It was still a long drive to Leh and just as long a drive from there to the actual ground combat zone.
Would there even be a frontline to fight on when we get there?
He shook his head and turned his attention to the road. As the last truck passed by, he was waved on by the MPs guiding the traffic on the road. He climbed on top of the turret and put his helmet on. The others in his convoy did the same. He then lowered his R/T mouthpiece and depressed the send button, instantly activating voice comms between himself and the other eleven vehicles in his unit:
“Rhino-One to all Rhino elements! Looks like the road is clear. We are rolling again! Move out!”
His driver took the cue and a second later the vehicle lurched forward. Eleven other similar vehicles did the same. The thunder of twelve Arjun tank engines reverberated through the valley for kilometres as Rhino Squadron of the 43RD Armoured Regiment began rolling towards Ladakh.
DAY 6
“Get it rolling, son. We don’t have all night.”
Lieutenant-Colonel Fernandez shouted as he walked by the young lieutenant fixing up the last supporting harnesses around the Pinaka Launcher. Its canisters were empty and the platform lowered and locked for transport. He stopped and looked around to see crews preparing the other vehicles as well. He moved the cigar in his mouth from one side to the other.
“Let’s go, men! Move!”
He loved his cigar. Always had. But he had begun to love it even more in the winter of Sikkim. And he definitely loved the victory smoke. His battery had hammered the divisional artillery units of the Chinese 55TH Division in the Chumbi valley for the past day. That division was being heavily mauled by the Indian divisions under XXXIII Corps as part of operation Chimera.
But he and his Pinaka warriors had now been transferred to Bhutan.
“Sir, J-F-B command on the line!” Fernandez’s comms officer said as he ran up to him.
“All right son, let’s go.”
Fernandez walked up into the command trailer parked under camo netting and skip-jumped the climbing-steps and walked in.
“Hit it, son!” he said as he grabbed the radio speaker.
“This is Hotel-six-actual, send traffic, over!”
“Hotel-six-actual, this is Warlord. Give me an update!” General Potgam’s grizzly voice came through.
“Hotel-Six is on the move, sir. Group of three Launchers, one C-Three vehicle and support elements are awaiting a hitch to the deployment area just as soon as the flyboys get their act together. Other elements will follow later,” Fernandez said. He could faintly hear the sounds of helicopters outside.
“Keep pushing hard. I want you guys to hit the ground running. We are time-critical on this. We are getting some eyes in the sky soon. Get your asses over here in the meantime. Warlord out!” Potgam signed off.
Fernandez handed the speaker back to his comms officer. He stepped two feet to the side and opened the door. The immediate gust of freezing air entered the trailer, causing everybody to shiver and reach for their jacket zippers. Two Mi-26 helicopters were hovering outside and the strapped and packed Pinaka vehicles were being hooked up underneath them. Further away, Mi-17V5s were doing the same with the lighter utility vehicles…
The crumbling frontline in northern Bhutan and the threat to Thimpu had created a lot of uncertainty. While the golf-course at IMTRAT headquarters in Haa-Dzong had been converted into a temporary helipad for the heavy reinforcements heading into Bhutan, the threat to Haa-Dzong was still far from clear. Hotel-Six was the only rocket artillery moving into Bhutan for now and represented the only artillery units directly under Potgam and Joint-Force-Bhutan.
For Fernandez, the problem was the deployment into Haa-Dzong. Since it was clear that any area north from there was unsecured and possibly under enemy control, he felt very uncomfortable.
With the two Mi-26s and three Mi-17s providing heavy airlift capability, Fernandez had decided to move the required hardware in six to ten overall round trips with each trip lasting about one hour. That was about as fast as they could do it. The problem was that General Potgam would have the first eyes over Thimpu imminently. And he may have targets lined up for him by the time Fernandez landed. But with only a third of his needed presence he wouldn’t be able to deliver much punch just yet.
Potgam is not going to be happy…
He stomped out of the command trailer, closed the entrance behind him and headed across the ground in time to see the two Mi-26 engines groaning under the strain of the cargo hanging underneath. Several minutes later they were heading down the valley. Two of the Mi-17V5s followed behind, lifting some of the lighter equipment including the DIGICORA metrological radar and a stripped down command vehicle. The third helicopter was on the ground and soldiers from the battery were loading necessary light equipment into its cabin.
“Just tell me you have everything under control here!”
Fernandez shouted over the helicopter noise to his second-in-command, who would now command the remainder of the deployment from here while Fernandez headed off in the last helicopter of this batch to Bhutan.
“Yes sir! What’s the logistical support over there? Where are we going to get resupplied from?” the Major asked.
That was a good question!
Fernandez didn’t know the answer. He wasn’t sure if even Potgam had the answer for that just now. Fernandez threw the cigar butt on to the snow.
“I will let you know when I find out! There are no pre-located AFARP locations over there as far as I know!” He said finally.
Northern Sikkim was dotted with pre-selected and pre-stocked Artillery-Forward-Area-Rearming-Points or AFARPs. These well hidden and well stocked supply locations allowed for rapid artillery deployments and longer periods of intensive operations. The supplies included ready-to-fire rockets for the Pinaka Batteries as well.
“Nobody figured we would be fighting a pitched battle with the PLA inside freaking Bhutan! You know what they say about battle plans, right? We can only hope that Warlord has gotten a ground convoy moving up to his location with rockets for us to fire. Or else we can say goodbye to Bhutan forever!” Fernandez said as they watched the last Mi-17 prepare to leave.
“Well good luck out there, sir!” The Major said.
“See you on the other side, Major!”
Both men shook hands before Fernandez jogged over to the waiting helicopter. Soon the helicopter increased power and lurched into the sky, steadily climbing away towards the mountains around Gora La before turning south down the valley.
“Incoming reports have confirmed that Indian warplanes have shot down a civilian airliner carrying hundreds of displaced refugees over the Taklimakan desert. Refugees have been fleeing from the fighting in Tibet where the brave soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army are fighting off the India aggression. Other reports indicate that the civilian terminal at Hotien airport has also been bombed. Civilian casualties are in the hundreds. China asks the western nations to condemn these cowardly Indian attacks against innocent civilians. We welcome the news that Pakistan has joined China in condemning India for the attacks and hopes that the rest of the world’s nations will follow the example. China has formally asked the United-Nations-Security-Council to meet in an emergency meeting to discuss these incidents.”