Chapter 10: Engagement

"Listen, this afternoon, the Indian Parliament has just passed a substantial counter-terrorism budget," Captain Salim began to translate, "Prime Minister Khan has announced the establishment of an emergency cabinet." Captain Salim said with an uneasy expression

"Rest assured, we are still here, aren't we?" Lin Huaisheng said, immediately realizing that he should not have made such a rash statement, as he actually represented nothing. Fortunately, the captain would not take his words seriously. However, Lin Huaisheng's intuition told him that his sudden recall to the country might be related to this matter; the timing was very coincidental. Could it be that the intelligence department had detected that India was about to launch an attack? Yet, reason told him that under the current climatic conditions, there would not be large-scale battles in the high-altitude region of Kashmir. As for other directions, all the Pakistani army officers he encountered strongly denied such a possibility, and their stubborn attitude even made Lin Huaisheng feel that they were deceiving themselves. He believed that the India-Pakistan wars had only occurred a handful of times, and if one always relied on past experiences to plan the next conflict's potential course, it would certainly be unwise. Wars do not unfold according to a predetermined plan, especially since they also knew that the newly appointed Minister Singh was different from the rest.

The sparse firepower of the Indian troops above could not prevent the retreat below. Captain Salim commanded a small team to carry the wounded out for two hundred meters when the Indian soldiers on the ridge fired the first rocket, striking the wreckage of the Jaguar. The wreckage soared high and then fell back down, clearly not completely destroyed. Following this, a massive rotor emerged from the ridge, and an Indian Leopard helicopter, painted in vibrant camouflage, thundered over the ridge and began to descend. A soldier stood on each side of the helicopter's skids, while the Pakistani soldiers fired at the helicopter, but their shots were too far off to be accurate. Following this, a massive rotor emerged from the ridge, and an Indian Leopard helicopter, painted in vibrant camouflage, thundered over the ridge and began to descend. A soldier stood on each side of the helicopter's skids, while the Pakistani soldiers fired at the helicopter, but their shots were too far off to be accurate.

He is on the mountain to the east, Salim shouted

Lieutenant Colonel, does this mean they are going to launch an attack? Therefore, they need to destroy the friend-or-foe identification devices

This is the sound of an Indian leopard, we must retreat quickly

A gunshot echoed through the valley with a sharp "bang!"

"Is that your skylark?" Lin Huaisheng asked

I don't foresee any major issues, and there is also the United Nations

Lin Huaisheng leaped out from the left side of the airplane, a precise three-round burst grazed his backside, hitting the aircraft's wing. Clearly, there was not only a sniper above but also other soldiers. He took cover in the shooting blind spot on one side of the plane, leaning against the wreckage to catch his breath. The gunfire began to intensify, with bursts raining down from above, while the surrounding Pakistani soldiers retaliated with erratic fire from their respective cover. Lin Huaisheng peeked out, scanning the surroundings. Next to the landing gear, Sergeant Nurman was looking at him with lifeless eyes, his gun lying beside him. Lin Huaisheng crawled over, feeling for the leather gun strap. The debris kicked up by stray bullets struck his hands and face. He slowly dragged the gun from beside the landing gear; this movement was slow enough not to attract the attention of the sniper on the snow line hundreds of meters away. Lin Huaisheng could finally counterattack, but the gun had fallen from a height and, in principle, needed to be corrected before firing, which was not easy to accomplish in the heat of battle. Lin Huaisheng crawled over, feeling for the leather gun strap. The debris kicked up by stray bullets struck his hands and face. He slowly dragged the gun from beside the landing gear; this movement was slow enough not to attract the attention of the sniper on the snow line hundreds of meters away. Lin Huaisheng could finally counterattack, but the gun had fallen from a height and, in principle, needed to be corrected before firing, which was not easy to accomplish in the heat of battle. Lin Huaisheng crawled from the front of the aircraft to the broken tail section, peering out from the torn skin of the aircraft. He could see several firing points on the ridge, but these were not his primary targets.

"It would be great if we could arrive 30 minutes early," said Captain Salim

The radio operator finally received new instructions from the command post. In addition to reporting the attack by the Indian army, there was also an order from the headquarters requiring Lin Huaisheng to return to Gilgit Airport immediately, although no reason was provided. Lin Huaisheng was filled with doubts; he speculated that this must be a directive from the domestic authorities, but he could not fathom the reason behind it, as he had only just arrived a week ago. Prior to this, he had only observed the sand table at the underground command post and had not engaged with any substantial information. Just yesterday, he had expressed to the Pakistani side his intention to visit the front lines, and this was merely his first stop.

