Chapter 14: Drawing in and then releasing (5)

  (5)

  When a red sun rose over the Malacca Strait, the epic of war opened its bloody new chapter. The 24-hour non-stop air strikes had basically guaranteed India's control over the airspace of the Malacca Strait, and most of the previously selected military targets had been confirmed destroyed. The Indian Air Force began to consider transitioning to strategic bombing, destroying large areas of civilian facilities that Thailand and Malaysia relied on for survival, in order to force the two countries to withdraw from the war.

  The Indian Army, which had been conducting "armed parades" on the eve of the war, finally fired the first shot of the land battle in Sumatra at dawn, although it was a pretty bad start:

  After 18 hours of motorized advance, the Indian 9th Mechanised Infantry Division was the first to enter Medan, the largest city in North Sumatra and still under the control of Lieutenant General Dharsono, the regional military commander. As the provincial capital of North Sumatra, Medan's strategic position was very important.

  It is located on the northern bank of the Deli River in northern Sumatra, near the northernmost tip of the Strait of Malacca. The city has an area of 26 square kilometers and a population of over two million people. Nearby fertile volcanic soil makes it one of Indonesia's largest plantation areas. In addition to processing agricultural products, refining oil, chemical industry, textile industry, machinery manufacturing, it also has modernized petroleum and natural gas extraction bases. A modern port is built on the island of Belawan in the estuary 23 kilometers north of the city, controlling Medan, and the Indian Army established its strongest forward base in northern Sumatra.

  However, the guerrilla warriors of Darbra's boastful loyalty to Japan before were just a motley crew with uneven weapons and equipment in front of Major General Nagregi, commander of India's 9th Mechanized Infantry Division. Many of them were just bandits who received subsidies from the Japanese, and they had no other skills except for looting and bullying civilians. After initially understanding the jagged frontline on the northern island of Sumatra, Nagregi disdainfully rejected Darbra's request for joint operations.

  "In front of the tanks of the Indian Army, all ASEAN soldiers will only tremble with fear."

  Nagraj confidently dispatched an advance force of 30 T-72M1 main battle tanks to capture the next major town that the Indian Army was supposed to control: Dhanja Puri

  。

  Djambi is a coastal city in North Sumatra. Located on the left bank of the Binjai River, about 15 kilometers from the river mouth. The vanguard troops of India's 9th Mechanized Infantry Division formed a column and advanced along the highway, with 30 T-72M1 tanks charging into the city of Djambi. But what greeted them was not the local people's cold gaze, but the enthusiastic cheers of anti-tank mines. The leading tank hit a mine first, and the low-profile T-72 tank shook violently, with its left track scattering all over the ground.

  Before the Indian tank crew could react, countless anti-tank soldiers appeared on both sides of the building. This was undoubtedly an ironic scene: soldiers wearing UN peacekeeping blue helmets used anti-tank rocket launchers to fire at the Indian Army tanks from all directions. They were undoubtedly experts in street fighting, often able to launch attacks from the most advantageous positions, targeting the weakest parts of the tank's armor, such as the sides of the crew compartment, the top of the turret, the rear of the hatch, and the weak points on the sides and front of the tank. The Indian tank crews could only make emergency maneuvers in the narrow space, using all their weapons to fire back at the enemy, with predictable results.

  In a brief 40-minute battle, the Indian Army left behind the wreckage of 27 tanks and over 100 corpses as they retreated westward. It wasn't until after the battle that they realized their opponents were from Cambodia, a small and impoverished country in Southeast Asia.

  Sumatra is approximately 2,600 km long and its width varies between 100 and 400 km. The total area of Sumatra is about 434,000 km2. Together with the surrounding islands, it has a total area of 475,000 km2. It is the sixth largest island in the world. Administratively, Sumatra is divided into ten provinces from west to east: Aceh Special Region, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, Bengkulu, Lampung, Bangka-Belitung Islands and Riau Islands.

  Before the Indian Army intervened, ASEAN forces had basically controlled the eastern regions of Riau, South Sumatra, Bengkulu, Lampung and Bangka Belitung Islands. However, Darul Islam's influence was limited to North Sumatra and Riau Province, and as ASEAN forces continued to advance westward, its control area was also being eroded. It can be seen that if the Indian Army had not intervened, it would only be a matter of time before Darul Islam's power was driven out.

  The advancing main force of the ASEAN army was not the most advanced Singaporean army, nor the fierce Vietnamese, but the 41st Engineer Battalion of the Cambodian army from Southeast Asia.

  The 41st Engineer Battalion of the Royal Cambodian Army has a total strength of 4,500 people, almost all of whom are former Red Khmer comrades. The commander, Major San Yu Cheng, is also from the elite unit of the Red Khmer - the 415th Brigade stationed in Pailin. This time, the Kingdom of Cambodia sent them to Sumatra, which has a bit of a "borrowing a knife to kill" and "trouble from outside" meaning. In the eyes of the ASEAN coalition forces, this unit is a group of fugitives from hell, often used as a vanguard and scout.

  From the landing in Hong Kong, the 41st Engineer Regiment has been the main force chasing Daburaki. From South Sumatra to Lampung, from Lampung to Riau, and then from Riau to North Sumatra Province. Along the way, the 41st Engineer Regiment was like a ferocious wolf that bit down on Daburaki and his guerrilla troops. Often, just as Daburaki had stabilized his position and caught his breath, Shan Yu-cheng's 41st Engineer Regiment would track him down and destroy the stronghold he had just begun to build. If it weren't for the full support of the Japanese government behind him, Daburaki would probably have starved to death in the jungles of Sumatra long ago.

  Apart from hatred and fear, doubts also deeply entwined Daburaky's thoughts. What kind of power could make an army so ferocious? The lone army penetrated deep, biting down on itself and refusing to let go.

  Because he had never experienced such a night - December 25, 1998, when Ta Mok and Nuon Chea announced their surrender to the Royal Cambodian Government in Phnom Penh. As a political force and military force active in Southeast Asia for 38 years, the Red Khmer was no longer present.

  He also never experienced the humiliation of life afterwards - being regarded as a butcher and a killing machine every day, having no friends or greetings, only countless white eyes and knives sharpening behind his back.