I thought of EA Minister as he may deal with all US \EU presssure... anyways scenario is going perfect... keep it coming
Begining Of The End: Story
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
^^ Agree sir; as you deem fit
I thought of EA Minister as he may deal with all US \EU presssure... anyways scenario is going perfect... keep it coming
I thought of EA Minister as he may deal with all US \EU presssure... anyways scenario is going perfect... keep it coming
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Please drop ji from the name. Me a tootaa chappal, fataa dhoti SDRE onlee
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 12 (Part 2)
Point 6431 was just one of countless mountain peaks that formed the rugged landscape on India-Pakistan Line Of Control in J&K. Like with every other mountain peak right on the border, this one too had army posts manned all year round. Maintaining round the clock vigil all through the year was tough in summers and murderous in winters. The process was exhausting, expensive and most of all, took it's toll on the soldiers who considered a posting like this akin to a punishment tour. Cut off from rest of the civilisation, except for the field radio in small bunker high up in a god forsaken mountain, all the while keeping up constant vigil was nobody's idea of fun. But still, the work had to be done. Neither side was sparing any effort to better or at the very least, keep up with the other side.
Conditions were not always like this though. Prior to Kargil war in 1999, most of the posts high up in the mountains were vacated during winters and reoccupied in summers by both armies. Both India and Pakistan had a gentleman's agreement on the issue and neither side tried to occupy others empty posts. The truce between two sworn enemies had held in spite of some hiccups till 1999, when Pakistani army broke the agreement and occupied numerous Indian posts while they were empty during winters. Intruders were regular Paki army personnel disguised as “mujahideen”. Indian intelligence and armed forces were caught with their pants down. A limited, yet bloody war ensued with Indian Army throwing waves of infantry and artillery attacks against a well established enemy in an impossible terrain. The war took it's toll on both sides. India lost more than 600 soldiers and 5 aircraft in a war that lasted just more than three weeks. Losses on Pakistani side were much higher. Indians claiming more than 1400 while Pakistanis claiming no more than 300. Pakistanis owned up some of their dead 11 years later. They had to do it sooner or later, specially since loss of a whole army unit, NLI was difficult to hide anyway.
One of the effects of that war was a halt on the practice of abandoning posts during winters. All along LOC, new bunkers were constructed, existing one fortified with more supplies and armies on both sides started their 365 days a year watch.
But Point 6431 differed from rest of the peaks. It had immense strategic value for both sides. It had been in Indian control since 1947 and unlike many other peaks, it's posts were never abandoned during winters even before 1999. Much of it's strategic value came from it's unique position. It was directly on top of Bahu pass, that connected Indian territory with Pakistan. Although the pass had been in disuse for 6 decades, it was still a vital feature for both the sides. It was the only place in the sector which allowed tanks from either side to cross over in to the other. Both sides had realised the possibility and constructed roads that could support heavy armour movement right up to the opening. But Pakistanis had a major disadvantage in the fact that whoever controlled Pt. 6431 effectively controlled the pass and the control was in Indian hands.
One other advantage that controller of the peak enjoyed was the strategic view it offered, on both sides of border, specially Pakistani. While terrain on Indian side behind the peak was still uneven and covered with smaller mountains, Pakistani was more or less flat with only a small series of hillocks that actually marked the end of the mountain range in this area. Although it gave Pakis an easier and faster terrain to move their convoys, control of the peak in Indian hands negated much of their advantage. Any movement they made was difficult to hide from the Indians. Even the small 130 mm field guns and 81 mm mortars on top of the mountain were deadly and had extended range due to the altitude advantage. Additionally, they could always call for backup from the heavier 155mm Bofors guns which were placed only a few Km back.
Importance of the pass was further increased after an old but disused route connecting Poonch to Shopian in Kashmir was activated. In earlier times, the route was used by Mughals to travel to Kashmir. It passed through Jammu, Rajauri, Poonch and terminated in Shopian in Kashmir. The new road, formally named as Mughal Road was less than 1 hours drive from the pass and the side controlling it had a very easy route to reach both Kashmir as well as Jammu in a short amount of time.
One of the first things that Lt. Shubharanjan had noticed about the peak was the time required for travel to the post on the mountain top from army base camp just on the foot-hills. First time he traveled, it took him more than 5 hours to climb the nearly 6000m high mountain. At many places the path was no more than a small mule trail, that afforded barely enough foot-hold for a loaded mule to pass through. Iron chains and ropes were nailed in at many places to provide a hand hold for the men. Any body slipping at any such place was sure to die a quick yet gruesome death on hard rocks hundreds of meters below. Getting down from the top was as difficult as going up, in some places more difficult due to the loose rock and gravel. Mules and porters carried much of the supplies above, with an occasional chopper pitching in whenever available.
Conditions on Pakistani side were much easier though. The peak was more like a gentle slope albeit littered with large rocks, that extended many km down in to the Pakistani side. It also took much less time to travel and getting men and supplies on the top was much easier and safer. They could have very well constructed a road if it was not for Indians controlling the peak.
He had staggered on to the peak tired, cold and out of breath in spite of the excellent physical condition he was in. His CO, a jolly Major Baljit Singh Randhwa had laughed on seeing his condition and immediately offered him a drink of brandy which Lt Shubhranjan gratefully accepted. He was filled in on the history and importance of the post by the Major himself. But it was Subedar Sonam Stobbdhan who taught him about life on top of the mountain. Among all men, he had spent the most time on the post and was the senior most NCO. He was also the leader of artillery spotter team and had taught many soldiers tricks of bringing accurate artillery fire in mountains.
Lt Shubhranjan had shown good marksmanship in NCC as well as IMA training and was given charge of the machine gun posts. There were 2 INSAS LMGs (Light Machine Gun) and 2 MGA1 HMGs (Heavy Machine Gun) placed in fortified concrete bunkers spread around the top. 2 mortar teams, each armed with 81mm mortars were usually positioned in the middle. They could move to a different position when required.
Heavier fire power was provided with M-46 130mm field guns. Although old, these Soviet manufactured artillery guns were in good condition and had fair range and accuracy for their caliber. These were placed in dug in positions shielded by the rocks and sand bags to protect them from counter-artillery fire and to hide the muzzle flash. Although in theory these guns could be moved around, there was no place to do so on the mountain top. The guns were carried up in completely knocked down condition by helicopters and mules and then assembled on top. Ammunition was transported in the same laborious way, 2-3 shells on a single mule at a time.
Close in fire support was provided by 6 more riflemen armed with standard 5.56mm INSAS rifles.
Soldiers wished for more fire power and men, it was almost impossible to do so using mule-porter system and already scarce Chetak and Cheetah light helicopters. Dhruvs with their higher carrying capacity were beginning to share some of the work load, but they were in short supply too. Even if they could move in more supplies and men, there was little space for either on top.
Point 6431 was just one of countless mountain peaks that formed the rugged landscape on India-Pakistan Line Of Control in J&K. Like with every other mountain peak right on the border, this one too had army posts manned all year round. Maintaining round the clock vigil all through the year was tough in summers and murderous in winters. The process was exhausting, expensive and most of all, took it's toll on the soldiers who considered a posting like this akin to a punishment tour. Cut off from rest of the civilisation, except for the field radio in small bunker high up in a god forsaken mountain, all the while keeping up constant vigil was nobody's idea of fun. But still, the work had to be done. Neither side was sparing any effort to better or at the very least, keep up with the other side.
Conditions were not always like this though. Prior to Kargil war in 1999, most of the posts high up in the mountains were vacated during winters and reoccupied in summers by both armies. Both India and Pakistan had a gentleman's agreement on the issue and neither side tried to occupy others empty posts. The truce between two sworn enemies had held in spite of some hiccups till 1999, when Pakistani army broke the agreement and occupied numerous Indian posts while they were empty during winters. Intruders were regular Paki army personnel disguised as “mujahideen”. Indian intelligence and armed forces were caught with their pants down. A limited, yet bloody war ensued with Indian Army throwing waves of infantry and artillery attacks against a well established enemy in an impossible terrain. The war took it's toll on both sides. India lost more than 600 soldiers and 5 aircraft in a war that lasted just more than three weeks. Losses on Pakistani side were much higher. Indians claiming more than 1400 while Pakistanis claiming no more than 300. Pakistanis owned up some of their dead 11 years later. They had to do it sooner or later, specially since loss of a whole army unit, NLI was difficult to hide anyway.
One of the effects of that war was a halt on the practice of abandoning posts during winters. All along LOC, new bunkers were constructed, existing one fortified with more supplies and armies on both sides started their 365 days a year watch.
But Point 6431 differed from rest of the peaks. It had immense strategic value for both sides. It had been in Indian control since 1947 and unlike many other peaks, it's posts were never abandoned during winters even before 1999. Much of it's strategic value came from it's unique position. It was directly on top of Bahu pass, that connected Indian territory with Pakistan. Although the pass had been in disuse for 6 decades, it was still a vital feature for both the sides. It was the only place in the sector which allowed tanks from either side to cross over in to the other. Both sides had realised the possibility and constructed roads that could support heavy armour movement right up to the opening. But Pakistanis had a major disadvantage in the fact that whoever controlled Pt. 6431 effectively controlled the pass and the control was in Indian hands.
One other advantage that controller of the peak enjoyed was the strategic view it offered, on both sides of border, specially Pakistani. While terrain on Indian side behind the peak was still uneven and covered with smaller mountains, Pakistani was more or less flat with only a small series of hillocks that actually marked the end of the mountain range in this area. Although it gave Pakis an easier and faster terrain to move their convoys, control of the peak in Indian hands negated much of their advantage. Any movement they made was difficult to hide from the Indians. Even the small 130 mm field guns and 81 mm mortars on top of the mountain were deadly and had extended range due to the altitude advantage. Additionally, they could always call for backup from the heavier 155mm Bofors guns which were placed only a few Km back.
Importance of the pass was further increased after an old but disused route connecting Poonch to Shopian in Kashmir was activated. In earlier times, the route was used by Mughals to travel to Kashmir. It passed through Jammu, Rajauri, Poonch and terminated in Shopian in Kashmir. The new road, formally named as Mughal Road was less than 1 hours drive from the pass and the side controlling it had a very easy route to reach both Kashmir as well as Jammu in a short amount of time.
One of the first things that Lt. Shubharanjan had noticed about the peak was the time required for travel to the post on the mountain top from army base camp just on the foot-hills. First time he traveled, it took him more than 5 hours to climb the nearly 6000m high mountain. At many places the path was no more than a small mule trail, that afforded barely enough foot-hold for a loaded mule to pass through. Iron chains and ropes were nailed in at many places to provide a hand hold for the men. Any body slipping at any such place was sure to die a quick yet gruesome death on hard rocks hundreds of meters below. Getting down from the top was as difficult as going up, in some places more difficult due to the loose rock and gravel. Mules and porters carried much of the supplies above, with an occasional chopper pitching in whenever available.
Conditions on Pakistani side were much easier though. The peak was more like a gentle slope albeit littered with large rocks, that extended many km down in to the Pakistani side. It also took much less time to travel and getting men and supplies on the top was much easier and safer. They could have very well constructed a road if it was not for Indians controlling the peak.
He had staggered on to the peak tired, cold and out of breath in spite of the excellent physical condition he was in. His CO, a jolly Major Baljit Singh Randhwa had laughed on seeing his condition and immediately offered him a drink of brandy which Lt Shubhranjan gratefully accepted. He was filled in on the history and importance of the post by the Major himself. But it was Subedar Sonam Stobbdhan who taught him about life on top of the mountain. Among all men, he had spent the most time on the post and was the senior most NCO. He was also the leader of artillery spotter team and had taught many soldiers tricks of bringing accurate artillery fire in mountains.
Lt Shubhranjan had shown good marksmanship in NCC as well as IMA training and was given charge of the machine gun posts. There were 2 INSAS LMGs (Light Machine Gun) and 2 MGA1 HMGs (Heavy Machine Gun) placed in fortified concrete bunkers spread around the top. 2 mortar teams, each armed with 81mm mortars were usually positioned in the middle. They could move to a different position when required.
Heavier fire power was provided with M-46 130mm field guns. Although old, these Soviet manufactured artillery guns were in good condition and had fair range and accuracy for their caliber. These were placed in dug in positions shielded by the rocks and sand bags to protect them from counter-artillery fire and to hide the muzzle flash. Although in theory these guns could be moved around, there was no place to do so on the mountain top. The guns were carried up in completely knocked down condition by helicopters and mules and then assembled on top. Ammunition was transported in the same laborious way, 2-3 shells on a single mule at a time.
Close in fire support was provided by 6 more riflemen armed with standard 5.56mm INSAS rifles.
Soldiers wished for more fire power and men, it was almost impossible to do so using mule-porter system and already scarce Chetak and Cheetah light helicopters. Dhruvs with their higher carrying capacity were beginning to share some of the work load, but they were in short supply too. Even if they could move in more supplies and men, there was little space for either on top.
Last edited by jamwal on 18 Jan 2011 21:06, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 12 (Part 3)
Lt. Shubhranjan had learned of the above mentioned fact on second day of his arrival when he had to scramble towards cover when Pakis started shelling the place. He was on a familiarisation tour of the post with Sub. Sonam playing the tour guide, when sound of first shell screeching towards the post hit their ears. Both men immediately scrambled towards the nearest bunker, reaching there only seconds before first of the shell landed, albeit well short of the place they were in. Pakistanis were using 122 mm Type 54, Chinese copy of Soviet M30 and ironically, Type 59I which were Chinese copy of M46 that the Indians had. Indians retaliated with shelling of their own. The duel ended as soon as it had started. Pakis didn't want to risk needling Indians more than usual due to the strategic advantage latter held and Indians on the other hand, were almost always short of ammunition.
Sitting in the bunker while guns were blazing, Shubhranjan had not realised the cramped conditions inside. There was barely enough space for 2 man crew of the machine gun in the bunker and addition of 2 extra men had left little room for anyone to move without bumping into somebody else. He was too busy to pay any attention to this as he watched Sub. Sonam providing coordinates to the artillery crew on the short range radio. But he couldn't help but notice shaking of earth as Paki shells landed close by and Indian guns fired back. Although both sides had fired only 5 shells each in less than 2 minutes, it has seemed liked an eternity to the young Lt, who was facing enemy fire for the first time. Slightly shocked and disoriented, he had just sat there until Sub. Sonam shook him awake after the firing stopped.
“Are you OK sir ? Don't worry about this. Ye sab to chalta hi rehataa hai." The veteran Subedar had told him with a nonchalant grin and went out of the bunker motioning the still confused Lt. to follow him.
They were met by Major Baljit who was always in a cheerful mood, irrespective of whatever was going around. He slapped Shubhranjan on the shoulder and asked, “ So Lt., did you liked the Paki welcome ? Quite a show they put on to make you feel special, didn't they ?“
Subhranjan was still gathering his wits and could only mumble confusedly, “Yes sir!”
Both of other men laughed on hearing this much to the discomfort of somewhat embarrassed Lt. “Don't worry Lt. You will get used to it. It's nothing much.” Major Baljit said in a kindly way.
Although he nodded his agreement, Subhranjan still couldn't understand how could anybody get used to high explosive shells exploding around him. “Around”, if the chap is somewhat lucky. No amount of luck is going to help someone who gets a direct hit, even within meters.” He thought to himself.
Next few days passed away in a similar way with Pakis marking their presence with an occasional burst of shelling which kept Indians on their toes. Pakis had the advantage of a terrain suitable for moving around and always fired from a different location, unlike Indians who were forced to stay in a restricted area. Although it somewhat evened out the odds, neither side liked it's status. After all, no body likes to fight an evenly matched enemy, let alone a more powerful one. Much of the work on Indian side consisted on keeping an eye on Paki movements, just to keep the odds even.
This task they performed using high powered binoculars and with additional thermal sights during night or heavy fog. Recently, army HQ in Poonch had managed to get hold of a couple of Heron UAVs. Although it had made the task much easier, there was simply too much ground to be covered by only two UAVs. Local commanders had been pressing for more UAVs but the equipment and trained manpower were hard to come by. It meant that, they could manage to receive pictures and live video feed of their sector only once every two days. Rest of the time, they had to depend on their own eyes and binoculars. Looking at the pictures taken by Heron for first time, Shubranjan immediately noticed the immense force multiplier effect an eye-in-the sky provided. Even during low visibility conditions caused by fog, clouds or night, thermal imaging cameras of the UAV could capture every detail of men and machines on the ground and stream back the images in real-time to their handlers. He had talked about it with Major Baljit and wished that they could have more time with the UAVs. Major had replied simply, “We fight with what we have Lt., not with what we wish for. I agree with what you said, but we simply don't have the resources right now. “
Seeing the expression on of Subhranjan's face, he had smiled and continued, “ That's what Brigadier Gagan said to me when I asked him for more UAVs just the way you said. Who are we to question the old man, eh ? I know he is trying his best. Who knows, we might get more in coming days.”
Lt. Shubhranjan had learned of the above mentioned fact on second day of his arrival when he had to scramble towards cover when Pakis started shelling the place. He was on a familiarisation tour of the post with Sub. Sonam playing the tour guide, when sound of first shell screeching towards the post hit their ears. Both men immediately scrambled towards the nearest bunker, reaching there only seconds before first of the shell landed, albeit well short of the place they were in. Pakistanis were using 122 mm Type 54, Chinese copy of Soviet M30 and ironically, Type 59I which were Chinese copy of M46 that the Indians had. Indians retaliated with shelling of their own. The duel ended as soon as it had started. Pakis didn't want to risk needling Indians more than usual due to the strategic advantage latter held and Indians on the other hand, were almost always short of ammunition.
Sitting in the bunker while guns were blazing, Shubhranjan had not realised the cramped conditions inside. There was barely enough space for 2 man crew of the machine gun in the bunker and addition of 2 extra men had left little room for anyone to move without bumping into somebody else. He was too busy to pay any attention to this as he watched Sub. Sonam providing coordinates to the artillery crew on the short range radio. But he couldn't help but notice shaking of earth as Paki shells landed close by and Indian guns fired back. Although both sides had fired only 5 shells each in less than 2 minutes, it has seemed liked an eternity to the young Lt, who was facing enemy fire for the first time. Slightly shocked and disoriented, he had just sat there until Sub. Sonam shook him awake after the firing stopped.
