"Punjab" means "land of five rivers", and the Chenab River is one of the five great rivers with a strong flow and high military value.

Fang Xianyang led his troops to camp 50 kilometers on the west bank of the Chenab River, and then gathered the battalion commander and various commanders of the division's reconnaissance battalion for a meeting.

At the meeting, Fang Xianyang first said: "Now we are opposite the Chenab River in India, and if we want to attack Delhi, we must cross this river. ”

Fang Xianyang laughed heartily when he said this, and then said: "A small river will definitely not stop us, we have two ways to cross the river, the first is to build a bridge on the river, our divisional engineering battalion has a field bridge erection vehicle, which can be competent for the task of erecting bridges. ”

"The second is to directly cross the river with the TK-96 main battle tank and the BZ-96 infantry fighting vehicle, both types of tank armored vehicles have a good floating ability."

"These two river crossing methods have certain requirements for the hydrological conditions of the river, in which the width of the river cannot exceed the length of the field bridge erection vehicle, and the floating crossing requires that the water flow speed cannot exceed the allowable limit value."

"Therefore, the task of the reconnaissance battalion is to reconnoiter the hydrological situation of the river, determine the speed of the flow and the width of the river surface in different sections of the river, and at the same time reconnoiter the hydrological situation, it is also necessary to reconnoiter the enemy's defenses on the east bank of the Chenab River. Okay, that's all I'm going to say, I'll give you a day to complete the reconnaissance mission. ”

After Fang Xianyang gave the order, the reconnaissance battalion set off, and after the reconnaissance battalion set off, the General Staff Department divided the 100-kilometer-wide river directly opposite the plateau combat division into groups and numbered them, so that it was more convenient to indicate the target.

The next day, on 11 September, the reconnaissance battalion returned with the reconnaissance results and reported to the General Staff, which summarized the reconnaissance results and reported them to Fang Xianyang.

The results of the reconnaissance showed that the width of the river from section 1 to section 10 did not exceed the length of the field bridge-erecting vehicle, but only the water velocity of the No. 5 section was below the allowable floating speed of the two types of armored vehicles.

Fang Xianyang read the report several times and found that there was no defense of the enemy army on the other side of the river, so he couldn't help but ask: "Why is there no defense of the enemy army on the east bank of the river?" ”

The staff officer hurriedly said: "Because of the urgency of time, the soldiers of the reconnaissance battalion did not cross the river to reconnoitre, they only reconnoitred the east bank with binoculars on the west bank of the river, and as a result, they did not find the enemy's fortifications. ”

Fang Xianyang was taken aback and said, "Didn't find the enemy's fortifications? What's going on? ”

The staff officer said: "I don't know, maybe the enemy has not deployed fortifications at all, or the fortifications deployed by the enemy are extremely hidden, and we have not been able to find out that the reconnaissance battalion is already preparing to cross the river to reconnoitre, but the number of reconnaissance battalions is too small, and the river is relatively wide, so it is difficult for us to reconnoiter each section of the river." ”

Fang Xianyang nodded and said, "I decided to cross the river at the No. 5 river section and use the method of floating by tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, so I ordered the reconnaissance battalion to conduct reconnaissance on the east side of the No. 5 river section tonight." ”

The staff officer agreed, turned around and went out to convey the order, and the reconnaissance battalion immediately crossed the river to conduct reconnaissance, and the next morning, the scout completed the reconnaissance and reported the reconnaissance results to the General Staff, which in turn reported the results to Fang Xianyang.

The staff officer said to the other party: "Our scouts have found a large number of enemy barracks on the east bank of the No. 5 river section, and there are many enemy soldiers in the battalion, the number is estimated to be about 20,000, and a circular defensive position has been built outside the barracks. ”

Fang Xianyang nodded, and then asked, "Does the enemy army have heavy equipment?" ”

The staff officer shook his head and said: "The scouts did not find heavy equipment such as armored vehicles. ”

Fang Xianyang said with a smile: "There is no need to worry about the lack of heavy equipment, is the composition of the enemy reconnaissance clear?" Is it the British or the Indian? ”

The staff officer hesitated for a moment, then said: "The scouts report that the enemy on the opposite side is strange, neither British nor Indian. ”

Fang Xianyang laughed all of a sudden, and said, "Neither British nor Indian? What does this mean? Could it be that the enemy army is Chinese? ”

The staff officer said: "The scouts said that they looked very similar to the Indians, but there were some differences in some details, the more obvious of which was that they all had long hair, and many of them had beards. ”

Fang Xianyang's face changed suddenly, and he exclaimed, "Long hair and beard? Are they Sikhs? ”

The staff officer nodded and said, "That's what I guessed. ”

Fang Xianyang stood up from behind the desk and said, "The Sikhs are brave and good at fighting, why did the British get them?" ”

The staff officer did not answer, and Fang Xianyang said anxiously: "You go and inform all the soldiers that our enemies are Sikhs, and they are more difficult to deal with than the British and Indians. I'll report this news to Lin Shuai again. ”

The staff officer hurriedly ran out, Fang Xianyang picked up the communicator to contact Lin Yuan, and said directly: "Report to Lin Shuai, we found the Sikhs when we marched, and the British formed a force of Sikhs, and now they are opposite us." ”

Lin Yuan was also surprised when he heard the news, and couldn't help but say, "How did the Sikhs get involved?" ”

Fang Xianyang said: "I think the Sikhs must have been bewitched by the British, Lin Shuai, what should we do now?" Did you go ahead of the original plan? ”

Lin Yuan pondered for a moment, and replied loudly: "Attack according to the original plan, don't be soft on the Sikhs, those who surrender will be treated preferentially, and those who don't surrender will be shot directly." ”

Fang Xianyang said in surprise: "Lin Shuai, don't we send an envoy to talk to the leader of the Sikhs?" ”

Lin Yuan laughed coldly: "In Finland and Bangalore, my missions have been treated rudely, I can't send any more missions, you can subdue the Sikhs first." ”

Fang Xianyang said loudly: "Although Lin Shuai can rest assured, although the Sikhs are strong, we are stronger than the Sikhs!" ”

Lin Yuan said a few "yes", then turned off the communicator, and Fang Xianyang immediately ordered his subordinates to attack the next day, September 13, cross the No. 5 river section, and go straight to the enemy camp.

In the early morning of September 13, the main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles of the 61st Plateau Operations Division began the final preparations before departure, and the pontoons were installed one after another, and at 8 o'clock in the morning, when the sky was bright, a regiment of armored vehicles took the lead in launching and crossing the river, and twenty minutes later they stepped on the ground on the east bank of the river.

(To explain, the number of the Plateau Combat Division is "61st Division", the "60th Division" mentioned in the previous chapters is a clerical error, and the "60th Division" is an Airborne Division, I'm really sorry!) In addition, I hope you will join the readership of Canghai - 142216023)