After Nehru pursued the "forward policy", the Indian army began to send the 7th Infantry Brigade, the ace brigade, to garrison the Kejielang area. However, after the battle began, in just one day, the brigade was almost completely annihilated. The Indian soldiers couldn't help but shout:
"Liar, you won't shoot if you say yes."
1. The Battle of Kejielang
At 5:14 a.m. on October 20, 1962, 150 mortars of the People's Liberation Army opened fire on the positions of the Indian troops in Kejielang and Zhangduo.
As the 82mm and 120mm shells hit the trees and rocks, the Indian soldiers in the open air were forced to quickly take refuge in their bunkers.
It was not until 6:14 a.m., when the hour-long artillery fire ended, and at this point, the Indian soldiers could only watch and could not use any weapons to fight back. During this time, the Indian soldiers tried to return fire with 3-inch mortars, but before they could aim at the target, they were blown away by Chinese fire.
At this time, all the Indian soldiers suspected that the decision of the Nehru government and the army leadership was wrong: if they advanced boldly, the Chinese soldiers would not shoot.
Clearly, the senior leaders of the Nehru government underestimated the determination of the Chinese.
After 15 minutes of calm in artillery fire, the PLA's charging horn sounded like a sharp sound. The People's Liberation Army concentrated 3 infantry regiments and 1 artillery regiment and began to storm the Indian army's middle army.
To the surprise of the Indian guards, the PLA attacks came from above and from the rear, which also meant that their trenches were all exposed, causing the Indian troops to crawl out of their bunkers.
Because the Indian army was cut off from communication first, the companies of the 2nd Rajput Battalion lost contact with each other, and the previous artillery fire had completely disrupted the Indian army's formation.
At the temporary bridge, Dashas Singh, the third company of the Indian army, seemed to realize something and immediately arranged for a platoon to move to a small hill 150 meters high, so as to preemptively occupy a favorable position. Soon, when the PLA began to charge, Second Lieutenant Dube and Warrant Officer Janum of the 7th Platoon of the Indian Army led the soldiers to support, however, under the exchange of fire, the PLA Assault Force quickly eliminated the unit and captured Second Lieutenant Dube.
In dense mountain warfare, the PLA's individual forces were very skillful, and the Indian soldiers did not seem to be familiar with this kind of environment, and soon Dashrath and his third company were finally wiped out.
At the same time, the 4th Company of the Indian Army on the No. 4 bridge of the Kejielang River also suffered heavy casualties, the Indian company commander Major Seth was crushed to death by the fortifications, and the deputy company commander was also killed, and after the attack of the PLA, there were only more than 10 people left on the Indian position.
At this time, the Indian army fell into a bitter battle, coupled with the unfavorable combat environment for the Indian army, until 9:30, the PLA was cleaning up the battlefield, the Indian army's 2nd Rajput battalion killed 282 people, 81 people were captured, including the 7th brigade of the ace brigade Brigadier General Dalvi was captured, it is worth noting that only 60 of the 513 soldiers of the Indian army escaped. The formation of a battalion was easily broken up in this way, and it can be said that the defensive gate of the Indian army was easily dismantled.
The 7th Brigade of the Indian Army, as an ace brigade, was beaten by our army within one hour of the start of the battle, and during the entire 8 hours of combat, the 7th Brigade was completely passive and almost lost all its combat effectiveness. Brigadier General Dalvi also became the highest-ranking prisoner of war captured in the Sino-Indian border war.
II. "An Unprepared Holocaust"
The defeat of the Indian army far exceeded previous estimates and shocked the top brass of India. Nehru and Indian Defense Minister Menon did not expect that China would not hesitate to act.
At this time, discontent began to arise within some Indian troops: they believed that Nehru's "forward policy" was wrong, and that the war was not prepared at all, and the lives of the soldiers were sacrificed in vain. This is not a war at all, but a massacre.
Someone had to "pay" for the defeat of the war, and Nehru, in order to maintain his authority, regretfully expressed in parliament after the war:
"We are detached from the realities of the modern world and live in an artificial environment that we have created."
As a result, as Nehru's advisers, right-hand men, and even the army, they became his "scapegoats". Defense Minister Menon was blamed for his resignation, and Lieutenant General Kaul, who presided over the war, drew resentment from the Indian soldiers.
As a result, Kaul was ordered to retire permanently upon his return, and at the same time, all his retirement benefits were revoked.
It has to be said that the temporary change of battle will be a major failure for India, which not only leads to improper run-in between the upper and lower levels of the Indian army, but also allows a political officer to disrupt normal military command.
In addition, the pre-war preparations also reminded the Indian side that the war was doomed from the beginning. After all, how can an unprepared battle be won by the skilled PLA troops?
From the first confrontation with the PLA, Brigadier General Dalvi, the veteran commander of the 7th Brigade of the Indian Army, accurately judged that his own defense force was too weak, and his combat equipment was also insufficient, and his logistics supply force was even more weak. Therefore, it was suggested that Lieutenant General Kaul could withdraw to the "McMahon Line".
However, Lieutenant General Kaul decisively refused, and ordered:
"Just move forward boldly and without worry, the Chinese army will not shoot."
With such blind self-confidence, Brigadier General Dalvi had no choice but to go into battle, although he was very dissatisfied with Kaul, but he still had to obey military orders. However, after the defeat of the first encounter of the operation, Dalvi ordered the troops to retreat, and decided to deploy before attacking the Chinese army.
However, at this time, Dalwei had to worry about the soldiers' defense materials, on the one hand, it was freezing here, and the night was terriblely cold, and the soldiers had no materials to protect against the cold, and sometimes the snot that the soldiers had just flowed out became popsicles.
Just when the Indian army was about to cross the Tagra ridge, the PLA had insight into the deployment of the Indian army in advance, adopted the method of division and encirclement, and broke the 7th Brigade one by one.
It seems that the defeat of the Indian army is not only the defense of the battle and the shortage of materials, but from the very beginning, these politicians and officers were not ready for war, they did not understand the battle at all, which led to the defeat of the Indian army.
All in all, Nehru's "forward policy" plunged India into a crisis and broke the long-standing friendly relations between China and India. Of course, our army also had some problems in this battle, but its determination to safeguard the country's territorial sovereignty will never change.