The Chinese
don’t like the Sikhs, their war cry ‘ Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal’ ( which means one will be blessed
eternally who says that God is the ultimate truth) frightens
them , their huge frames with long hair and beard frightens the clean shaven
slick looking Chinese.
On the night of
15th June, as the 16th Bihar troops faced a murderous and treacherous
unprovoked Chinese assault , taking heavy casualties, they found critical
support from the gunners of the 3 Medium Field Regiment.
The valiant
Khalsas launched a barehanded counter-attack with their trademark blood curling
war cries about an hour after the Bihar troops had got embroiled in the savage
hand-to-hand combat , having to fight with sticks , bare hands, rocks and with
weapons snatched from the Chinese.
The Sikhs went
straight for the jugular, attacking a ‘senior looking officer ‘ protecting by
six Chinese guards.
“They killed
all the six guards and dragged the senior officer by the scruff of his
neck in a bloody fight lasting for 30 minutes,” said an eye-witness of the 16th
Bihar Regiment. ” They fought like men possessed, smashing Chinese heads with
rocks and slashing them with swords snatched from the Chinese.”
Other Chinese
troops in the vicinity fled or stayed away , in sheer fright . Two Sikh
gunners died when struck by swords but one of them strangled a Chinese to death
in the squeeze of his massive biceps , all along shouting ‘Bole So Nihal, Sat
Sri Akal.”
The angry ,
bloodied Sikhs were about to thrash the senior officers when the JCO leading
them glanced at the stars on his epaulets and stopped them, imagining he must
be colonel. The JCO was right — this was the Chinese colonel who had
planned the treacherous attack on Colonel B.Santosh Babu, CO, 16th Bihar.
This CO greatly
helped fast tracking of GOC level negotiations* held between the two sides on
17/18 Jun, leading to quick exchange of 10 Indians against the lone captured
Chinese Commanding Officer.
That the
ten Indians including two majors were released without torture and torment
might owe itself to the Chinese Colonel being in the custody of Sikh gunners.Down
India’s medieval and modern military history , the burly and fearless Sikhs
have turned the fate of many a battles with sheer bravery.They ---and their
corps commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh — again proved they are peerless warriors
on the night of 15th June.
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