials including the Home Minister.

The Defence Minister put on his sunglasses even as he stepped outside into the bright
sunlight being reflected off the tarmac. A moment later he grunted as the massive heat
wave hit him like a punch in the face. But even as he walked down the stairs on to the
concrete tarmac, his conversation with the Army Chief behind him continued...

“So where are you heading now?”

General Yadav was walking alongside the defence minister followed by his own entourage of
uniformed personnel. He stopped walking when the defence minister did the same right
outside the black SUV waiting for him. Yadav had a different ride to take and he pointed it
out to the Defence Minister: the single Embraer aircraft waiting at the end of the tarmac
with open doors...

“I am off to the EAC. We need to take control of the ground situation there and Generals
Suman and Chatterjee are working on it, but I need to get a feel of what is going on there
before I can be of any use to them. It’s not the same as sitting in the conference room on
board this aircraft and going through a teleconference session. The ground war has started
off in the region with the vanguard forces on both sides already engaged in deadly
skirmishes. The main fight is approaching fast. All in all, it’s time to get the hands dirty. This
strategic exchange of missile and air attacks will only last till the leading Divisions of the
PLA make contact with IV Corps forces on the ground. Then it turns a whole lot messy.”

“Understood General, but what about the other fronts?” the Defence Minister asked.

“Laddakh is at least a day away from opening up, and we need all the time we can get on
that front. The Chinese have taken down Leh and the other airbases near the border will
only last till that first artillery shell leaves the barrel. We have troops pouring in but every
hour can make a difference there. On the Sikkim front we have three Divisions of the PLA
pouring down from Gyangtze towards the Chumbi Valley region. But on this front the terrain
is against them. So it is unlikely that these forces are anything more than reinforcements
for the troops they already have there. It’s one of the issues that we will be dealing with
during our commander’s meet in the EAC. I will let you know what options we have for
Sikkim after speaking with General Suman.” Yadav said. The Defence Minister nodded and
then noticed the looks on the faces of his security people: they were not happy with the
Defence Minister standing out on the open tarmac where he was vulnerable to a sniper. He
turned back to Yadav:

“All right, General. Keep me informed. Looks like I will be holed up somewhere around here
for some time to come. I will avoid making any decisions on the ground war until you can
report back with your take on the realities on the ground. In the meantime, though, let’s
see if we can take the initiative in the other dimensions of war. By the way, how long do we
have before we are in full contact with Chinese forces on the ground?”

“We are in contact with them now. But if you mean when we will be fully committed into the
fight, then we have less than two days, sir.” Yadav said.

“So we have forty eight hours to set up our side of the chess board before the serious fight
starts. That’s not a long time now, is it?”

“No sir, it is not.”

REGIONAL OPERATIONS CENTRE

WESTERN AIR COMMAND
NORTHERN INDIA
DAY 3 + 1740 HRS

“So they pulled them back?”

“Yes sir. The two Chinese AWACS are now in the air defence mode with the S-300 batteries
on the ground. They are networking with the ground based radars to form a nice large
picture of the airspace south of the LAC. If we approach the LAC, they will know about it.”
The Group-Captain said as he pointed out the layout of the Chinese air assets on the large
digital map in front of the IAF senior commanders.

“What about their fighters?” the WAC-AOC asked.

“The current force under direct control of the PLAAF Kashgar Sector was mauled severely.
We estimate they now have around ten fighters of their original force remaining. But DIA
suggests movement of SU-27 Flankers around the airbases in Central China preparing to
deploy southwest. These reinforcements are already flying into the region and will be
combat effective by tomorrow morning.” The Group-Captain reported.

“Which gives us less than twelve hours to pull off whatever we have planned before this
vicious cycle starts off again. All right. What about the Pakistanis?”

“Well, they had four F-16s deployed during our engagement with the Chinese this afternoon
but pulled them back once it became clear that the Chinese aerial force was about to be
defeated. Nevertheless, we can expect them to try and do the same diversion tactics again
whenever the Chinese attempt to challenge our control of the skies.”

And there was not a thing we can do about it unless we actually take out their runways at
all major airbases in the POK sector...The Air Marshal thought as he leaned back in his
chair. Maybe we might just do that too, if it comes down to that...

The IAF had been forced to temporarily postpone their planned takedown of the Chinese S-
300 defensive belt around the Aksai Chin region when the Chinese Flankers had hit the
skies around the LAC. There was every indication that they might do the same tomorrow, in
which case the IAF was left with a small window of opportunity during the night where they
could attempt their SEAD operations. But for all the Chinese losses so far, there was no
denying in the IAF WAC that the Chinese S-300 belt was achieving a very critical objective:
it was keeping the IAF away from hindering the hundreds of convoys that were passing
continuously through the CNH-219 across from Sinkiang and into Tibet.

Entire fleets of IAF Jaguars were being forced to sit idle while the plans to shut down the S-
300 systems was being planned and executed. And if these anti-air systems were not taken
down before the ground war in this sector started, then these Jaguar squadrons would have
to fly into the battlefield in support of the Indian Army despite the deadly environment
around them. And that was going to prove lethal...

With the night approaching along the entire front, the IAF was now working in crisis mode
to take down the Chinese systems because the Chinese Army across the LAC was now at
near complete deployment in the Laddakh sector across the LAC in terms of manpower in
several sectors while other sectors were approaching full deployment. Their expected jump-
off was now less than a day away...

THE SKIES OVER LADDAKH

CENTRAL INDIA
DAY 3 + 2240 HRS

Darkness had fallen around the region hours ago. Now the stars were up as the temperature
fell even further. It had crossed zero degrees even before sunset. At fifteen thousand feet
above the local region, the single ARC Gulfstream-III was barely high enough to do its job
properly. But even at this altitude, it was thirty five thousand feet above the sea level,
which was something not easily grasped. The aircraft tore through the rarefied air even as it
approached the LAC...
“Standby for acquisition.” The pilot said over the intercom from the cockpit to the Mission
Controller in the cabin behind him. The ARC Mission Controller in turn raised his own
intercom mouthpiece and spread the word to his crew of six: “Standby. We are entering the
Chinese electronic space...”

The Chinese electronic space of course was much deeper inside Indian Territory south of the
LAC than the geographical boundaries thanks to the KJ-2000 AWACS loitering two hundred
and fifty kilometres north of the LAC and the Big-Bird S-300 3D acquisition radars. By the
same token the Indian electronic space extended a good two hundred kilometres north of
the LAC thanks to the Phalcon AWACS loitering south of the LAC. For the crew of the ARC
aircraft, though, the battle began within the electronic space, not the geographical one.

The pilot and the co-pilot in the cockpit were already monitoring the airspace around them
but with the cockpit lighting and the darkness outside it was difficult to see anything other
than a dim outline of the Karakoram peaks. Inside the cockpit though, the GLONASS-K was
telling them a lot of things. The GPS was also available in the cockpit but the Americans had
threatened to shut down the GPS availability as a feeble attempt to arm-twist both sides in
the war if they continued to ignore demands for peaceful negotiations. Unfortunately,
neither side was interested in that right now. Even though the threat had yet to be carried
out by the Americans, the Indian Air Force had now completely deactivated the use of the
GPS systems as a precautionary measure. In addition to the IAF’s navigation satellite flying
over the region and the GLONASS-K systems, the transition had hardly been felt. Of course
for the Chinese the issue was trickier and the Indian intelligence agencies were still
evaluating how they were coping with the American threat. If the latter were in a position
where an easy and quick transition was not an option, then it was in India’s interests to
ensure that the Americans carry out their threat of a GPS blackout. But that was still in the
future.

The onboard Radar Warning Receiver or RWR was already passively tracking the emissions
of the KJ-2000s to the north but the ARC aircraft had still not entered the extreme southern
limits of the region where the KJ-2000 could pick up the returning emissions of the
Gulfstream. The Big-Bird radars were also still out of range. But there was no real way of
knowing just where the KJ-2000 would have picked them out. So the flight crew was
therefore waiting for the Phalcon MC to inform them when they had entered the suspected
detection region of the Chinese AWACS and after that the Fuzzy Detection Range or FDR of
the S-300 systems in the Aksai Chin...

“EAGLE-EYE-ONE to HELIOS-TWO-SEVEN. You are now lit up by the commie AWACS and
approaching FDR in one point five minutes at current heading. Out”

The single burst transmission over the SATCOM allowed the flight crew of the ARC aircraft to
immediately adjust the heading and bring the aircraft on a north-westerly heading so that
they were flying just along the perimeter of the FDR. Entering the FDR was dangerous as
that meant that a long range 48N6E2 S-300 missile round might blow them out of the sky
with no warning whatsoever, even though it was highly unlikely that the Chinese would
throw a missile at such a low probability shot. But this probability of intercept increased
once the Chinese KJ-2000 AWACS was factored into the picture.

Without any active fighter operations from the Kashgar region currently underway, a single
KJ-2000 was now acting in the air defence mode with the ground based S-300s, effectively
extending the detection range. In effect, the crew of the KJ-2000 could collaborate with the
Big-Bird radar crew of a S-300 battery to enact a highly elaborate setup to take down the
Indian electronics warfare aircraft. It was unlikely but possible nonetheless. Finally, even
without entering the FDR, there was no accurate data on where the FDR began. It was all
an estimate based on intelligence data and the Indian experience with their own S-300
systems deployed in the strategic role.

Overall, the threat was significant. But that was part of the dangerous job that the ARC
found itself regularly at work with. Except that a shooting war was happening around them,
for the crew of the single Gulfstream-III now tickling the Chinese defenses in Laddakh, it
was yet another day on the job...
AIRSPACE SOUTH OF THE REZANG-LA
DAY 3 + 2250 HRS

The silence of the night above the ridges was shattered as four waves of four Jaguars each
streaked at just above the ridge-tops and flew eastwards, crossing the border with Tibet a
few seconds later. The Chinese soldiers on the ground had barely a second to grab their
weapons before the sixteen aircraft flashed overhead and disappeared beyond the next
parallel ridgeline behind them and into the darkness of the night into Tibet...

AIRSPACE SOUTHWEST OF THE L.A.C.

DAY 3 + 2310 HRS

“Okay, that marks seventeen BIG-BIRDs deployed along this threat axis.” The EW console
operator told the EW-MC standing over his shoulders even as he jabbed his finger on the
computer screen to show the latest entry in the listing of enemy radar emission sources.
The EW-MC was intently reading down that list on the screen...

“These Buk radars here south of the ingress route and these older LR surveillance emissions
are highly familiar. We have countermeasures for those. What about the S-300 BB radars?
You think we can blind them?” the EW-MC asked the console operator.

“Well, that’s the unknown in this equation. The Chinese have never really deployed these S-
300s so far south before. This is just about our first look at these systems. And our own
experience proves these to be highly capable. We just don’t have the EW power on board
for even attempting a serious blackout of these systems.” The console operator replied even
as he punched in the priority rankings for the two dozen emission sources in order of
proximity of the known ingress routes. The EW-MC pressed on:

“Correct. What about the ECM support from the SOCOM aircraft?”

“We can use them effectively if we deploy them to the south against the southern half of
these systems. Even there they will be limited for use against the Buk and these three LR
radars. That effectively clears an ingress path. But the S-300s will remain active as far as
we can tell. The Americans had plans for these kind of defences back in the cold war days.
The thing is, there they deployed dozens of specialized EW aircraft much more powerful
than the handful we are using right now twenty five years later against a much more
modernized variant of the same threat. What do you expect the result to be?” the console
operator looked back at the EW-MC for an answer to the question that he knew would not
be forthcoming. The EW-MC in turn shook his head dismissively:

“I know. But we have what we have. Let’s work from there. We don’t have time to spare.
Work up the procedures for the Buk and LR emissions in the southern sector. I will
coordinate with the SOCOM EW people so that they know their targets. Once that is done,
work up a diagnostic on the S-300 emissions.

We may find a weakness yet...”

AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHERN LADDAKH

DAY 3 + 2320 HRS

The sixteen SU-30MKIs began spreading out from their Box-Four formations into a line
abreast pattern as they entered the skies over southern Laddakh and headed for the
northeast. The wings were clean of all ordinance except for the EW pods and a single
centreline pylon...

REGIONAL COMMAND CENTER, KASHGAR

KASHGAR, SINKIANG
DAY 3 + 2325 HRS

For PLAAF Colonel Feng, the meeting had been long and excruciating. Nevertheless, he felt
less burdened now than before mainly because while his meeting had been long, that of
Major-General Zhigao had been somewhat short. Lt-General Chen had arrived early in the
night to Kashgar to be personally briefed on the happenings of this part of the general air
war even as the one in the east was now beginning in full flow despite the initial strikes. The
Aksai Chin sector of the air war had gone badly so far for the Chinese and the fact that Lt-
Gen Chen had been forced to fly several thousand kilometres to be personally briefed was
an indication of the severity of the crisis to any layman.

The Chinese fighter force under the regional command had been mauled in the vicious
dogfights twelve hours ago against the Indian fighters. Lt-Gen Chen had taken swift and
decisive action to rectify the situation. He had personally ordered the deployment of another
Flanker regiment from central china to make up for the losses at Kashgar but had been
forced to replace the composite J-10 units with standard J-8II units in lieu of the lack of
sufficient numbers of the former. He had also had Maj-Gen Zhigao relieved of his command
and arrested for showing lack of command abilities. He had also taken personal command
for the time being. Colonel Feng had now been placed in command of the air defence units
in the Aksai Chin region.

The meeting was winding down and Feng was rubbing his eyes as he looked at his watch
again. Fresh SU-27s were now beginning to land at the airbases further to the north along
with the H-6 tankers and IL-76 transports were bringing in the ground crews and
equipment, though the latter two were already in good supply at the bases. Despite all that,
Feng was also expected to go over the details of his own command and he had his officers
running back and forth outside the conference room collating data and bringing regular
updates for him to read even as he sat for the meeting with Chen and other senior officers.

And as if on cue, the door opened and a junior officer walked over to Feng even as the
meeting continued and handed him the latest updates from the air defence command
centre. The five pages in his hand spoke of somewhat unconnected incidents. One spoke of
an Indian Jaguar squadron having penetrated the skies and currently over Tibet. Another
report spoke of Indian electronic warfare aircraft now probing the Chinese defences. But the
Jaguars had penetrated far to the south and had headed northeast, away from the Aksai
Chin, while the EW aircraft had stayed just opposite the LAC.

Feng paused from his reading and stared at the far wall of the conference room as he went
over the data in his hands. The idea was to look at this from the Indian standpoint and find
the connection. The obvious answer was that the incidents were connected. But with the
limited data in his hands, the connection was hard to find. The obvious connection was not
so obvious. Not after knowing the fact that any Jaguars attempting to approach the Aksai
chin would be detected and blown out of the sky by the S-300s long before they even got
close. But Feng was no fool.

The Indians are up to something.

But what?

AIRSPACE OVER SOUTH-WESTERN TIBET

DAY 3 + 2340 HRS

“Approaching waypoint five.” The WSO in the back seat replied over the R/T. In the front
seat of the Jaguar, Group Captain S. Verma looked away from the HUD to see the moonlight
reflect off the water surface of the massive lake that formed at the extreme eastern end of
the Pangong Tso inside Tibet as they flew in from the west on the first approach. Now it was
time to act. G/C Verma looked back through his HUD and spoke over the R/T even as his
hands guided the beast of an aircraft that the Jaguar was at these speeds, just above the
peaks of the local hills.

“Blue-Section peel off on my mark. Three...Two...One...Mark!”

Four of the sixteen jaguars now flipped to their sides and pulled away, heading southeast.
Verma looked away from the HUD through his helmet mounted NVGs to see the section of
four Jaguars flying off as four dark specks against the greenish night sky.

“FIREFLY-ONE to FIREFLY-BLUE. Good hunting. Give them hell! Out”

AIRSPACE SOUTHWEST OF THE L.A.C.
DAY 3 + 2342 HRS

The EW-MC looked at his watch and then the digital version mounted in the MC console
before bringing up his intercom mouthpiece: “Okay, people. Time to go. Let’s light up the
skies.”

The crew of six experienced EW operators now went into a frenzy of activity as they flipped
switches that brought active electronic warfare systems online. The ARC Gulfstream was
now actively emitting jamming signals as the onboard crew attempted to black out the
Chinese S-300 systems...
AIRSPACE EAST OF THE L.A.C. AT DEMCHOK
DAY 3 + 2344 HRS

The long convoy of trucks and several armoured vehicles was rolling steadily on the
highway as it headed east towards the LAC. This sector, once bogged in desperate firefights
with Tibetan rebels had seen a vast influx of PLA units that had crushed the Tibetan
resistance within the short few weeks after the initial uprising. It had also allowed a vast
number of Chinese ground forces to gather east of Shiquanhe as they prepared to assault
the Indian defences beyond the LAC near Demchok.

The three crucial mountain passes in the region at Chang, Jara and Charding to the north,
east and south of Demchok had all been under Chinese control since 1962. If used, they
provided a south to north movement axis to roll up the Indian defences at Rezang La and
then Chushul. As such, the side that controlled these regions could affect the overall
outcome of the upcoming ground war in this sector. For the Indian army that meant
capturing these passes or at least preventing the Chinese from using them. For the Chinese
it meant holding off the units of the Indian XV Corps trying to take these passes and instead
moving ground troops and vehicles northwards to ultimately capture the entire tract all the
way up to Chushul. All in all, it was a crucial sector in southern Laddakh and therefore a
juicy target for the Indians...

The convoy was moving in total darkness with all headlights switched off. The drivers were
using the moonlight to easily navigate the road which had traffic moving on it all along its
length. There was no warning of impending trouble until it was too late.

The first flashes of light erupted when a line of a dozen or more supply trucks disappeared
into the napalm fireball even as a single Jaguar streaked overhead. The secondary
explosions rocked the mountains as ammunition storage exploded amongst many of the
vehicles. The convoy was immediately brought to a stop as the drivers abandoned their
vehicles with engines still running even as more aircraft noises filled the skies.

The second Jaguar streaked above the ridgeline to the north and approached the line of five
Type-99 MBTs parked on a stretch of the road. The tank crews were already jumping out of
the vehicles as the aircraft approached. A second later the Jaguar streaked overhead and
left behind two cluster-bombs falling onto the five tanks. In a fraction of a second the red
hot shrapnel struck the upper surfaces of the tanks and the ground nearby and sent five
neat and clean fireballs rising into the air before a dust cloud enveloped the smoke columns.
By the time the dust settled, all that remained were five pillars of fire from what had been
brand new Type-99 series tanks.

The third and fourth Jaguars were now rolling into their places of the attack cycle even as
the first two aircraft raced skywards and banked away to make another pass. By this time
the anti-air artillery started picking up and started filling the skies with exploding shells. It
was now getting dangerous for the Jaguars. Nevertheless, the third Jaguar lit up another
twenty trucks with sequential dropping of its entire warload of napalm before banking away.
As it fled the skies at high speeds, a line of exploding anti-air artillery shells followed in its
wake, but did not touch the aircraft.

The fourth Jaguar was able to determine the location of the triple-A site that was lacing the
sky with tracers and flew over it and released a cluster munition unit. The weapon
decimated the ground battery and abruptly silenced the stream of tracers heading into the
night sky. By this time the first two Jaguars were on their second approach into the sector
with empty pylons but full gun loads. Five more trucks went up in flames as the large
cannon shells punched through their cargo and engine compartments during the strafing
runs. At this close ranges, the cannon rounds punched massive holes even on the road and
sent smoke clouds flying everywhere.

The two white smoke trails that left the ground behind the banking Jaguars and followed
into the streams of flares being released by the former confirmed for the four Jaguar pilots
that it was time to leave. The surprise element was now used up and the ground defences
had settled in. There was no second pass for the third and fourth Jaguars and the entire
formation of four left Tibetan airspace by entering Indian airspace west of Demchok. On the
ground east of Jara-La, they left behind dozens of smoke pillars and massive dust clouds
reaching into the night sky while massive fires raged on the supply road below.

The message being sent out by the local PLA commanders to the PLAAF Air Defence Sector,
Kashgar, was loud and clear: The Indian Jaguars had just attacked the Chinese ground
forces near Jara-La and headed back into Indian airspace...

REGIONAL COMMAND CENTER, KASHGAR

KASHGAR, SINKIANG
DAY 4 + 0000 HRS

Colonel Feng abruptly stood up from his chair in the command centre when he finished reading the latest
update on the aerial situation over Laddakh. The meeting was thoroughly interrupted even as Lt-Gen
Chen looked up in surprise towards Feng. The facial signs were clear: trouble.

“What’s has happened, Feng?” Chen asked.

“The Indians have attacked a convoy in south-western Tibet and escaped.”

“Escaped? What the hell was the local Air Defence officer doing?” Chen asked angrily as Feng handed
the papers to him.
“Well, he says he shot down three of the Indian bombers, but I will believe it when I see it. The local PLA
officer has been saying entirely the opposite, blaming us for not protecting his troops with adequate air
cover. He says his losses are in the hundreds of dead and wounded. Several dozen vehicles have been
destroyed and the convoy halted in its tracks. He says the enemy bombers escaped without losses from
our anti-air guns.” Feng replied back.

“That devil of a officer in charge of the air defense in that sector will answer for this! Have him arrested
and replaced with someone more competent from your own staff. We cannot afford these kinds of attacks
on our logistical arteries, Feng.” Chen said as he glanced through the report.

“Of course, sir. But there’s another issue which might be more important. We don’t know how many of the
Jaguars were involved in the attack.” Feng said, and Chen looked up:
“So? Does that matter? Surely the entire force must have been involved in the attack?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. We had a report earlier that a squadron worth of Jaguars were detected as they
entered Tibetan airspace minutes before the attack on the convoy. The eye witness report says they think
the numbers of aircraft attacking them were high, but perhaps not high enough.” Feng replied as he
walked over to the large digital map on the wall: “Now we also have reports of Indian electronic warfare
aircraft attempting to jam our radars in the Aksai Chin AO.”

“So you think this attack on the convoy was diversionary?” Chen asked as he himself got up and walked
over to the wall map:
“I am not sure. But it’s possible. If I was in their place I would do the same.” Feng continued.

“But they have been unable to jam the S-300 systems and these sweep the skies around the entire
sector. If they do intend to attack this defensive line, we will make them pay for it with their lives. The
Aksai Chin S-300 defensive line is our own little version of the iron curtain.

Let the Indians break their heads on it if they want to...”

AIRSPACE OVER SOUTH-WESTERN TIBET

DAY 4 + 0010 HRS

Verma looked through the HUD display as they crossed another ridgeline and then dived
back down to low altitude. Behind and around him the twelve other Jaguars did the same.
The Jaguars were somewhat sluggish at the controls given the heavy load of weapons on
board. The return trip would be much smoother...

“FIREFLY-ONE, this is EAGLE-EYE-ONE. BLUE is clear. Repeat BLUE is clear. Proceed to

primary. Out.”

Group Captain Verma smiled as he finally received the news he wanted to hear. He switched
frequencies:
“FIREFLY-ONE to all FIREFLY elements. Proceed to primary. Look sharp everyone. Here we
go.”

Verma pushed the throttle control all the way forward until it clicked into reheat. Even as
their leader accelerated ahead into the night sky, the other jaguars also punched in
afterburners to increase speed and then turned north...

AIRSPACE WEST OF THE L.A.C.

DAY 4 + 0012 HRS

The sixteen SU-30MKIs were now in a line abreast fashion with the line parallel to the
orientation of the Aksai Chin S-300 defensive belt. They were carrying a single payload on
their centreline pylons with the name of the Chinese BIG-BIRD radars on it. The last such
attempt the day before with four aircraft had established the performance of the Chinese S-
300s, and the latter had won that round. It was time for round two of Op PHOENIX...

On cue from the Phalcon MC, coordinating the massively elaborate exercise above
and beyond the Indian skies, the group leader of the sukhois punched off the centre-line
Brahmos and the latter fell off cleanly into the cold skies. Three tons of missile and warhead
now went into a trajectory after being released from the carrier aircraft until the ramjet
kicked in with a roar and propelled the missile beyond the aircrafts, still losing altitude but
in a much more controlled manner until it was barely above the ridgelines near the Galwan
River in Laddakh and continuing beyond. Fifteen other Brahmos flew close behind until all of
them entered the Chinese controlled airspace streaking towards the southern half of the
deployed BIG-BIRD radars.

The entire force of Indian SU-30s now executed a pitch out manoeuvre and raced back into
Indian airspace. The group leader was on the R/T informing the Phalcon MC of the clean
release of all sixteen missiles but the latter was already seeing the extremely fast moving
blips on the radar streaking northeast...

AIRSPACE ABOVE THE L.A.C.

DAY 4 + 0012 HRS

Soldiers on both sides of the LAC looked up as the powerful man made thunder rocked the
skies over Laddakh. A few hundred feet above the ground the sixteen brahmos missiles tore
through the thins air and headed east. They had been picked up minutes after they had
been launched but given their total flight tine of around five minutes, that warning period
didn’t amount to much unless the other side was waiting for such an attack. The missiles
were now two minutes away from impact...

CNH-219
NORTH OF LANAK-LA
AKSAI CHIN
DAY 4 + 0013 HRS

The ground shook as the first missile punched out of its vertical launch canister and raced
skywards, quickly taking an orientation westwards as perimeter guards strained their necks
to see the small streak of light racing across the night sky. The first launch was followed by
another from a battery far to the north, visible only through binoculars from the first
battery. Then the first battery emptied another canister followed by second launch from the
second battery.

And then a third...

The Chinese were prepared for what was coming. It was a game of numbers. Sixteen Indian
missiles were streaking into their targets at Mach 2.8. Four of the seven S-300 batteries
were allocated to the defence of the southern sector. There were now going into action.
Three of them were now going into action. There were three missile canisters per launch
vehicle. A good many number of inbounds versus out-bounds. It wasn’t long before the last
of the three canisters soon became empty.

Once that happened the vehicle had to be replenished. But with the Brahmos missiles now
less than one minute out, the replenishment vehicles were keeping their distance until the
attack was over. The Indians had launched their entire salvo of air launched Brahmos
missiles in one go, and in response the Chinese had emptied their entire salvo of S-300
missiles to counter them. Now both sides waited and watched as the radar intercepts
merged...
AIRSPACE ABOVE THE AKSAI CHIN
DAY 4 + 0014 HRS

The leading Brahmos amongst the incoming wave of Indian missiles received a hit from a
intercepting Chinese missiles moments after its launch. It was blown out of the sky in a
jarring explosion that ripped the night skies in a massive flash of light and thunder. Then
the hits increased. With a much larger number of intercepting missiles, the Chinese weren’t
taking any chances. They had suffered enough losses in precious radars in the first round
itself. There was to be no repeat performance of the same...

The fifth, six and seventh Brahmos missiles were knocked out in quick succession just
moments away from impacting their targets. Their targets were once again the BIG-BIRD
radars, or so the initial target vectors were telling the Chinese operators.
Unfortunately for the Indian side, once again they were falling short as they fought through
a swarm of Chinese intercepting missiles. Operating at the extreme range of their
operational radius, there was little hope of the Brahmos doing any ‘S’ manoeuvres before
impact. Any turn executed at above sonic velocities always involved a huge loss of energy.
That translated to range losses and huge drag Coupled with the limited range of the
Brahmos, and the need to stay out of range of long range systems such as the S-300s, and
having to operate at very high altitudes above sea level because of the terrain, the Indian
missiles had to fly short, straight and quick to their targets. The intercepting missiles,
however, operating barely half a minute downrange of the launch point, could not care less
for range. They were executing drastic manoeuvres as their foes attempted to use speed to
escape from under them while the former were still gaining their initial momentum.

Many of the Chinese missiles lost out as a result of this. There was no time to respond, and
by the time some missiles were beginning their dives, their targets were already behind
them. Out of the sixteen launched missiles from the Indian side. Six finally made it through
the swarm of S-300 missiles. The skies were now clear for them to dive into the targets of
their choice. Across the entire southern Aksai chin region east of Lanak-La, Chinese S-300
crews braced for impact...

It never happened. The detected missile vectors changed as the surviving Brahmos changed
flight direction after flying over the final waypoint before the target. They flew past all active
BB radar radiation emissions and dived into the launchers of the rearmost S-300 battery
behind the front wave of batteries that had been kept in reserve. The word “reserve” is of
course to be taken in moderation. The responsibility of this battery was to cover the first
echelon batteries when the former were in their reload mode. This was to ensure there was
no window of vulnerability between reloads. Only after the launchers of the first echelon had
gone dry, the battery commander was under orders to respond. Or so the theory went. In
reality, for inbound bandits such as the Brahmos, the time difference between forward
echelon battery commanders shouting “reloading” and the rear echelon responding was in
the negative terms. In other words. it took longer for humans to respond on either sides at
the final phase of the Brahmos’s flight than it took for the latter to slam into its intended
targets. The theory was designed for use against high subsonic or barely supersonic
manned aircrafts or cruise missiles. Not the Brahmos...

The ground shook as the first Brahmos slammed into one of the six launchers and the
resulting fireball lit up the horizon for the Chinese convoys moving along CNH-219. Then the
ground shook again as another three launchers were blown out of existence along with their
three ready to launch missiles still in the canisters. The one active BB radar was also
destroyed just as the fifth launch vehicle was thrown up dozens of feet into the air by of the
force of the explosion before coming to rest on the rocks of Laddakh. There was now only
one active launcher left for this battery with no active radar to guide it.

In five minutes from the launch of the Brahmos by the Indian SU-30MKI Group Leader to
the burning debris of the launchers scattering into the rocks of Laddakh, the window of
vulnerability for the Chinese had turned into a window of opportunity for the Indians. The
southern half of the Aksai chin was now covered by S-300s whose launchers were loaded
with empty canisters and whose replinshment vehicles were only now racing to reload the
missiles. Back on board the Phalcon, hundreds of kilometres to the south, the MC marked
his watch.

They now had precious few minutes before the window closed again...
AIRSPACE ABOVE SOUTHEASTERN AKSAI CHIN
DAY 4 + 0012 HRS
“This is FIREFLY-ONE to all FIREFLY elements. We are now entering Indian airspace. RED is
with me. GREEN and WHITE: you know what to do. Spread out and make the shots count.
We don’t have a second chance on this. It’s us or them. ONE, out.” G/C Verma replied in a
matter of fact tone over the R/T even as his eyes never left the HUD display. They were
barely above the ridge level in the region and where possible were taking their aircraft down
into valleys that were roughly parallel to the flight direction. All of this had been planned
beforehand, of course, but all the planning and thinking in the world could not make this a
safe flight even if the Chinese were not involved.

