The Battle of Longewala
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
When India attained independence from Britain in 1947, it was divided into two countries now known as India and Pakistan. This "the partition of India" caused great upheaval, as Muslims left India and Hindus left Pakistan. (Bangladesh was part of Pakistan until it seceded in 1971/72.) The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was the third of some 15 wars or border skirmishes between the two countries since 1947; it lasted only 13 days.
The Battle of Longewala (December 4-7, 1971) occurred when 2000-3000 Pakistani soldiers with around 40-45 tanks assaulted a border post manned by 120 Indian soldiers on the western border of the Indian state of Rajasthan. The primary fighting had been along the eastern front, the border of then-East Pakistan. But Pakistan's president was acting on a strategy stated by his predecessor that "The defence of East Pakistan lies in the West," attempting to gain territory that could be used in negotiations later.
But the Pakistanis made a crucial error. They planned an assault across ground that had not been reconnoitered by engineers; as it turned out, the sandy terrain was not suited for the weight of armored vehicles. Compounding the problem was the decision to attack at night, further compromising Pakistan's intelligence efforts.
The Indian commander, hearing that a 20-kilometer-long column of armored vehicles was headed toward his position, was given two choices by headquarters: retreat, or hold his position until air cover could arrive. He decided to stick it out.
His men held off the tanks' advance with handheld weapons from an elevated position, firing downward onto the tanks' weaker top portions. Tanks were stalled at a barbed-wire fence which they assumed indicated a minefield (there was none), making them sitting ducks. The Indians held off the 12:30 am assault until daybreak, when the Indian Air Force jets (not equipped for night vision) were able to make short work of the remaining Pakistani forces, using rockets and mounted cannon. Pakistani casualties were high: 200 dead, with 36 tanks and over 500 other vehicles lost; Indian losses were very low: just two dead and no major equipment lost.