“Are you OK sir ? Don't worry about this. Ye sab to chalta hi rehataa hai." The veteran Subedar had told him with a nonchalant grin and went out of the bunker motioning the still confused Lt. to follow him.
They were met by Major Baljit who was always in a cheerful mood, irrespective of whatever was going around. He slapped Shubhranjan on the shoulder and asked, “ So Lt., did you liked the Paki welcome ? Quite a show they put on to make you feel special, didn't they ?“
Subhranjan was still gathering his wits and could only mumble confusedly, “Yes sir!”
Both of other men laughed on hearing this much to the discomfort of somewhat embarrassed Lt. “Don't worry Lt. You will get used to it. It's nothing much.” Major Baljit said in a kindly way.
Although he nodded his agreement, Subhranjan still couldn't understand how could anybody get used to high explosive shells exploding around him. “Around”, if the chap is somewhat lucky. No amount of luck is going to help someone who gets a direct hit, even within meters.” He thought to himself.
Next few days passed away in a similar way with Pakis marking their presence with an occasional burst of shelling which kept Indians on their toes. Pakis had the advantage of a terrain suitable for moving around and always fired from a different location, unlike Indians who were forced to stay in a restricted area. Although it somewhat evened out the odds, neither side liked it's status. After all, no body likes to fight an evenly matched enemy, let alone a more powerful one. Much of the work on Indian side consisted on keeping an eye on Paki movements, just to keep the odds even.
This task they performed using high powered binoculars and with additional thermal sights during night or heavy fog. Recently, army HQ in Poonch had managed to get hold of a couple of Heron UAVs. Although it had made the task much easier, there was simply too much ground to be covered by only two UAVs. Local commanders had been pressing for more UAVs but the equipment and trained manpower were hard to come by. It meant that, they could manage to receive pictures and live video feed of their sector only once every two days. Rest of the time, they had to depend on their own eyes and binoculars. Looking at the pictures taken by Heron for first time, Shubranjan immediately noticed the immense force multiplier effect an eye-in-the sky provided. Even during low visibility conditions caused by fog, clouds or night, thermal imaging cameras of the UAV could capture every detail of men and machines on the ground and stream back the images in real-time to their handlers. He had talked about it with Major Baljit and wished that they could have more time with the UAVs. Major had replied simply, “We fight with what we have Lt., not with what we wish for. I agree with what you said, but we simply don't have the resources right now. “
Seeing the expression on of Subhranjan's face, he had smiled and continued, “ That's what Brigadier Gagan said to me when I asked him for more UAVs just the way you said. Who are we to question the old man, eh ? I know he is trying his best. Who knows, we might get more in coming days.”
Last edited by jamwal on 18 Jan 2011 21:41, edited 1 time in total.
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rohan_kumaon
- BRFite -Trainee
- Posts: 9
- Joined: 14 Jan 2011 20:42
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Too good Jamwal...Keep it up!
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
The names "Point 1234" etc were not random numbering but the altitude of the peak in meters. Point 6431 would be 6431 meters or 21,000 feet. Siachen Glacier starts at an altitude of 5750 meters. The Nishant UAV has a service ceiling of 3,600 meters.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Shouldn't that be NLI?jamwal wrote:Chapter 12 (Part 2)
They had to do it sooner or later, specially since loss of a whole army unit, JAKLI was difficult to hide anyway.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
JAKLI is an Indian unit - Jammu and Kashmir Light infantry. Clifford Nongrum who got a posthumous MVC in Kargil was from JAKLI.darshand wrote:Shouldn't that be NLI?jamwal wrote:Chapter 12 (Part 2)
They had to do it sooner or later, specially since loss of a whole army unit, JAKLI was difficult to hide anyway.
The unit that was "wiped out" was the Pakistan NLI, Northern Light Infantry.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Thanks for pointing out the mistakes. You can't believe how embarrassing it is to mess up such things. Capt (Hon.) Bana Singh, PVC belongs to JAKLI.
Stupid me.
Stupid me.
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rohan_kumaon
- BRFite -Trainee
- Posts: 9
- Joined: 14 Jan 2011 20:42
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
@Jamwal - Don't be embarrassed...you are doing good job..we all make mistakes...Keep it up!
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 12 (Part 4)
Things had gone on as expected with Subhranjan. He had learnt from his his first experience of being in enemy fire and as the more experienced soldiers had predicted, learnt to took it in stride. After nearly 2 weeks, his initial “welcome” was just another part of life on the border. Still, the soldiers watched the events unfolding in Pakistan warily. They knew that any kind of unrest in Pakistan will definitely affect the peace on border. They were not entirely wrong in this assumption and Pakis proved them right by increasing the amount of shelling just after the news of attack on Paki President had hit the news channels.
Although they were under strict orders to exercise restraint, Indians had no choice but to retaliate in self-defence. The shelling that lasted for a maximum of 10-12 rounds earlier, had now escalated to full blown artillery duels being fought on multiple locations. Now after 2 days of facing intense firing Indians were hoping that the news of coup will dampen the enthusiasm of Pakis and volume of fire might decrease. Much to their disappointment, Pakis had actually increased the tempo.
The 3 senior most ranking personnel on Point 6431, Major Baljit, Lt. Shubharanjan and Subedar Sonam were huddled in a bunker discussing their plan of action in current situation. The walls of the bunker were covered with maps and recently taken pictures of Paki positions by Heron UAVs . Things were not going well for Indians. They were running short of ammunition due to paucity of stocks. The convoys that were expected to bring more supplies were delayed due to bad weather and land slides. Bad weather had also stopped the base camp from sending mules and porters up.
“What's our inventory situation Sonam?” Major Baljit without lifting his eyes from the reports he was studying.
“We are running short of ammunition for our M46s as well as 81mm mortars. Stocks for both are reduced to 31 and 42 rounds respectively. We do have enough grenades and bullets for our rifles, but that's only because we haven't had to fire them, yet. We still have enough food and water to last us a week” Sub Sonam was quick to reply.
“Going by the current rate of fire, these stocks wouldn't last for more than a day. When are we going to get more supplies ?” Shuhranjan couldn't help wondering aloud.
Sonam gestured towards the small window of the bunker “Our mules can't carry anything up due to this bloody fog and rain. They tried sending some men in the morning but the team had to turn back within 1 hour of leaving the camp. Using choppers in these conditions too risky. We can only hope that the weather eases soon.”
“Even if the mules start their journey right now, it'll take them at least 3 hours to reach here. If our ammo runs out sooner then their arrival, we will be in real deep shit.”
“What do we do then sir? “ Sonam asked Major Baljit.
“We'll have to use our ammunition more judiciously. Fire only when you have a sure fix on their position. No need wasting firing just for the effect.”
Taking up a pointing stick, he pointed out position of Paki guns on maps and pictures, “Herons took these pictures last night. As you can clearly see, we did manage to hit one of their big guns in previous night's shelling. But they still have 2 more type 59Is and 3 Type 54s spread all over this sector, most of them pointed in our general direction. Although 59Is have more range, it's 54s that worry me more. These smaller guns are comparatively more mobile and can proved really hard to counter if Pakis keep moving them as they've started to do recently. Am, I clear on this ? “ He asked.
Both men nodded their agreement and Major continued, “Lt., I'll need you to check on machine guns and mortar crews. Make sure the they are ready to fire and have enough ammunition. You never know when we might need to fire them. Sonam, come with me. I want to check the big guns myself.”
With this he ended the meeting and went out of the bunker followed by his two juniors. Subhranjan watched the two men walk towards M46 positions while he himself started his walk towards machine gun bunkers.
He found the soldiers slightly tired and wary but in good spirits otherwise. He was in first bunker on the eastern side when he heard the sound of artillery shells streaking in.
Even just by listening to the sound of the shells as they streaked towards his post, Shubhranjan realised that something was different. But he didn't have enough time to guess what. Within seconds, 1 shell landed smack in middle of the post area, with 2 passing over the peak.
“Damn it! They are firing 155mm shells. “ Lance Naik Joginder shouted in surprise.
“Seems like they have a good lock on our position as well. You sure it's 155mm ? “ Shubhranjan shouted back, his ears ringing by sounds of the blast.
“100% sure sir! These shells are much bigger and even clearing the peak this time. Their 130mms cant fire that far.” Joginder replied back.
Their conversation was interrupted by the boom of Indian M46s firing back at the Pakis.
Joginder grinned at the Lt., “Heh! That's sure to teach those idiots some good lesson.”
Right about then, 1 of the shells fired by Pakis got lucky and landed smack on one of Indian M46s. The ammunition dump right next to the gun caught fire and some of the shells exploded.
Shubhranjan heard the racket with a sickening feeling as he remembered that both Major Baljit and Subedar Sonam were supposed to be right there. He at once scrambled out of the bunker and started running towards the gun's position. He stopped in his tracks when a badly wounded soldier, covered in soot and dust staggered in front of him and collapsed. He muttered deliriously, “Nobody survived sir. The shell landed right on our position.” Shubhranjan asked the soldier to keep quiet and shouted for the medic. He was also scrambling towards the gun's position along with his assistant. He at once started administering first aid to the wounded soldier.
Shubhranjan left the 3 men there and resumed his search for his two compatriots. He stopped dead in his tracks when he came across the gun's position. The small clearing was nothing but a mess of twisted metal, smoke and fire. Overcome by fear and desperation he sprinted towards the clearing trying to find survivors. All he could find was splashes of blood and a few dismembered limbs. Unable to control himself, he collapsed on his knees and puked. He didn't knew how much time had passed as he vaguely felt rather than heard sounds of more explosions as the fight got more intense. He was shaken out of his state by the medic who was trying to drag him back towards cover.
He shook away his arm and said confusedly, “What are you doing ?” Pointing at the place where the gun was, he screamed, “We have to help them ! Come with me !”
That medic, another NCO in the unit replied gently, “We can't help them sir. They are all dead. But we need to get back in to cover.”
“But Major Baljit and Sub Sonam were there.”
“I know sir. They are both dead. The wounded soldier you saw earlier saw them die with his own eyes. Now, we have to get out of this exposed position in to cover. Please hurry up.”
Things had gone on as expected with Subhranjan. He had learnt from his his first experience of being in enemy fire and as the more experienced soldiers had predicted, learnt to took it in stride. After nearly 2 weeks, his initial “welcome” was just another part of life on the border. Still, the soldiers watched the events unfolding in Pakistan warily. They knew that any kind of unrest in Pakistan will definitely affect the peace on border. They were not entirely wrong in this assumption and Pakis proved them right by increasing the amount of shelling just after the news of attack on Paki President had hit the news channels.
Although they were under strict orders to exercise restraint, Indians had no choice but to retaliate in self-defence. The shelling that lasted for a maximum of 10-12 rounds earlier, had now escalated to full blown artillery duels being fought on multiple locations. Now after 2 days of facing intense firing Indians were hoping that the news of coup will dampen the enthusiasm of Pakis and volume of fire might decrease. Much to their disappointment, Pakis had actually increased the tempo.
The 3 senior most ranking personnel on Point 6431, Major Baljit, Lt. Shubharanjan and Subedar Sonam were huddled in a bunker discussing their plan of action in current situation. The walls of the bunker were covered with maps and recently taken pictures of Paki positions by Heron UAVs . Things were not going well for Indians. They were running short of ammunition due to paucity of stocks. The convoys that were expected to bring more supplies were delayed due to bad weather and land slides. Bad weather had also stopped the base camp from sending mules and porters up.
“What's our inventory situation Sonam?” Major Baljit without lifting his eyes from the reports he was studying.
“We are running short of ammunition for our M46s as well as 81mm mortars. Stocks for both are reduced to 31 and 42 rounds respectively. We do have enough grenades and bullets for our rifles, but that's only because we haven't had to fire them, yet. We still have enough food and water to last us a week” Sub Sonam was quick to reply.
“Going by the current rate of fire, these stocks wouldn't last for more than a day. When are we going to get more supplies ?” Shuhranjan couldn't help wondering aloud.
Sonam gestured towards the small window of the bunker “Our mules can't carry anything up due to this bloody fog and rain. They tried sending some men in the morning but the team had to turn back within 1 hour of leaving the camp. Using choppers in these conditions too risky. We can only hope that the weather eases soon.”
“Even if the mules start their journey right now, it'll take them at least 3 hours to reach here. If our ammo runs out sooner then their arrival, we will be in real deep shit.”
“What do we do then sir? “ Sonam asked Major Baljit.
“We'll have to use our ammunition more judiciously. Fire only when you have a sure fix on their position. No need wasting firing just for the effect.”
Taking up a pointing stick, he pointed out position of Paki guns on maps and pictures, “Herons took these pictures last night. As you can clearly see, we did manage to hit one of their big guns in previous night's shelling. But they still have 2 more type 59Is and 3 Type 54s spread all over this sector, most of them pointed in our general direction. Although 59Is have more range, it's 54s that worry me more. These smaller guns are comparatively more mobile and can proved really hard to counter if Pakis keep moving them as they've started to do recently. Am, I clear on this ? “ He asked.
Both men nodded their agreement and Major continued, “Lt., I'll need you to check on machine guns and mortar crews. Make sure the they are ready to fire and have enough ammunition. You never know when we might need to fire them. Sonam, come with me. I want to check the big guns myself.”
With this he ended the meeting and went out of the bunker followed by his two juniors. Subhranjan watched the two men walk towards M46 positions while he himself started his walk towards machine gun bunkers.
He found the soldiers slightly tired and wary but in good spirits otherwise. He was in first bunker on the eastern side when he heard the sound of artillery shells streaking in.
Even just by listening to the sound of the shells as they streaked towards his post, Shubhranjan realised that something was different. But he didn't have enough time to guess what. Within seconds, 1 shell landed smack in middle of the post area, with 2 passing over the peak.
“Damn it! They are firing 155mm shells. “ Lance Naik Joginder shouted in surprise.
“Seems like they have a good lock on our position as well. You sure it's 155mm ? “ Shubhranjan shouted back, his ears ringing by sounds of the blast.
“100% sure sir! These shells are much bigger and even clearing the peak this time. Their 130mms cant fire that far.” Joginder replied back.
Their conversation was interrupted by the boom of Indian M46s firing back at the Pakis.
Joginder grinned at the Lt., “Heh! That's sure to teach those idiots some good lesson.”
Right about then, 1 of the shells fired by Pakis got lucky and landed smack on one of Indian M46s. The ammunition dump right next to the gun caught fire and some of the shells exploded.
Shubhranjan heard the racket with a sickening feeling as he remembered that both Major Baljit and Subedar Sonam were supposed to be right there. He at once scrambled out of the bunker and started running towards the gun's position. He stopped in his tracks when a badly wounded soldier, covered in soot and dust staggered in front of him and collapsed. He muttered deliriously, “Nobody survived sir. The shell landed right on our position.” Shubhranjan asked the soldier to keep quiet and shouted for the medic. He was also scrambling towards the gun's position along with his assistant. He at once started administering first aid to the wounded soldier.
Shubhranjan left the 3 men there and resumed his search for his two compatriots. He stopped dead in his tracks when he came across the gun's position. The small clearing was nothing but a mess of twisted metal, smoke and fire. Overcome by fear and desperation he sprinted towards the clearing trying to find survivors. All he could find was splashes of blood and a few dismembered limbs. Unable to control himself, he collapsed on his knees and puked. He didn't knew how much time had passed as he vaguely felt rather than heard sounds of more explosions as the fight got more intense. He was shaken out of his state by the medic who was trying to drag him back towards cover.
He shook away his arm and said confusedly, “What are you doing ?” Pointing at the place where the gun was, he screamed, “We have to help them ! Come with me !”
That medic, another NCO in the unit replied gently, “We can't help them sir. They are all dead. But we need to get back in to cover.”
“But Major Baljit and Sub Sonam were there.”
“I know sir. They are both dead. The wounded soldier you saw earlier saw them die with his own eyes. Now, we have to get out of this exposed position in to cover. Please hurry up.”
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
I hate being in a pacifist India... I am sorry i did not mean to offend the nation, but its political ideology.... Whether it is 1947, or 65 or 71 or 99 or 2012, I dont know why every time we are running short of arms and ammunition... Hate these politicians for the same... Dont know until when soldiers like Maj Baljit and Sub Sonam will die because of inadequate resources...
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 13
He stumbled back into the command bunker where he had last discussed their strategy with now dead Major and Subedar. All of it felt unreal to the young Lt. who just realised that now he was the senior most officer on the post and was responsible for the well being of all the men under his command. His attention was taken up by the radio which was cackling with excited chatter. He recognised voice of Colonel Saha from the base camp calling on their call-sign, “Watchguard Alpha. This is Base 1. Do you copy ? “
He picked up the receiver and replied, “ Base 1, this is Watchguard Alpha. “
“Thank god, somebody replied. Who are you? Identify yourself. What was that explosion ? ”
“This is Lt Shubhranjan. One Paki artillery shell hit one of our M46s. We lost 4 men including Major Baljit and Sub. Sonam.” Shubhranjan heard himself reporting mechanically.
“Shit !” Voice on the other end replied. “What about the other gun ? Do you have enough ammunition ?”
“Other gun is operational but we are fast running out of it's ammunition. For heavy fire power, we only have some mortars left.”
“Damn it !. Listen Lt. Activate your UAV feed. We have just started receiving live video from one of our UAVs flying in your sector. It seems like Pakis are making an attempt to capture your position.We can see their infantry moving up on the slope from west. Do you have a visual on them ?”
“Negative sir. Visibility is less than 100 metres.”
Colonel replied in a worried voice, “That's bad. That bird won't stay up there longer than 30 minutes. Listen Lt., As you might've known it by now, Pakis have moved in a couple of their M198s. We are sending you reinforcements and ammunition right now. You just hang in there tight and don't let those bas**** come anywhere near your positions.
Use your mortars, machine guns anything to hold their advance. We'll provide you support against their heavy artillery from our 155mm guns.” and added almost as an afterthought, “as long as our stocks last.”
“Understood sir. I will not let Pakis take this post” Shubhranjan said with much more confidence than he actually felt.
“Good luck son. Over and out.”
The young Lt. Was left staring at the headset of the communication gear for a while before he was jarred back into reality by sound of yet another Paki artillery shell landing close by. He immediately picked up the short ranged field radio to contact the crew of remaining M46 and filled them in with the new developments. The artillery crew in turn replied that they had only 13 shells remaining.
