Chapter Nineteen

  On the evening of October 6, I was having dinner in the command post. Deputy Chief of Staff Lan went out for a walk to exercise. Vice Commander-in-Chief Xiang returned to rest. Chief of Staff Han and others also went to the 53rd Regiment to inspect the situation of each battalion, leaving only me on duty. I felt hungry but had no appetite, so I couldn't eat much. After forcing down a bowl of rice, I put down my chopsticks and called someone to clean up. Guard Liu Hu poured a cup of hot water for me and said, "Commander, have a drink." I took the water, drank a mouthful, and asked, "Liu Hu, has Li Qi's reconnaissance team returned?"

  Liu Hu shook his head and said: "No, he would have come back to report reconnaissance intelligence long ago if he wanted to."

  "En." I said again: "Has Dong Zhi not arrived yet?"

  "No."

  I rubbed my head and said, "People can't be lazy. Just a few days without exercising, the body already feels uncomfortable." Liu Hu heard this and laughed, saying, "Captain, you've been busy these past few days and didn't have time to spare. Besides, Captain, you're about the same age as me, what could possibly happen?"

  I chuckled and said: "You little scamp, after we finish the fight. Let's practice together, it's been a long time since I last trained you."

  Liu Hu's face turned white, and he said pitifully: "Captain, you don't want your best guard to go missing, do you? Just let me off, you're not human!"

  I burst out laughing. At this time, Guo Wei from the communication team came in with a telegram in his hand and said: "Captain, there is a telegram from the East Command."

  I immediately took the telegram from Guo Wei's hand, read it and said: "Good." After that, I told Guo Wei: "Immediately send a telegram to the Eastern Headquarters, saying that the Front Command expresses its gratitude for the support of the Eastern Headquarters. You organize the words and send the telegram immediately."

  "Yes." Guo Wei turned around and went out to execute the order.

  I took another look at the telegram, which detailed the commanders on the Pakistani side and the main officers in charge of each level. The commander on the Pakistani side was Major General Khattak, Chief of Staff of the 4th Corps, who graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England. What caught my attention was that his records showed he had never held a commanding position in any unit or led any battles. After graduating from Sandhurst, he relied on his kinship with Nehru to serve in the Army Headquarters and climb up to his current rank. It seems that Pakistan's appointment of a Chief of Staff without any combat experience to directly command frontline troops was a mistake, which is good for us. I forgot that I also hadn't led any battles, so Khattak and I are on par.

  Soon, Li Qi also returned, and he came in with the chief of staff Lan. He reported his reconnaissance situation to me, which was basically consistent with my previous estimate. Combining this with the intelligence sent by Dong Zhi, I clearly knew that our current enemy is the 4th Division of the 4th Army, the 7th Infantry Brigade, with 5 regiments under its command, deployed in a left, middle and right formation, each with one regiment, the brigade headquarters is located on the middle route, and the remaining two regiments are behind as mobile forces. After listening to his report, I let Li Qi go back to rest. After Li Qi left, I showed Dong Zhi's telegram to Chief of Staff Lan. After he finished reading it, he said: "The balance of victory in this battle has already tilted in our favor."

  "Oh? You're one who claims victory before the battle has even begun!" Lan's chief of staff said with some surprise.

  "Come and see." I pointed to the map and said, "Actually, the fate of the 7th Brigade was sealed when they entered the Kelulang area. First, let's take a look at the terrain of the Kelulang River Valley: on the west side are the mountains of Bhutan, on the north is the Tagla Mountain Range, the entire terrain is a triangular-shaped pocket, with ravines and gullies crisscrossing, making it extremely difficult to maneuver. The 7th Brigade came here to set up defenses, which was simply suicidal; let's take another look at the deployment of the 7th Brigade, three regiments were spread out along the Kelulang River, with a frontage of 12 miles, no depth, no cover for the flanks, and no reserve troops. The Kelulang River itself is a small stream that can be easily crossed, there's nothing to defend, this kind of defensive deployment is like an eggshell, one poke and it breaks."

  Lan Canmou listened and watched from the side, nodding in great agreement: "That makes sense, that makes sense."

  "I excitedly said: 'Don't let Xi Zong attack, once he attacks, I'll devour his 7th Brigade from head to tail.'"

  "Alright, I'll go draft an action plan now. You take a look at it later, and if there's no problem, we'll report to Dong Zhi."

  "Good." I nodded in agreement.

  The chief of staff immediately returned to his staff room and began making plans with the staff, I am now in a state of excitement, pacing back and forth.

  On October 7, I discussed with Deputy Commander-in-Chief the plan that Staff Officer Lan had rushed to complete overnight and added a few more steps before immediately submitting it to Dong Command for approval. At the same time, I ordered each regiment to enter combat readiness immediately and be ready to engage in battle at any moment. Also, pay attention to the physical condition of soldiers, rest their minds, and arrange work and rest time reasonably.

  The world on October 8, 2062. The 9th Punjab Battalion of the Western Garrison Patrol Brigade had 56 soldiers, under the personal command of Lieutenant Colonel Chandhar, who set out at dawn and arrived in Chidong at 3 pm.

  "The enemy has moved, they've moved." Old Han excitedly ran into the command center and shouted. I listened with excitement and said: "Good." Old Han continued to say: "The 519th Regiment sent back a message saying: A vanguard of about 50 people from the Western Army occupied Shicheng at 3 pm. They are now building defensive positions."

  "I said: 'Send a telegram to the east immediately, requesting to go on the offensive and carry out Operation Winter Storm'."

  "Yes."

  I anxiously waited for orders in the command center. The deputy commander, puffing on a cigarette, said: "Should we urge them again?" I thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

  Two hours later, I finally received the order. However, the order instructed us to hold off for the time being and wait for further instructions. I looked at it, slammed my fist on the table and said: "What's going on? What kind of nonsense is this? Why aren't we attacking?"

  The deputy commander and Lan's chief of staff looked at each other, and the latter advised: "Perhaps there are other arrangements above."

  I listened, threw my military cap on the table and said: "Order all departments to rest, stop attacking, and wait for orders." I told Deputy Commander Cheng and Staff Officer Lan: "You two watch here, I'll go take a nap." After finishing speaking, I left. Deputy Commander Cheng shook his head and said: "After all, he's still young." Staff Officer Lan said: "Let's wait for the next order from the Eastern Command."

  On the night of October 10, I was woken up by General Heo's chief of staff and told: "The Eastern Command has issued an order to launch a counterattack, but we are not to execute Operation Winter Thunder for now." As soon as I heard this, I jumped up hastily. While putting on my clothes, I gave the order: "Why?" "It was said that this is just a probing action by the Western Army." After thinking for a moment, I said: "Order the 519th Regiment to send one company to launch a counterattack."

  "Yes."

  When I rushed into the command post, everyone was there, a scene of busy activity. After I went in, I said: "Has the 519th Regiment launched an attack?"

  "Not yet, waiting for your order." said General Lan.

  "What?"

  "Team 519 will take some time to prepare for the attack, can't be rushed. We'll launch at 5:00 AM sharp, 10 minutes from now."

  "Good."

  October 10th 05:00 I held the walkie-talkie and said to Commander Kong of the 519 Brigade on the other end: "I order! Attack."

  "Yes."

  Before long, I heard the sound of artillery explosions coming from the front. The Battle of Longwitou had officially begun.