Possible Indian Military Scenarios - XII

[jamwal]

Vivek jee,

What are the possible airbases of Jaguars involved in this operation ?

[Singha]

I think the nearest peacetime Jaguar station would be ambala or halwara? Hoten is not that far from ladakh...just check google earth.

[vivek_ahuja]

Vivek jee,

What are the possible airbases of Jaguars involved in this operation ?

Consider the route mentioned in the scenario. The route involved:

1) An eastwards flight route from Rezang La to Rudok Dzong
2) North by North-east from Rudok-Dzong, flying route parallel to Lanak La and entering the perimeter of the Taklamakan Desert
3) Westwards from Horizon break at Taklamakan to Hotien

And the repeat route back.

Overall, the one way route is around ~1000 Km from Kashmir.

Now, I use a much more advanced aircraft performance software written by yours truly but here's a sample of one of the simpler excel spreadsheet models I had created a long time ago...



Note the bottom left corner for the range and endurance. Check the chart for throttle setting obtained, cruise mach number at full military power and altitude and payload data.

Note why the S/C pilot in the scenario said they had only one pass at the airbase? They were literally flying at the edge of their range on that mission

Remember: this is only a first order analysis. But it should give you an idea...

Regards

-Vivek

[Yagnasri]

you never fails to surprise us with your depth vivekji. It is always great to know we have one with your knowledge and creativity here.

[parmeet]

Vivek Phaji ! Tusi Great ho
btw, what language did u code ur s/w in?

[parmeet]

Also, going by the xls chart posted here; the range - approx 950 km and the mentioned distance of around 1000 kms.
Consider the following conditions
A - that the planes are flying practically at the edge of their hardware (software) capability.
B - given the fact we hear crashes in the news owing technical failures (not sure of exact reasons)
C - wars usually dont give too much of preparation time for maintenance staff to be of 100% fitness (I may be totally wrong here)

Coming to my doubt. In the scenarios (and perhaps reality) what are the chances of some jets not making through the mission
when ( A & B & C) = true ?

[andy B]

Vivek...need your email.

Got something that you may find...interesting.

Andy,

Email me at vivek underscore ahuja123 at yahoo dot com

All,

As I add more, I am also posting the last connecting segment of some of the other battles I had going on earlier to maintain continuity. Please look them earlier. Since each post has a time and place of occurance, it should not be a problem to see which was past and which is present.

Thanks

Vivek you have mail.

[Singha]

there is always risk of mission abort - maybe 10 jets started off, but 2 turned back somewhere in between...also the diagram does not show the wing drop tanks....does the model include the wing drop tanks also ?

[vivek_ahuja]

...also the diagram does not show the wing drop tanks....does the model include the wing drop tanks also ?

Yes it does. Actually, I should correct and mention that the Jaguar can only carry two CBUs + two long range tanks + 2 Matra Magic AAMs + cannon in a long range sortie such as that to Hotien. The fuel tankage takes into account the reduction in payload capacity as range is increased. In other words, what you see in that flow chart is the initial maximum values. I forgot to add the set of tables in that spreadsheet that shows the reduced payload actually carried to that range versus the additional + original fuel.

btw, what language did u code ur s/w in?

Coding is all in Visual Fortran. We use it everyday for our line of work. Its faster and more interactive for us, since we are not great coding experts. So for us its about coding the aerodynamics and design models in rather than the code itself, hence the simultaneous use of Matlab, Fortran, C++ and customized FEA codes...

-Vivek

[Cain Marko]

Zabardast!!!

[Santosh]

^^^^ +1

[Raye]

Sirjee, i am thirsty , plz provide the latest dose..

[vivek_ahuja]

YUMTHANG VALLEY
WEST OF THE GORA-LA
EASTERN SIKKIM
DAY 5 + 2320 HRS

“Get it rolling, son. We don’t have all night.” Lt-Col Fernandes shouted as he walked by the young lieutenant fixing up the last supporting harnesses around the Pinaka Launch vehicle, its launchers empty and the platform lowered and locked for transport. He then stopped and looked around to see other such crews preparing the other vehicles before shouting around the cigar in his mouth:
“Let’s go, men! Move!”