Indian 155mm gun crews immediately started targeting Paki gun positions after the feed from UAV started coming in. Indian soldiers on top of Pt 6431 could hear the distant rumble as Indian gunners fired off their first salvo targeting their Pakistani counterparts. Effect of this counter- artillery fire was immediate. Some of the Paki guns were forced to change their positions, thus providing some respite to besieged defenders on Pt 6431. But they were not quite out of danger yet. Pakistani infantry was still advancing along the rolling slope of the mountain. Even in the bad weather, Heron operators could see the mortars they were carrying. It was only a matter of minutes before they reached close enough to fire them.
Subharanjan hailed crew of his remaining M46 on radio and ordered them to concentrate their fire on advancing Paki infantry. Indians knew the territory like backs of their hands and the effect of their firing made it quite obvious. Still smarting from the losses they had sustained earlier, they let loose a volley of high explosive shells that very nearly wiped out the whole advancing column of Paki infantry.
Subhranjan watched in quiet fascination as he sat in front of UAV feed console watching shells exploding in between Pakis. But the invaders were spread out over a large area and there were not enough heavy guns to cover them all. Even as one of the advancing parties was wiped out, another group started racing upwards. Now, it was turn of Indian mortar crews. AS soon as they were in range, all of them started their fire simultaneously. Although the effects were not as spectacular as 130mm shells, they were not less deadly for the attackers. A lot of them were blown to pieces even as they were running on the slopes. Survivors tried to take cover behind the rocks, but mortars were still finding their mark with deadly results.
Subhranjan allowed himself a slight smile as he watched Paki offensive break up and loose steam under sustained Indian artillery and mortar fire. Pakis had been unable to come close enough for their machine guns or mortars to be of any use. They were counting on their own heavy artillery to suppress the defenders. Banking on element of surprise, dense fog and fast deteriorating light they felt they had good chance of taking the post without suffering too many causalities. But early warning given by UAV and subsequent Indian artillery fire had broken the back of their offensive. With their forces severely depleted and scattered, they ordered retreat causing quite a few roars of joy and laughter from Indians. But Indians were not quite out of woods yet. Ammunition for mortars and sole 130mm gun was almost depleted and reinforcements were still more than 3 hours away.
Colonel Saha came on the radio, “ Nice work Watchguard Alpha ! Paki infantry is retreating, good job by your mortars. Our Bofors guns managed to break up their artillery formation but not as well as I'd have liked. Still, they'll be out of action for some time. How are you faring up there ?“
“No further causalities sir, but we are all out of ammo for our 130mm. Less than 12 mortar rounds left. We need supplies immediately.”
“A team with reinforcements and ammunition is on it's way Lt. You can expect them in 3 hours maximum. There'll be no UAV coverage for 3-4 hours at least, as the bird needs to be refueled and repaired. You'll have to hold on to your position till then. ”
Subharanjan could feel the unease in Colonel's voice even as he broke the bad news. Lack of UAV coverage in such low visibility conditions was going to be a big handicap for Indians. Without UAV, they had to rely on their night vision devices, which had a very limited range and utility in comparison.
“I understand sir. Just try keep their heavy artillery off our backs and we can manage the rest.”
“Good. One of our convoys just delivered a artillery position locating radar. I've heard a lot of good things about it. Hope it'll do the the job.”
“One good news at last.”Subhranjan thought to himself then heard the Colonel say, “Listen son, I know I'm asking a lot from you, but you have to hold your positions until reinforcements arrive. A lot depends on you tonight. God bless.”
It's going to take much more than just blessings if we want to defend the peak against another attack. Subharanjan thought to himself and went out again to check on his men.
He stumbled back into the command bunker where he had last discussed their strategy with now dead Major and Subedar. All of it felt unreal to the young Lt. who just realised that now he was the senior most officer on the post and was responsible for the well being of all the men under his command. His attention was taken up by the radio which was cackling with excited chatter. He recognised voice of Colonel Saha from the base camp calling on their call-sign, “Watchguard Alpha. This is Base 1. Do you copy ? “
He picked up the receiver and replied, “ Base 1, this is Watchguard Alpha. “
“Thank god, somebody replied. Who are you? Identify yourself. What was that explosion ? ”
“This is Lt Shubhranjan. One Paki artillery shell hit one of our M46s. We lost 4 men including Major Baljit and Sub. Sonam.” Shubhranjan heard himself reporting mechanically.
“Shit !” Voice on the other end replied. “What about the other gun ? Do you have enough ammunition ?”
“Other gun is operational but we are fast running out of it's ammunition. For heavy fire power, we only have some mortars left.”
“Damn it !. Listen Lt. Activate your UAV feed. We have just started receiving live video from one of our UAVs flying in your sector. It seems like Pakis are making an attempt to capture your position.We can see their infantry moving up on the slope from west. Do you have a visual on them ?”
“Negative sir. Visibility is less than 100 metres.”
Colonel replied in a worried voice, “That's bad. That bird won't stay up there longer than 30 minutes. Listen Lt., As you might've known it by now, Pakis have moved in a couple of their M198s. We are sending you reinforcements and ammunition right now. You just hang in there tight and don't let those bas**** come anywhere near your positions.
Use your mortars, machine guns anything to hold their advance. We'll provide you support against their heavy artillery from our 155mm guns.” and added almost as an afterthought, “as long as our stocks last.”
“Understood sir. I will not let Pakis take this post” Shubhranjan said with much more confidence than he actually felt.
“Good luck son. Over and out.”
The young Lt. Was left staring at the headset of the communication gear for a while before he was jarred back into reality by sound of yet another Paki artillery shell landing close by. He immediately picked up the short ranged field radio to contact the crew of remaining M46 and filled them in with the new developments. The artillery crew in turn replied that they had only 13 shells remaining.
Indian 155mm gun crews immediately started targeting Paki gun positions after the feed from UAV started coming in. Indian soldiers on top of Pt 6431 could hear the distant rumble as Indian gunners fired off their first salvo targeting their Pakistani counterparts. Effect of this counter- artillery fire was immediate. Some of the Paki guns were forced to change their positions, thus providing some respite to besieged defenders on Pt 6431. But they were not quite out of danger yet. Pakistani infantry was still advancing along the rolling slope of the mountain. Even in the bad weather, Heron operators could see the mortars they were carrying. It was only a matter of minutes before they reached close enough to fire them.
Subharanjan hailed crew of his remaining M46 on radio and ordered them to concentrate their fire on advancing Paki infantry. Indians knew the territory like backs of their hands and the effect of their firing made it quite obvious. Still smarting from the losses they had sustained earlier, they let loose a volley of high explosive shells that very nearly wiped out the whole advancing column of Paki infantry.
Subhranjan watched in quiet fascination as he sat in front of UAV feed console watching shells exploding in between Pakis. But the invaders were spread out over a large area and there were not enough heavy guns to cover them all. Even as one of the advancing parties was wiped out, another group started racing upwards. Now, it was turn of Indian mortar crews. AS soon as they were in range, all of them started their fire simultaneously. Although the effects were not as spectacular as 130mm shells, they were not less deadly for the attackers. A lot of them were blown to pieces even as they were running on the slopes. Survivors tried to take cover behind the rocks, but mortars were still finding their mark with deadly results.
Subhranjan allowed himself a slight smile as he watched Paki offensive break up and loose steam under sustained Indian artillery and mortar fire. Pakis had been unable to come close enough for their machine guns or mortars to be of any use. They were counting on their own heavy artillery to suppress the defenders. Banking on element of surprise, dense fog and fast deteriorating light they felt they had good chance of taking the post without suffering too many causalities. But early warning given by UAV and subsequent Indian artillery fire had broken the back of their offensive. With their forces severely depleted and scattered, they ordered retreat causing quite a few roars of joy and laughter from Indians. But Indians were not quite out of woods yet. Ammunition for mortars and sole 130mm gun was almost depleted and reinforcements were still more than 3 hours away.
Colonel Saha came on the radio, “ Nice work Watchguard Alpha ! Paki infantry is retreating, good job by your mortars. Our Bofors guns managed to break up their artillery formation but not as well as I'd have liked. Still, they'll be out of action for some time. How are you faring up there ?“
“No further causalities sir, but we are all out of ammo for our 130mm. Less than 12 mortar rounds left. We need supplies immediately.”
“A team with reinforcements and ammunition is on it's way Lt. You can expect them in 3 hours maximum. There'll be no UAV coverage for 3-4 hours at least, as the bird needs to be refueled and repaired. You'll have to hold on to your position till then. ”
Subharanjan could feel the unease in Colonel's voice even as he broke the bad news. Lack of UAV coverage in such low visibility conditions was going to be a big handicap for Indians. Without UAV, they had to rely on their night vision devices, which had a very limited range and utility in comparison.
“I understand sir. Just try keep their heavy artillery off our backs and we can manage the rest.”
“Good. One of our convoys just delivered a artillery position locating radar. I've heard a lot of good things about it. Hope it'll do the the job.”
“One good news at last.”Subhranjan thought to himself then heard the Colonel say, “Listen son, I know I'm asking a lot from you, but you have to hold your positions until reinforcements arrive. A lot depends on you tonight. God bless.”
It's going to take much more than just blessings if we want to defend the peak against another attack. Subharanjan thought to himself and went out again to check on his men.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
we can feel the intensity.... great writing...
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 13 (Part 2)
All of them were saddened by loss of 4 of their friends but the hammering they had handed out to Pakis had helped their emotions somewhat. He called medic Havildar Hariom and asked him to assemble a team to collect bodies of the dead. He inquired about the injured soldier and came to know that his condition was stable but required more expert medical attention. He at first considered sending him down carried by 2 or more of his men on a stretcher but then decided against it. Path was too dangerous and weather too bad. Additionally he needed every hand to defend the post against further Paki attacks. He set out on another tour of his post to rearrange his defences. He moved the mortar teams to more covered nests and away from each other in order to protect them against artillery fire. He positioned 4 of his riflemen near the machine gun bunkers on western side from where 1st wave of Paki infantry had tried to break in. His artillery crew was now idle due to lack of ammunition and he ordered them to dig up additional trenches and place sandbags to provide additional cover for riflemen and mortar crews.
His men were still placing the sandbags when shelling from Pakistani side started again sending the men scurrying for cover. This time firing was much more intense and shells were landing all over the place. All out of ammunition, Indian artillery men on peak could only watch helplessly as they saw their comrades huddled in trenches and bunkers.
Subhranjan immediately grabbed the radio handset and requested fire support. By this time, Indians had managed to setup the fire locating radar and were analysing the flight path of shells to plot the exact location of Paki guns. “ Three minutes for fire support. Stand by.” came the answer on radio.
“We don't have three minutes. Hurry up ! Hurry up!” Subhranjan thought with quiet desperation as one shell landed very close to one machine gun bunker on northern side, damaging one of it's walls, but thankfully nobody was injured.
It seemed like hours but finally he heard the rumble of Indian guns as they fired after tracing Paki gun positions. Indian soldiers on hearing it cheered loudly in spite of being under fire themselves. But much to their disappointment and puzzlement, this time Pakis didn't stop their shelling, neither did they change their target. Another of Paki shells this time landed close to another bunker on eastern side, collapsing part of it's walls and roof, injuring the two soldiers inside. Havildar Hariom at once jumped out of his cover and started administering first aid to the wounded soldiers. Two other soldiers came to help and carried their wounded comrades to comparative safety away from the damaged bunker.
By this time, Indian guns were starting to find their mark and Pakis were forced to halt their fire and move their guns after suffering a few causalities themselves. This earned a few minutes of respite for beleaguered defenders, but they could nothing except shaking their heads to stop the buzzing in their ears. Indian artillery guns too stopped firing as they had no way of locating new position of Paki guns untill they started firing again.
“What's going on down there with Pakis ? Any luck ?” Subhranjan asked one of the soldiers keeping watch against Paki infantry attacks. Tearing his eyes off the night vision device he shook his head, “Can't see any movement. I'm not sure that they'll dare to launch another attack again after the beating they got. Can't see far enough anyway “
“I wouldn't count on that. Keep looking and don't let your guard down.” Subhranjan said and went off to check on wounded.
He found them lying in the bunker on almost other side of the peak which usually served as storage. Havildar Hariom was still bandaging one of them when he entered. “They are out of danger but none of them is in condition to fire a gun. Although I've done the best I could, they'll need to be evacuated soon.”
Subhranjan nodded, “ I understand. Reinforcements are on their way. They'll be here soon and we can evacuate them then.”
“They better hurry sir. I don't know whether we'll be able to survive another attack.”
“Keep faith HariOm.” Subhranjan smiled grimly and went out to check his defences again.
Loss of one bunker each on north and west side had weakened his position considerably against a determined infantry assault. He ordered one INSAS LMG to be taken out of the damaged bunker and placed in the trench covered by sandbags just beside it. He placed two more riflemen around it to prevent flanking attacks. His artillery crew too had picked up INSAS assault rifles and were acting as riflemen now. Indians were just beginning to settle in their defensive positions when Pakis started shelling again, this time from a different position. Indian artillery crews were even more quick this time to start the countering fire. Right about than, Indian guards noticed some movement on both sides of the slope and alerted Subhranjan. He relayed the coordinates of suspected enemy movement Indian artillery crews and they in turn let loose a volley of air-burst shells. These shells burst in mid-air and pepper their target below with red hot shrapnel.
Subhranjan wanted to use as much artillery support as possible before the enemy came too close for Indian artillery to target. By then, they'd come in range of Indian mortars but there was not enough ammunition left. There was another positive sighting of enemy troops, this time on northern side. One of the guns again changed it's target and this time fired on northern side. Pakistanis by this time had started to fire smoke rounds from their mortars to hide themselves. Even though it was not a foolproof solution against thermal detectors, it still gave them enough breathing space to hide their exact location. Taking cover behind large rocks and ledges Paki infantry started inching towards Indian position for the second time in two hours.
Subhranjan watched the developing situation with increasing concern. His first priority was to stop Paki mortars from coming within firing range. Although Indians had the advantage of increased range due to altitude advantage, there were not enough of them. Indian 155mm didn't have a good firing solution on the mountain slope. To make conditions worse, the enemy was hiding behind rocks, smoke and fog. Visibility was getting worse with every minute and soon his men would be unable to see anything without NV.
In pure desperation, he picked up his rifle and a binocular with thermal sights and asked Lance Naik Joginder to accompany him with radio. Right in front of his amazed soldiers and in face of artillery shells pounding all around them, the two men got out of the bunker and started running towards the advancing enemy. Using whatever cover they could find, the two men started moving cautiously downwards. Keeping his eyes glued to the thermal sight Subhranjan was in lead while the other man followed him. They advanced 10-12 metres after which they stopped and scanned the area around them for enemy and again repeated the process. They had traveled this way for little less than a km when Subhranjan observed a platoon of enemy soldiers racing upwards almost at the foothills of the mountain. He grabbed hold of the radio and relayed the enemy's coordinates to his mortar crews. Within seconds they responded with a volley of rounds that killed most of the enemy soldiers who were caught in the open.
Alerted by the attack, another group of enemy soldiers broke their cover behind which they were hiding and turned back. Subhranjan observed them fleeing and was tempted to drop a couple of mortar rounds on them but wisely restrained himself. “There must be more enemy around I should save for.” I told himself. Changing his direction towards another likely enemy approach place, he started scanning the area again. He again found some enemy soldiers advancing, but this time dispersed over a much larger area. He again relayed the coordinates to his mortar crews. Resulting fire was not enough to wipe out whole group. A few survivors took cover behind rocks in comparative safety. Somehow they managed to setup a mortar and started firing back. But the weapon was too short-legged to reach Indian positions.
“Yes. Keep wasting ammo firing at the enemy you can't even see, let alone reach. Bloody moron.” Subhranjan muttered.
“Good for us. Heh.” Joginer chipped in.
Probably drawn by the sound of their own men firing, the fleeing Paki group had turned back and started towards the lone Paki mortar firing at the Indians. Subhranjan waited for them to reach closer and ordered his men to fire again. This time, all the survivors from 2nd part were wiped out as one Indian mortar round landed right on top of the Paki position. Another round landed very close to their comrades group running towards them. Contrary to common sense, they were running in close to each other and only 2 men survived unhurt. Both of which immediately turned on their heels and ran back again.
“I wonder what will their CO say to that.“ Subhranjan quipped.
“Award a Hila-Le-Bakistan, maybe ? Joginder replied. Subhranjan could see his teeth in dark even without the night vision goggles as he grinned from ear to ear.
All of them were saddened by loss of 4 of their friends but the hammering they had handed out to Pakis had helped their emotions somewhat. He called medic Havildar Hariom and asked him to assemble a team to collect bodies of the dead. He inquired about the injured soldier and came to know that his condition was stable but required more expert medical attention. He at first considered sending him down carried by 2 or more of his men on a stretcher but then decided against it. Path was too dangerous and weather too bad. Additionally he needed every hand to defend the post against further Paki attacks. He set out on another tour of his post to rearrange his defences. He moved the mortar teams to more covered nests and away from each other in order to protect them against artillery fire. He positioned 4 of his riflemen near the machine gun bunkers on western side from where 1st wave of Paki infantry had tried to break in. His artillery crew was now idle due to lack of ammunition and he ordered them to dig up additional trenches and place sandbags to provide additional cover for riflemen and mortar crews.
His men were still placing the sandbags when shelling from Pakistani side started again sending the men scurrying for cover. This time firing was much more intense and shells were landing all over the place. All out of ammunition, Indian artillery men on peak could only watch helplessly as they saw their comrades huddled in trenches and bunkers.
Subhranjan immediately grabbed the radio handset and requested fire support. By this time, Indians had managed to setup the fire locating radar and were analysing the flight path of shells to plot the exact location of Paki guns. “ Three minutes for fire support. Stand by.” came the answer on radio.
“We don't have three minutes. Hurry up ! Hurry up!” Subhranjan thought with quiet desperation as one shell landed very close to one machine gun bunker on northern side, damaging one of it's walls, but thankfully nobody was injured.
It seemed like hours but finally he heard the rumble of Indian guns as they fired after tracing Paki gun positions. Indian soldiers on hearing it cheered loudly in spite of being under fire themselves. But much to their disappointment and puzzlement, this time Pakis didn't stop their shelling, neither did they change their target. Another of Paki shells this time landed close to another bunker on eastern side, collapsing part of it's walls and roof, injuring the two soldiers inside. Havildar Hariom at once jumped out of his cover and started administering first aid to the wounded soldiers. Two other soldiers came to help and carried their wounded comrades to comparative safety away from the damaged bunker.
