Chimera

He shouted in pain at his helplessness. Just then he saw a section of Sikh soldiers running by, a few dozen meters away. As he watched them run, a line of tracers sliced through them and several of the soldiers were struck, the bullets tearing through their bodies in muffled thumps. Those that got hit instantly died and fell into the gravel below.

Then there were other sounds and for the first time Kongara looked to his other side and saw a couple of BMP-IIs moving back to the south in tactical progression. They were reversing, but engaging some Chinese targets to the north as they did.

The flash-boom sequence of the auto-cannons on the two vehicles was hypnotizing. The Chinese were taking casualties, but were not pinned down. As the two Indian vehicles moved and fired, tank shells were exploding around them. One of the two vehicles finally took a jarring hit on the underside of its sloped forward glacis and the turret flew off underneath an orange fireball. Steel and aluminum fragments from the chassis flew off in all directions and Kongara ducked for cover, screeching with pain as the pain in his leg intensified. He heard the metallic pings of steel hitting steel as some of the fragments hit his burning vehicle…

The other surviving Indian vehicle spent no time deploying smoke and disappearing behind it.

Kongara looked around and could see no other friendly forces now other than a few crew members from another vehicle straggling back to the south on their feet. That was when the seriousness of the situation came to him and he started to get back on his feet with no small amount of struggle and pain.

I have to get out of here!

A new sound reached his ear and he recognized the diesel engines. As he faced north, he saw two familiar vehicles coming out of the smoke cloud the retreating Indian vehicles had deployed. He watched in fascination as he saw the bright red star emblazoned on the turret of the two T-99s that had now come to a halt a few hundred meters away from him, their turrets searching for Indian vehicles.

Kongara tore off a piece of his uniform and tied a makeshift bandage around his leg wound and his hand. But the two tanks now to his east would see him as soon as he stepped away from his destroyed vehicle.

He was still deciding to make a run for it when one of the two T-99s suddenly blew up in an earth shattering explosion, its turret shaken from its position and the forward part of its glacis smashed. Flames leapt out of the turret hatches.

No survivors.

The second tank suddenly rumbled to life and retreated back. This distraction gave Kongara the opportunity he needed to make a run for it. And he took the opportunity. He looked one last time at the body of his gunner and then turned away. As he staggered south, he saw the battlefield littered with destroyed Chinese and 10TH Mechanized Battalion vehicles…

The battle had been horrendous for both sides.

But the arrival of the fresh reinforcements along their main divisional MSR had been the shot in the arm the Chinese forces had needed. And despite the presence of attack helicopters from 199 HU, the advance had been crushed. Colonel Sudarshan had ordered a general retreat back to the launch point several kilometers to the south.

Kongara looked around to see the remains of his unit littered around the frozen battlefield and could not avoid the feeling of gloom it brought. His eagle eyes spotted something moving in the skies to the southwest and he looked up, seeing what looked like a UAV flying just above the hills in that region. As Kongara watched, the small black speck flying to the southwest turned away and headed off. He was now all alone. He again applied pressure on his blood soaked bandage and headed though the dusty battlefield to reach friendly lines to the south.

THE LINE OF ACTUAL CONTROL

NORTHERN LADAKH

DAY 5 + 1520 HRS

Colonel Sudarshan was standing with his staff officers when the UAV left the combat zone to refuel and the feed stopped streaming. There was silence all around except for the incoming radio chatter.

Sudarshan walked off to the map board. The 10TH Mechanized had been forced to retreat. The vastly superior logistical arteries feeding the Chinese army in the region had made its mark on the outcome of the battle.

There was no hiding it now.

The Chinese were in a position of strength once again and could possibly renew their offensive to take Daulat-beg-oldi. All that stood between them were combat depleted Battalions of Brigadier Adesara’s Brigade, the exhausted 10TH Mechanized and the 3RD and 4TH Mechanized Battalions…

“Contact 4TH Mechanized and tell them to pull back and support the 10TH Mechanized hold its positions. We cannot afford a breach in our lines there. Once the 3RD Mechanized starts arriving with its vehicles, send them east to act as Brigade mobile reserve. We are going on the defensive for the time being. I just see no other choice!” Sudarshan noted.