Chimera

The only problem is, now I have to drive for five minutes every time I want to make a call to somebody!

The vehicle rumbled to a stop a few meters away from the entrance of his comms trailer, bristling with antennae and small satellite dishes on its flat roof. There was an army technician climbing the ladder on the side of the trailer to reach the roof as Potgam walked over. His comms officer, an army Lieutenant-Colonel, was there to meet him.

“Well?” Potgam asked.

“General Suman wanted to talk to you, sir,” the signals officer replied as they walked in and shut the door behind them. Potgam was handed a speaker set from one of the NCOs inside.

“Warlord here,” Potgam said matter-of-factly.

“Potgam, it’s damn nice to hear your voice! How are things looking up there?” Suman said from Kalaikunda. Potgam noted the informality of the conversation. There were very few people in the army who could take that tone with him, and only because they had known him for decades. He responded accordingly and had a rare smile on him:

“It’s nice to hear your voice too, Suman. Glad to see you in nice spirits. I take it the Chinese plans for us aren’t going too well?”

“Indeed!” Suman exclaimed. He was in good spirits. “The bastards thought they could kill me and push my boys out of Arunachal Pradesh just like last time. Well, I am still alive and kicking and it hasn’t worked out too well for them over there. Sikkim is secure like the gates of hell and we have snatched a good chunk of the Chumbi from them during Chimera. I wish things were as good in Ladakh but that’s out of my control. I heard that there are nasty armored knife-fights taking place over there even now. Our boys got their asses handed to them and they returned the favor to the Chinese. Neither side has any strategic momentum worth speaking of over there now. This brings me to Bhutan.”

Oh boy. Here we go… Potgam thought as he listened.

“Bhutan is the only sector where we have lost significant chunks of soil, Potgam,” Suman continued, more soberly this time. “The Chinese hit Bhutan much harder than we had expected. Heck, we were still looking around for the Highland Division when it went rolling into the RBA defenses. And the Bhutanese got crushed and folded their cards far too quickly to give us a chance. You and Dhillon have done well under the circumstances. If I had the time, I would let you do what you are doing and retake the lost territory. But time is a luxury we no longer have.”

Potgam frowned as he nodded to himself. This was not a surprise.

“Nuclear card?” He asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes,” Suman answered bluntly. “The bastards in Beijing hit Tawang yesterday with cruise-missiles and inflicted staggering civilian casualties. At about the same time, their media mouthpieces started blurting very clear threats to further attacks against our cities and infrastructure, possibly with nuclear weapons if you read between their lines. The intelligence boys up at army headquarters are convinced that we are fast approaching Beijing’s nuclear threshold.”

“Surely they are not that stupid?” Potgam thought out loud. “Between Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, we must have crushed… about seven Divisions worth? Maybe five more remain in engagement? Add perhaps other six or seven Divisions in Ladakh plus their security Divisions in Tibet? So they have a lot more Divisions across the mainland that they can bring into the fight first. Why jump to the nuclear card so soon?”

Suman thought he knew the answer to that question: “Because, old chap, our flyboys decimated their flyboys during the time we were fighting on the ground. Air-force operations in Ladakh and southern Tibet have been highly successful. The Chinese can no longer control what is happening in Tibetan skies and their ground forces are feeling the heat as a result of it. Our boys are now striking deep into Tibet. Any and all reinforcements the PLA intends on bringing in will be hammered before they even get to the FEBA. Beijing can see the writing on the wall here.”

“It’s Sumdorung Chu all over again,” Potgam noted and sighed.

He had been a young Lieutenant back in 1986 during that crisis. The threat of nuclear weapons use by China in response to any Indian offensives into PLA controlled territories had forced India’s hand to quite an extent despite superiority against the PLA. It was happening again…

“Yes it is!” Suman agreed. “We push them too hard and they will move to the nuclear threshold.”

“Which gives us little time on the ground here,” Potgam added.

“Exactly. How much time do you need?”