The remaining firepower on the ridge began to concentrate on the aircraft where Lin Huaisheng was hiding. The rear half of the plane was merely an empty shell, unable to withstand bullets. Lin Huaisheng once again crawled to the front of the aircraft and fired two shots from behind the broken landing gear, attempting to suppress the enemy fire above, but he missed. An Indian soldier crouched up from behind the ridge, and through the scope, Lin could see the Gustav rocket launcher in his hand, but there were no bullets left in Lin's rifle. Clearly, the sudden appearance of the Indian assault team here was not aimed at annihilating this patrol team, but rather at destroying the aircraft. He quickly signaled Captain Salim to retreat along the path they had come, away from the plane. He picked up a bloodied assault rifle nearby and fired upwards, forcing the enemy preparing to launch rockets to lower their heads. He estimated that there were probably no more than 10 enemies above, but that did not mean there were no others rushing over from the slope behind. Captain Salim retreated to a rock several dozen meters away and resumed firing; the effective range of both sides' assault rifles was barely enough to reach each other. Taking advantage of the diversion of fire, Lin Huaisheng hurriedly escaped from the aircraft. The sound of helicopter rotors became increasingly clear, likely indicating a light helicopter, which, although not yet visible, could be discerned to be just behind the ridge.

"No, of course not," Lieutenant Salim said, pausing for a moment as he needed to distinguish carefully.

"Do not be too hard on yourself; after all, it is not something of great importance. The intelligence from the front-line airport can also be captured by satellites," Lin Huaisheng comforted him.

This time, Lin Huaisheng saw a plume of snow mist rising from a snowdrift on the mountain peak. A Pakistani soldier beside him, who had leaned out to return fire, fell to the ground with a cry, likely having been shot in the leg. Lin Huaisheng quickly aligned his crosshairs on the snowdrift and pulled the trigger. As expected, the shot missed, but he clearly saw the impact point. He pulled the bolt to chamber another round and aimed once more. This was a dangerous gamble, as the opponent had likely already spotted him. The snowdrift was gradually shrinking, and the Indian marksman was retreating, indicating that he had recognized the threat and was attempting to hide behind the ridge. Lin Huaisheng adjusted for the deviation based on the first impact point and pulled the trigger again. This time, he saw a spray of red blood mist erupt above the snowdrift

After the plane took off, it continued to fly at a very low altitude towards the northwest. The pilot did not seem to prioritize safety like a commercial airline pilot would. The radio on the plane was intermittently broadcasting news programs in Urdu, which Lin Huaisheng could not understand well, so he did not pay much attention until the captain, who had been dozing off beside him, suddenly raised his head. "Colonel, I think the Indian army is about to launch an attack."

No, no, Colonel, you may not be aware that it is not just Kahan who wants to go to war now; his Minister of Defense, Singh, is the most bellicose Indian Minister of Defense in history. Together, they will certainly create trouble regarding the Kashmir issue

Oh?

He is hiding in the snow. There is camouflage, probably about 300 meters away. The captain shouted from behind a rock; these are just his feelings and hold no value for indicating the target

Why are they behaving so unusually? Is it just to destroy an aircraft by advancing into the border?

At 8 o'clock, Lin Huaisheng and Captain Salim took a car to the airport in Skardu to wait for his flight. This is a modest highland airport, with only a few passenger flights each week, and today was no exception; the entire airport was deserted. To pick them up, there was surprisingly a Cessna 172 liaison aircraft sent by the Northern Military Region Command, which had a total of only 4 seats, including the cockpit.

The Indian Leopard hovered unsteadily about half a meter above the valley floor, when an Indian soldier jumped down, ran to the severely damaged side of the aircraft, and threw a large explosive device into the cockpit. He then ran back to the helicopter. As the Indian Leopard took off from the valley, the Jaguar experienced another massive explosion, this time being blown to pieces, leaving no valuable remnants to be salvaged.

"It is indeed very interesting. I believe this is the intelligence worth analyzing, resembling an overreaction during a certain special period," Lin Huaisheng said, as he watched through the telescope several Indian soldiers dragging a corpse gradually disappear above the snow line on the ridge.

Lin Huaisheng knew that this was clearly just an encounter battle; the Indian army had not set up an ambush. They had merely happened to arrive at the high ground to the east. If they formed a crossfire from two directions, it would be very difficult for him and this small team of Pakistani soldiers to survive today. He poked his head out for the second time, aimlessly scanning the entire ridge with a 6x scope, but found nothing. He thought that the shooter was likely to recklessly fire many shots from the same spot, and if it were him, he would do the same, so all he needed was patience. He poked his head out for the second time, aimlessly scanning the entire ridge with a 6x scope, but found nothing. He thought that the shooter was likely to recklessly fire many shots from the same spot, and if it were him, he would do the same, so all he needed was patience