Chimera

For now, the Highland Division was making quick progress to the south and the Bhutanese had taken heavy losses. The lightly armed and equipped RBA was in tatters along most of the Bhutanese northern borders. What stood between now and the collapse of Bhutan was an Indian intervention on the ground…

Three hours ago, the King of Bhutan had handed over control of the Royal Bhutanese Army to the Indian Army. General Yadav had wasted no time in taking advantage of the existing IMTRAT infrastructure inside Bhutan to full effect. Lieutenant-General Potgam, the current IMTRAT commander had been named as the commander of Joint-Force-Bhutan or JFB. This command had the sole responsibility of defending Bhutan.

A tall order under the circumstances…

Regardless, Potgam had gotten to work immediately. He had taken over basic command and control of JFB from the IMTRAT headquarters at Haa-Dzong and more C3I equipment and personnel were being airlifted there for his use from the army’s eastern command.

One of the two most crucial pieces of equipment that had already come in had been a pair of ALH Dhruv transport helicopters and one Lancer light-attack helicopter from the Army Aviation Corps for immediate personnel movement. The eighteen-hole golf-course at Haa-Dzong had been converted into a temporary FARP for the three helicopters.

As vulnerable as Haa-Dzong might have been for an Indian theatre headquarters, Thimpu was in a worse situation. The collapse of a RBA Battalion north of the small city over the day had effectively opened the gates to Thimpu for the Highland Division forward units.

The situation on the streets of Thimpu was near panic. The Royal family had been evacuated to the south into Indian Territory by helicopters. The only defensive forces around Thimpu were the Royal Bhutanese Guard units and some police forces. Nearest Indian forces were sixty kilometres away.

Potgam had decided to take direct control of that sector. But he needed someone else to take control on the more rural sectors of eastern Bhutan. It was for that reason that he had dispatched Dhillon to take charge…

“You see that, sir?” the co-pilot said

“Oh man! That can’t be good,” the Major piloting the helicopter observed. The conversation sparked interest amongst the passengers in the cabin behind. Dhillon awoke from his nap and peered out of the side glass.

“What is it, Ravi?” he asked.

“Sir, we are seeing large smoke columns south of our primary LZ. It’s possible that the Chinese have overrun the area or are at least hitting the RBA forces around the LZ area pretty hard. We definitely have either a hostile LZ or at least a very hot one. What do you want to do, sir?” the Major replied from the cockpit.

Dhillon stepped forward from his seat and poked through the gap between the two pilot’s seats. The Major positioned the helicopter in hover several kilometres south of their landing-zone. Dhillon saw the Lancer moving forward of them now and positioning itself ahead to provide suppressive fire in case they began taking hits from the ground. He was actively scanning the horizon and the smoke clouds for signs of fires or explosions. He found none.

“See any traffic on the road below?” he asked the two pilots who leaned forward in their seats to see through the forward and side glass.

“Yes sir! Several RBA trucks one kilometre to the north,” the Major reported.

“Put us down by that truck convoy,” Dhillon ordered. “They must belong to the RBA Battalion that should have arrived here this morning. I know the Colonel in charge. Let’s see if he’s still alive down there.”

“Roger that, sir!”

The Major said as he brought the helicopter out of hover and reduced main rotor collective. They approached a small clearing near the road where the trucks were parked.

“Keep the Lancer on close leash while we are on the ground,” Dhillon continued and got a nod from the Major.

A few seconds later the Dhruv main rotors pushed up a dust cloud around the trucks and touched down gingerly. One of the army Majors in Dhillon’s staff slid open the doors and jumped out with his INSAS rifle in hand, followed on the other side of the helicopter by the rest of the officers, each armed with rifles and radios.

Dhillon pulled out his personal sidearm as well.

There was no way to tell what was going on over here. And they weren’t taking any chances. The Lancer flew over and banked away to the north, looking for trouble and not finding any. Dhillon waved the Dhruv pilots to take off immediately and they did so a few seconds later.

“Movement! I have movement!” one of the Captains said

Dhillon turned and saw a couple of figures heading towards them as the dust from the helicopter rotors settled.

“Halt! Halt right there or we will open fire!” the Captain shouted.

“Hold fire! RBA!” one of the men shouted.

“Hold fire!” Dhillon ordered.