“It’s already taken care of. We have an ALH unit in Leh along with a Cheetah unit. Plus Mi-17s at Thoise. Apart from that we have half a dozen other transport and utility helicopter units in the region already or arriving as we speak. The forward detachments of 199HU will receive supplies and logistical support through these units. Use their setup to transport your special supplies. Understood?” Subramanian said.
“Yes, sir. And what about our original task?” Dutt continued.
“It still stands as far as the two birds at Leh are concerned. You will receive your intelligence update from the Army once you land there.”
“As long as the bloody weather doesn’t get in the way!” Dutt answered, putting his arm out into the pouring rain. Subramanian smiled and grunted before walking away.
Feng read the report stating that back-up radars for two S-300 batteries were now online. The handful of surviving launchers from various decimated batteries had been pooled together to bring up the semblance of two active batteries in the Aksai Chin.
Two.
Out of the original ten!
He crushed the report into a paper ball and threw it aside in a fit of rage. The Indians had conducted a very elaborate and deceptive takedown of his S-300 coverage capabilities yesterday night.
But the attacks had not been completely free of cost for the IAF either. They had lost three of their Jaguars to low-altitude point-defense weapons. Only one crewmember had been able to safely eject and make it to the ground alive. He had been quickly captured by a search party led by one PLAAF Major who had been embedded with the PLA battery commander at one of the sites.
And what a catch it is!
Feng thought about it. Group-Captain Parekh had been captured. Chinese military intelligence knew him as commander of the Indian No. 5 Squadron. The man who had led the attacks on his missile sites…
Feng looked up to catch the sound of the incoming rotor noises and saw the bright sun glistening off the Mi-17 as it approached for a landing. On the tarmac below, a group of armed guards ran off to greet the new guest of the PLAAF. As the helicopter touched down and the tires pressed against the hard concrete, the cabin door slid open and a blindfolded Indian man in his mid-forties was guided out by soldiers inside. An air-force Major also jumped out. Feng recognized him to be the man who had captured the Indian pilot.
Feng smiled as he walked over. The soldiers restrained Parekh from moving forward when Feng was in front of them. The Major snapped off a salute and Feng returned it. He then looked at the blindfolded Parekh:
“Welcome to the People’s Republic of China, Group-Captain Parekh. I apologize for the condition of your arrival but as you can imagine, external conditions were extraordinary to say the least. While you are here, you are a guest of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force!”
Feng turned to the Major escorting Verma and spoke in mandarin:
“Remove the blindfold. Make sure he gets food and water. He is not to be ill-treated or I will have the people responsible for it shot! Understood?”
The Major nodded and looked over to the two soldiers restraining Parekh. They quickly removed the blindfold. Parekh hadn’t seen light of any kind for hours now and the bright sunlight caused him to wince for a few seconds. Once his eyes adjusted, he looked around and saw a Senior-Colonel of the PLAAF standing in front of him. The bright red star on his fur cap could not be missed, and neither was the smile on the grizzled face…
“Group-Captain, as you can see, the Chinese air-force is in complete control of the skies over the battlefield to the south. We even flew you here during daylight in an unarmed helicopter and no escorts. In the time of your capture, we have struck your airbases with impunity using our missiles and have pushed them all the way to the south of the country,” Feng lied through his smile in crisp English. “Within a few days our land forces will have defeated your forces in Ladakh. Expect to meet a lot more of your friends here real soon. It should be just like 1962 for your countrymen, so you will get used to it. It’s almost like China has to remind your country every few decades of where it stands in Asia. Well, no matter. We will finish the job this time!”
Parekh squinted in the bright sunlight and turned away from it. He still had energy left to respond:
“Really, Colonel? All I remember seeing yesterday night was the exploding fireballs around your vaunted radar and missile sites in the Aksai Chin. And the rest of my boys made it home safely. You should probably check again with your field commanders about the war because to me it seems like you are being fed bullshit!”
“Ah yes, your attacks. They were nothing more than pin-pricks, Parekh,” Feng shook the file in his hand. “As of this morning, those holes you created have already been plugged. And our missiles have already claimed two more of your squadron Jaguars this morning. We even have reports coming in that the Tuskers unit is now so combat depleted that it is being replaced on the front lines. So your co-pilot and the others died for nothing. Our S-300s continue to remain active and your unit continues to breathe its dying breaths!” Feng replied.
“Buddy, we will see about that! I hope you have bunkers here, because it won’t be long before my boys will be visiting you too!” Parekh retorted
Feng laughed at the back-and-forth conversation. Something he had always wanted to do with his enemy face to face…
“We will see, Group-Captain!” he checked his watch and faced the Indian pilot again: “I had hoped to meet my counterpart, and I have. However now I am needed elsewhere. Perhaps we will meet again under better circumstances. Right this instant I have a war to fight!”
Feng smiled condescendingly and nodded to the Major.
Parekh was taken away after reinstating the blindfold over his eyes. He didn’t realize it, but he had just conversed with the man who had saved his skin inside an active war zone. Feng had gone to great lengths to have Parekh transferred to the control of the PLAAF instead of the PLA intelligence officers whose brutality in these matters were infamous throughout the Chinese military.
But Feng would not allow such a thing to happen to a person he considered a professional adversary, not a street criminal. Not many others agreed with him on that, however.
Privileges of my rank. The men will do as they are told.
For now.
Feng thought about that, sighed and then headed back to his utility vehicle to drive back to the operations center.
Gephel yawned like a yeti when his eyes opened. He checked his watch and saw that he had been asleep for around six hours.
First warm bed and blanket in weeks…
Heaven!
He looked around and saw that the other members of his team were still fast asleep, snoring away. Except for Ngawang, who was busy shaving his beard off with a small mirror mounted on the window sill.
Gephel decided to do the same and pulled himself out of the warm sleeping bag on the floor. The winds were still howling outside and he recollected where he was again.
“Good afternoon, sir!” Ngawang smiled as he noticed Gephel getting up. He got a grunt in return. Gephel realized that their days of operating black and non-existent were perhaps close to ending. He was, at the end of the day, an Indian army officer…