Fernandes loved his cigar. He had begun to love it more in the cold Yumthang valley since the last twenty hours there. And he definitely loved the victory smoke: his battery had hammered the hell out of Divisional Artillery elements of the Chinese 55TH Division in the Chumbi valley. That Red Division had been heavily mauled by the Indian XXXIII Corps. Overall, it had been paralyzed in its positions and rendered combat ineffective within the valley. Now, XXXIII Corps was preparing for its own offensive into the Chumbi valley, wrenching it from the Chinese troops and claiming a valuable piece of real estate in the current war with China. But for Lt-Col Fernandes and his battery of Pinaka warriors, the front had shifted into Bhutan...

“Sir, IMTRAT-COM on the line!” Fernandes’s Comms officer said as he came running up to the CO.
“All right, let’s go.”
Fernandes walked up into the command trailer and skip-jumped the few steps through the door and nodded to his Signals officer:
“Hit it, son”
“Yes sir...” came the immediate reply.
“This is Hotel-Six-Actual, send traffic, over!” Fernandes said as he spoke into the R/T mouthpiece.
“Hotel-Six-Actual, this is Warlord. Give me a Sitrep” General Potgam’s voice came like an authoritative grunt over the radio waves from IMTRAT-Command at Haa Dzong, about sixty kilometres to the east from the Yumthang valley.

“Warlord, be advised: Hotel-Six is on the move. Group of three Launchers, one C3 vehicle and support elements are awaiting a hitch to deployment area just as soon as the flyboys get their act together. Remaining Hotel-Six elements will continue deployment at current location and provide close quarter support for Warlord Central in case things go nasty up there.” Fernandes said, quoting numbers at the top of his head. Outside, he could faintly hear the sounds of helicopters approaching...

“Roger, Hotel-Six. I have an update for you: expect taxis to arrive at your location presently. I want you guys hitting the ground running. Time is critical. We are getting eyes on target area within the hour. Get your asses over here in the meantime. Over and out” Potgam ordered and signed off.

“Copy all, Warlord. Out” Fernandes said before handing the speaker back to his signals officer. He then stepped two feet to the side and opened the door slightly to poke his head out. The immediate gust of chilly air that entered the trailer sent everybody shivering. The arrival of the two Mi-26s was a powerful sight in the clear night sky. Neither helicopter was attempting to land, but both were hovering just above the height of two strapped and packed Pinaka vehicles as soldiers on both vehicles attempted to hook up the rope harness straps to ropes hanging from the two helicopters. Further away, three Mi-17s were attempting to do the same with the group’s other vehicles...

Pinaka Battery “Hotel-Six” under Lt-Col Fernandes was deploying to the Bhutan sector. But the crumbling frontline in northern Bhutan and the threat to Thimpu had left things uncertain to a certain level. While the golf course at the IMTRAT HQ at Haa Dzong had been converted into a temporary LZ for the inbound Indian reinforcements into Bhutan for the Defense of Thimpu, the threat to Haa itself was far from clear. In fact, at the moment, the only secured locations were the perimeter hills around the IMTRAT-Command locations at Haa and the landing zone. Hotel-Six was the first Pinaka Battery moving into Bhutan and represented the first artillery units directly to be transferred to Lt-Gen Potgam “Warlord” for Bhutanese Ground Operations.

For Fernandes, the problem was the transfer itself. Since it was clear that any area north of Haa towards Thimpu was unsecured and hence potentially under enemy control, he could not transfer all of his battery from the Yumthang valley in eastern Sikkim to the Artillery FARP at Haa in case the latter came under a ground assault. But he had to transfer some units to Haa so that the RBG units on the perimeter of Thimpu and any advancing Indian troops could be supported by heavy artillery support. So he had decided to transfer half of his battery to the Haa Artillery FARP and leave the rest in the Yumthang valley as a shotgun support in case things went south for IMTRAT-COM.

With two Mi-26s and three Mi-17s under temporary control of General Potgam providing heavy airlift capability to Haa, Fernandes had decided to move half the required hardware in three overall roundtrips with each trip lasting about one hour. The problem was, General Potgam would have the first eyes over Thimpu within the hour, by which time Fernandes would only be able to transport about a third of his needed presence, and one-sixth of his overall Battery presence, at Haa.

Potgam is not going to be happy...Fernandes thought as he stomped out of the command trailer and headed across the cold rocky gravel of the valley in time to see the two Mi-26 powerplants groaning under the strain of lifting relatively light vehicles but in high altitude, low density conditions. They were successful, though, and a few seconds later Fernandes saw them heading down the valley with the two vehicles hanging underneath them in harness. Two Mi-17s followed behind, lifting some of the lighter equipment such as the DIGICORA Metrological radar set and a stripped down command vehicle. The third Mi-17 was on the ground and soldiers from the battery were loading necessary equipment in there...

