THE GARUD STRIKES (16 page)

Tuffy Marwah saw the Pakistanis begin to gather in the west. He did the math and knew an attack on Alpha Company was imminent. He saw the enemy’s fire support group move into position.

Tuffy immediately realized that if he could move a team about five hundred metres forward, he would be able to make life very difficult for the Pakistani fire support group. Up ahead in the distance, he could even spot the ideal position from which he would be able to bring deadly effective, enfilade fire on them. The problem was that between him and that position was five hundred metres of flat, open ground. There wasn’t an iota of cover available anywhere. Tuffy knew that he could well be signing the death warrant of whomsoever he sent out for this job. It took him only a moment to decide. Warning Paunchy and Himmeth, he moved.

Marshalling three LMGs from the nearest platoon, Tuffy headed for the firing position he had chosen. The Pakistanis spotted him immediately. Within seconds, a hailstorm of bullets and bombs was headed his way.

Perhaps fortune does favour the brave. It seemed as though there was a protective bubble around Tuffy and his band of machine gunners. Barring a few scrapes, bumps and the odd splinter injury, they reached their objective unscathed.

Now it was the turn of the Pakistani fire support group to suffer. Right through the Pakistani attack on Alpha Company, Tuffy forced their fire support group to keep their heads down, reducing their effectiveness to near negligible levels.

Tuffy was still there when the Pakistani attack faltered, broke, and they began to fall back in shambles. Many more fell to his waiting guns.

It is certain that every Pakistani soldier who took part would have known the sheer folly of such an assault, yet not one of them faltered. The result was a foregone conclusion, yet one has to salute such bravery, even in the enemy. The attack was as ill-conceived as the charge of the Light Brigade. The result was certainly as unfortunate—33 Baluch lost seventy-five men and 12 AK had thirty killed, including an officer. So intense and accurate was the Indian firing that the Pakistanis, in their hurry to get away, left sixty-six of their bodies behind.

‘That was the exact number,’ Paunchy said with conviction, ‘because when I went back to Kodda last year, I actually spoke to one of the villagers who had been there at that time. He remembered they had buried sixty-six Pakistani bodies. I have it on videotape.’

With the back of the attack broken, the Pakistani troops began to fall back in disarray.

By now, the guardsmen of Alpha Company were running low on ammunition. Realizing this, the Company Senior JCO Subedar Makhan decided to innovate a bit. A Jat from Haryana, Makhan was a World War II veteran and had also seen intense action in Kashmir. He was a solid, unflappable man, fast on his feet and seldom perturbed by anything, no matter how fraught the situation.

Ordering his boys to use the 303 rifles they had captured earlier that morning from the Pakistani Razakars, Alpha Company began to pick off the fleeing enemy.

So intense was the carnage that several Pakistani soldiers hit the ground and played dead. Unfortunately, a smoke grenade being carried by one of the Pakistani soldiers exploded and set fire to the dry paddy that had been harvested only recently. The fire stampeded those who had been pretending to play dead and they got up to run. None of them got very far.

The Pakistani companies that had been decimated during this brave, but ill-conceived attack had constituted the 14 Pak Infantry Divison reserves. Their loss seriously unsettled the Pakistanis. So much so that they now called for an air strike.

Moments later, four F-86 Sabre jets screamed in. They carried out three rocketing and strafing runs over the target area. Luckily for the guardsmen, they were so close to the Pakistani frontline that the Sabres left them alone. However, 18 Rajputs, a little further away, took the brunt of this airstrike. Luckily, they suffered no major damage.

As soon as the attack broke, Paunchy moved forward with a section to mop up and ensure there was no enemy still lingering in the area. They were sweeping over the company front when something on the wrist of one of the dead Pakistani soldiers caught his eye. It looked familiar. Paunchy went closer. It was.

Paunchy retrieved the HMT wristwatch that he had not so long ago gifted to his batman, Lance Naik Pirbhu Ram.

Perhaps this was God’s way of delivering punishment on the now dead Pakistani, a soldier from 33 Baluch: all professional soldiers frown upon looting and pilfering: it is not the warrior’s way.

