Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

As an elite unit of the Indian Army, the 7th Brigade naturally inherited all the characteristics of the Indian Army.

Jet Battalion had a total of 5 infantry companies, one of which was assigned to the Sikh Battalion, while the Sikh Battalion also assigned one of its main force companies to Jet Battalion.

According to Raji's plan, two of his five infantry companies were placed in Hebei, and the other three in Henan.

Several positions can coordinate their firepower.

However, to Raj's surprise, Sikhlian did not choose to stay with Jetlian after entering Hebei.

After surveying the terrain, Sikhren positioned his position opposite Jet Company, and the bunker's firing ports were also aimed at Jet Company.

This infuriated the opposing Jet infantry company.

In their view, Sikhan were targeting them.

Sikhan completely ignored Jetlian's request to change the firing ports and point them toward the river.

The verbal battle between the two companies reached Raj's battalion headquarters.

Raj was also extremely troubled by Sikhan's actions, but after trying to persuade him for a long time, it was to no avail.

In the end, Raj had no choice but to give up and choose to believe Sikhan's reasons.

However, after returning to their position, Jetlian immediately built a bunker in the direction of Sikhlian, with the bunker's firing ports also aimed at Sikhlian.

After carefully climbing the hilltop, the 211th Regiment's reconnaissance team immediately discovered a group of Indian army bunkers built on the back slope.

Looking at the intelligence sent back by the reconnaissance team, Li Ruyi's expression was very serious.

"The main Indian army bunkers are built on the reverse slope, making it difficult for our heavy firepower to directly strike them."

"Moreover, the terrain of this hill is very steep. If the Indian army can set up two firing points on the ridge to form flanking fire, we will have to pay a considerable price if we want to attack."

Hearing Li Ruyi and others analyzing the situation, the scout who came to report suddenly spoke up again.

"Uh, Commander, it seems we don't have flanking fire."

"No flanking fire?" Everyone's eyes immediately turned to the scout.

“Our group split up to conduct reconnaissance of the mountain ridge, but we did not find any Indian army positions, and we also discovered something unusual.”

"What's wrong?" Li Ruyi asked.

"It seems that the Indian army bunkers only have firing ports on one side."

"What do you mean? What do you mean by only one side?" Li Ruyi said he didn't understand.

"Commander, I can't explain it clearly either. I'll draw it for you and you'll understand."

As he spoke, the scout drew a simple diagram on a piece of white paper.

Although the map is very abstract, Li Ruyi can still tell that it is the terrain of Hebei.

However, Li Ruyi couldn't understand the Indian army bunkers and their firing range that the scouts had marked on the hilltop.

"Are you sure you read that correctly?"

“I’m sure I didn’t see wrong.” The scout said firmly, “We risked conducting close reconnaissance, and the Indian army’s bunkers only have firing ports on one side, not the other.”

There are thirty or forty Indian bunkers on the hilltop, forming a multi-layered circular position. However, all the firing ports of the bunkers face outwards, and the back is a solid wall.

Kong Wenhua was also full of confusion: "What are the Indians thinking? Do they think we're only capable of a frontal attack?"

Normally, in addition to providing crossfire, bunkers should at least have the ability to operate independently.

If you only point the firing port in one direction, you are practically putting your life in someone else's hands.

"Regardless of what the Indian army thinks, this is our opportunity."

Li Ruyi immediately ordered, "Have the 5th Company maintain its feigned attack posture, and the 6th Company launch a flanking attack from this side."

"Reinforce the 6th Company with the recoilless rifle platoon from the 2nd Battalion. First, break through the enemy's defenses from the front, then launch a central attack to take down the enemy's position."

It was difficult for the 6th Company to cross the mountains, but when they finally got over the hills and launched their attack, the situation was completely different.

Indian army bunkers couldn't even withstand continuous fire from large-caliber heavy machine guns, let alone 57mm recoilless rifles.

Relying on heavy firepower to clear the way, the 6th Company broke through the Indian army's position in just 20 minutes.

This completely threw the Indian army into a panic.

The Indian army bunkers had no firing range against the central troops who had penetrated deep into their territory.

In just half an hour, the 6th Company had already demolished more than 20 bunkers.

During this time, Sikhlian tried to call for backup, but Jetlian was clearly just watching the show and wouldn't help them.

The Sikh company commander slammed the phone down on the table and swept everything off the table onto the floor, cursing angrily.

"Shortsighted! They only see what's in front of them. Don't they think about what will happen to the Jet Battalion if we lose?!"

He set up his position on the back slope, intending to ambush the central army, but he didn't expect the central army to come from behind.

