Indian media reported that after the Battle of Pangong Lok on November 20, 1962, 120 Indian soldiers eliminated 1,300 Chinese soldiers. Indian soldiers are so strong in combat? Can 1 person fight 11 people? What is the truth? How many casualties did the PLA have?
1. Indian media: 120 Indian soldiers eliminated 1,300 Chinese soldiers
On November 21, 1962, the Central Military Commission announced that the PLA would cease fire and withdraw along the entire line at the junction of the Sino-Indian border. At this point, this border self-defense counterattack operation involving a total of 60,000 troops on both sides is over.
In the course of the two phases of the PLA's operations, the second phase of the Pangong Lok Battle can be said to have been fought quite happily, and our side won a complete victory, annihilating 113 Indian troops, only a few escaped, and almost completely annihilating the Indian troops participating in this operation. But in the mouth of the Indian media, the outcome of the battle was the opposite, claiming that "120 Indian soldiers eliminated 1,300 Chinese soldiers, and the Indians defended Pangong Lok".
According to an article published on January 18, 2019 in India's largest newspaper, Enlightenment Daily, titled "India vs. China: The 1962 "Resunla" War; An Incredible Battle", we can explore this battle in the eyes of Indians. What they call "Rezanla" is the land we named Pangong Lok, but the two sides have different names.
In the Daily Enlightenment, an Indian journalist described it this way: "Rezang La is a mountain pass in the southeastern valley of the Chushur Valley in the Ladakh region of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is 2.7 kilometers long, 1.8 kilometers wide, and has an average height of 16,000 feet. In the 1962 Sino-Indian War, 120 Indian soldiers killed 1,300 Chinese soldiers. ”
It is not difficult to see from the description of the Indians that they are quite proud of the results of this battle.
In the Daily Enlightenment, the Indians gave a more detailed account of the Battle of Pangong Lok: On October 24, 1962, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) ceased fire and proposed peace talks in an attempt to "gain our territory" through peace talks.
When did India become their territory? It's just nonsense! Obviously, after the PLA ended the first phase of the fighting, the Indian army still planned to obtain some rights and interests in the Tibetan region. In order to achieve this goal, the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru rejected the Chinese side's proposal for peace talks and went to war again.
On the evening of November 18, 1962, all 120 troops of Company C of the 13th Battalion of the Kumaang Regiment belonging to the 144th Infantry Brigade of the Indian Army stationed in the Pangong Lok area were resting in the camp, leaving only 13 sentries to stand sentry. At around 3:30 a.m. that night, about 5,000 PLA troops attacked Indian soldiers stationed in the Chushur Valley with heavy weapons.
Indian sources describe the Battle of Pangong Lok in 1962 as follows: The first attack of the Chinese soldiers was resisted by us (the Indian soldiers) and thwarted the attack. The Chinese then launched a second attack, which was thwarted by Indian soldiers. But with the launch of the third strong attack by the Chinese, the ammunition of the Indian soldiers was depleted, and the logistical supplies could not arrive, and the Indian soldiers ran out of ammunition and food."
According to Indian sources, during the Battle of Pangong Lok, Indian soldiers insisted on fighting the PLA troops even though they ran out of ammunition and food, fighting hand-to-hand without guns and bullets, or scuffling with knives. Thus, 120 Indian soldiers killed more than 1,300 Chinese soldiers in this battle.
In the years that followed, various Indian sources would mention the battle of Pangong Lok: "In this battle, only seven of the 120 men of Company C of the 13th Battalion of the Kumaang Regiment remained, and all the remaining 113 were killed. But they eliminated 1,300 Chinese soldiers. "After the war, in order to commemorate this battle and the combat heroes in the Indian army, the Indian government specially built monuments and memorials.
120 people to eliminate 1,300 people, on average, each person in the Indian army needs to play against 11 PLA, does the Indian army really have such strong combat effectiveness?
2. The People's Liberation Army skillfully uses tactics to "make dumplings"
The Pangong Lok area is located on the western side of Lake Spangul in Aliritu County, Tibet, in the western section of the Sino-Indian border, and is bordered by Ladakh in the area actually controlled by India in the west.
The total length of the Sino-Indian border is about 1,700 kilometers, and the boundary line is divided into three sections: western, central and eastern. Since the western section of the border is 600 kilometers long and the eastern section is 650 kilometers, the fighting is mainly distributed on these two routes. Due to complex historical reasons, the entire Sino-Indian border has not been formally demarcated, and there are disputes of varying degrees in each section, with a total of 8 disputed areas and a total area of about 125,000 square kilometers. The Pangong Lok area is one of them.
The Indian army has established a total of 6 strongholds in the Pangongluo area of southern Tibet, 3 of which are distributed on the ridges of the mountains, which can control the outposts of the Ali border defense in Tibet and directly control the local situation from a high position.
India's attacks on the mainland border areas began in the 50s of the last century. At that time, we did not take strong measures, which made the other side mistakenly believe that we did not dare to fight back, so we intensified it. According to the "History of Self-Defense and Counterattack Operations on the Sino-Indian Border", before the outbreak of the Sino-Indian conflict in 1962, India had a total of 120 checkpoints on the Sino-Indian border, of which 43 were located within China's Line of Actual Control. At that time, there were only 57 checkpoints in China.
However, in terms of numbers, the number of Chinese checkpoints is not comparable to that of India, and this is also caused by our side's carelessness in handling the border issue with India. At that time, the defense area of the PLA troops in Tibet was divided into four defense areas from north to south: Tianwendian, Heweitan, Kongkazan, and Ali. In each defense zone, there were incursions by Indian troops of varying degrees. In the Astronomical Point Defense Zone, 18 Indian checkpoints crossed the line; In the Hewei beach defense area, six Indian checkpoints crossed the line; In the Kong-Kazan defense area, three Indian checkpoints crossed the line; In the Ali defense area, 16 Indian checkpoints crossed the line.