Paunchy tucked the HMT watch in his pocket, and resolved to deliver it to Pirabhu’s family. He knew they would cherish it as much as Pirabhu had.

Seeing the Pakistani attack building up against Alpha Company, Captain Maneck brought the battalion 81 mm Mortars into action immediately. Directed by the Mortar OP with Alpha Company, the mortars began to rain fire on the Pakistanis as they gathered for the assault. The mortar platoon was deployed near Chandi, and Maneck could actually eyeball the incoming assault; perhaps that is why his mortar fire had such deadly effect.

By now, however, the Pakistani artillery was also in action. Within minutes, the 4 Guards Mortar platoon drew their ire. The very first Pakistani artillery salvo scored, taking out the mortar on the extreme left.

‘That is when we lost Uday Bhan,’ Sube’s gaze was fixed on something in the distance. He obviously found the memory upsetting even now. ‘Uday Bhan was a rock solid guy. The boys were very upset when we lost him. But we kept going … there was no time to think.’ He was silent for a little while, and when he did resume his tone, it had gone mellow. ‘We kept firing almost non-stop, moving from one fire task to the other.’

Despite the intense counter-bombardment, egged on by Maneck, the remaining mortars continued providing defensive fire to Alpha Company. However, Alpha Company’s problems were mounting. They increased further as, once again, a Pakistani tank came into view. Following closely behind it was some Pakistani infantry.

Seeing the tank bearing down on them, Paunchy thanked his stars that at least one of the RCL guns was with him now. Sahni had delivered it just moments ago.

‘Major C.K. sahib was very happy to see us when we reached with our RCL,’ said Mukund, with a smile that communicated relief, which must have been mutual: Paunchy’s at finally getting an anti-tank weapon, and for Mukund’s detachment, at the opportunity to be able to support their rifle companies after being stuck in the mud and blasted by enemy artillery and air for all these hours.

They had just finished deploying the RCL near the MMG detachment commanded by Naik Didar Singh when first light arrived. With it came another Pakistani assault, led by a tank, which came thundering up along the railway line.

‘Didar was amazing. He took out several Pakistani soldiers before the tank began to lay down suppressive fire. The tank was using its machine gun, not the main gun, but its fire was very effective. Nothing happened to Didar, but one of the tank machine gun rounds smashed into the charging handle of my RCL’s spotting rifle,’ Mukund gave an exasperated cluck. ‘It got jammed, and no matter what we tried, we could not free it.’

Captain Sahni, who had helped deliver the RCL gun to Alpha Company, saw them struggling with the charging handle. Realizing something was amiss, he made his way forward and tried to hammer the charging handle loose. Sahni was doing that when his knee accidentally hit the firing knob and the RCL main gun, which had just been loaded, fired.

‘The RCL was already pointed in the general direction of the Pakistani tank,’ Mukund’s smile was full of mischief. ‘It didn’t hit the tank but must have spooked him enough to take off.’

After that, the enemy tanks did not venture near Alpha Company. In fact, things began to actually quieten down a bit.

‘The artillery and mortars were still pounding at us, but by now we were also becoming somewhat used to them,’ Mukund added after a moment’s thought. ‘I don’t mean we were taking it lightly or anything because every now and then they would get lucky and someone would get injured. But…’ he shrugged, ‘you know how it is … how long can anyone stay hunkered down?’

Also, by now, hunger pangs had begun gnawing at the RCL gunners. The mud, slush and river water had ruined the food they had been man packing. Even water was running low. Mukund, of course, had run dry several hours ago.

So, braving the occasional artillery shell that lit up the sky sporadically, and the firefly-like pinpricks of machine guns, Mukund forayed for food. There were a couple of abandoned houses around, but the pickings were slim and Mukund returned empty-handed.

The RCL gunners slept on empty stomachs yet again. Not that they slept much; the constant rumble of guns ensured that.

And with the new dawn came new orders—for the RCL detachment to link up with Delta Company.

It had been a long night for Delta Company as well. By now casualties had mounted and, as with the rest of the unit, the food was ruined and there was very little water too.