by Vivek Ahuja
The two Chinese pilots were already about to release weapons. Two PL-12 air-to-air missiles fell off the pylons of the two aircraft and lit their burners. They arced across the sky in a guided trajectory to the target. Two more PL-12s fell clear and this time flew in a depressed trajectory against the incoming Indian Mig-29Ks...
The Indian aircraft were just as quick to respond, but they had been caught off guard. Indian Commanders had expected the Chinese to punch through Myanmar airspace on their way to the Malacca Strait, not try to take the extremely long route through the South China Sea.
There were now four Chinese missiles in the air against two Indian ones. 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 Mig-29Ks and those pilots took evasive maneuvers and dived for the deck, punching chaff across the sky.
The Il-38 was headed away from the sector at its full speed and attempted to outrun the incoming missiles. Of the two missiles inbound, one splashed into the ocean behind the Il-38 as it ran out of power. The other slammed into the port wing section of the aircraft…
The explosion broke the outer wing section of the IL-38 and the outer engine broke off amidst furious flames. The shrapnel had also peppered the in-board port engine as well as the port side of the fuselage, wounding many of the ASW crew inside. A few seconds later the Il-38 cart-wheeled into the blue waters of the strait and broke up on impact.
The two Mig-29s and the Su-27s were also fighting for their lives. Both sides had successfully evaded BVR attacks on each other and had now entered the “merge”. Both sides were also using their helmet sights to try and take off-bore-sight weapon shots. But as with the similarity in weapons, the aircrafts were also just as maneuverable and highly so.
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. The Su-27 could also absorb much more damage. The only way for them to end the battle was 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. 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 a Su-27 on its broadside. The canopy shattered and the pilot lost control at low altitude. The beast of a fighter splashed into the blue waters of the straits as the Mig-29K flashed overhead. The other Chinese pilot attempted to disengage: a very dangerous move in the heat of battle. The other Mig-29K claimed this kill with a tail chase R-77 shot right up the tailpipe of the Su-27. This aircraft blew up in a shattering ball of fire and fell into the sea.
A few minutes later the Mig-29s were pulling north as another Il-38 lifted off the tarmac on Nicobar Island to replace the loss of the first aircraft and all of its crew. The Indian navy and the PLAN had both suffered costly losses in the first skirmish over the high seas. But as more Chinese submarines approached Indian waters, a flight of three Mig-29Ks headed deep inside the Malacca Strait to establish a fighter barrier against future Chinese attempts to interdict Indian naval presence in the region…
EAST OF THE LINE OF ACTUAL CONTROL
NORTHERN LADAKH
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 a burning BRDM vehicle.
The guilty Chinese tank had taken a direct hit from a Nag missile seconds after it had claimed the Indian BRDM reconnaissance vehicle. Kongara could see the pillar of smoke two kilometers away where the Chinese tank had been killed. But the crew of the BRDM was long dead, and that could not be changed by claiming revenge…
This is what happens when you take light armor against tanks!
Kongara thought as his vehicle passed the flaming wreck. His force of BMPs was spearheading the advance by the 10TH Mechanized to the battalion objective to the north.
He was worried about the overall design of the assault force he was leading into battle against the Chinese. Fact 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 languishing infrastructure and tough terrain meant that not only were there fewer heavy units throughout Ladakh, but also that they were at the end of a very long logistical string that had to move from Leh to Shyok to Saser and then to the current FEBA.
As a result the only Indian armor units inside Ladakh were the battalions of the Mechanized Infantry Regiment. Three battalions were earmarked for the offensive in DBO. These were the 10TH, 4TH and 3RD Battalions. The 8TH Battalion was deployed near Chushul and involved in yet another high tech version of something that had happened before in 1962. Discussions were underway about bringing in an armored regiment, but the logistics problem was enormous. Any such force would simply have to drive up there. That would take time.
And time was not a luxury Kongara and the rest of the 10TH Mechanized could afford right about now…
Kongara’s force was primarily armed with BMP-IIs and few other light vehicles. Facing them was a force of Chinese T-99s streaming in from the Aksai Chin arterial roads. And it would only get worse as other Indian forces fought their way east.
The only good news around was the indirect support available to Kongara and his men. The two 199HU attack helicopters had proven deadly. And the Smerch MBRL and 155mm howitzer batteries near Saser were continuing to pummel Chinese forces with impunity now that their artillery forces had been suppressed...
Speak of the devil!
One of the two hills shouldering the battalion objective disappeared amidst a carpet of explosions. The sky above filled with incoming shells that were slamming into the Chinese positions on the hill and beyond. Friendly UAVs overhead had also identified several T-99s moving amidst the Chinese lines near the objective.
“Driver, Halt!” Kongara shouted.
