Where and When: Longewala, 30 km from Ramgarh, Rajasthan Province; 4 - 7 December 1971
Who: Pakistani Army & tanks vs 120 Indian soldiers
Background:
Once upon a time, the country named Bangladesh was part of Pakistan and called "East Pakistan." One of their key identity was their religion: Islam. Unfortunately, despite their smaller number, the Western Pakistanis dominated everything. Unhappy with this situation, the East Pakistanis or Bangladeshi protested. The West Pakistanis answered that protest with an outright genocide.
Like other genocide, this one also triggered a mass exodus to their neighbor, in this case: India. The Indian government picked their calculator and started to do their math: which one is more expensive, taking care of the refugees or backed the Bangladeshi up with a military intervention? Hey, a military intervention is far cheaper! So they intervened and invaded Bangladesh, while sending their navy to begin a naval blockade in the Pakistani water.
The Pakistani Strategy:
The (West) Pakistani themselves until today, are the sworn enemies of the Indians, their military was, and still is, geared to defeat the Indians. But there is one problem: the Western and Eastern Pakistani was separated by India itself! It would be nearly impossible for the Pakistanis to reinforce their eastern territory in any war against India!
So, their strategy is to attack the western provinces of India instead, and grab as many territory as possible to attenuate any territorial loss of Eastern Pakistan. The Pakistani military never kid themselves that they could conquer the whole India. They were sure that international pressure would make any war with India short, so this territorial gain functioned as bargaining chip during the peace talk.
When the Bangladeshi independent war broke out at 3rd of December 1971, they immediately put that strategy into practice. They already send their spies into the border area to get the infos about Indian army units there. Based on those intels, they plan to invade the province of Rajasthan.
Unfortunately, their intels missed a small military post on Longewala, manned by 120 Indian soldiers, on the road to Ramgarh.
Unfortunately too, those intels didn't inform the Pakistani army about the terrain, the geographical obstacle, and many other details.
The Contact:
The Indian post detected the Pakistani invasion far before they reached the post. Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, the commander of that post realized that he was badly outnumbered and outgunned. His 120 men who didn't have any tank would fight more than 2000 Pakistani soldiers, who got 45 tanks. His superior couldn't send any reinforcement, and advised him to either stand his ground or retreated.
He assessed his situation. His men has limited means of transportation, while the Pakistani army was highly mobile. Retreating was far more hazardous than made a stand in their post, which has the higher ground, and fortified by barb wires, and other defensive works. He decided to stand his ground.
The Battle:
When the Pakistani arrived in Longewala, 30 minutes after midnight, they were reasonably confident. The Indians were outnumbered, and outgunned. Too confident. In fact, they did almost no route reconnaissance nor engineering reconnaissance before their assault.
Their opening artillery strike killed the camels in the post. The Indians hastily laid a minefield in front of the approaching Pakistani tank. Naturally this didn't work. Okay, so far so good for the invaders ... but then the Indian started to fight back.
First, the anti-tank guns of the Indians took out a dozen Pakistani tanks. The assault stopped after they discovered a barb wire. They guessed that they are blocked by minefield. Under the fire of the Indian army, it took 2 hours for the Pakistani to bring their engineers to the front ... only to find that the minefield was non-existent.
Second, the Pakistani tried to surrounded the post, but the soft sand terrains bogged all armored vehicles down, making them sitting duck for the Indian's anti tank weapons.
Third, the far more numerous Pakistani army actually managed to surround the base, but they never managed to get close. The Indians repeatedly shot them down from their defensive position, using everything they got. Their superior position and the conduct of the Pakistani army convinced all the Indians in the post to stand their ground firmly. Again and again they repelled the Pakistani assault.
Finally, the sun started to rise. The Indian headquarters send some jet fighters and mowed down the Pakistani army from air. The fact that the post and the Pakistani army were all located in open terrains sealed the destruction of the Pakistani army. To complete the victory, the Indian send their own tank regiment to that post, sending the Pakistani army back to their border.
Aftermath
The battle was a big tactical and strategic victory for the Indian army. Their lost was 2 soldiers, 5 camels, and one jeep. The Pakistani lost 200 soldiers and 500 vehicles, including 34 out of 45 of their tanks. The Pakistani plan to invade India from this road was over before it even begun. For his conduct in this battle, Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri received Maha Vir Chakra, the second highest military decoration in India.