The twelve Jaguars in FIREFLY group were operating in three groups of four, under the call
signs RED, GREEN and WHITE. BLUE had involved in the diversionary attack over the
Demchok based Chinese ground convoys earlier and had returned back into Indian airspace.
Now as the twelve aircraft streaked in low towards the highway on the Aksai Chin, they
began spreading out and began going after individual targets. Time was of the essence now.

Verma finally showed a moment of surprise to come on his face as the aircraft cleared the
last ridgline before his target and entered what was essentially a vast plain area. He could
also make out the long dark snake-like convoy of trucks moving along the Chinese highway
that cut across the region. And each one of those trucks was loaded with military equipment
of one kind or another. The sight in front of Verma’s eyes was one wished for by every
Jaguar pilot in the IAF. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how one looked at it, his
target was not that vast convoy but rather the small speck of vehicles spread out on the
rocky plains before the highway. Each vehicle was one essential part of an S-300 battery.
The active launchers could be made out from above by their ‘L’ shapes against the rocky
terrain. The vertical part of that ‘L’ was the vertical launch canisters. Verma was relieved to
see that none of the vehicles were ‘L’ shaped. But one was on its way there as Verma
streaked into the target.

The sky was filling up with ack-ack fire from the point defence batteries all around the S-
300 zone perimeter. Most of this stuff was manually operated while the ARC crews on board
HELIOS-TWO-SEVEN played hell with the Buk radars through their battle in electronic space.
All in all it was a plan coming together for the Indian side as Verma began his first dive into
the target area with a big smile on his face...

The Chinese crew inside the launch vehicle whose canisters were now rising to the vertical
position realized the futile nature of their effort when they saw the ack-ack fire rising into
the night sky to the west. That could only mean one thing. And when they spotted the four
Jaguars streaking over the ridge in the moonlight and diving into them, the on board crew
were already out in the open and running for their lives. The rain of cluster munitions
deployed a few hundred feet above their heads made sure neither they nor their vehicles
survived. The mass of small sparks flying off a football sized field announced the end of the
first S-300 launch vehicle. As Verma banked to the side to make another pass, he already
had to look for target because by this time the other three Jaguars in his group were
streaking away from successful bomb drops themselves amidst a hail of anti air gunfire...

Four of the six launchers were now on fire. Two others remained. And then there was that
troublesome BB radar hiding out somewhere. And the return fire from the Chinese side was
getting heavy. Verma could distinctly hear the thundering “clumps” of ack-ack fire going off
near his aircraft as well as see the whitish trails of the man-portable heat seeking missiles
racing across the sky. Most of the latter were being fired by panicked and surprised Chinese
crews on the ground below and were failing to find targets. But professionals like Verma
knew that won’t last forever. For now the missiles were flying off into the mass of flares and
chaff being dumped by the Jaguar crews after every few seconds on a bombing run...

As Verma steadied his aircraft after locating the launcher he was after, and moments away
from the release point, his aircraft received several hits from ack-ack shrapnel that
exploded extremely close to his aircraft. The port wing was completely shredded with
several holes visible as Verma again steadied his aircraft after getting the initial jolt. He still
continued with his bomb run and only discovered the sluggish control response from the
aircraft as he pulled away from a mass of fires raging from yet another burning launcher.

“Damn it! Up you come, you beast!” Verma pulled on the control stick and because of the
massively reduced control surfaces on the port wing, most of which had been blown away,
the aircraft barely avoided flying into the ridge it was trying to hide behind. And it wasn’t
over yet:

“Mayday! Mayday! This is FIREFLY-THREE. I am hit...”

Verma was jerked away from the R/T message he spotted a fast moving white streak
moving across the sky a second before it slammed into FIREFLY-THREE, destroying the
latter in a massive fireball. Verma’s aircraft received more jolts now as several more rounds
slammed into his engine even as he saw the burning debris of FIREFLY-THREE falling out of
the sky to the north. This time the rounds hit the fuselage and a whole host of lights began
flashing in the cockpit. The starboard engine flamed out a few seconds later. There was no
hope of making it back now...
“JC, you hear me?” Verma called back to his WSO, but got no response. Verma tried again:
“Damn it, JC, are you receiving me? If you can hear me, eject out now!” again there was no
answer.

Verma strained his neck to see the shattered glass of the cockpit behind him and what he
could make out as blood against the glass. He jerked forward even as he struggled to
control his aircraft...

“God damn it!” He changed frequencies: “Mayday, mayday! This is FIREFLY-ONE. We are hit
and going down. I saw again, we are hit and going down. Good luck boys. FIREFLY-ONE
out.”

Verma was now fighting to stabilize his aircraft moments before he spotted the other two
Jaguars from his group successfully hitting a couple of other important targets including the
BB radar in a side by side cluster munitions drop at low level.

A few seconds later he pulled the ejection cord and was punched out of the cockpit by the
explosive cartridge and immediately felt the massive cold wind slapping into his body as he
cleared the aircraft. Then a second jerk as the parachute deployed and he began his
descent towards the ground. He spotted the two remaining Jaguars streaking back
westwards after laying waste to what remained of this particular S-300 battery.

The job was done and the Chinese S-300 battery was gone.

EAGLE-EYE-ONE
INDIAN PHALCON OVER SOUTHERN LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 0017 HRS

The radar operators were now plotting the details of what had been hit based on reports
from the escaping Jaguar crews. The latter had taken severe losses against the Chinese
point defences around the S-300 deployment zones. They had flown into the lion’s mouth
and returned...some of them at least. As the scattered reports started flying in regarding
launcher kills, the ARC crew to the north had already tagged the reduction of active
emissions from three of the four BB radar locations that had been targeted. And that was a
kill rate of 75%. Overall as the confusion reduced and the dust settled over the Aksai Chin,
it was becoming clear that four of the seven Chinese S-300 batteries in the Aksai Chin had
now vanished off the Chinese ORBAT...
CHINESE CONTROLLED LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 0125 HRS

Group Captain Verma had not gotten very far once on the ground. He had barely landed on
the ground when he had been faced down a barrel of an AK-47 held by a Chinese conscript
who was shouting his mouth off in Chinese which Verma could not understand. But the hand
signs had been clear. He had known that the angry Chinese soldier wielding the assault rifle
in his hands from a few meters away had every intention of blowing his head off. However,
the only reason he was now sitting in the back of a truck driving down a winding mountain
road to the north was because a PLAAF Major and a PLA Captain had arrived on the scene
and brought the standoff to an end.

Verma was handcuffed and was being escorted by half a dozen Chinese soldiers including
the Major from the PLAAF as they drove down the roads filled with vehicles preparing for the
coming day’s ground offensive. The Major sitting across him spoke some broken Hindi,
which surprised Verma highly. He had expected some English from the Chinese officer but
he got Hindi. Clearly the officer in front of him was from Intelligence. Verma’s only
observations were based on what he was seeing out the back of the truck. In addition, he
had been told by the Major with a grin on his face that the only reason he was still alive and
why he was being driven to the north was because some people from the PLAAF Air Defence
Command, Kashgar were particularly interested in meeting him...

THE VILLAGE OF DOKUNG

SOUTH OF KONGRA LA
SIKKIM
DAY 4 + 0255 HRS (L)

“They are here much earlier than expected.”

“Yes, they are. I should ask them how they managed to pull that off.”

“Probably whacked some Chinese outfit along the way to get here this fast, I bet.” The
Colonel in charge of the local Indian Army battalion exclaimed. The SOCOM Lt-Colonel didn’t
say anything at all, but simply raised his NV-assisted binoculars to see what appeared like
six darkened figures clambering down a whitish clean hill against a green night sky. In the
NV the stars were unnaturally bright making the entire visual surreal. But there it was: a
sight showing six men coming in view after passing one of the highest mountain peaks in
the world undetected by the enemy.

The Lt-Colonel smiled as he put his binoculars down and gazed at the truly massive snow
covered peaks in the background. Here were six men coming back after another two weeks
out in the arctic cold weather of Tibet operating on their own, and he was tasked at sending
them back again after debriefing and rest. These men were the bringers of information for
the other small group of RAW officers sitting inside the Colonel’s office and the three officers
from the Sikkim section of the DIA.

Kongra-La sits at the tip of northern Sikkim and is approached after moving down the
magnificent valleys of the north-south running Yumtang-Chu. The Lt-Colonel’s team had
arrived at Dokung on board a Mi-17 piloted that had taken off from a small Army helipad
Mangan north of Gangtok at an altitude of 4000 feet and flown northwards down the
Ymtang-Chu valley which gradually increased in altitude from 4000 feet right up to 16000
feet when it reached Dokung. The peaks surrounding Kongra-La were above 18000 feet.

The team of six men from SOCOM had walked through these peaks on their way into the
plains of Tibet as all other mountain passes were guarded by the PLA. They had walked
through the most brutally cold winds and totally barren and rocky terrain before entering
the worse weather of the Tibetan plateau where there were little obstructions to the arctic
type winds that easily numbed the hands and arms that were exposed to it within seconds.

There was no food to be salvaged in the barren terrain of Tibet until one went hundreds of
kilometres north into the fertile Gyantse valley, which was extremely well populated by PLA
soldiers at the moment. All food items had to be carried along by the team members and
they had to be carried by the soldiers entering the region, which put tremendous strain on
the time actually spent inside the region. And there was no possibility of aerial
reinforcements as no helicopters could clear the mountain passes without detection and
could not clear the mountain peaks because of the altitude limitations on payload capacity.
There could be no local support for the soldiers that were worth trusting given the large
numbers of Chinese informers amongst the local populace. Because of all this, most of the
time for the teams was spent only on the actual ingress and egress to the target region.

Unfortunately, that was something that could not be helped until things changed four days
ago. Now the two countries were officially at war, and all bets were off. The SOCOM teams
already in Tibet were being recalled across the board for redeployment to actual locations of
action rather than covert operations. For SOCOM Team Five, that meant a new adventure
that was designed to take them over the peaks of Kongra-La once again and then sixty
seven kilometres east...

As he watched the members of the team approaching the foot of peak near the base, the Lt-
Colonel thought about the fascinating history behind these exact locations. Colonel
Younghusband and his small group of officers and soldiers had travelled across these very
peaks back in the beginning of the previous century as Great Britain had attempted to bring
Tibet under its sphere of influence. That attempt north of Kongra-La had failed as a result of
political resistance by the Tibetan officials even when they faced an undeniable truth of
military imbalance. Their stubbornness had seen Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy to India,
dispatching a force of men under the command of Brigadier Macdonald and a political
mission still under Younghusband to try and force the issue by military means. It was back
then that the rabble of peasants that stood opposite the Gurkha and Sikh Battalions under
Macdonald were soundly defeated and massacred on his way to Lhasa.

That rabble of Tibetan soldiers, mostly impressed peasants, were sufficiently superior in
numbers that it forced Macdonald to eventually use of Brigade worth of troops to force his
way to Lhasa. A Brigade consisting of the legendary Gurkha and Sikh battalions had been
needed against the peasant forces simply because they were much larger in numbers, and
here we are today, facing one of the world’s largest land armies across the same
terrain...The Lt-Colonel thought to himself as he pondered his own military reality a century
later.

The bottom line was that the Chinese were bringing down three Divisions worth down from
the staging area in Gyantse towards the Chumbi valley. If assembled and dispersed
throughout the peaks in the Chumbi valley, it gave the Chinese ample possibilities of
movement of freedom. They could move down the valley into Bhutan and then towards the
foothills that would bring tremendous pressure on the Indian logistical support that ran east
from there towards the far flung border war zones of Arunachal Pradesh even if they never
really get close enough to take anything or hold anything of material value. It also meant
that the Indian Army would have to divert the crucial concentrated forces of XXXIII Corps to
cover an enormous border area, thereby removing any possibilities of counterattack once
the Chinese forces were defeated. In military jargon, this amounted to a classic spoiling
attack.

The only real option for the Indian side was to nip the threat to the Sikkim-Bhutan region in
the bud. The weakness in the Chinese plans was the single long arterial route that ran from
Gynatse to the Chumbi valley. While the local PLA forces were technically independent of
this supply route based on the far superior local infrastructure development inside the fertile
Chumbi valley, there was no way a multi-Division force could be resupplied from local
resource alone. These supplies had to come down long weakly supported convoys along the
Gynatse-Jelap-La route, and that was where they had to be stopped...

By pulling off a miracle, that is...the Lt-Colonel thought as he walked towards the line of
men trudging into the base camp with beards grown while out in the field and looking
completely exhausted but still having a smug smile on their faces: some PLA squad had
probably been whacked on their way back onto Indian soil. They would be whacking many
more if things went according to plan. The Lt-Colonel ordered other soldiers nearby to assist
the team members to get back into civilization, in a manner of speaking, before ordering
the Major in charge of the team to get some rest before coming in for a debriefing with the
intelligence teams. As the team of six disappeared into the camp, the Battalion Commander
walked over to where the Lt-Colonel was standing before he finally said what he was
thinking:

“I wonder what that chap Macdonald would have thought of this job.” This brought a
surprised smile on the face of the SOCOM Colonel, realizing that the Battalion Commander
was well read on his area of operations as he was.

“I was thinking the same thing. But all he had to do was face those Tibetan peasants armed
with bloody Matchlocks while he used field artillery and crack alpine troops. He still ended
up needing a Brigade of men and thousands more people maintaining a threadbare logistical
artery on a three hundred kilometre march to Lhasa. People ask us now why we didn’t go in
Tibet in 1950 to protect the Tibetans when the Chinese invaded. Guess what, back then the
Chinese Army was a 250 Division force armed with experienced troops from the Second
World War of which they had many Divisions tasked with the invasion of Tibet alone. We
couldn’t even spare a Brigade back then from the other requirements of the nation to help
create an expeditionary force. But that was fifty years ago. Now the things are different.”
The Lt-Colonel concluded. The Battalion commander though, was not that sure:

“Perhaps. We still have less than a Brigade guarding these northern passes. When General
Suman decides to divert some units from his Corps to help me protect these northern
passes better, then I might feel better about any adventures beyond these peaks.” The
Colonel emphatically waved towards the darkened peaks north of his camp. The SOCOM
Colonel, was just as dismissive:

“I don’t think you have to worry about these peaks, sir. We are monitoring the situation
back in Delhi. The Chinese are aiming for the killing blow, not land grab. They have a
limited time span to do whatever it is that they are trying to do. The last thing they want is
unnecessary diversion of resources for tracts of land they cannot in the long run maintain.
These peaks are natural watersheds. What they want is strategic diversion at the very least
and a suffocation of IV Corps as a best outcome. We have to deny them their goals and
achieve ours. Anything less than that is a waste of resources from our side just like it is
from their side.

If they are looking for a killing blow through Sikkim, then so are we.”

HAL AIRPORT
BANGALORE
DAY 4 + 0355 HRS (L)

Everybody in the room sprang to attention as the Major-General and the Air-marshal walked
in. The latter glanced over to the assembled group of Squadron-Leaders and Flight-
Lieutenants standing around a wall covered with maps and tables covered with papers and
saw the tired look on their faces. But he didn’t give a damn about the last part as he turned
towards the officer in charge of the other officers in the room. The latter was wearing the
green flight suit just like the others in the room, but had three thick stripes on his
shoulders. The Major-General was blunt and to the point:

“Tell me you can do this.”

That didn’t leave much choice for Wing Commander Dutt. Luckily for him his answer
matched his options: “Yes, sir. We can do it.” Barely...he didn’t add.

“Good. When can you leave?” the Air-Marshal continued the questions.

“Well, we have six machines that first need to be airlifted to Leh. Then the equipment,
supplies, weapons and manpower to be moved there. We have all the stuff we need ready.
It’s a question of how fast we can airlift them into the region.” Dutt replied.

“I have one, and only one, IL-76 that I can spare for this airlift for the next two days, and
that too can be pulled away if the situation demands it. After that you and your men will
have to squeeze in what supplied are coming into the region either through ground convoys
or airlifts. I don’t need to remind you of the kind of heavy attention Leh has been receiving
from the Chinese and their bloody missiles. Leh has been closed down twice now in as many
days. Its been opened again so we are flying in what we can before the Chinese realize its
operating again and try to shut it down.” The Air Marshal said. The Major-General
continued:
“True. But we are willing to give you and your boys a try. This particular problem has been
bugging our field commanders for years now and in your unit we have the solution to the
problem, but this machine in your command is far from deployed in the field and the war is
happening now. Your testing and evaluation period has been cut short. You said you have
six machines in your command. Does that include or exclude the TD versions?”

“Includes. Sir.” Dutt replied, and the three senior civilian HAL employees in the room looked
at each other but didn’t say anything. It was way beyond that stage now in any case.

“You sure they are ready for operations?” the General asked after looking at the faces of the
civilians in the room.

“Sir, if you are asking whether we have tinkered out every issue we had on the aircraft then
of course we haven’t. But they will work within the parameters we have fixed for ourselves.
That is exactly why I am taking my flight evaluation and testing team pilots with me and not
your regular Army Aviation boys. We are the only people who know at this point how far the
limits are and how much further we can push them. We are now about to sit here flying
tests while the real war needs us and is raging out there. Get me and my unit to the
warzone and we will contribute our part.”

“Noted. Very well. Get your requirements listed out. Your IL-76 will land at nine this
morning. Also, before I forget...” The Air Marshal said before he pulled into his coat pocket
and removed what appeared to be a small cloth circle about three inches in diameter and
handed it to Dutt. On it was stitched the background of the Himalayan peaks with white
tops and brown bases and on top was the silhouette of a helicopter gunship in black. Around
the outer perimeter of the circle was stitched: “199 HU: Himalayan Gunners”. Dutt was
surprised enough to look back up at the two senior officers next to him. The Air Marshal
continued:

“That came into my office an hour ago. Now your group has a name. Try to live up to it.
Show us what your machine is capable of doing, but more importantly, show it to the
Chinese...”

DAULAT BEG OLDI (DBO)

JUST SOUTH OF THE KARAKORAM PASS
NORTHERN LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 0515 HRS (L)

The port engine rotors sprang to life and started rotating even as a puff of smoke left the
exhausts as soon as the senior aircraft ground handler standing in front of the aircraft
began moving his right hand in a circle to inform the pilots to start up engines. Moments
later the second engine sprang to life and the noise started picking up. The pilot and the co-
pilot of the AN-32 looked from either sides of their cockpit to see the engines running
properly as they picked up RPM. The ground crewman gave the thumbs up to indicate a
trouble free start up of the two engines before saluting off and moving away. The aircraft
now began rolling towards the end of the runway to conduct a liftoff to Leh.

The aircraft cabin was mostly empty except for the three wounded jawans lying on
stretchers with attending medics. The AN-32 was conducting a flight in the darkness mostly
because of the extreme nature of the requirement. The pilots were wearing NVGs inside the
cockpit and the runway was marked with IR strobes that would be shut down and removed
after they had lifted off lest they be used by the Chinese for target identification and
orientation. Daulat Beg Oldi was one of the very high altitude airstrips in the world, but was
still an object of routine activity during the day with flight coming and leaving. But not today
and not now...

The Chinese were very much within artillery range of the airstrip where the AN-32 was now
attempting to begin take-off. Down to the east, along the Chip-chap river valley, the enemy
was within sight for the Brigade of Indian troops defending this crucial region to the east of
DBO along the riverbed and to the north along the Karakoram pass. With the Chinese forces
poised to launch their attacks, the atmosphere was tense on the ground.

As the AN-32 conducted a turn about the nose undercarriage to align itself with the runway,
the two pilots looked instinctively to the side of the cockpit towards the east where a silent
dark set of peaks were silhouetted against the starlit night sky. They could not see anything
but had been told by the local Army personnel that the Chinese were poised to attack DBO
from the east with a Division worth of troops. Because the Indian Government had fallen for
the Chinese diplomatic feint over the past few weeks and failed to deploy the Army
completely as required, the Indian side was still running in supply flights and reinforcements
were rolling north from around Shyok and then northwards into the border regions. They
needed every extra minute that they could get. But for the Chinese side losing air
superiority over the Aksai Chin to the IAF by the minute, they could not afford to wait an
extra minute. All this meant that the ground action would start and start soon...
A few minutes later the Brigadier Adesara and his group of Battalion Cos watched the last
AN-32 to leave DBO taking off into the darkness of the night with all strobe lights switched
off even as a hint of reddish skies began to appear over the eastern skies. Daylight was
approaching...

“Movement on Hill-243!” the radio crackled to life.

EAST OF DAULAT BEG OLDI (D.B.O.)

LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 0525 HRS (L)

“Incoming fire! Everybody down!”

The first shells screamed overhead and landed on the airstrip at DBO at sunlight on the
fourth day of the war and the first one of the ground war in Laddakh. On point on the Indian
side was a reinforced Mountain Infantry Brigade under Brigadier Adesara. On the Chinese
side the unit composition was unclear but the Heron UAVs had verified unit strengths
upwards of division levels. Adesara had specialized counter-artillery MLRS systems under his
command but little offensive artillery that was still deploying in the field. The Chinese
counterpart to Adesara had over two hundred guns for this narrow sector alone. Adesara
had a squadron of BMP-IIs under his command and a platoon of T-72Ms. His Chinese
counterpart had over a regiment of T-99 MBTs and other assorted vehicles designed to
utilize the vast open plains of this region of Laddakh to full advantage.

The sunrays streaked through the dust clouds that now enveloped the entire DBO airstrip. A
dark brown haze filled the skies even as small fireballs continued to impact the flat airstrip
and turn it into a lunar landscape. The thundering noises were coupled with the screeching
of the shells going over the heads of the Indian soldiers along the forward defensive line
east of the airstrip. The shockwaves rippled through the ground and went under the feet of
the Indian soldiers waiting out the thunder in their hand dug trenches.

Brigadier Adesara’s staff made up of Majors and Captains was already at work in their
forward command posts. Adesara himself was not at the command post. He and his Second-
in-Command or 2IC, Colonel Sudarshan, along with several radiomen, were climbing the
gravel covered surface of the only dominant hill east of the airstrip that lay on the middle of
the plain north of the Chip-Chap river. Every step taken was treacherous as each rock was
seemingly free of the ground below, just waiting to be stepped on. Every slip led to a small
landslide of gravel and rocks along with the unfortunate soul who went with it.
Nevertheless, Adesara and his men had been here for a long time to have learnt the art of
quick climbing on shifting terra. He and his entourage were along with the Captain and the
two radiomen that were maintaining the OP on “The Citadel”, as the hill had come to be
known among the Brigade officers.

Adesara quickly moved behind some boulders and lay up even as he looked back to the see
the DBO airstrip being pummelled into the earth by the might of the Chinese Divisional
artillery. To his south he saw the cold frozen waters of the Chip-Chap river and directly over
the boulders to his east he saw the moving dust columns approaching the LAC...

Adesara picked up the binoculars hanging from his neck and looked through it to see the
contents of the dust clouds. Colonel Sudarshan did the same a moment later. In this region
of Laddakh, the terrain was flat enough and covered with dust enough that incoming
columns of vehicles were visible over very large distances. In this case they were seeing the
dust clouds moving out from behind the first prominent hill line on the Chinese side of the
LAC which was marked as Hill-243 on the Indian maps, and it was over ten kilometres away
from the Citadel. Adesara and Sudarshan were quickly focusing their binoculars to see a
clear description of the enemy forces...

“What do you think?” Adesara asked without looking away from his binoculars.
“Looks like a maximum level effort on vehicles. That’s what...fifteen...sixteen T-99s in that
first wave and another twelve in the second?” Sudarshan said even as he peered more
closely through his binoculars.
“Just about. Add another two dozen ZBDs to that total. And they are about ten clicks out.”
Adesara continued. Then he looked at his radioman who handed him his R/T call with
Division C3I:

“BLUE-LIMA-ONE to BLUE-LIMA-COMMAND, we are seeing regiment level Chinese armoured

forces approaching the LAC at ten clicks. We need digital eyes on target. Over”
“Roger, BLUE-LIMA-ONE. Digital eyeball on target” was the immediate reply.

Adesara looked over to a Captain that had come along with them who now opened a
battlefield computer on the rocky surface behind the rocks and then placed a small tripod
nearby and flicked a control switch. This opened up a small circular net over the tripod
around a central receiver. The battlefield satellite uplink hardware was now deployed. Next
he activated the hardware on the computer and a few seconds later the first visuals of the
large moving dust clouds as seen from two thousand feet above the ground were available
on screen. Adesara and Sudarshan slid along the gravel and came up behind the Captain to
see the Chinese tank movements on the screen. Sudarshan was quick to spot the terrain
and orient himself:

“Okay, here we are. They are here and moving along this axis” he pointed on screen...“That
would bring them along this axis towards our first infantry lines here.” Adesara nodded
before shouting over the sounds of the shells exploding on the runway behind them:
“All right, Ravi. It’s your dance. How do you want to deploy your tanks?”

“The Chinese first and second tank waves are all moving along the northern bank of the
river towards this airstrip. My tanks are also deployed along the northern banks. My T-72
platoon is in hull down positions here. They will engage the Chinese first wave along with
support from your anti-tank boys. All my BMPS are amphibious. I am taking them across
the river and then east.” Sudarshan continued and Adesara nodded. It was what he was
thinking as well. But he had a word of caution for his 2IC:
“Just remember that your T-72 boys are outnumbered four to one against the Chinese first
tank wave. And those are T-99s they are driving. Even with my support, I don’t expect to
be able to hold them off for too long. So don’t wander off. When you hit the Chinese, I will
pull back to my second line of defences and then reengage. That’s your cue to fall back to
your secondary line, wherever you put it. The only way we are going to survive this day is
with manoeuvre warfare, not frontal attacks. Hit and move! You follow me?”

“Perfectly, sir.”
“Okay, then. I...” Adesara was stopped midsentence by one of the OP soldiers:

“Incoming fire! Take cover!”

The single shell slammed into the reverse face of the Citadel on the eastern side and sent a
fireball rising into the sky. Dust and gravel rained down on the hunkered group of men at
the OP on the tip of the hill. As the smoke and dust settled, Adesara looked spat out the
gravel in his mouth even as he saw the others dusting themselves off. One of the radiomen
shouted out of shock:
“What the hell was that?!!”

“A ranging shot! They know where we are and are trying to knock us out. Next will be the
barrage. Time for us to go” Sudarshan shouted even as the ringing in his ear stopped.
Adesara and his command group was already packing up and moving out. A few moments
later they were again moving down the gravel slopes of the Citadel.

“How on earth did they know exactly where we were?” one of the Captains said as he
balanced himself against a landslide of gravel.

“We are not the only ones using UAVs today, soldier...”

HEADQUARTERS, XIV CORPS

LEH
LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 0555 HRS (L)

“They have opened up the entire front this morning, haven’t they? So what’s the latest
estimate?” Lt-Gen Gupta asked the assembled group of Colonels and Brigadiers from his
command staff as he sat back into his chair and looked over to the map of the Laddakh
theatre of operations.

“Initial estimates are still forming up, sir. But based on what we know now the Chinese have
opened up four major avenues of attack into Laddakh. The northernmost sector is near
Daulat Beg Oldi. Here the Chinese are moving along the northern banks of the Chip-Chap
river bank and their threat axis is heading towards the airstrip there from between the
south of the Karakoram pass and north of the river. Brigadier Adesara is attempting to hold
the Chinese advance with a reinforced Brigade and some armour but is heavily
outnumbered by Division level Chinese assault forces, heavy on tanks. I...” the GSO was
interrupted midsentence by Gupta:

“So what support do we have for Adesara out there?”

“We are working on that right now. Most of our forces hadn’t reached him before the attacks
started as a result of our political restrictions until two days ago. Most of the reinforcements
are moving along the Shyok river banks heading north towards the Galwan river sector and
then northwards to DBO from there as of two hours ago but have since been bogged down
by Chinese artillery and taking losses in the open terrain. The airstrip at DBO has been
destroyed so we cannot fly in reinforcements. The only other option is air and artillery
support and we are deploying every last gun we can scramble to assist Brigadier Adesara
and his men.”

Gupta leaned back and rubbed his eyes as he cursed the political imbeciles who had brought
them to this point over the last few weeks despite the repeated warnings. But apart from
that he knew that everything that could be done now was being done, so he nodded back to
his GSO to continue...

“In the central sector the Chinese have opened up the front along the Galwan river valley
and attempting to move eastwards in order to cut off the only land supply route to
Adesara’s Brigade and the Karakoram pass from our side of the border. We have another
Mountain Infantry Brigade deployed Galwan and Hacho rivers tasked with keeping this land
route open.

“Then further south the Chinese are attacking the Brigade level forces deployed along the
Chang Chenmo river valley west of the Kongka-La and east of Shyok. Here we believe they
are trying to take Shyok to sever the supply route to the Galwan and Karakoram Brigades
by taking the only logistical node point east of Leh.

“Finally, further to the south, we have reported attacks against the XV Corps Brigades
deployed between Chushul, Rezang-La and along the LAC near Demchok. The idea here, we
believe is to drive upwards from the Demchok region and roll up the defences at Rezang-La
and then Chushul to the north.” The GSO concluded and looked back at Lt-Gen Gupta who
had been silently listening to the details. Then he finally spoke up and went into the decision
making role:

“Okay, people. Listen up. Here’s what we are going to do. Order the ground reinforcements
moving up to Adesara to stop and redeploy to assist the forces attempting to defend the
supply route from Galwan to the Chang-Chenmo river region. We have to keep this line of
supply open at all costs. In the meantime, divert any available air and ground support to
Adesara to help him wither the Chinese assaults and hold the Karakoram pass and the DBO
airstrip. If any one of these sectors fall, the entire line will get rolled up or starved for
supplies and then overrun. We cannot let a repeat of 62 happen again. Contact the IAF and
tell them to release their ground support aircraft for a maximum level ground interdiction
campaign.

At least that’s one mistake we won’t repeat this time...”

THE “CITADEL” DEFENSIVE LINES

EAST OF DAULAT BEG OLDI (D.B.O.)
LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 0605 HRS (L)

“Six kilometres and closing, sir” the Captain warned Adesara who was busy organizing his
defensive lines. The infantry were in their trenches just north of the citadel and aligned
north-south and all weapons were loaded and ready. The T-72 platoon was deployed further
north and in hull down positions in open terrain that gave their turrets a wider field of view.
The hatches were closed and the gunners had identified their targets and waiting for them
to get sufficiently in range.