As the vehicle jerked to a stop he opened the top hatch and raised his head into the freezing winds outside. He saw soldiers from the 9TH Punjab moving on both his flanks as they attempted to take control of the hills bracketing the axis of advance to the objective. Next to his vehicle were the lines of BMPs and NAMICAs taking position in a loose line-abreast formation. The formation was spaced out to reduce the effect of enemy indirect artillery strikes, though the latter were solidly suppressed at the moment.
Directly to his north lay his objective.
The smell of burnt diesel was in the air as Kongara checked his paper maps and then his watch.
T minus thirty…
He jerked inside the turret when a Helicopter fired Nag slapped into the air behind him and flew overhead and on its way to the target. He turned around to see the two LCHs flown by Wing-Commander Dutt and his pilots banking away after engaging the target, releasing flares along the way…
A rumble reached his ears above the sounds of the two helicopters and the diesel engines. He turned to the north and saw a small fireball racing into the sky several kilometers away. He brought up his binoculars and saw the pillar of black smoke rising up.
Kongara smiled as he appreciated that the air-force was watching after his force. His radio squawked:
“This is Thunder-One to all Thunder elements. Engage and destroy enemy forces at Points Golf-Black-One. Thunder Force will seize and hold the objective! All vehicles advance!”
THE LINE OF ACTUAL CONTROL
NORTHERN LADAKH
DAY 5 + 1035 HRS
Colonel Sudarshan walked out of the tents that made up his command post. As his command staff ran about with various jobs and crises to solve, he took it all in with his senses. The radios were alive with incoming traffic from the small unit commanders.
Much of his current work was simply to eavesdrop on the conversations taking place between the vehicle
commanders and match that with the views on the video feed from the UAVs. This allowed him to keep track of the battle without constantly interfering.
Not the same being over there at the frontlines, though…
He folded his cold hands into a fist and saw the whitish skin turn pink as blood returned under the skin. A crumble of distant thunder caused him to look to the east.
That was where the battle was.
A couple of days ago he had taken charge of the small armored force in this sector and led it during the desperate first battle for control of DBO alongside Brigadier Adesara’s infantry brigade.
Four days later he was in overall command of roughly two-hundred vehicles inside DBO. That made it a reinforced Mechanized Infantry Brigade for all practical purposes.
His biggest enemy at the moment was not the PLA. It was the absence of doctrine within the army on high altitude armored warfare. The army high command had toyed with the idea over the past few decades, inducting and de-inducting forces from Ladakh. But they had never really bought into the idea of armored combat at these altitudes.
And the result of that lack of imagination showed.
At the moment, Sudarshan was having trouble explaining exactly what his Mechanized Brigade could and could not do to the Corps and Army commanders. The problems on the ground were far worse than anything the senior commanders could imagine.
On paper the Mechanized Brigade concept was very appealing given its makeup. It could, theoretically, be placed to slice southeast into the Aksai Chin, perhaps even demolishing the PLA offensive in the Galwan valley currently underway.
In reality, the Brigade’s forces were stretched out over a vast front fighting relatively isolated battles with little coherence. And as desperate as the struggle was, even the thought of disengaging them to reestablish coherence was impossible.
What I need, are tanks! Proper, actual main-battle-tanks!
As of right now, there was not even an armored squadron of tanks left alive in Ladakh, let alone the regiments required to support the push to take something the size of Aksai Chin from the Chinese.
Idiots!
Here we are: a thin thread away from losing the entire DBO sector and there they are thinking of offensive pushes into the Aksai Chin…
Sudarshan thought as he saw yet another supply truck being pushed out of a slushy quagmire by the soldiers. Vehicular traffic routes between Saser and the frontlines to the east were now little more than slushy dirt tracks.
As he watched, one of the armored-recovery-vehicle of the 10TH Mechanized pulled past in a rumble, pulling behind it a badly damaged but relatively intact BMP-II. The tracks had blown off as a result of some explosion and the hatches were opened wide, the blood stains clearly marking the route taken by the injured crewmembers…
He could watch no further.
He walked back into his CP to see the grim faces of his staff members around him. His operations officer walked over:
“10TH Mechanized is bogged down, taken losses and unable to advance. Our attack helicopters destroyed several T-99s and ZBDs in that sector but otherwise the frontlines remain unchanged. The Chinese seem to be pulling units off their reinforcement convoys and diverting them south towards the 10TH Mechanized. 4TH Mechanized has encountered lesser resistance to the southeast and has breached into the enemy rear areas!”
Sudarshan nodded and walked over to the map board. He looked at it a few seconds before facing his operations officer:
“10TH Mechanized is not going to be able to hold the Chinese main supply route to this sector from the Aksai Chin even if they could somehow take it from the Chinese. The Chinese are clearly receiving their reinforcements along that MSR. We could pull 4TH Mechanized back and use them to plug more forces in, but that will mean we scrub our attack mission for that unit into the Aksai Chin region. Else we pull back 10TH Mechanized to their earlier starting lines and put them on defensive positions and guarding the left flanks and let 4TH Mechanized do their mission. But how long will that single Battalion push last?” he asked.