This rendered his main forces deployed on the position ineffective.

Jet Company's position had mortar positions, so if Jet Company were willing to provide support, Sikh Company could still fight.
But Jetlian chose to stand by and do nothing, leaving Sikhlian to fight on his own now.

"Pass on my order: all frontline troops are to be redeployed and prepare for hand-to-hand combat!"

"Warriors! Show the Sikhs their might and let the enemy see what a true war god is!"

The Sikhs are known for their exceptional fighting spirit, being among the most courageous and willing to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

At this time, the Chinese army was equipped with automatic rifles, and both the length of the rifles and the length of the bayonets were inferior to those of the Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifles used by the Indian army.

However, after so many years of changes, the Chinese military has long since developed a complete set of assault rifle combat techniques.

The Indian soldiers had just charged out of the bunker with shouts when they were shot down by a barrage of bullets.

A small group of three or four soldiers, working together, provided continuous firepower.

The Sikhlian soldiers tried several times but found they couldn't get close to the central army soldiers at all.

Even if one or two Indian soldiers occasionally manage to emerge from a corner, they will be knocked to the ground by the soldiers.

Seeing that their final melee attack had failed, Sikhlian's morale collapsed instantly, and everyone scattered.

Upon learning that the 6th Company had suffered no casualties other than two soldiers who sprained their ankles while climbing the mountain, Li Ruyi was overjoyed.

"The Indian army has made a foolish mistake!"

"Tell the 6th Company to ignore the routed troops and continue attacking the enemy in Hebei!"

Based on the combat situation of the 5th Company, the main force of the Indian army in Hebei is all facing the river.

If their bunkers were also laid out in this way, the 211th Regiment could easily encircle and annihilate the entire Jet Battalion.

Jet Company's main position in Hebei was even worse than that of Sikh Company.

After the recoilless rifles destroyed the bunkers facing west, the Indian army's position was rendered incapable of resistance.

The soldiers could easily have walked to the back wall of the bunker while humming a tune, then blew the wall down with explosives, and threw grenades through the hole.

Only after the grenades exploded would the soldiers carry their automatic rifles in and, regardless of whether the Indian soldiers were dead or alive, unleash a barrage of fire.

Inside the Jet Battalion headquarters, Raj listened to one bad report after another from the operations staff, his face growing paler and paler.

It was only then that he suddenly realized that the Indian media's reports on the Chinese side seemed to be completely inaccurate.

Is this due to weak combat capabilities?
If this is weakness, then what about the Indian army, the third largest in the world?
Raj decided to give up: "Everyone! I order!"

"Battalion Commander! Something terrible has happened!" Before Raj could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the disheveled deputy battalion commander.

The moment Raj saw the deputy battalion commander, his heart skipped a beat.

As early as when the battle had just begun, he ordered the deputy battalion commander to retreat to the pre-command post.

The fact that the enemy has suddenly appeared here in such a disheveled state can only mean one thing: their reserve and logistics units have been attacked and completely destroyed.

Sure enough, the deputy battalion commander's next words made Raj's heart sink to the bottom.

"The enemy suddenly attacked from behind, and the rear guard position has been lost."

"Fortunately, I managed to withdraw most of my troops."

Raj's face was ashen. "What I want isn't to retreat, it's the position! The position!"

They made it sound nice that they withdrew with most of their troops, but what was the reality? It was just a retreat.
The loss of the rearguard position meant that Jeter's camp was now surrounded.

Now, Jet Camp is surrounded by snow-capped mountains to the south and a river to the north, leaving them uncertain about their future.

"Pass on my order: all troops shall retreat to Nongwan Yagong and prepare to hold out for reinforcements."

According to Raj's plan, Jet Battalion only needs to hold out for four to five hours before the reinforcements sent by the brigade headquarters should arrive.

Upon learning that the Indian army intended to hold out to the death, Li Ruyi was overjoyed.

He really wanted to reach an agreement with the Indian army.

"Immediately establish a complete encirclement. Each battalion and company's mortars should set up positions on the spot and work together with the heavy mortar company. I'll treat the Indians to a meal of steel meat soup!"

Listening to the continuous shelling overhead, Raj paced back and forth in the command post, chain-smoking one cigarette after another.

If the Indian army was arrogant before, Raj is now terrified.

Compared to the Chinese army, the Indian army, not to mention its combat capabilities, is completely outmatched in terms of firearms and artillery.

However, Raj clearly found out a little too late.

After bombing the Indian army positions several times, the 211th Regiment began to advance from the east and west.

By this time, the Indian soldiers had already lost all morale due to the intense artillery bombardment.