If you don't know, you really think that the People's Liberation Army occupies India's territory, and the Indian army has more strongholds and distribution areas than ours.
In the Astronomical Point Defense Area, the Indian Army sent the 14th Battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir National Army to defend it; In the Hewei Beach and Kongkazan defense areas, the Indian army sent the 5th Battalion of Jet Wing to defend; In the Ali defense area, the Indian army sent the 1st Battalion of the 8th Wing of the Gurkha, the 13th Battalion of the Kumaang Wing, and the 7th Battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir National Army to defend.
Judging from the distribution and dispatch of Indian troops in China at that time, the Ali Defense Area was a key area for India's deployment and encroachment. The Pangong Lok area is in this area.
On November 18, 1962, the Indian army launched an offensive against the PLA troops in the area of Lake Spangur. At that time, the Indian army had been stationed in Tibet for a long time, and not only was the defense line perfect, but also the soldiers had rich combat experience, so our army still had certain scruples when formulating combat plans. In order to be able to achieve combat results in a short period of time, our side decided to take a flank detour to the rear of the invading Indian army and destroy its stronghold, so as to achieve the goal of clearing the Indian army that had invaded the Pangong Lok area.
At that time, there was a small road between the strongholds of China and India, which was the only way for the PLA to make a detour to the rear of the Indian army, and our side successfully reached the enemy's rear after overcoming difficulties and obstacles. Under the strategic cooperation of pinching the head and removing the tail, the Indian army has become a "dumpling filling", and the PLA troops are "making dumplings!" ”
3. The real battle situation, the PLA lost 67 people
Before the start of the battle, the Indian army set up Stronghold No. 5 at the foot of the hill on the north side of the Mordo Pass in the Pangong Lok area, Stronghold No. 16 at the top of the mountain, Stronghold No. 6 at the foot of the hill on the south side of the pass, and Stronghold No. 7, No. 8, and No. 9 along the ridge from north to south. Positions 5 and 6 blocked the Mordo Pass and set up minefields within the pass.
Strongholds Nos. 5, 6 and 16 were defended by the 1st Battalion of the 8th Gurkha Wing, and Nos. 7, 8 and 9 were defended by the 13th Battalion of the Kumaang Wing.
Compared with the large number of Indian strongholds, the PLA has set up only four checkpoints in this area. Is it because our army thinks that it has only built these few strongholds? Or is it because our side has a strong ability to fight alone? Neither! Before the Indian army launched the attack, only 4 strongholds on our side had been built, and the battle began very suddenly!
On the night of November 17, 1962, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) began to operate with the aim of uprooting the Indian Army's strongholds No. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 16. On the morning of 18 November, the PLA troops that arrived at the designated combat positions attacked three strongholds in companies.
During the assault on the first stronghold, PLA troops destroyed 21 fortifications built by the Indian army in 30 minutes. During the attack on the second stronghold, the PLA fought fiercely for one hour and conquered 25 bunkers. In the attack on the third stronghold, the PLA made good progress, but it paid a lot of sacrifices when fighting through minefields in the back
At that time, the troops stationed by the Indian army at the junction of the Sino-Indian border were basically elite, and they used heavy weapons at the bottom of the box, such as large-caliber tank guns, such as highly lethal armored equipment. Such a lineup is rare in the Indian army, and their aggressiveness is really so strong? No! After Pangong Lok is the northern gate of India! If they are defeated, they will face even greater danger!
Once the People's Liberation Army has beaten Pangong Luo, it can drive straight into India from the back, and at that time, it will be impossible for them to steal chickens and rice!
Even with the blessing of advanced weapons, Indian soldiers did not perform well in battle. The tactics they used were the most traditional one-line long snake formations, taking advantage of the narrow terrain of the canyon to line up all the elite troops in a straight line. And our interspersed and roundabout tactics are just to restrain the long snake formation, and through the method of pinching the head and removing the tail, we can trap the Indian army in the encirclement, and finally achieve the goal of defeating the enemy.
Under this tactical offensive of the PLA, the Indian army was defeated before it could form an organized counterattack, and the fighting spirit of the Indian army was already extremely scattered at that time, so the PLA did not expend too much effort when attacking Pangong Luo. The Indian army fought all the way and retreated, and the PLA withdrew its troops when it pursued near the Indian border.
We're giving them the stairs.
In the Battle of Pangong Lok, the PLA killed a total of 113 people and captured 5 people in Company C of the 13th Battalion of the Kumaang Regiment of the Indian Army. The PLA lost 67 casualties and wounded 131. At that time, because some troops of the People's Liberation Army attacked from the front and were hit by the fire of the Indian army, this caused large casualties. After the battle, our combat units were in the Pangong Lok area for covert defense, ready to meet a larger-scale counterattack by the Indian army at any time.
Unexpectedly, however, the Indian army was devastated after this attack and did not dare to rashly attack the PLA troops, so the front-line troops ceased fire and left the area of fire. The Indian government may have mistaken this quiet period after the war for the total annihilation of 1,300 troops of the People's Liberation Army, which is why it released the false news that "120 Indian soldiers eliminated 1,300 Chinese soldiers"!
Although we paid a heavy price in this battle, the battle of Pangong Lok in 1962 determined the Line of Actual Control between China and India in the area south of Pangong Lake and near Chushul. It is of great significance for safeguarding the territorial sovereignty of the mainland.