By this time, Indian guns were starting to find their mark and Pakis were forced to halt their fire and move their guns after suffering a few causalities themselves. This earned a few minutes of respite for beleaguered defenders, but they could nothing except shaking their heads to stop the buzzing in their ears. Indian artillery guns too stopped firing as they had no way of locating new position of Paki guns untill they started firing again.
“What's going on down there with Pakis ? Any luck ?” Subhranjan asked one of the soldiers keeping watch against Paki infantry attacks. Tearing his eyes off the night vision device he shook his head, “Can't see any movement. I'm not sure that they'll dare to launch another attack again after the beating they got. Can't see far enough anyway “
“I wouldn't count on that. Keep looking and don't let your guard down.” Subhranjan said and went off to check on wounded.
He found them lying in the bunker on almost other side of the peak which usually served as storage. Havildar Hariom was still bandaging one of them when he entered. “They are out of danger but none of them is in condition to fire a gun. Although I've done the best I could, they'll need to be evacuated soon.”
Subhranjan nodded, “ I understand. Reinforcements are on their way. They'll be here soon and we can evacuate them then.”
“They better hurry sir. I don't know whether we'll be able to survive another attack.”
“Keep faith HariOm.” Subhranjan smiled grimly and went out to check his defences again.
Loss of one bunker each on north and west side had weakened his position considerably against a determined infantry assault. He ordered one INSAS LMG to be taken out of the damaged bunker and placed in the trench covered by sandbags just beside it. He placed two more riflemen around it to prevent flanking attacks. His artillery crew too had picked up INSAS assault rifles and were acting as riflemen now. Indians were just beginning to settle in their defensive positions when Pakis started shelling again, this time from a different position. Indian artillery crews were even more quick this time to start the countering fire. Right about than, Indian guards noticed some movement on both sides of the slope and alerted Subhranjan. He relayed the coordinates of suspected enemy movement Indian artillery crews and they in turn let loose a volley of air-burst shells. These shells burst in mid-air and pepper their target below with red hot shrapnel.
Subhranjan wanted to use as much artillery support as possible before the enemy came too close for Indian artillery to target. By then, they'd come in range of Indian mortars but there was not enough ammunition left. There was another positive sighting of enemy troops, this time on northern side. One of the guns again changed it's target and this time fired on northern side. Pakistanis by this time had started to fire smoke rounds from their mortars to hide themselves. Even though it was not a foolproof solution against thermal detectors, it still gave them enough breathing space to hide their exact location. Taking cover behind large rocks and ledges Paki infantry started inching towards Indian position for the second time in two hours.
Subhranjan watched the developing situation with increasing concern. His first priority was to stop Paki mortars from coming within firing range. Although Indians had the advantage of increased range due to altitude advantage, there were not enough of them. Indian 155mm didn't have a good firing solution on the mountain slope. To make conditions worse, the enemy was hiding behind rocks, smoke and fog. Visibility was getting worse with every minute and soon his men would be unable to see anything without NV.
In pure desperation, he picked up his rifle and a binocular with thermal sights and asked Lance Naik Joginder to accompany him with radio. Right in front of his amazed soldiers and in face of artillery shells pounding all around them, the two men got out of the bunker and started running towards the advancing enemy. Using whatever cover they could find, the two men started moving cautiously downwards. Keeping his eyes glued to the thermal sight Subhranjan was in lead while the other man followed him. They advanced 10-12 metres after which they stopped and scanned the area around them for enemy and again repeated the process. They had traveled this way for little less than a km when Subhranjan observed a platoon of enemy soldiers racing upwards almost at the foothills of the mountain. He grabbed hold of the radio and relayed the enemy's coordinates to his mortar crews. Within seconds they responded with a volley of rounds that killed most of the enemy soldiers who were caught in the open.
Alerted by the attack, another group of enemy soldiers broke their cover behind which they were hiding and turned back. Subhranjan observed them fleeing and was tempted to drop a couple of mortar rounds on them but wisely restrained himself. “There must be more enemy around I should save for.” I told himself. Changing his direction towards another likely enemy approach place, he started scanning the area again. He again found some enemy soldiers advancing, but this time dispersed over a much larger area. He again relayed the coordinates to his mortar crews. Resulting fire was not enough to wipe out whole group. A few survivors took cover behind rocks in comparative safety. Somehow they managed to setup a mortar and started firing back. But the weapon was too short-legged to reach Indian positions.
“Yes. Keep wasting ammo firing at the enemy you can't even see, let alone reach. Bloody moron.” Subhranjan muttered.
“Good for us. Heh.” Joginer chipped in.
Probably drawn by the sound of their own men firing, the fleeing Paki group had turned back and started towards the lone Paki mortar firing at the Indians. Subhranjan waited for them to reach closer and ordered his men to fire again. This time, all the survivors from 2nd part were wiped out as one Indian mortar round landed right on top of the Paki position. Another round landed very close to their comrades group running towards them. Contrary to common sense, they were running in close to each other and only 2 men survived unhurt. Both of which immediately turned on their heels and ran back again.
“I wonder what will their CO say to that.“ Subhranjan quipped.
“Award a Hila-Le-Bakistan, maybe ? Joginder replied. Subhranjan could see his teeth in dark even without the night vision goggles as he grinned from ear to ear.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Excellent !!
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 14
Subhranjan took the radio again and inquired about ammunition status. As he had guessed, there were only 2 mortar rounds left. He ordered all except one mortar crew to abandon their positions and take up defensive positions with rifles around the perimeter.
“What are we going to do sir ?” Joginder asked tentatively. He was impressed by the intelligence and bravery shown by the young, inexperienced Lt and his respect for him had grown manifold in the last hour.
“Well, we wait here as long it's needed.” Subhranjan replied scanning the slope in front of him.
“I wonder how long that'll be.” Joginder thought to himself but kept quiet.
As if guessing his question, Subhranjan added, “As soon as our reinforcements arrive or it becomes too dangerous for us to stay here.”
Lying prone on their stomachs, they waited for enemy to come again. By this time, artillery fire from Paki side had reduced considerably. Indian counter-artillery fire had crippled many of their guns and the surviving guns had to be moved around to prevent them from meeting the same fate. Still an odd shell continued to streak in, but without much accuracy.
Both men waiting on the slope prayed to be spared of a lucky strike. They were both lying almost in open with little to protect them if a shell landed anywhere near them. So far they had been lucky. They had been waiting for 20 minutes when Joginder thought that he saw some movement. He zoomed in as much as the sights allowed and sure enough there was a large formation of Paki soldiers moving towards their position. They had learnt from their mistakes and were spread over a large distance. He cursed them under his breath and handed over the night vision goggles to Subhranjan.
Although the enemy was out of range of Indian mortars, they could still be targeted by 155mm guns. He contacted Base 1 and asked for artillery fire. He knew he had to use up as much as support as possible before Paki soldiers came too close to be targeted by the big guns. Artillery crew took 2 minutes to adjust their targets and fired air-burst shells over coordinates provided by Subhranjan. Instead of taking cover or retreating, paki soldiers this time ran towards source of fire.
"I guess they know for sure that our big guns can't fire if they come closer." Joginder remarked .
"Yes. I hope that our artillery takes out most of them before they pass that point."
"Me too. Though fat chance of that happening"
Although they took some causalities, Paki soldiers sprinted fast enough to pass the kill zone with 5 minutes. Now defence of peak lay solely on shoulders of Indians manning the peak.
"What now sir ? Mortars ?" Joginder asked in a worried voice as he observed Pakis running up the slope from both faces. This time they were using cover much more effectively, dodging and sprinting between rocks and ledges making them a difficult target
"We don't have any other option left. I'll direct those last mortars on Pakis coming from east. Take positions towards towards left of this group and pick off as many of them as you can with your rifle. I'll do the same from here. Retreat to our post if they come too close or if they have a fix on your position."
“What about the other group on the north ?”
“I guess we'll have to deal with them later. Now hurry.”
Joginder nodded and crawled towards the place pointed out by Subhranjan. He took cover behind a group of rocks and waited. Subhranjan ordered his mortar crew to standby and be ready to fire on his mark. He too took up a firing position and waited till the Paki group came right where he wanted. When they reached there, he carefully took aim and fired. Although he missed hitting anyone, sound of the shot caused everyone in the group to duck and take cover. As soon as it happened he ordered his mortar crew to fire off last of their mortars which they did with deadly accuracy. Even with most of them hiding behind rocks and ledges, 2 high explosive mortar rounds killed 2 and injured another 3. Realising their folly, Pakis immediately got up and resumed their ascent again. Both Subharanjan and Joginder opened fire as soon as they got up causing much confusion in Paki ranks. At first no one realised where the fire was coming from and they started firing blindly but they soon got a fix on the position and started to return fire. But it was not before before they had lost another 3 men. At this time, Joginder noted another group of Paki soldiers moving coming towards their direction and he relayed the information to Subhranjan.
Both men stopped firing and started running back towards the relative safety of their post followed by Paki invaders almost snapping at their heels. They took cover inside a trench lined by sandbags and started updating rest of the defenders with whatever intelligence they had gathered about the attackers. Subhranjan ordered every man to take good cover and put his eyes on the gun sights. Nobody was to fire until the enemy was well within the range and devoid of any benefit of cover. Indian soldiers checked their weapons for one last time and braced for the attack.
Machine gun post on the east was first one to report a visual on approaching Pakis, but they were still too far to be targeted accurately. Just a minute later, another soldier who had taken cover besides the damaged bunker in north reported visual contact on his side. Pakistanis were trying to sneak up by hiding their approach with smoke grenades and were almost successful except for the fact that there were fair number of night vision devices with the defenders. Another proof of how close the enemy was came when one of the Paki soldiers fired a rifle grenade in general direction of the Indian post. The projectile fell well short of Indian position and exploded harmlessly. Although jittery and highly strung, Indian soldiers kept their nerve and held fire.
“Sneaky bas***** want a fix on our positions and arc of fire before committing to an attack. Pretty clever for a bunch of Pakis.” Joginder instructed rest of soldiers through the comm radio, “let them come closer. Hit them with all you've got when you can see their eyes. Don't Pakis bringing up the rear escape either.”
Another rifle grenade was fired which again failed to reach anywhere near the post. “Steady. Steady. Don't let these monkeys bother you like that.” he hissed again, waiting for Pakis to come closer. Fingers on triggers twitched nervously as the soldiers on both sides waited. Indian defenders had the advantage of higher positions and better cover while Pakistanis had numerical superiority. Both sides were trying to make the best of what they had and neither wanted to reveal it's cards too early. For Pakis, firing rifle grenades was a way to get a fix on Indian positions and once found then find a path to either bypass those positions or to neutralise them. But Indians had refused to oblige and now Pakistanis had no choice except an all out frontal attack.Causalities will be high but that was unavoidable anyway.
Indians defenders watched nervously as attackers rapidly started converging within their sights. Though owing to distance and low light they were nothing more than dark ghost like figures approaching silently. Within minutes they had moved in so close that their eyeballs would've been visible if there was light. Subhranjan decided it was time and he ordered his men to open fire. Within a moment the almost silent peak was covered with flashes and explosions of the gun fire. Pakistani soldiers in the lead had no chance to either duck or take cover and were cut down without even firing a single shot. Survivors immediately dropped to the ground and started firing back. Quite a lot of them who had neglected to take cover behind a rock or ledge were killed in the next volley. Even those defenders without night vision devices had no difficulty in getting a fix on position of the attackers due to their muzzle flashes and they were showing no mercy. They were firing on exposed attackers and lobbing grenades on those who had taken cover. But there were too many Pakis and too large an area for handful of defenders to cover.Even as the defenders concentrated on the east and northern ingress routes, a party of attackers started advancing through the middle.
Subhranjan took the radio again and inquired about ammunition status. As he had guessed, there were only 2 mortar rounds left. He ordered all except one mortar crew to abandon their positions and take up defensive positions with rifles around the perimeter.
“What are we going to do sir ?” Joginder asked tentatively. He was impressed by the intelligence and bravery shown by the young, inexperienced Lt and his respect for him had grown manifold in the last hour.
“Well, we wait here as long it's needed.” Subhranjan replied scanning the slope in front of him.
“I wonder how long that'll be.” Joginder thought to himself but kept quiet.
As if guessing his question, Subhranjan added, “As soon as our reinforcements arrive or it becomes too dangerous for us to stay here.”
Lying prone on their stomachs, they waited for enemy to come again. By this time, artillery fire from Paki side had reduced considerably. Indian counter-artillery fire had crippled many of their guns and the surviving guns had to be moved around to prevent them from meeting the same fate. Still an odd shell continued to streak in, but without much accuracy.
Both men waiting on the slope prayed to be spared of a lucky strike. They were both lying almost in open with little to protect them if a shell landed anywhere near them. So far they had been lucky. They had been waiting for 20 minutes when Joginder thought that he saw some movement. He zoomed in as much as the sights allowed and sure enough there was a large formation of Paki soldiers moving towards their position. They had learnt from their mistakes and were spread over a large distance. He cursed them under his breath and handed over the night vision goggles to Subhranjan.
Although the enemy was out of range of Indian mortars, they could still be targeted by 155mm guns. He contacted Base 1 and asked for artillery fire. He knew he had to use up as much as support as possible before Paki soldiers came too close to be targeted by the big guns. Artillery crew took 2 minutes to adjust their targets and fired air-burst shells over coordinates provided by Subhranjan. Instead of taking cover or retreating, paki soldiers this time ran towards source of fire.
"I guess they know for sure that our big guns can't fire if they come closer." Joginder remarked .
"Yes. I hope that our artillery takes out most of them before they pass that point."
"Me too. Though fat chance of that happening"
Although they took some causalities, Paki soldiers sprinted fast enough to pass the kill zone with 5 minutes. Now defence of peak lay solely on shoulders of Indians manning the peak.
"What now sir ? Mortars ?" Joginder asked in a worried voice as he observed Pakis running up the slope from both faces. This time they were using cover much more effectively, dodging and sprinting between rocks and ledges making them a difficult target
"We don't have any other option left. I'll direct those last mortars on Pakis coming from east. Take positions towards towards left of this group and pick off as many of them as you can with your rifle. I'll do the same from here. Retreat to our post if they come too close or if they have a fix on your position."
“What about the other group on the north ?”
“I guess we'll have to deal with them later. Now hurry.”
Joginder nodded and crawled towards the place pointed out by Subhranjan. He took cover behind a group of rocks and waited. Subhranjan ordered his mortar crew to standby and be ready to fire on his mark. He too took up a firing position and waited till the Paki group came right where he wanted. When they reached there, he carefully took aim and fired. Although he missed hitting anyone, sound of the shot caused everyone in the group to duck and take cover. As soon as it happened he ordered his mortar crew to fire off last of their mortars which they did with deadly accuracy. Even with most of them hiding behind rocks and ledges, 2 high explosive mortar rounds killed 2 and injured another 3. Realising their folly, Pakis immediately got up and resumed their ascent again. Both Subharanjan and Joginder opened fire as soon as they got up causing much confusion in Paki ranks. At first no one realised where the fire was coming from and they started firing blindly but they soon got a fix on the position and started to return fire. But it was not before before they had lost another 3 men. At this time, Joginder noted another group of Paki soldiers moving coming towards their direction and he relayed the information to Subhranjan.
Both men stopped firing and started running back towards the relative safety of their post followed by Paki invaders almost snapping at their heels. They took cover inside a trench lined by sandbags and started updating rest of the defenders with whatever intelligence they had gathered about the attackers. Subhranjan ordered every man to take good cover and put his eyes on the gun sights. Nobody was to fire until the enemy was well within the range and devoid of any benefit of cover. Indian soldiers checked their weapons for one last time and braced for the attack.
Machine gun post on the east was first one to report a visual on approaching Pakis, but they were still too far to be targeted accurately. Just a minute later, another soldier who had taken cover besides the damaged bunker in north reported visual contact on his side. Pakistanis were trying to sneak up by hiding their approach with smoke grenades and were almost successful except for the fact that there were fair number of night vision devices with the defenders. Another proof of how close the enemy was came when one of the Paki soldiers fired a rifle grenade in general direction of the Indian post. The projectile fell well short of Indian position and exploded harmlessly. Although jittery and highly strung, Indian soldiers kept their nerve and held fire.
“Sneaky bas***** want a fix on our positions and arc of fire before committing to an attack. Pretty clever for a bunch of Pakis.” Joginder instructed rest of soldiers through the comm radio, “let them come closer. Hit them with all you've got when you can see their eyes. Don't Pakis bringing up the rear escape either.”
Another rifle grenade was fired which again failed to reach anywhere near the post. “Steady. Steady. Don't let these monkeys bother you like that.” he hissed again, waiting for Pakis to come closer. Fingers on triggers twitched nervously as the soldiers on both sides waited. Indian defenders had the advantage of higher positions and better cover while Pakistanis had numerical superiority. Both sides were trying to make the best of what they had and neither wanted to reveal it's cards too early. For Pakis, firing rifle grenades was a way to get a fix on Indian positions and once found then find a path to either bypass those positions or to neutralise them. But Indians had refused to oblige and now Pakistanis had no choice except an all out frontal attack.Causalities will be high but that was unavoidable anyway.
Indians defenders watched nervously as attackers rapidly started converging within their sights. Though owing to distance and low light they were nothing more than dark ghost like figures approaching silently. Within minutes they had moved in so close that their eyeballs would've been visible if there was light. Subhranjan decided it was time and he ordered his men to open fire. Within a moment the almost silent peak was covered with flashes and explosions of the gun fire. Pakistani soldiers in the lead had no chance to either duck or take cover and were cut down without even firing a single shot. Survivors immediately dropped to the ground and started firing back. Quite a lot of them who had neglected to take cover behind a rock or ledge were killed in the next volley. Even those defenders without night vision devices had no difficulty in getting a fix on position of the attackers due to their muzzle flashes and they were showing no mercy. They were firing on exposed attackers and lobbing grenades on those who had taken cover. But there were too many Pakis and too large an area for handful of defenders to cover.Even as the defenders concentrated on the east and northern ingress routes, a party of attackers started advancing through the middle.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
bring us more....