Adesara looked around to see his men hunkered down and their INSAS rifles aimed
outwards with each soldier looking down the sights. He then looked behind him to see the
airstrip still being pummelled into dust by Chinese artillery. For the latter, he had a special
welcome that was already being executed and now out of his direct control. But the ground
battle now approaching him was all his to command...

“Five kilometres...” the Captain shouted as he kept an eye on the very slowly advancing T-
99 tanks of the Chinese first wave. The Chinese gunners were identifying targets too...
Now Adesara went active:

“Milan crews forward!”

SASER
SOUTH OF D.B.O. ALONG THE SUPPLY ROUTE FROM GALWAN SECTOR
LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 0612 HRS (L)

South of the airstrip being pummelled, there sat small truck-mounted radars quietly
tracking the incoming artillery shells as they flew on their projectile paths and slammed into
Indian soil near the Karakoram pass. In a nearby command trailer, a small group of young
officers punched in the target information data that then got distributed over to the battery
of Smerch launchers deployed further down the valley. The launch barrels elevated on to a
high zenith angle before stabilizing. Then followed two minutes of silence before the early
morning sunlight was snubbed out by the salvo launch of the heavy MLRS rockets that raced
through the sky and left behind a massive lingering dust cloud...

*********************

Far behind the LAC, the Chinese field gunners had little warning. The only warning they had
was when the morning sunlight transformed into a shadow after a small series of “thud”
noises. Every head jerked upwards to see a massive cloud of incoming cluster munitions
heading straight down. In retrospect the warning was a farce: it was merely the
announcement of the death sentence for the first Chinese battery to be snubbed out by the
Indian counter battery amidst a field of small munitions explosions...

THE “CITADEL” DEFENSIVE LINES

EAST OF DAULAT BEG OLDI (D.B.O.)
LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 0615 HRS (L)

The Milan crews heard small thuds of their own as their anti-tank missiles leaped out of
their canisters and streaked eastwards. Opposite the missiles was a wall of Chinese vehicles
slowly trampling over the gravel as they headed westwards to the airstrip. The line of
sixteen T-99s was interspersed with a dozen ZBD IFVs. Behind that line was the second line
of vehicles with the same vehicle types but inversed composition with the idea being that as
the first wave was heavy on tanks, taking on the Indian armour and wiping it out, the
second wave was heavy on IFVs and APCs, who would mop up the Indian infantry. The third
wave was spread out into platoons rather than concentrated as a fist.

The Indian Milan gunners were of course aiming for the tanks in the only wave of vehicles
they could see. And as far as they were concerned, this wave was as good as dead.
Brigadier Adesara and his forward staff who saw the waves coming up behind were
obviously more concerned even as they watched the first wave of Indian missiles streaking
towards their targets...
The T-99 crews saw the threat, analyzed it and reacted to it. The first armour wave in front
of the Indians suddenly disappeared behind a man made mist and smoke clouds. In
addition, the entire formation now executed a copy book spread and increased the distances
between their ranks. The incoming line of tanks and IFVs were now spread out and still
discharging smoke until they entered gun range after a few seconds. The Indian gunners
had precious seconds to retarget their missiles. Most of them managed to stick to their
original targets, while others had to fix on to another vehicle or some ZBD. The eight Milan
missiles slashed into the Chinese lines a fraction of a second later...

Adesara looked with delight as five T-99s went up as fireballs amidst the tank line and the
burning hulks staggered to a stop before being gripped by secondary explosions as their full
internal fuel and ammo lit up. Three ZBDs were also now nothing more than furiously
burning chasses.

Now the Chinese and Indian tank guns entered range and in an ear shattering burst of fire
the remaining eleven T-99s and four Indian T-72Ms in hull down positions opened up with
sabot rounds. That first exchange itself killed another three T-99s and one ZBD and one T-
72M while three Milan teams were killed as they attempted a second launch attempt from
their trenches. The remaining shots slammed into the earth around the Citadel defensive
positions and around the hull down T-72s. On both sides the remaining crews reloaded
within seconds before a second burst of gunfire sounded out while the infantry and the ZBD
crews watched in impotence. Rifles and light guns were of no use against steel protected by
ERA in the practical sense...

Brigadier Adesara watched another two T-99s and another T-72 go up under a fireball
before he picked up the R/T from his radiomen and called up Colonel Sudarshan and his
BMP Squadron to the southeast.

The Chinese first wave was now closing to two kilometres and was well within the Indian
side of the LAC. They were in fact four kilometres away from overrunning what was left of
the DBO airstrip and the bulk of Adesara’s Brigade...

SOUTHEAST OF THE CITADEL

EAST OF DAULAT BEG OLDI (D.B.O.)
LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 0625 HRS (L)
The eight BMP-II vehicles comprising two platoons of the BMPCG under Colonel Sudarshan
had splashed across the frozen waters of the Chip-Chap River through a shallow ford and
had raced off ahead a dust cloud raised by their tracks. The specialist anti-tank platoon of
four modified BMPs had silently peeled off by now inside the massive dust cloud that was
being raised by the IIs. Colonel Sudarshan was racing his BMP-IIs further southeast than
where his anti-tank platoon had peeled off so that as far as the Chinese UAVs overhead
were concerned, he was slicing across to the south of the Chinese advance in an attempt to
pull back north and attack from the rear of the Chinese third wave platoons.

In reality, however, the entire exercise was a farce. And while the auto-cannons of his eight
BMP-IIs were savaging the Chinese recon troops immediately at the border, making no
attempt to mask their envelopment, the real claw of the pincer was already heading for the
Chinese belly. But for all that the Chinese were reacting. The third wave platoons were
already being diverted to the south from their east-west movement to face Sudarshan’s
BMPs head on. Unfortunately, the real threat was on their right flank and aimed not at
them...

The four vehicles of Sudarshan’s anti-tank platoon now staggered to a stop as their crews
watched the lead tanks of the Chinese first wave hammering the Indian positions and
moving east to west. The Indian crews watched from the south. In the chaos of the dust
clouds and vast manoeuvring forces, these four vehicles operating in single units had failed
to attract attention.

Now as the four vehicles deployed their weapons, and the single rectangular launch canister
for the Nag missiles slewed into position, the Chinese first wave moved directly towards
Adesara’s lines, oblivious of the threat around them. A few seconds later the first four Nag
missiles slapped out into the thin mountain air and streaked upwards before initiating the
dive into the target area. A second later another Nag streaked out, and each NAMICA
vehicle went into a salvo mode thanks to the Nag’s fire-and-forget nature. Something the
older generation anti-tank missiles did not have. It was yet another advantage to possess
on one’s side when faced with higher numbers of the enemy.

The Chinese did not know their left flank to the south was threatened. The Indians knew
that the former didn’t. Such was the importance of situational awareness. By the time the
missile launches were detected by the crews of the Chinese vehicles on the southern fringe
of the first wave, it was too late. Situational awareness cannot be lost on the modern
battlefield because they ultimately decide the fate of battles...
Adesara and his men were jerked back from their view when the majority of the Chinese
first wave suddenly disappeared into a series of fireballs and staggered to a stop in what
was one jarring thunder. He wasn’t the only one who stood with gaping mouths as the
single remaining T-99 and several ZBDs suddenly deployed smoke and began to retreat,
engaging –or at least attempting to, the fast retreating NAMICA vehicles that were throwing
smoke of their own...

That was the cue. Adesara turned and again picked up the R/T and ordered his remaining
Brigade units to pull to the second defensive line to the west while the Chinese second wave
manoeuvred around the burning hulks of the first wave and countered the threat Sudarshan
posed to the south. He noticed however that of the four Indian T-72Ms under his command,
only one was now pulling out of the revetment created for it. Adesara’s Brigade was beating
the Chinese back, but was getting mauled itself in the process.

We cannot keep taking these losses without reinforcements...Adesara thought as he walked

out calmly from his trench and walked westwards towards the second defensive line even as
the infantry units around him hurriedly moved about. They were now moving close to the
airstrip perimeter. If critical reinforcements and additional air support did not arrive in the
next hour, DBO and his Brigade would be lost...

SOUTHEAST OF THE CITADEL

EAST OF DAULAT BEG OLDI (D.B.O.)
LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 0700 HRS (L)

“Here they come.”

Colonel Sudarshan lowered his binoculars as he stood on top of the turret of his lead BMP.
He looked around. The eight BMP-IIs under his command were still there, still in formation.
They were parked amongst the vacant defensive positions of a Chinese Border Guards
company headquarters. That company was still around: the dead ones at least...

The eight BMP-IIs under Sudarshan had just completed their diversionary movement to
cover the deployment and attacks of the NAMICA platoon to their northwest. That attack
had been successful, as Sudarshan could tell based on the dozen odd thick black smoke
columns rising into the blue morning sky to his northwest and behind him. But now his anti-
tank platoon was pulling out, and so were Brigadier Adesara’s infantry Battalions and what
remained of the T-72 tank platoon covering the DBO airfield. In the meantime the Chinese
second wave was skirting around the burning hulks of their first wave by going around the
northern flank: they had been warned about the severe anti-tank threat posed by the
Indians on their southern flank by their UAV observers.
But for all that, Sudarshan was not having a free reign to the south. His IFV force was now
about to be engaged by the scattered groups of Chinese ZBDs that made up the Chinese
third wave. And there were a hell of a lot of them... Sudarshan reminded himself as he saw
the distant dust clouds approaching. To that end he had ordered a stop to his south-eastern
advance that had slid into the Chinese southern flank like a knife entering an enemy’s
stomach. His force had mauled the defending Chinese Border Guard positions south of the
Chip-Chap River and was now standing beyond the LAC.

Not for long though...Col. Sudarshan reminded himself. The approaching dust clouds were
now less than four kilometres away and were splashing across the frozen Chip-Chap River
much in the same way the Indian BMPs had done not so long ago.

Sudarshan brought up his R/T mouthpiece attached to his headset and ordered his driver
and gunner to swing back to life before climbing back down the hatch into the commander’s
position and closing the hatch behind him. His other vehicle commanders did the same
seconds later and the two platoons of BMPs then executed a reverse move up the small wall
like mound that the Chinese BG Company HQ had been using as cover. Once on the reverse
slope, they stopped with a jerk and moved ever so slightly until each hull was more or less
covered by that rock and gravel mound except for the small cannon and turret
emplacement on top. The soviet designers of the BMP had placed a lot of attention to
making the vehicle low profile, even at the cost of top-plate armour protection. Sometimes
this helped when other times the low armour was a curse. It was anybody’s guess which
would prove important now.

With the snow all around them melted or trampled on by the tracks of their vehicles, and
the cold air contrasting around their hot vehicle engines even after the sun had come up
from beyond the high mountains, all eight Indian crews had no illusions of remaining
undetected. In fact, the movement of the twelve ZBDs manoeuvring east of them showed
clearly that the Chinese commander knew where Sudarshan was and what he was up to.
With both sides almost evenly matched, it was to be a knife edge battle...

A few minutes later the ZBDs formed up in a line and began advancing towards the line of
hull down Indian BMP-IIs. Sudarshan watched and waited. He wondered on the fact that
had this particular vehicle’s commander hadn’t fallen sick with pulmonary oedema a day
before, he might have been watching this particular battle alongside Adesara in his HQ, as
he was supposed to do. But damn it, this is where I should be anyway! He thought as he
saw the first clear feature of the ZBD through the commander’s optics:

“Gunner, target ZBD, two degrees left offset. Range: three kilometres!”

The cannon turret moved slightly to the left and then stabilized before the gunner shouted
out:

“Target identified!”

“Fire!”
LEH
DAY 4 + 0720 HRS (L)

The screen lit up with a line of tracer fire heading west to east seconds before a similar line
of tracers headed east to west. There were several flashes of light as the camera adjusted
contrast to show three flaming ZBDs staggering to a halt along with two Indian BMPs
blowing up in fireballs. Now tracers were flying in all directions as both sides engaged in a
desperate battle for supremacy.

“Which unit is this?” the Divisional GOC asked his GSO-1 standing next to him in the
Divisional UAV command centre.

“Seems like elements of the 10TH Mechanized Infantry, sir.” The GSO-1 replied without
turning away from the screen showing the UAV feed.

“Sudarshan’s chaps?”

“Yes sir. We couldn’t induct the entire force in there before this thing blew up. Sudarshan is
out there at DBO along with his HQ group and three BMP platoons that made up his advance
element. The rest of the 10TH Mechanized Infantry Regiment is still driving up from Saser
and approaching DBO through Chaco, but they are taking some fire from Chinese artillery
under directions of their UAVs, watching our entire movement as we are watching theirs.”
The GSO-1 said. The Major-General shook his head before speaking:

“Damn those buggers. Have the Air Force chaps been able to nail down those Chinese UAVs
yet?”

“Not yet, sir. They say they are working on it. Seems these UAVs are too small for radar
detection and there are not enough fighters to do a visual search. The Liaison Officer says
they are trying something new today that might work.”

“Whatever it is, we better hope it works. Otherwise Adesara and his boys are going to have
to fight an uneven battle because his reinforcements won’t make be able to make their way
to him. What’s the good news?” the General continued.

“Yes. The Chinese artillery is taking a beating. Our counter-artillery units are making a
killing...so far. It won’t be long before the Chinese bring in their own counter artillery
systems into play, but at least we are knocking out a good number of Chinese field batteries
that were so far hammering our boys all along the front. Also, with the S-300 belt down in
the southern sectors, the Air Force says they are starting their interdiction sorties against
the Chinese logistics. That’s good news for everybody south of Adesara’s sector.” The GSO-
1 said.

This time the General did not answer as the screen before them showed four remaining
BMPs under Sudarshan’s command deploying smoke and reversing out of their revetments
while continuing to exchange fire with the seven ZBDs now less than a kilometre away. The
unit was under threat of being flanked by other ZBD groups that were charging in from the
flanks and Sudarshan had seen the threat approaching. He was denying the Chinese
commander that opportunity by initiating a tactical withdrawal as he did so he was also
buying time for his anti-tank platoon two kilometres behind him to regain cohesiveness and
redeploy and reload the Nag anti tank missiles.

It was a running and desperate fight between the gunners from both sides that were now
nearing point blank range. It seemed only a minute between Sudarshan reversing his forces
from their revetments before the first Chinese ZBD raced over that gravel wall and slammed
through the positions vacated by the Indians. A few seconds later the ZBDs were passing by
the burning hulks of the BMPs destroyed by their gunfire. All through the way the turrets
were letting loose streams of tracers without pause...

The Divisional Commander turned away from the screen and looked at his GSO-1:

“We are losing this battle. Sudarshan is getting overrun and Adesara is fighting off waves of
tanks with Infantry and a handful of tanks. Get over to the Air Force guys and tell them that
Chinese S-300 threat or not, we need priority air support over at DBO or we are going to
lose the Karakoram pass by the end of the day today...”
BATTLE OF THE 10TH MECHANIZED
SOUTHEAST OF D.B.O.
DAY 4 + 0800 HRS (L)

“Driver, stop!”

The NAMICA chassis shuddered to a abrupt stop and the dust trailing behind caught up,
enveloping the vehicle. The vehicle commander looked through the commander’s optical
sights in the turret and nodded: they were sufficiently covered by the boulders ahead, but
the turret was above the rocks and had a clear LOS. From here the crew could literally see
the three remaining BMPs under Colonel Sudarshan reversing towards them in a weaving
pattern even as they fought off the charging Chinese ZBDs. It was a poignant sight to see
the desperate battle being fought by the Indian BMP-II crews trying to stave off being
overrun and annihilated by a numerically superior enemy force.

Of course, that’s where we come in...The AT Platoon commander thought as he brought up

his mouthpiece and manoeuvred the other three NAMICAs into position. In the time
between this platoon having decimated the enemy first wave heading for Brigadier
Adesara’s lines and Colonel Sudarshan having initiated his delaying fight, the NAMICA
platoon had been able to regroup and reload. Now it was entering the fight...

The platoon commander brought up his R/T mouthpiece even as he peered through the
optics to see another Indian BMP-II taking serious number of cannon hits before staggering
to a halt. A moment later the turret of the incapacitated Indian vehicle flung open and two
crew members staggered out, obviously hurt. No sooner had they stepped out that flames
erupted from inside the turret hatch. But their escape was cut short when they were
jumping off the chassis and trying to make sense of the confused, smoke-filled battle
situation around them. A Chinese ZBD gunner opened up with the auto-cannon at the
escaping Indian crew and the two members went crashing down into the snow under the
impact of the bullets.

The suddenness of the brutal attack caught the NAMICA crews by surprise. A moment later
surprise had given way to anger as the platoon commander zoomed in on the guilty ZBD. It
was within range.

“Gunner, tell me you have visual on that ZBD!” the commander shouted.

“I have visual. He’s mine!” the gunner replied.

“Take the shot!” the commander switched frequencies: “FIERY-ONE to all FIERY elements:
Engage! Engage!”

The vehicle shuddered a second later as the first Nag missile punched out of the canister
and streaked towards the doomed ZBD that was now trying to engage the two remaining
BMP-IIs. There was no warning. The Nag slammed into the weak top armour of the Chinese
vehicle and the vehicle was completely decimated in a thunder and a fireball. There were no
survivors. Two other ZBDs suffered the same fate as the NAMICA platoon of the 10TH
Mechanized went into action...
THE CITADEL DEFENSIVE LINE TWO
D.B.O.
DAY 4 + 0810 HRS (L)

The Chinese second wave was behaving as predicted, but having predicted it was no good if
there was nothing that could be done to stop it. Brigadier Adesara lowered his binoculars to
see the first elements of the second wave move around the decimated right flank of the
burning first wave vehicles and begin and enveloping manoeuvre to the north. This way the
Chinese commander hoped to give the Indians a smaller engagement arc than by
approaching head on. It also meant that more pressure could be applied against each of the
three Battalions under Adesara, individually.

On the Indian side, there was now only one of the original four T-72Ms still alive. And it
engaged the first vehicle it saw from its pre-prepared revetment in phase-line two of the
Brigade defences. The third phase-line was around the airbase perimeter itself. There was
no fourth line other than to the south of D.B.O., south of the Chip-Chap river and near
Saser. But that last location meant that everything north of it would fall into Chinese hands,
including the Karakoram pass, DBO and the surrounding plains. It was not something that
Adesara and his Brigade staff had enjoyed simulating in the days before. And yet that
simulation was slowly becoming reality in front of their eyes now...

With a thundering crack the sabot round fired from the lone T-72 slammed into the left side
panels of a Chinese T-99 and it shuddered to a stop in a mass of flames. The return fire
from a second T-99 exploded mere meters away from the stationary T-72, throwing a large
dust cloud over the tank and nearby positions.

Adesara was engrossed in this battle from his Brigade CP even as his staff officers ran about
trying to make sense of the battle. He then walked over to where his Brigade Major or BM
and the Air-Force–Liaison of AFL were standing near the battlefield computers and radios.
Adesara butted into the heated argument going on:

“What the hell is going on here? And where the hell is my air support?”

The BM looked at the AFL who took the question:

“I can bring in two Jaguars with half loads within two minutes. They have hit their primary
targets in the Galwan valley area but still have unused weapons hanging from their pylons.
Then there is a flight of another three Jaguars coming into the area half an hour from now. I
am trying to scrounge any flights that have unused ammunition to support us here, but the
entire Laddakh front has blown up in the last few hours. Every aircraft we have is being
used for support operations somewhere or the other. There are just not enough fighters to
go around. We have dedicated support coming out to us but it will take a couple of hours at
least.”

Adesara lost his temper on that one: “Damn it! I was assured by Division that we had
priority over this sector! Somebody has screwed up down the line.” He calmed down before
turning to face the two officers in front of him:

“All right, listen up. Clear out this mess. You get any and every aircraft that you can find in
the air that has weapons to spare. If they have napalm, cluster-munitions, cannon rounds
or whatever. I don’t care. Just get them here. Even the presence of aircraft overhead will
help slow things down over here and have psychological effects that can prove useful. We
have to hold this ground.

I am not handing over the Karakoram pass to the Chinese today.”

THE CITADEL DEFENSIVE LINE TWO

D.B.O.
DAY 4 + 0830 HRS (L)

The last Indian T-72 on the north bank of the Chip-Chap River did not last long under the
combined weight of the Chinese second wave. Ironically it was taken out by a Chinese anti-
tank missile fired off by one of the IFVs that made up the majority of the second wave. As
the burning turret fell on the side of the tank chassis amidst a pillar of flames, Brigadier
Adesara turned his binoculars to the northeast to see what remained of the second wave. It
was not a pretty sight...

The Chinese had originally intended to roll over the Indian armour using the tank heavy first
wave. That effort had been brought to a grinding halt by the combined force of the T-72M
Troop, the Milan teams and the ambush by the NAMICA Troop. But the effort had cost
Brigadier Adesara three of his original four T-72Ms and several Milan teams. In addition, the
Chinese commander had diverted his flanking ZBD recon groups to counter the thrusts
made by Colonel Sudarshan and his BMP Squadron of the 10TH Mechanized Regiment. The
NAMICA Troop was now involved in covering the retreat of the survivors of the BMP-II force
on the south banks of the river. It was therefore no longer is support of the troops on the
north bank.
On the north bank, Adesara had seen with his own eyes the decimation of his last remaining
T-72 and another two Milan teams under fire from the Chinese second wave that was now
manoeuvring around the burning hulks of the first wave. The second wave had taken losses
in tanks, with three T-99s destroyed by the hull down T-72M before the latter was killed.
Further losses had been inflicted on the Chinese by the few surviving Milan teams who even
now were doing their best to weather down the force of the Chinese assault against their
positions. But there were just too many of the Chinese vehicles around and not enough of
their Indian counterparts...

Adesara was jerked back from his thoughts by his Brigade Major and the Air-Force-Liaison
along with two radiomen. Overhead he heard the distant rumble of jet engines. His BM
spoke quickly:

“Sir, we have two Jaguars available with some CBUs and enough fuel and cannon rounds for
a few strafing runs. They are requesting target information. Given the limited nature of the
support, I have prioritized the north bank sector for the attacks. But target identification
might be a problem in all these dust clouds...”

Brigadier Adesara looked over at the thick black smoke emanating from the burning T-72
hulk in its dug-out revetment before speaking:

“Tell them to stick to attacking vehicles on the north bank and leave infantry targets to us.
We just lost our last combat vehicle on the north bank. Tell them if they see a vehicle
moving on this side of the river, it’s got a red star on it...”

THE SKIES ABOVE DAULAT BEG OLDI

DAY 4 + 0840 HRS (L)

The rising dust clouds from continuous movement of vehicles on the plains around DBO
were swamping the region. To the troops on the ground, the sun was nothing but a brown-
yellow haze and the blue skies above were not visible. The view for the two Jaguar pilots
who streaked over the battlefield was just as confused. Vehicles were moving around like
ants and there were pillars of smoke everywhere. Target identification was impossible. The
only land features were the melting icy-waters of the Chip-Chap River cutting the plain in a
northern and southern half and the Citadel, barely visible around the clouds of smoke. And
then there were the large mass of moving vehicles on either bank of the river. The pilots
looked at the ones on the north bank as they had been instructed to do.
There...the Flight Leader of the two Jaguars thought to himself as he instantly adjust the
control stick and aligned the aircraft towards the line of vehicles moving westwards and
firing along the way. His wingman did the same. A thousand feet above the ground the
aircraft pulled level and streaked in at high subsonic speeds. Inside the cockpit the pilots
flipped the cover over the release switch on the already armed CBUs hanging on the inner
wing pylons...

Within seconds the target group passed through the small diamond release zone on the
HUD display and each pilot pressed the weapons release button on their control stick and
then pushed the throttle forward and banked away. The four CBUs fell clean off their pylons,
dispersed their deadly munitions into the spread pattern and fell clean. The rain of
submunitions descended on the mass of Chinese ZBDs and T-99s below.

The concentrated mass of sparks and dust raised by the impact of the munitions on the
ground surrounding the Chinese second wave was interspersed with fireballs and secondary
explosions as several ZBDs were destroyed amidst the shouts of joy from the besieged
Indian troopers on the receiving ends of the Chinese guns.

The T-99s were made of sterner stuff and did not go up in fireballs. But their tracks lay
shattered and several of them had their engine compartments penetrated by shrapnel to a
point that the vehicles were now ticking time bombs; just waiting to go off the second
leaking fuel came in contact with the burning metal pieces. Their crews realized the danger
and began jumping out of the turrets to the surprise of the Indian soldiers in front. The
massive burst of INSAS rifle rounds claimed almost all of the Chinese tank crew members in
seconds before the platoon commanders on the Indian side began shouting out the “cease
fire!” orders.

But the battle was not over yet. Several Chinese ZBDs were still alive and kicking and began
to engage the Indian infantry positions with cannon fire, sending the defenders diving and
crashing for cover as the rounds again began to kick up dust around their positions. Then
there were more thuds and the fire abruptly stopped following a jarring rumble. Brigadier
Adesara and his staff were sent ducking for cover as the two Jaguars again streaked
overhead at suicidal low altitudes on a strafing run. As the dust settled, Adesara peeked
over the sandbags to see another three ZBDs dead in their tracks and spewing fire from
their hatches after suffering large holes on their panels. The aircraft cannon rounds were
deadly against their weak skins...
And then it stopped. As Adesara and his men watched in amazement, the few surviving
ZBDs and the single T-99 remaining from the second wave began to pull back after
deploying smoke screens. A few of the IFV versions of the ZBDs were also firing their
cannons into the sky in a vain effort to shoot down the Indian aircraft. All it did was attract
attention towards them. Their battle was short:

The bursts of tracer lit rounds from the two ZBDs into the blue sky to the south was
followed by a hail of cannon round impacts on the ground around them as well as on their
vehicles. One of the two ZBDs went up in a fireball as the two Jaguars streaked overhead in
their last strafing round before banking away to the south. But the Chinese gunners called it
a day. The second wave began its retreat.

Any thought that Brigadier Adesara might have had to advance back to the mangled
remains of his Citadel defensive lines were cut short as a massive number of Chinese
artillery rounds impacted around his current defences. The Chinese had shifted artillery fire
from the DBO airfield towards his Battalions to cover the retreat of the second wave
survivors. But despite the falling dust and rocks, Adesara and his staff officers smiled to
each other.

The first Chinese attack to capture Daulat Beg Oldi and the Karakoram pass had been
broken...

SOUTH OF THE CITADEL

D.B.O.
DAY 4 + 0845 HRS (L)

The story was the same on the south banks. Colonel Sudarshan slammed open the hatch of
his BMP-II to see the lines of smoke and dust being created along the entire horizon as the
Chinese ZBDs withdrew back a few kilometres to regroup. He brought up his binoculars to
see several Anti-Air vehicles also moving into position behind the Chinese lines...

Sudarshan realized what had happened. The Chinese armour had been forced too far
forward by the tactical fighting retreat by the Indian defenders. The strung out Chinese
vehicles had been mauled by the savage air attack by the Indian Jaguars mainly because
the supporting anti-air vehicles had been too far behind to support.

That was a goof-up on their part and good-luck for us. These things happen, but won’t
happen again now that the message has been hammered home...Sudarshan thought as he
lowered his binoculars and looked around at the other dust covered BMP-II to his right. This
was the only other survivor from the original eight BMPs under his command. To his left he
saw the three remaining NAMICAs in their prepared positions while the fourth burned
furiously to the extreme left. The casualties had been high for the 10TH Mechanized so far
with more than two dozen men killed in this squadron alone. But at least the unit was still
alive.

With the current force levels, there was no question of counterattack until the main bulk of
the 10TH Mechanized arrived. With the Chinese bringing up their own reinforcements, it was
a race in which the side that brought its reinforcements quicker than the other side would
win the battle for the sector...

HAL AIRPORT
BANGALORE
DAY 4 + 0930 HRS (L)

The greyish clouds over Bangalore and the slight rain were not helping matters along. Pools
of water on the tarmac were reflecting the greyish cloud filled sky above even as the ground
crewmen began to push the first LCH into the cavernous interiors of the parked IL-76. They
were pushing it along because it weighed as much as a feather in comparison to the beast it
was entering into.

Wing Commander Dutt was standing by the ramp of the parked IL-76 along with two of his
test pilots in their grey overalls as the senior NCO was shouting at his men to push the
lightweight attack helicopter into the fuselage of the IL-76 without hitting banging it
anywhere along the way. As Dutt watched, another spout of rain began to fall from the sky.
The weather was bad, at least for flying, and he wondered whether nature would force its
way into the combat debut of his newborn 119HU. But the captain of the IL-76, another
senior “Wingco” had assured him that the flight to Leh would take place regardless of the
pitiful weather around them. They were not going to provide history an excuse as feeble as
weather to justify their abandoning their duty...

The IL-76 had arrived from Sonegaon airbase, Nagpur, where it was based under No. 44
Squadron or “The Mighty Jets”, as they were called. This particular aircraft was available
only because it had been coming of a maintenance overhaul when the war with china had
blown over and therefore had spent the first four days of the war in Sonegaon. Most of the
IL-76 fleet under 44 Squadron and 25 Squadron had already left their home bases and were
flying literally everywhere, every hour of the day. The crews were getting exhausted due to
the hectic induction of troops taking place in Laddakh under enemy fire. India had been
caught off guard because of the machinations of the Chinese and the indulgence of the
Indian Government into their diplomatic feint. And at the moment the outcome of the
ground war in Laddakh was anybody’s guess.

The induction of the LCHs of 119HU into Laddakh was currently underway. Six helicopters
had been literally pulled off the production and testing lines and therefore in many ways
each helicopter was unique in some capacity or another. The only weapons that had been
tested thoroughly had been the chin cannon and the unguided rockets. The integration of
the helicopter mounted Nag missiles, called HELINA, had been incomplete when W/C Dutt’s
office had been invaded by the Army and Air Force brass a day ago. The squadron, actually
119HU was merely a Flight, was still taking the ready rounds of the HELINA with them along
with most of the civilians to see if anything could be done about the ATGM integration once
at Leh. These HAL employees had already been working night and day to get the system up
and running ever since the war started. Desperate measures for desperate times. Laddakh
was currently feeling the heat from the Chinese armour that had reached the warzone
quicker than their Indian counterparts thanks to the terrain and the element of strategic
surprise.

But all said and done, this attack helicopter unit was being inducted in Laddakh for a job
that would not require ATGMs, and yet it might contribute more towards turning the battles
around...

“So how are we doing?” the Air Marshal asked as he walked over to Dutt. The latter pointed
towards the first LCH being strapped to the floor inside the IL-76 by the ground crews even
as another was being pushed into position behind it.

