Chimera

“What the hell are all these journalists doing here?” Misra said as both men walked away from the helicopter, which lifted moments later. “I thought I had ordered Thimpu closed to the media until further notice! This is a warzone, damn it! Not a media circus!”

“General Potgam overrode the authorization, sir.”

“Where is he?” Misra asked.

“This way,” the Major said and gestured inside the building.

As both men walked inside and closed the doors behind, Misra felt the warmth of the palace interior. He removed his hand from the beret on his head now that the winds weren’t threatening to rip it off. He noticed a lot more Bhutanese officials plying back and forth through the marble stairs and offices of the building. All of them seemed utterly busy cleaning up the place and getting things in order. He was seeing many new faces for the first time…

This is a security nightmare!

Approaching the room inside the palace acting as his command post, Misra noticed Potgam standing by the paper maps laid out on the table in the middle of the room while other junior officers plied back and forth with their duties. Potgam raised his head to see the well-built paratrooper Colonel standing near the entrance of the room.

“Ah! You made it back, Misra. Good,” Potgam said with a genuine smile on his face. “What’s the situation up near Barshong?”

“Could be better, sir.” Misra replied as he walked over to the map board near the table. He pointed to the valley north of Dotanang: “We are making progress but the roads here are not suited for vehicles. We have to walk all the way now to the objective.”

Potgam nodded at the board as he understood what the Colonel was telling him before looking back at Misra:

“We need to take the objective at Barshong and terminate the presence of the Highland Division in Bhutan quickly. We have reports that the Chinese 15TH Airborne Corps is arriving via ground transport to Lhasa and Gyantse. Their three Divisions will be used to beef up the two decimated Chinese Divisions in the Chumbi valley as well as what remains of this Highland Division in northwestern Bhutan.”

“That will make it pretty nasty for us out here,” Misra added.

“Exactly,” Potgam agreed. “The only way we can nullify the arrival of the enemy paratroopers is to remove their staging area at Barshong. Of course, the way things are going, I don’t think this war will last long enough for the arrival of the enemy paratroopers to make a difference. Barshong is the last major point of resistance for the Highland Division forces in northwestern Bhutan. Once they are defeated, we will hold and secure. In the meantime General Dhillon is launching his counteroffensive in eastern Bhutan with support from IV Corps to wrench territory from the only other relatively intact brigade of the Highland Division there. Your major threat here after the capture of Barshong is going to be missile strikes. Tell your men to dig in hard out there and spread out. Other than that Thimpu will likely not face further Chinese ground offensives. There is no momentum left at their end in Tibet to do anything anymore.”

Potgam sighed and then moved away from the board to pick up his peak cap laying on the table, before continuing:

“And New-Delhi agrees with this assessment. So do the Bhutanese. Hence the bullshit you saw outside. The government thinks that it is time the media saw what was happening in Bhutan. They have been allowed to reach Thimpu but not anywhere else.”

Misra had a frown on his face which Potgam saw and chuckled.

“If it makes you feel any better,” he added, “even I had no choice on the matter. Orders are to smile and wave at the cameras whenever we get caught on them. Maintaining national morale and all that. Oh, and another thing: all those journalists outside with their cameras are here in preparation for something that should be happening,” Potgam checked his watch, “right about now. Come on.”

Potgam put his cap on and walked to the door. The three officers walked back down the stairs and saw most of the Bhutanese government officials walking the same way with a lot of excitement.

Once outside, the helicopter noise increased as an IAF AW-101 helicopter flared for landing and touched down on the helipad. The rotor downwash threw up the light snow and dead grass from the lawns into the air. The doors opened and a Wing-Commander stepped out in his green flight-suit.

Behind him the exited the King of Bhutan.

As the mass of Bhutanese officials and civilians pushed forward to meet with his Highness, Potgam shared a look with Misra. The King spoke with the media amidst a barrage of flashes from the cameras and the flurry of questions thrown at him. But when the King waved them to calm down, they all became silent. The King poised himself to speak.