Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 547 Attack and Defense of Leh City
The general walked through the labyrinth of simple tunnels on the surface position without seeing a single soldier.The messy digging tools and military supplies were randomly piled up in the tunnel, covered by heavy snow. This is obviously not just the laziness of the soldiers, but the low morale of an army from top to bottom. Only the non-commissioned officers and officers at the grassroots level did not Fulfilling their duties, soldiers muddle along.

After several months of fighting on the border, all the highlands 20 kilometers away from the east to the north of Leh have fallen into the enemy's hands, from the large drones that took off from the large airports behind the enemy, to the small drones that took off from the airstrips on the front line, and even The hand-throwing reconnaissance planes on the frontier highlands can fly over Leh unimpeded.This former important military town has actually been completely exposed to the eyes of the enemy.The only roads and airports to evacuate here are naturally under the control of the opponent's long-range firepower. Once China's drones find trouble, they will call for firepower to strike.

Lieutenant General Meneyam only deployed half of the original army here. Paisad thought it was wise to do so. The entire Ladakh region is located in the lower eastern foothills of the Karakoram Mountains, completely exposed to the condescending enemy. Under the firepower, we can only defend it symbolically.

In fact, in the countermeasures formulated by successive army staffs since 1962 to deal with the large-scale offensive in the north, they are all prepared to abandon Leh. Although the Chinese army actually only crossed Leh from the east in 1962, it did not Here it was captured, but at that time Leh did not yet have an airport and a road network to Srinagar, and the attack was not prepared to last for long due to logistical difficulties.If the enemy expects to firmly control Ladakh and threaten the hinterland of India for a long time, then the military significance of capturing here is still great.Pasad has noticed that during the early air strikes in the Assam area, the Chinese army also deliberately retained some airports and surrounding facilities. It was later proved that China’s offensive was completely different from the punitive strike in 1962. The second is to want to continue to operate in the long run. .

As a place of death, it is impossible to expect the soldiers here to have high morale.

"General, there is no one in the superficial facility? The main force of the enemy is on the line from the Shyok River to Pangong Lake, and they will come over at any time. It is too shameful." Colonel Anuroni, the chief of staff, said out of breath. He has been in the office for a long time Responsible for mapping, the altitude of 3700 meters here makes him a little overwhelmed.

"Colonel, we can't force soldiers to fight in desperation. Look at the enemy's firepower, they are coming from almost every direction. Look!" He said and pointed his finger, a black spot in the clear blue sky was slowly moving, Apparently an enemy surveillance drone.The admiral realized that it was not wise for him to come with a large force, as it would be easier to attract the attention of the enemy.

"My God, the report said that 70% of the anti-aircraft firepower is still here, but I didn't see a single artillery fire." Anuroni said in surprise, he was afraid of following the general to the market rashly, He didn't expect this to be the case here.

"If you open fire, you will only invite a hundredfold retaliation."

"You mean, there is a tacit understanding between the enemy and us? This is simply treason."

"I think so, the enemy is using their air dominance to impose their rules on us."

"Is this psychological warfare?"

"It is indeed a psychological warfare. Didn't you see that they deliberately left half of the airport and road network? They did this in Tawang. They deliberately left a pontoon bridge on the Tawang River so that the defenders would not be destroyed when they attacked. It is easier to collapse on its own." Pasade said that he has been out of the army for 5 months, but he knows the situation on the front line very well. In fact, he has been tracking the situation on the battlefield, waiting for the day when the country can use it.

The drone in the air slowly turned around, the admiral observed with a telescope for a while, and then greeted Anuroni on his way.Logically, it is impossible for the enemy to open fire on just two people, but it is still necessary to guard against someone operating a drone hundreds of kilometers away who is in a panic and casually fires to relieve boredom.The drone flew for a while, then continued to turn, and it circled carelessly over Leh.The Polaris helicopter took off quickly and turned back to Srinagar. After a few hours, it would fly back as agreed to pick up the general.Pasade contacted the vehicles by simple agreement rather than by radio, since he was not very comfortable with the Army code.