Sudarshan shook his head: “Get me Brigadier Adesara at brigade headquarters!”
“Sir!”
A few seconds later Sudarshan took the speaker from the Major.
“What’s the latest?” Adesara’s voice came on the radio.
“Could be better. My boys confirm the arrival of red heavy armor along their main MSR. We are taking considerable casualties. I don’t think we can push through to the objective!”
“Can you sustain momentum? Keep the pressure on the Chinese?”
“Negative with current resources. Suggest scrubbing attack and diverting resources to hold defensive positions pending arrival of reinforcements,” Sudarshan said into the speaker as he ran his hand over his forehead, deep in focus.
“Roger,” Adesara replied, his voice laced with concern. “Deploy artillery cover and disengage your force. No point in achieving a pyrrhic victory. Not right now. However, keep the 4TH Mechanized in the attack into the Aksai Chin. Divisional orders!”
“Uh...Roger that! Out,” Sudarshan replied, not quite sure what the Divisional commander wanted with keeping the 4TH Mechanized on the offensive by itself.
Sudarshan handed over the radio speaker back to the Major.
“Division wants us to continue the 4TH Mechanized offensive. Problem is, if 10TH Mechanized gets overrun by Chinese tanks, 4TH Mechanized is going to get cut off deep inside the Aksai Chin!”
“But that’s a worst case scenario. The 10TH can hold whatever the Chinese throw at them,” the Major offered. Sudarshan grunted.
We will find out soon enough!
KASHGAR AIRBASE
SINKIANG AUTONOMOUS REGION
CHINA
DAY 5 + 1330 HRS
“So my friend, what will you have to drink? Close the door,” Chen motioned his left hand towards the array of whiskey and rum bottles on a small table in the corner of the office.
Feng closed the door behind him and walked over to the table and inspected the bottles. He did not wish to drink so early in the day, if at all, but he did not wish to offend the sensibilities of a three-star general, either. While his back was to Chen, looking over the years on the stacked bottles, he brought himself to smile a bit.
What can you say about the state of the war where generals and senior officers talk about whiskey rather than logistics?
A burst of laughter from Chen caused Feng to turn around.
“What’s so funny?” Feng asked.
“Just that you are so predictable, Feng! So very predictable!”
The laugh continued some more, and Feng brought himself to smile, remove his coat and hang it on a stand before gently tossing his cap on the sofa. He took his seat opposite Chen.
Time was short, and certainly there was no time for this. But Feng understood that this was not a social get-together. Despite the drink, Chen’s mind was as sharp right now as the first day a young Major Feng had seen him while he was a Colonel at Lanzhou airbase so many years ago. Chen liked to drink, but it never dulled his mind.
Feng could not say that about himself, however.
He picked up his small glass of rum and brought it forward for a toast. Chen did the same. Both men had not rested for five days now. And it was beginning to show around their eyes. The power of the drinks however brought momentary freshness and both men shook it off, Feng struggling more than his boss. The table between them was littered with reports, maps, charts and markers among a bunch of other personal items, including Chen’s fur cap and his personal sidearm holster. On the side lay his personal identification data cards. Feng surveyed the table and waited impatiently for the general to say something.
Time is of the essence!
“So Feng,” Chen said, leaning back into his leather chair, “would you say that we have accomplished what the Army and the CMC had asked of us when this madness began five days ago?”
Feng considered his response. Chen was known to bait his p
eople in such conversations, sometimes humorously and other times not. Of course the victim never knew it. But Feng had known him long enough. He and Chen were alone and the senior Political Commissar was not here. So this conversation, lubricated by drinks was intended to be frank and honest.
Good. We can use the honesty!
Feng put his glass back on the table.
“No we have not.”
“No?” Chen asked with a raised eyebrow.
“The ground war has not gone as expected. The army is stuck only a few kilometres inside Indian Territory and in other areas has actually lost territory to Indian offensives! The original plans called for us to defeat the Indian forces within the first week of the war and then consolidate our gains over the next two. And in the skies we have failed to defeat the Indians. They technology and terrain advantage allows them to defeat our attacks continuously and at far lesser losses. We have failed to…”
Chen stopped Feng with a raised hand.
“We have not failed, Feng. Not yet, at any rate. We cannot fail!”
Feng could feel the sudden chill in the room as Chen’s tone changed:
“But we do have to adapt.”
Chen picked up his glass and poured in some water as he spoke:
“I have given it some more thought. It was not entirely Zhigao’s fault. None of us fully appreciated the vast gap in technology between us and the Indians and for that we are all to blame: you, me, Wencang and everybody within the PLAAF planning staff!”
Chen paused and drank the contents of his glass. Feng had heard what happened to Major-General Zhigao after his arrest…
Poor bastard.
Chen leaned forward and rested his arms on the table.
“Feng, we need a new game plan. Options?”
“Few,” Feng conceded with a dismissive shake of his head.
“In that case we have to go defensive for a while,” Chen concluded.