Chimera (83 page)

“Very well General, go ahead.” The PM replied.

“Firstly, I want to make sure that you understand that I am a professional air-force officer. I do
not
condone the murder of civilians through the use of nuclear weapons or otherwise although I wouldn’t hesitate in the slightest if I had to do it for my nation. Secondly, I am going to go as far as to admit that India has fought us to a draw in multiple sectors. Thirdly, your nation is waging all-out war on mine by attacking our merchant shipping lines, splintering Tibet and launching decapitating strikes against this country’s leadership. And as such, if this continues, I am left with no recourse but to use nuclear weapons even
more
liberally than this morning. That is where we have come,” Wencang said and leaned back in his chair.

“General,” the PM stated, “I accept your points but I want to remind you that
your
country has already tried doing
all
of what you stated and
more!
Simply because we were more effective in doing what you tried and failed does
not
eliminate the perpetrators and their guilt. Secondly, we are at the point now where your nation has
already
used nuclear weapons against a third party, Bhutan, after invading it without provocation! We did not wage war through Bhutan as your media has been claiming for the last two weeks. But we
did
respond to your country’s blatant aggressions there. And when defeated, you resorted to the vile use of nuclear weapons. There will be reparations for that, General. I assure you.”

“
You
used Tibet to try and bleed
us!
We did the same to Bhutan! I see
no
difference whatsoever between the two!” Wencang replied sharply.

“And
I
disagree. So what is the purpose of this conversation, General?” the PM asked calmly. Wencang now leaned forward.

“To end this war while our nations are still left standing, Mr. Prime-Minister. I propose that both sides declare a ceasefire at midnight tonight and withdraw immediately to their pre-war locations. That
both
sides issue statements to that effect and initiate multiple level government contacts to ensure that there are no misunderstandings.”

“We want more than that, I am afraid,” the PM stated.

Wencang sighed.
Of course you do!

“Very well, Mr. Prime-Minister. I am listening.”

EAST OF DAULAT-BEG-OLDI

LADAKH

DAY 15 + 2330 HRS

“
Fire!
” Kulkarni ordered.

The Arjun tank shuddered and the smoke escaped into the turret as the expended shell casing dropped back from the main gun. The smell of cordite was thick in the cramped surroundings. He continued to peer though the sights while the gunner began loading up the next round from the ready-to-use storage.

Further north, a small fireball erupted and metal pieces flew up in the air followed by flames, visible on his night-vision optics as licks of white on a green background. Kulkarni felt the tank rumble as the driver turned it left to maneuver. But the turret remained stabilized on the target lazed by the gunner.

“Sabot up!” his loader shouted over the comms traffic chatter.

“Rhino-One, this is Rhino-Command,” the radio squawked in his headset. Kulkarni identified the voice of his 43
RD
Regiment Commander calling from headquarters collocated near Colonel Sudarshan’s. Kulkarni pressed the headset closer over his ears as the message came in: “We are seeing enemy armor opposite your lines in retreat to the northeast! Can you confirm? Over.”

He poked through the optics again. He saw three remaining Chinese T-99s turning their hulls to the northeast as they retreated, deploying aerosol clouds from their turret canisters…

“Uh, roger,” he replied, his voice reflecting the uncertainty over what was happening amongst the enemy positions. “I confirm enemy armor retreating in full to the northeast, abandoning prepared positions along the M-S-R! Over!”   

Kulkarni checked around and saw on his battlefield-management-system that there were seven other Arjun MBTs still reporting active from the regiment. They had been fighting here for days. And had taken heavy losses while doing so. But there had been few, if any, reinforcements. More to the point, the arrival of the 43
RD
Armored Regiment had stabilized the front opposite numerous Chinese armor units. And so both sides had been slugging it out over here for days with ever dwindling resources on either side.

The 43
RD
AR was down to a force of just three effective platoons, but they still occupied positions two kilometers
east
of the original LAC…

“Rhino-Command,” Kulkarni said as he looked away from the BMS and peered through the optics again, “Rhino is ready to charge and pursue! I have two platoons with me here and I am
good
to go! Over!”

“Negative, Rhino-One,” the regiment commander replied. “Do
not
pursue enemy armor. Rhino will
hold
positions and terminate all further combat operations until further orders! Do you copy?”

The gunner and the loader turned around from their stations to face Kulkarni who looked just as surprised. But he wasn’t about to question his orders…

“Wilco! Rhino
is
holding!”

What the hell…
He thought as he backed away from the optics just as the radio chimed off.

“Sir, did the war just get over?” his loader asked softly.

Kulkarni shook his head in silence, opened the hatch above and pulled himself out into the freezing cold winds. He heard the sounds of artillery fire stopping on the horizon and so did the infantry gunfire noises.

He pulled out his binoculars and noticed that all other seven Arjun tanks around him had also ceased fire. He put the binoculars to his eyes and observed northeast to see the departing dust clouds as Chinese armor pulled away. All surviving Arjun MBTs on the frontline also jerked to a halt and switched off their engines.