The two walked all the way to the periphery of the northernmost central bunker group. The anti-aircraft positions were covered with camouflage nets. There was no one on the emplacements of the 20mm anti-aircraft guns. The enemy obviously did not attack here on purpose. As a rule, one day, when they suddenly asked the army to surrender, they might succeed.

The low iron gate of a bunker is painted with the patron saint of Brahmanism, the Auspicious Goddess, and his elephant mount. It is said that this god can keep the shells away from those who believe in him, but there are no sentries on duty at the gate.The general pushed open the metal gate and entered the dark first floor of the fortress. He saw three people huddled next to a burning gasoline barrel. Most of the observation ports facing the north were blocked with ammunition boxes and cotton cloth. .

"Why are there no sentries outside?" the admiral yelled.The sound drowned out the howling of the cold wind outside.The soldiers warming up inside were startled by the cold wind blowing in and the sudden roar, and turned around one after another.

"You will freeze to death if you keep watch outside." A soldier ventured to say that Pasade's winter uniform does not have a military rank, but his white beard can also explain something. The soldier thought that this old guy is at least a member of the regiment long?

"If the Chinese army touches it, it will destroy all of you."

"No, as long as we don't fight back, they will only blow up the surrounding fortifications." The soldier still said indifferently.

"You poor fools." The general shook his head. "You have no idea what a cunning opponent you are fighting. Well, I need someone to take me to the headquarters of the Minamian brigade commander."

As soon as the words fell, a shell fell not far from the bunker, and the air wave rushed in through the shooting hole, carrying a strong smell of gunpowder smoke.Since the admiral landed here, most of the shelling he heard was towed 122mm howitzers. The Chinese are very good at using the higher altitude to play the ultimate range of these weapons, but this one is different and obviously more powerful Big.

"152mm howitzer? It's coming from the east. Maybe it's the artillery regiment of the division?" He quickly turned to the rear of the artillery mirror and saw an ammunition box. He quickly moved away from the things blocking his view. "Their artillery positions have moved forward to the upper reaches of the Qiangchenmo River. And we don't have much time." The old man muttered to himself, continued to remove the tatters on both sides of the firing holes, and turned left and right.

From the east to the north, the mountains are a vast expanse of whiteness, and nothing can be seen. Obviously, the curved firepower is coming from behind the mountains in the east. The enemy's scouts will not be able to touch the vicinity, but their drones can observe the fall. point.

"The second round was not dropped. This is a test firing. They are about to launch a larger bombardment. How is the situation nearby?"

"In the past two months, General Meneam, according to the plan, abandoned 107 prominent strongholds and an occupied area of ​​450 square kilometers to improve his system. The enemy is pressing forward step by step." Chief of Staff Anuro Ni opened the book and said.Recently, the front line has observed that the enemy is using helicopters to transport troops westward through the Kongka Pass. The scale is not yet clear.When American satellites reconnaissance in this area, they often encounter blinding attacks from high-energy laser beams.Apparently the enemy wanted to take down the city and then attack Srinagar. "

"I know that." The general said, "but don't jump to conclusions until I have verified it."

Xu Jingzhe has been sitting in the intelligence center of RKZ, patiently waiting for intelligence feedback from all sides.What he cares most about is naturally the ongoing high-level military conference in India. He got the news that Pasad was out of the mountain in advance. In principle, he would prefer Singer to continue to command, but no matter who comes up, as long as the means of military deception are effective, the result will not make much difference.

Throughout the morning, there was surprisingly little news. Since Kahan’s health doctor was arrested for betraying information to the West, it is not surprising that the leak of information from India’s top-level meetings has always been seriously delayed.But as of noon, there were not many effective messages from the northern military region that were intercepted.He has been waiting for the results of the air force's interception and killing of Meneam. The enemy turned out to be nothing, not like Meneam himself.

"It would be great if I could kill a lieutenant general." Xu Jingzhe thought to himself. After Assam's beheading was successful, the opponents also began to be wary. The good thing of directly killing the leader can no longer be expected.

"Reporting Director, the head of the Pakistan Intelligence Agency has the latest news." Someone knocked on the door and came in, put a sealed file on the table, turned and went out.

