Chimera

by Vivek Ahuja

  Certainly it was a valid question.

  Outside, in the skies above southern Tibet, the IAF was renewing its presence. Just as the PLAAF had wanted to remind the IAF that it was far from defeated, the IAF wanted to do the same…

  Ten Su-30s from the Hashimara based No. 222 “Tigersharks” Squadron were deploying themselves north of the Chumbi valley on an offensive fighter sweep and were establishing their dominance in the skies. They had already nailed two J-7s on patrol over Lhasa.

  Further south, the Phalcon AWACS aircraft from Kalaikunda had replaced the lost CABS AEW aircraft and was providing airborne command and control. A flight of six Mirage-2000s from No. 7 Squadron were on security for this aircraft over northern Sikkim. But the real operation was ongoing over the Chumbi valley…

  As the sun was setting to the west, casting a reddish-pink glow to the darkening skies, nine Il-76s in three groups had entered northern Sikkim followed behind by three of the newly delivered C-17s.

  Thomas felt the Il-76 fuselage tilt a bit and saw as the last rays of red sunlight coming into the dark fuselage from the portholes disappeared, leaving the fuselage utterly dark except for the glow of the dim orange-yellow lights inside. The warning lights to his side went red and he saw the jumpmasters nodding as they spoke something into their earphones. The chief-warrant-officer glanced at Thomas and caught his look. He nodded.

  It was time.

  Thomas got up from his seat and so did the hundred paratroopers inside. He heard everybody checking equipment and the jumpmasters shouting orders. He had done this many times in his career. This jump, however, had only been a dream up till this moment.

  There was a large shudder and humming noises as the darkness of the cabin disappeared when the two large halves of the aft ramp door opened up. The cabin was immediately lit up with the reddish evening glow from the west. Thomas could see the sun dipping below the horizon to the west and realized that the aircraft had now crossed into Tibet and were flying east, north of the Chumbi valley. As the doors fully opened, freezing winds rushed up the cabin and many of the paratroopers shivered. Thomas patted his pocket to ensure he had his boonie-hat stacked away carefully. From where he stood, at the rear of the cabin, he could see the other nine aircraft flying some distance away.

  The jumpmaster patted Thomas on the back and held up five fingers.

  Five minutes.

  Thomas nodded and then took a deep breath as his heart started pounding. He had done this so many times that the jump did not bother him anymore. But here the jump was only the beginning of the ordeal, not its end.

  Below, he saw a large frozen lake pass below on the brown desert-like plains and realized from memory that they were now very near the drop-zone. Sure enough, the light next to him flashed green and the jumpmasters started pushing the ready paratroopers out of the ramp.

  The three men before Thomas jumped and their parachutes deployed after the cord connecting them to the aircraft pulled it open. Thomas did not hesitate either. He took the dive instantly and felt the massive slap from the winds on his body. He saw the parachute deploy above his head and it instantly pulled him back by the harness with another jolt. Within seconds he was stabilized and saw the white chute above deployed cleanly and under his control. He saw the long lines of chutes deploying behind and above him from all twelve transports. To his west he saw six Mirage-2000s fully armed with weapons streaking by as they were silhouetted by the setting sunlight.

  He expected to take weapons fire from below but was surprised to see none of that. Of course they had picked the location because it fell north of the two PLA Divisions in the valley and was surprisingly sparsely occupied. Still, the hundreds of open white canopies were not hard to miss nor were the massed transport aircraft overhead. He had been told that the IAF Mig-27s had suppressed all Chinese anti-air missile capabilities in the valley, but he had taken that with a grain of salt.

  Maybe our luck will hold. It only has to hold a little bit longer…

  The ground below approached quickly and Thomas flared his chutes just before his feet touched on the loose gravel of Tibet and he skidded and fell. The chute settled behind him, pulling him along the gravel with the wind. He reached for his harness straps and snapped them open, releasing the chute as it drifted away along with all the cords. He saw he had been dragged for about two-dozen meters in the gravel and was lucky that only a couple of his pockets had been ripped. He instantly checked his backpack and found it was all there. So was his rifle. Most importantly, he felt his maps still inside the chest pocket as he patted them.

