“This is Sierra-One! We are being actively painted by Chinese Flankers from the south. We need immediate assistance! Where the hell are our boys?”
“Sierra-One, this is ANC-OPCON. Seahawk-Five and Six are inbound your location. ETA two minutes! Suggest you egress immediately!”
“Yeah! No shit!” the co-pilot said before turning to the pilot:
“Get us out of here!”
The crews onboard the few fishing vessels in the area noted the large turboprop Il-38 streaking by less than one-hundred feet off the surface as it headed north. Two Mig-29Ks flew past the lumbering Il-38 on their way south on full afterburner. They put themselves between the unarmed ASW aircraft and the inbound Su-27s from the south.
The two Chinese pilots were already about to release weapons. Two PL-12 air-to-air missiles fell off the pylons of the two aircraft and lit their burners. They arced across the sky in a guided trajectory to the target. Two more PL-12s fell clear and this time flew in a depressed trajectory against the incoming Indian Mig-29Ks…
The Indian aircraft were just as quick to respond, but they had been caught off guard. Indian Commanders had expected the Chinese to punch through Myanmar airspace on their way to the Malacca Strait, not try to take the extremely long route through the South China Sea.
There were now four Chinese missiles in the air against two Indian ones. Two of the former were headed towards the Indian Il-38 and there was nothing much anybody could do. Two of the remaining missiles were headed for the Mig-29Ks and those pilots took evasive maneuvers and dived for the deck, punching chaff across the sky.
The Il-38 was headed away from the sector at its full speed and attempted to outrun the incoming missiles. Of the two missiles inbound, one splashed into the ocean behind the Il-38 as it ran out of power. The other slammed into the port wing section of the aircraft…
The explosion broke the outer wing section of the IL-38 and the outer engine broke off amidst furious flames. The shrapnel had also peppered the in-board port engine as well as the port side of the fuselage, wounding many of the ASW crew inside. A few seconds later the Il-38 cart-wheeled into the blue waters of the strait and broke up on impact.
The two Mig-29s and the Su-27s were also fighting for their lives. Both sides had successfully evaded BVR attacks on each other and had now entered the “merge”. Both sides were also using their helmet sights to try and take off-bore-sight weapon shots. But as with the similarity in weapons, the aircrafts were also just as maneuverable and highly so.
For the Indian pilots, the battle was getting very dangerous. Not only did they not outnumber the Sukhois, they also had shorter endurance and lesser number of weapons. The Su-27 could also absorb much more damage. The only way for them to end the battle was by either shooting down their opponents or breaking contact while they still had the means to do so.
The one true advantage on the Indian side was the aircrew quality. And it wasn’t long before it showed: one of the two Indian pilots managed to fire off a long burst of gunfire in a very tight turn that caught a Su-27 on its broadside. The canopy shattered and the pilot lost control at low altitude. The beast of a fighter splashed into the blue waters of the straits as the Mig-29K flashed overhead. The other Chinese pilot attempted to disengage: a very dangerous move in the heat of battle. The other Mig-29K claimed this kill with a tail chase R-77 shot right up the tailpipe of the Su-27. This aircraft blew up in a shattering ball of fire and fell into the sea.
A few minutes later the Mig-29s were pulling north as another Il-38 lifted off the tarmac on Nicobar Island to replace the loss of the first aircraft and all of its crew. The Indian navy and the PLAN had both suffered costly losses in the first skirmish over the high seas. But as more Chinese submarines approached Indian waters, a flight of three Mig-29Ks headed deep inside the Malacca Strait to establish a fighter barrier against future Chinese attempts to interdict Indian naval presence in the region…
“Go! Go! Move beyond it, damn it!”
Captain Kongara shouted at his vehicle driver as his BMP struggled to get around a burning BRDM vehicle.
The guilty Chinese tank had taken a direct hit from a Nag missile seconds after it had claimed the Indian BRDM reconnaissance vehicle. Kongara could see the pillar of smoke two kilometers away where the Chinese tank had been killed. But the crew of the BRDM was long dead, and that could not be changed by claiming revenge…
This is what happens when you take light armor against tanks!
Kongara thought as his vehicle passed the flaming wreck. His force of BMPs was spearheading the advance by the 10TH Mechanized to the battalion objective to the north.
He was worried about the overall design of the assault force he was leading into battle against the Chinese. Fact was that the Chinese infrastructure on their side of the LAC was vastly superior and flat. Both these factors were allowing them to bring in heavy armor units into the fight.
On the Indian side, the languishing infrastructure and tough terrain meant that not only were there fewer heavy units throughout Ladakh, but also that they were at the end of a very long logistical string that had to move from Leh to Shyok to Saser and then to the current FEBA.
As a result the only Indian armor units inside Ladakh were the battalions of the Mechanized Infantry Regiment. Three battalions were earmarked for the offensive in DBO. These were the 10TH, 4TH and 3RD Battalions. The 8TH Battalion was deployed near Chushul and involved in yet another high tech version of something that had happened before in 1962. Discussions were underway about bringing in an armored regiment, but the logistics problem was enormous. Any such force would simply have to drive up there. That would take time.
And time was not a luxury Kongara and the rest of the 10TH Mechanized could afford right about now…
Kongara’s force was primarily armed with BMP-IIs and few other light vehicles. Facing them was a force of Chinese T-99s streaming in from the Aksai Chin arterial roads. And it would only get worse as other Indian forces fought their way east.
The only good news around was the indirect support available to Kongara and his men. The two 199HU attack helicopters had proven deadly. And the Smerch MBRL and 155mm howitzer batteries near Saser were continuing to pummel Chinese forces with impunity now that their artillery forces had been suppressed…
Speak of the devil!
One of the two hills shouldering the battalion objective disappeared amidst a carpet of explosions. The sky above filled with incoming shells that were slamming into the Chinese positions on the hill and beyond. Friendly UAVs overhead had also identified several T-99s moving amidst the Chinese lines near the objective.
“Driver, Halt!” Kongara shouted.
As the vehicle jerked to a stop he opened the top hatch and raised his head into the freezing winds outside. He saw soldiers from the 9TH Punjab moving on both his flanks as they attempted to take control of the hills bracketing the axis of advance to the objective. Next to his vehicle were the lines of BMPs and NAMICAs taking position in a loose line-abreast formation. The formation was spaced out to reduce the effect of enemy indirect artillery strikes, though the latter were solidly suppressed at the moment.
Directly to his north lay his objective.
The smell of burnt diesel was in the air as Kongara checked his paper maps and then his watch.
T minus thirty…