Echoes of heroism in Rezang La
NEW DELHI : The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Monday fired shots in a failed attempt to intimidate and dislodge Indian soldiers holding dominating heights near a towering mountain pass in eastern Ladakh, where heavily outnumbered Indian troops put up a fierce fight against Chinese soldiers on a chilly Sunday morning during the 1962 war.
The historic Battle of Rezang La, fought at heights of more than 18,000 feet, saw 124 Indian soldiers repel attack after attack by a numerically superior and better-equipped enemy in November 1962.
The soldiers from the Charlie Company of the 13th battalion of the Kumaon Regiment were pitched against more than 5,000 Chinese troops, with the advancing enemy infantry being supported by heavy artillery fire. Led by the legendary Major Shaitan Singh, whose outstanding leadership and courage is the stuff of legend, the unbelievably fearless men from the C Company fought to the last bullet and inflicted heavy casualties on the Chinese army.
Three months after the battle, the frozen bodies of Indian soldiers were found in their trenches – the dead men still holding their weapons.
The first attack launched by the enemy at the crack of dawn on November 18 was blunted with the Major ordering his men to open fire at the Chinese the moment they came within their rifle range, according to a book published by the Ranikhet-based Kumaon Regimental Centre.
“Many of the enemies fell, others continued to advance. But with every weapon of C Company firing, the gullies in front of the 8 Platoon were soon full of dead and wounded Chinese,” says the book The Images of Valour and Triumph, published in 2005.
After their first attack failed due to stiff Indian resistance, the Chinese resorted to heavy artillery bombardment of the positions held by Major Singh and his men. The Indian soldiers had the odds stacked against them, but the fierce assault failed to crush their fighting spirit and determination to defend their positions till their last breath.
The heavy shelling helped the Chinese troops launch multiple assaults and the C Company soon found itself surrounded by the enemy. The book says Major Singh reorganised the positions held by his soldiers and resisted the automatic weapons to take on the Chinese troops, a move that resulted in the enemy suffering more casualties.
The heroic officer was killed in action in this phase of the battle that resulted in 114 Indian deaths in a few hours of fighting.
A chapter on the Battle of Rezang La in the book says, “The dead men were found in their trenches, frozen stiff, still holding their weapons. Broken light machine gun bipods, and some men holding only the butts of their rifles while the remaining weapon had blown off, bore witness to the enemy fire.” Their mortal remains were found three months later.
Different estimates peg the number of Chinese killed in the battle at between 500 and 1,300.
Major Singh was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra – the country’s highest wartime gallantry award – for the exceptional courage and leadership demonstrated by him in the battle.
General VP Malik, former chief of army staff who was inducted in the Ladakh sector in October 1962 as Captain with 3 Sikh Li, said: “We were directly in the Chushul battlefront, but were preparing defences in the rear on Dungti-chuma Tang axis. The tactical significance of Rezang La lies in the dominating heights, Gurung Hill and Magar Hill, which have now been occupied by us. During the war, we did hear about Major Shaitan Singh’s heroic action, but it was much later that I visited the place where he had fallen.”