Indian soldiers believe that such firepower should not exist in the world.

During World War II, neither their masters nor the Japanese had ever experienced such intense firepower.

The 211th Regiment's charge was met with almost no resistance.

The Indian army's non-resistance tactic was so practiced.

Just as the 211th Regiment began its frontal attack, the 212th and 213th Regiments also began their own operations.

The mission of the 212th Regiment was to attack Kalong, cut off the connection between Saizhanghu, Qiandeng and Chedong and Linglong, and create favorable conditions for the next step of dividing and eliminating them.

However, the distance between Kalong and Che Dong was too close, and an accident occurred when the 212th Regiment fought.

The Indian Army has three bunker complexes in the Karon area, with a total of more than 150 bunkers.

Faced with a dense cluster of bunkers, the 212th Regiment could not launch a frontal assault, but instead adopted a strategy of large-scale flanking maneuvers and rapid infiltration.

The 212th Regiment deployed in company-sized units to flank the enemy and launch an attack.

Sometimes the soldiers would even break through several lines of Indian defense and fight from the rear.

Like the Jaitsky Battalion, the Indian army never imagined that the Chinese would attack them from behind.

The Indian troops, who were completely undefended on their rear, were almost entirely wiped out or surrendered.

Moreover, Indian army command posts are usually located at the rear, meaning that once a battle begins, the Indian army command posts are often the first to be attacked.

Faced with the unstoppable advance of the Chinese army, Indian soldiers fled in panic.

As a result, the 3rd Company of the 212th Regiment was chasing the Indian army when they suddenly arrived at Chedong.

The two sides immediately engaged in fierce fighting.

Moreover, not long after the 3rd Company arrived, the 4th Company also accidentally wandered in.

Originally scheduled to be last, the car show started getting lively early.

The original plan was to take down Karon with two battalions, but the Chinese forces were actually fewer than the Indian forces.

With the addition of the 213th Regiment's flanking attack on Sanchakou, the entire Indian 7th Brigade's position was thrown into chaos.

Looking at the battles taking place everywhere on the map, Vikas, the commander of the Indian 7th Brigade, was completely dumbfounded.

"The central army will either come from the east or the west, how could they possibly come from all directions?"

"They went straight over the mountains, didn't they think about how to resupply them?"

In Vikas's view, if the battle reached a stalemate and there was no logistical support, the central army would probably collapse directly.

Chief of Staff Vijay, who was standing nearby, said, "Sir, this tactic by the enemy has actually given us the advantage on the battlefield."

"As long as we hold our ground, the enemy will collapse without a fight."

Vikas nodded: "Yes, I think so too."

"Tell all units to hold their positions firmly and use the fortifications to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy."

"Be careful not to pursue rashly, even if we have the advantage."

"If we really want to pursue them, we should not go deep into the mountains, to avoid the enemy feigning defeat and setting up an ambush."

Vikas had studied the battles between the Chinese army and the Japanese and American armies in depth, and he discovered that the Chinese army was extremely fond of ambushes.

His 7th Brigade must not follow in the footsteps of either of them.

While Vikas confidently awaited news of victory, the 3rd Battalion of the 212th Regiment had already arrived at a point less than 1 kilometer from Zhanduo.

After looking at the map and then carefully examining the Indian troops' positions through binoculars, Battalion Commander Li Zhe looked at the map again.

"That's right, this is the place, but why would the Indian army command be located in the basin?"

Looking at the map, Li Zhe was completely baffled.

As the command center of a brigade, even if it doesn't engage in direct combat, it should at least occupy advantageous terrain.

The instructor standing nearby said, "If you don't understand, don't think about it. Don't worry about why the Indian troops are staying in the pit. Since they chose this auspicious place themselves, let's send them on their way."

"Forget it, I won't consider it." Li Zhe nodded.

"Let's take down the enemy positions that they've placed on the high ground on the west side of the battlefield."

According to reconnaissance, the main force of the Indian army was all at the bottom of the pit. However, the Indian army was not foolish enough to stay there. They placed a reinforced company on the high ground as a guard.

"Pass on my order: artillerymen, set up your guns and prepare for fire support."

"The 9th Company will outflank the enemy from the right flank to the east, preventing the enemy from escaping back to the brigade headquarters."

"The 8th Company seized the mountain pass on the south side to prevent the enemy from escaping to Bhutan."

"The 7th Company advances covertly, preparing for a surprise attack."

"Everyone, move out immediately!"

With Li Zhe's order, all troops began advancing towards their respective objectives according to plan. (End of Chapter)