Xu Jingzhe opened the bag, and inside it was the routine information on the mutual exchange between the two parties, only a few lines:

"It is reported that Lieutenant General Pasad, the former chief of staff of the Indian Army, is about to be promoted to general and resume his original post. Other intelligence shows that he has arrived in Srinagar at 3:[-] a.m. your time, most likely at dawn After that, turn to inspect important frontline troops."

"What kind of fanfare is this? Pasade should have attended the military meeting, how could it be brought under his nose at this moment?" Xu Jingzhe said disdainfully.Due to the large-scale anti-espionage operations in India, the recent information of the Pakistan Intelligence Agency has not been accurate. Many insiders have turned to guesswork to submit watered-down intelligence, and the reference value has dropped significantly compared to before.

He mentioned the number 3 phone in front of him: "Today, the enemy's northern military region has jurisdiction over the airports. Is there a special plane for someone to pick you up?"

"Only a few helicopter landings, 2 Mi-17s in Pathankot, flying towards Fort. One helicopter landed in Srinagar, identified by radar as Cheetah, one in Leh Polaris. That's all for now."

Xu Jingzhe thought carefully for a few seconds, and felt that the information was unreasonable, perhaps it was subjective speculation based on the news of Pasade's comeback.In the past two days, the artillery has been shooting at the enemy's frontier strongholds, preparing for a ground attack. The enemy's military leader will not be so blind and send him to the door.And this attack itself is to send a serious signal to the senior Indian generals who are in a meeting, so as to increase their chances of misjudging the situation.

"Has the heavy bombardment of Leh started?"

"It's already started. I'm going to make a base first and observe it."

"Keep an eye on the enemy's airport, do you understand?"

"understood."

Under the leadership of soldiers, Admiral Pasade walked through the underground fortifications extending in all directions.Judging from the increasingly dense vibrations overhead, the enemy's shelling suddenly intensified a lot.Mostly it was to block Leh's support by interdicting it and carry out a battle to pull out a certain stronghold on the outskirts.He has studied the Chinese army for a long time and knows their general tactics very well.

The dim lighting in the passage jumped with the strength of the external shelling. When the shells fell very close, the cement debris on the head fell one after another.Although the enemy is still dozens of kilometers away, this place is clearly the front line.

As soon as they turned a corner, it was the headquarters of the Artillery Brigade directly under the 8th Mountain Division. From a distance, they could hear the communications soldiers of the brigade headquarters, shouting to the front line, trying to overwhelm the voices of the people next to them.

"This is the headquarters... what... what? I can't hear clearly, do you mean Jialong Pass or Qianglong Pass?" Someone shouted, "I can't hear clearly..."

"I know you are under shelling, the entire frontier is under shelling, what kind of support do you request, can you be more specific..."

"We are also very difficult here. As soon as the troops are dispatched, they will be attacked by air. You must persevere."

Calls for help from various areas under the Ministry's jurisdiction have flocked here. Brigadier General Minamiya is walking back and forth at the headquarters, looking out of his mind.He was also anxiously waiting for a reply to the distress telegram.

"Call General Meneam again. I am under full-scale shelling by the enemy from the south of Pangong Lake and the east of the Shyok River. Once the enemy launches a ground attack, I am afraid it will not last long."

"Srinagar replied that the Lieutenant General is not at the headquarters. He has gone to New Delhi for a meeting."

"Is there a plan?"

"The lieutenant general instructed: If you hold on firmly, there will be a way."

"The high-ranking general sneaked away by himself, but let us resist, hehe, it's so interesting."

The dejected brigade commander actually sneered.

"The senior general is here, none of you should panic!"

A voice shouted, and most of the people turned their heads and saw the old man with a livid face suddenly barging in.The Minamian brigade commander was the first to recognize that this was the old chief of staff, Pasade.

"Admiral?"

In an instant, the air seemed to freeze, and the distress communications from the various front lines were also interrupted for a while.

"Don't panic. We must believe that our defense line is strong enough. We must first understand the enemy's intentions." The general stepped forward to squeeze the stunned deputy brigade commander, bent down and lay down on the map, and checked the blue arrow of the enemy just updated .

(End of this chapter)