“Tell me you have everything under control here.” Fernandes said to his Battery XO, who would now command the remainder of the unit ops from the current location with half the battery under his command while Fernandes headed off in the last Mi-17 to Haa Dzong.

“Yes sir. I will have the remaining vehicles sent to you in the last two trips. By the way, what’s the logistical support at Warlord Central? Where are we going to get resupplied from?” the Major asked.

That question caused Fernandes to remove the cigar and throw it away before speaking: “I will let you know when I find that out from Warlord himself! There’s no pre-located AFARP over there as far as I know” Yumthang valley was dotted with pre-selected and pre-stocked AFARPS for rapid artillery movements for a long time. These locations were stocked up with rockets and supplies for Pinaka Batteries to move back and forth in wartime and still not run out of rockets. All of these locations were maintained by ground convoys...

“Nobody figured we would be fighting a heavy pitched battle inside Bhutan before now. You know what they say about battle plans, right? They never last contact with the enemy. So now I can only hope that Warlord has gotten a ground convoy moving up the border to his location, or else we are going to be running out of rockets after three salvoes. And then we can say goodbye to Bhutan forever.” Fernandes said as they then silently watched the last piece of equipment being loaded into the Mi-17s.

“Well, good luck, sir. We will do the best we can to support you over there.” The Major offered by way of a goodbye. Both men shook hands before Fernandes jogged over to the waiting Mi-17. A few seconds later the crew of the helicopter increased power and the Mi-17 lurched into the sky, steadily climbing away towards the mountains around Gora La before turning south down the valley.

Ten minutes later they began their turn eastwards and headed towards Bhutan...

[abhinavjo]

yeeeeehaaaw

[abhinavjo]

just one dose?

More!More!More!More!

[vivek_ahuja]

DAY-6

THE WANG-CHU BRIDGE
NORTH OF THIMPU
BHUTAN
DAY 6 + 0020 HRS

“They didn’t leave much standing, did they?”
“That’s a big negative!”
“Let’s move in for a closer look. –Four and –Five are on supporting overwatch with the LMGs. Rest are on me. Let’s see if any of the RBG guys are still alive or not. Move!” Captain Pathanya said over the soft voice communication piece around his neck before bringing up his INSAS rifle scope up to survey the fires around the small village on the other side of the bridge covering the ditch. There was no activity inside the village other than the odd burning roof collapsing inwards. A few seconds later the six man team, short of the two men on overwatch positions on high ground, came cautiously out of the heavy groves near the road heading from the bridge to the south to Thimpu. Pathanya was the first to come to the edge of the road and remained low as he brought his rifle up again. Two seconds later the rest of the team was in nearby locations and had the road covered. One of the five men also had a thermal scope set up to survey the hills on the other side for Chinese activity.

Pathanya looked around and down the road to the south near a bend he saw the charred remains of a Royal Bhutanese Army truck, blackened down to its very chassis, silently spewing smoke into the night sky. Further near the surprisingly intact bridge, there were a few bodies of civilians and men in RBG uniforms. The pool of blood nearby was hard to miss from where Pathanya’s group was...

“Precision Arty attacks. RBG boys took a beating. The Chinese left the bridge deliberately intact.” One of Pathanya’s men observed.
“Why won’t they? It’s the fastest route into Thimpu down this road.” Pathanya observed before continuing: “We need to get Warlord-Central to take out those enemy guns before anything else or we are going to get toasted out here.”
“And so is Thimpu for that matter!” Pathanya’s 2IC noted matter-of-factly as he continued to cover the village with his UBGL-INSAS.

“Yeah. Get me Warlord-Central on the comms!” Pathanya ordered.

[Tanaji]

Vivek saab,

Excellent as usual. Just a small request, can you give full forms of the abbreviations / acronyms used?

[vivek_ahuja]

**** FLASH INTERCEPT BEGINS****
XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
BEIJING
DAY 6 + 0120 HRS

“Incoming reports have confirmed that the warplanes of the Indian aggressors have shot down a civilian airliner carrying hundreds of displaced refugees from the fighting in the Sinkiang Front where the brave soldiers of the People’s army are fighting off the imperial ambitions of India. Other reports indicate that the civilian terminal at Hotien has also been bombed. Civilian casualties are known to be high. China hopes that the world will join in united condemnation of the Indian attacks against innocent civilians and join China in defeating their imperialistic notions. We welcome the news that Pakistan has joined China in condemning India and hope that the rest of the world’s nations will follow suit. China has formally asked the United Nations Security Council to meet in an emergency meeting to discuss the current Indian aggressions along China’s borders.”

