Chimera

Lieutenant-Colonel Nath was also busy formulating his next movement plans. While his officers and men deployed to the north were relieved to have ridden themselves free from the Chinese fire, it was only temporary. The Chinese north of Walong would be on guard now that their artillery support had been decimated instantly by the superior and concentrated firepower of the Indian MBRL forces near Walong. But it was not enough to stop them. Not yet anyway. Their ground forces had not even been unleashed yet. Artillery support or not, they would make a run for Walong, as they had done in 1962. And Nath, Krishnan, Mohan and the other battalion commanders in the region had to stop them.

Contact had been re-established with the Brigade HQ at Walong in the last half hour. The news was not pleasant. The HQ had taken a brutal attack and had been mauled. Colonel Malik had been over there when the attacks had taken place and had been killed along with the Brigade commander. Most of the staff officers there had been wounded to some degree or the other and their ability to provide the crucial administration control over the Brigade was minimal at this time.

Nath had been acting as the ad-hoc commander for the battalion for some time now, and unfortunately that would have to continue until the new Brigade CO arrived. As the sunlight began penetrating deeper into the beautiful valleys of the Walong sector, Lieutenant-Colonel Nath found himself commanding the Indian side in what was essentially the Second Battle of Walong…

SKIES ABOVE MADHYA-PRADESH

DAY 1 + 1100 HRS

“All right people, let’s get started here.”

Defense-Minister Chakri said as he settled into his seat. There were four Tele-Conference-Display or TCD screens in front that allowed him to conduct his briefing with important people not inside the room. At the moment that meant the senior military commanders. The Home-Minister also walked inside the room a few moments later. The PM was not present as he had just finished his personal meetings with Chakri and the Home-Minister. In that meeting Chakri had explained his strategic level plans for retaliation against the Chinese air and land aggressions.

At the tactical levels however, the response strategy was currently far from clear. This was due to a variety of reasons. Firstly the damage to the communications in the northeast was still under repair. New commanders were replacing dead or wounded ones and only now were these decapitated units recovering from the initial attacks. Secondly, the reports of Chinese ground offensives were unclear. Then there was the issue of retaliation.

This meeting should clear that up…

Chakri thought as he pulled his chair closer to the table. Three of the four TCD screens lit up immediately to announce that the meeting was beginning. There were now three senior commanders visible on the screens: General Yadav, Lieutenant-General Suman and Air-Chief-Marshal Naidu. Chakri started off the briefing once all three men confirmed audio and video at their ends.

“I know we have had a hell of a morning so far, but just so we are on the same page, let’s have a recap. General Yadav?” Chakri said and then lay back in his chair. The fourth screen shifted to show a digital map of the current situation in the Northeast.

“Region wise speaking, we have four sectors of the land border with China. These being in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Ladakh moving east to west. As of 1030 hours there have been no aggressive activities from the Chinese in Uttarakhand and Ladakh, although the latter sector will open up by the end of the day today as per our predictions. Near Sikkim we are detecting significant movement of enemy forces that suggest the front will open up in the next few hours. The Arunachal sector has already opened up.

“Following up the missile attacks, this morning the Chinese opened up with heavy artillery fire along most of the border positions in the Arunachal region, specifically the Lohit, Upper Subansiri and Tawang Districts. Our forces responded as best as they could under the circumstances and in several sectors were able to defeat, or currently in the process of defeating, the Chinese using available long-range artillery systems. This action is ongoing as we speak. DIPAC detected further Chinese activity in central China which suggests further Chinese cruise-missile strikes later today,” Yadav concluded. Chakri spoke up after a few seconds of absorbing what had been said.

“General Yadav. What Chinese units are we facing in these sectors?”

“One PLA Group Army assembling in the Aksai Chin and one north of Arunachal Pradesh. Two Division plus forces are in the Chumbi valley opposite Sikkim. Plus two more Divisions deployed south of Lhasa. We are not sure what their intentions are,” Yadav said impassively.

“And why is that?” Chakri queried.