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 14 (Part 2)
A group of Paki soldiers escaped the notice of Indian defenders and snuck up through the middle face of the peak.Although one of the machine gun positions on the northern side saw them, they managed to scramble out of it's arc of fire without taking any causality. A 2 man team broke out from the group and started crawling towards the machine gun bunker from it's flank, intending to destroy it using grenades. Subhranjan saw one of them when he stood up and tried to throw a grenade. He at once shot the Paki who collapsed after getting hit by a 3 round burst. His companion however managed to throw a grenade towards Subhranjan before being shot himself. It landed just 2 feet from the trench where Subhranjan was and exploded before he could duck completely. Shrapnel from the grenade injured right side of his face and shoulder and the blast nearly deafened him. He collapsed on floor of the trench dazed, bleeding and and ears ringing. HariOm was on his side in an instant and started dressing his wounds.
“You have a nasty wound on your cheek. It'll need stitches.” He had to shout to make himself heard over the din of gunfire.
“That can wait.” Subhranjan managed to mumble but not without wincing in pain. “Where is my gun? “
Hariom was surprised, “Uh what? You are in no condition to fight. You need to get out of here.”
“Unfortunately these damned Pakis wouldn't let me. Will do anything you say once I see off these uninvited guests.”
He gingerly touched side of his face and winced with pain again when tried to lift his gun. Hariom looked on with concern, “Do you want a painkiller injection ?”
“Thanks, but I'll pass. Now go take care of other wounded.” Subhranjan replied as he tried to take stock of the situation again.
The Paki group that had manged to sneak in through the middle had taken cover behind a group of large rocks. One of the soldiers had an Under barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) on his AK-56 and was trying to fire on the machine gun bunker closest to him. Although the bunker had taken a direct hit, soldiers inside it had been unharmed. But their luck wouldn't hold on in case of another hit. Now, they were trying their best to keep that Paki from firing his UBGL again. Subhranjan realised what was going on and ordered one of his riflemen to move in closer to him. He saw the machine gun firing on the rocks behind which Pakis were hiding. After a few seconds machine gun had to stop firing for a magazine change. Pakis were waiting for just this kind break. As soon as the gun stopped firing, the Paki with UBGL popped out and tried to fire. But he had neglected to watch out for enemy outside the bunkers and paid the price with his life as soldier with Subhranjan shot his head off.
But their relief was short lived as another Paki soldier picked up that UBGL and managed to fire off one grenade on the bunker before being shot dead. Although the concrete bunker was too strong to be destroyed, it was damaged partially causing a blind spot in it's arc of fire. Surviving Paki soldiers took advantage and charged towards Indian positions on it's side that happened to be right where Subhranjan was. They charged towards the Indian trenches lobbing grenades and yelling loudly. This attracted attention of rest of the Indian riflemen who at once directed their fire towards the advancing group. In spite of the rain of bullets, two Paki soldiers managed to reach right up to the edge of trenches before being shot dead.
By this time another group of 9 Paki soldiers from the northern side had managed to avoid the bullets of Indian defenders and had take cover right where the earlier group had. Much to the surprise of Indians, this group too broke cover and started another charge at the Indian position. Even with the hail of bullets being fired on them, 3 of the charging Pakis survived and jumped in to the trench trying to engage the defenders in hand to hand fight inside. Two of them died without making any mark but one managed to fire off a burst from his AK-56 before being shot dead. One of the bullets hit Subhranjan in the right shoulder. He lost hold of the rifle and fell down writhing in pain. One Indian soldier immediately moved closer to him and put a bandage on his wound trying to stop the blood loss. Somebody had shouted for the medic and Hariom was there within moments. He took out a quick clot kit from his bag and poured the granular powder on the wound. Much to everybody's relief bleeding stopped within seconds and Hariom covered the wound with a bandage. Along with another soldier he started moving an almost unconscious Subhranjan to comparative safety of a bunker in the back.
As they gently set him down in the bunker along with other seriously wounded, Subhranjan regained consciousness and attempted to get up. Hariom stopped him and gently shook his head.
“What happened to you ? You're covered with blood !” Subhranjan exclaimed on seeing him.
“Well, it's not mine.” Hariom replied, trying to avoid looking him in the eyes.
“What ?”
“We lost 2 more men in last ten minutes. It's their blood.”
“Bloody hell! These mad Pakis will pay for this.” Subhranjan shouted with rage and tried to get up. But he stumbled and would have assuredly fallen on his face if Hariom had not caught him.
“ Do you want to kill yourself ? That bullet has shattered your collar bone and probably nicked a major artery. I've given you a painkiller, that's why you can't feel the pain. And after that shot, you're in no condition to fire a gun either.“ Hariom shouted sternly.
Feeling weak and delirious due to blood loss Subhranjan could do nothing but to let Hariom set him down. “But my men need me there” He whispered weakly.
“Sure they do, but they need you alive. You can go out to fight as soon as I feel you can. Till then, please lie down and try not to kill yourself. For your soldiers sake if not your own. Now, I have to go outside and see if anybody else needs my assistance. Don't move till I come back.” With this Hariom gathered up his medical kit and ran out of bunker towards the fighting line, leaving Subhranjan lying on his back with three other wounded men besides him.
A group of Paki soldiers escaped the notice of Indian defenders and snuck up through the middle face of the peak.Although one of the machine gun positions on the northern side saw them, they managed to scramble out of it's arc of fire without taking any causality. A 2 man team broke out from the group and started crawling towards the machine gun bunker from it's flank, intending to destroy it using grenades. Subhranjan saw one of them when he stood up and tried to throw a grenade. He at once shot the Paki who collapsed after getting hit by a 3 round burst. His companion however managed to throw a grenade towards Subhranjan before being shot himself. It landed just 2 feet from the trench where Subhranjan was and exploded before he could duck completely. Shrapnel from the grenade injured right side of his face and shoulder and the blast nearly deafened him. He collapsed on floor of the trench dazed, bleeding and and ears ringing. HariOm was on his side in an instant and started dressing his wounds.
“You have a nasty wound on your cheek. It'll need stitches.” He had to shout to make himself heard over the din of gunfire.
“That can wait.” Subhranjan managed to mumble but not without wincing in pain. “Where is my gun? “
Hariom was surprised, “Uh what? You are in no condition to fight. You need to get out of here.”
“Unfortunately these damned Pakis wouldn't let me. Will do anything you say once I see off these uninvited guests.”
He gingerly touched side of his face and winced with pain again when tried to lift his gun. Hariom looked on with concern, “Do you want a painkiller injection ?”
“Thanks, but I'll pass. Now go take care of other wounded.” Subhranjan replied as he tried to take stock of the situation again.
The Paki group that had manged to sneak in through the middle had taken cover behind a group of large rocks. One of the soldiers had an Under barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) on his AK-56 and was trying to fire on the machine gun bunker closest to him. Although the bunker had taken a direct hit, soldiers inside it had been unharmed. But their luck wouldn't hold on in case of another hit. Now, they were trying their best to keep that Paki from firing his UBGL again. Subhranjan realised what was going on and ordered one of his riflemen to move in closer to him. He saw the machine gun firing on the rocks behind which Pakis were hiding. After a few seconds machine gun had to stop firing for a magazine change. Pakis were waiting for just this kind break. As soon as the gun stopped firing, the Paki with UBGL popped out and tried to fire. But he had neglected to watch out for enemy outside the bunkers and paid the price with his life as soldier with Subhranjan shot his head off.
But their relief was short lived as another Paki soldier picked up that UBGL and managed to fire off one grenade on the bunker before being shot dead. Although the concrete bunker was too strong to be destroyed, it was damaged partially causing a blind spot in it's arc of fire. Surviving Paki soldiers took advantage and charged towards Indian positions on it's side that happened to be right where Subhranjan was. They charged towards the Indian trenches lobbing grenades and yelling loudly. This attracted attention of rest of the Indian riflemen who at once directed their fire towards the advancing group. In spite of the rain of bullets, two Paki soldiers managed to reach right up to the edge of trenches before being shot dead.
By this time another group of 9 Paki soldiers from the northern side had managed to avoid the bullets of Indian defenders and had take cover right where the earlier group had. Much to the surprise of Indians, this group too broke cover and started another charge at the Indian position. Even with the hail of bullets being fired on them, 3 of the charging Pakis survived and jumped in to the trench trying to engage the defenders in hand to hand fight inside. Two of them died without making any mark but one managed to fire off a burst from his AK-56 before being shot dead. One of the bullets hit Subhranjan in the right shoulder. He lost hold of the rifle and fell down writhing in pain. One Indian soldier immediately moved closer to him and put a bandage on his wound trying to stop the blood loss. Somebody had shouted for the medic and Hariom was there within moments. He took out a quick clot kit from his bag and poured the granular powder on the wound. Much to everybody's relief bleeding stopped within seconds and Hariom covered the wound with a bandage. Along with another soldier he started moving an almost unconscious Subhranjan to comparative safety of a bunker in the back.
As they gently set him down in the bunker along with other seriously wounded, Subhranjan regained consciousness and attempted to get up. Hariom stopped him and gently shook his head.
“What happened to you ? You're covered with blood !” Subhranjan exclaimed on seeing him.
“Well, it's not mine.” Hariom replied, trying to avoid looking him in the eyes.
“What ?”
“We lost 2 more men in last ten minutes. It's their blood.”
“Bloody hell! These mad Pakis will pay for this.” Subhranjan shouted with rage and tried to get up. But he stumbled and would have assuredly fallen on his face if Hariom had not caught him.
“ Do you want to kill yourself ? That bullet has shattered your collar bone and probably nicked a major artery. I've given you a painkiller, that's why you can't feel the pain. And after that shot, you're in no condition to fire a gun either.“ Hariom shouted sternly.
Feeling weak and delirious due to blood loss Subhranjan could do nothing but to let Hariom set him down. “But my men need me there” He whispered weakly.
“Sure they do, but they need you alive. You can go out to fight as soon as I feel you can. Till then, please lie down and try not to kill yourself. For your soldiers sake if not your own. Now, I have to go outside and see if anybody else needs my assistance. Don't move till I come back.” With this Hariom gathered up his medical kit and ran out of bunker towards the fighting line, leaving Subhranjan lying on his back with three other wounded men besides him.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Good going Jamwal sahab ...keep it coming!
-
rohan_kumaon
- BRFite -Trainee
- Posts: 9
- Joined: 14 Jan 2011 20:42
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Nice Jamwal...keep it up!
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 15
Lying in the bunker, he nodded off listening to sounds of gunfire and explosions outside. He didn't knew how much time had passed since he had passed out. All he knew in his confused and drugged mind was that something had changed. Lying on his back as Hariom had left him, he tried to ascertain what had happened. It was not the pain which was nothing more than a throbbing dull ache that started from his injured shoulder and spread like waves through his body. He tried moving his arm but it was still immobile. He tried to sit up but was overcome by giddiness and immediately dropped back. Cursing the Paki soldier that had shot him he lie still for a moment. Then it hit him.
Firing had stopped !
The loud bangs of grenade explosions and bullets was now replaced by and the sounds of distant men talking amongst themselves. He strained his ears to listen but was unable to hear anything intelligible. What had happened while he had passed out ?
Had Indians beaten off the Paki attack ? If so, why no body had come to check on the injured ? He looked around to take stock of his surroundings. Only source of any light was a battery powered light lying on a box in the distant corner. By it's light he could make up the shapes of other injured soldiers lying besides him. All of them had received painkiller shots and were either unconscious or sleeping. There was nobody else.
What if Pakis had over run the post ? A cold shiver ran through his spine at the thought. That was entirely possible they way they were attacking and would have done so within minutes unless Indian reinforcements arrived. Even without knowing the time, he knew that reinforcements promised by Col. Saha should've been there by the time he was shot. Were they too late coming to aid of their comrades ?
His panicked thoughts were interrupted by sounds of footsteps coming towards the bunker. He propped himself on his uninjured arm and strained his ears to listen. By the sounds, he realised there were 3 men walking on the path outside the bunker and would be inside in a minute. A cold sweat broke over him. What if these men were Paki soldiers intent on killing the wounded ? Or worse capturing and then torturing. Pakis are not exactly famous for humane treatment of prisoners of war. Capture was going to be much worse than death. He tried to raise the soldier lying closest to him, but he had suffered a head wound and a broken arm and was administered a generous morphine shot. He didn't move a bit even when Subhranjan kicked him. By this time, sound of footsteps was even closer.
Swearing under his breath, he abandoned the idea of trying to wake up any other soldier and started looking for a weapon. Using all of his will power he forced himself to get up and walked unsteadily towards the pile of boxes near the light. He still couldn't move his injured right arm and opened the lid with his other hand. Instead of any weapon, the box contained rock climbing gear. Cursing his luck again, he attempted to open other box when somebody turned the door handle. For a moment Subhranjan froze to the spot, remembering that he had forgotten to lock the door from inside. Now nothing could stop them from getting in. In desperation he lunged to the box he had opened previously and grabbed a small rock climbing hammer lying inside and turned off the light plunging the bunker in complete darkness. He felt the hammer in his hands. It was barely 11 inches in length and weighed a kilogram at most. Now the door was opened and Subhranjan stuck himself to the wall besides it as it opened. A streak of light entered the bunker through open door and 3 men entered inside one by one. His heart wildly beating he raised the puny hammer in his left hand and waited. One of the three men lit a torch and started walking towards the injured Indians while the others stood back. Subhranjan slowly walked out from behind the door, his left hand raised and sneaked up to the backs of two men, intending to knock them down with the hammer. There was no way in hell he could be able to take them all but it was much better to die fighting than being captured alive by Pakis. He reached within an arms length of the the two men and steeled himself to strike. Just then, voice of a puzzled Hariom startled him, "Where the hell is Lt. ? I left him right here !."
Lying in the bunker, he nodded off listening to sounds of gunfire and explosions outside. He didn't knew how much time had passed since he had passed out. All he knew in his confused and drugged mind was that something had changed. Lying on his back as Hariom had left him, he tried to ascertain what had happened. It was not the pain which was nothing more than a throbbing dull ache that started from his injured shoulder and spread like waves through his body. He tried moving his arm but it was still immobile. He tried to sit up but was overcome by giddiness and immediately dropped back. Cursing the Paki soldier that had shot him he lie still for a moment. Then it hit him.
Firing had stopped !
The loud bangs of grenade explosions and bullets was now replaced by and the sounds of distant men talking amongst themselves. He strained his ears to listen but was unable to hear anything intelligible. What had happened while he had passed out ?
Had Indians beaten off the Paki attack ? If so, why no body had come to check on the injured ? He looked around to take stock of his surroundings. Only source of any light was a battery powered light lying on a box in the distant corner. By it's light he could make up the shapes of other injured soldiers lying besides him. All of them had received painkiller shots and were either unconscious or sleeping. There was nobody else.
What if Pakis had over run the post ? A cold shiver ran through his spine at the thought. That was entirely possible they way they were attacking and would have done so within minutes unless Indian reinforcements arrived. Even without knowing the time, he knew that reinforcements promised by Col. Saha should've been there by the time he was shot. Were they too late coming to aid of their comrades ?
His panicked thoughts were interrupted by sounds of footsteps coming towards the bunker. He propped himself on his uninjured arm and strained his ears to listen. By the sounds, he realised there were 3 men walking on the path outside the bunker and would be inside in a minute. A cold sweat broke over him. What if these men were Paki soldiers intent on killing the wounded ? Or worse capturing and then torturing. Pakis are not exactly famous for humane treatment of prisoners of war. Capture was going to be much worse than death. He tried to raise the soldier lying closest to him, but he had suffered a head wound and a broken arm and was administered a generous morphine shot. He didn't move a bit even when Subhranjan kicked him. By this time, sound of footsteps was even closer.
Swearing under his breath, he abandoned the idea of trying to wake up any other soldier and started looking for a weapon. Using all of his will power he forced himself to get up and walked unsteadily towards the pile of boxes near the light. He still couldn't move his injured right arm and opened the lid with his other hand. Instead of any weapon, the box contained rock climbing gear. Cursing his luck again, he attempted to open other box when somebody turned the door handle. For a moment Subhranjan froze to the spot, remembering that he had forgotten to lock the door from inside. Now nothing could stop them from getting in. In desperation he lunged to the box he had opened previously and grabbed a small rock climbing hammer lying inside and turned off the light plunging the bunker in complete darkness. He felt the hammer in his hands. It was barely 11 inches in length and weighed a kilogram at most. Now the door was opened and Subhranjan stuck himself to the wall besides it as it opened. A streak of light entered the bunker through open door and 3 men entered inside one by one. His heart wildly beating he raised the puny hammer in his left hand and waited. One of the three men lit a torch and started walking towards the injured Indians while the others stood back. Subhranjan slowly walked out from behind the door, his left hand raised and sneaked up to the backs of two men, intending to knock them down with the hammer. There was no way in hell he could be able to take them all but it was much better to die fighting than being captured alive by Pakis. He reached within an arms length of the the two men and steeled himself to strike. Just then, voice of a puzzled Hariom startled him, "Where the hell is Lt. ? I left him right here !."
-
Bala Vignesh
- BRF Oldie
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Re: Begining Of The End: Story
jamwalji... Extremely unfair. You have left us hanging for more. 
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Recommend reading the account of the 1982 Falkland War from aboard the HMS BROADSWORD: The Gathering Storm
Some highlights:
Bomb Alley Day One 21st May
Some highlights:
Bomb Alley Day One 21st May
Bomb Alley Day Three 23rd May
During the latter part of the assault, BROADSWORD' s job had been to escort the LSLs, SIR TRISTRAM etc and protect them from the two S209 submarines of the Argentine navy. Once the landing ships had entered San Carlos Water, BROADSWORD returned to Falkland Sound to sweep the area just in case the submarines were lurking there ready to attack the landing ships at anchor. We found nothing, so as dawn was breaking BROADSWORD took up her air defence station in the South with BRIILIANT, PLYMOUTH, YARMOUTH, ARGONAUT, ARDENT, ANTRIM and the undefended FORT AUSTIN. At 1020 the ship went ot Action Stations and the Lynx was launched to carry out a surface search of nearby coves to establish whether there were any lurking patrol craft which might attempt an attack. The crew found nothing and returned safely after one hours flying. Sea Harriers were more lucky and two of them found some Argentine helicopters towards the southern end of the Sound. They attacked with cannon and shot down one Chinook and one Puma. Back on BROADSWORD everyone was looking at the sky awaiting the inevitable air raid. The day was crystal clear with bright sunshine - a total contrast to the previous day. The weather had certainly favoured us on the 20th but it changed sides and favoured the Argentines on the 21st. Initially it was peaceful not unlike summer holidays in the Western Isles. The only thing that told you otherwise was the sound of Antrim's guns as she pounded the shore. Suddenly this was all to change. A lone Aeromacchi appeared and attacked FORT AUSTIN, dropping bombs but fortunately not with any degree of accuracy. Still it acted as a warning and sensibly FORT AUSTIN moved into the more secure anchorage alongside the assault ships, then all hell let loose. The air was filled with attacking aircraft, mainly Mirage and Skyhawk, and the battle raged for over six hours. Every ship in the sound came under attack that day.
