North of the town, it wiped out the forest and ate up the convoy of resupply trucks that were moving to Fernandez’s unit. A second later it swept past the Pinaka launchers, rolling them into the wall of debris and flame along with all of Paratroopers from the 12TH Battalion posted there…
Pathanya, Vikram and the other members of Spear team dived for cover. They were six kilometers west of the village occupied by the 11TH Para Battalion, when they saw the flash of light over the ridges to their east.
The snow on all peaks around Barshong instantly flashed away under the intense heat and revealed the brown rocky layers underneath. Vikram saw the pressure wave rapidly approaching them as it engulfed the valley and the village and he covered his head with his hands behind the boulders a few seconds before the shockwave swept past them…
There was one unique strategic aspect to the nuclear chaos.
When Chakri had been told that the Heron UAVs had provided them with the most crucial piece of real-time intelligence of this war, he had also recognized that it had given them an advantage not shared by Beijing.
They knew that China intended to use nuclear weapons before they actually used them. And so while the launchers in Tibet were being readied for launch, perhaps the Chinese high command was as well?
Chakri had ordered Iyer to confirm via Malhotra and his RISAT-1 satellite what the status was at a particular location west of Beijing. Following that, he had given Iyer the one special order aside from the preemptive strike against the DF-21C launchers. That order now went into play just as the explosions ripped the Bhutanese mountains apart.
The citizens of Baghdogra were once again witnesses to yet another Indian ballistic-missile launch as a massive Agni-III ICBM lifted off from its canister north of the town and climbed into the early morning sky with a loud, thundering rumble. It climbed slowly, gathering speed as it accelerated into the low hanging clouds, its hot exhaust parting them like god’s hand…
The surprise was total. But then again, it was meant to.
The RISAT-1 satellite had confirmed to Malhotra and Iyer that members of the CMC were still arriving at the helipads near the underground complex used as their national command center. The satellite had shown Mi-17s parked on the ground and other Z-8s and Z-9s arriving from Beijing.
The window was short, but usable.
The massive two-thousand kilogram high-explosive unitary warhead of the Agni-III dived past the stunned ground-radar crews around Beijing and exploded directly above the helipads. It caught several of the helicopters on the ground and others in the air as spherical pressure wave smashed them aside along with the parked vehicles. A massive shockwave expanded on the ground in a circle and flattened all of the trees in the forests near the helipads while a smoke filled mushroom cloud rose into the air…
//BRITISH JOURNALIST//BBC //IAN SHARP //PHONE INTERCEPT //THIMPU // BEGIN TRANSCRIPT//
“… something has happened! … No, we saw two flashes! … I haven’t seen anything like it in my life. One was definitely over Paru. The other was to the north somewhere! We have heard from the Indian soldiers here that all communication with Paru has been lost. … Thimpu? Utter confusion here. No idea if I will be able to call you chaps back or not. In any… Hello? Can you hear me? Ah, okay. Yes, two definite nuclear detonations over Bhutan. That’s all I can confirm for now! I … Yes, the King is still here last time we checked. God knows what’s happening now. Look, I have to go. Will try and call later. Tell my…”
//HOST SIGNAL LOST//RECONSTRUCTION TERMINATED
//END TRANSCRIPT
The view went from black to blurry as Colonel Dianrong regained consciousness. He instantly coughed and found himself lying on his side. The cables and harness attached inside the helicopter were dangling down from above while dust swept through the open sides of the cabin with the wind.
He tried to push himself away from his seat but realized he was still strapped to it. He also had an immense headache and felt blood dripping over his eyelids. A check with his hand showed he was bleeding from some gash above his eyes. His hands were covered in dust and he saw broken branches and leaves strewn inside the cabin.
As his vision cleared, he saw the smashed cockpit glass up front and the two dead pilots, still strapped in their seats with blood splattered over the instruments and the glass. As his sense of smell started returning, he thought he smelled cordite. He coughed some more as he heard the distant yelling of orders…
The sounds kept becoming louder and louder until he heard boots trampling through the broken tree branches and frantic orders yelled by a young voice. PLA soldiers ran over and started checking inside the cabin. Two of them saw Dianrong alive as the fuselage of the Z-9 rested on its side. They banged on the side-door glass, slid it open and clambered inside before beginning to open Dianrong’s seat harness.
“Sir, we will get you out of here. Don’t worry.” the young PLA Lieutenant said. Dianrong coughed heavily but nodded as the soldiers lifted him and handed his body to other soldiers outside the cabin. They pushed Dianrong out and two of the soldiers helped him walk away from the small ditch inside the flattened forest a few hundred meters from the helipads.
Dianrong saw the dozen Z-9 and Mi-17 helicopters flying overhead now, their whipping noises parting the still lingering cloud of dust that was giving the morning sun a dull-red haze. The air was filled with noises as hundreds of soldiers were running about trying to check for survivors from other helicopters as well.
The two soldiers brought him close to an opening in the forest where he saw a camouflage-painted Z-9 helicopter parked on the grass. He also saw a PLA Major there, organizing the search-and-rescue effort. The Major saw Dianrong being brought to the helicopter and saluted.
“Where’s General Liu?” Dianrong managed to speak as soldiers lowered him on the grass while PLA doctors began checking his wounds. The Major was too busy giving orders and didn’t hear him over the noise.
“Where is he?” Dianrong said again and grabbed the Major by his arm to make him look.
“Who, sir?” the Major asked.
“General Liu.”
The Major was silent for several seconds and then shook his head. The medical officer began cleaning his forehead wound with cotton-padding as Dianrong grasped the news. He turned to the Major again.
“And comrade chairman?” he asked worriedly.
“We haven’t found the comrade chairman’s helicopter yet,” the Major said soberly. “We are looking now. It took us this long just to find you and General Liu out here! Some of the C-M-C members are alive, but in critical condition. We have taken them to the hospital inside the center.”
“How did they know? What happened?” Dianrong said to himself.