This battle really showed that history has no mercy for hubris. He who is too proud to do proper recon to got their facts straight will receive nasty surprises. Very nasty surprises.
Background:
Once upon a time, the country named Bangladesh was part of Pakistan and called "East Pakistan." One of their key identity was their religion: Islam. Unfortunately, despite their smaller number, the Western Pakistanis dominated everything. Unhappy with this situation, the East Pakistanis or Bangladeshi protested. The West Pakistanis answered that protest with an outright genocide.
 |
| From Mapzones |
The Pakistani Strategy:
The (West) Pakistani themselves until today, are the sworn enemies of the Indians, their military was, and still is, geared to defeat the Indians. But there is one problem: the Western and Eastern Pakistani was separated by India itself! It would be nearly impossible for the Pakistanis to reinforce their eastern territory in any war against India!
So, their strategy is to attack the western provinces of India instead, and grab as many territory as possible to attenuate any territorial loss of Eastern Pakistan. The Pakistani military never kid themselves that they could conquer the whole India. They were sure that international pressure would make any war with India short, so this territorial gain functioned as bargaining chip during the peace talk.
When the Bangladeshi independent war broke out at 3rd of December 1971, they immediately put that strategy into practice. They already send their spies into the border area to get the infos about Indian army units there. Based on those intels, they plan to invade the province of Rajasthan.
 |
| From Mapzones |
Unfortunately too, those intels didn't inform the Pakistani army about the terrain, the geographical obstacle, and many other details.
The Contact:
The Indian post detected the Pakistani invasion far before they reached the post. Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, the commander of that post realized that he was badly outnumbered and outgunned. His 120 men who didn't have any tank would fight more than 2000 Pakistani soldiers, who got 45 tanks. His superior couldn't send any reinforcement, and advised him to either stand his ground or retreated.
He assessed his situation. His men has limited means of transportation, while the Pakistani army was highly mobile. Retreating was far more hazardous than made a stand in their post, which has the higher ground, and fortified by barb wires, and other defensive works. He decided to stand his ground.
The Battle:
When the Pakistani arrived in Longewala, 30 minutes after midnight, they were reasonably confident. The Indians were outnumbered, and outgunned. Too confident. In fact, they did almost no route reconnaissance nor engineering reconnaissance before their assault.
Their opening artillery strike killed the camels in the post. The Indians hastily laid a minefield in front of the approaching Pakistani tank. Naturally this didn't work. Okay, so far so good for the invaders ... but then the Indian started to fight back.
First, the anti-tank guns of the Indians took out a dozen Pakistani tanks. The assault stopped after they discovered a barb wire. They guessed that they are blocked by minefield. Under the fire of the Indian army, it took 2 hours for the Pakistani to bring their engineers to the front ... only to find that the minefield was non-existent.
Second, the Pakistani tried to surrounded the post, but the soft sand terrains bogged all armored vehicles down, making them sitting duck for the Indian's anti tank weapons.
Third, the far more numerous Pakistani army actually managed to surround the base, but they never managed to get close. The Indians repeatedly shot them down from their defensive position, using everything they got. Their superior position and the conduct of the Pakistani army convinced all the Indians in the post to stand their ground firmly. Again and again they repelled the Pakistani assault.
Finally, the sun started to rise. The Indian headquarters send some jet fighters and mowed down the Pakistani army from air. The fact that the post and the Pakistani army were all located in open terrains sealed the destruction of the Pakistani army. To complete the victory, the Indian send their own tank regiment to that post, sending the Pakistani army back to their border.
Aftermath
The battle was a big tactical and strategic victory for the Indian army. Their lost was 2 soldiers, 5 camels, and one jeep. The Pakistani lost 200 soldiers and 500 vehicles, including 34 out of 45 of their tanks. The Pakistani plan to invade India from this road was over before it even begun. For his conduct in this battle, Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri received Maha Vir Chakra, the second highest military decoration in India.
This battle really showed that history has no mercy for hubris. He who is too proud to do proper recon to got their facts straight will receive nasty surprises. Very nasty surprises.
