He and Sudarshan walked over to the approaching group of young tank commanders wearing the shoulder patches of the 43RD Armored Regiment on their clean uniforms.
They were understandably nervous, Adesara thought. The ground under their feet rumbled and the explosive thunderclaps to the north really brought home the reality of a pitched, modern war. Major Kulkarni attempted to hide his fear and nervousness. His boundless enthusiasm for combat had died along the grief stricken road to DBO. Now his heart was pounding loud in his chest as he walked over to the two senior officers in front of him covered in soot and grime from the last week of operations.
Adesara and Sudarshan had come over to Saser to see the nature of the reinforcements that Major-General Mohanty and Lieutenant-General Gupta were inducting in to his command…
“Sir, 43RD Armored reporting.”
Kulkarni followed up with a salute which Adesara returned. Sudarshan was about to speak when the sounds of incoming aircraft interrupted them. Kulkarni and his junior officers jerked as two Jaguars streaked overhead, disappearing south beyond the mountains. One of the two aircraft was trailing smoke from its port wing as it flew over. Kulkarni shared a look with his officers.
“You will get used to it, son! Those were our boys returning from delivering another pounding to the Chinese in the 4TH Mechanized sector. We are taking a beating out there and the 10TH Mechanized has been decimated and now folded into the 4TH. Your boys are going to reinforce 4TH Mechanized and attempt a breakthrough. Come on,” he nodded towards the command post for the Smerch battery nearby. The inside of the command post was cramped with so many people, but it had a digital map screen on one of the computers and that was what Sudarshan needed.
“The Chinese have been attempting to take DBO for a week now. We are holding them in place and they are not letting us break through either. The terrain east of the airstrip is a bloody mess filled with dead B-M-Ps, T-72s, T-99s and Z-B-Ds. The air-force boys are proving to be the key for us right now. What they can’t do at the moment is fly too far behind the Chinese fronts east of Daulat-beg-oldi because of that S-300 battery near Qara-Tagh-La. They have plans to eliminate it, but we have been hearing that for three days now. Their attack helicopters are proving deadly. 199 Helicopter Unit is deployed here and is nailing Chinese heavy armor in the 4TH Mechanized area, but there’s only two of them deployed here and certainly not enough for going on the offensive. But until the air-force starts hitting the Chinese lines deep behind the front, it will not stop the Chines from feeding a continuous line of reinforcements into this sector.
“I had sent what remained of the 10TH and the 4TH Mechanized into an enveloping operation to cut the Chinese units from their M-S-R after we had blunted their initial assaults. That failed on account of our light armor units attempting to force their way through their T-99s.” Adesara said and then sighed. Kulkarni and the others looked at each other before the Brigadier spoke again:
“Frankly, gentlemen, I have had it with the enemy armor advantage in this sector. I want the 43RD Armored to reach the 4TH Mechanized A-O and push through here,” he jabbed his finger on the digital screen, “to what we are calling as point-victory. That is where you will be in a position to interdict the Chinese M-S-R. Get there and hold position while what remains of the 4TH Mechanized and 5TH Infantry Brigade eliminates the remaining Chinese forces caught between your units and mine and joins up with you.
“Gentlemen, let’s be clear about this: our mechanized battalions are fast moving units. I want to release them to do what they do best. I want 43RD Armored to slug it out and destroy the Chinese T-99 force. Find and kill all enemy tanks you see out there. The Aksai Chin is sitting here asking for freedom, gentlemen. I have additional units coming to this sector, including the 3RD Mechanized, and I want the way clear for them. Your tanks are night-combat capable, aren’t they? Make use of that!” Adesara said with force.
Kulkarni looked up from the maps:
“Yes sir!”
He began to stuff his page of notes into his uniform pocket and then snapped off a salute which was returned crisply by the two senior commanders. The men began piling outside the trailer and started walking towards the line of parked Arjun tanks. An LCH returned from the north along the valley and flared for landing near the 199HU landing pads. Kulkarni looked at the parked helicopters showing black stains near their engine exhausts and near the gun turrets from endless missions. His gunner was standing outside on the chassis near the driver’s hatch.
“Pretty scary, sir. These men here have been fighting for years by the looks on their faces!” he said to Kulkarni.
“Their equipment is pretty worn out too,” Kulkarni added as he climbed up the chassis and stepped on the turret. His gunner slid into his hatch. Kulkarni switched on his comms:
“Rhino-One to all Rhino elements. We are now at the FEBA. All units on red-con status!” He lowered his mouthpiece and turned to face his loader:
“Load sabot!”
As the loader got to action handling the huge tank round in his hands, Kulkarni checked his commander sights and verified the night-vision systems as all of his tanks reported their status. He keyed the comms again:
“Rhino-One to all elements: expect enemy heavy armor! Watch for friendlies as we approach the FEBA. Engage and destroy all enemy tanks you see. Keep an eye out for the T-99s. It’s dangerous and do not underestimate its night-fighting capability. We are better trained and equipped. This may not be Rajasthan, but this is still our Arjun tank and this is still the 43RD Armored Regiment! Move out!”
The line of tanks rumbled forwarded with a jerk, rolling over the loose gravel as they headed into the open terrain beyond Saser…
Brigadier Adesara was standing with Sudarshan as two AXE utility vehicles rolled up to take them back to their respective posts. Sudarshan looked at Adesara:
“About damn time!”
“Indeed! Break through to that commie M-S-R, Sudarshan. It’s time we retook the initiative out here,” Adesara ordered and walked away.
Fernandez chewed out his last cigar about the same time as the officers inside his command trailer finished punching in the coordinates for the three launchers. The latter were already deployed outside on their hydraulic stabilizers into the wet, snow-covered mud of the valley with their launchers pointed north at a high elevation. The DIGICORA metrological radar vehicle crew had already evaluated weather information and adjusted the launchers. The 214mm rockets were loaded with fragmentation-warheads and loaded in the tubes.
The launch control officer looked over his shoulder at Fernandez once he was ready to launch. Fernandez smiled around the cigar in his mouth:
“Hit it, boy!”
Three seconds later the hills around Paru town reverberated with a low swishing noise and the Bhutanese citizens of the town looked to the north to see successive streaks of yellow light rising from the ground and disappearing into the night sky…
The thunder from the explosions reverberated through the valley and the ridges northwest of the bridge disappeared under a carpet of dust, smoke and brief flashes of light. The mountain of smoke descended into the valley and covered the village…
“Oh shit! That was fucking lovely!” Vikram exclaimed.
Pathanya peered through the IMFS optics and spoke into his radio: