Operation Chimera had been a qualified success. His eastern army’s XXXIII Corps had moved against the two PLA Divisions in the Chumbi valley with all three of its organic Divisions and Suman had also added the 23RD Infantry Division to that list. With this last Division, the 2ND, 5TH and 71ST Mountain Divisions had rolled into Chumbi valley with enough force to deplete the Chinese 55TH and 11TH Divisions as well as all of the Border Guards Regiments there in the past ten days of combat.
The satellite images showed Suman and Yadav what they had wanted to see. Both Chinese Divisions were now slowly pulling back to the north, leaving rear guard units which were either being pushed back or decimated by the advancing Indian forces. The slow retreat of these two Divisions across the valley was also being subjected to heavy aerial bombardment by the IAF. Under all these circumstances, Suman was not sure why they were pulling out their prepared positions, but perhaps they had finally broken the Chinese back.
Maybe… It was one theory. Suman leaned back in his chair.
“What’s the matter?” Yadav asked as he gazed at his army commander.
“Chimera has been a success. That’s for sure. But why would they withdraw? Why now?” Suman added.
“Because we pushed them out,” Yadav added. “No?”
Suman shook his head and let out a deep breath.
“Maybe,” he said after several seconds. “Maybe the fact that Potgam has finally pushed the Highland Division out of northern Bhutan has something to do with this. They know now that their left flank in the valley is gone and we have them by the balls on the right and center.”
“And?” Yadav quizzed.
“You know what they say about an attack that is progressing too well, right?”
Yadav thought about Suman’s words and picked up the images again from the table.
“You think they are luring us north?” he said. “But they have no units there to attack us with. And their 15TH Corps has not arrived yet. And it won’t either if the air-force has anything to say about it. And these two Divisions are in no condition to fight us anymore. Don’t overthink it. It’s about time we took the initiative. Your other forces north of Tawang got hung up on account of that missile attack on Tawang. God only knows when that mess will be cleared enough to allow us to resume our offensive in that sector. So let’s take this opportunity here while it exists. It’s time to kill those two Divisions before they escape the Chumbi valley!”
“Yes sir,” Suman said and then leaned forward to pick the phone.
The constant rumble of the aircraft engines, the vibrations of the fuselage as the winds outside buffeted it and the smell of fuselage metal were all familiar to him. He had done this his entire life. He took a deep breath to inhale the smell of the fuselage in as he removed the maps from his chest pocket and unfolded them on his lap. He removed a small flashlight and lit up the portion of the map he wanted to see one final time. He held the flashlight in his mouth as he studied the maps and all of the red and blue markings he had done on them a few hours before.
It all looked good.
He folded the map back together into neat square folds, stuffed them back in his pocket, sealed the zipper tight, and removed the flashlight from his mouth and flicked it off. He looked up and saw the other paratroopers sitting across from him staring at him in silence. Their faces were covered with streaks of brown and white face-paint and their rifles were tucked into their harnesses. He knew they depended on him staying calm, composed and organized in the middle of all this.
So he nodded slightly and then looked to his left at the hundred other paratroopers also in their seats further up the fuselage cabin. He was sitting very close to the rear ramp and saw the two air-force jumpmasters standing by in their green overalls near the closed ramp doors. Their ears were covered by the earphones as they spoke something inaudible into its mouthpiece.
Colonel Thomas wondered yet again whether he was leading his men to disaster as the time for the jump approached.
Certainly it was a valid question.
Outside, in the skies above southern Tibet, the IAF was renewing its presence. Just as the PLAAF had wanted to remind the IAF that it was far from defeated, the IAF wanted to do the same…
Ten Su-30s from the Hashimara based No. 222 “Tigersharks” Squadron were deploying themselves north of the Chumbi valley on an offensive fighter sweep and were establishing their dominance in the skies. They had already nailed two J-7s on patrol over Lhasa.
Further south, the Phalcon AWACS aircraft from Kalaikunda had replaced the lost CABS AEW aircraft and was providing airborne command and control. A flight of six Mirage-2000s from No. 7 Squadron were on security for this aircraft over northern Sikkim. But the real operation was ongoing over the Chumbi valley…
As the sun was setting to the west, casting a reddish-pink glow to the darkening skies, nine Il-76s in three groups had entered northern Sikkim followed behind by three of the newly delivered C-17s.
Thomas felt the Il-76 fuselage tilt a bit and saw as the last rays of red sunlight coming into the dark fuselage from the portholes disappeared, leaving the fuselage utterly dark except for the glow of the dim orange-yellow lights inside. The warning lights to his side went red and he saw the jumpmasters nodding as they spoke something into their earphones. The chief-warrant-officer glanced at Thomas and caught his look. He nodded.
It was time.
Thomas got up from his seat and so did the hundred paratroopers inside. He heard everybody checking equipment and the jumpmasters shouting orders. He had done this many times in his career. This jump, however, had only been a dream up till this moment.
There was a large shudder and humming noises as the darkness of the cabin disappeared when the two large halves of the aft ramp door opened up. The cabin was immediately lit up with the reddish evening glow from the west. Thomas could see the sun dipping below the horizon to the west and realized that the aircraft had now crossed into Tibet and were flying east, north of the Chumbi valley. As the doors fully opened, freezing winds rushed up the cabin and many of the paratroopers shivered. Thomas patted his pocket to ensure he had his boonie-hat stacked away carefully. From where he stood, at the rear of the cabin, he could see the other nine aircraft flying some distance away.
The jumpmaster patted Thomas on the back and held up five fingers.
Five minutes.
Thomas nodded and then took a deep breath as his heart started pounding. He had done this so many times that the jump did not bother him anymore. But here the jump was only the beginning of the ordeal, not its end.
Below, he saw a large frozen lake pass below on the brown desert-like plains and realized from memory that they were now very near the drop-zone. Sure enough, the light next to him flashed green and the jumpmasters started pushing the ready paratroopers out of the ramp.
The three men before Thomas jumped and their parachutes deployed after the cord connecting them to the aircraft pulled it open. Thomas did not hesitate either. He took the dive instantly and felt the massive slap from the winds on his body. He saw the parachute deploy above his head and it instantly pulled him back by the harness with another jolt. Within seconds he was stabilized and saw the white chute above deployed cleanly and under his control. He saw the long lines of chutes deploying behind and above him from all twelve transports. To his west he saw six Mirage-2000s fully armed with weapons streaking by as they were silhouetted by the setting sunlight.