Yadav and Suman were met outside the helipad by Lieutenant-General Chatterjee and his senior staff officers. The IV Corps commander was not in a happy mood and Yadav and Suman soon found out why as they clambered on board the three AXE vehicles nearby. The vehicles took them from the helipad to the headquarters further into the foothills where there was more cover against missile attacks.
“What’s the situation up north?”
Yadav asked Chatterjee as their convoy finally moved off on the dusty road and towards a clearing in front of the entrance to the headquarters. The majestic snowcapped Himalayan peaks could now be seen on the northern horizon.
“We have the 13TH Group-Army trying to fight its way past my Divisions all along the Arunachal Pradesh border from Tawang to Walong. Their missile attacks on the first day did heavy damage to my artillery forces and RPV units just before the 13TH Group Army pounced on my boys. But we are holding in all sectors! For now anyway. 13TH Group-Army has suffered heavy losses and is consolidating its forces at the moment,” Chatterjee shouted over the sounds of their speeding vehicles.
“Be warned,” Suman added, “that the 21ST Group-Army from Lanzhou is also deploying into the sector to replace losses taken by the 13TH Group-Army Divisions. The air-force says they are going to have a knock at the inbound convoys heading into southern Tibet. If that fails we might have to go in for some attacks of our own using Brahmos units. We will see how that works out.”
“Roger that!”
“How’s our own readiness right now?” Suman asked as he looked at the convoys of army trucks they were bypassing.
“I have the sector covered. But I can always use additional artillery units. Especially if the 21ST Group Army units start reinforcing the existing units opposite my boys,” Chatterjee shouted from the front seat as they reached their destination.
The inbound 44TH Fighter Division J-7s entered Indian airspace over the Chaukan pass hills at the extreme eastern edge of India. The twelve J-7s flying in a loose line-abreast formation now punched off their external fuel drop-tanks. This was immediately noticed by the radar crew of the Indian CABS AEW aircraft to the west as the screen became cluttered with small fading radar intercepts dropping behind the fast moving jets…
The Chinese knew what they were up against.
The path they were taking skirted around the handful of Indian Akash surface-to-air batteries protecting the high value targets in the region. This was also noticed by the AEW radar crew, and the mission commander made a mental note to ask those battery commanders to relocate. At the moment though he had other things on his mind. Now that his hopes for a few kills at the hands of the ground missiles was nothing more than just hope, he turned to the group of fourteen Mig-21 Bisons assembled in the skies west of Chabua airbase.
A few minutes later both the Bisons and the inbound J-7s traded shots. And twenty-six missiles ranged out in quick succession with fourteen more a few seconds later. The Indian Mig-21s had released two quick salvos of R-77 beyond-visual-range missiles while the Chinese had reciprocated with a salvo of their new AIM-120 knockoffs called the PL-12. Seconds after the Indian fighters had launched their second salvo, the Chinese reciprocated with another twelve PL-12s.
There were now fifty two missiles in the air…
All twenty six fighters broke formation to evade the swarm of missiles heading towards them.
Results were mixed. Five Indian Mig-21s were lost in exchange for six Chinese J-7s before the survivors from both sides merged into visual range. A desperate dogfight broke out in the skies above the Digboi oil refinery.
The AEW controllers were pragmatic. They realized immediately the futility of their involvement in the chaotic battle now taking place. The mission-commander realized that the Chinese J-7s had lost the initiative and unit cohesiveness, as had the Assam based Bison pilots. The J-7 pilots were also unlikely to be able to make their way home if they did not break contact soon given the short-range of their aircraft. In case any of the J-7 pilots decided to make a run for the Indian AEW aircraft to the west, the two Su-30 escorts flying alongside the aircraft could be dispatched on to the threat.
No. They Bisons are on their own now.
Time to deal with the Su-27s…
The mission commander pointed to the inbound Su-27s on the screen in front of him:
“Tell me about these guys!” he ordered.
“They will be breaking into our airspace in a few minutes. Lima flight-leader has signaled his readiness. He’s maneuvering into position now.”
The mission-commander rubbed his eyes as he looked at the screen again. Two groups of Sukhois, one from the Indian side and the other from the Chinese, were moving parallel to each other but in opposite directions.
This was deliberate.
The twelve Chinese Su-27s from the 33RD Fighter Division were making a run for this airborne-radar aircraft and its crew. Everybody on board the aircraft knew it and the mission-commander could swear that he could sense their nervousness. But they were calm and manning their stations and that was all that mattered for now.
In between them and the inbound Su-27s was No. 8 ‘Pursoots’ Squadron and its gaggle of Su-30s. They were moving northeast and were near Tezpur.
To the east the dogfight around Chabua was ending at heavy cost to both sides. The last two surviving J-7s made a run for home but lost out when their fuel ran out near the Chaukan pass. Their ejections were noted on the radar screens aboard CABS AEW aircraft…
“Our boys near Chabua are checking in…” the radar controller announced and then waited as information piled on both in his headsets from the surviving pilots as well as the radar returns.
“… Seven survivors. All of them diverting to Chabua. Two of them declaring fuel emergency,” he said after a minute.
“Okay. Get them to Chabua to rearm and reload. We may need them again pretty soon,” the mission-controller ordered.
“Roger.”
“The Pursoots have engaged!” the other operator announced.
The eight Su-30 pilots fired sixteen R-77s at the inbound Su-27s over the snowcapped Se-La just as the last rays of sunlight illuminated the peaks below. The missiles arced into the darkening night sky and disappeared from view. The Indian flight-crews lowered their helmet-mounted NVGs and adjusted themselves in their cockpit seats.
But the Chinese Su-27 pilots were also spoiling for a fight.
The Chinese response was quick and the Su-27 pilots fired a barrage of PJ-12s and immediately broke formation, dropping chaff all over the sky whilst diving for the safety of the peaks below. A few seconds later five Su-27s were blown out of the skies above Arunachal Pradesh by the volley of R-77s. Two Su-30s were also knocked out by the PJ-12s. But the odds had been evened and now it was to be a knife fight within the Great Himalayan Mountains…
Two of the five remaining Mig-21 Bisons in Assam were on open tarmac at the airbase as airmen were attaching drop-tanks on the inner pylons and a single R-77 on one of the outer pylons on each aircraft. The corresponding pylon on the other wing was loaded with an external electronic-warfare pod. The pilots were still strapped into their cockpits as the crew-chief was leaning over their shoulders with bottles of water to drink. It was essentially like an F-1 racecar pit-crew.