ANTRIM battling bravely fired her Sea Slug at some attacking aircraft but the odds were too great and she was hit by bombs and rockets around the flight deck. Fortunately the bombs did not explode which was just as well because one passed through the Sea Slug magazine. However the damage was sufficient to put her Sea Slug and Sea Cat systems out of action so all she could do was to sit out the rest of the day. brilliant's turn came. next. She was hit by cannon fire and one shell passed clean through the Operations Room damaging important cabling which severly affected her Sea Wolf system. Sea Harriers were fighting the bravest air battle since The Battle of Britain. A handful of airplanes were having to fly repeatedly from their carriers 150 miles east, yet were taking on and beating the faster Mirage and Skyhawk. One flew over the top of the ship and fired a Sidewinder at a departing Mirage which dipped and crashed into the hillside when hit. BROADSWORD was striving to get Sea Wolf away but the close proximity of the land was preventing the system from operating correctly and the opportunities to launch the missiles were scarce. However when it did strike it was a spectacular success. Unseen by most, a group of four aircraft attacked from low over the hills. Fortunately Leading Seaman Ball, the missile aimer on the forward system, saw the incoming aircraft on his screen and fired a missile in the TV Mode. It was a tremendous achievement, steering the missile towards nothing more than a black dot on the screen. Many people on the flight deck, who were looking in that direction, didn't see anything until the missile exploded under the aircraft's port wing. It was a good ob that the flight deck team saw this for it alerted them to the attack and enabled some of them to engage the other incoming aircraft with gunfire while others took cover in the hangar. Two delta shaped silver Mirages winged over, flew round the stern and attacked the port side with 30mm cannon, strafing the hangar and the flight deck. Shrapnel bounced around the hangar injuring several of the flight but mercifully no one was killed. This action brought it home that we were at war. A second attack on the BROADSWORD was met with withering fire from the starboard battery. Cannon shells burst into the ship's side, one narrowly missing Sergeant Leslie as he slipped trying to direct fire at the escaping aircraft, and a piece of shrapnel ripped through the windproof jacket of Seaman 'Oscar' Whild. Several other members of the battery who were armed with SLRs were also hit by shrapnel. The battle went on. ARGONAUT received two direct hits from bombs and again they failed to explode. One landed in her main magazine leaning on live Sea Cats and other ammunition! Crippled, but not dead, she limped into San Carlos Water to better shelter.
Still the attacks went on with no sign of them dying away. The Harriers were managing to knock some out of the sky but because they were heavily outnumbered inevitably others got through. Although the escorts were suffering badly they were achieving their aim of protecting the beach-head and equipment was still being landed and the positions ashore were being consolidated. The last attack of the day proved to be the saddest of all when a combination of Skyhawks, Mirages and Aeromacchi's attacked HMS ARDENT. They bombed her hangar and flight deck killing most of the Flight and causing her to list to starboard. Her weapons were crippled and she was heading out of control for the shore so she dropped her anchor.
The aircraft attacked again splattering the flight deck where the doctor was attending a dying man. The doctor was blown overboard but remained conscious and was picked up by BROADSWORD where he recovered after being treated for exposure.
HMS YARMOUTH came alongside the stricken ARDENT and took off the survivors to end a sad but successful day. 17 aircraft had been destroyed by Harriers and the escorts while a Lynx had quietly disposed off an oiler hiding in a cove. Darkness came and with it safety-at least for the next few hours. Tomorrow would be different because we all hoped the Rapier Batteries would be established to give the ships and the beach-head added protection.
Bomb Alley Fifth Day - Coventry 25th May
May 23 dawned bright and clear. BRILLIANT was in need of repairs and COVENTRY was detached to the carrier group so we took brilliant's place in San Carlos Water. Here we were supposed to have a better chance because we were protected by high ground and the long awaited Rapier, and it was thought that the only way that the Argentines could attack was through the narrow gap at the head of the water. How wrong we were. The aircraft came in low and fast, swooping down valleys on either side. Earlier in the day we had seen success when ANTELOPE' s Lynx had fired a Sea Skua into a freighter and the Harriers had shot down two Pumas and Bell helicopter, but now the boot was on the other foot. There were several attacks during the day, some more memorable than others. All were frightening but some seemed comical in retrospect. Sea Cat chased Mirages and just when they seemed to be gaining they ran out of steam and fell in the water like something from a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Other missiles and 40/60 fire hit the hillside in pursuit of one jet, scattering a herd of cows who left a trail of dust that even the Roadrunner would have been proud of. After the comedy came the tragedy. ANTELOPE who a replaced the unfortunate ARDENT was the subject of a particularly ferocious attack in which received an unexploded bomb. She defended herself valiantly shooting down one aircraft and destroying another which hit her mast and cartwheeled into the water just yards ahead of our bridge. We ourselves then became the subject of a determined attack, Sea Wolf took one and 40/60 another, but somehow one aircraft launched two bombs which looked as if they were going to end Broadsword's war. The approach of the bombs, fitted with air brakes was very slow and everyone on the upper deck froze as they watched them draw nearer. Again God was kind and the first one fell short and the second passed over the bridge and exploded in the water 30 yards away. Meanwhile ANTELOPE had limped up the harbour to shelter amongst the assault ships. Yarmouth's sea Cat shot down another aircraft and dusk approached, signaling the end of the day's battle. There was a lot of joy around because many aircraft had been shot down and we had suffered only light casualties. The Navy had also not lost a ship. However this was all about to change. Shortly after dark ANTELOPE exploded as a bomb disposal expert attempted to defuse the unexploded bomb in the engine room. The explosion broke the ship's back and she quickly caught fire. This marred an otherwise successful day and set many minds wondering just how long we could hold out in Bomb Alley, by common consent we had decided San Carlos Water should be named. Early the next day ANTELOPE finally sank.
You can browse through the links to read from the beginning to the Argentinean Surrender.May 25 - a day to remember, one never to be forgotten. May 25 is Argentina's National Day and the Task Force Commander had warned us to expect fierce attacks from the Argentine Air Force. Well prepared we stationed ourselves, together with COVENTRY, about 10 miles north of the northern entrance to Falkland Sound off Pebble Island. The day began well and after an attack on San Carlos, Sea Harriers chased two Mirage north out of the Sound towards us. As the fleeting aircraft approached they banked left, climbed and headed for home using their superior speed to outrun the Harriers. Imagine what shock the pilots must have suffered, when after thinking they wore home and dry, they were hit by Sea Darts from COVENTRY. Two down.
This was more like it - the missile trap was beginning to work. Shortly after the first encounter another aircraft appeared heading out of the Sound and it too felt the power of Coventry's sea Dart. Rapier and Yarmouth's sea Cat were also proving successful, shooting down one each. Perhaps the 25 May was going to prove to be a sad National Day for Argentina. Wrong. Things then started to go against us. The group intercepted a radio message saying that Port Stanley airfield was ready. Ready for what? The Admiral assumed that there was going to be an Exocet attack on the carrier group 150 miles to the North East. We sat and waited and nothing happened until a raid of strength four was detected closing our position from the West. They were tracked in until they disappeared from the radar as they crossed West Falkland. The first two were detected again as they came over the sea and Coventry's missile system locked on ready to fire. Unfortunately the lock was broken and COVENTRY started firing her gun instead so the aircraft turned slightly and attacked our starboard quarter.
Picture taken by WEM(R) Spider Webster
They were flying extremely low and close together and our Sea Wolf tracker was unable to form a clear track for the missile to engage so we were unable to fire. "Take Cover", came the cry. Everyone dived for the deck, except the gun crews who kept on firing for all they were worth, and hearts in mouths we awaited our fate. Seconds seemed like hours and then there was a loud CLANG from aft.
Nobody moved and the explosion was awaited. The seconds passed and still nothing happened. We were still alive and afloat! However the raid was not over because the other two aircraft were attacking from ahead. This time Sea Wolf had locked on to the aircraft. They were still outside range so we waited for the right moment to fire. Then without explanation COVENTRY moved across our bows, probably to open her weapon arcs, preventing us from firing. The Skyhawks dropped their bombs and at least one and maybe two hit COVENTRY midships. Five seconds later there was an almighty explosion and she took on a severe list. It was apparent that she was capsizing and the ship's company were already abandoning ship.
We had also been hit by a bomb which fortunately entered the starboard side of the ship and bounced out via the flight deck, demolishing the Lynx enroute, but passing through without exploding. Realising we were safe for the time being, we set about the task of recovering the COVENTRY survivors and prayed that no more aircraft would attack us while we were attempting this rescue. Harriers provide us with a protective umbrella as we fought to get everyone onboard by nightfall. Men were leaping into liferafts and others were just jumping into the icy water, so it was imperative that the survivors were rescued as quickly as possible. Fortunately we had an already developed, but as yet untested, survivor handling plan which swung into action. All available boats were lowered and helicopters streamed out from San Carlos to assist. Men suffering from the effects of the blast were brought onboard and everyone was examined, given medical treatment if required, reclothed, fed and the more seriously injured were flown straight to the hospital ship, UGANDA. The helicopters proved to be invaluable. Time and again aircrewmen were winched down to pluck men from the icy sea and at one stage a Wessex landed on the hull of the strickened COVENTRY to pick up survivors. One extremely brave piece of flying occurred when one pilot hovered above the Sea Dart magazine, and his winchman recovered 17 men from a group of life rafts which were trapped alongside the ship's hull. At any moment the magazine could have exploded. With all the survivors rescued we returned to San Carlos where they were put into a landing craft and transferred to the CANBERRA.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
That's really helpful rai sahab. Thanks
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 15 (Part 2)
Waves of relief rolled down Subhranjan's body on hearing the medic's voice. He wanted to shout with joy, but could only manage a stifled croak, “Hariom ! Is that you? You frigging son of a bitch ! “
A startled Hariom moved the flashlight towards source of the voice and nearly screamed when he saw a wild faced Shubhranjan waving the hammer dangerously behind the other two soldiers. To his credit, he controlled himself and said in a comparatively calmer voice, “ Drop the hammer sir. It's us. We've beaten back the Pakis.”
Subhranjan dropped the hammer and promptly plumped down on his ass, “That I've managed to figure out myself.”
“Uh..then why this hammer sir” ? One of the soldiers that had come too close to getting his skull split at the hands of the Lt. Asked with some trepidation.
“Oh, that! I was just playing safe. Just in case.” Subhranjan managed this with a perfectly straight face. “Leave all this. Tell me what happened while I was here.”
“Reinforcements arrived within 5 minutes of me leaving you here. Subedar Major Salathia arrived just in nick of time with 20 men and kicked the hell out of enemy. We had to stop him from chasing fleeing Pakis down the mountain. You should've seen it from your own eyes. It was a sight to remember.” Hariom flashed one of his very rare grins.
“Where is he now ?”
“He is still outside, standing guard along with rest of men against a possible counter-attack. But I doubt it'll happen any time soon. Pakis have suffered too many causalities to mount another attack.”
“Did we lose any more of our men ?” Subhranjan asked with some disquiet.
“Thankfully no. Five more soldiers did suffer shrapnel and bullet wounds but none of them serious. Just the same, a Dhruv will arrive at dawn to evacuate the wounded and the dead. Additionally an UAV will be in air within 20 minutes. You can rest easy now.”
Subhranjan let out a sigh of relief and relaxed. Suddenly he started feeling too tired to even sit up and he lay down on his back thanking his stars.
Waves of relief rolled down Subhranjan's body on hearing the medic's voice. He wanted to shout with joy, but could only manage a stifled croak, “Hariom ! Is that you? You frigging son of a bitch ! “
A startled Hariom moved the flashlight towards source of the voice and nearly screamed when he saw a wild faced Shubhranjan waving the hammer dangerously behind the other two soldiers. To his credit, he controlled himself and said in a comparatively calmer voice, “ Drop the hammer sir. It's us. We've beaten back the Pakis.”
Subhranjan dropped the hammer and promptly plumped down on his ass, “That I've managed to figure out myself.”
“Uh..then why this hammer sir” ? One of the soldiers that had come too close to getting his skull split at the hands of the Lt. Asked with some trepidation.
“Oh, that! I was just playing safe. Just in case.” Subhranjan managed this with a perfectly straight face. “Leave all this. Tell me what happened while I was here.”
“Reinforcements arrived within 5 minutes of me leaving you here. Subedar Major Salathia arrived just in nick of time with 20 men and kicked the hell out of enemy. We had to stop him from chasing fleeing Pakis down the mountain. You should've seen it from your own eyes. It was a sight to remember.” Hariom flashed one of his very rare grins.
“Where is he now ?”
“He is still outside, standing guard along with rest of men against a possible counter-attack. But I doubt it'll happen any time soon. Pakis have suffered too many causalities to mount another attack.”
“Did we lose any more of our men ?” Subhranjan asked with some disquiet.
“Thankfully no. Five more soldiers did suffer shrapnel and bullet wounds but none of them serious. Just the same, a Dhruv will arrive at dawn to evacuate the wounded and the dead. Additionally an UAV will be in air within 20 minutes. You can rest easy now.”
Subhranjan let out a sigh of relief and relaxed. Suddenly he started feeling too tired to even sit up and he lay down on his back thanking his stars.
Last edited by jamwal on 26 Jan 2011 11:44, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 16
0900 Hours
29 October 2012
LMU News Broadcast
A bearded news reader was reading the news report, “Already strained relations between India and Pakistan worsened after Pakistani army started unprovoked firing on Indian positions on LoC in J&K yesterday. Additionally, Pakistani soldiers also attempted to wrest control of three Indian posts in Poonch and Kargil. Although they were beaten back with heavy losses, Indian army too suffered some causalities. Although officials declined to specify the exact number, according to sources Pakistan suffered 97 dead or seriously wounded while 17 Indian soldiers lost their lives. These skirmishes between the two nuclear armed neighbours couldn't have happened at a worse time. Pakistan is on verge of breakdown after a senior army general attempted a coup against serving army chief General Beg minutes after he had assumed Presidential powers. This came after a series of bombings all over Pakistan, one of which injured Pakistani President Naqvi and killed his son.
Ruling PPP to which Mr. Naqvi belongs however strongly protested General Beg's attempt to dismiss the civilian government. In a press conference, senior leaders strongly condemned General Beg's actions and vowed to launch a country wide protests against any move to undermine civilian rule. Former Prime Minister Wasim Akhtar, a bitter rival of Mr. Naqvi vowed to support PPP in it's campaign against General Beg, much to surprise of political pundits. Though most people seem to think that he is doing it to avoid anybody linking him to attack on Mr. Naqvi. General Beg on the other hand, has not appeared in public after a near fatal kidnapping attempt. All attempts to contact him have proved futile, although sources close to him assure that he is alive and well.
Governments from all over the world have urged both nuclear armed neighbours to act with restraint but their pleas seem to be falling on deaf ears, at least in Pakistan where nobody is clear about who is calling the shots. There seems to be a power vacuum at the present with too many people fighting amongst themselves to decide who wears the crown. To make matters even worse, various Islamist organisations, many of them linked to Al Qaida and Taliban have taken over control of numerous places including areas near Durand line and even small towns adjoining Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi. An alliance of Baloch nationalist parties and militia has declared a virtual war by laying siege to 2 army bases in Balochistan province and taking more than 900 Pakistani soldiers hostage. Lines outside airports and embassies of western countries like Canada, US are much longer and crowded than usual as more and more people are looking for a visa and the way out of this mess. At such a time these unprovoked attacks on India by Pakistani army seem nothing more than a ploy to distract the attention from real issues plaguing the country.
A press release from Pakistan home ministry however claimed that everything is in control and blamed India for adding oil to the fire of Pakistani troubles by first supporting insurgent movements inside Pakistan and then trying to grab Pakistani territory. Issuing a strong statement Pakistani officials claimed that the Pakistani citizens will defend the sovereignty of their country to the last of their breaths and will not bend over due to external pressure. They also appealed to concerned countries to help Pakistan in it's hour of need.
The release further added that all of Pakistani nuclear weapons and delivery platforms are in safe custody and accounted for. But many analysts fear that jihadis might already have taken control of a few nukes.
Indian defence minister in a press conference held last evening expressed the same apprehension and called for concerned people in Pakistan to find a peaceful way out of their predicament. He claimed that India will offer any amount of help in order to help Pakistan extricate out of this messy situation. He also denied that India was trying to take advantage of turmoil in Pakistan.
Even as we speak scale of firing has come down considerably. But small arms fire is still going on in 2-3 places.
Now we show you a video shot yesterday morning in Uri, Jammu where Pakistani army fired mortar and machine guns on an Indian army team which was trying to repair a breach in the fence. A well known TV journalist was right there shooting a documentary when the firing started. We have obtained the full length tape and will be showing it in entirety.”
He then added with only a slight hint of an ironic smile, “Viewers are warned that this video contains graphic language. Uhh and violence too. Some people might find it disturbing.”
Then they started running uncut video recorded by cameraman Sidhesh last morning at Point 711, Uri. Unlike the edited version shown on UNDE TV, LMU version showed everything starting from Varsha Butt's confused face as first mortar landed to her tantrums when Sub. Gurung was trying to stop her from killing herself. Lakhs of people saw it on TV and many more on YouTube and other online sources.