“We are on time. The second helicopter is being loaded right now. Then we just have to load
the ATGMs, rockets, Cannon rounds, spare parts. We are also sending a group of ground
crews and two of my pilots along. We need to hit the ground running once we land at Leh.”
Dutt answered. The Air Marshal nodded and then looked over to the remaining four
helicopters parked outside on the tarmac waiting airlift. They had been covered with
tarpaulins now that the rain had picked up slightly. Their main rotor blades had been
removed and the tail rotor blade system locked down and feathered. Armed guards with
rain water dripping off their INSAS rifles were patrolling the perimeter nearby even as a
round of thunder ran across the dark and cloudy skies.

It would be much more sunny in Laddakh...Dutt reminded himself. He had studied both the
long term and short term meteorological reports for his future AO. It was going to be bright
and sunny, and cold like hell...Before they entered the battlefield, that is. After that they
would contribute towards heating things up...He smiled to himself just as the Air Marshal
started talking again:

“There has been a small change of plans, Dutt. You are to send a detachment of two
helicopters to the FARP near Saser, south of DBO, after you reach Leh. Deploy another two
of your birds at Shyok. The last two will remain at Leh.”

That caused Dutt to turn around. He did not like last minute changes in plans. The Air
Marshal continued before the former could speak:

“My boy, the war in Laddakh is not going as planned for either side. The situation at DBO is
a bloody mess. We have our chaps on the verge of being run over by Chinese tanks. They
have beaten off the first wave of attacks, but without support they wouldn’t be able to last
another. We are diverting every last Jaguar we can spare for the CAS role towards DBO
until the situation stabilizes. Take your two birds there and see if you can even the odds,
will you?”

Dutt absorbed what all he had been told just now. The stakes were high, and despite the
politeness of his Commander, it wasn’t a request...

“What about supplies, sir? My unit has just been formed ad-hoc. It has barely a skeletal
logistical and maintenance setup. You stretch us out there from Leh to Shyok to Saser, and
I will be fighting to get the basic supplies sent to my guys just as much as I will be spending
time fighting the reds.”

“It’s already been set up. We already have an ALH unit in Leh along with a Cheetah unit.
Plus the Mi-17s at Thoise. Apart from that we have half a dozen other helicopter units in the
region or arriving in the region as we speak. The forward detachments of 119HU will receive
supplies and logistical support through these units. Use their setup to transport your special
supplies. Understood?” the AM answered.

“Yes Sir. And what about our original task?” Dutt continued.

“It still stands as far as the two birds at Leh are concerned. You will receive your intelligence
update from the Army chaps once you arrive at Leh. You think the job’s doable?”
“As long as the bloody weather doesn’t get in the way!” Dutt answered, putting his arm out
into the pouring rain. His response got a amused grunt from his grizzled old commander
before the latter walked away...

THE VILLAGE OF DOKUNG

SOUTH OF KONGRA LA
SIKKIM
DAY 4 + 1015 HRS (L)

The six men of Team-Five had now slept for a few hours and had recieved another few
hours to clean up and present themselves inside the Battalion CO’s office. Inside the room
waited a reasonably large number of people waiting to talk to them. As the Major in
command of the team walked in through the door, the SOCOM Lt-Colonel was off the chair
along with all other unformed people in the room and salutes were exchanged. The RAW
people didn’t bother getting up or even look away from the photographs that had been
handed to them an hour ago.

These photographs, and some notes as well, had been taken by Team-Five members in the
plains of Tibet. Many of these images showed the nature of the supply routes in the region
as well as the layout and structural strength of the bridges, roads and other assorted
infrastructure that made up the arterial and radial routes built by the Chinese. The notes
had been written with special pencils because the ink froze inside the pens at the brutal
arctic cold temperatures in Tibet. The handwriting was shaky as well because the hand that
wrote those notes had been shivering at the time despite the gloves...

“So Major, what’s the tally?” the Battalion CO asked after settling down behind his table
inside the room. The question caused the RAW officers to look up to see the Major’s
response. The latter had a smile on his face by now even before he spoke:

“Twenty seven, sir. The ones we could count as confirmed, that is! Twelve of these
belonging to a Chinese recon party actually heading out of Kongra-La as we were on our
way out.”

The Battalion Commander did not like that final comment one bit because his Battalion was
the one strung out north of Dokung and in charge of the security of Kongra-La and its
defence along with the other two sister Battalions of the Brigade. The last thing he needed
now were Chinese recon teams infiltrating behind his lines or causing mayhem among his
units. Before the senior RAW officer could open his mouth regarding the nature of the trip
near Gyantse, the Bat-CO spoke again:

“Major, was there any further indication of Chinese interest in the region of Kongra-La?”

The Major shook his head after giving it some thought: “No sir, not that we could see. But
they do have some units out on patrol all along the border. The recon team we ambushed
had the notes on unit dispositions and so forth for this sector, though. They had actually
infiltrated behind our lines just as we had done behind theirs, roughly through the same
route. But all indications from the notes I handed over to your Intel people showed that
they probably wanted to know whether we had plans beyond Kongra-La rather than the
other way around.”

It was now that the SOCOM Colonel spoke up: “And I will agree with the Major’s assessment
on the matter. They will send more probes and recon teams into Sikkim from this sector,
and we have to stop them getting this intelligence out. Thanks to the Major and his men we
know now that the Chinese have in fact been sending teams across, just like us. We need
more units out here to plug the gaps along the border. This Team of ours broke through the
border by crossing the peaks rather than the passes and reached nearly the camp perimeter
yesterday night before we spotted them. If we can do it, the Chinese can do it to. We must
work with that assumption.” He looked at the Bat-CO: “Sir, we need to improve the security
in this sector and plug the gaps.”

The Battalion Commander was less optimistic about his resource pool: “That means that I
have to spread out my men even more thinly to plug these holes rather than keeping them
concentrated into a fighting fist. That is a folly I can ill afford, especially against the
Chinese. As you say, we need more units. I will forward the estimates up to my Brigade CO.
Let’s see what comes off it. In any case, good work, Major. I will leave the further debriefing
to our comrades in the RA&W here.” The Battalion CO leaned back into his chair and turned
towards the SOCOM officer and gestured him to continue. The SOCOM Lt-Colonel turned to
face the Major: “Anyway, coming to the strategic issues. Major, what’s the latest unit
estimates at Gyantse?”

“55 and 11, Sir.”

“No. 55, huh?” the Colonel pondered. Yet another familiar number from the past...

“Yes Sir. 55 Division is already concentrated at Gyantse and has a Brigade on its way down
towards the Chumbi Valley. We located the Divisional HQ and two Brigade HQs near
Gyantse. We didn’t really see any units under 11 Division, sir, but we have this information
based on eyewitness reports near the Karo-La that reported another Division on the way
south towards Gyantse. That makes three, I believe.”

“Yes it does, Major. Good work on the number identifications.” The only other Colonel rank
officer in the room said from where he sat on his chair next to the RAW officers. He was
from the Sikkim Section of the DIA, and he knew just how deep the trouble in his sector
went. He wasn’t done, though:

“We have a Chinese Brigade concentrating inside the Chumbi Valley opposite the Nathu-La.
It will be ready to begin operations within a day or two at the max. The Chinese have
another Brigade heading to join this first one based on the photographs you provided us.
That leaves another Brigade under HQ, 55 Division at Gyantse. We can be sure that it will
move down as well once 11 Div. Comes down to Gyantse from the Karo-La to the
northeast.

"Now, you are the operators, so I cannot tell you what we have going on our side of the
border, Major, but rest assured. We have a lot of shit heading our way unless we do
something to slow down these Chinese Regiments racing towards the Chumbi valley. Of
course, that’s where you come in...” the DIA officer looked over to his SOCOM comrade,
who took over:

“Major, what would you say if I offered you another sojourn inside Tibet?”

SASER
SOUTH OF DAULAT BEG OLDI
DAY 4 + 1030 HRS (L)

The single Smerch battery in the valley had been firing their rocket barrages at the Chinese
artillery for hours now. The Chinese artillery fire on the infantry Battalions of Brigadier
Adesara’s Brigade had substantially reduced as a consequence of this counter-battery fire.
More than a dozen Chinese field artillery batteries were by now nothing more than
smoldering and smoking remains. But for all that, the constant fire-on-the-move tactics that
had prevented the Indian Smerch unit from being wiped out by Chinese counter-battery fire
had also exhausted its crews and nearly emptied its stock of weapons. The dust and smoke
raised by the constant moving of the firing vehicles in the valley had left a lingering smog
contained by the high mountainous walls of the valley.
It was therefore not that surprising to the battery commander and his other officers
standing outside the command trailer to see a column of armored vehicles moving past their
CP in a long convoy. A moment in which everybody’s heart missed a beat thinking that the
vehicles were Chinese units, passed by as the type of the vehicles became clear. The fear
that the vehicles were Chinese were not totally unfounded. The battle in Laddakh was far
from clear at the moment. Frontlines were changing by the minute and chaos was in the air.
It was not outside the realms of possibility that the Chinese might reach a certain sector
after having overrun the Indian defenses and surprising the Indian units before the Indian
commanders reacted to the Chinese breakthrough. And the same could work the other way
too.

In the case of Saser, it was a distinct possibility. Saser sat the mouth of the valley around
the river than ran down to the south and turned towards Leh near Shyok. North of Saser
was the DBO sector which was a vast plain cut into a northern and southern sector by the
Chip-Chap River. In the northern sector of DBO, the infantry Brigade under Adesara had
barely escaped being overrun. In the southern sector, being defended by the forward
deployed elements of the 10TH Mechanized Regiment under Colonel Sudarshan, the battle
had between the Regiment’s BMPs and the Chinese ZBDs had been bloody and desperate,
both sides having taken severe casualties.

In addition, the Chinese had pushed Colonel’s Sudarshan’s surviving vehicles to the
northwest and close to the Chip-Chap River. In fact, as it currently stood, the Indian
defences in the region around DBO airstrip were one push away from the airbase perimeter
with the Infantry Battalions under Adesara in the region around the Citadel and to the north
and Sudarshan’s remaining NAMICA and BMP-II vehicles holding the southern approaches.
The Chinese pushing Sudarshan’s units to the northwest had opened the southwest
approaches towards Saser for the Chinese fast moving ZBDs to exploit if the Chinese
commander could spot the opportunity, that is.

As it was, the Chinese commanders were unsure of what defences currently lay between
their current positions opposite Sudarshan and to the south near Saser. And in fact, all it
would take is one UAV recon to see that in fact there were only two or three companies of
Indian infantry currently holding the approaches to Saser and the crucial Shyok river valley
to the south. Once the Chinese realized this, they would unleash a wave of fast moving light
armoured vehicles on these infantry units to open up the way to victory in Laddakh. And
after that happened, one of the first units to be overrun would be the Smerch battery
around Saser that was providing the crucial artillery support to Brigadier Adesara.
The Indian commanders knew the danger that had opened up after the battles near DBO
since morning. They were providing all the air support needed to attack Chinese armour,
but it was something that would begin inflicting losses on the Indian Jaguar fleet just as
soon as the Chinese anti-air units were fully deployed around their armour. The only other
thing that could prevent the Chinese from taking over Saser was the remaining force of the
10TH Mechanized Regiment that was currently making its way under light artillery fire from
the Chinese towards the DBO area of operations...

As the battery commander and the other officers around the command trailers watched, the
line of dozens of BMP-IIs and NAMICA vehicles, ARVs, trucks and AXEs rolled by on the road
north through Saser through the dust cloud being raised by their tracks and wheels. As the
main force of the 10TH Mechanized finally began entering the plains of DBO, the battle for
Laddakh hung by a thin thread...

THE TIBET-BHUTAN BORDER

FOOTHILLS 16KM SOUTH OF DOCHEN TSO
NORTHEAST OF CHUMBI-VALLEY
DAY 4 + 1120 HRS (L)

The Indian Major was sitting silently in the rear seat along with the Royal Bhutanese Army
Lt-Colonel as their three jeep convoy drove by the frozen waters of the large high altitude
lakes near the foothills of the peaks surrounding the massive Chomolhari peak range. The
ride was bumpy and uneven as they drove on, reflecting the fair-weather nature of the 1-
tonne track that had been recently constructed to support the remote Royal Bhutanese
Army units stationed in the region on border security duty.

The reason the Indian Major attached to the Indian Military Training Team or IMTRAT, for
short, was here was because of the precarious nature of this section of the Tibet-Bhutan
border. Sitting between the truly massive Chomolhari peaks to the south and other sister
peaks to the north, the border along this sector did not follow the traditional watershed
principle of boundary delineation. In this sector alone the Bhutanese territory extended like
a semicircle, jutting into Tibetan territory beyond the foothills of the peaks. Beyond the
foothills behind it, this sector sat on the classic plateau of Tibet and was flat and easily
traversable. But to get here, the RBA units had to cross the ridges and peaks behind them.

On the other side of the border here sat the People’s Liberation Army. Their crucial highway
from Gyantse to the Sikkim border near the Chumbi valley passed less than a dozen
kilometres at the closest point with this sector of the Bhutanese border. As such, it was far
easier to access this side of the border than it was from the Bhutanese side, and that made
the local Bhutanese Army positions vulnerable. But it had been so since decades. It was
only in the recent history that the Bhutanese had changed the status quo somewhat...

They had built a fair-weather 1-tonne road starting from the foothills right up to the
perimeter of the semicircle that jutted into the Tibetan plains. Once RBA soldiers crossed
the peaks behind them on foot or via helicopters, they could use these roads to move
around in vehicles on their side of the border. This had allowed the Bhutanese Army to
station more units in the sector than before to improve its security. Nevertheless, to put
things in perspective, the RBA never had more than two Companies of infantry supported by
mortars in this semicircle sector. By comparison, the PLA across them had an entire
Battalion supported by heavy artillery and light armor units devoted to guarding the
perimeter of the semicircle. If a battle was fought, it would be no surprise what the end
result was going to be.

For the Indian Major riding along with the Bhutanese Battalion 2IC, the directives from his
CO at IMTRAT HQ were clear. With a war underway along the entire Indo-China front, and
with a Corps level battle about to begin in this sector of the front, the threat to Bhutan had
to be ascertained. The Chinese had been looking to secure their left flanks in the Chumbi
valley for some time now. Luckily for them, they held all the dominant features along most
of the Tibet-Bhutan border.

Except this one...the Major corrected to himself. The Chinese had never really
underestimated the threat to their left flank from Bhutan, given the influence of the Indian
Army there. It was a flank that neither the Indian nor the Chinese High Commands had
overlooked. The question was: what was to be done about it? From where they were driving
now, the Major could see the outlines of the hills surrounding the Dochen Tso to the north
and the long convoys of Chinese vehicles moving along the highway to the south. This
sector was a gold mine for information on Chinese activities in the Chumbi-valley sector...

The three jeeps came to a stop just west of the freezing lakes that made up the region. The
Bhutanese Lt-Colonel stepped out of the second jeep along with the Indian Major and
walked over to the RBA Captain standing near the edge of the road along with two of his
soldiers in winter uniforms. He handed the two new officers a pair of binoculars. The Indian
officer removed his sunglasses to see through the binoculars properly and could easily make
out the type of light armour vehicles moving south on the highway from Gyantse. The RBA
Captain then pointed out the Chinese units across the borders that were facing his Company
in this sector. A few seconds later the Lt-Colonel and the Major lowered the binoculars.
“So what do you think?” the Lt-Colonel asked the IMTRAT Major.

“It’s too valuable for us and therefore they will try and deny it to us. They are very
vulnerable here. What they fear is that we will use this sector as a staging area to launch
operations against their only arterial route to the south from Gyantse.”

“But that’s impossible. We cannot stage anything from here other than a few Battalions at
the most!”

“And properly supported by heavy artillery from near Linghzi and air support, those few
Battalions would be all that would be needed to capture and hold that section of the
highway over there and cut off the supplies to their Divisions to the south. I agree, it’s
probably something remote to consider from our side, but the real question is whether the
Chinese will take that risk.” The Major continued dryly.

“So what are you saying, Major?” the RBA Lt-Colonel asked.
“You are going to get attacked in this sector before we get attacked at Nathu-La.”

“Then the Royal Bhutanese Army soldiers will fight for their territory to their last breath and
their last round and prevent China from taking it away from us.” The RBA Lt-Colonel
asserted strongly. The Indian officer listened silently and then looked away to the east
before speaking:

“Then Bhutan will get dragged into this war with China as well.”

PLAAF REGIONAL COMMAND CENTER

KASHGAR
DAY 4 + 1120 HRS (L)

“This is not working.” Colonel Feng said quietly. Lt-Gen Chen nodded silently as both
watched the massive screen inside the air operations centre showing the ongoing battle
between four SU-27s and four J-8IIs and a mixture of Indian SU-30s and Mirage-2000s.
Losses had been registered on both sides as the BVR engagement had disintegrated into a
melee at close range. On both sides the battle was being watched by an IL-76 based
AWACS. In case of the Chinese it was the KJ-2000 flying hundreds of kilometres to the
north of the LAC and a similar distance south of it sat the Indian Phalcon.
Three Indian aircraft including two Mirage-2000s and one SU-30 had been destroyed so far.
In return, all four J-8IIs had been lost during the initial stages of the BVR engagement itself
while the SU-27s had suffered two losses. The last two SU-27s were currently trying
desperately to disengage from the battle by pulling the battle closer and closer to the
northern LAC sector where the few surviving S-300 batteries could provide cover. But for
the two senior PLAAF officers watching the battle force on their side disintegrate in front of
the Indian heavy fighters, the battle had been lost in other ways already...

The role of the PLAAF during the ground offensive of the PLA into Laddakh that had started
since morning had been to provide air cover against Indian air attacks. Unfortunately, the
powerful S-300 belt in the Aksai Chin had been chopped in half by the elaborate attacks of
the IAF under the auspices of Operation Phoenix. The other major air battles between the
Leh based Mig-29s and their major SU-27 Regiment two days ago had failed to annihilate
the IAF’s ability to interfere with the Chinese ground actions. Cruise missile attacks against
Indian airbases had only achieved limited gains. Leh had been made inoperable only for
short periods of time, as were Thoise and Avantipur airbases. The only significant gains
were the complete disabling of airbases at Daulat Beg Oldi, Chushul and Fukche. Other
tactical Advanced Landing Grounds or ALGs had been made inoperable but they only
affected the Indian Army, not the IAF.

As it stood now, therefore, the PLAAF’s ability to defend the PLA Divisions surging into
Laddakh was critically reduced. In fact, IAF Jaguars were striking deep and hard into
Chinese territory even inside south-western Tibet. The war for the skies of Laddakh was
close to being lost for the Chinese and the PLAAF senior commanders knew it. Once that
happened, it was only a matter of time before the PLA began to feel the real heat of the
adverses in the skies above them and then the ground war would begin to shift into the
Indian’s favour. That was unacceptable.

“So what are our options, Feng?” Chen asked as they watched the last two SU-27s
successfully disengage from combat after entering the S-300 defensive belt in northern
Aksai-Chin. The Colonel’s response was neutral:

“Not many, sir. It’s only a matter of time now for this sector. We can remedy this situation
by bringing in massive reinforcements from those units facing Taiwan and the north to plug
the gaps in our defences. But that will denude the Taiwan sectors rapidly. Besides, we don’t
have nearly the kind of airbase infrastructure needed to base the numbers of fighters that
would be needed. This was exactly why I had proposed the S-300 defensive belt supported
by the SU-27s. One S-300 battery supported by carefully placed SU-27s on CAP could hold
off fleets of Indian fighters. Once we lost the SU-27s in Maj-Gen Xhigao’s failed attempt to
face the Indian fighters head on two days ago, we lost a crucial piece of our defensive
wall.”

“Indeed. That fool will pay for this! Had it not been for him, we would still be maintaining
control of the skies in this sector. But that is for later. What are our options now?” Chen
continued.

“The Indians are concentrating for a major battle in Laddakh. It would be foolish of us to try
and engage them at the moment. We need to spread them out and thin them out. They
cannot be everywhere at the same time. It would be advisable for us to prod the Pakistanis
into upping the stakes, perhaps. Also, the PLA Divisions in the east are anyway about to
jump off...”

“Yes. It’s time the skies over the Indian northeast caught fire from the dragon’s breath!” Lt-
General Chen smiled as he walked to pick up the phone to his operations centre in Chengdu.

PHALCON AWACS (CALL SIGN: EAGLE EYE FOUR)

AIRSPACE OVER NORTHEAST ASSAM
INDIA
DAY 4 + 1420 HRS (L)

“Inbounds! Inbounds! We have inbounds! Twelve inbounds approaching on vector three-

one-seven at angels thirty, speed...nine-one-seven kilo-mike-hotel. Type...” The radar
console operator pushed one of the buttons near the screen itself and his computer went
into the type diagnostics mode by checking radar and flight profiles with existing enemy
databases. It spit out the results on screen a moment later and the operator read it off
screen to his Mission Controller: “...Jolly-Sevens. Possibly the Beta variants...”

The Mission Controller pondered that piece of information for the moment. The J-7Bs
coming down from the said vector made them out to be the forward deployed elements of
the 130TH Air Regiment of the 44TH Air Division as per the IAF intelligence. The 44TH AD
had been expected to be the first Air Division to become involved in the battle for the skies
of the Indian northeast. And rightly so. It was the forward deployed unit designed for
combat in the region. Having said that, the 44TH Air Division was not the one armed to the
teeth with high performance aircraft. It had amongst itself the J-7 series aircraft that were
Mig-21 knockoffs. Since the Division was almost always forward deployed and therefore well
within reach of the IAF fighters and cruise missiles, the PLAAF had long since decided
against arming these units with very costly aircraft.

The other Division of the PLAAF in the region was the 33RD Air Division. This was the
second echelon force that was armed with higher performance fighters including the 99TH
Air Regiment armed with SU-27UBKs designated for air combat training but which were also
designated to change quickly into the fighter role when required. The strike element of the
region was made up of a J-10 regiment independent in command from the 33RD and the
44TH Air Divisions.

Facing this force from the Indian side was a combination of Operational Conversion Unit or
OCU Mig-21FLs based at Tezpur, a detachment of Mig-21 Bisons at Chabua and Mig-27s at
Hashimara and Kalaikunda. In addition, the temporary detachments based in the region
were the SU-30s from Bareilly based No. 8 Squadron. A detachment of No. 24 Squadron
SU-30s on AWACS protection duty were also on call and available in case the situation
turned dire.

The reason the IAF had not deployed more fighters into the region yet was the inherent
vulnerability of all Indian airbases in the region from Chinese missile attacks. This had been
proven since the last few days when all major airbases had been coming under consistent
missile attacks launched from large number of remote locations in China. It was not so
much the airbase denial as was the nuisance factor that affected air operations. In some
cases however, such as had been the case at Jorhat and Chabua a day before, the Chinese
attacks proved lethal on the basis of probability catching up with the Indian side. Two Mig-
21 Bisons had been lost at Chabua when their Hardened Aircraft Shelter or HAS had been
destroyed by a direct strike of a Chinese cruise missile in what must have been an absolute
one in a thousand chance. But these things happen in times of war. Luck is a factor that
must always be factored in operational planning.

But the IAF top brass did not believe in luck. They had vacated all unnecessary aircraft and
equipment from these airbases with the idea that units can be surged forward when needed.
That idea was about to be put to test now...

“Second set of inbounds detected! Twelve inbounds approaching on vector two-five-seven at

angels thirty-five, speed...seven-three-five kilo-mike-hotel. Type...SU-27s!” the second
console operator shouted. This time the MC got into his operations mode:
“Launch the OCU Migs from Tezpur and the Bisons from Chabua. Vector them towards the J-
7 group. Tell them to leave the SU-27 group for the 8 Squadron Sukhois. Alert the EAC
ADGES Control of our action plans. Last thing we need is fratricide amongst the confusion.
Bring the Mig-27s on readiness and send out a warning to all Army Aviation units to keep
low while we deal with the threat. Alert our escort leader of the impending threat as well.
We might need his help today...”

“We are noticing electronic interference here! Possible EW aircraft trailing the attackers!
Attempting burn-through!” the EW console commander shouted over the headphones. A
minute later the EWCC came back online: “Okay. We have burn-through. Suggest passive
tracking of possible Tupolev EW aircraft assisting attackers.” The MC’s response was quick
on that one:

“Do it!”
TEZPUR
INDIA
DAY 4 + 1440 HRS (L)

The klaxons were ringing around the airbase even as the pilots of the Mig-21s on the
operational readiness platform or ERP were strapping themselves into their seats. Other
ground crews were rushing to get the other aircraft out of their HASs and onto the tarmac
outside for immediate takeoff. There were ten available Mig-21FLs at Tezpur for immediate
operations. At Chabua there were four Bisons that were already taking to the skies. A few
moments later the glass windows around Tezpur shuddered as the flurry of Mig-21s took to
the skies on full afterburners and streaked eastwards at low level...

SKIES OVER ASSAM

INDIA
DAY 4 + 1455 HRS (L)

“Okay, give me a sit-rep.” the MC said quietly after walking over to the senior radar console
operator monitoring the inbound groups.

“We have this group of twelve J-7Bs coming in from the northeast heading southwest over
the Chaukan pass hills on their way over Assam. The first ones to make contact on our side
will be the four Bisons from Chabua, with BVR ranges reached in seventeen minutes, but
they will be outnumbered four to one unless we commit the 8 Squadron Sukhois into the
fight.”

“And that will bog them down so that it will allow the second group of SU-27s to destroy our
group of Mig-21s from Tezpur and cut off the engaged 8 Squadron aircraft from the west
and perhaps even make a run for us over here. No, that’s unacceptable. We need to
concentrate our force of Mig-21s from Chabua and Tezpur into a iron fist before we commit
them to the fight. How far are the Tezpur Migs?” the MC asked as he looked at the
computer screen over the shoulders of the console officer.

“At their current speeds they will have be over Chabua in fifteen minutes.”

“Good. Pull the Bison CAP over Chabua and task them to await the arrival of the Tezpur
Migs. Overall combat control will be transferred to the Tezpur Flight Leader once arrival
takes place. Let me know when that happens.

In the meantime, we will let the Chinese come in through the front door...”

IV CORPS TACTICAL HQ (RELOCATED)

NORTH OF TEZPUR
INDIA
DAY 4 + 1505 HRS (L)

The single ALH came in low over the ground followed by its weaponized escort and reached
the helipad near the IV Corps Headquarters despite the warning order given out by the Air
Force of the impending air battle that was about to engulf the skies over Assam. As a result,
the two Army Aviation crews did not fancy staying around for too long. The weaponized
escort ALH did not land but continued to hover near the helipad and the other ALH came to
a quick landing, raising all sorts of dust and gravel into the air by its downwash. There was
no time to waste...

The ground crews immediately opened the sliding doors to allow General Yadav and Lt-
General Suman and two other Brigadiers to clamber out into the dust filled air holding their
caps. They were directed away from the helicopter even as a ground crewman banged on
the window glass of the cockpit to notify the pilot that the passengers were out and to get
the hell out of there. The pilots nodded and immediately pulled the ALH back into the air
even as every strut and bar inside the ALH groaned under the stress of such an accelerated
liftoff. Nevertheless, within a minute both helicopters were streaking away to the west at
tree top heights and the dust around the helipad was finally settling down...

But other things were not settling down. General Yadav and Lt-General Suman were met
outside the helipad by Lt-General Chatterjee and his other senior GSOs. The IV Corps
commander was not in a happy mood and General Yadav and Lt-Gen Suman soon found out
why even as they climbed aboard the three AXE vehicles that were to take them from the
helipad to the actual IV Corps HQ further into the foothills where there was more cover
against attacks.

“So what’s the situation up to the north?” Gen Yadav asked Chatterjee as their convoy
finally moved off on the dusty road to the north, facing the majestic Great Himalayan peaks
on the horizon.

“We have three Commie Infantry Divisions facing us in the Tawang sector. One of those we
have been able to identify as the 149TH Rapid Reaction Division. Others, we are not sure at
the moment. Question: if the 149TH was the one supposedly guarding Lhasa, who the hell
is keeping tab of things there now?” Chatterjee shouted over the sounds of the speeding
vehicles.

“The 52ND Brigade is supposed to be left in charge of the activities in and around Lhasa
while the 21ST Group Army enters from Lanzhou district. They are using the train convoys
to bring the units in as per DIA. The Air Force says they are going to have a knock at it later
today to see if we can knock out the railway lines. If that fails we might have to go in for
some attacks using a few Brahmos units. We will see how that works out. In any case,
what’s the Chinese readiness opposite Bum-La and Zimithiang?”

“Near complete.”

“Damn! What about our own readiness?” Lt-Gen Suman, the acting EAC GOC, asked even
as he looked at the convoys of trucks heading into the hills to the north towards Bomdi-La
and beyond.

“I have the sector covered. I could use some supporting arms but otherwise my guys are
ready and up to speed.” Chatterjee shouted from the front seat as they were within sight of
the IV-Corps TAC-HQ.
“So what’s the estimated time to jump off on the Chinese attack?” Yadav asked.

“Tomorrow morning if not sooner is when I expect them to make a run for Tawang...”

SKIES OVER ASSAM

INDIA
DAY 4 + 1515 HRS (L)

The first group of manned Chinese fighters to break into Indian airspace in the northeast
after the war had broken out took place near the bulge of Indian territory near the Chaukan
pass hills at the extreme eastern end of Indian airspace. The wall of twelve J-7Bs flying in a
line abreast formation now punched off their external fuel drop tanks, something that was
immediately noticed by the radar crew of the Indian Phalcon to the southwest as the screen
became cluttered with small fading radar intercepts slowing away and going down behind
the inbound J-7s...

But for all that, the Chinese knew what they were up against. The path they were taking
skirted around the handful of Indian Akash batteries protecting the high value targets in the
region almost as if they knew where and how they had been deployed. This was noticed by
the Phalcon crew as well, and the MC made a mental note to forward this piece of
intelligence to the people commanding those batteries. But for now he had other things on
his mind. Now that his hopes for a few kills at the hands of the ground missile batteries had
been ruined, the MC turned his attention towards the group of fourteen Mig-21s that had
now assembled over Chabua and were also now deployed in a line abreast formation
towards the inbound Chinese. Both sides were readying themselves for a BVR exchange...

And that happened a few minutes later as twenty six missiles ranged out in quick succession
with fourteen others following. The Indian Mig-21s had released two quick salvos of Astra
BVRAAMs while the Chinese had reciprocated with a single salvo of their new AIM-120
knockoffs called the PL-12. Seconds after the first launch of the second Indian Astra salvo,
the Chinese reciprocated with their own independent second salvo launch of another twelve
PL-12s. There were now fifty two missiles heading towards each other at high speed. All
twenty six fighters now broke formation to evade the cloud of missiles flying towards each
other...

