Chimera

“They are encountering severe resistance from enemy infantry south of the 43RD Armored lines! Its total chaos over there. Rhino is taking fire from all sides. The PLA is throwing everything they have at our tanks out there. Small arms, mortars, anti-tank rockets and guided missiles. You name it and they are using it. 4TH Mechanized is unable to break to Rhino and establish a base of fire. And the air-force is reporting more enemy light-armor rushing in from the north-east along the MSR from Qara-Tagh-La. They are attempting to interdict and buy us some time!”

“Good god!” Sudarshan said. “Can Rhino hold until 3RD Infantry forces can defeat the two encircled PLA Divisions?” The Major shook his head.

“Well then there is only one thing left to do,” Sudarshan said dryly and looked back at the Major. “Tell both the 43RD Armored and 4TH Mechanized to break off and pull back to the south. And then get me steel-teeth at Saser!”

Sudarshan turned away as the Major got to work on the radio. He looked at the EO feed and gritted his teeth as he saw small white heat blobs showing PLA soldiers scattered over the hills around the retreating Arjun tanks. Sudarshan clenched his hands into an iron fist…

We could not hold the MSR, but neither will you!

“Sir! Steel-teeth on the comms!” the Major shouted from his seat. Sudarshan walked over and grabbed the speaker from him:

“Steel-teeth, this is steel-central-actual! I want priority suppression fire on point-victory in five mikes. I have red ants all over the place and I need some serious pest-control. Steel-central out!”

EAST OF DAULAT BEG OLDI

LADAKH

DAY 7 + 1945 HRS

Kulkarni pushed open the top turret hatch as his tank rumbled back in tactical progression. His loader opened his hatch, grabbed his hatch mounted machinegun and opened fire on PLA soldiers taking cover around their destroyed trucks. Kulkarni took in a breath of the freezing cold air and looked on either side to see three other Arjun tanks to his left and three more to the right moving alongside. He had lost two tanks to the murderous fire from the Chinese infantry battalions swarming the hills around him.

Bullets were flying through the air and metallic clangs were ringing out as that ordinance bounced off the hulls.

The ground rumbled and he could see the afterburner flame of air-force Jaguars overhead, taking the fight to the enemy…

The radio chimed: “Rhino-One, this is steel-central!”

“Steel-central, this is Rhino-One reading you five-by-five!”

Finally! Kulkarni didn’t add.

“Rhino-One, we have you on infrared! Order all surviving Rhino elements to activate infrared strobes, right now! We cannot distinguish accurately enough for suppression fire! Over!”

Kulkarni immediately switched frequencies:

“Rhino-One to all elements: Switch infrared beacons active now!”

As all tanks went IR active, the overhead UAV electro-optical pod could make out the rough alignment of Kulkarni’s tanks as they retreated.

And the same went for the Chinese as well…

“Incoming!” Kulkarni’s loader shouted as he scrambled inside the turret and closed the hatch cover behind him.

Kulkarni did the same just moments before the interior of the vehicle shook violently. Chinese tube artillery shells slammed into the rocks a few meters in front of the retreating tanks, throwing mud and gravel all over the vehicles. With the kind of heavy armor that the Arjun tanks had, what the Chinese needed was a direct hit on the thinner top armor.

Not impossible, but just too damned unlikely. Nevertheless, it was enough to rattle the crews inside…

“Steel-central, we are being hit by enemy heavy tube arty! No casualties yet but let’s not push our luck on that! Suggest you do whatever you have planned A-S-A-P! We are lit up for enemy drones over here!”

* * *

Damn the Chinese aerial drones!

Sudarshan thought as he turned to his operations officers:

“Can somebody please figure out a way to take out those Chinese aerial drones hovering over our forces out there? What the heck is the air-force up to?” Sudarshan thundered to Narayana standing by the map table. The latter looked up from the maps and stared down the fuming Colonel:

“Sir, Wing-Commander Dutt and 199HU are working on it as part of operation Sickle-swipe.”

“Then get down there and see that they get it done now, not later!” Sudarshan barked. Narayana saluted and ran out of the tent to get to his jeep outside…

* * *

Saser valley once again became a cacophony of flashes as the Smerch MBRL battery fired a barrage of rockets at point-victory to the northeast. The large rockets were filled with high explosive sub-munitions and they impacted several seconds later into the hills occupied by the exposed PLA infantry.