AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 5 – War Diary CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 77 of 332 embedded in the Enemy’s DNA / and in his bowels. It took a treacherous Nine hours to move the distance through random shelling, through pit holes/ broken patches of remnants of a highway, in darkness with heavy reciprocal traffic. The Briefing (H minus 35) Three hours after first light on the subsequent day I reported at the Artillery Fire Direction Centre. Orders of the Artillery Brigade Commander to me could not have been clearer or more precise. He wanted me to shell the daylights out of the enemy sitting on Jubar. Our Salvos was not to be part of the conventional Fire plan but to be delivered at a slotted time (three salvos of 12 rockets, a payload of 11 tons of high explosive and molten metal, and shrapnel on the Jubar feature) just before own troops would leave the (Forming up Place FUP) to go in for the Close quarter battle (CQB) and then re hoist the Indian Tiranga atop Jubar. As validated by Self, the nearest suitable position for Rocket deployment was about 29 kms away at Hamotingla Pass located at 14000 feet AMSL ( Above Mean Sea Level). Brigade Headquarters Staff further briefed me on enemy, own dispositions/artillery concentrations/fire Arcs and Ranges/Safety Traces for own troops /FLOT – (Forward line of own troops), logistics, medicals etc. The excitement was now real and palpable. Word had already reached the sector about the ferocity of Rocket salvos. Signal detachments monitoring enemy radio communication confirmed later they had picked up muffled and petrified tense excerpts about the arrival of a Topchi Gajraj to hit them. The expectation and awe from the environment which I sensed was like a sign to me that we the rocket troop were being considered to be the tipping weight on the scale to victory. It was a fiercely proud feeling for me to be the Rocket detachment commander. I only prayed that my detachment would live up to the faith and trust reposed on us- which we did in style and panache. Post Last light that evening we moved towards the area of intended deployment. Unlike the previous night move, this one more sinister and somber. We did encounter sudden bursts of shelling, a wee bit too close for comfort. Though the drivers were steering and moving through pitch dark demonic darkness, they were super cool and nimble. The pilot in me was reminded of night instrument flying sorties. By first light on the Intended day 05 Jun 1999 we were just a kilometer short of the Pass. The Preparation (H minus 13) The flat plinths on Hamotingla pass were a Gun position officer’s delight. It appeared to me that the stretch was created by Nature millions of years ago only for that night- to aid the Indian Rocket topkhana to perform its waltz .The