**** FLASH INTERCEPT ENDS****

[Surya]

Consider the route mentioned in the scenario. The route involved:

1) An eastwards flight route from Rezang La to Rudok Dzong
2) North by North-east from Rudok-Dzong, flying route parallel to Lanak La and entering the perimeter of the Taklamakan Desert
3) Westwards from Horizon break at Taklamakan to Hotien

And the repeat route back.

vivek

route back should be different if possible

[RamaY]

“Copy all, Warlord. Out” Fernandes said before handing the speaker back to his signals officer. He then stepped two feet to the side and opened the door slightly to poke his head out. The immediate gust of chilly air that entered the trailer sent everybody shivering. The arrival of the two Mi-26s was a powerful sight in the clear night sky. Neither helicopter was attempting to land, but both were hovering just above the height of two strapped and packed Pinaka vehicles as soldiers on both vehicles attempted to hook up the rope harness straps to ropes hanging from the two helicopters. Further away, three Mi-17s were attempting to do the same with the group’s other vehicles...


...

That question caused Fernandes to remove the cigar and throw it away before speaking: “I will let you know when I find that out from Warlord himself! There’s no pre-located AFARP over there as far as I know” Yumthang valley was dotted with pre-selected and pre-stocked AFARPS for rapid artillery movements for a long time. These locations were stocked up with rockets and supplies for Pinaka Batteries to move back and forth in wartime and still not run out of rockets. All of these locations were maintained by ground convoys...

Awesome Vivek-ji.

Could you also explore the possibility of air-lifting various other military h/w into action zones (perhaps using flying cranes type equipment)?

thank you

[vivek_ahuja]

C.A.F. REGIONAL COMMAND C3I
KASHGAR
DAY 6 + 0130 HRS

“Damn it Feng!” Lt-General Chen shouted from behind the desk as Feng stood in front of it, holding the latest reports from Hotien. The latter base, as it had turned out, was still littered with the wreckage left by the burnt out IL-76s and a host of other transports destroyed on the ground by the Tuskers attack several hours ago. Then there was the matter of the several hundred deaths of Chinese soldiers, both fresh and wounded being evacuated to the north. All in all, Beijing and the regional ground operations commander for the Chinese Forces had chewed out Chen in response to the supposed lapse in airbase security. Needless to say, Feng was on the receiving end as soon as Chen put down the phone with CMC HQ...

“We cannot let these attacks go unchecked! You know how long the casualty list is from the attack? Hotien was and still is crucial to us! Spread out your air defences to cover the approaches more effectively! I have ordered some of your S-300 systems to move eastwards and cover against future attacks! Make sure it gets done properly this time!” Chen barked at Colonel Feng.

“Sir, that is exactly what the Indians want us to do! They want us to spread out our defences so they can selectively take them down one by one. We have to maintain focus on the Aksai Chin front. This attack on Hotien was a one off attack. Their aircraft most definitely were flying at the edge of their limits. We can put a whole bunch of cheap anti-air in their way to ensure they don’t get through but we ought to leave the S-300s in the preselected locations in the Aksai Chin where they have effective coverage of the front!” Feng countered, but Chen would have none of it:

“I have had it with you on this issue Feng! I have given you a lot more leverage than perhaps I should have done! And you have nothing to show for it! Nothing! We are still struggling to capture the aerial initiative from the Indians after six days of combat. The original plans called for two days for doing the same! And now our major supply nodes are being bombed with impunity! Get my orders carried out or I will have someone else to do it for me. Is that clear?!”

Feng controlled his rage at being blamed for things that Chen clearly knew were not true or realistic. But anger was getting the better of the General, right now. What was worse, Feng could see the Indian plan working through Chen. If he could not calm Chen down and refocus on the problem, it was going to end up unwinding the whole CAF offensive on the Laddakh front. He snapped off a quick affirmative and prepared to walk out the door before Chen said something else in a calmer, more menacing voice:

“By the way, the Indians are going to pay for this. If I have to throw the entire might of my missile arsenal at their northern airbases to prevent any future attacks from them, then so be it! This ends now!”

