In the early morning of the 12th day of the war, the Pakistani army's counterattack began.

The first to enter the battle were the two armoured brigades deployed west of Lahore.

Unlike what the Indian army expected, the Pakistani army did not hit the armored troops, but let 2 brigades bypass the ancient city of Lahore from the north and south respectively, and outflank the Indian army from both flanks, and it was a large-scale roundabout, with the aim of encircling and annihilating all the Indian troops entering Pakistan!

Now, not to mention the front-line commanders of the Indian army, even the generals in the rear were frightened.

Why?

At that time, more than 200,000 Indian troops had entered Pakistan, and they were concentrated near Lahore, of which tens of thousands of Indian troops fought near the ancient city.

More importantly, this is the absolute workhorse of the Indian army in this direction.

If they are surrounded by the Pakistani army, these more than 200,000 Indian troops will be finished!

At this time, the intention of the Pakistani army is also very obvious.

Not only to repel the Indian army, but to encircle and annihilate the Indian army.

In the face of the menacing armored forces of the Pakistani army, the Indian army fought extremely tenacious, especially in several major directions, and the performance of the Indian army was remarkable.

After all, this is the main force of the Indian army.

It is a pity that no matter how tenacious the fighting spirit is, it cannot stop the steel torrent of the Pakistani army.

What's more, the Pakistani army uses not only armored forces, but also long-range artillery and aviation.

According to later published information, just in the early morning of the same day, that is, before dawn, the four artillery battalions that provided direct artillery fire support to the armored forces consumed nearly 100,000 shells, and almost half of the self-propelled howitzers lost a single barrel in a few hours.

Fortunately, the Pakistani army was well prepared, and the barrel was not a problem at all.

Of course, shells are not a problem either.

In addition, the Pakistan Air Force is also in full swing.

According to the battle report released by the Pakistan Air Force, nearly 500 sorties were made that night, and nearly 2,000 tons of bombs were dropped on the front line.

Not only the JF-17, but also many JF-20s were converted to strike missions.

Although the Indian Air Force also made an emergency sortie to intercept the fighters of the Pakistan Air Force, the effect was not good, and it suffered considerable losses.

In order to support the frontline troops, the Pakistan Army has also again used tactical ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, focusing on key targets in India, particularly bridges and tunnels.

In addition, long-range rocket artillery of the Pakistan Army was put into combat.

To put it simply, within a few hours, Pakistan used all the offensive forces at its disposal, and made a small climax.

The result is naturally conceivable.

By daybreak, the Pakistani armored forces had broken through the three lines of defense of the Indian army, and the only way left for the Indian army to retreat was the road east of Lahore.

In fact, until this time, the Indian army still had a chance to retreat.

As long as it is properly organized, as long as the Indian Air Force is strong, the Indian army near Lahore can still be withdrawn, at least most of the officers and soldiers can be withdrawn.

The key point is that after several hours of fierce fighting, the offensive strength of the Pakistani army has exposed the problem of lack of follow-up.

If nothing else, after dawn, the Pakistan Air Force did not send out combat aircraft to support the ground forces, and only retained limited air defense forces.

It is a pity that the Indian army made a mistake again.

Strictly speaking, it's not a mistake either.

When the Pakistani army launched a counterattack, the General Staff of the Indian Army gave the front-line troops an order to defend to the death.

In the circumstances of the time, there was nothing wrong with the order itself.

Why?

If the front-line troops are allowed to retreat when the Pakistani army launches an offensive, it will definitely turn into a rout, or even a crushing defeat, and the consequences are unimaginable.

You must know that under the bombardment of the Pakistani army, the retreating Indian officers and soldiers may not be able to escape alive.

In addition, if the front line collapses, then the Indian army may not be able to organize and deploy a new defensive line near the border, and may be overwhelmed by the retreating rebels.

From a tactical point of view, even if we want to withdraw, we must first resist the attack of the Pakistani army.

After stifling the offensive of the Pakistani army, a retreat was organized.

When the battle reached dawn, the General Staff of the Indian Army made adjustments to the combat operations, but instead of asking the front-line commanders to organize the troops to retreat, they counterattacked!

According to the information disclosed later, the Indian army must have obtained information provided by the United States and Japan at that time.

It was on the basis of this information that the General Staff of the Indian Army concluded that the Pakistani offensive would end after dawn and that it would not be possible to immediately organize a new offensive.

Obviously, the top level of the Indian army naturally believes that since the Pakistani army is unable to attack, it can launch a counterattack, recapture the positions lost before dawn, plug the loopholes in the defense line, and maybe annihilate the main force of the Pakistani army through counterattacks, thus turning the battlefield situation in one fell swoop.

The question is, is it that easy?

Don't forget, only 2 armored brigades launched a counterattack, and the other Pakistani army units that fought with 2 armored brigades did not have much consumption.

More importantly, after the Pakistani army stopped its offensive, the follow-up troops had already followed.

At that time, the Pakistani army invested at least 14 brigades in the Lahore direction, of which the vast majority, that is, 8 brigades, were infantry brigades.

No way, Pakistan does not have enough heavy equipment.

Obviously, when the Indian army counterattacked, the first thing to face was not the Pakistani armored troops, but these infantry units that arrived before dawn.

If the Indian army has enough armored forces, there is a real hope that the counterattack will succeed.

It is a pity that the Indian army does not have enough armored forces.

At that time, the hastily organized Indian army did not even have enough vehicles, so it could only let the officers and soldiers in the unit launch a counterattack on foot.

What kind of tactic is this?

You know, this is already the 20s of the 21st century, and the Indian army used the tactics of the first world war more than 100 years ago.

Let the infantry launch a counterattack on foot to storm the Pakistani defenses?

Isn't this for the infantry to be sent to death!?

Even if the Pakistani army did not build trenches, there were enough machine guns, and the infantry had rifles in their hands and could be supported by long-range artillery.

As for the results of the counterattack, there is naturally no need to say much.

After a morning of fighting, the six infantry brigades of the Indian army were not able to move forward, and all they got was that tens of thousands of officers and soldiers were killed in the counterattack.

This failed counterattack almost completely destroyed the morale of the Indian army.

In these 6 infantry brigades, unrest and even mutiny broke out.

According to Pakistani propaganda, at least three Indian infantry battalions voluntarily surrendered to the Pakistani army on the front line, and they were brought forward by junior officers.

Even the morale is gone, what are you going to fight?

Up to now, no matter how stupid the Indian army leaders are, they clearly understand that the battle in the direction of Lahore has been lost, and there will be no chance if they do not withdraw.

In fact, by this time, the Indian army had lost its last chance.