Results were obtained a few seconds later. Seven Indian Mig-21s, and none of them Bisons,
were lost in exchange for six Chinese J-7Bs before the Phalcon crews lost count in the
complete chaos happening over the skies north of Digboi. The dogfights between the Indian
and Chinese survivors began soon thereafter and command and control was quickly lost.
The Phalcon MC was pragmatic. He realized immediately the futility of their involvement in
the chaotic battle now taking place but also realized that whatever the final result, the
Chinese J-7s had lost the initiative and unit cohesiveness. They were also unlikely to be able
to make their way home if they did not break contact soon and therefore expend
unacceptable amount of fuel. Besides, the SU-30 BARCAP near the Phalcon could be
dispatched if any one of the Chinese pilots decided to play Kamikaze.

No...they are on their own now, but the SU-27s are another matter...the MC thought as he
walked over to the other console operator monitoring and coordinating the 8 Squadron
battle: “Tell me about the second group of inbounds.”

“They will be breaking into our airspace in a few minutes. LIMA Flight Leader signalled his
readiness. I suggest we start maneuvering them into position now.”

“Right. Bring them back to the southwest and direct them north of Bomdila. Keep them
going as far as possible but for god’s sake keep them out of any possible Chinese anti-air
unit known to be near the border.

Then turn them east...”

THE TIBET-BHUTAN BORDER

FOOTHILLS 16KM SOUTH OF DOCHEN TSO
NORTHEAST OF CHUMBI-VALLEY
BHUTAN
DAY 4 + 1540 HRS (L)

“Incoming fire!” the Indian IMTRAT Major shouted even as he saw the vehicles on the
Chinese side of the border suddenly moving out of their revetments. The Royal Bhutanese
Army soldiers were already running into position even as the first artillery shells slammed
amongst their positions west of the lakes. The Major also jumped into the nearest trench
along with the RBA Lt-Colonel who had been visiting the area with the Major. The Company
Commander for the RBA unit in this sector was moving about and shouting orders at his
men and telling the three jeep convoy drivers to the east to get the hell out when he was
shot down by machine gun fire from the advancing group of Chinese armoured personnel
carriers.

The three jeep drivers tried in vain to drive away from the scene of the battle but their
vehicles were raked from front to rear by cannon fire from the ZBD-2000 IFVs who were
raising the dirt and advancing into Bhutanese territory. The three Bhutanese vehicles went
up in small balls of fire and smoke soon thereafter. There was no question of fighting off the
Chinese invaders with the weapons at the disposal of the Bhutanese soldiers and they were
taking heavy losses by the second.
The Indian officer quickly got hold of a radio set and contacted IMTRAT headquarters with
the urgent request for assistance. A few minutes later the call went from IMTRAT HQ to
Indian Army HQ and from there back to XXXIII Corps HQ. By the time the first Heron UAV
was removed from its orbit pattern over the Chumbi Valley and directed over the battlefield
near the Tibet-Bhutan border, it was clear that the two RBA Companies and the Indian
IMTRAT Liaison group with them was under threat of being destroyed to the last man by the
advancing units of the Chinese 55 Division that were attempting to clear this section of their
vulnerable left flank before the expected advance near the Nathu-La began.

But the fact now was that in doing what they had, the Chinese had pushed Bhutan into the
war, and it was at this time that the call went out to the Mig-27 squadrons at Hashimara...

AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHERN BHUTAN

DAY 4 + 1620 HRS (L)

The first flight of four Mig-27s armed with heavy ground ordinance broke into Bhutanese
airspace a full fifteen minutes after the Army HQ forwarded the IMTRAT CAS request to the
IAF HQ. The pilots could see the massive snow capped Chomolhari peak to their left as they
headed out north. The onboard RWRs were now screeching with warning sounds as the
Indian pilots realized that they were being detected by long range radars based in the plains
of Tibet. But that could not be helped now. An RBA unit along with Indian advisors was
being crushed by the Chinese APC assisted mobile forces in the three lakes region as it was
known.

The flight leader’s sharp eyes noted the massive Dochen Tso Lake to the northwest beyond
the Chomolhari peak and saw the line of peaks that separated Bhutan from Tibet. They had
their location on satellite navigation assistance in their cockpits, but the mark one eyeball
was still needed as much as it had been a century ago. Two minutes later they were within
visual range of the three lakes just beyond the peaks. They were now flying over the
Chumbi valley and the RWRs were screeching madly as the anti-air units of two Chinese
Divisions noted the presence of unfriendly aircraft in the blue skies above...

AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHERN ARUNACHAL PRADESH

DAY 4 + 1625 HRS (L)

It was above the slight humming noise of the engines outside that the Mission Controller
rubbed his eyes as he looked at the screen again. The two groups of Sukhois, one from the
indian side and the other from the Chinese, were moving parallel to each other but in
opposite directions. The twelve Chinese SU-27s and SU-30s, which the Phalcon radar had
detected amongst the group of inbounds a few second ago were moving south towards the
Indian Phalcon and were currently above the Subansiri sector of Arunachal Pradesh. The
opposing group of 8 Sqn Sukhois were moving northeast and were above the Se-La pass,
far to the west and well out of BVR range.

To the east the J-7B threat had been neutralized at heavy cost by the Indian Mig-21s. The
last two J-7s that had made a run for home had lost out when their fuel had run out before
crossing the Chaukan Pass peaks. Their ejections had been noted on the radar screens
aboard the Phalcon and the single Embraer AEW aircraft that were providing the ISR
network over the region. Another aircraft, this time an ARC B-707, was mysteriously
loitering to the southeast just next to the hills of Kohima in Nagaland on SIGINT duties to
investigate the possibility of incoming threats from that direction.

Bhutan had been dragged into the war by now and that had made the other neighbors
wary. The Myanmar government was currently trying to play both sides of the fence, and it
was only a matter of time before one of the two sides in the conflict decided to take matters
into their hands...

THE AIRBASE PERIMETER

DAULAT BEG OLDI
LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 1620 HRS (L)

Yet another flight of Jaguars was currently bombarding the Chinese forward units with
cluster munitions. But by now the Chinese anti-air vehicles had caught up. With the
darkness of the night suddenly beginning to envelop the high mountains, the battle for the
Karakoram pass and Daulat Beg Oldi had reached a stalemate. The skies above were being
ruled by IAF fighters but they could not go too far north beyond the LAC before taking out
the few remaining S-300 systems that remained along with the remaining numbers of SU-
27s running interference. Besides that, the attacks by Chinese cruise missiles against Leh
and some other high value targets was increasing and proving difficult to stop.

The IAF had employed its entire might to stop the vast convoys of vehicles and tanks that
were rolling against the Indian defenders in several sectors in Laddakh. It was an effort that
had proven costly and getting costlier by the minute as the vast numbers of Chinese anti-air
units began taking their toll on the Indian crews...
Brigadier Adesara looked silently through his binoculars as he saw the rapidly darkening
valley lit up with a battery of sparks to the east as yet another few Chinese vehicles fell
prey to cluster munitions dropped by an attacking Jaguar. The rumble passed beneath the
feet of the Indian soldiers manning the defences around DBO a few seconds later. It was
now possible to see the lines of tracers of directed anti-air gunfire that was filling the skies
and seemingly increasing by the minute as the Chinese attempted to swat the Jaguars from
the skies above as if they were flies distracting them from their main job of surging ahead...

It was therefore a sign of big relief for Brigadier Adesara and Colonel Sudarshan when the
first group of four BMP-IIs from the 10TH Mechanized Regiment vanguard rolled over into
view to the southwest as they headed towards the shattered remains of the airbase. They
were rolling with their headlights off but the hatches still open as the evening yellowish
sunlight was still visible on the tips of the Karakoram peaks around the sector.

Then there was a flash of light that caused all Indian soldiers to look east to see the burning
debris of an Indian Jaguar hit by Chinese anti-air artillery falling out of the sky and hitting
the slopes where it disappeared into a fireball. No parachute was spotted. The other few
Jaguars pulled out a few seconds later after completing their attack run.

Adesara thanked the departing Jaguars for their attempts to hold back the Chinese hordes
from overrunning his Brigade defensive line. It had bought time at the cost of blood from
the Indian pilots and had allowed the Brigade to receive urgent reinforcements. Now the
10TH Mechanized was deploying into the field. If the Chinese tanks made a run for Daulat
Beg Oldi during the night, they would pay the price for it...

LEH AIRBASE
LADDAKH
DAY 4 + 1630 HRS (L)

The work had to be done quickly. The airbase was still under threat from the almost regular
Chinese cruise missile attacks and it only took one shot to make it lethal for a target as
large as the IL-76. It was therefore no surprise to W/C Dutt that it had taken so long for his
airlift to take place. What had been planned for the morning had taken till evening even as
the temperature dropped and only the mountain tips were still illuminated by the fading
sunlight.The Chinese are scoring high on that account with their cruise missiles...Dutt
thought as he walked down the ramp of the IL-76 onto the cold concrete tarmac of the
airfield.
He was watching even as the first of the two LCH helicopters were manhandled out of the
belly of the IL-76 by the ground crewmen who were literally pushing the feather-light bird
out on the tarmac. The main rotor and tail rotor blades had been removed. Other crewmen
were removing the containers holding the equipment and maintenance supplies. Yet others
were removing the live weapon rounds and ammunition. The CO of the resident Cheetah
helicopter unit, the ‘Siachen Pioneers’, was standing alongside as his men helped the
officers of the newly inducted 199HU to get oriented with the base.

Dutt looked around. The base was a scene of hectic acticity, as was to be expected since the
region was under total war. Every few seconds Cheetah, ALH and Mi-17s were continuously
lifting off the airbase and climbing away to the east despite the impending darkness. All
crews had been issued with the NVG helmets by now, but they were in short supply. Every
inch of the tarmac on the other side of the airbase was occupied by lines of AN-32s and IL-
76s that were flying in rapidly needed supplies and fresh units to join the battle. It was a
high tech scene that was strangely also reminiscent of the 62 war, Dutt realized. History
repeated itself...

By now the first LCH had already been moved to a cleared section of the tarmac and the
ground crewmen along with the HAL supervisors that had come along in the IL-76 flight
from Bangalore were busy installing the main rotor blades on the helicopters while others
were already refuelling the tanks. All the while the former test pilots from Bangalore who
were now operational pilots of 199HU were collaborating with the operational pilots of
114HU over maps lit up by hand held torches alongside the parked LCH.

By the time the base CO and some other senior officers from Western Air HQ were getting
off their vehicles nearby to talk to W/C Dutt and the future employment of his gunships, the
first two of the six deadly LCHs of 199HU were parked alongside on the tarmac , getting
ready for war...

THE TIBET-BHUTAN BORDER

FOOTHILLS 16KM SOUTH OF DOCHEN TSO
NORTHEAST OF CHUMBI-VALLEY
BHUTAN
DAY 4 + 1650 HRS (L)

The leading ZBD staggered to a halt after a jarring explosion ripped through its hull. A
column of flames burst out of the hatches even as thick black smoke filled the air. The two
man RBA team manning the Carl-Gustav launcher dived back under cover after taking the
shot just before the ground around their positions churned with impacting cannon rounds
from other Chinese vehicles...

The three platoons of ZBDs had stopped advancing a small distance away from the RBA
trenches even as two other platoons had bypassed to the north and south of the RBA
positions and were continuing to move eastward towards the foothills and the three lake
region. They had already destroyed and overrun the RBA Company HQ positions and
destroyed what few supporting trucks and jeeps the RBA had behind them. As of now there
was nothing to stop the Chinese advance to the east other than scattered sections of
Bhutanese soldiers. The only positions holding out were the prepared trench lines where the
RBA Lt-Colonel and the IMTRAT Major were trying to organize a holding battle.

To make matters worse, the Chinese mechanized infantry that were advancing along with
the ZBDs had now debussed and taken positions alongside their vehicles and were
supporting their vehicles with rifle fire. The mortar rounds that were falling around the RBA
trenches were only adding to the chaos on the Bhutanese side...

It was the Bhutanese Lt-Colonel who first spotted the Indian aircraft overhead even as the
blue skies had by now turned pinkish during the twilight. He shouted above the sounds of
the gunfire to the Indian Major who looked up from the sights of his INSAS rifle to see the
new sounds entering the air around them...

************************

The four Mig-27s were now in a racetrack pattern as each aircraft dived into the fray. The
flight leader was in the first aircraft and he pushed his aircraft into a shallow dive and pulled
up just after releasing the first of his iron bombs. The less fancy version of the modern
weapons, the iron bombs were nonetheless extremely powerful when aimed properly. The
flight leader had aimed for the groups of mortar teams that were supporting the Chinese
platoons and the line of bombs from the pylons hit the ground in distinct groups, sending
massive thunderclaps through the sector that abruptly silenced the incoming Chinese
mortar rounds, much to the cheer of the besieged RBA soldiers below.

Even as the flight leader pulled away from a hailstorm of anti-aircraft artillery fire that
followed him up, the next Mig-27 began its dive. This one aimed for one of the ZBD platoon
that had bypassed the RBA positions to the south and was racing for the Bhutanese peaks
east of the three lakes. These were mobile targets, so the first choice of weapons for this
type of target would have been LGBs, but they were not available at the moment. So the
next option was the CBUs. The pilot selected his CBUs and released his entire load in
selective drops that scattered the deadly shrapnel over the entire sector below. By the time
he pulled away, three of the four ZBDs were dead in their tracks...

*************************

But the Chinese Mech.-Inf. Commander was no fool. He knew the reason why the Mig-27s
had not attacked the ZBD platoons directly opposite the RBA trenches: they were too close
to the RBA positions. He decided to force the issue further even as he directed all ZBDs and
their supporting infantry to advance and overrun the RBA positions. If they took prisoners
along the way, it would only help his cause at the moment even as he watched the ZBD
platoon to the northeast of the three lakes also get mauled by the savage attacks of the
remaining two Mig-27s...

The Indian Major saw through the Chinese intentions as he watched the ZBDs emitting
smoke from the exhausts and moving forward, their supporting infantry moving behind,
taking cover behind their vehicles. There was no choice now. If the RBA Company was to
see the next sunrise tomorrow, there was only one option left. He looked over to the Lt-
Colonel before picking up the radio next to him...

AIRSPACE ABOVE THE TIBET-BHUTAN BORDER

FOOTHILLS 16KM SOUTH OF DOCHEN TSO
NORTHEAST OF CHUMBI-VALLEY
BHUTAN
DAY 4 + 1710 HRS (L)

“You want us to do what?!” the Mig-27 flight leader said incredulously over the R/T even as
he banked away sharply after yet another strafing run on the Chinese vehicles, leaving one
ZBD staggering and smoking as the dust and gravel settled in his wake.
“You heard me! Bring fire down on right in front of our positions here. We are being
overrun!” the IMTRAT Major’s voice came over the sounds of the afterburning engines as
the Wing Commander flying the lead Mig-27 pulled back in the air to shuttle altitude and
lose the anti air artillery flying all around him. By this time he was already levelled out and
racing northwards over the Dochen Tso while conducting a pitch out manoeuvre to make
another run.

“You realize what you are doing, don’t you?” the pilot asked yet again. The voice was sober.
With less than a hundred yards separating the Chinese soldiers from the friendlies, the
attack was extremely risky. The response he got was unexpectedly to the point:

“Yeah, well, we are out of options down here! I have enemy tanks about to roll over us and
we are down to throwing stones at them in about a minute! Unless you have a better idea,
bring in everything you got on my position. We are in entrenched positions, so use
something that won’t penetrate too deep and we might even see the next sunrise. Over and
out!” the R/T clicked off.

God help you boys...The Wing Commander said as he finished the pitch out and levelled on
the required bearing. He pressed the MFD to select external pylon CBUs from the load-out
screen even as he again passed through the small puffs of smoke beginning to erupt around
him. By this time the sun was down behind the peaks to the west and so he could see the
pillars of tracer lit rounds flying around him with distinct ‘thuds’ ringing in his ears.

On the ground below, the IMTRAT Major and the remaining soldiers of the RBA Company in
the trenches were down to firing off their last rounds. The Major fired off his last clip in his
INSAS and even as he was searching for the next magazine, he heard saw the light flashing
off the wings of the Mig-27 flying directly above followed by a light sparkling distribution of
sub-munitions in its wake. A second later the ground shook with explosions above where
the Chinese were mere dozens of yards away from the RBA trench lines and a blast of sand,
dust and smoke went through the trenches like a wave and the Major was knocked down
where he stood by the sheer power of the shockwaves...

THE TIBET-BHUTAN BORDER

FOOTHILLS 16KM SOUTH OF DOCHEN TSO
NORTHEAST OF CHUMBI-VALLEY
BHUTAN
DAY 4 + 1715 HRS (L)

By the time the four Mig-27s reengaged afterburners and were streaking away to the south,
the massive cloud of smoke and dust was settling near the three lakes region again. The
sounds of the gunfire had died down. The sounds of the aircraft engines disappeared. The
pillars of tracers filling the skies stopped doing so, and the only sounds present were those
left by the furiously raging fires of the Chinese ZBDs burning a distance away from the now
silent RBA trenches...
For several minutes thereafter the sector remained silent, the darkness of the night
punctuated by the fires around. And then the man made sounds re-emerged. The first Mi-17
to touch down near the trenches again sent another cloud of dust flying in the air. By the
time other Mi-17s were flying overhead, the sounds of the Chinese soldiers shouting at each
other was more dominant. By the time these soldiers were clearing the bodies of their dead
comrades and moving through the silent RBA trenches, with rifles aimed at shoulder level
and pointed for any remaining threat, a line of trucks and vehicles were moving beyond to
the east towards the three lakes region.

There were minor sectors of resistance for the Chinese along the way, but nothing that
wasn’t brushed aside. The bottom line was that this sector was a crucial flank for the
Chinese in the Chumbi Valley region. They had been willing to secure it at the cost of
pushing a neutral country into war. In both goals they had succeeded. They had paid a very
stiff price along the way at the hands of the few defenders that stood between them and
their objectives. And they were bitter about it. The sounds of single shots going off within
the abandoned trenches as the Chinese soldiers cleared them were ignored by their officers.
Unsurprisingly, no prisoners were “seen” alive nor were reported thereafter.

By that time the Chinese flag was fluttering in the stiff winds near the three lakes region
even as the Bhutanese Government were already talking to their Indian counterparts on
how Bhutan could assist in breaking the massive Chinese aggression that had now reached
their borders with ruthless and sudden brutality...

AIRSPACE OVER THE INDIAN NORTHEAST

DAY 4 + 1720 HRS (L)

The simultaneous release of sixteen Astra BVRAAMs was tracked by the crews of the eight
Indian sukhoi crews over the snow capped peaks of the Se-La even as the last rays of the
run disappeared behind a red sky to the west. The missile looped into the sky into a
parabola and disappeared over from view. By now the sunlight had vanished to a degree
that the Indian crews had lowered their NVGs in anticipation of the coming fight. The
Chinese SU-27s had taken their time, but were now spoiling for a fight. But as it was
happening, the Indian SU-30s had manoeuvred to the enemy’s five position thanks to a
massive manoeuvring exercise by the Phalcon flight controllers and the massive endurance
of the Sukhoi, both of which were advantages.

With an eighty degree lateral offset and at extreme range of their own radars, the Chinese
pilots had been blind except for their single Tupolev TU-154 “CARELESS” EW support bird
that immediately noticed the activation of the Sukhoi radars to the rear of their own
fighters. The Chinese response was quick and the flight of SU-27/30s immediately broke
formation, dropped chaff all over the skies and dived for the deck while attempting to
simultaneously reorient towards the new threat to the rear. A few second later five SU-27s
were blown out of the skies above Arunachal Pradesh by the volley of Astras. Obviously not
the kind of losses the Indians had hoped to drop on the Chinese after such careful planning.
Now missiles were flying everywhere and both sets of fighters were headed for a knife fight
in visual range...

“Damn that Tupolev crew!” the Phalcon MC shouted for all to hear inside the cabin of the
aircraft as he saw what was happening now. He calmed down and turned towards the radar
operators:

“Do we have anything that we can use to take out that damn commie EW support bird?!”

“We have two of the remaining Mig-21s at Chabua reporting ready status, but I am not sure
they can range that far north...” one of the junior operators said over from his console.

“They don’t need to be manoeuvrable. We are detecting no other commie fighters other
than the ones that are now fully committed to this fight. We have one lumbering support
aircraft to the north and that’s it. We have a window open here. All that those Migs need is
fuel and two solid BVR rounds and perhaps some EW pods. Let’s get them going on that.
Improvise the ops, people. That’s the only way we are going to get through this alive. We
don’t have that much time.

This thing will be over within minutes...”

CHABUA AIRBASE
EASTERN ASSAM
INDIA
DAY 4 + 1723 HRS

The two concerned Mig-21s were sitting at the Operational Readiness Platform or ORPs at
Chabua even as one group of airmen were removing the loaded R-77 rounds from the inner
wing pylons while another group were bringing forward the trolley mounted fuel tanks to
replace the removed rounds. A third R-77 was removed and was being replaced by an EW
pod. All through this the pilots were already strapping into the cockpits assisted by other
airmen. It was essentially like a race car pit crew that the people operated. When
turnarounds on returning aircraft were the key to operations, no other way could work.

A few minutes later the senior sergeant on the ground visually inspected the new load-out
and showed a thumbs-up to the pilots who nodded and immediately spooled up the engines
before rolling for takeoff...
AIRSPACE OVER EASTERN ASSAM
INDIA
DAY 4 + 1725 HRS

The two Mig-21s were climbing steadily over the foothills of the Great Himalayas even as
they headed northeast, away from the raging air battle between Indian and Chinese Sukhois
to the west. The pilots checked fuel usage: they were using up the external fuel tanks
first...

By this time the skies to the east were a shade of dark blue and no stars were visible. On
either side of the cockpit glass the inhabited regions of the Assam plains were visible as
clusters of lights against a black surface. The silhouettes of the Himalayas were still visible
with their western slopes lit by the fading reddish light. A beautiful sight...the flight leader
thought. But time to return to war...

He lowered his helmet mounted NVGs and that brought a whole new vision in front of his
eyes. The colourfully lit villages on the Assam valley were now large sources of greenish
light that even turned the night into a green screen. The stars suddenly became visible
almost as if they were light bulbs that had turned on. The Himalayas remained as dark as
they were, but now were more clearly silhouetted against the greenish background.

The Mig-21s were burning the external fuel fast as they built up forward velocity and
altitude. The engine was roaring but the indigenously developed active noise cancellation
helmets removed that source of noise from the pilot’s ears. The HUD showed a climb angle
that was steady, attitude stable and forward velocity and altitude increasing. The external
fuel tankage level indicators were on their way down. A minute later the two Mig-21s broke
through the twenty five thousand feet altitude level and that made the pilots bring their
aircrafts on a zero climb angle. Now the aircraft was flying level...and the rate of increase of
forward velocity increased.

Several minutes later the external fuel tanks were dry and the aircraft were cruising at very
high subsonic velocities. That was when the pilots flipped over a switch to separate the
source of unnecessary drag and four long, empty drop tanks punched off their pylons and
separated into the slipstream behind the two aircraft over Chinese airspace.

A few seconds after that the two pilots were pushed into their seats as the afterburners lit
and the two Mig-21s went supersonic over Chinese airspace...

AIRSPACE OVER TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION OF CHINA

DAY 4 + 1735 HRS

While the battle over the Se-La skies was being fought, the single TU-154 EW support
aircraft loitered over the beautiful vegetated valleys of what had been the real eastern
Tibet. On board the aircraft the crew of Chinese EW officers were silently and professionally
manning their consoles as they attempted to support their charges, the Su-27s, fighting for
their lives to the south over Indian airspace.

Flying to their north was a single KJ-2000 AWACS aircraft on radar picket duty coordinating
the air defences of the region. The TU-154 was under the protection of this latter aircraft
and its supporting squadron of J-8IIs. On the ground below were HQ-9 SAM batteries
deployed across the region, but their deployment was hindered by the presence of the
massive Tibetan peaks.

Nevertheless, the defences were formidable. Approaching this force were the two Indian
Mig-21s armed with one R-77 and one Israeli made EW pod each, being guided to their
target by the Phalcon AWACS flying to the south over Assam. The only other weapons the
two Indian pilots inside the Mig-21 cockpits had was the element of surprise. They, along
with their squadron, had just tangled with the J-7Bs east of Chabua. That battle had seen
massive losses in Mig-21s for the Indian side even as the entire J-7B force had been
decimated either through a lack of fuel to return to base or falling prey to Indian missiles.
Nevertheless, the Chinese probably would not expect them to be back in the skies so soon
after taking such losses. If anything, they would have been expected to go in support of
their own side to the west for the Se-La battle. In fact, they would be expected to be flying
CAPs over their airbases after receiving such losses, not penetrating one of the most heavily
defended airspace west of Chengdu...

The sheer audacity of the operation was in fact the very key to its success. Hitting the
enemy exactly where they didn’t expect to be hit was crucial. But executing the operation
was not so simple. The two aircraft were going up against a dedicated EW support aircraft,
and that meant they could not activate their own radars until the very last moment. That
made them passive, dependent on the Phalcon radar picture and somewhat vulnerable to
what lay far to the north across the vastness of China. They could not activate their EW
pods pre-emptively, or else they would give their game away indirectly. Only when they had
been engaged by hostile forces were they to go active on both their radars and self defence
jammers. Given this situation, the two pilots could not help but feel naked even as they flew
ever so deeper into Chinese airspace, their only other source of information being their
RWRs, which had already detected the emissions from the KJ-2000 to the far north. As each
second passed, and they neared their intended target without anything happening, the
tension in the cockpit increased...

Two minutes away from being close enough to take their R-77 shot at relative close range,
the RWRs on board the two Mig-21s started cheeping indicating that a flight of J-8IIs had
activated radars to the north and were painting them even as they headed straight towards
the two Indian aircraft. The game was up. The KJ-2000 had detected the two intruders and
now the enemy cavalry was closing in...

The two Mig-21s did not budge away from their flight-path. Their job was not done, and
they weren’t going home empty handed. Deep inside enemy airspace, the two pilots finally
activated their EW pods and went active on their missile guidance radars...

AIRSPACE OVER TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION OF CHINA

DAY 4 + 1745 HRS

Take the shot...Take the shot...a voice inside the flight leader was saying even as his middle
finger rested on the launch button without actually depressing it. Every second of delay
meant greater chances of killing the target. But give it too much time, and if they got too
close then chances were that the enemy EW aircraft would adapt to the threat and jam the
Mig-21 radars. It would also mean that they were giving the J-8IIs more time to engage.
Optimization of this problem was key.

“BLUE-FIVE. Taking the shot...now!” the flight leader shouted over the R/T and pressed the
button that sent a shudder through the cockpit as the R-77 round fell off the pylon, lit its
motor and boosted it away. A second later the other Mig-21 released the round as well and
the two missiles were away.

*****************

Fifty kilometres to the north, the TU-154 crew were yanking their aircraft to its limits to deal
with the sudden and unexpected threat that had appeared to their south. Even as the EW
operators behind were shouting at each other and trying to deal with the two missiles
heading for them, the pilot and co-pilot had already pushed the engines to full throttle, and
were diving as best as the lumbering transport would allow. They had received warning of
the threat from the KJ-2000 crew two minutes ago, and that provided barely enough time to
react on an airliner. Inside the cockpit they could hear the chatter from the J-8II pilots that
were attempting to engage the two Indian intruders even as they raced on full afterburners.
But it wasn’t enough...

A few seconds later the flight crew on the TU-154 were shaken in their seats as the first
Indian missile slammed into the vertical stabilizer of the aircraft and all of a sudden the
cabin to the rear was peppered with shrapnel punctures. These killed a good number of the
EW operators where they sat, and sent fires raging through the equipment a second before
the cabin suddenly depressurized and the aft fuselage blew apart under the pressure
release. By this time all pilot control was gone inside the cockpit cabin even as the aircraft
minus its aft section fell from the skies. The horizon had disappeared from the cockpit and
had been replaced by the black mountains below.

It was therefore a case of mercy killing for the flight crew when the second R-77 slammed
into what remained of the aircraft and this time the aircraft disintegrated in mid air...

******************

The extremely small speck of white light in the night sky being amplified by the NVGs was
cue for the Indian pilots that the job was done. Their radar display said the same thing. By
now their RWRs were screaming of inbound threats all around them, they had no weapons
to release other than cannon rounds and the fuel levels were reducing. As a result, there
was every motivation for the two Indian pilots to break flight, dive for the deck, throw chaff
and flares all over the sky and begin praying that their fuel would last the extended low
level flight through the mountain valleys back to Indian airspace...

AIRSPACE OVER EASTERN ASSAM

DAY 4 + 1805 HRS

There was a raucous cheer from the radar console operators on board the Phalcon when the
“CARELESS” support for the Chinese SU-27s suddenly disappeared from their screens. But a
few seconds after that it was business as usual. There were several crises at hand. The two
Mig-21s over Chinese airspace that were now screeching for Indian controlled airspace were
being “chased”, in a manner of speaking, by a flight of J-8IIs from the north. The Indian
aircraft were ‘weapons empty’ and low on fuel. And there was no support available at the
moment other than alerting a Akash SAM Battery near Tezu that possible J-8IIs were
inbound.

To the west the Se-La battle was winding down. Four Chinese SU-27s had disengaged from
the flight followed by a similar disengagement by five survivors of the eight Indian SU-30s.
Three of these were low on fuel and now over Bhutanese airspace where they were to meet
with an Indian IL-78 escorted by Mirage-2000s that were moving there now.

Bhutanese airspace had become "officially" available for Indian operations several minutes
previously, when the Bhutanese government had expressed complete and unconditional
support for the Indian Armed Forces in response to the invasion of their territory in the
Chumbi valley by the Chinese ground forces and the subsequent massacre of the RBA units
in the three-lake region few hours before...

IV CORPS TACTICAL HQ (RELOCATED)

FOOTHILLS OF THE GREAT HIMALAYAN RANGE
NORTH OF TEZPUR
DAY 4 + 2005 HRS

“The human tragedy continues to unfold today as the stream of civilians made their way
from their homes in Tawang and the surrounding villages to the south in large convoys of
Indian Army trucks even as soldiers continue to pour into the region over the Se-La pass.
Even as the night begins on the fourth day of the war, the actual ground war remains
restricted to the Laddakh, the borders of Bhutan and the eastern tips of Arunachal Pradesh,
there is an uneasy tension in the Tawang sector and unnamed sources confirmed the
presence of at least three Chinese Divisions massing north of the Border...”

