Chimera

First part of that was to push the Chinese Battalion strength force just outside the northern outskirts of Thimpu back to Dotanang and then Barshong to the north. Barshong was the staging area in northwestern Bhutan for the Chinese Division and its recapture would effectively vacate that Division from Bhutan for all practical purposes. Dotanang, between Thimpu and Barshong, was the Brigade headquarters for the unit leading the offensive against Thimpu.

Potgam had given this task to Colonel Misra and he in turn had passed his orders to Pathanya and his men an hour ago…

As Pathanya saw his team waking up and finding their bearings, he took the maps and notes from the Colonel’s briefing and stuffed them inside his uniform chest pockets. Outside, two Paras on sentry armed with Tavor rifles walked by and peeked in at the commotion. They nodded to the Captain and walked off.

Vikram finally got to his feet and walked up to Pathanya as both men left the room and entered the courtyard of the palace. The dim flashes of light from the north and west was a reminder of the ongoing war. Two Indian Mig-27s streaked by and headed north of Thimpu. A large wall of flames erupted some kilometers north of the city and lit up the valley with a hellish orange-yellow décor.

Another napalm strike mission completed.

“So what’s the deal, boss? Where we going?” Vik asked.

“Place west of Barshong,” Pathanya said as he pulled out the maps from his pocket, “about twenty-five kilometers north of here. 11TH Battalion Paras are pushing hard against the battered remains of the commie Battalion that we were engaging before the Colonel got here. They have managed to push them north and are still pushing them back to their Brigade headquarters at Dotanang, about twelve kilometers north from the outskirts of Thimpu. That’s where all these air strikes are going. The last intact PLA Battalion is at Barshong, acting as their reserve. Once the Paras finish off the one at Dotanang, they are going to move further northwest and engage the one at Barshong. For now we are going to be deployed in between Barshong and Dotanang to play hell with their rear echelons.”

“So we are going behind the lines,” Vik noted.

“Yup. So get everybody kitted out accordingly. The fly-boys from Delta will deploy us from the west. Fast, low and at night.”

“Yeah, that sounds like real fun,” Vik sighed.

NEW-DELHI

INDIA

DAY 8 + 0630 HRS

“Are they insane?” Chakri exclaimed as he heard what the Indian UN Ambassador had to say about the latest rounds of negotiations in New-York. The Prime-Minister was still in thought so he continued:

“The whole world saw on live television that they started this war by attacking our capital city and military bases with missiles. And they still propagate the idea that somehow we are responsible for precipitating their actions? How thick can they get?”

“Sometimes it works to your advantage to believe your own lies,” Ravoof said from across the room. “It makes you more confident in front of the world.”

The Ambassador nodded on the teleconference screen.

“Indeed. And their contention, true or not, is that our support for the Tibetan rebels and their fight against the Chinese in Tibet is what precipitated their response. They claim we had our special-forces units deployed inside Tibet to assist the Tibetans and that we had training camps on our soil for arming and equipping these so-called rebels.”

The Prime-Minister finally stepped into the conversation as he looked over to Chakri and the NSA, sitting side by side: “Is this true?”

“Does it matter?” Chakri replied instantly with a frown.

“Yes it does!” the PM threw back at Chakri. “Our policy in front of the world has always been to not provide the Tibetans with anything other than moral support and a place to stay! If the Chinese claims are substantiated on our side, the entire world will leave our side and go back to sitting on the benches again. Can you imagine what the results of that would be?!”

“I think at this point our policy should have more to do with defeating China on the battlefield and for the Tibetans to whom we have a duty to help after what Beijing has done in their homeland for the past year! If the White-House or Downing-Street wants to sit on the fence because of their moral objections, I really don’t give a damn! Russia is still by our side and we are buying a lot of emergency supply of arms and ammunition from them. And they don’t particularly care one way or another whether we assisted the Tibetans or not!” Chakri shouted back as others in the room tried to intervene.

“I think you just confirmed that we did in fact help the Tibetans,” Ravoof observed silently.

Chakri dismissed the observation: “Believe whatever you want.”

“Oh god! Are you saying that we started this war? That Beijing was right all this time and we were involved in Tibet?” the PM said in shock.

“And it was long overdue if you ask me,” the Home-Minister added.