Chimera

“I agree, sir,” Sudarshan nodded. “We need to shut down the Chinese now while we have the initiative. We destroy their prepared positions at the LAC and they lose their base of fire. Their incoming reinforcements will then be forced to fight us on the move.”

“My only concern,” Sudarshan said, “is these two incoming Chinese tank battalions. Mechanized infantry cannot take on heavy armor head-on. We will need some air and artillery support to handle them!”

“That can be arranged. But remember the bigger picture! Take the 10TH Mechanized straight up the Chinese gut. When your other two Mechanized battalions catch up and reach here, use them to expand on the attack and secure this entire territory east of the LAC and south of the Chip-Chap River. Smash any and all enemy units in your way and keep rolling east!”

PALAM AIRPORT

NEW DELHI

DAY 4 + 1735 HRS

The smoke spread through the air as the wheels of the Embraer ERJ-135 aircraft touched down on the concrete of the runway. As the slight vibrations receded and the aircraft settled on the ground, Chakri thought about removing the cover from his window to see the airbase outside, but decided against it. He had had enough of flying all over the country now. He wished for his feet to be back on terra firma…

The air-force Flight-Lieutenant had already unstrapped himself and was walking up the cabin. Chakri could feel the aircraft turning as it rolled along on the taxiway. He noticed the home-minister yawning and awakening from his short one hour nap. Chakri cursed himself for not following his colleague’s lead on that one.

The aircraft halted a few minutes later. Finally he got up from his seat and walked down the cabin to the front where the Flight-Lieutenant had already unlocked the door. The cold, polluted air of New-Delhi felt like a welcoming committee to Chakri and the home-minister. They realized that they hadn’t been back here for almost three days.

As the two ministers stepped onto the tarmac and looked around, they could see one of the terminal buildings that were nothing more than a pile of rubble. Some of the burnt out ground vehicles were also nearby…

“How bad were our casualties here? Chakri asked the IAF Group-Captain who met them near the aircraft. The latter looked at what the Defense-Minister was pointing to and shook his head:

“Fifteen dead at the airport here. A lot more died when our air-headquarters building took a direct hit.”

Before the defense Minister could say anything else, the rumbling noise of two Mig-29s taking off from the runway behind them filled the air. The Group-Captain motioned for both men to head towards the two parked AW-101 helicopters nearby that would take them to South Block.

Five minutes later the helicopters were spooling up while the two ministers sat inside along with the air-force officer. He handed both of them headphones that allowed them to talk over the sounds of the rotors via the aircraft intercom. The home-minister turned to Chakri:

“I have arranged a meeting with the Ministry of External Affairs. They say they have been in touch with the Pakistanis regarding their air-force operations over Ladakh. Do you want me to set it up in your office?”

Chakri nodded. A meeting with the Foreign-Minister would clear up the Pakistani angle on the ongoing war.

About time too…

The IAF was none too pleased having Pakistani F-16s on their blind side when they were busy fighting the Chinese…

“Okay. Assuming that the Pakistanis try to milk this situation for all its worth, we need to be sure where the boundaries are. Air-Marshal Bhosale says that he can shut down the PAF activities in Kashmir within a day. The problem is, that brings the war down to the western front and that’s something that we don’t want just yet. We need to be sure about what the Pakistanis are up to!” Chakri shouted over the rotor noise outside.

“Indeed! The question is: what if they are acting in collusion with the Chinese? I have a RAW report that I will be going in detail once we land that suggests high level contact between Beijing and Islamabad the last two months. And based on what you told me on the way over, the Chinese are having a tough time against us all along the front. What if they try to dissolve our strengths by pulling the Pakistanis into the mess?” the home-minister asked. Chakri thought about that before he answered:

“That’s a very real possibility. And I will have to talk to the Service Chiefs to see what we can do to prevent the Pakistanis from taking any false steps in support of the Chinese. But my gut feeling is that Islamabad will see the trouble Beijing is finding itself in and decide it does not want to jump aboard a sinking ship!”

SILIGURI

INDIA

DAY 4 + 2020 HRS

“So where are they now?”

Lieutenant-General Suman asked. The Brigadier in charge of operational intelligence for XXXIII Corps walked over to the large digital map on the wall in the Corps Operations Center and pointed to a place on the map that showed an attached label: ‘Pagri’