“You hearing this?” the Defence Minister asked over from his conference room in the skies
above Madhya Pradesh while General Yadav motioned to the Lieutenant in the command
trailer to switch off the streaming media reports. Yadav was sitting in the command trailer
in the Himalayan foothills along with his two senior officers, including Lt-Gen Suman, the
EAC Commander and Lt-Gen Chatterjee, the IV Corps Commander. Yadav leaned back in his
chair before looking at the Defence Minister and nodded in the affirmative.

“General, I don’t need to remind you of the sensitivity of the situation. The media cannot be
allowed access to such sensitive border areas just yet. How on earth did they get those
nuggets of information on exact Chinese units?” the Defence Minister said. Yadav looked at
a Brigadier standing nearby who happened to be on Chatterjee’s staff as a General Staff
Officer (Intelligence), or GSO(I):

“Sir, the order to evacuate Tawang was issued on the open local radio once the ground war
erupted. The streams of Internally Disrupted Persons or IDPs is enormous. Tawang is not
the size it was in 62. These IDPs are being moved to camps north of Tezpur so as to leave
the entire mountain passes open to us to move logistics on the single arterial road over the
Se-La. This massive displacement of civilians cannot be hidden from the media who have
already reached the camps I mentioned to interview people. As far as the number of
Chinese units mentioned in the reports, the unnamed sources etc is clearly false mainly
because they don’t need these so called sources. The Chinese have been broadcasting their
‘numerical superiority’ over the open civilian radio for the last day as a means to undermine
the morale of the civilians under our care. They are talking about the 62 war and how they
intend to repeat the performance if we don’t end our aggression towards the Chinese people
etc. It’s all part of their pre-battle psychological operations, nothing more. It should be
disregarded as such.” The GSO said.

“Unfortunately, our media is taking their word as gospel and our refutations as propaganda.
I have already spoken to the PM and the President about invoking some strict wartime
control on the media release if this attitude continues. We cannot allow our own media to
subvert our morale. All right, what do we have?” the Defence Minister asked. This time
Yadav took the question:

“Basically speaking, we are putting the final pieces in our defensive lines in the Tawang
sector as we speak. The Chinese have been very generous in terms of time for this sector
and we don’t know why. But we are thankful for it. Unlike the Laddakh, Sikkim, Bhutan or
eastern AP fronts, this is one front where we are almost completely ready and that too
because we had the necessary units around Tawang to begin with, unlike the other sectors.
The Chinese are supposed to have three Division plus units. We have the 5TH Mountain
Division in the field and elements of the 21ST Infantry deployed and continuing to deploy.
These will take the main brunt of the Chinese attack, but for defensive purposes, they
should be sufficient. In any case, we expect the Chinese attack to begin sometime
tomorrow. And we expect them to break their teeth against our defences here.”

“That’s good news, General. Okay, what about the Sikkim front?”

“I am about to head over to Siliguri in a few minutes along with Lt-Gen Suman after this
meeting to meet the XXXIII Corps GOC with regard to the Bhutanese involvement. We will
get briefed in more detail on what the situation is over there but his Corps is in the field.
Operation CHIMERA was supposed to be moving already but the Chinese have frustrated
our efforts by involving the Bhutanese into the fight. Now we have to divert resources to
help the Bhutanese Army mobilise along their borders where the skirmishes between their
forces and the Chinese Border Guard units has already erupted along their northern border
with Tibet. These are more a result of the bitterness and anger over what happened in the
three lakes region this afternoon rather than a concerted battle plan. Either way, we are
getting unnecessarily sucked into Bhutan when we should be using the time to launch
offensives of our own.” Yadav said. The Defence Minister nodded:

“I agree. We just got handed a report from the Bhutanese asking for helicopter airlift
support to lift some three RBA Battalions from their bases to the remote frontiers of their
border with Tibet. I spoke with the Air Force people here and they said that if CHIMERA is
supposed to happen, they do not have the airlift capability to support the Bhutanese and
our own units at the same time. Something has to give way. I suppose the Chinese
expected this very thing to happen, didn’t they?”

“Indeed. The whole idea was to enrage the Bhutanese ground forces with some provocation
so that they become a liability for us in a sector where we are in a position to take the fight
to the enemy. Smart buggers, these commies. And while we waste time supporting the
Bhutanese, the Chinese are rushing their 11 Division to support the 5 Division forces
already inside Chumbi valley with rumours of another Division en route. If CHIMERA is to be
a success at all, we need to move within the next few hours.” Yadav said.

“Noted, General. I will be talking with the Bhutanese officials in an hour or so. I am going to
stress the need for them to calm down and approach this situation objectively. We may
need to provide some support to them, so make sure you do keep some of your forces
earmarked for CHIMERA on their toes for possible redeployment inside Bhutan...” the
Defence Minister said, and then a thought occurred to him that caused him to lay back in his
chair and smile broadly before continuing:

“Or through Bhutan...”

2x MI-26 HELICOPTERS
YUMTHANG VALLEY
NORTHEAST OF LACHUNG
SIKKIM
DAY 4 + 2105 HRS

The massive blades of the Mi-26 whipped through the thin and cold mountain air of Sikkim
as two of the massive beasts of helicopters made their way through the valleys of Sikkim.
Their massive size made them stick out as dark silhouettes against the starlit night sky
behind them and their rotor noise left no one unsure of their presence. But it didn’t matter.
The skies were secure. Overhead, and far to the north, three Mirage-2000s were
maintaining BARCAP over northern Sikkim. No, the pilots of the two Mi-26s had other things
on their minds rather than security against enemy aircraft...

The vibration inside the cockpits of the two Mi-26 was relatively high. The engines were
groaning at the high altitudes and the pilots could almost count the single “whoop” noise of
each massive blade as it passed over the cockpit thanks to the low RPM of the Mi-26 main
rotor. The pilots were somewhat uneasy about the altitudes but otherwise accustomed to
the dangers. They were flying in the Yumthang valley at an altitude of 10000 feet above sea
level. On top of that they were carrying a relatively heavy payload.

The two pilots on board each helicopter were flying with their helmet mounted NVGs guiding
them through the darkness of the night. They were below the mountain peaks on each side,
and that left little margin for error and manoeuvre inside the valley. If something happened
to those protecting Mirages, there was little that the Mi-26 crews could do to protect
themselves against an enemy air threat. But that was not new either...

“Okay, we are three minutes out!” the co-pilot shouted over the sounds of the cockpit noise
to the pilot and the flight engineer after reading the data on his MMD. The latter crew
member was carefully monitoring the engine readings on both D-136 engines for signs of
danger. At these altitudes, nothing was left for chance. Nor could it be.

“FEATHER-HEAVY-ONE to FEATHER-HEAVY-TWO. We are three minutes out. Do you

confirm?” the pilot said into his R/T mouthpiece even as he strained his neck to the left to
see the other helicopter flying a kilometre behind them in the valley.

“Roger. We confirm. Three minutes out. Over” the R/T squawked and then went silent. The
pilot then turned to the right and turned to look down the cavernous interior of his
helicopter to see the Load Master looking towards him from inside the empty cabin. The
pilot brought up three fingers and the Load Master, who was an AF Sergeant, nodded and
lifted three fingers as well. He then got up and began moving down the belly of the
helicopter after ensuring that he had strapped himself to the airframe with the safety line.
The rear loading ramp was not open, but that was about to change...

“One minute out, scanning for visual!” the co-pilot shouted again. This time both the crew
members began looking keenly through their NVGs. The greenish-black sides of the valley
seen through the night-visions systems were bleak to say the least, but that changed when
a massive flashlight of sorts began flickering on and off from a certain region up the
valley...

“I have visual! IR strobe confirmed!” the pilot shouted for all to hear. He switched his R/T
frequencies:

“FEATHER-HEAVY-ONE to FEATHER-HEAVY-TWO. We have confirmed IR strobe visual and

DZ sighted. We are inbound. Out” He then turned to his co-pilot: “Open the doors!”

The co-pilot nodded and then strained to look to his back down the cabin to see the Load
Master standing near the doors and giving him thumbs up. The co-pilot then turned back
and flipped a switch. This caused vibrations inside the cockpit as the ramp doors in the rear
opened. Normally, this was not done until the helicopter was actually on the ground. But
with the cargo being carried, and the nature of the DZ, this was necessary to provide the
Load Master the view he needed of the cargo and the drop area to ensure that both his
cargo and the people on the ground remained safe.

The Sergeant himself was wearing NVGs as was necessary for the job at hand. When the
massive read doors opened, the cabin was suddenly exposed to the biting cold of the
Himalayas. The Sergeant was already on his knees and leaning around the edge of the ramp
to see the under-slung cargo buffeting in the wind. A turn of the head and he could also see
the other Mi-26 flying just behind and to the right. Both helicopters were now lowering
speed and altitude...

On the ground below, soldiers of the Indian Army looked on as the two hovering beasts in
front of them caused a massive downwash that covered everything in gravel and snow. But
the cargo was finally here. The wheels of the Tatra vehicle touched down on the helipad
even as the Mi-26 hovered overhead. The Load Master on board the Mi-26 flipped his
control switch for the under-slung cargo and the tough ropes fell clean from their
attachment on the Mi-26. The cargo was on the ground.

A few minutes later the second Mi-26 had done the same and both helicopters were already
heading down the valley to the south. The Indian Army soldiers on the ground below,
however, were only starting. It took several more minutes before the first of the Pinaka
MLRS lurched forward on its own power and moved out of the helipad, followed by the other
vehicle. They cleared the helipad long before the second round of flights could begin...
LOHEGAON AIRBASE
PUNE
INDIA
DAY 4 + 2200 HRS

The Defence Minister stepped off the stairs and onto the concrete tarmac at the military side
of the airbase amidst hectic activity. The smell of aviation fuel was in the air even as the
engines of the aircraft they had been on were spooling down. The Prime Minister was
already on his way to the secure C3I facility at the Lohegaon AFB Base Operations Centre
from where he would be interacting with other government heads as needed. Everybody on
the civilian side of the government agreed that New Delhu was no longer safe after the
Chinese had tried and failed to decapitate the government on the first day of the war.

The Defence Minister and the Home Minister, though, disagreed. The Chinese had with them
the element of surprise four days ago. No longer. Now the IAF had secured a level of
superiority over the skies of Laddakh and the Aksai Chin and was beating back attempts by
the PLAAF to enforce their supremacy over the eastern skies. Over Tibet, only the belts of
S-300 surface to air missiles prevented the IAF from practically flying wherever they
pleased. If the Chinese launched a cruise missile from anywhere, the IAF would detect it
and provide enough warning to take cover. Besides, with the ground war fully under way in
Laddakh and the same about to start in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the Chinese had
enough to worry about on purely military grounds without trying to take out the political
targets behind the Indian armed forces. In fact, the former had been responsible for the
Chinese getting the strategic surprise over the Indian Army in any case, so why take out
targets that are basically helping your cause?

The Defence Minister looked around and saw another Embraer jet parked near their BBJ
aircraft of the IAF Communications Flight that was going to take him and the Home Minister
back to New Delhi while the Prime Minister and the President stayed in the secure facilities
in Pune. It would not prevent them from taking actions but when it came down to meeting
with foreign dignitaries, it should be done in a dignified manner exemplifying the calm
nature of the government and not from a military bunker. It was a point that had been lost
on the Prime Minister despite the explanations from the Home Minister and the Foreign
Minister, the latter of whom was in fact in Delhi even now, braving the dangers, whatever
they may be.
So now the Home and Defence Ministers were on their way back to Delhi to represent the
face of the government while all national addresses would be conducted by the PM from
Pune. The Defence Minister nodded his head in muted disgust even as he and his colleague
strapped their seatbelts on board the smaller VIP aircraft. Five minutes later an IAF
sergeant closed the doors of the Embraer from the inside and the aircraft began rolling on
the runway and after taking off the ground, headed to the north...
OPERATION SWITCHBLADE (PHASE-1)
2x AN-32 + 2x MIG-29
SKIES OVER THE NUBRA VALLEY
LADDAKH
INDIA
DAY 4 + 2225 HRS

The two sets of crews were not comfortable with their mission at the moment. The silence in
the cockpit was broken only by the humming noise of the two turboprops running on full
power and the odd communications chatter. Fact of the matter was, there had not been
enough time to plan this mission, and given the fluidity of the ground war happening in
Laddakh, the exact nature of the lines were not clear either. On top of that the mission
required flying in extremely difficult terrain in a lumbering transport.

The two AN-32s were from the No-25 Squadron, known as the Himalayan Eagles who knew
this terrain by heart. The squadron had been doing this job for decades, now. But peacetime
drops were not the same as wartime drops.Not by a long shot...the Pilot of the lead AN-32
thought to himself as he poured over the details of their flight profile...

The job description was simple: haul the cargo from Leh. Head to Saser. Make the drop.
Return. The execution of this job was more difficult than that. Saser lies in a deep valley of
the Shyok River, aligned mostly northwest to southeast. The two aircraft had to fly within
this valley to be low enough to make the drop without scattering the cargo. But the south-
eastern tip of this approach was less than eighteen kilometres from the LAC. On top of that,
the fighting between the Indian and Chinese Infantry in those mountains had been chaotic
enough that the exact locations and status of units were just blurs on a map. In fact, the
exact battle lines were unclear at the moment but were thought to be concentrated east of
the village of Sul Tan Chuskhu, near the southeast tip of the expected tip of the AN-32 drop
approach.

To make matters worse, the northern S-300 batteries in the Aksai Chin were still active and
were proving to be a thorn on the IAF side. The battles between the SU-27s and Indian SU-
30s and Mirages were still fresh enough that nobody was laying claim to the skies just yet.
In other words, the skies were a neutral battlefield for the moment and were surely no place
for lumbering transports.
The only road link suitable for vehicle convoys from Leh to DBO via Shyok were crammed
with Indian Army vehicles and were fast becoming choke point. The relatively easy terrain
on the Chinese side meant that they had a larger number of tactical roads heading into the
mountains from their arterial road through the Aksai Chin. So the only way for the Indian
side to overcome this natural disadvantage was to use their superior airbase infrastructure
in the region as well as their superior airlift capabilities, even if it meant risky flights.

Operation SWITCHBLADE was the brainchild of the staff at IAF Headquarters and was a
proof of concept type operation being conducted in wartime. If it worked, it would provide
necessary and immediate support for the embattled Indian Brigades in the Laddakh
Mountains. If it didn’t, then there were other applications as well...

The R/T inside the cockpits squawked: “EAGLE-EYE-ONE to SWITCHBLADE-SUPPORT-ONE.

You are approaching Chinese FDR. Out” and then went silent. The Co-pilot looked to his left
to see the pilot who then looked back at the Flight Navigator:

“Okay, what’s our exact location?”

“Twenty kilometres east of Saser DZ entry approach” was the reply from the Navigator after
he consulted his charts the old fashioned way. The pilot looked at the co-pilot as he spoke:
“Okay, time for go.”

The pilot then changed frequencies before continuing: “SWITCHBLADE-SUPPORT-ONE to all

SWITCHBLADE-SUPPORT elements, execute approach realignment.”

The two Mig-29s providing top cover continued on their path but adjusted slightly to the
northeast vector so that they could follow their charges all the way east but still remaining
aligned with the assumed aerial threat vector from Kashgar. The two AN-32s, however, now
began their steep spiralling descent to low altitude. Thus far they had been high enough to
stay out of the range of man portable anti-air weapons, even as they flew over Indian
airspace. Now that was about to change...

“Keep your hands on those Flare Dispensers...” the pilot suggested to his co-pilot even as
both of them watched the mountains becoming larger as they descended.
“Don’t you worry, sir. I got my hand right on the button!” the co-pilot responded even as he
looked to his right to see out of the side cockpit glass and see the night-time mountains and
the numerous flashes of light everywhere along the LAC that showed the location of artillery
shelling taking place...

The two AN-32s were making what was in effect the Indian adaption of the Afghan Tactical
Approach. It was a technique developed by the soviets during their war in Afghanistan when
the threat from Stingers launched by the Mujahedeen against arriving and departing soviet
transports and fighters had reached a high enough value. The idea was that the arriving or
departing aircraft would approach the airbase from high enough altitude to be safe from
these missiles and once it entered a vertical cylinder of space around the airbase security
zone, would initiate a spiralling descent within the volume of that cylinder. All the while, the
aircraft would be dispensing flares to ward off missile threats. These tactics worked...to a
level.

“Approaching 16500 feet...” the co-pilot said as he read the altimeter. To his right he could
see mountain peaks near the Siachen that were now higher than they were.

“Roger. Levelling!” the pilot said back as the attitude of the aircraft was stabilized and they
entered a drop altitude above Saser and headed down the Saser valley towards Sul Tan
Chuskhu.

“Approaching Saser DZ. Visual acquisition and signal flares sighted! Go Red!” the pilot
shouted and the co-pilot pressed the button that opened the cargo doors in the back where
two JCOs were waiting for the order to start pushing the cargo out. The lights next to them
on the ramp now went red and they began pushing the equipment to the edge of the cargo-
hold...

“Drop in three...two...one! Go Green!” the pilot shouted and the co-pilot again pressed a
button and immediately saw back down to see the two JCOs who saw the light switch from
red to green and then began pushing the cargo out successfully. Several seconds later they
were clear and the second AN-32 was making its approach behind them over Saser...

The pilot and the co-pilot of the lead AN-32 were anxiously scanning the peaks around them
as their aircraft flew down the valley. They could see no activity but that meant nothing.
They were just waiting for the report from the Load Master that came a very long second
later:
“We are clean! All cargo deployed under open chutes!”

The pilot immediately shouted to his colleague next to him: “Okay. Go! Go! Launch flares.
Close the doors!”
While the co-pilot completed his tasks, the pilot was already pushing the throttles forward to
maximum and the engines were groaning under the strain even as the aircraft picked up
speed. The aircraft were now beginning their climb out of Saser valley, dropping flares all
the way until they had cleared the airspace and were heading back to the southwest. When
the aircraft had gone beyond 30000 feet, the egress was completed and the aircraft levelled
out. The pilot immediately reduced the power in the engines to cruise values while the co-
pilot checked the other instruments to see if there was any damage because of the strain of
their flight.

“I wouldn’t want to do that very often!” the co-pilot exclaimed after finally relaxing on their
flight back to Leh.

“Well, get used to it, my boy. We will be doing a lot more of those in the next few days.” the
pilot said without looking away from his controls...
OPERATION SWITCHBLADE (PHASE-2)
LEH AIRBASE
INDIA
DAY 4 + 2245 HRS

Wing Commander Dutt saw an AXE vehicle racing down the tarmac from the Flight
Operations centre towards where he and his pilots were standing next to their helicopters.
Dutt looked around to see the readiness of his crews and saw that the two LCHs, a single
ALH and two Mi-17s parked on the tarmac looked as ready as they could. The other four
LCHs under his ad-hoc 199HU were parked further away under camouflaged netting along
the edge of the tarmac: ready to lift off at a moment’s notice in case of another Chinese
cruise missile attack. The sounds of the rumbling engine of the AXE became louder and then
stopped a dozen meters from where they were standing and the Flight Operations
commander and the Base Commander jumped out even as Dutt approached them.

“Okay, the ground crews are reporting ninety percent recovery on all equipment dropped to
them. They had a few failed parachute deployments but nothing that would hamper your
operations.” The FOO said while the Base Commander looked on.

“So Phase-2 is a go?” Dutt asked the Base Commander when the FOO had finished.
“Immediately, as a matter of fact. Move out ASAP. I will talk to you once you have had a
chance to examine your AO. Go.”
“Yes Sir.” Dutt said even as he saluted and then turned to signal his men to move out.

Five minutes later the main rotor blades of the lead LCH began to rotate even as W/C Dutt
and his WSO were activating other instruments. No weapons other than the FFARs were
being carried as of now but were being taken to the Forward Area Rearming Point or FARP,
now renamed FARP-Saser, by ground convoy via Shyok up to the north.

A few minutes later the first LCH piloted by Dutt pulled off the tarmac under its own power
and was followed by the second helicopter and then the team of two Mi-17s and the single
ALH as all began their climb from the 10000 feet MSL at Leh to reach one of the highest
battlefields on earth...

PALAM AIRPORT
NEW DELHI
DAY 4 + 2315 HRS

The smoke spread through the air as the wheels of the Embraer touched down on the cold
concrete tarmac of the runway in the dead of the night. As the vibrations receded, the
Defense Minister thought about removing the cover from his window to see the airbase
outside, but then remembered that for national security reasons his aircraft windows had
been lowered. Nobody was supposed to know who came and went in the night from this
airport during wartime. If he wanted to see what was outside, he would have to wait a little
longer.

The young Air Force Sergeant had already unstrapped himself and was walking up and down
the central corridor of the aircraft in preparation for the arrival at the secure airbase
terminal. The Defence Minister could feel the aircraft turning as it rolled along on the
taxiway but otherwise the ride was smooth. He noticed the Home Minister yawning and
awakening from his short sleep since the time they had left Pune. The Defence Minister
thought it a good idea to garner as much sleep as possible since nobody knew when they
might be sleeping next. He cursed himself for not following the Home Minister’s lead on that
one.

The aircraft came to a halt a few seconds later and the cabin as filled with the sounds of the
engines spooling down. Finally the Defence Minister got up from his seat and walked down
to the front of the aircraft where the Sergeant had already opened the door. The coldness of
the winter night hit the two Ministers like a slap in the face, but it also brought a familiarity
with it that was welcome. The Defence Minister realized that they hadn’t been in Delhi for
almost three days now. The last time they had been here was when the Chinese missile
strike against the high level Indian Government targets was underway. And the signs of that
attack were still visible. As the two ministers stepped onto the concrete tarmac and looked
around, they could see one of the new terminal buildings that were nothing more than a pile
of rubble. Some of the wrecked ground vehicles were also nearby.

“Were there any casualties in that attack?” the Defence Minister asked the IAF Group
Captain who met them outside the aircraft. The latter looked at what the Defence Minister
was pointing to and shook his head:

“Only two injured. One of them seriously but he’s going to be all right.”

Before the Defence Minister could say anything else, the rumbling noise of two Mig-21s
taking off from the runway behind them filled the skies. The Group Captain motioned for
both the Ministers to head towards the two parked ALHs nearby that would take them to
South Block. Five minutes later the helicopters were spooling up while the two ministers sat
inside along with the Group Captain. The latter handed both of them headphones that
allowed them to talk over the sounds of the rotors. The Home Minister was the first to speak
to his comrade as the two helicopters lifted off:

“Suresh, I have arranged a meeting with Manish who says he has been in touch with the
Pakistani Ambassador over the issues taking place with the PAF provocations in Laddakh. I
think you should meet him as well. Do you want me to set it up in your office?”

The Defence Minister nodded. A meeting with the External Affairs Minister would clear up
the Pakistani angle on the ongoing war in Laddakh. About time too...he thought. The IAF
was none too pleased with having been distracted time and again by the Pakistani F-16s
when they were busy fighting the Chinese fighters. It was an issue that needed to be
solved...

“Okay. Assuming that the Pakistanis try to milk this situation for all its worth, we need to be
sure where the boundaries are. The Air Force Chief says that he can shut down the PAF
activities in Kashmir within a day of him being given the go ahead. The problem is, that
brings the war down to the western front and that’s something that we don’t want just yet.
We need to be sure about what the Pakistanis are up to.”
“Indeed. The question is: what if they are acting in collusion with the Chinese? I have a
RAW report that I will be going through in detail once we land that suggests high level
contact between Beijing and Islamabad within the last day or so. And based on what you
tell me, the Chinese are having a tough time at our hands in Laddakh. What if they try to
dissolve our strengths by pulling the Pakistanis into the mess?” the Home Minister asked.
The Defence Minister thought about that for a while before speaking:

“That’s a very real possibility. And I will have to talk to the Service Chiefs to see what we
can do to prevent the Pakistanis from taking any false steps in support of the Chinese. Fact
is, they are not going to be able to take ground from us at any point, but they can bog large
portions of the Army down on the western front. The Chinese know this, but the Pakistanis
don’t. The latter fools will jump headlong into the canyon just on the basis of mild Chinese
support or approval on the other side.

That’s exactly what makes them so dangerous...”

OPERATION SWITCHBLADE (PHASE-2)

LEH AIRBASE
INDIA
DAY 4 + 2355 HRS

The first LCH touched down at FARP-Saser just minutes before the fourth day of the war
ended and the fifth began. Even as the turbines spooled down, Wing Commander Dutt
jumped out of the cockpit and was adapting to the biting cold temperatures of Laddakh
while he scanned the surrounding terrain around his new home. FARP-Saser was just
astride the supply road that ran from Shyok to DBO to the north. The clearing nearby had
been cleared of large boulders and large sections had been cleared of gravel to provide
ground for the helicopters to operate from. Dutt looked eastwards and saw several
command trailers parked near the foot of the slopes of the massive peaks that ran almost
vertical from where he stood. Those trailers represented the new home for 199HU.

The two An-32s had dropped enough supplies to construct the FARP and a truck convoy had
brought in the equipment needed to operate the base. The two Mi-17s that had flown along
with the LCHs had brought in ground crews and other officers in charge of making sure that
the base never ran out of supplies or material. The trucks belonged to the Motor Transport
section at Leh and would be in charge of bringing in supplies to this location from now on.
With just two LCHs on hand, the base didn’t require too much anyway...
Dutt and his other officers jerked their heads to the west as they saw the sudden flash of
lights from the Smerch MLRS battery on the south side of the road triggering off another
round of rockets against some Chinese ground target beyond the LAC. Dutt smiled at the
sight of the massive flashes of light and smoke that lit up the valley even as he wore his
additional pair of gloves to keep his fingers from numbing. The road itself was filled with
literally dozens of trucks, armoured vehicles and other machines from the two Battalions of
the 10TH Mechanized Regiment that had now entered the sector around DBO airfield in
support of Brigadier Adesara’s embattled Infantry Battalions holding on to the airbase by a
thin string against Chinese armour.

By this time the ground crews were already in action and were removing the weapons
pallets from the trucks and bringing them over to the two parked LCHs. Fuel was being filled
from Aviation Fuel barrels that had been brought in as well. Others were loading the
trenches near the very edge of the hills with other critical supplies. Platoons of IAF police
were guarding the perimeter of the FARP because of the shortage of Infantry units for the
same. That worried Dutt a little bit despite the realization that the IAF Police were routinely
involved in such operations. But he rested easy after seeing the heavily armed nature of
policemen who were already patrolling the edge of the FARP with fully loaded INSAS rifles
and grenades...

Two officers were walking towards W/C Dutt even as he stared at the Himalayan Mountains
to the east. He noticed that one of the two men was his Operations officer and the other
was an Army Major.

“Sir, this is Major Narayana from Brigadier Adesara’s Operations Staff. He has been deputed
to act as liaison between us and the Brigadier.” The 199HU FO Officer said by way of
introductions.

“Nice t have you with us, Narayana. I assume you are here to brief us on the happenings on
the front?” Dutt asked as the three officers began walking away from the parked LCH and
towards the Command trailer. The Major nodded as he spoke:

“Yes sir. Brigadier Adesara sent me over to ensure that there is a continuous back and forth
flow of information from your unit back to his HQ near the airfield. Also, he would like to
speak with you as soon as possible.” Narayana said.
“Off course. But first, tell me what the FEBA situation is.” Dutt ordered politely.
“The 1ST and the 3RD Battalions of the 10TH Mechanized under Colonel Sudarshan are
currently deploying along the front amidst heavy fighting. The three Infantry Battalions in
the Brigade have taken severe losses but we are holding. The Air Force has proven decisive
in the battles. The landscape is littered with burning hulls of Chinese tanks. However, we
have lost twenty five BMPs so far and the Air Force has lost over three Jaguars in support of
the ground forces. Initial estimate of casualties on our side are around three hundred and
sixty five dead and wounded. And we are still counting.”

“Good god! What is the Chinese strength opposite our forces?” Dutt asked as they opened
the doors of the command vehicle and walked inside.

“We believe there are at least two Chinese Infantry Divisions backed by armour that are
involved in the attack as of now, but they are heavily under-strength given the losses they
have incurred. We believe a fresh Mechanized Division is being rushed to the sector from
Sinkiang, but are not sure where it is as of now. The S-300s near the Qara Tagh La and
northern Aksai Chin are effectively blocking all attempts by the Air Force to conduct attacks
against Chinese convoys reinforcing these under-strength Divisions. The artillery units under
these Divisions are now mere wreckage thanks to our Smerch units, but we are still to
locate the two Chinese Divisional Headquarters and other Brigade level headquarters. The
Chinese have proven very effective in camouflaging their locations from our UAVs, but we
will find them and kill them.” Major Narayana said with conviction that impressed the two
Air Force officers next to him. By this time Dutt’s FO officer had lowered the map table and
the Major was showing exact unit locations to both the officers.

“What is the strength of the Chinese anti-air units that your Brigade has seen so far?” Dutt
asked after looking at the location of the fronts on the map.

“Heavy. It is in fact a credit to the Jaguar pilots that they lost only three aircraft. We saw
the amount of firepower put up by the Chinese gunners against our aircraft. It was massive.
Nevertheless, we believe that our bombers took out a good portion of the organic triple-A
units with these two Chinese Divisions. They still have the independent reinforcements
pouring into the sector. Heavy on manual and radar directed guns, relatively low on missile
units.”

“And any Chinese attack helicopters in the area?”

“None that we have seen.” The Major said. Dutt’s FO officer nodded in agreement before
speaking:
“That’s about right, sir. Just like us, they have very few dedicated Z-10s flying as of now,
and this sector is not the right place for adapted gunships like the FFAR mounted Mi-17s.
Plus the altitude prevents a good portion of their other helicopters to enter this region
anyway.”

“That gives us the advantage, doesn’t it?” Dutt said with a smile.

DAY 5

5TH BRIGADE H.Q.

DAULAT BEG OLDI AIRSTRIP
SOUTH OF THE KARAKORAM PASS
DAY 5 + 0155 HRS

Brigadier Adesara walked inside the tents west of the airbase which was currently acting as
his Brigade Tactical Headquarters. Inside the tents the shouts and noise of numerous staff
and command officers filled the air. Radios were lined in what formed the signals
detachment in a separate set of tents further away. They were supposed to have dedicated
command trailers for this kind of operations in the modern battlefield but the Chinese UAVs
had rendered that possibility suicidal. The latter had been constantly trying to locate and
decapitate Adesara’s command and so if there was even the slightest visible movement that
suggested that a HQ was nearby, the Chinese would launch an artillery attack on it.