  Several of his soldiers ran over after having landed and had drawn out their rifles. They helped Thomas to his feet and he looked around while dusting his uniform. Hundreds of other chutes were still landing all around while the Il-76s and C-17s were making their way south, visible as small black specks against the reddish sky. The Mirage-2000s thundered overhead as well.

  Thomas grunted as he unpacked his boonie hat and put it over his head above the small woolen cap. He unslung his Tavor rifle and patted his men to move out as they heard the first sounds of gunfire to the north.

  Some PLA forces had found them and were engaging. As they ran through the rocky terrain, Thomas removed his binoculars and spotted the S-204 highway to his west, easily visible from where he was. He also saw a line of trucks that had been moving on the road before it had been engaged by his paratroopers.

  One of the trucks burst into flames.

  As the PLA soldiers began jumping out and returning fire, his men began taking positions west of the road with the Himalayan Mountains to their south. As night fell, they were pushing for control of the road going south into the valley using extensive air-support from Mig-27s and LGB equipped Mirage-2000s.

  Within hours, deployed elements of the Indian 5TH and 6TH Para (Airborne) Battalions had taken control of the last major road leading out of the Chumbi valley, effectively cutting off the two battered PLA Divisions south of there.

  day 14

  NEW CHINA NEWS AGENCY

  DAY 14 + 0800 HRS

  “…the European Nations have shown their tacit approval of the Indian aggression against the people of China by attempting to spread vicious rumors through its so-called ‘free media’. In Beijing today, Chairmen Peng’s office denied all western rumors that the southern island of Hainan was struck by Indian missiles. The office stated that they had irrefutable evidence to show that the western media simply attempted to sensationalize a dreadful airline accident.

  “This incident took place when a China Cargo airliner crashed on arrival at Sanya airport on Hainan, killing all eighteen passengers on board. An investigation is currently underway to ascertain the true cause of the accident. In an unrelated incident, our comrades in the People’s Liberation Army Navy continued their wartime readiness exercises at other Hainan airbases including Lingshui and Ledong, dropping multiple practice bombs on training ranges nearby. The citizens of Hainan are asked to remain calm and stay in their homes and to not place calls to their local party officials. Announcements will be made once sufficient investigation of the airliner incident has been completed.

  “In other news, the Ministry of National Defense released an update today on the progress of our soldiers against Indian aggression on the Himalayan borders. The statement put to rest rumors in Lhasa that had been circulated by Tibetan rebels to instill fear and anxiety. The police are investigating the source of the rumors and several arrests have been made. The ministry quoted General Yongju as saying that those arrested for spreading these rumors will be severely punished. General Liu also reiterated the statement made earlier by Chairman Peng’s office that operations against the Indians go well overall despite ‘minor’ setbacks. Our comrades in the Land Forces are even now preparing to deal the final punitive blow to end this Indian aggression.”

  MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE BUILDING

  BEIJING

  DAY 14 + 0830 HRS

  “What’s the latest from th
e valley?” Peng asked without ado as he entered the conference room.

  He did not need to explain what he was talking about. The valley in this case meant Chumbi and the status he wanted was about the two depleted PLA Divisions cut off from the 15TH Corps heading there.

  “Not good,” Yongju said as he and the other PLA Generals ended their discussions and took their seats around the table. “The Division commanders are desperate. They have been fighting for two weeks now and are badly understrength from combat casualties in both men and material. The Indians are striking their units from the air freely now. The units no longer have any artillery left and are beginning to run low on supplies. And now with the road to the north cut off, their morale is sinking.”

  “They will hold their positions until relieved by the 15TH Corps!” Peng ordered as he pulled his chair out from under the table and then sat down.

  “How long can they hold?” Liu asked.

  “So long as the two commanders are alive,” Yongju replied, “we can expect them to hold at least for another day, maybe more. But the 15TH Corps is being delayed as it makes it way south to Gyantse. The Indians are striking them incessantly from the air and the convoys are taking heavy damage on the roads.”