[Singha]

on a sad note one of our Mi26 crashed in Jammu region today, injuring 9 people. fortunately it happened right after takeoff at 50ft altitude no fatalities reported though some injuries could likely be quite serious. the pic I saw had the heli lying on its side....

[kaangeya]

Vivek,

If you do not mind, for all the hard work you have put in and the hours of toil, this development of a forced rearrangement of the S-300 seems like a deux ex machina. Reality, of course, can be stranger and less believable than fiction. WW2's biggest turn in the Pacific - the spotting and sinking of half the Imperial Japanese flat top fleet - today seems fortuitous. But there were a 100 other events that led to it - declining restaffing of the Imperial Navy's air corps, lagging replenishment of aircraft, poorly maintained submarines and carriers, Japanese doctrine that considered recee effete and unnecessary, and above all the breaking of the Japanese Naval cipher (which in turn held because the Japanese GHQ dragged its feet on formulating a brand new cipher).

[aditp]

vivek_ahuja ji, this SDRE mujahid would feel nice if you could put the new CL-20 based ammunition to good use on the tallel than molehill flends. The Arjun is already up to speed I guess.

[nits]

“By the way, the Indians are going to pay for this. If I have to throw the entire might of my missile arsenal at their northern airbases to prevent any future attacks from them, then so be it! This ends now!”

Hope aakash surface-to-air missile defense system comes to our rescue here...

[Raye]

Vivek, what i can't understand is why our response via cruise missiles is so inadequate and minimal, aren't Brahmos and Nirbhoy going to be mass produced at your timeframe and used without restraint..

In any case thanks for taking the pain in writing up the well researched scenario's, its a real source of pleasure for us.

[Fani_A]

Vivek, what i can't understand is why our response via cruise missiles is so inadequate and minimal, aren't Brahmos and Nirbhoy going to be mass produced at your timeframe and used without restraint..

In any case thanks for taking the pain in writing up the well researched scenario's, its a real source of pleasure for us.

Raye, China has many more missiles than India. To be real, any scenario will have to give this edge to China. India can manage by prioritising, use at the right time, place and purpose. Main advantage we have here is geography and should be able to hold. Thanks Vivek and Shankar. Keep going.

[Jamie Boscardin]

ok..after coming back and forth the whole day looking for the next dose, I guess nothing is coming today/tonight, so calling it a day!!

[vivek_ahuja]

Could you also explore the possibility of air-lifting various other military h/w into action zones (perhaps using flying cranes type equipment)?

RamaY,

Let's take this discussion into the Military Aviation thread...

Vivek, what i can't understand is why our response via cruise missiles is so inadequate and minimal, aren't Brahmos and Nirbhoy going to be mass produced at your timeframe and used without restraint..

The timeframe for this scenario is essentially a few years from now. If you take note of mass production developments of the Brahmos and the development of the Nirbhay, you will see that there are not that many of them for us to liberally use for the case of Brahmos whereas the Nirbhay would still be in development and testing phase at that time.

Vivek - if you have completed the story (I assume you have...) could you pls. post one chapter a day (similar to Dileep Saar does with his scenarios). It will give enough adrenaline/caffeine for the day as well as keep the readers engaged

Pandyan,

Believe it or not, I actually am writing this as my thought process and simulation takes me. See, I let the events drive themselves, so I get a wargame out of it, but I didn't have the time to do so beforehand. So please bear with me on that as I write it in real-time every day and post it here...

Thanks and regards

-Vivek

[vivek_ahuja]

FORWARD EDGE OF THE BATTLEFIELD (FEBA)
POINT-VICTORY-ONE
FIVE KILOMETERS EAST OF LINE OF ACTUAL CONTROL
DBO-EAST SECTOR
LADDAKH
DAY 6 + 0430 HRS

“Steel-Rain-Central, Steel-Rain-Central! We have red armour five clicks east of our position! Heavy concentration target zone bearing down on us! Requesting heavy close in priority fire-mission! Coordinates to follow! Over!” The commander of Group-Blue forces under the 10TH Mechanized Battalion was hunkered behind some large rocks near the burning hulk of his BMP-II with his radioman lying next to him, rifle in hand. The commander was looking over the rocks with his binoculars at the advancing armada of Chinese tanks making yet another pre-dawn attempt to break through the 10TH Battalion lines inside the Aksai Chin...

“Blue-Com-Actual, this is Steel-Rain-Central. We read you five-by-five. Standby for fire-mission: one salvo heavy-concentration fire. Fragmentation. One round correction-marker at thirty seconds. Fire-effect at three second delay. Stand-by fire-mission for Blue-Com FEBA. Out.”

The commander gave back the R/T speaker over to his radioman before putting both his hands on the binoculars to zoom in using the low-light optics. The Chinese tanks were attempting to spread over a two kilometre front between hill point Golf-Black-One and Golf-Black-Two along a rough west to east axis. It was their third attempt to do so in the last twenty four hours. The evidence for the past attempts were littered across the battlefield, spewing smoke and fire into the early morning reddish skies over Laddakh. The charred hulks of ZBDs, T-99s and BMP-IIs dotted the gap between Point-Victory-One and Golf-Black-Three. Alongside them lay the bodies of soldiers from both sides who had fought and bled on this rocky plateau for three days now without much to show in return.

The Indian 10TH Mech Battalion had penetrated five-kilometres east into Chinese controlled territory during the first Chinese attempt to take DBO at the start of the ground war here. But that victory could not be developed to cut off the Chinese Div-MSR along the Chip-Chap River to DBO on account of light Indian armour in low numbers attempting to fight streams of ZBDs and T-99 task-forces attempting to stop them. Alternate firepower sources on the indian side such as direct-support-fire and counter-battery-fire, tube and rocket artillery units near Saser that had ensured local artillery dominance over the battered Chinese counterparts had not been sufficient to offset the massive ground situation once the Indian Mech Battalions reached the Chinese Div-MSR lines. Even the presence of a couple of LCH helicopters of the 199 HU (ad-hoc) under W/C Dutt could only get the Indian forces so far. And that limit had been Point-Golf-Black-Two. At this point, the heavy firepower of T-99s had stopped the Group-Blue and Group-Green forces of 10TH Mech, pretty much dead in their tracks. But that was two days ago...

Now the initiative was on the Chinese side, even if it was slight. They had made repeated attempts to push the Indian BMP-II forces out of their side of the LAC for over a day now, and each time they had been stopped in their efforts before they could reach and overrun the current FEBA. It had been costly for both sides. 10TH Mech had been reduced to a handful of fully operational BMP-IIs and NAMICA vehicles. Most of the other vehicles had been gutted to blackened hulls on the rocky battlefield, many of them so recently that they were still cooking off the onboard ammunition supplies in frequent fireballs on top of the pillar of smoke that was erupting from those vehicles. The Indian infantry force supporting 10TH Mech was doing better. The Sikhs on nearby hills on either side of Point-Victory-One were still holding strong, but were depleted in their ATGM crews, who had been facing the brunt of Chinese counter-fire during the engagements of the last two days. There were so many requirements for reinforcements and supplies from across the hundreds of kilometres of frontline that many sectors were just not getting the force-resurrection they needed to keep holding to their current positions. It was not getting any easier either.

The skies crackled with thunder of supersonic rocket projectiles diving into the ground. It caused the Group-Blue commander to look away from his binoculars to see the sky above, a second before a set of six 214mm rockets dived into the Chinese lines, spewing three fireballs and three dust and gravel clouds. Two ZBDs and one T-99 had been killed by that correction-marker round itself...

“Good effect! Now nail them!” the radioman shouted alongside the commander, who was staring back through his optics. Overhead, one Nishant UAV had already passed the same information back to Steel-Rain-Central, the current Indian AFARP C3I near Saser, the Indian Div-MSR nodal location supporting DBO. There, the battery-fire-controllers had also concluded that the fire was accurate. A second later they were passing salvo round information to the six vehicle battery of Pinaka launchers, who ripple-fired their remaining rockets in flashes of light into the dark sky, leaving a lingering dust cloud in the Saser valley.

A few seconds later the Blue-Force commander and his radioman as well as several hundred Indian infantrymen saw in awe as the Chinese line disappeared in a massive carpet of explosions, ripping most of the force in front of Group-Blue survivors to shreds, obscured by a dust cloud big enough to outsize the nearby hills. When the smoke cleared, raging towers of fire dotted that particular sector, with no human activity to be seen...

But that was only part of the story. The part of the Chinese force opposite Group-Green, further to the east, was still relatively intact and continuing the advance. Now the situation became tricky. The Group-Blue commander looked to his northeast to see a line of three dozen T-99s and ZBDs on a one kilometre front dashing towards the Group-Green locations. On the Indian side, he could see three NAMICA vehicles and a handful of BMPs moving into protective enclosures. It looked weak even to the Indian commander watching the developing battle. The distance between the incoming Chinese armour and defending Indian units was still several kilometres.

That was when the three NAMICA vehicles went into action, launching off their Nag missiles in quick succession. The missiles slammed into the frontal and top armour plating of the leading Chinese AFVs. The jarring explosion sent pieces of metal and steel flying in all directions and seven T-99s staggered to an abrupt halt and stayed there. Clearly the NAMICA crews were prioritizing the T-99s over the ZBDs. If it came to a knife fight, they clearly didn’t want T-99 guns firing at them at point blank ranges! Even so, it wasn’t enough. The Chinese tanks were retaliating as well. Even as a Nag missile streaked out of its launcher on one of the NAMICA vehicles, the vehicle exploded into a fireball and was shredded by a Chinese missile. The Nag missile it had fired off however claimed the last kill for that Indian crew as it slammed into yet another T-99 that destroyed the turret in a bone-jarring noise of steel hitting steel. A second later the tank turret and rear engine areas detonated in a fireball, three kilometres from the Indian defences.

Now the Chinese T-99s went into direct fire mode, and it was a powerful sight to see six T-99s that had bypassed their dead comrades in the lead wave, fire their main guns in unison at the Indian lines. Two Indian BMPs went up in fireballs, and several other infantry positions defended by rocks were levelled in a burst of shrapnel and gravel. Two more Chinese tanks were stopped in their tracks by the NAMICAs before several different Chinese vehicles basically overran the Indian crews by sheer numbers. Both Indian vehicles were hit by multiple APFSDS rounds that decimated the vehicles. As the fourteen odd surviving Chinese vehicles now came within a few hundred meters of the Indian lines, openly using their co-axial machine guns on the Indian infantry locations, the only response from the Indian side that was left were a couple of Infantry Milan teams, but they were extremely exposed and without cover except for the rocks and the burning vehicles. They managed to kill one ZBD before being wiped out...

And then it happened. The Group-Green commander, or whoever was in-charge, since there was no R/T to be heard from Captain Kongara, ordered a retreat as the Chinese tanks rolled with impunity into the Indian positions. The retreat was a mess, and totally chaotic. The Chinese tanks mowed down several waves of Indian soldiers as they attempted to run between rocks, the only form of cover out in the flat terrain. It would have been totally chaotic had it not been for the intervention of W/C Dutt and his flight of two Light Combat Helicopters who flew overhead the Group-Blue commander from the northwest.

The two LCHs were low on ammunition and had been returning to their FARP at Saser after yet another battle east of DBO when Colonel Sudarshan had diverted them to Point-Victory-One to stave off the defeat that was enveloping the 10TH Mechanized Battalion. They had no time for setting up piecemeal attacks from behind cover. Their main job was to occupy the Chinese and buy time for the Indian ground units to retreat in cohesion. The only way they could make their presence felt to the Chinese in all that mess was by conducting point blank attacks and strafing runs overhead. Besides, they had no Nag missiles left in any case to do long range attacks. Both helicopters had a load of ammunition for their chin turrets and that was it. The Group-Blue commander yelled in jubilation as he saw the two helicopters attempting to make a last desperate attempt to stop the Chinese armour overrunning 10TH Mech positions...

It did the job, somewhat. The two helicopter gunners in the front seats used their helmet cueing optics to guide their continuously firing cannons over several Chinese ZBDs as Dutt and his wingman flew over the Chinese positions, braving streams of anti-air machinegun fire from the Chinese vehicles. The result was the incapacitation of several ZBDs and a couple other light armour vehicles, and the direction of the Chinese attention to the two helicopters. The Sikh commanders jumped at this opportunity to organize the retreat and gain unit cohesion, deploying smoke as they made good their disengagement efforts from the FEBA. For the most part, several platoons made their way through the smoke and disengaged from the Chinese vehicles, heading to safety to the southwest, towards the 4TH Mech lines...

The Group-Blue commander also realized that the Indian lines had been broken, and that with the retreat of Group-Green units, his force had been outflanked. If he wanted to avoid tactical encirclement, he had to pull his force out now and head southwest as well and reinforce 4TH Mech, the next Indian unit defending the LAC. This latter unit was going to be next in the Chinese attacks, and could use all the help they could get. With that decided he took the R/T speaker from his radioman and ordered an immediate break from current positions and a tactical retreat back to the southwest even as the two LCHs continued to fly overhead, hounding the Chinese armour...

