THE GARUD STRIKES (23 page)

Luckily, before matters could escalate, Group Captain Chandan landed and took charge. At 1600 hours, the first assault wave was ready to go.

‘It had been decided that my Company would be leading the charge across the Meghna,’ Paunchy was still beaming with pride, as though it was happening all over again. ‘The Old Man decided to accompany us in the first sortie. When we were getting into the chopper, we saw Group Captain Chandan already ensconced inside. Colonel Himmeth was surprised and asked him what he was doing there. I can never forget Chandan’s cheeky grin as he replied that he was coming along to ensure we Army footsloggers got out of the choppers fast enough. None of us said anything. There was no need to. It was courage such as this that had kept us going all these days. It was this attitude, displayed by commanders at all levels that would win the war for us.’

cAir Vice Marshal Chandan Singh,
MVC, VrC, AVSM, (Retd.)
M.B.I.M (London)

T
hough the MI4 chopper usually carries between eight to twelve men with their full battleload, that day the guardsmen had crammed in fourteen to sixteen men in each. In addition, there were also two or three Mukti Bahini guides-cum-porters. Luckily, the choppers were flying out from the stadium so they had enough space to take off. Had they been forced to take off vertically, it is doubtful they could have lifted so many men.

The thirty minute long flight across the Meghna seemed to take forever.

The rear boom doors were open during the flight so the guardsmen could see the river down below.

‘
In full spate, the Meghna looks more like a sea than a river,’ Puanchy remarked. ‘It was an endless expanse of water and no matter where one looked, one could not see the other bank of the river. No unit could have hoped to get across it in any other way and reach the other end as a cohesive, tactically viable, fighting force.’

This was especially true considering the time frame; the Indians did want to keep the Pakistanis on the run and ensure they were not able to fall back in an orderly fashion and defend Dacca.

De
spite the two Gnat fighters flying a Combat Air Patrol (CAP), to provide the required protection from enemy air, tension was high, and it was visible in the way men gripped their weapons. The roar of the rotors was an absolute conversation killer. At yet another level, time seemed to move incredibly fast. Soon, Raipura was in sight. Stress was building up as they swept in to land. Every man on board knew this was the most vulnerable moment. Even a couple of Pakistanis with rifles could have inflicted a terrible toll. Until such time the guardsmen managed to get their boots on the ground and secure it.

Group Captain
C.S. Sandhu, VrC, VM

That is what (then) Squadron Leader Sandhu had been apprehensive about earlier.

‘It is so easy for you Army guys to say: “Get me across the river and land me there at night.” But let me give you an idea of the complexities involved,’ Sandhu, now retired, but still standing tall and upright, every bit the officer even today, elaborated. ‘Please remember, that most of my pilots had not been trained for night flying, and in those days, choppers had no fancy night flying equipment. Moonlit nights were one thing, but dark nights were totally out of the question. Navigation lights on choppers were out of the question if secrecy had to be maintained, and there used to be no landing lights waiting for us at the other end since we would be going into enemy territory. To add to it, in such operations, generally, strict radio silence is enforced. So everything had to be done by the pilots relying only on their senses, and coordination with each other.’

I tried to visualize the picture he was painting. To be fair, it did sound dark and gloomy.

On that fateful evening, when 4 Guards took off, the chopper pilots had trained to the extent that each one of them was able to reach the exact same spot at distances of sixty kilometres, at precise intervals of sixty seconds. This would deliver rich dividends today.

‘Remember that each chopper was carrying far more than the permissible load, because we did want to ensure you guys would reach with your heavy weapons and ammunition,’ Sandhu resumed talking when he saw me nod. ‘We had to cover dozens of kilometres and find the exact spot in darkness so the navigation and plotting had to be spot on,’ he leaned forward to emphasize. ‘180 kmph meant a hundred and eighty kmph. Not hundred seventy-nine; and not hundred eighty-one. Because with every passing mile, the effect of the smallest error would get magnified. Now, once we did manage this near impossible task of reaching the right place, each chopper had between fifteen to twenty seconds to hover, off-load and be away, otherwise the next one would smash into it. Do also remember, with visibility almost nil and the bird in front not showing any lights,’ another emphatic finger jab, ‘no one could see the guy in front.’

Since the landing ground had not been prepared or secured, the first flight of choppers did not land; they hovered about a foot above the ground, and the guardsmen jumped out. Despite not having much experience of such operations, the men were out of the birds in fifteen to thirty seconds, while the choppers headed back to get the next lot.

‘Luckily, our boys had some prior experience of flying with the MI4,’ Paunchy explained. ‘The MI4 door has a very tricky catch and there is a particular trick to opening and closing it. To make matters worse, the tail rotor is very low, so one has to be careful when de-planing. You have to move left or right as soon as you get off, else it can chop you up. In fact, that is what happened to one of the 10 Bihar boys.’

Now, even with men on ground to light up the way for the next set of choppers, the situation got only marginally easier.

‘We had experimented with all kinds of lights for such operations. But in the end, what worked best were empty food tins filled with sand soaked in kerosene,’ Sandhu smiled at the incredulous expressions all around. ‘Yes, they would keep burning even with the downdraft from the chopper blades hammering at them.’

Pilot Officer Daljit Singh was one of the first men out of the choppers. He, as was his habit, rapidly took in the lay of the land, identified the best position for himself in case he had to direct an airstrike. In the event that the enemy tried to interfere with the landing ground. It was also his job to ensure he lit up the way for the next in-bound sortie of choppers.

However, the Gods of War were kind, and the guardsmen encountered no enemy at Raipura. What they did meet was a throng of ecstatic locals who proved invaluable in helping to unload the choppers and also helped to carry their stores and ammunitions.

Within minutes of landing, Alpha Company had fanned out and secured the landing ground. With this major worry resolved, as ordered by Himmeth, Paunchy now headed towards Methikanda with a radio operator and a couple of men, to check out what lay ahead.

Paunchy had been specifically tasked to carry out a quiet patrol. However, the Indian military planners had forgotten to plan for a critical and unexpected factor—the exuberant and vociferous Bengali locals.

It scarcely took any time before Paunchy’s men had been surrounded by a mob of ecstasic locals. Joyous shouts of
Joy Bangla,
Joy Hindustan
and
Joy Indira Gandhi
shook the area around.

This throng burgeoned and grew louder with every passing moment. The atmosphere prevalent was more like a country fete than a deadly military operation deep behind enemy lines.

The Pakistanis, about a company worth of irregulars, the East Pakistan Civil Affairs Force (EPCAF) and Razakars, dug in at Methikanda about two kilometres away would have heard it. They did not respond, but their counterparts located at their main defensive position in Ashuganj did attempt to disrupt the landing with artillery fire for a good five to ten minutes. However, the landing ground had been chosen with due consideration for this threat and their shells landed almost a kilometre short.

While choosing the landing ground, General Sagat had also borne in mind the fact that the Pakistani GOC 14 Infantry Division, who was directing most of the Pakistani war effort in this area, was located at Bhairab Bazar, not too far away. Co-located with him was a troop of the light Pakistani Chaffe tanks. It was imperative to ensure that neither of them could interfere with an unsecured landing by the guards.

The risk was high since even a few lightly armed men could have dealt havoc on the inbound choppers.