At least till they were able to...Adesara thought. The Smerch battery near Saser had
effectively neutralized the organic artillery support of the two Chinese Infantry Divisions
facing Adesara’s Brigade. That had brought a welcome respite to the embattled Battalions
under Adesara. Still, HQ security needed to be maintained...

“So how is the deployment taking shape?” Adesara asked Colonel Sudarshan, the
commanding officer of the two Mechanized Infantry Battalions from the 10TH Mechanized
Regiment that were now in the field in support of Adesara’s three Infantry Battalions that
had taken a beating for more than a day now. Nevertheless, reinforcements had arrived on
the Indian side and the Chinese side had taken sufficient casualties that at least the safety
of the DBO airstrip and the Karakoram pass was no longer in danger but the threat
remained extremely close. The two mauled Chinese Divisions were digging in opposite
Adesara’s 5TH Infantry Brigade while they waited the arrival of the reinforcement Infantry
Brigade and several independent armoured units. Once the latter arrived, the assault
against DBO was expected to be restarted.
“On schedule and moving ahead. The 1/10 Battalion is deployed on the northern flank of the
airstrip in support of the Gorkhas and the 3/10 Battalion is deploying on the southern flank.
Div. HQ has dispatched 4/10 as well. I plan on keeping that Battalion in reserve.”
Sudarshan said as he stood alongside the map table with Adesara. The Brigade’s
Intelligence and Operations officers were also standing along the other edges of the map
table. Adesara looked away from the maps and towards his Intelligence officer who took the
cue:

“We still don’t know yet what the status of the Chinese reinforcement Division heading in
from Sinkiang is. The Chinese S-300 batteries near the Qara Tagh La are killing our ability
to gather intelligence. We lost one Heron UAV an hour ago after it was detected by the BIG-
BIRD radar operating in the region. The Air Force has called off all UAV recons flights in that
sector until they are able to take down the Chinese missile threat to our platforms. So DIA
is now pushing for priority satellite Intel on the Chinese Division but even that is under
pressure given the satellite Intel requirements on the Sikkim, Tibet and AP fronts. However,
we do know that at least two Chinese fresh armoured Battalions have in fact been
earmarked and presumably moving into the sector opposite us. These are mere hours
behind the FEBA as of our latest estimate. We are unsure of the Division’s current presence
though. It left its jump off point north of the Sinkiang-Aksai Chin border and is marching
south. We just don’t know where...”

“In any case their vanguard cannot be more than a few hours away from reaching this
sector.” Adesara noted, turning his head back to the map table. He let out a long breath and
was then silent for a full minute before speaking to Colonel Sudarshan: “Okay. So we have
a few hours of breathing space with us. We have two under-strength commie Divisions
sitting across from us and awaiting their comrades in a third fresh Division to help them
resume their drive towards taking the Karakoram pass. If we sit on our hands we
inadvertently let the fresh incoming Division slide into the prepared battle positions created
by the first two Divisions and shore them up. Once that happens they have a prepared base
of fire against our defences and combined with their inbound tank units, we run the risk of
being overrun. Again...No. We stop that from happening by acting now.”

Adesara was happy to notice that Colonel Sudarshan was nodding as well before he spoke:
“I agree, sir. We need to shut the Chinese units now. We destroy the front lines and they
lose their base of fire. The incoming Chinese reinforcements will then be forced to plug gaps
rather than form a punch.”

“The only problem is that my three infantry Battalions are in no shape to take the fight
beyond the immediate front. So the only way this will work is if we use my boys and your
BMPs to smash the front facing us right now. There my Battalions take the ground and hold
it. Beyond that your units are the only ones capable of advancing. Can your boys do that?”
Adesara asked Colonel Sudarshan.

“My only concern is the incoming Chinese Tank Battalions. Mechanized Infantry Battalions
cannot take Tank Battalions head on in a plain field. We will need some air and artillery
support to handle them...”

“That can be arranged. Major Narayana confirmed to me the arrival and deployment of
199HU at Saser. But those are details. Remember the bigger picture: take your Mechanized
Infantry Battalions, the 1ST, 3RD and the reserve 4TH, straight up the Chinese gut. Smash
the under-strength commie units along the way and keep rolling eastwards. Use the
additional support from 199HU once you overrun the Chinese in this sector.

After that, we fight the Chinese on the move in the Aksai Chin. Roll them over! Let’s see
how they like a taste of their own medicine!”
XXXIII CORPS OPERATIONS CENTER
SILIGURI
INDIA
DAY 5 + 0220 HRS

“So where are they now?” Lt-General Suman asked the XXXIII Corps General Staff officer
(Intelligence) or GSO(I) for short, who was a Brigadier himself. The latter walked over to
the large digital map on the wall in the Corps Operations Centre and pointed to a place on
the map that showed an attached label: ‘Pagri’ before speaking:

“The Bhutanese have confirmed for us what DIA and our own Corps Intelligence assets have
thought all along. The Chinese 55 Division’s first two Brigades have now reached the town
of Pagri in the Chumbi valley and are continuing to move south. The remaining Brigade in
this Division has already begun moving westwards towards the Sikikim border near
Khungyami La east of the Yumthang valley. The Chinese 11 Division is moving south of
Gyantse just behind the 55 Division’s rear elements.”

“And what happened to the third inbound Chinese Division?” General Yadav asked the
Brigadier who shook his head as he spoke:
“It’s three Brigades are no longer heading towards Gyantse or have been held up along the
way. They were expected to reach Gyantse hours ago but according to RAW’s local HUMINT
assets we have had no eyeball contact with any new Division on the road from the Karo-La
to Gyantse. They have disappeared along the way. Now units of the size of Divisions don’t
disappear into the blue sky. So we currently believe that this unit has now moved off the
road towards Gyantse and is possibly heading southeast...”

“What? But that takes them towards the northern borders of Bhutan!” Lt-Gen Sen
interrupted. “Why on earth would the Chinese take a combat ready Division off their ORBAT
for the Chumbi valley and send them towards Bhutan? Surely the RBA is no real threat to
them?”

“Can this movement by the Chinese be substantiated?” Gen. Yadav asked the Brigadier.

“Yes sir. But we are not faring our UAVs that far out just yet. The aerial defences around the
major communications nodes such as Gyantse, Lhasa etc inside Tibet are currently guarded
by their S-300s. And satellite intelligence is in high demand for the Ladakh front at the
moment. But for now we are continuing with the theory that the said Division is in fact
moving south towards the Bhutanese border.”

Lt-Gen Sen looked away from the digital map screen to face Yadav: “They are trying to suck
us into Bhutan all right. First that incident at the Three-Lakes region yesterday and now this
direct threat to Bhutanese sovereignty. I suppose these guys are playing high stakes. They
seem to be treating Bhutan as effectively open playing field. It widens their left flank when
they make their move in the Chumbi valley and could possibly even connect with their move
against Tawang in the IV Corps sector. You see that valley in the Lhuntse sector in Bhutan?
That’s about the only place that Division could enter Bhutan. But once they do, they
threaten the entire left flank of the IV Corps units protecting Tawang. They see that as too
much of a gain to not consider invading Bhutan.”

“Agreed.” General Yadav continued. “Notify the IMTRAT folks in Bhutan as well as the RBA
forces that their northern borders are now under threat until told otherwise. Ask them to
submit a preliminary appreciation of the situation immediately along with their readiness,
TO&E and mobility requirements. I will pass the word to the Defence Minister. He needs to
make sure that the Bhutanese Government know the threat that they could be under.”

“Yes sir. And what about the two Divisions already in the Chumbi valley?” Lt-Gen Sen
asked.
“They have reached far enough and most of our chess pieces are in place. It’s time we
initiated Operation CHIMERA...”

SOUTH BLOCK
NEW DELHI
INDIA
DAY 5 + 0300 HRS

“What is this?” the Defense Minister asked as he took the sheet of paper from the Lt-
Commander even as the Admiral walked in. The looks on the faces of the two naval officers
standing in his office told him that something had finally begun to happen in the third
dimension of war...

“It’s a warning issued by the US Navy about Chinese submarines entering the Malacca
strait. It was handed to us an hour ago. Since then we have taken steps to confirm this
threat. Two of our IL-38s launched from the Nicobar Islands a few minutes ago.” The
Admiral noted dryly even as the Defense Minister continued to read the report he had been
handed. A few seconds later he lowered the paper and looked at the Admiral: “So we will
know more in a few hours?”

“Yes. In the meantime I have put the Eastern Fleet on high alert. Almost all commercial
shipping has been diverted away from the Malacca strait for days now so that threat is low.
Even so, I intend to keep the Bay of Bengal clean of all things communist.” The Admiral said
in a matter of fact tone.

“Assuming that the Chinese submarines are now in the region, who’s on point apart from
the two patrol aircraft you talked about?” the Defense Minister asked.

“The Kilo class submarine Sindhuvijay is entering the Malacca strait as we speak...”

THE INDIAN COUNTERATTACKS

5TH BRIGADE AREA OF OPERATIONS (5 TACTICAL AO)

EAST OF DAULAT BEG OLDI
SOUTH OF THE KARAKORAM PASS
DAY 5 + 0355 HRS

The line of artillery shells destroyed the view in Brigadier Adesara’s Low Light Binoculars as
a line of fireballs erupted within the Chinese lines. A few seconds later the thunder was
rumbling under his feet as the shockwaves went through. By now a mountain of smoke was
rising into the cold mountain air even as the first tinge of light was detected to the east. The
sounds around Adesara were filled with the thunder of several fighter-bombers in the skies
above to the shouts and commands being given by his staff officers over the radios behind
him. Then there was a thunderclap and another inverted cone of rock and dust went
upwards as a LGB slammed into the Chinese positions behind the immediate front lines.
That was where the HQ positions were. The attacks were being coordinated by Adesara’s
Forward Air Controllers using Tactical UAV support and SATCOM links with the fighter pilots
overhead...

Overall it was as modern a war at the tactical level as they could make it. But in the end it
came down to the soldiers clasping full magazines into their INSAS rifles or applying white
face paint to help them merge with the snowed background. Adesara lowered his binoculars
to see the Captains and Lieutenants in his Infantry Companies getting ready to advance
while further to the south lines of BMP-IIs and their crews milled about their vehicles while
Colonel Sudarshan conferred with his own junior commanders.

The 5TH Infantry Brigade under Adesara was committing all that it had into the fight. There
were no reserves worth speaking of. DIA had confirmed over the past hour that the inbound
reinforcement Chinese Infantry Division was less than a few hours away and so were the
advancing tank columns that were accompanying them to this sector from near the Qara
Tagh La. The current Indian plan was risky to the extreme. If it worked, it would allow a
breakthrough in the Chinese wall that could be exploited eastwards towards the Aksai Chin
in a land grab. If it failed, it would open up the floodgates for the Chinese to easily capture
the Karakoram pass and all of the Indian Territory till perhaps Saser before the effect of
concentrated Indian reinforcements could make their impact.

But if you play, you play to win...Adesara said to himself as he again put the binoculars to
his eyes to see the effect of the artillery pounding the Chinese front lines...
FORWARD AREA REARMING POINT (F.A.R.P - SASER)
SASER
SOUTH OF DAULAT BEG OLDI
DAY 5 + 0415 HRS

Wing Commander Dutt could not have agreed more with Brigadier Adesara’s thoughts if he
had known about it. Dutt checked to see if his sidearm was loaded and extra clips carried in
his flight-suit as he stood aside his parked LCH. Once he had loaded the sidearm in the
holster attached to his chest he looked around the LCH to see if everything was where it
should be. His WSO was already doing the same. Eight helicopter launched variants of the
Nag anti-tank guided missile hung from the airframe at the moment, four on each side. That
was about all that could be carried at the moment. With these weapons, the helicopter was
loaded for bear at the given altitude of Laddakh.

Dutt looked over to see the second LCH parked further away where the other two crew
members of 199HU at FARP-Saser were also doing a walk around of their helicopter in the
freezing cold. When everything seemed to be where it was supposed to be, Dutt climbed
into the cockpit of the LCH followed by a ground crew member. A few minutes later the
turbine engines on both LCHs were spooling up and the main rotor slowly gathering RPM as
the engine power increased. Dutt activated the helmet along with his WSO that suddenly
turned the murky dark outside environment into a greenish one. The WSO was already
looking left and right to check the chin turret and gun movements. The ground crewmen
standing outside soon gave the thumbs up to the WSO to confirm gun calibration.

Both LCHs were now on full power even as they waited for the Smerch battery to the west
across the road to cease fire for them to move away. Technically they should never have
been so close to begin with, but in the narrow valleys of Laddakh, terrain space was not a
luxury. When the Smerch units fired off their last salvo and were being approached by their
replenishment vehicles, the two LCH pilots maxed out the throttle to initiate take off power
from the engines and pulled off the ground with a groan that didn’t please any of the
ground crews. But a few seconds away the two choppers were already throttling down as
they gathered forward velocity. A minute later they had disappeared from view at Saser as
they entered the sector south of Daulat Beg Oldi...

5TH BRIGADE AREA OF OPERATIONS (5 TACTICAL AO)

EAST OF DAULAT BEG OLDI
SOUTH OF THE KARAKORAM PASS
DAY 5 + 0430 HRS

The line of explosions were continuing to rake the Chinese dug in positions east of DBO
when Adesara finally looked back at his wrist watch and then nodded to his Operations
officer. The Operations officer in turn gave the orders to a line of Captains sitting in the
Signals section that immediately went to work...

JUMP-OFF POSITIONS
1ST BATTALION OF THE 10TH MECHANIZED REGIMENT
SOUTHEAST OF DBO
DAY 5 + 0431 HRS

Colonel Sudarshan nodded as he heard the orders coming in over to his Command Centre
from the Brigade HQ. He was standing next to his personal BMP-II and he climbed on top of
it before taking out his binoculars and surveying the continuing series of bombardments
hitting the Chinese locations directly in front of his positions to the east. He looked to the
side to see the Major commanding the leading squadron of BMP-IIs and NAMICA vehicles
looking back at him atop his own BMP-II waiting for orders. Sudarshan lowered his own
TACCOM mouthpiece as he shouted into it from where he stood:

“THUNDER-COMMAND to THUNDER-ONE. Initiate GROUND-THUNDER when ready. Execute

Op-Plan Three. Out”

The Major leading the advance Squadron of vehicles was now already inside the vehicle
even as he spoke with his vehicle commanders:

“THUNDER-ONE to all THUNDER UNITS: initiate Op-Plan Three. Destroy all enemy presence
in grid sector Five-Two-Nine. Sweep and clear the ground for our infantry boys. Advance!
Advance! Advance!”

Colonel Sudarshan saw from where he stood as the entire line of vehicles of 1/10
Mechanized Regiment suddenly lurched ahead with a thundering roar of diesel engines...

5TH INFANTRY BRIGADE AREA OF OPERATIONS (5 TACTICAL AO)

EAST OF DAULAT BEG OLDI
SOUTH OF THE KARAKORAM PASS
DAY 5 + 0440 HRS

Brigadier Adesara watched through his binoculars to see the three dozen BMP-IIs and
NAMICAs advancing along the entire southern front south of the Chip Chap River from his
advanced TAC-HQ. The lines of tracers and cannon rounds were flowing back and forth
between the advancing Indian vehicles and the defending Chinese units. Adesara’s Signals
Commander walked up to where his CO was standing and gave him the latest sit-rep:

“1ST of the 10TH reports higher than expected enemy resistance. Advance is continuing.
Casualties are light thus far. One BMP has been destroyed by a Chinese anti-tank missile
and three others have disabled tracks. The crews are still in them and fighting it out.
Remaining force is advancing eastwards.”

As if on cue, another fireball marked the end of another Indian BMP to the east, causing
both officers at the TAC-HQ to take note of the sudden fireball that rose to the sky and
disappeared into the cold dark night. Adesara’s hand turned into a fist as anger poured
out: Another three lives lost. God damn it!

“3RD Battalion is advancing!” a young observations officer announced as another roar of

diesel engines announced the advance of yet another Battalion committed for this
operation. The 3RD Battalion of the 10TH Mechanized was advancing along the northern
sectors and was now heading in a large advancing arc that would take them around the
tank graveyard littered with destroyed Chinese vehicles directly in front of them. These
burnt out hulls of Chinese tanks were reminder of the powerful force that had been
decimated right at the edge of the DBO airstrip on the first day of the war.

Now, three days later, the Indian counter-attack was moving around and beyond them...

FORWARD H.Q.
1ST BATTALION OF THE 10TH MECHANIZED REGIMENT
SOUTHEAST OF DBO
DAY 5 + 0451 HRS

Colonel Sudarshan was leaning over the maps inside the tents pitched near his BMP
Command Group Vehicles. Nearby the radios were alive with chatter of the ongoing battle
as young unit commanders were leading the assault and shouting hoarse over the radios to
make themselves heard. Sudarshan’s Signals Officers were trying to make sense of the
incoming chaotic information and passing it off to the Operations officers who were then
trying to update the maps with regard to rough locations of the various Battalion subunits in
front of Colonel Sudarshan. In addition, several battlefield computers nearby were showing
the feed from the single Nishant UAV flying directly above the battlefield in support of 1ST
Battalion operations.

All in all, Sudarshan had a very clear idea of the battle situation, but that didn’t change the
fact that the Chinese were fighting, and fighting hard...
FORWARD EDGE OF THE BATTLEFIELD (F.E.B.A.)
SOUTHEAST OF DBO
DAY 5 + 0452 HRS

“Gunner, traverse left! Target: HMG emplacement! Range: Five hundred!” Captain Kongara
shouted after spotting the target through his Commander Optical Sights system. The
response from his gunner was quick:
“Target identified!”
“Fire!” Kongara shouted.

The vehicle shuddered as the 2A42 cannon’s 30mm rounds slashed out from the vehicle and
slammed into the Chinese HMG position, killing all three Chinese soldiers in a series of
explosions and dust clouds and silencing the position...

“Target neutralized!” the gunner shouted over the vehicle intercom.

“Confirmed!” Kongara agreed. A moment later he spotted a Chinese ZBD moving within
from behind some cover and dust east of the Chinese infantry dug in positions. Kongara’s
gunner was quick to spot following his commander:

“Gunner, Chinese ZBD moving out of cover!”

“I have him!” the gunner shouted a second out of sync with Kongara.
“Fire!”

The 30 mm rounds lashed out yet again from Kongara’s BMP-II and this time hit the thin
walled armour plating of the Chinese ZBD at almost right angles, maximizing the charge
penetration. Even so, the result was less than spectacular. Kongara’s gunner had to fire off
another burst of rounds before the Chinese vehicle staggered to a halt. A moment later the
Chinese soldiers were jumping out of the hatches as they abandoned that vehicle. A couple
of them attempted to throw some smoke grenades between them and the advancing line of
Indian BMPs to help them escape. However, the smoke takes time to spread. The Indian
gunners didn’t give them that time: three separate BMP turrets completely laced the ground
with the 7.62 mm rounds of the co-axial PKT machineguns. A mass of small dust clouds and
orange sparks lit up the ground around the now smoking ZBD before all movements were
silenced.

The leading Indian BMPs were now just beyond the range of Light Infantry Anti-Tank
weapons that the Chinese soldiers in the trenches ahead were bound to carry. Kongara’s CO
was quick to call everybody on the R/T in the leading group of vehicles to take note of that
fact:
“THUNDER-ONE to all THUNDER UNITS: we are entering the Chinese infantry positions.
Group BLUE will advance east of the positions. Seek and destroy this Commie Battalion’s
rear positions and logistics areas. If you see a truck that’s intact, light it up. If you see a
moving commie, shoot them. Group GREEN will debuss friendly infantry and provide over-
watch support in clearing operations. Group RED will stay in reserve. Execute. Out”

“Roger, THUNDER-ONE. THUNDER-GREEN acknowledges. Out” Captain Kongara replied in

return before addressing his vehicle driver: “Driver, traverse forward. Keep it slow and
steady.”

The vehicles of the 1ST Mechanized Battalion once again renewed their advance a few
seconds later and now entered the firing range of the battered positions of the opposing
Chinese infantry Battalion. The incoming fire from the Chinese soldiers had never really
stopped, but now it picked up in intensity as both sides realized that this was going to be a
fight to the finish. Given the open, barren terrain of Laddakh behind them, there was no
scope of abandoning positions for the Chinese soldiers. For the Indians, this was to be the
penetration point in the FEBA. Either way, one of the two sides was slated for destruction...

Kongara’s men had to be more careful than the other BMP Groups because Group GREEN
was the set of BMP-IIs carrying friendly infantry soldiers in them to help storm the Chinese
trenches when the time came. In this case one Company worth of 7TH Battalion of the
Punjab Regiment were currently travelling with the advancing BMPs under Kongara’s
command. Seven soldiers plus three crew members per vehicle, the cost of losing even a
single vehicle in the group could be catastrophic. And yet that was the inevitability of war...

The Chinese soldiers were offering stiff resistance to the advancing Indian vehicles,
deploying smoke, firing mortar barrages within the mass of Indian vehicles and trying to
engage with ATGMs. But the powerful inertia of the lines of BMPs advancing towards their
open positions meant that there was no stopping the Indian advance. But that didn’t mean
that the law of probability did not apply...

As Kongara watched through his Optics to see how the gunners of the various vehicles
under his command were faring against the dug in Chinese soldiers, his eagle eyes spotted
what looked a thin cylinder suddenly moving across his view towards some vehicle down the
line...

“Oh shit! Incoming mis...” the frantic R/T call was cut short as a massive white flash of light
destroyed his NVG systems for several seconds before the light changed from white to
orange and a shockwave ran through the interiors of his vehicle with a rumbling thunder. A
moment later the R/T came alive with the sounds of a dozen different vehicle commanders:

“Two is gone! Oh my god! Two is gone! I say again: we have lost GREEN-TWO!”

Kongara regained enough of his vision to turn his vehicle optics to the right to see the BMP
next to him burning furiously even as it got left behind the remaining advancing vehicles.
He was immediately on the R/T to regain control of the situation:

“Cut the god damn chatter. Keep the net clear! Resume the advance, god damn it!
THUNDER-GREEN to GROUP-GREEN elements: maintain the advance! Prepare to deploy
infantry! Out”

Kongara now returned to see that his gunner was still engaging targets and so were a
bunch of other vehicles in his group. Good...Kongara thought as he restored his composure.
He had just lost ten men a few seconds ago, but as a commander he would lose a lot more
if he did not put that loss behind him. Behind him the seven Sikh soldiers were already
checking their weapons and equipment. Any second now...

“GROUP-GREEN: Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!”

Kongara ordered when his vehicles had advanced within a couple hundred yards from the
Chinese lines. Now the BMP-IIs began deploying smoke and came to a jerking stop. That
was the cue for the soldiers inside to slam open the rear doors of the BMP and jump out
onto the cold, snow covered ground churned by the tracks of their vehicles. Kongara and his
gunner never removed their eyes from covering the front ahead of them. Now that the
soldiers had debussed, his vehicles were providing over-watch fire to the advancing
Punjabis. The Captain commanding the Sikh soldiers was directly in touch with Kongara and
his BMP Group as they advanced forward. By now the sounds of cannon fire had given way
to chaotic small arms fire as the Indian soldiers stormed the Chinese trenches.

Any Chinese movement above the trench lines was immediately engaged by the waiting
BMPs, thus forcing the Chinese to fight from within the trenches. This gave the Indian
soldiers the freedom of movement and manoeuvre, and the results began to show the
advantage. The sounds of the gunfire began to lessen slightly as time passed...

To the south, Kongara noticed GROUP BLUE advancing beyond the trench lines and heading
into the vast open spaces east of the LAC even as their turrets continued engaging some
targets at very long ranges...

A few minutes later the small arms fire in the trenches had completely died down and
Kongara could only see Indian soldiers milling about the Chinese trenches. Soon thereafter
the Sikh Company commander climbed out of the trenches with a couple of his men and
waved for the Indian vehicles to advance towards the trenches. By now Kongara was sitting
on the turret with the hatches opened as he greeted the Sikh Company commander and his
men.

A few seconds later the word ran through back the R/T channels that the Chinese resistance
in that sector had collapsed ahead of the arrival of their reinforcements. GROUP BLUE of the
1ST Battalion of the 10TH Mechanized had by now overrun and destroyed the Chinese
Battalion HQ and in conjunction with GROUP GREEN had opened a yawning gap within the
Chinese front lines. And while the 3RD Battalion to the north was facing stiff opposition and
had failed to punch through, the fact that southern positions had been breached meant that
the Reserve 4TH Battalion could be rushed through this gap to surround and annihilate the
enemy from behind while the 3RD Battalion continued to push from the front. Brigadier
Adesara agreed with this assessment suggested by Colonel Sudarshan and had passed the
orders.

Out on the front lines, the lines of Chinese POWs were being herded back under the careful
watch of the Sikh soldiers from the 7TH Punjab Battalion. As these captured and dejected
enemy combatants moved past the parked rows of Indian BMPs from GROUP-GREEN waiting
for orders, Captain Kongara noticed that his little corner of the war had now turned into the
focal point of the Indian advance much the same way as the attempted spoiling attack by
Brigadier Adesara had now turned into an manoeuvre offensive of much larger proportions
as the Indian Army began taking the war beyond the LAC...

Captain Kongara jumped off his BMP and picked up a fistful of mud from under the snow as
it dawned upon him that they had just liberated a piece of land that had been under hostile
control for half a century. The sun came up a few minutes later to reveal a morning such
that the Indian Army in the mountains of Laddakh had never seen before...
THE VILLAGE OF DOKUNG
SOUTH OF KONGRA LA
SIKKIM
DAY 5 + 0652 HRS
The paint reflected off the metallic panels of the parked Mi-17 under the bright eastern sun
that had just risen above the peaks around the Samchho La to the east. The helicopter was
parked on the helipad just south of the main Battalion camp in the sector. The DIA Lt-
Colonel rubbed his gloved hands to keep warm even as another gust of wind whipped up
light snow through the yellow glow of the sunlight. He could see several of the ARC ground
crews working on the finishing touches of their paint work on the body of the helicopter.
Armed guards were patrolling the perimeter around the large camp area.

The camp itself currently had nothing more than a skeletal workforce since most of the unit
was already deployed into the mountains. There was a war on in the Laddakh front and
another in the Sikkim front to the east. Out on the extreme northern borders of Sikkim,
there was silence, except for the wind blowing by. The camp workers were going about their
morning routine as if it was yet another day. Northern Sikkim had very few locations from
where the enemy could mount an attack, all of which were extremely remote from the
Chinese side and hard to reach from the Indian side. There was no strategic value to the
terrain but had a lot of political value. But the current war had stretched the Chinese ground
forces to a point where sparing troops for such smaller sectors was deemed impossible.

The Lt-Colonel was standing in front of the winter hut given to him as his personal residence
during his stay here. He was holding a cup of tea in his hand by now even as he watched
the SOCOM Major and his small group of men walk out of their huts to the side fully loaded
with UBGL Tavor rifles, grenades and extra ammunition clips. Then there was the heavy bag
pack, and each team member also had a speciality role and its associated equipment. To
top it off, there was the heavy winter gear, helmets and body-armour. Each man was
carrying basically his own weight in equipment so that the team could operate off the land
for at least a couple of weeks in case everything went well. This Long Range
Reconnaissance Mission or LRRM was going to be in tough terrain where local supplies were
scarce to say the least.

The Lt-Colonel sipped his tea as he watched the soldiers applying the streaks of white to
their faces to help merge into the white and brown environment behind them in this terrain.
Then a door to another hut opened to reveal three other men, this time ARC pilots in thick
winter coats covering their white-brown flight overalls. They closed the door behind them
and then glanced over to their passengers before walking down towards the parked
helicopter on the southern end of the camp while talking and discussing the flight plan
amongst them along the way. A few seconds later the SOCOM team followed suit, trudging
through the one feet of snow that had fallen during the night over the entire valley.
It was peaceful here, the Lt-Colonel thought as he stared at the quiet majestic power of the
white capped Himalayan peaks with the yellow glow of sunlight shining off their eastern
peaks. The brutal war that had been going on between India and China for the past five
days was so distant here except for the work going on within the camp. It was then that the
distant sounds of fighter jets came through the valley in a distant rumble from the east to
remind everybody that while northern Sikkim was peaceful, the same was not true of the
Chumbi valley to the east as well as the northern Bhutanese border, where the first
skirmishes between the Royal Bhutanese Army had finally broken out during the night in the
Lhuntse sector.

The “Unknown” Chinese Division, as it was now being referred to within the Indian Defence
Intelligence community, had finally began probing thrusts into the Lhuntse sector where it
was believed that the goal was to capture the valley and then encircle the Indian IV Corps
forces in the Tawang Sector from the west in anticipation of their main thrust for Tawang.
This Chinese Infantry Division had moved south of the Karo La in Tibet but had not
proceeded to follow its other two sister Divisions, the 55 Div. and the 11 Div., in the main
thrust down the Chumbi valley. But its intentions were now becoming clear as Bhutan was
being invaded by it. The Royal Bhutanese Army was currently deploying into the Lhuntse
sector with everything it had, and also some Indian units under overall IMTRAT Command
were assisting with air and artillery support, but the outcome was far from clear in Bhutan.

Over in the Chumbi valley, however, the main forces of the Indian XXXIII Corps was now
finally initiating its moves to crush the Chinese 55 Div., 11 Div. and the Border Guards units
in a Corps level counteroffensive in the Chumbi valley. Code named, Op. CHIMERA, the first
phases included the attack on the 55 Div. and the elimination of the BGUs since they were
currently the forces spearheading the Chinese forces in the sector. 11 Div was beefing up
the forces even as it moved down from Gyantse to assist 55 Div forces...

The whining noise of the Mi-17’s engines broke the Lt-Colonel’s thought process and he
jerked back into reality on the ground to see the main rotor blades of the helicopter rotating
even as the SOCOM Team-Five members boarded from the aft ramp of the helicopter. A few
seconds later the helicopter blades were running on full power and the snow whipped up all
around had blinded the Lt-Colonel’s view. It was a few seconds before the Mi-17 finally lifted
above the snow cloud it had raised and continued to raise altitude while heading north.