Wing-Commander Dutt had seen the volume of fire now being put up from the ground against his two helicopters and knew that it was time to leave. His helicopters were valuable assets and could not be lost. The decision was made easier for him when his gunner announced that they were out of ammunition for the chin turret. That did for him. He ordered an immediate break from his current runs and pushed engine power to maximum and felt the helicopter groan as he changed cyclic, used his foot pedals to change orientation and dived back to the southwest towards the FARP, followed by his wingman. The two helicopters flew low over the lines of Indian soldiers moving southwest as well alongside a handful of BMP-IIs, each of which was showing the strain of several days of continuous combat in Laddakh. He looked to the side and saw what remained of the 10TH Mechanized Battalion and knew he was seeing combat-depleted unit.

Most of the territory gained inside the DBO sector in the first few days had now been lost because of insufficient force-resurrection capabilities on the Indian side. This was not lost on Lt-Gen Bhardwaj, the XIV Corps Commander or Maj-Gen Mohanty, the 3RD Infantry Division commander, who were both watching the battles from their respective HQs. But there was nothing they could do about it, other than to slam a fist on the walls and vow to regain the initiative. All surviving units of the 10TH were now passed over to the operational control of the 4TH. A half hour later, Colonel Sudarshan removed 10TH Mech from the list of combat effective units in the DBO sector...

[vivek_ahuja]

[vivek_ahuja]

SATTI
NORTH BY NORTHEAST OF LEH
SHYOK RIVER VALLEY
DAY 6 + 0530 HRS
The RHINO Group of the 43RD Armored Regiment entered the Shyok River valley as the first light broke between the jagged, mountainous horizon of Laddakh. The road and the valley represented the main Corps-MSR for the Laddakh region minus the Demchok region MSR along the Indus valley. As such, it was a hotbed of activity when Major Kulkarni’s taskforce rumbled on to the road. The only reason they had gotten here so fast was because the XIV Corps HQ as well we 3RD Infantry Division HQ were prioritizing the arrival of the 43RD Armoured into the region above all else. For good reason too...Kulkarni thought as he sat in the open hatch of the Arjun tank turret, admiring the sun’s first rays rising above the mountains. He had entered the operational zone. Now began his dash to the DBO sector, still another twelve hours of travel away. At least...He looked at the map, which he still preferred over the high tech GPS navigation equipment inside his tank. Two hundred kilometres of driving still left...

He looked behind to see a stream of Arjun tanks behind him, rumbling in close unison as the convoy entered its final stretches of travel short of the FEBA...

[abhinavjo]

Arjuns in the scene!!!

And IT IS ON BITCH!

[manish.rastogi]

Sir....brilliant!!just brilliant!!!
your posts are amazing....makes one sad and happy at the same time!!!just love them.....
Btw....sir i had asked you whether some special force operatives giving vital intelligence or doing some deep covert operations could be shown.....if possible....then that would be just speechless!!!

[Bala Vignesh]

vivek sir,
Can't hold on anymore... Need to see our desi gear(to whatever extent) kick panda's black and white mushraff black and blue.

[vila]

Bala,

The (desi) Pinakas are already in action and making life hell for the Chinese.

[jamwal]

Amazingly detailed Jaguar chart. Most of it goes over my head though

One more question, if you don't mind. Why are Arjuns traveling on their own ? Shouldn't they be on their carrier vehicles ? Is it because it's easier to maneuver a tank on such a road they are in ?

[Singha]

I really dont think the kargil-leh road would be suitable for arjun carrier flatbeds, Smerch type humongous TELs etc.

[jamwal]

True. Even Jammu-Srinagar highway is a difficult place to drive them as it is. Leh-Srinagar is even worse. I was just confirming if that was the only reason.

[Singha]

plus leh to nubra/siachen over khardung la pass and leh to pangong tso region via chang la pass - both around 17,000ft and not places to hang around in. my wife did both in a tourist trip and from the photos looks like the roads and slopes have some snow even in summer near khardung la and its around 1.5 lanes wide mostly.

I dont think a smerch or brahmos TEL can drive on those roads. perhaps that is why Ahuja sir has NOT used Smerch so far.