The bearded news reader thought with a quite smile, “ Say bye bye to your Pulitzer, Ms. Butt. You won't have it in this life at least“
0900 Hours
29 October 2012
LMU News Broadcast
A bearded news reader was reading the news report, “Already strained relations between India and Pakistan worsened after Pakistani army started unprovoked firing on Indian positions on LoC in J&K yesterday. Additionally, Pakistani soldiers also attempted to wrest control of three Indian posts in Poonch and Kargil. Although they were beaten back with heavy losses, Indian army too suffered some causalities. Although officials declined to specify the exact number, according to sources Pakistan suffered 97 dead or seriously wounded while 17 Indian soldiers lost their lives. These skirmishes between the two nuclear armed neighbours couldn't have happened at a worse time. Pakistan is on verge of breakdown after a senior army general attempted a coup against serving army chief General Beg minutes after he had assumed Presidential powers. This came after a series of bombings all over Pakistan, one of which injured Pakistani President Naqvi and killed his son.
Ruling PPP to which Mr. Naqvi belongs however strongly protested General Beg's attempt to dismiss the civilian government. In a press conference, senior leaders strongly condemned General Beg's actions and vowed to launch a country wide protests against any move to undermine civilian rule. Former Prime Minister Wasim Akhtar, a bitter rival of Mr. Naqvi vowed to support PPP in it's campaign against General Beg, much to surprise of political pundits. Though most people seem to think that he is doing it to avoid anybody linking him to attack on Mr. Naqvi. General Beg on the other hand, has not appeared in public after a near fatal kidnapping attempt. All attempts to contact him have proved futile, although sources close to him assure that he is alive and well.
Governments from all over the world have urged both nuclear armed neighbours to act with restraint but their pleas seem to be falling on deaf ears, at least in Pakistan where nobody is clear about who is calling the shots. There seems to be a power vacuum at the present with too many people fighting amongst themselves to decide who wears the crown. To make matters even worse, various Islamist organisations, many of them linked to Al Qaida and Taliban have taken over control of numerous places including areas near Durand line and even small towns adjoining Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi. An alliance of Baloch nationalist parties and militia has declared a virtual war by laying siege to 2 army bases in Balochistan province and taking more than 900 Pakistani soldiers hostage. Lines outside airports and embassies of western countries like Canada, US are much longer and crowded than usual as more and more people are looking for a visa and the way out of this mess. At such a time these unprovoked attacks on India by Pakistani army seem nothing more than a ploy to distract the attention from real issues plaguing the country.
A press release from Pakistan home ministry however claimed that everything is in control and blamed India for adding oil to the fire of Pakistani troubles by first supporting insurgent movements inside Pakistan and then trying to grab Pakistani territory. Issuing a strong statement Pakistani officials claimed that the Pakistani citizens will defend the sovereignty of their country to the last of their breaths and will not bend over due to external pressure. They also appealed to concerned countries to help Pakistan in it's hour of need.
The release further added that all of Pakistani nuclear weapons and delivery platforms are in safe custody and accounted for. But many analysts fear that jihadis might already have taken control of a few nukes.
Indian defence minister in a press conference held last evening expressed the same apprehension and called for concerned people in Pakistan to find a peaceful way out of their predicament. He claimed that India will offer any amount of help in order to help Pakistan extricate out of this messy situation. He also denied that India was trying to take advantage of turmoil in Pakistan.
Even as we speak scale of firing has come down considerably. But small arms fire is still going on in 2-3 places.
Now we show you a video shot yesterday morning in Uri, Jammu where Pakistani army fired mortar and machine guns on an Indian army team which was trying to repair a breach in the fence. A well known TV journalist was right there shooting a documentary when the firing started. We have obtained the full length tape and will be showing it in entirety.”
He then added with only a slight hint of an ironic smile, “Viewers are warned that this video contains graphic language. Uhh and violence too. Some people might find it disturbing.”
Then they started running uncut video recorded by cameraman Sidhesh last morning at Point 711, Uri. Unlike the edited version shown on UNDE TV, LMU version showed everything starting from Varsha Butt's confused face as first mortar landed to her tantrums when Sub. Gurung was trying to stop her from killing herself. Lakhs of people saw it on TV and many more on YouTube and other online sources.
The bearded news reader thought with a quite smile, “ Say bye bye to your Pulitzer, Ms. Butt. You won't have it in this life at least“
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
jamwal wrote:The bearded news reader thought with a quite smile, “ Say bye bye to your Pulitzer, Ms. Butt. You won't have it in this life at least“
Nice Touch,ironically prophetic.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 17
0145 Hours
30 October 2012
Pitampura, New Delhi
The white Qualis parked by the road side 3 men alighted. 2 of them were carrying small canvas bags much like the ones favoured by workmen. They were dressed in grey uniforms typical of many construction and utility companies that have sprung up all over the place. Third man was wearing a white shirt and pants and he looked and behaved like their senior. He was carrying nothing apart from a small notebook and a mobile phone. They opened the back of the car and started pulling out a small hoarding advertising a discount sale on Manik Jewellers.
"Hurry up. We have to finish the job before 2:30." The senior looking man barked.
The other two men were probably used to such talk. One of them shrugged but nevertheless both quickened their steps. In two trips they had carried and deposited all their stuff below the metro line passing above the road. It's pillars were nearly 9-10 meters high and constructed right in between the divider of the road. The pillar they were interested in was nearest to the traffic lights that controlled the traffic from 3 roads that converged there. The place had no official name but was informally known as Radio chowk due to the big radio tower nearby. During the day, it was bustling with thousands of people but there was nobody in sight at midnight.
After taking inventory of all the stuff, the man in white shirt let out a satisfied grunt and asked the other two to begin their work. They opened their bags and started taking out their tools. One placed a small folding ladder near the pillar and climbed on it . Taking out a measuring tape and a small piece of chalk he started making marks on the pillar with help of the other 2 men. After the markings were made, he took out a portable drill and started drilling holes in the pillar. He was still in the middle of drilling his second hole when they were interrupted by the irritated voice of a beat constable.
"What the hell you guys are doing ?" Loud voice of the constable so startled him that he almost dropped the drill on the head of his mate standing below. The drill was a comparatively silent type but the sound carried far at that deserted hour. The policeman had walked in completely unnoticed, his footfalls masked by the sound of the drill.
White shirt guy barked at him to stop and strode towards the cop with a big smile pasted on his face. " Good evening sir." We're from NewWays Enterprises." Motioning towards the hoarding he said, We need to put up that hoardings on metro pillars."
"At this time ? Couldn't you do it during day time ?" Cop asked while nudging their wares with his stick.
"We had instructions for night time only. " white shirt replied without allowing any change in his smile,
"Really ? Who gave you these instructions ? "
"uh..our boss did. Mr. Nehra is his name. "
"Do you have permission from government agencies ? You can't put up advertisements on government properties just like that. Where are the official letters ?" he demanded.
"We have that too sir. In the car. I'll show you. " Saying this, he turned and started walking towards the car with cop ambling after him. He opened the car door and rummaged amongst papers littering the dashboard. After making a show of it for some time he emerged triumphantly waving a sheet of paper.
"Here it is. Letter from NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Council)."
Policeman took it from him and read through it absently. Handing the paper back, "But this is from NDMC and the pillar you are hanging your stuff belongs to Delhi Metro. You can't do anything without their approval."
"I'm sure Delhi Metro has approved it. Our boss wouldn't have sent us otherwise." white shirt stammered uneasily.
Policeman snapped, "I really don't care about your boss or his instructions.. If you are going to hang this hoarding on that pillar you need.."
Rest of the sentence was left unfinished as the policeman dropped unceremoniously to the ground. One of the 2 uniformed guys had sneaked up behind him and hit him on the head with a hammer. He watched with cold impassive eyes as blood started to spread around the fallen constable's head.
White shirt looked at him with a some surprise but quickly composed himself, "Good work."
2nd uniform had walked in close by then and he too was staring at the blood. In a voice barely audible he asked "Is he dead ?"
White shirt crouched and felt the neck of policeman "I can't find pulse. Must be dead or would die within minutes. Now lets carry this body and dump it in that under construction house over there. It's full of rubble, nobody will find him before morning. Hurry up before anybody sees us."
3 of them quickly lifted limp body of the cop and hid him behind a mound of dirt. All then sprinted to the pillar and resumed their work feverishly. "You two finish drilling the holes. I'll finish connected the electrical stuff by then. Hurry up. We've got to catch the train at 3:00. No time to waste. That moron cop could've messed up everything"
Working quickly they fitted the hoarding and packed up their tools before 2:30. "Everything finished ?" White shirt asked glancing at both men in turn. Both nodded yes. "Let's go then. Change you clothes in the car. Train leaves in half an hour."
Picking up their belongings they quickly threw everything inside the Qualis and drove away towards Old Delhi railway station. They changed in to new clothes while on the road and threw old clothes and their tool bags in an sewage gutter in the way. They parked their car a few 100 meters away from the station and caught the train to Gorakhpur near Nepal border, They were out of New Delhi before 04:00 am.
0145 Hours
30 October 2012
Pitampura, New Delhi
The white Qualis parked by the road side 3 men alighted. 2 of them were carrying small canvas bags much like the ones favoured by workmen. They were dressed in grey uniforms typical of many construction and utility companies that have sprung up all over the place. Third man was wearing a white shirt and pants and he looked and behaved like their senior. He was carrying nothing apart from a small notebook and a mobile phone. They opened the back of the car and started pulling out a small hoarding advertising a discount sale on Manik Jewellers.
"Hurry up. We have to finish the job before 2:30." The senior looking man barked.
The other two men were probably used to such talk. One of them shrugged but nevertheless both quickened their steps. In two trips they had carried and deposited all their stuff below the metro line passing above the road. It's pillars were nearly 9-10 meters high and constructed right in between the divider of the road. The pillar they were interested in was nearest to the traffic lights that controlled the traffic from 3 roads that converged there. The place had no official name but was informally known as Radio chowk due to the big radio tower nearby. During the day, it was bustling with thousands of people but there was nobody in sight at midnight.
After taking inventory of all the stuff, the man in white shirt let out a satisfied grunt and asked the other two to begin their work. They opened their bags and started taking out their tools. One placed a small folding ladder near the pillar and climbed on it . Taking out a measuring tape and a small piece of chalk he started making marks on the pillar with help of the other 2 men. After the markings were made, he took out a portable drill and started drilling holes in the pillar. He was still in the middle of drilling his second hole when they were interrupted by the irritated voice of a beat constable.
"What the hell you guys are doing ?" Loud voice of the constable so startled him that he almost dropped the drill on the head of his mate standing below. The drill was a comparatively silent type but the sound carried far at that deserted hour. The policeman had walked in completely unnoticed, his footfalls masked by the sound of the drill.
White shirt guy barked at him to stop and strode towards the cop with a big smile pasted on his face. " Good evening sir." We're from NewWays Enterprises." Motioning towards the hoarding he said, We need to put up that hoardings on metro pillars."
"At this time ? Couldn't you do it during day time ?" Cop asked while nudging their wares with his stick.
"We had instructions for night time only. " white shirt replied without allowing any change in his smile,
"Really ? Who gave you these instructions ? "
"uh..our boss did. Mr. Nehra is his name. "
"Do you have permission from government agencies ? You can't put up advertisements on government properties just like that. Where are the official letters ?" he demanded.
"We have that too sir. In the car. I'll show you. " Saying this, he turned and started walking towards the car with cop ambling after him. He opened the car door and rummaged amongst papers littering the dashboard. After making a show of it for some time he emerged triumphantly waving a sheet of paper.
"Here it is. Letter from NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Council)."
Policeman took it from him and read through it absently. Handing the paper back, "But this is from NDMC and the pillar you are hanging your stuff belongs to Delhi Metro. You can't do anything without their approval."
"I'm sure Delhi Metro has approved it. Our boss wouldn't have sent us otherwise." white shirt stammered uneasily.
Policeman snapped, "I really don't care about your boss or his instructions.. If you are going to hang this hoarding on that pillar you need.."
Rest of the sentence was left unfinished as the policeman dropped unceremoniously to the ground. One of the 2 uniformed guys had sneaked up behind him and hit him on the head with a hammer. He watched with cold impassive eyes as blood started to spread around the fallen constable's head.
White shirt looked at him with a some surprise but quickly composed himself, "Good work."
2nd uniform had walked in close by then and he too was staring at the blood. In a voice barely audible he asked "Is he dead ?"
White shirt crouched and felt the neck of policeman "I can't find pulse. Must be dead or would die within minutes. Now lets carry this body and dump it in that under construction house over there. It's full of rubble, nobody will find him before morning. Hurry up before anybody sees us."
3 of them quickly lifted limp body of the cop and hid him behind a mound of dirt. All then sprinted to the pillar and resumed their work feverishly. "You two finish drilling the holes. I'll finish connected the electrical stuff by then. Hurry up. We've got to catch the train at 3:00. No time to waste. That moron cop could've messed up everything"
Working quickly they fitted the hoarding and packed up their tools before 2:30. "Everything finished ?" White shirt asked glancing at both men in turn. Both nodded yes. "Let's go then. Change you clothes in the car. Train leaves in half an hour."
Picking up their belongings they quickly threw everything inside the Qualis and drove away towards Old Delhi railway station. They changed in to new clothes while on the road and threw old clothes and their tool bags in an sewage gutter in the way. They parked their car a few 100 meters away from the station and caught the train to Gorakhpur near Nepal border, They were out of New Delhi before 04:00 am.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
The IA should install flame throwers on all of its posts for close quarter battle - should do wonders to Paki morale while attacking 
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
great going.. 
but i do have a bad feeling about the metro..
but i do have a bad feeling about the metro..
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
highlights the need to train the police and other agencies better. this is quite real. keep it up.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 18
0715 Hours
30 October 2012
Pitampura Police Station
New Delhi
Head constable Shashi Tamar was warming up his morning cup of tea in an ancient kettle when constable Shubhash came running through the door. "What happened ? Some mad dogs chasing after you ?" A bleary eyed Shashi asked with with mild irritation at being disturbed so rudely.
"Leave all doggy thing aside sir. Take the keys of Gypsy. We have to go to hospital." Subhash answered breathlessly.
Suddenly alarmed at the mention of hospital Shashi asked "Why ? What happened ?"
"Somebody whacked Bhushan last night when he was on duty. Some labourers found him in that under construction building near Radio chowk. Now hurry. It looks serious."
All thoughts of his morning tea and traces of sleep washed away from his head, Shashi jumped to his feet and reached for the keys , "Bh******! Is he alive? "
"Barely. He has a fractured skull and lost too much blood. "
"Ma ** ***** whoever did this! Do you know who did this ?" Shashi asked as he asked another policeman to take his place and started running towards the Gypsy parked outside station.
"How'd I know ? Let's get to hospital first and hope he can answer the questions. " Subhash replied with no less irritation.
Traffic was still very light and they reached hospital within 10 minutes. A familiar hospital orderly met them in the ward and informed that Bhushan had been taken in for surgery. Swearing again Shashi asked, "Did he say anything while he was conscious ? "
"He was unconscious all the time he was here except for 1-2 minutes. I was there then but couldn't make heads or tails of what he was saying."
Shashi snapped, " I don't want YOU to make sense of what he said. Just tell me whatever you could hear."
Slightly taken aback at the outburst orderly looked at the policeman with reproachful eyes before continuing, "Uh..all I could make out was something that sounded like khamba, (pole). He just repeated khamba khamba. Khambe par .. (On pole) "
"What ? A pole fell on him or what ? " Subhash exclaimed.
"No. It can't be a pole. The injury was on side of his head and looked like somebody hit him with some heavy thing. A hammer or a stone maybe." Orderly replied, feeling slightly important.
"Was he robbed ? "
"No. He still had his wallet and mobile phone. "
"Hmm! How long will this surgery take ?"
"I don't know for sure. 35-40 minutes if there are no complications. But you can't talk to him anytime soon. "
Shashi turned towards Subhash, "Inform SHO sahab and come with me to Radio chowk. We might find something or someone useful there."
"Leave him alone here ?" Subhash asked with horrified surprise.
"I'm calling station. They'll send somebody and inform his family." Pointing towards the orderly he continued, "He'll take care of him till anybody arrives. Wouldn't you ?"
Slightly taken off balance orderly replied, "Of course. Of course. That's what I do anyway."
"Good. Come with me right now Subhash. There's no time to waste. "
Leaving the slightly confused orderly behind they ran to their jeep and started driving towards Radio chowk.
Traffic was getting heavy due to morning rush. Even then they managed to travel with a high speed. Soon the radio station, made conspicuous by it's tower was within their sights, although it was still 200 meters away.
"Almost there." Subhash mumbled as Shashi prepared to take a turn towards the road that proceeded to Radio chowk. He was turning the Gypsy when their ear drums were assaulted by the sound of a massive blast. Shashi was so startled that he almost lost control of the vehicle but managed to apply the brakes before anything happened. A column of black smoke arose from the general direction of traffic lights steadily growing in size along with shouts and screams of people.
"What the hell was that ? " Subhash asked in a panicked voice.
"What does it seem to you moron. Some ma******* bomb blast is that what happened ! Call HQ immediately. " Shashi shouted at the constable.
Within moments they reached the sight of the blast and what they saw made them freeze in their strides. The blast was so powerful that more than 2 meters thick pillar for metro line was nothing except for a small smoking stub of concrete poking from the ground. The 2 beams supported by the pillar had collapsed, forming a rough V. The 10000 Volt power lines had also snapped and were hanging precariously just 4 feet off the ground. A jam packed bus had taken the brunt of the blast as it waited adjacent to the pillar for green light. All the windows of bus were broken, it's roof all but torn off and bodies of dead and injured passengers hung limply. A few cars and two-wheelers had also suffered and were on fire.
But the thing that scared the hell out of everybody was not on ground, but above it. A speeding metro train had left the adjacent metro station and was coming right towards the damaged portion. Although it had lost all power due to damage to the power line, it still had sufficient momentum. Driver of the train had applied emergency brakes and sparks were flying off the metallic wheels. Standing on the ground, people could see the confused faces of passengers inside the train through the glass windows.
Shashi knew that the train had no chance of stopping before and wanted to avoid seeing the tragedy as it occurred. In spite of all his best efforts he couldn't tear his eyes off the horror before him. Right before his unwilling eyes, train reached site of the breach well in speed well above 25 kmph and plunged in to the gap. It's first bogey sailed through the gap for a while and hit the collapsed beam face first. That bogey was compressed to less than half of it's original size as rest of the bogeys crushed it from behind. Nobody could hear anything apart from deafening screeching of metal and horrified and painful screams of passengers in the train and the bystanders. But the ordeal was far from over. The train started to list on it's side and inch by inch started to slide towards the ground below. Then all of a sudden something that was holding the train on track gave away and all 4 bogeys fell on road below with a huge crash. A number of already damaged vehicles made immobile after the blast were crushed as the train fell on top of them.