Kulkarni heard the whipping rotor blade noise of helicopters and turned back to see the two LCHs under Wing-Commander Dutt and 199HU banking away, departing the warzone as they disappeared into the darkness to the south. There were still random bursts of distant gunfire over the horizon, but they were more erratic and random now.

An eerie silence fell over the valley that soldiers in Ladakh from both sides had not heard for more than two weeks…

“Rhino-One, this is –Two. Did the war just
end?
” the radio squawked.

“Looks like it, –Two,” Kulkarni replied, removed his headset and rubbed his eyes as the moment finally hit him.

It’s over!

EPILOGUE

CHUMBI VALLEY

DAY 16 + 1030 HRS

Colonel Thomas saw the column of PLA soldiers trudging through the valley to the south under watchful eyes of his paratroopers, now wearing their red berets instead of the combat helmets. Their Tavor rifles were slung on their chests and their heavy backpacks were on their shoulders as they carefully escorted the last few columns of the survivors from the PLA 11
TH
Division who had surrendered. His radioman was standing behind him as Thomas watched the column of men pass by him. Each of them gave Thomas a silent, grim glance but said nothing. When the last of those soldiers had walked away, he sighed and began walking as well, leaving the exposed positions they had occupied a few days before.

The encirclement was over.

And their job was done.

The valley would remain unoccupied by both sides for now. As with the rest of Tibet, Bhutan and Ladakh, there were plans in place for the valley as well in the coming weeks. 

THIMPU

BHUTAN

DAY 16 + 1230 HRS

The Dechencholing palace grounds were a hotbed of activity as the King of Bhutan stepped out of the interior buildings wearing the traditional Bhutanese formal dress along with General Potgam in his camo-uniform and beret. The vast number of journalists that had arrived in Thimpu immediately following the ceasefire began throwing questions in a flurry as the King and Potgam walked up to them.

Potgam winced from the camera flashes as the King stared to the south and remained silent. The journalists caught his glare and turned back as well to see the massive light-brown dust cloud rising into the blue afternoon sky above the white-capped peaks south of Thimpu.

The King then turned to see a similar cloud drifting east from the northern hills as well. It took him every ounce of self-restrain he had to prevent tears in his eyes, but even so, a single tear ran down his cheek which was instantly grabbed on camera flashes by the media.

He turned away and saw Potgam standing stoically next to him while the cold winds were shaking the blades of the parked AW-101 helicopter on the grounds behind him, its cockpit glass reflecting the noon sunlight. He removed a small handkerchief from his dress and wiped the tear away, cleared his throat and then turned back to the flashing cameras to outline his request for humanitarian assistance to deal with the nuclear fallout over his once-pristine Himalayan Kingdom…

CHAGRI DORJEDEN MONASTARY

NORTHERN BHUTAN

DAY 18 + 1430 HRS

Vikram took the three cups from the monks and walked over into the courtyard to find Captain Pathanya lying on the small wooden plank-sheathed bed, his left leg wrapped with thick bandages applied by the monks the day before. He was soaking up the sun despite the chilly winds battering hillsides that day.

Vikram walked over and Tarun took his cup from Vikram as he did a balancing act with the cups. Vikram walked up to the edge of the cot and handed Pathanya one of the two steaming cups just as the latter sat up straighter on the bed. Vikram finally took his last cup and walked over to where he had set his backpack and the Tavor rifle on the wall. He sat down, leaned against that wall and sipped the steaming tea, enjoying the taste, the hot fluid and most importantly, the calm…

Bhutan was quiet now, and for the last two days the three men had heard no more explosions or gunfire. And
that
was a welcome change to Vikram in particular, who had grown tired of it after so many days out here. But at the time they
did
have other problems on their hands.

The three men had walked south from their positions west of Barshong after the nuclear attack.

They had trekked over the freezing snow-capped ridges south of Barshong and had walked for more than a day and a half, with Vikram and Tarun taking turns to help Pathanya with his crushed left leg, until they had spotted the orange-brown rooftops of this monastery northwest of Dotanang.

They had walked over to the gates of the monastery on the verge of exhaustion and had been found by the monks inside. The occupants of the monastery had taken the three Indian soldiers inside and given them hot food and whatever medical aid they could. They had even sent a couple of young teenage monks as runners to try and reach the surviving Indian paratroopers at Dotanang to the south for assistance.

Those runners had not yet returned, and so Vikram and Tarun had discussed their options. One of which was that Vikram would leave Tarun here with Pathanya and then make the trip alone to Dotanang, and if required, Thimpu. They hadn’t seen any new flashes of light from the south so there was every expectation that Thimpu had not been nuked, although without radios they couldn’t be sure…

Vikram was still thinking about that as he sipped his tea when he heard the distant rumble of incoming helicopters. Pathanya and Tarun did as well and both men sat up straighter and looked south instinctively. They couldn’t see anything from inside the compound because of the high walls around it. Vikram put down his tea cup, picked the Tavor rifle leaning on the wall next to him and ran towards the main door of the compound. Tarun ran up behind him.