The sun reflected off the freshly bright red star along the sides of the helicopter as it flew
over the Lt-Colonel’s hut in a deafening roar and then the sounds reduced again as it
headed towards the northern Himalayan peaks around the Kongra-La into Tibet...
THE ROAD TO LHUNTSE
NORTHEASTERN BHUTAN
DAY 5 + 0730 HRS

The smoke was everywhere. The village was on one of the last road-heads in the sector
after which there were only mud tracks through terrace cultivated hills in case one wanted
to reach the northern border of Bhutan with Tibet on foot. But this village was no more. The
Chinese long range Smerch units had launched severe attacks during the night from beyond
the border that lay forty kilometres to the north and had practically levelled the civilian
structures in the village under a barrage of artillery rockets. Their reasons for doing so had
been clear. Royal Bhutanese Army trucks were moving down this road as they brought in
supplies and reinforcements for the hopelessly outnumbered and outclassed RBA units north
of this sector.

Well, not any more...the RBA Colonel thought as he stepped out of his jeep at the middle of
the convoy and walked past the line of parked RBA trucks along the mountain road even as
injured and panicked civilians were streaming and running down the other side of the road.
He could see the smoldering ruins of the civilian houses in the village. The dead and dying
were everywhere even as his men were rushing to administer first aid and urgent medical
support to the civilians. The Colonel and his small entourage walked past the rows of
burning houses and panicked and desperate people until he came across one RBA Major
whose face had been blackened by the soot and grime of battle through the night. The
Major was walking down the road from the north along with a few of his men. All showed
the exhaustion of combat on their faces. All showed the injuries sustained on the
battlefield...

The Major spotted the clean uniformed Colonel of his unit and despite the exhaustion
managed to snap off a salute which the Colonel proudly returned. He ordered his men to
help the Major’s men and told them to sit down and have water. A couple of minutes later
the Colonel had retrieved his maps and the Major had regained enough of his strength to
speak so he asked the Major for an update of what was going on...

“The front is broken, Colonel.” The Major said as he then used his arm to point out the
northern peaks beyond Lhuntse where the night battle and skirmishes had occurred with the
Chinese “Unknown” Divisional forces and the outnumbered and outgunned RBA defenders.
The Major’s face told the tale of what had happened even before he said a word...
“We were battered into the ground by Chinese artillery for an hour before their infantry
began manoeuvring around us. We were completely overwhelmed by the numbers. Three
Companies of the Battalion, Alpha, Delta and Echo, were overrun to the last man. They
inflicted some losses on the Chinese but it was difficult to tell. My Company and the
remaining others were not overrun but took crippling losses in men and material before we
had to withdraw to regroup and plug the gaps caused by the decimation of the other
Companies. The Chinese had airlifted some infantry to peaks between Lhuntse and us and
we didn’t even know about them until the leading column of my men were mown down by
machine-gun fire. It was complete chaos afterwards and despite my attempts the men were
massacred. We managed to escape by going east into the hills and then taking the route
south until we managed to locate Lhuntse thanks to the fires after the rocket attacks and
we walked here.”

“What about the other three Companies?” the Colonel asked.

The Major shook his head: “They are gone, sir. The last we heard were intermittent radio
messages saying they had been ambushed. BAT HQ came over the line for a few minutes
with the Lt-Colonel shouting for information before they went off the air too. There may be
some units still out there to the north but they are likely to be low on supplies and unlikely
to be cohesive to a degree to stop the Chinese.”

“God damn it! The Battalion reported only minor skirmishes to Command yesterday night.
Couldn’t that idiot tell between a skirmish and a Divisional attack?! So where’s the front
now?” the Colonel asked after regaining his composure. Before the Major could answer, a
few civilians came running down the road in panic shouting that that they had seen Chinese
soldiers on the peaks some kilometres beyond the village. Even as the Colonel’s men caught
hold of those civilians and began asking questions, the Major completed his thoughts:

“There is no front, sir. This valley and Lhuntse are lost...”

YUMTHANG VALLEY
WEST OF THE GORA-LA
EASTERN SIKKIM
DAY 5 + 0820 HRS

The airlift of the battery of Pinaka MLRS by the Mi-26s of the Indian “Featherweights” flight
had taken over two days to complete on account of the presence of just a handful of the
powerful Mi-26 helicopters in the Indian fleet. They had also brought in much needed
supplies and even a counter-battery radar section to assist the MLRS in targeting
acquisition. The unit was currently deployed west of the peaks around Gora-La that
separated Yumthang valley and the Chumbi-valley as a giant wall of stone. On the western
side of the wall were the Indian XXXIII Corps forces and on the eastern side were the
Chinese 55 and 11 Division forces.

But the one thing going for the Indians was the air supremacy that had been wrenched from
the PLAAF over Tibet during the course of the last five days over both Laddakh and to a
much lesser degree in the Arunachal sector. Tibet was still inaccessible because the Chinese
S-300 belt deployed there was still alive and kicking, as five Indian aircraft crews had found.
Four of these had not lived to fight another day. But all that was meaningless in the Chumbi
valley where the tactical missions were being flown by Indian Mig-27s with relative
impunity. One Mig-27 had been lost to the massive triple-A fire but the losses incurred on
the Chinese forces during their transit from Gyantse to the valley over open roads had
proven deadly.

Even so, 55 Division was still a powerful force and to be reckoned with. The Chinese threat
to Sikkim was still deadly and so Operation CHIMERA was underway. The thin mountain air
was particularly helpful for any artillery system since it helped increase range of the rockets
by a very good degree. For the long range Pinaka rockets, though, that was unnecessary.
Nevertheless, the calculations had to be made to account for the lower drag and this job
was done by the onboard mission computer for the launch crews.

The morning serenity, a bright sun and a bright blue sky were rudely interrupted by the
thunder and flash of rockets as several Pinaka rockets left their launchers and headed
eastwards over the Chumbi-valley...

THE MALACCA STRAIT

SOUTHEAST OF THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS
DAY 5 + 0840 HRS

The droning noise and the vibrations of the turboprops were monotonous and tiring when
someone is exposed to it for hours on end. For the twelve crew members on board the
Indian Naval IL-38 ASW aircraft flying over the waters of the Malacca strait, it had been
tiring enough despite their exposure to it over the course of the careers. The aircraft was
flying at a low enough altitude that the spotters inside the cabin were busy with their
binoculars as they checked the few fishing vessels and other merchant ships that had no
option but to traverse the strait even during wartime.

With the morning sun up by now, the flying weather was beautiful. The skies were not more
than one tenth clouds against an otherwise clean blue sky and the waters below were
reflecting the same. From this distance the small islands and the Malaysian coastline were
mere green blurs against a blue watery horizon. But for all that, there were signs of trouble
both above and below the crystal clear surface of the water...

“We have inbounds.” The port spotter said over the intercom.

“Friendly?” the pilot asked even as he peered down the side cockpit window to see what the
spotter saw.

“Negative. Neutral...two Sukhoi-30s...RMAF markings.” The spotter said before lowering his
binoculars when he no longer needed them to see his target. Sure enough, the two
Malaysian SU-30MKMs flying in close formation flew by the lumbering Indian IL-38. Both
sides managed to take a good look at each other in those few seconds...

“Okay, I have visual. Confirmed RMAF markings. Good call.” The co-pilot said.

“What are they doing?” the Flight Engineer asked from behind the two pilots.
“Maintaining situational awareness. They know this place is going to blow up anytime
now...”

“Two more visuals...” the starboard spotter shouted a few minutes later: “Long
range...single engine high altitude contrails inbound from the west. Possible Indonesian F-
16s...standby...”

“It’s getting real crowded over here now...” the co-pilot said.

“Yeah. Soon the Singapore jets will start piling in. We better call in additional support of our
own.” The pilot said before he changed frequencies and contacted ANC Operations Centre.

THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

SOUTHWEST OF THE SPARTLY ISLANDS
DAY 5 + 0850 HRS

The two SU-27s finished refueling from the loitering H-6U airborne tanker aircraft and then
climbed away from the refueling altitude and speed back to cruise altitude and speed even
as they left pairs of white contrails against the bright blue sky. The H-6U tanker changed
course and began its movement back towards Hainan even as another tanker prepared to
lift off the runway at the mainland airbase...
GROUP GREEN POSITIONS
1ST BATTALION OF THE 10TH MECHANIZED REGIMENT
FORWARD EDGE OF THE BATTLEFIELD (F.E.B.A.)
NORTHERN LADDAKH
DAY 5 + 0930 HRS

One of the side-effects of moving further and further eastwards beyond the LAC was made
clear to Captain Kongara when his request for fixed wing air support was denied by higher
command an hour ago when he had gone over the latest plans. Even though his men on the
ground were busy snatching the ground from the Chinese, the skies above were still under
partial control of the Chinese S-300s further east near the Qara-Tagh La. Captain Kongara
looked above to see the murky grayish skies above Laddakh that were the norm and then
put the thought behind him. That was when the sounds and the smells of the battlefield
came back to him...

“Where the hell is Group BLUE Recon? They were supposed to be here an hour ago!” the
Battalion commander shouted into his R/T set even as people from his staff were running
around. Captain Kongara walked past the lines of BMPs parked in the snow. These vehicles
were from the Battalion Group RED force and were at the personal disposition of the
Battalion Commander. Kongara noticed that he was walking through the slushy wet mud
and snow made by the tracks of the BMPs and it made walking somewhat difficult. It was a
problem they were being forced to solve on the move. The tracks on the BMPs were getting
worn out because of this slush, and while the advancing elements of the Battalion could go
over new ground easily, the ones coming up behind were not so lucky since they had to
travel over this wet slush. Quite a few vehicles had gotten bogged down that way...

Of course the problem was restricted only to the 1ST Battalion because of the terrain they
were on. The 4TH Battalion to the southeast was doing much better as they were rolling
over hard terrain and against relatively light opposition. 3RD Battalion to the northwest was
also on better terrain since they were basically using the same terrain that the Chinese T-
99s had taken during their drive on DBO a few days ago. But the opposition in that sector
had been very tough. 3RD Battalion advance had been halted in its tracks against the force
of the remaining elements of the Chinese armor and infantry units from the relatively intact
Chinese Infantry Division. There had been two such Divisions present. One had been
mauled by the combined force of 1ST and 4TH Battalion forces under Colonel Sudarshan.
The other had stopped 3RD Battalion forces and the Gurkha Battalions from Birgadier
Adesara’s Brigade.

This could not be accepted. The overall situation was somewhat unbalanced as far as the
Indian advance was concerned. Basically speaking, there had been two sectors of the
advance. The southern sector had been opened up but the northern sector was still intact.
So now 3RD Battalion was going to renew its advance against the Chinese positions head on
while Colonel Sudarshan had dispatched the 1ST Battalion to conduct a hook maneuver
from the south towards the northeast to get behind the Chinese positions and then cut off
the remaining Chinese forces from the incoming reinforcements. Meanwhile the 4TH
Battalion was supposed to be engaging the enemy in a free rolling advance into the Aksai
chin in the general direction east by southeast. Of course, no plans ever survive contact
with the enemy...

Captain Kongara walked into the tent that was the Battalion HQ at the moment. The tent
was fluttering in the crisp cold wind of the Laddakh Mountains and the sounds of the wind
howling and the tent cloth fluttering were loud enough that one had to speak loudly to be
heard. On top of that there was the chaos inside the tent as everything seemed to be
happening at once. And in the background the falling artillery and gunfire could be heard as
muffled but heavy thumps that caused one’s heart to miss a beat. Kongara looked around
and then walked over to a colleague from the Battalion staff who had been standing by a
map table...

“Don’t even ask me how the advance is going, all right?” the Battalion Operations officer
said even before Kongara could say a word. The returning smile was received both men
before Kongara finally spoke: “I take it that we are running into some problems?”

“You don’t know the half of it. Group BLUE ran into an ambush as of an hour ago. Four
commie T-99s in dug in positions behind this large turn on the Chip-Chap River here...” the
BO pointed on the map as Kongara walked over. “They lost three BMP-2s of the lead platoon
within seconds. The NAMICAs of the anti-tank platoon nailed the four T-99s in the minutes
afterwards but lost one vehicle in the process because of the close range engagement. Now
they are being engaged by infantry and are bogged down. We just heard that two more
vehicles have been immobilized by rocket fire from the Chinese positions.”

“They are not cooperating with our plans now, are they?” Kongara said dryly as both men
considered the pins on the map. The BO grunted in grim amusement before speaking: “No
they are not.”

“So what’s the plan now?” Kongara asked.

“We will have to find another breach point around this hornet’s nest here. Problem is, along
this section of the water stream, you have hills on both sides that are unsuited for vehicles
and the Chinese blocking the narrow valley between them that is suited for vehicles. But if
we punch through, we reach the main Chip-Chap river plains and hence cut off the Chinese
Division to the west from their reinforcement and supplies coming in from the east. We only
have an hour or two to break through before the Chinese reinforcements pour in and then
its game over for our advance...” the BO said even as he went over the latest dispatches.
He continued a second later:

“So Group BLUE is bogged down and trying to disengage. Group GREEN and RED are
available. In addition, we have helicopter gunship support from 199HU LCHs. The 7TH
Punjab units will take the hilly terrain around the river while we fight through using our
tanks. The Colonel thinks that the only way for us at the moment is a head on attack to
break through. We just don’t have the time to find an alternate route. What’s your force’s
readiness status?”

“Ready. We are good to go. What’s the jump off time?” Kongara asked. The Battalion
Operations officer looked at his watch and then back at Kongara.

“Next fifteen to twenty minutes. Group GREEN and RED are going to beef up BLUE and then
advance as a steel fist into the enemy. If we succeed, we could have this Chinese Division
on its knees before sundown today...”

THE MALACCA STRAIT

SOUTHEAST OF THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS
DAY 5 + 0940 HRS

“Approaching drop five in fifteen seconds...” the pilot confirmed to the ASW Tactical
Coordinator (TC) on board the IL-38. The TC in turn nodded to the sonar console operators
to standby.

“Drop in Five...four...three...two...one...drop!” the pilot said over the intercom as the

aircraft slightly vibrated and yet another sonobuoy fell clear off the IL-38 and into the
waters of the Malacca Strait. The sonar operators immediately noted the splash in the water
and then the sonobuoy passive detections. Thirty seconds later the chief sonar operator
confirmed the same to the TC:
“Sonobuoy-Five is passive...”

As the ASW crew in the cabin of the IL-38 went back to analyzing the data streaming in
from the newly deployed sonobuoy and corroborating it with the information coming in from
the previously deployed sonobuoys, the flight crew up front pulled the IL-38 clear from the
drop profile and leveled out sufficiently high that fuel could be conserved until a reason for
going back down to sea level was confirmed.

While the search for the Chinese Submarines in the strait was proving frustrating and
tedious, the skies above were getting crowded. The Malacca strait is around seventy five
kilometers in width on average, separating Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Then there is
Singapore to the south near the southern entry point to the strait and Myanmar and India at
the northern ones. At the moment each country’s air forces were patrolling the skies above
as they protected their own shipping assets. All other nations had pulled their shipping out
of the straits a week ago.

On the Indian side, two Mig-29K Naval Air Defense Fighters had departed the Andaman
Islands to provide cover for the lone IL-38 patrolling the southern sectors of the strait in
search of PLAN submarine threats. The Singapore G550 AEW aircraft had also been detected
to the south by the IL-38s RWRs. All other aircraft had been active on radars given the lack
of AEW aircraft. Currently, the only AEW aircraft flying was the Phalcon system on the
Singapore G550, monitoring their airspace for intrusion. This particular aircraft had detected
the inbound Chinese Flankers as they had finished their in-flight refueling operations over
the South China Sea some time ago. Since then it had also detected the presence of the
sole Indian IL-38 flying in the straits and the course being taken by the two SU-27s towards
the region...

The problem was that the Singaporeans could not very well pass that information to the
Indians. At least they could not be seen to given the volatile situation. If they were detected
as giving tactical information to the Indians on the Chinese threats in the region then that
would be taken as an act of war by Beijing. So for the moment the RSAF airborne radar
operators watched in silence as the SU-27s began their approach into the Malacca Strait...

“Wait! You see that?” one of the sonar operators said over the intercom to a colleague
sitting on a similar console. The TC took note and walked over behind the two operators:
“What do you have?”
“Brief sonar contact here...” the operator pointed on the digital map overlay. “It was right at
the edge of the range for S-5.”
“Check the SAR display for surface contacts!” the TC ordered the other operator.
“Checking...clear. No surface contacts in that sector.”

“Okay.” The TC brought his intercom mouthpiece closer to his mouth as he spoke:
“All right people, we have a possible submerged contact on bearing three-one-five. Close
inbound. This could be what we are looking for. Prepare drop S-6 through S-10. MAD
operators stand by.”

Moments later the cabin tilted slightly as the flight crew adjusted flight heading towards the
target and then began their descent. The profile required a high speed entry into the target
sector before slowing down and lowering altitude for the Magnetic Anomaly Detectors to be
able to pick out the contact more clearly. In addition, sonobuoy triangulation required
careful drop of the valuable sonobuoys and hence careful and nimble flying...

Several minutes later the pilot confirmed their entry into the suspected target zone. By this
time the sonar operators had already confirmed additional contacts with the target and the
MAD crews were already on the job. The TC then authorized another sonobuoy drop over
sector. The pilot brought the aircraft low over the waters before yet another sonobuoy left
the aircraft and splashed into the sea:

“Drop S-6 completed. Pulling out...” the pilot confirmed as the aircraft gained slight altitude
and speed. This time the response from the sonar operators was immediate:

“Definite submerged contact detected! Bearing three-one-seven! Computer classification

confirms PLAN Kilo class submarine!”
The TC now went into action over the intercom: “Designate enemy contact as ZULU-ONE.
Prepare Sonobuoy triangulation on the target. Prepare drop S-7 and S-8. Fix for active
emission. Prepare for torpedo drop on target!”

A minute later the IL-38 and the Chinese Kilo class submarine began their game of cat and
mouse. The IL-38 crew was flying in an arc as they dropped an additional two sonobuoys in
order to get an exact fix on the target. These sonobuoys were fixed for active emissions and
that would speed up results. The point was, the airborne attacker could be active and still
not be touched, but it could certainly touch its intended target. The Chinese crew on the
other hand had few options. The waters of the strait meant that there were no local
Thermocyclines or ‘Thermal Layers’ to hide under. Diving depths were restricted. And this
was the Indian Navy’s back yard. They had mapped the waters of the straits for all MAD
disruptions, sub-surface terrain variations and local variations in the saline content of the
water, so that there were no surprises for them in this attack process. The only hope for the
PLAN crew was the hope that their air force would deliver on their intended promises...

“S-7 dropped!” the pilot confirmed even as the IL-38 continued on the steep bank angle and
flew further along the arc to conduct the other drop. That was completed a minute later: “S-
8 dropped! Pulling out!”

“S-7 is active. S-8 is active. We have detections on ZULU-ONE. Positional fix achieved!” the
senior sonar operator confirmed.
“Go for active weapons! Prepare for single torpedo drop when ready!” the TC shouted over
the intercom to the Weapons Systems Operators. He then talked to the flight crew: “We are
going for Drop-1 in one minute. Bring us about on the required profile!”

“Roger.”

The aircraft banked and then leveled out as the flight crew brought the aircraft on the
required bearing. They then reduced the speed and began a small shallow dive when the
WSOs confirmed the weapon’s readiness over the intercom...

“Torpedo drop initiated. Drop in three...two...one! Drop!” the pilot shouted. This time the
aircraft shuddered significantly as the large torpedo fell clear of the IL-38 and splashed into
the water a few moments later. The sonar crew picked it up immediately:
“Weapon is active and on target. ZULU-ONE is deploying countermeasures! Three counted
so far. Weapon is running straight and normal. Impact in ten seconds...five seconds...

Impact! We have impact! Multiple explosions registered on target. We can hear bulkheads
collapsing! Target has lost power and is diving for the floor...impact on the surface. Target
disintegrating...!”

The aircraft intercom was filled with cheer as the Chinese submarine and its crew perished
on the bottom of the Malacca Strait. The TC was more sober though as he did not lose fact
of the lives that had just been lost on board the enemy submarine:

“Okay people, get back to work. Sonar: scratch ZULU-ONE off. Flight: bring us back up to
altitude. It’s time we headed back to base for restocking. Communications: inform Eastern
Naval HQ that we have made contact and sunk a Chinese kilo class submarine and send
them the locations. Inform them that we are headed back to base for rearming and
refueling.”

Back in the cockpit, the flight crew had been congratulating each other when the RWRs on
board the aircraft began screeching...
“Oh shit! We are being painted! Two Flanker radar emissions inbound from the south!” the
co-pilot said.
“Where are our two escort fighters?” the Flight Engineer shouted from behind. The pilot was
already asking that same question from the ANC Operations Center:

“ANC OPCON, this is SIERRA-ONE. We are being painted by Red Flanker radars from the
south. We need immediate assistance. Where the hell are our escorts?”

“SIERRA-ONE, this is ANC OPCON. SIERRA-FIVE and –SIX are inbound your location. ETA
two minutes. Suggest you leave current position immediately!”
“No kidding!” the co-pilot said before turning to the pilot:

“Get us out of here...!”

THE MALACCA STRAIT

SOUTHEAST OF THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS
DAY 5 + 0945 HRS

The crews onboard the few fishing vessels in the area noted the large turboprop IL-38
screeching through the air at an altitude of less than a hundred feet off the sea as it headed
north. The massive droning noise filled the skies as all four engines on board the aircraft
were roaring at full power while the aircraft attempted to put some gap between itself and
its pursuers to the south. Then the skies became noisier as four more engines joined the
club. Two Mig-29Ks flew past the lumbering IL-38 on their way south on full afterburner as
they attempted to put themselves between the unarmed ASW aircraft and the inbound Su-
27s from the south...
Back to the south, however, the two Chinese pilots were already in advanced stages of
weapons release. A few seconds later two PL-12 medium range missiles fell off the pylons of
the two aircraft and lit their burners and arced across the sky in a guided trajectory into the
target in a tail-chase mode. Two more PL-12s fell clear and this time flew in a depressed
trajectory against the incoming Indian Mig-29s...
The Indian Migs were just as quick to respond, but they had been caught off guard. The
Indian Commanders had expected the Chinese to punch through the Myanmar airspace on
their way to the Malacca straits in large sized forces, and yet they had taken the extremely
long range route around it and over international waters and therefore been restricted to a
handful of aircraft in the final attack force. As a result, the Indian Naval combat patrols had
been caught at the northern end of the strait when the IL-38 crews had sounded off the
warning far to the south. This had allowed the two SU-27s to close into weapons range with
the lone Indian aircraft before the Migs could intervene.

As a result, there were now four Chinese missiles in the air against two Indian R-77s. Two
of the former were headed towards the Indian IL-38 and there was nothing much anybody
could do. Two of the remaining missiles were headed for the Migs and those pilots took
evasive maneuvers and dived for the deck as they dropped off chaff across the blue skies.
The IL-38 was headed away from the sector at its full speed and so attempted to outrun the
incoming missiles. The missiles however were streaking across the skies behind them in a
climbing maneuver during the powered phase. This trajectory allowed them to make a
slashing dive into the target even if they ran out of power during the final moments.

Of the two missiles inbound, one splashed into the ocean behind the IL-38 as it ran out of
power. The other too lost power but slammed into the port wing section of the aircraft as it
dived into the sea. The warhead detonation broke the outer wing section of the IL-38 and
the port outer engine fell off amidst furious flames. The shrapnel had also peppered the in-
board port engine as well as the port side of the fuselage, killing and wounding many of the
ASW crew inside the cabin. The massive moment created by the asymmetric thrust spiraled
the aircraft with a slash and with the aircraft flying at low level there was no time to power
back on the starboard engines. A few seconds later the IL-38 cart-wheeled into the blue
waters of the strait and broke up on impact...
To the south, the two Mig-29s and the two Su-27s were fighting for their lives in a merged
knife fight. Both sides had successfully evaded the deflection BVR attacks on each other and
had now entered the “merge”, as it was called. Both sides were attempting to knock down
the others using everything from gun bursts to off-bore-sight weapon shots. But as with the
similarity in weapons being used, the aircrafts themselves were just as maneuverable and
highly so. But the Su-27 could absorb much more damage than the Mig-29 mainly because
of its design. One of the Su-27s was in fact flying and fighting even with a line of holes on
its elevators caused by a deflected burst of fire from one of the two maneuvering Mig-29s.

For the Indian pilots, the battle was getting very dangerous. Not only did they not
outnumber the sukhois, they also had shorter endurance and lesser number of weapons
compared to their opponents. The only way for them was to end the battle by either
shooting down their opponents or breaking contact while they still had the means to do so.
The one true advantage on the Indian side was the aircrew quality in WVR tactics. And it
wasn’t long before it showed: one of the two Indian pilots managed to fire off a long burst
of gunfire in a very tight turn that caught one of the two Chinese aircraft broadside. The
canopy shattered and the pilot lost control at low altitude before the massive beast of a
fighter splashed into the blue waters of the straits even as the Mig-29 flew overhead. The
other Chinese pilot panicked and attempted to disengage: a very dangerous move in the
heat of battle. The other Mig-29 claimed this kill with a tail chase R-77 shot right up the
tailpipe of the Su-27. This time the aircraft blew up in a shattering ball of fire even as the
debris fell into the sea...

A few minutes later the Mig-29s were pulling northwards even as another IL-38 lifted off the
tarmac in Nicobar on its way into the strait to replace the loss of the first IL-38 and its crew
over the Malacca strait. The Indian Navy and the PLAN had both suffered costly losses in the
first skirmish over the waters of the strait, but the submarine hunt continued regardless.
This time, however, a flight of three Mig-29Ks took position alongside the IL-38 as it headed
south, further thinning out the small Indian Naval strike force over the Bay of Bengal...

BEYOND POINT VICTORY-1

1ST BATTALION OF THE 10TH MECHANIZED REGIMENT
NORTHERN LADDAKH
DAY 5 + 1005 HRS

“Go! Go! Move beyond it, damn it!” Captain Kongara shouted at his vehicle driver as his
BMP struggled to get around the burning hulk of an Indian BRDM that had been destroyed a
few minutes previously by a long range HEAT round. That particular marauding Chinese
tank had instead taken multiple hits from Nag missiles launched by the NAMICA vehicles of
the 1ST Battalion organic AT platoon. Kongara could see the pillar of smoke two kilometers
away that showed the location of the burning Chinese tank. Regardless, several Indian
soldiers had died in the BRDM, and that could not be changed...

Yet another example of what happens when you take light armor against heavy armor in
battle...Kongara thought as his vehicle passed beyond the yellow-orange flames of the
wreckage and headed beyond, spearheading the advance by Group Green units towards
Point Golf-Black-One, which was the first goal in the multi-staged Battalion assault towards
Point Victory-Two, the Battalion Objective.
Kongara was sincerely worried about the overall design of the assault force he was now
leading into battle. Fact of the matter was that the Chinese infrastructure on their side of
the LAC was vastly superior and flat. Both these factors were allowing them to bring in
heavy armor units into the fight. On the Indian side, the relatively languishing infrastructure
and tough terrain meant that not only were there fewer heavy units throughout the Laddakh
sector, but also that they were at the end of a very long logistical string that had to move
from Leh to Shyok to Saser to the current FEBA. And it would only get worse as the Indian
forces fought their way eastwards, whereas it would become that much easier for the
Chinese since their own lines would keep reducing.

As a result of all this, the only units in any reasonable quantity inside Laddakh at the
moment were the lighter Battalions of the 10TH Mechanized Infantry Regiment. Out of
several Battalions already in Laddakh, there were three full Battalions in the DBO sector,
and elements of another Battalion, the 8TH Battalion, heading in. rumors were also floating
around in Colonel Sudarshan’s HQ that there was an Armored Regiment headed into Leh
and thence to DBO. But rumors were not any comfort for the men at the sharp end facing
Chinese tanks with light armor units. Captain Kongara was leading Group Green of the 1/10
Mechanized and his force was primarily armed with BMP-2s, NAMICAs, BRDMs and other
light vehicles. Facing them was a force of Chinese heavy armor streaming in from the Aksai
Chin arterial road that was still protected by the S-300s near the Qara-Tagh-La.

The only good news was the indirect support available to Kongara and his men. The two
199HU LCHs had proven deadly to the Chinese and were available today as well. In
addition, the Smerch batteries near Saser to the west were continuing to pummel Chinese
forces with impunity after having wiped off their own supporting artillery in a wave of fierce
area bombardments...

Speak of the devil...Kongara thought as the hilltop designated as Point Golf-Black-One

disappeared amidst a carpet of explosions in preparation for the assault by Group Green
forces. The clearly visible explosions rocked the region and Kongara felt and then heard the
rumble of the explosions even above the sounds of the diesel engines of his vehicle. The
skies were filled with the sounds of the incoming shells that were slamming into the Chinese
positions further beyond Golf-Black-One. Intelligence had identified several T-99s moving
amidst the Chinese lines between Golf-Black-Two and Golf-Black-Three.

“Driver, Halt!” Kongara shouted before surveying the horizon ahead covered with black
smoke pillars climbing into the grayish Laddakh sky. He then opened the hatch of the turret
and poked his head out while bringing out his binoculars to take a clearer view of the terrain
as well as his own forces. He saw the soldiers moving on both the left and right flanks as
the Sikhs attempted to fight for control of the hilltops surrounding the axis of advance.
Immediately next to his vehicle were the lines of BMP-2s and NAMICAs taking position in a
line-abreast formation. And directly to his front lay the open rocky gravel all the way
towards the smoke filled hilltops.

The smell of diesel was in the air as Kongara checked his maps once again and then his
watch. The ‘T’ hour was almost up. He was jerked into ducking for cover inside the turret
when a Helicopter fired Nag missile flew overhead and on its way to the target.
Kongara turned around to see the two LCHs flown by Wing Commander Dutt and his
Squadron pilots, hovering a few hundred yards behind the Group Green Line of Departure.
Kongara turned to the front to see a small orange fireball racing into the sky at extreme
range. He put his binoculars to his eyes and even then all he could see was the pillar of
black smoke rising behind the fireball caused by the impact of the Nag missile against some
target.

Kongara smiled to himself as he appreciated that the Indian Air Force was watching after his
force. Sure enough, the LCHs were already taking shots at the enemy even while the main
ground force below was waiting to move. The R/T squawked a few seconds later inside the
BMPs of Group-Green:

“Group-Green. Advance to target. Engage and destroy enemy forces at Points Golf-Black-
One, Two and Three. Seize and hold the objective at Victory-Two.”

Kongara was quick to change frequencies and launch the orders: “Group-Green: Advance!
Advance! Advance!”