Evening news listed 145 people dead and more than 14 injured, many of them in serious condition.
Condolences and calls for restraint from governments all over the world were still coming in when Mumbai and Hyderabd too were rocked by powerful blasts that killed 109 people combined
Constable Bhushan regained consciousness next morning and easily identified one of the suspects from file photos. The man's name was Mohammed Nazir, a long time member of SIMI. He was last seen at Nepal airport catching a flight to Dubai on a Pakistani passport. There were no leads to other blasts though.
0715 Hours
30 October 2012
Pitampura Police Station
New Delhi
Head constable Shashi Tamar was warming up his morning cup of tea in an ancient kettle when constable Shubhash came running through the door. "What happened ? Some mad dogs chasing after you ?" A bleary eyed Shashi asked with with mild irritation at being disturbed so rudely.
"Leave all doggy thing aside sir. Take the keys of Gypsy. We have to go to hospital." Subhash answered breathlessly.
Suddenly alarmed at the mention of hospital Shashi asked "Why ? What happened ?"
"Somebody whacked Bhushan last night when he was on duty. Some labourers found him in that under construction building near Radio chowk. Now hurry. It looks serious."
All thoughts of his morning tea and traces of sleep washed away from his head, Shashi jumped to his feet and reached for the keys , "Bh******! Is he alive? "
"Barely. He has a fractured skull and lost too much blood. "
"Ma ** ***** whoever did this! Do you know who did this ?" Shashi asked as he asked another policeman to take his place and started running towards the Gypsy parked outside station.
"How'd I know ? Let's get to hospital first and hope he can answer the questions. " Subhash replied with no less irritation.
Traffic was still very light and they reached hospital within 10 minutes. A familiar hospital orderly met them in the ward and informed that Bhushan had been taken in for surgery. Swearing again Shashi asked, "Did he say anything while he was conscious ? "
"He was unconscious all the time he was here except for 1-2 minutes. I was there then but couldn't make heads or tails of what he was saying."
Shashi snapped, " I don't want YOU to make sense of what he said. Just tell me whatever you could hear."
Slightly taken aback at the outburst orderly looked at the policeman with reproachful eyes before continuing, "Uh..all I could make out was something that sounded like khamba, (pole). He just repeated khamba khamba. Khambe par .. (On pole) "
"What ? A pole fell on him or what ? " Subhash exclaimed.
"No. It can't be a pole. The injury was on side of his head and looked like somebody hit him with some heavy thing. A hammer or a stone maybe." Orderly replied, feeling slightly important.
"Was he robbed ? "
"No. He still had his wallet and mobile phone. "
"Hmm! How long will this surgery take ?"
"I don't know for sure. 35-40 minutes if there are no complications. But you can't talk to him anytime soon. "
Shashi turned towards Subhash, "Inform SHO sahab and come with me to Radio chowk. We might find something or someone useful there."
"Leave him alone here ?" Subhash asked with horrified surprise.
"I'm calling station. They'll send somebody and inform his family." Pointing towards the orderly he continued, "He'll take care of him till anybody arrives. Wouldn't you ?"
Slightly taken off balance orderly replied, "Of course. Of course. That's what I do anyway."
"Good. Come with me right now Subhash. There's no time to waste. "
Leaving the slightly confused orderly behind they ran to their jeep and started driving towards Radio chowk.
Traffic was getting heavy due to morning rush. Even then they managed to travel with a high speed. Soon the radio station, made conspicuous by it's tower was within their sights, although it was still 200 meters away.
"Almost there." Subhash mumbled as Shashi prepared to take a turn towards the road that proceeded to Radio chowk. He was turning the Gypsy when their ear drums were assaulted by the sound of a massive blast. Shashi was so startled that he almost lost control of the vehicle but managed to apply the brakes before anything happened. A column of black smoke arose from the general direction of traffic lights steadily growing in size along with shouts and screams of people.
"What the hell was that ? " Subhash asked in a panicked voice.
"What does it seem to you moron. Some ma******* bomb blast is that what happened ! Call HQ immediately. " Shashi shouted at the constable.
Within moments they reached the sight of the blast and what they saw made them freeze in their strides. The blast was so powerful that more than 2 meters thick pillar for metro line was nothing except for a small smoking stub of concrete poking from the ground. The 2 beams supported by the pillar had collapsed, forming a rough V. The 10000 Volt power lines had also snapped and were hanging precariously just 4 feet off the ground. A jam packed bus had taken the brunt of the blast as it waited adjacent to the pillar for green light. All the windows of bus were broken, it's roof all but torn off and bodies of dead and injured passengers hung limply. A few cars and two-wheelers had also suffered and were on fire.
But the thing that scared the hell out of everybody was not on ground, but above it. A speeding metro train had left the adjacent metro station and was coming right towards the damaged portion. Although it had lost all power due to damage to the power line, it still had sufficient momentum. Driver of the train had applied emergency brakes and sparks were flying off the metallic wheels. Standing on the ground, people could see the confused faces of passengers inside the train through the glass windows.
Shashi knew that the train had no chance of stopping before and wanted to avoid seeing the tragedy as it occurred. In spite of all his best efforts he couldn't tear his eyes off the horror before him. Right before his unwilling eyes, train reached site of the breach well in speed well above 25 kmph and plunged in to the gap. It's first bogey sailed through the gap for a while and hit the collapsed beam face first. That bogey was compressed to less than half of it's original size as rest of the bogeys crushed it from behind. Nobody could hear anything apart from deafening screeching of metal and horrified and painful screams of passengers in the train and the bystanders. But the ordeal was far from over. The train started to list on it's side and inch by inch started to slide towards the ground below. Then all of a sudden something that was holding the train on track gave away and all 4 bogeys fell on road below with a huge crash. A number of already damaged vehicles made immobile after the blast were crushed as the train fell on top of them.
Evening news listed 145 people dead and more than 14 injured, many of them in serious condition.
Condolences and calls for restraint from governments all over the world were still coming in when Mumbai and Hyderabd too were rocked by powerful blasts that killed 109 people combined
Constable Bhushan regained consciousness next morning and easily identified one of the suspects from file photos. The man's name was Mohammed Nazir, a long time member of SIMI. He was last seen at Nepal airport catching a flight to Dubai on a Pakistani passport. There were no leads to other blasts though.
-
Hariprasad
- BRFite
- Posts: 247
- Joined: 10 Dec 2005 02:00
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Time to make these terrorist ma******** meet their 72. 
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 19
0830 Hours IST
30 October 2010
PPC World News Broadcast
In a surprising development in Pakistan, General Beg a few minutes ago appeared on Pakistan TV and radio claiming that he had quelled the rebellion by some of his subordinates that had threatened to shove his nuclear armed nation in to a bloody and very dangerous civil war. Reading from a prepared statement he said that most of the rebel officers led by General Asgar have either been killed or arrested facing further trial. He assured everybody that things are under his complete control and urged everybody to get on with their lives as usual.
But international observers are far from convinced. Pointing out to the still raging battles inside major Pakistani cities, they say that General Beg's claims of quelling the revolt are far from true. His opponent, General Asgar has powerful allies both within and outside Pakistan and forces loyal to him still control coastal city of Karachi and parts of disputed region of Jammu & Kashmir. Further, many influential Islamist groups based in Pakistan have come out openly in support of General Asgar, mainly to show their disapproval of what they say General Beg's sucking up to USA for money. Two of these groups have taken over the the controls of civil administration in Peshawar, Malakand and Quetta
General Beg not only has to control his nation's armed forces but also these powerful Islamist groups that threaten his grip on power more than anything. These group hold just more than significant influence on Pakistani civilians as well as serving and retired defence personnel. Therefore earning their support is going to be vital if he wants to consolidate his position.
How he manages to gather their support without antagonising his western allies is a matter of debate itself. Regarding this matter, no less importance should be attached to Indian reaction. It becomes still more important right now as it suffered 3 deadly terrorist attacks in a single day killing nearly 300 people, allegedly by Islamic terrorists supported by the very same groups that Beg needs to appease.
This news broadcast is brought to you by PPC International. Please stay tuned for more
0830 Hours IST
30 October 2010
PPC World News Broadcast
In a surprising development in Pakistan, General Beg a few minutes ago appeared on Pakistan TV and radio claiming that he had quelled the rebellion by some of his subordinates that had threatened to shove his nuclear armed nation in to a bloody and very dangerous civil war. Reading from a prepared statement he said that most of the rebel officers led by General Asgar have either been killed or arrested facing further trial. He assured everybody that things are under his complete control and urged everybody to get on with their lives as usual.
But international observers are far from convinced. Pointing out to the still raging battles inside major Pakistani cities, they say that General Beg's claims of quelling the revolt are far from true. His opponent, General Asgar has powerful allies both within and outside Pakistan and forces loyal to him still control coastal city of Karachi and parts of disputed region of Jammu & Kashmir. Further, many influential Islamist groups based in Pakistan have come out openly in support of General Asgar, mainly to show their disapproval of what they say General Beg's sucking up to USA for money. Two of these groups have taken over the the controls of civil administration in Peshawar, Malakand and Quetta
General Beg not only has to control his nation's armed forces but also these powerful Islamist groups that threaten his grip on power more than anything. These group hold just more than significant influence on Pakistani civilians as well as serving and retired defence personnel. Therefore earning their support is going to be vital if he wants to consolidate his position.
How he manages to gather their support without antagonising his western allies is a matter of debate itself. Regarding this matter, no less importance should be attached to Indian reaction. It becomes still more important right now as it suffered 3 deadly terrorist attacks in a single day killing nearly 300 people, allegedly by Islamic terrorists supported by the very same groups that Beg needs to appease.
This news broadcast is brought to you by PPC International. Please stay tuned for more
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Chapter 20
1815 Hours
1st November 2012
Mirawi, Rajsthan
Mirawi was a small town around 70 km south-west of Bamer and 40 Km from border. Until 2009 it was just an ordinary small town when Indian Army decided to base one regiment of it's latest T-90 Bhishma tanks there. For this purpose army acquired 1100 acres of land and started construction of whole tank related infrastructure there.
With efficiency typical to armed forces, the base was up and fully functional by late March 2010. The base now boasted of one of the largest workshops for tank repair and maintenance in Western command. A part of acquired land served as training ground for the tank crews .Although not as big as Pokhran, it was an ideal place to train the tank crews on desert warfare.
It was not officially stated, that tank regiment formed one of the most vital parts of much discussed Indian Cold Start doctrine. As such no effort was spared in order to keep the base as well supplied as possible. Existing highway was widened to 4 lanes and strengthened and an extra railway line was laid down apart from the existing one .
It's effect on town was largely positive. Within 2 years the town's civilian population had jumped from less than 50000 to 58000 thousand, most of it due to people from surrounding areas moving in to takeadvantage of the money being pumped in to local economy by increased army presence. A lot of these new migrants were civilian contractors, suppliers and labourers who set up their shops there.
Tushar Aggarwal was one of such contractors who had shifted his business from Jaipur to Mirawi. He had realised the significance of army raising a brand new tank base and had opened an office in Mirawi in December 2009 itself, much before other people had the sense to do so. His business flourished due to his early bird advantage and soon his earnings from his new office eclipsed what he had been earning in Jaipur. Assigning one of his employees to take care of his Jaipur office, he moved in to Mirawi along with his family which consisted of his wife of 11 years, Sushmita and their 8 years old son Krishna. They rented a small house with a big yard about a Km from the army base.
His business was growing steadily and family had taken well to the new town. Specially Krishna who had never seen military life from so close. He had been granted admission in the local Army School and had made a lot of new friends. Their class had been taken on tours of the new base and given a ride on one of brand new tanks. Ever since his visit he had been obsessed with tanks and had been begging his father to get him one too. His mother managed to placate him by buying him a toy tank much smaller in size and the one which fired up a small light in it's gun instead of a high explosive shell.
Although not quite as good, he had satisfied himself wih his 'tank' and was playing with it in their yard with some kids from their neighbourhood. His tank had a good aim and had 'destoyed' a car and aLego brick castle of his two playmates. Slightly miffed, both had packed up their own toys and left for the night. He played alone for a while after they left until it started getting too dark. He too picked up his tank and proceeded to go back inside the house when he heard the sound of an army convoy passing on the road. He rushed back to the main gate and peeked outside at the procession of T-90s being transported on their carrier vehicles. He opened the gate and stepped outside, watching excitedly as the massive trucks rolled by one by one in front of his eyes. He waved his hand with much enthusiasm and some of the soldiers smiled and waved back. He kept watching as the last truck drove away from his sight. Smiling contently he put his tank on the ground and started to steer it towards the door of his house.
His attention was diverted by sudden wailing of the air raid siren. He stood up to attention slightly puzzled listening to the oddly discomforting sound. He had heard this sound only once before in the school. The teacher had told them to at once ask the nearest grown up for help and take shelter on hearing this sound. But what could actually go wrong. He was perfectly safe in his own house. His chain of thoughts was interrupted by the band of screen door of their house as his mother rushed out looking for him. Seeing him standing right outside, the troubled expression on her face slightly receded. Standing at the door step, she asked him to come inside the house at once.
Krishna need not to be told twice. He picked up his toy tank and started running towards his mother. All of a sudden, the dusky evening was penetrated by a bright flash of intense light as if another sun had risen up in the sky. He put up his hand to shield his eyes and tried to squint through the gap when he felt an earthquake shaking everything around him. He then felt as if a wall of fire had hit him and he fell down screaming with pain and pure terror. He cried for his mother who unfortunately for both, was in a similar situation and could do nothing to help. Moments later, their burning bodies were crushed under the rubble of their two storied brick house as it collapsed when a tremendous shock wave hit it.
1815 Hours
1st November 2012
Mirawi, Rajsthan
Mirawi was a small town around 70 km south-west of Bamer and 40 Km from border. Until 2009 it was just an ordinary small town when Indian Army decided to base one regiment of it's latest T-90 Bhishma tanks there. For this purpose army acquired 1100 acres of land and started construction of whole tank related infrastructure there.
With efficiency typical to armed forces, the base was up and fully functional by late March 2010. The base now boasted of one of the largest workshops for tank repair and maintenance in Western command. A part of acquired land served as training ground for the tank crews .Although not as big as Pokhran, it was an ideal place to train the tank crews on desert warfare.
It was not officially stated, that tank regiment formed one of the most vital parts of much discussed Indian Cold Start doctrine. As such no effort was spared in order to keep the base as well supplied as possible. Existing highway was widened to 4 lanes and strengthened and an extra railway line was laid down apart from the existing one .
It's effect on town was largely positive. Within 2 years the town's civilian population had jumped from less than 50000 to 58000 thousand, most of it due to people from surrounding areas moving in to takeadvantage of the money being pumped in to local economy by increased army presence. A lot of these new migrants were civilian contractors, suppliers and labourers who set up their shops there.
Tushar Aggarwal was one of such contractors who had shifted his business from Jaipur to Mirawi. He had realised the significance of army raising a brand new tank base and had opened an office in Mirawi in December 2009 itself, much before other people had the sense to do so. His business flourished due to his early bird advantage and soon his earnings from his new office eclipsed what he had been earning in Jaipur. Assigning one of his employees to take care of his Jaipur office, he moved in to Mirawi along with his family which consisted of his wife of 11 years, Sushmita and their 8 years old son Krishna. They rented a small house with a big yard about a Km from the army base.
His business was growing steadily and family had taken well to the new town. Specially Krishna who had never seen military life from so close. He had been granted admission in the local Army School and had made a lot of new friends. Their class had been taken on tours of the new base and given a ride on one of brand new tanks. Ever since his visit he had been obsessed with tanks and had been begging his father to get him one too. His mother managed to placate him by buying him a toy tank much smaller in size and the one which fired up a small light in it's gun instead of a high explosive shell.
Although not quite as good, he had satisfied himself wih his 'tank' and was playing with it in their yard with some kids from their neighbourhood. His tank had a good aim and had 'destoyed' a car and aLego brick castle of his two playmates. Slightly miffed, both had packed up their own toys and left for the night. He played alone for a while after they left until it started getting too dark. He too picked up his tank and proceeded to go back inside the house when he heard the sound of an army convoy passing on the road. He rushed back to the main gate and peeked outside at the procession of T-90s being transported on their carrier vehicles. He opened the gate and stepped outside, watching excitedly as the massive trucks rolled by one by one in front of his eyes. He waved his hand with much enthusiasm and some of the soldiers smiled and waved back. He kept watching as the last truck drove away from his sight. Smiling contently he put his tank on the ground and started to steer it towards the door of his house.
His attention was diverted by sudden wailing of the air raid siren. He stood up to attention slightly puzzled listening to the oddly discomforting sound. He had heard this sound only once before in the school. The teacher had told them to at once ask the nearest grown up for help and take shelter on hearing this sound. But what could actually go wrong. He was perfectly safe in his own house. His chain of thoughts was interrupted by the band of screen door of their house as his mother rushed out looking for him. Seeing him standing right outside, the troubled expression on her face slightly receded. Standing at the door step, she asked him to come inside the house at once.
Krishna need not to be told twice. He picked up his toy tank and started running towards his mother. All of a sudden, the dusky evening was penetrated by a bright flash of intense light as if another sun had risen up in the sky. He put up his hand to shield his eyes and tried to squint through the gap when he felt an earthquake shaking everything around him. He then felt as if a wall of fire had hit him and he fell down screaming with pain and pure terror. He cried for his mother who unfortunately for both, was in a similar situation and could do nothing to help. Moments later, their burning bodies were crushed under the rubble of their two storied brick house as it collapsed when a tremendous shock wave hit it.
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
WOW
This story has more turns then the Lombard Street.
BTW, the ending in the last post was a shocker!! Never ever expected it.
This story has more turns then the Lombard Street.
BTW, the ending in the last post was a shocker!! Never ever expected it.
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Bala Vignesh
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Re: Begining Of The End: Story
wow... A pre-emptive nuclear strike on a civilian town????
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
i hope its not nuclear... as then story will end soonBala Vignesh wrote:wow... A pre-emptive nuclear strike on a civilian town????
we just need to launch all nuclear salvo towards pak and contribute towards Gloabl Warming.... 
Re: Begining Of The End: Story
Great post, great storyline. It is as good as any western fiction. But it is much more interesting as it based on indian platform. Keep going.