He walked up to another team member standing at the base of the steps. He was similarly dressed and equipped as Pathanya.
“Give me your optics,” Pathanya ordered silently.
The soldier handed Pathanya his binoculars without uttering a word and went back to scanning the peaks around for suspicious activity. Pathanya continued walking down to the north end of the concrete pad where Ravi was waiting with his binoculars to his eyes.
The first whipping noises of the helicopters were now reverberating in the valley. As Pathanya brought up his own binoculars to confirm the inbounds, Ravi lowered his and glanced at the officials.
“God. How much did you scare them?” he chuckled.
“Just enough,” Pathanya replied without looking away from his binoculars, “to get them to sign off on using this place as a jump-off point for the incoming reinforcements.”
Once he was satisfied that the inbounds were helicopters from Paru, he lowered his scopes. They were still thirty seconds out.
“Just remember that once the Colonel is on the ground, he is in command of Thimpu. And we act like it. So lose the informality. No more ‘boss’ shit? I am now ‘sir’ to all you bozos until we are back out in the bushes. Get it?” Pathanya ordered.
The inbound Mi-17 and one of the two Dhruv helicopters slowed to a hover, allowing the third Dhruv to flare for landing on to the pad.
“Yes sir, I got it,” Ravi retorted. Pathanya smiled.
“Good. Then pass the word along.”
Ravi walked away to check on the rest of the team. The Dhruv landed amidst a flurry of snow raised by its main rotors. The side-doors of the helicopter slid open and a small group of Paras in full combat gear jumped out, their weapons in their hands. As their Lieutenant began shouting orders, they began spreading out from the pad, joining Spear team members on the perimeter of the palace.
The last man in the helicopter stepped out wearing the red-beret of the Paras and two red-collar tabs of a Colonel. Pathanya ran over as the snow flurry intensified and the Dhruv leapt off the pad, clearing it for the next hovering helicopter in line. Pathanya shook hands with Colonel Misra as both men held on to their headgear until they sprinted off the pad and onto the stone steps leading into the palace.
“Let me guess. You are Pathanya. Spear team-leader?” Misra asked.
“Sir.”
Misra stopped at the head of the stairs and looked around Thimpu from there as the second Dhruv lifted off the pads and cleared the way for the Mi-17. Each helicopter rotated back to Paru airport to pick up the next load of soldiers. Pathanya saw the spreading mass of paratroopers and nodded in approval.
Finally!
“Give me a layout of your unit positions here,” Misra ordered.
“Yes sir,” Pathanya said, looking away from the incoming soldiers and pointed to the north with his left arm. “I have a three-man O-P over there in the outskirts about three-quarter kilometer from here. They have been spotting for the friendly arty as we held off the assault on Thimpu. I have five men here providing security for this L-Z and I have about three dozen RBA soldiers that I have absorbed into my command. Their own commander fell during the shelling at Wang-Chu about six kilometers north from here, two days ago. So they fell back here. I have deployed them in dominant positions on the perimeter around this L-Z. The O-P team is ordered to fall back here in case the Chinese break through into the city.”
Misra nodded his approval. Pathanya had done well given the circumstances. He looked at the group of Bhutanese officials who had followed them up the stairs…
“Who the hell are these guys?”
Before Pathanya could speak, the senior Bhutanese official stepped forward and spoke in clear English:
“These guys, as you say put it, are the officials of the government whom we hope you are here to protect. We are here to offer the services of the Royal-Guards unit to the defense of our capital. They are our most loyal and well-trained soldiers.”
“We shall see.” Misra noted. “But just so we are clear. General Potgam is the overall commander for Joint-Force-Bhutan as per the treaty arrangements made by your King with New-Delhi yesterday. So I need you to go get your men organized and send their commanding officer to me. In the meantime I am taking control of these buildings as my staging area for the defense of this city. Is that clear?”
The Bhutanese official nodded and went back to his group. He explained to them what all needed to be done and the group soon walked away. Pathanya turned to Misra once they were again alone.
“Sir, I see that the 11TH Para is now deploying. What are my orders?”
Misra considered that for a few moments. Both men turned to see another Mi-17 approaching from Paru. This was the direct approach vector now that the first troops were on the ground. This flight was bringing in men and equipment for the battalion headquarters.
“Captain, get your men together and reinforce your O-P. Once my companies start assembling, I am going to move them out to seal all entrances to the city. 11TH Para is just the tip of the iceberg. More battalions and even some light-armor are inbound. Once that happens we will be taking the fight to the enemy. In the meantime, get your team ready. I want them rested and rearmed. We will be dropping you behind enemy lines soon enough. How do you like that idea, Captain?” Misra said with a smile.
“Sir, I think that’s the best idea I have heard all day.”
“Say that again! Over!” Kulkarni turned away from his optics and pressed his helmet earpiece closer to his ears. The utter chaos of combat was drowning out the incoming radio traffic…
“Rhino-One, this is steel-central! Do you read?” the radio screeched.
Kulkarni strained to understand what was coming through. In the background his gunner was shouting targets and requesting main-gun ammo from the loader, who was shouting back confirmations. The cordite smell and smoke inside the turret was nauseating. The shudder of the turret with each shot fired and the rattle of the co-axial machinegun fire just added to the cacophony.
“Yes! This is Rhino-One! I read you! Steel-central, we are in heavy contact with enemy dismounts at point-victory! Enemy infantry attempting flanking maneuvers from surrounding hills! We need back up! Over!”
“Rhino-On… This… Central! Can you confirm!” the radio screeched again just as the tank shuddered on recoil.
“Negative! Negative! I do not copy! Say again steel-central!”
The radio screeched with static.
“God damn it!” Kulkarni lowered his mouthpiece in frustration and saw his loader staring at him in silence. Kulkarni realized had to keep his composure, if not for himself then for his men. He changed frequencies:
“Rhino-One to all elements! We cannot hold this ground. Enemy infantry is going to swarm and overrun us. We are falling back. I say again, initiate tactical retreat to the L-O-D on my authority!”
The Nishant UAV pushed forward by Sudarshan was now over the Arjun tanks of the 43RD Armored Regiment inside Chinese controlled territory. Sudarshan and his operations officers were standing inside the tents of the command post, watching the live feed while his signals personnel were attempting to make sense of the tactical situation and reestablish contact with Kulkarni. Sudarshan sighed as he saw the Arjun tanks being forced to make a fighting retreat to the south under heavy enemy infantry harassment using rocket-launchers and anti-tank guided-missiles…