  “This is not going to work! We need to try something different or else even the Divisions within the 15TH Corps will be utterly decimated by the time they get there,” Liu said as he leaned back in his seat.

  “You have a different suggestion, General?” Peng asked.

  “Yes. I do.” Liu answered confidently. “I think it is time we faced facts here. The Highland Division in Bhutan has been lost and the 55TH and 11TH Divisions in the Chumbi valley are about to collapse as well. And the 15TH Airborne Corps is being mauled even before it reaches the battlefield!”

  “You have a point?” Peng asked as he rubbed his eyes on hearing the painful truths.

  “Yes!” Liu said loudly. “My Corps is ready to deploy! It has the most proven weapons in our arsenals ready for action. With launch sites in northern Tibet I can order the brigade commanders to fire our medium-range missiles with nuclear warheads and terminate the Indian Corps in the Chumbi valley along with all other major northern airbases and command centers!”

  “Are you insane?!” Yongju shouted back, slamming his pen back on his bunch of papers. “In doing this you will destroy our men along with the Indians in the valley!”

  “Would you rather handle defeat instead?” Liu asked rhetorically.

  “Are those our only choices?” Peng asked soberly.

  “No! There is a third option!” Yongju replied. “End this war now! The Russians are awaiting a response from us on negotiations. We have been stalling them endlessly but we can initiate talks now while those two Divisions are still alive and fighting. The Indians haven’t won anything as long as they are still fighting!”

  Liu exhaled loudly and slumped back in his chair:

  “Now that is utterly insane, Yongju. And you should know better! If we negotiate now we will do so from a position of weakness. The Indians will know that the only reason we want to talk is because our forces in the valley are surrounded and on the verge of defeat!”

  “So?” Yongju shouted back. “It’s true! And the sooner we accept it the sooner we save ourselves the even bigger embarrassment of two Divisions surrendering to the Indians! Our people will not accept such a defeat!”

  “And which is exactly why I say we must use nuclear weapons in the valley now!” Liu said, beginning to show frustration. “It is better for us to lose two Divisions in exchange for an entire Indian Army Corps than for us to lose them as prisoners of war! You want the Indians to march them through their streets like they did with the Pakistanis in 1971 or the Russians did with the Germans? Can you imagine the national shame?”

  “Don’t try to confuse this with national shame!” Yongju replied. “You cannot simply extinguish the lives of my men with arguments based on empty rhetoric. Negotiations are different from surrendering. We are far from surrendering. And the Indians know it!”

  “Liu,” Peng said, “our men deserve better from us than this. And Yongju is right: as long as the two Divisions hold ground, we have not really lost anything substantial.”

  “Except Bhutan,” Liu said quietly, but caught Peng’s ear.

  “Yes, Bhutan is lost. But we never meant to capture Bhutan in its entirety, did we? It served to bog down Indian troops in the hopes of detracting what has unfortunately still come to pass in the Chumbi valley.”

  “I hope,” Liu said menacingly, “you realize that if you go ahead with this negotiated surrender, our people will not forgive us in a thousand years!”

  “They will learn to, Liu. But only in time.” Peng said and leaned forward to press the phone intercom on the table.

  “Get me Minister Bogdanov at the Russian Foreign Ministry.”

  GURUCUN

  NORTH OF THE CHUMBI VALLEY

  DAY 14 + 1500 HRS

  The Chomolhari peak stood majestically on the eastern end of the valley, its snowcapped slopes shining in the afternoon sunlight. Small puffs of white clouds broke over its ridges against the blue sky with perfect serenity…

  Colonel Thomas sat on the ground, his back resting on his backpack as it lay on the gravel. He stared in silence at the beauty of the Himalayas east of the valley. The clouds were drifting over the Chomolhari as a dark speck in the blue sky glistened in the sunlight and darted north. It flew across Thomas’s vision silently but he recognized it for what it was: a jet fighter streaking over Bhutan.

  Then he saw more specks glistening in the sky, this time heading south and others heading north as they merged into each other. It was all so utterly silent from where he was. There were a couple of small puffs of spiral clouds dropped by some of the jets.

  Flares!

  Thomas realized he was now a mute witness to yet another desperate aerial battle being fought between the two sides of this war…

  He sighed, and used his rifle lying on the mud nearby to lift himself up. The other paratroopers nearby got up as well, seeing their Colonel getting ready to move to another position. Thomas squinted as he saw a small flash of light over the Chomolhari and witnessed a pencil-thin trail of smoke diving behind it. One of the jets had just gone down. By now there were several such dirty brown-black lines of smoke in the sky as young pilots from both sides were losing their lives over the Bhutanese peaks.

  Thomas looked down and checked his palm as he moved his fingers to regain blood circulation and then looked to his left to the source of the radiated heat he had been feeling. A PLA truck was burning furiously and flames leapt out from it with a distinct rumbling noise. Thomas brought his hands to face the fire and enjoyed the heat as he saw his paratroopers moving out in a column past the destroyed PLA vehicles on the road to Gyantse.

  They were moving to a different position now. They had to do this every few hours to prevent the Chinese from pinning down the two Indian Battalions in the sector. They would hit each attempt by the 43RD Division of the PLA 15TH Airborne Corps to reopen the route to the south. Thomas and his men were beating back each such assault using extensive air support from IAF fighters. It was the only way they could hold off these increasingly desperate assaults to break through. And the PLAAF was doing its best to take that air support away, as he now saw happening east of the Chomolhari.

  Thomas cursed as the winds changed and the soot from the blazing truck flew over him, entering his eyes. He rubbed it with his gloved finger, grabbed his backpack from the ground and began walking behind the last of his men as they headed off to the northeast…

  BEIJING

  DAY 14 + 1600 HRS

  Colonel-General Wencang stepped out of the staff car at the airport and met Chen and Feng standing near the parked Tu-154. Chen saw him approaching and handed Feng his papers and nodded to him to move out. Feng glanced at Wencang and moved out towards the stairs leading into the aircraft.

  “Come to see me off?” Chen sa
id with a smile and extended his hand.

  “You are not that important yet in my book!” Wencang said with a smile and shook his old comrade’s hands. Chen felt that something was up.

  Don’t say it.

  “Take care of yourself, my friend.” Wencang said soberly, still grasping Chen’s hand. “We are far too old to go around pretending to be young. This whole mess will be over soon enough. Don’t let the bastard Indians get you so close to the end!”

  “They won’t. Besides,” Chen said, “we are only going as far away as Chongqing, so it’s not exactly the battlefield. What’s the word?”

  Wencang sighed and looked at the sunlight breaking through the cloudy skies over Beijing.

  “Yongju and Peng managed to push the case for negotiating a ceasefire despite Liu’s arguments. Liu of course is not happy about a thing. And his position carries a lot of support both within the committee and outside. Yongju and Peng are on thin ice right now and they know it. If the Indians can be persuaded to take the offer on hand, we will be ending this mess once and for all.”

  “And if they don’t?” Chen asked, his forehead wrinkled from concern.

  “Then we will find out exactly how thin the ice really is,” Wencang said as he glanced around the airport, mostly deserted except for the Chinese airline aircraft parked further away.

  “Anything we can do?” Chen asked, crossing his arms.

  “Nothing useful. We disgraced ourselves in front of the committee, remember? The only reason we are still alive is because they need us. But that does not mean they look to us for strategic advice. I am going back to doing what I do best: running the air-force headquarters. You take care of what’s left of our men over Tibet. I will keep you informed on what’s going on here in Beijing.”

  Chen nodded and walked away to the parked Tu-154 as the pilots started spooling up the engines. Wencang stood by his staff car and watched Chen trot up the stairs past the salutes of the soldiers and disappeared inside. Wencang continued leaning on the door of the car as he watched the ground-crews remove the stairs. Soon the aircraft was rolling past the car on its way to the runway.