Chimera

“Believe me when I say this, comrade chairman,” Liu replied, “If General Wencang’s plan succeeds, we will need our first strike capability more than ever! The Indians will only be pushed so much before they are forced to resort to the nuclear option. And then, we will be caught flat footed!”

Wencang leaned forward on the table again after putting his water bottle away: “Am I expected to believe that with more than two hundred missiles deployed and ready in Tibet, you still cannot guarantee a sufficient deterrent against Indian nuclear attacks? Am I hearing this right?”

Liu’s face flushed with anger and Chen saw the danger of pushing him into a corner, but he could not visibly restrain Wencang now. They had to present a unified front else their argument would stand no chance…

“You can hear whatever you like! I am telling you that we will be tasked to launch a crippling first strike sooner rather than later, regardless of whether we take out the Indian airfields or not!” Liu responded instantly.

But Peng terminated the conversation: “That is quite enough! We must fight the enemy in his house, not bring it into our own!”

As both Generals bit their anger and restrained themselves, Peng leaned back in his chair and expressed his own thoughts: “We will do whatever is necessary to ensure that China must survive. And for that to happen, we must survive. All of us, in this room must continue to maintain control to allow a sense of unity to prevail over the people outside. General Wencang, if General Liu is unable to give you control of 821 Brigade, I am sure he has his valid technical reasons as I am also sure that you will find an alternative with the resources available to our military. We have the utmost confidence in your abilities to do so. As far as Pakistan is concerned, I agree that it is time for them to enter this war. If nothing else, they will weaken our enemy and allow us to deliver a final blow to reverse the course of this war. For the queen to survive, the pawn must fall.”

OPERATIONS CENTER

STRATEGIC FORCES COMMAND

INDIA

DAY 10 + 1945 HRS

The chaos following the attack on Tawang was not restricted to the population only. The unexpected savagery of the attack had caught the Indian military and the government by surprise as well. The army was scrambling all resources at its disposal to help out while the air-force was attempting to re-evaluate its combat potential in the east after taking severe damage to two of its major airbases, not to mention the large loss of personnel, equipment and several Su-30 fighters as well as two An-32 transports on the ground.

On the government side, officials were attempting to allay fears from the media about the attack and India’s response to it now that the preliminary civilian casualty estimates had begun airing on the news all over the world…

“This is going to force our hand,” Valhotra said as he leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head, mentally evaluating what future options existed. Iyer nodded his agreement.

Putting aside the brutality of the attack, it was easily apparent that the goals for the attack were as much military as they were political or psychological. The attack on the town had brought out the expected public outrage all over India. It had also pushed back the army’s offensives north of Bum-La and into Tibet that Lieutenant-General Suman had been planning for his eastern army. The loss of two major airbases had crippled the IAF’s ability to maintain larger number of aircraft in the air above Arunachal Pradesh for the next day while the damage was assessed and the bases restored to operational status. And the loss of experienced personnel was a permanent blow to the IAF strength that could not be easily resuscitated except by removing personnel from bases in the south.

But for all the tactical good it did for Beijing, the attack was still a strategic feint designed to lure India into a fight it could not hope to win. It was the modern equivalent of what the RAF Bomber Command had done during the Battle-of-Britain when they had struck civilian targets in Germany at a time when the Luftwaffe was close to eliminating the RAF Fighter Command’s ability to hold off attacks. Back then Hitler’s emotionality had played into the British hand when he changed focus from British airbases to cities, allowing the RAF to recover and ultimately to defeat the Luftwaffe. The Chinese were hoping for something similar.

An emotional outburst that would doom India…

They were counting on the emotions of the Indian populace and the power its citizens could bring to bear on the government to respond at a time like this. They were very much counting on an Indian response. The idea behind it was simple.