Many people know that the People's Liberation Army won a complete victory in the 1962 self-defense counterattack against India, but it is not clear that the war was actually divided into two operational phases.
【War against India】
After the Indian army was defeated in the first stage, Nehru's government did not give up immediately, but tried to gather forces and fight again with the PLA with the support of Western allies, but the gap between the military strength of China and India was too great, and no matter how ambitious Nehru was, he would be defeated.
India's confidence
Nehru's territorial ambitions for China were well understood, given that India was indeed on the rise in military power at the time, and that southern Tibet was a key part of India's geopolitical landscape, so it is not surprising that Nehru wanted to snatch it and take control of it.
【Nehru】
But what is puzzling is that India's way of realizing its territorial ambitions is to actually pin its hopes on an armed invasion, knowing that at that time, less than 10 years after the end of the Korean War, India has any doubts about the gold content of China's defeat of the "United Nations Army"?
In addition to India's incomprehensible arrogance and arrogance, Nehru's confidence mainly came from India's special position in the international community at that time.
China and the United States were incompatible because of ideological contradictions, and China and the Soviet Union had irreconcilable conflicts over the leadership of the socialist camp, and the two countries even met each other in 1969, so it can be said that China has been isolated in the international community by the two camps of the Cold War.
India, on the other hand, is a good place to go.
【Nehru】
As the only major powers in South Asia, the United States and the Soviet Union both believe that gaining India's support is very important to their global strategic layout, and even if they cannot get India to take sides, they must ensure India's neutrality.
As a result, both the United States and the Soviet Union extended olive branches to India and provided it with economic and military assistance, which instantly boosted India's confidence.
In addition, China was indeed in a difficult period at that time, and Indian intelligence agencies believed that the strength of the PLA was at a historical low, and if China and India went to war, India would most likely win the war.
【Indian Army】
It is difficult to understand how the Indian intelligence agencies came to this conclusion, but it is certain that they fooled the Nehru government and the Indian army.
After the first phase of the Sino-Indian border conflict began, the Indian army immediately realized that their perception of the Chinese army was outrageously wrong, and the so-called elite combat brigade of the Indian army was completely defeated by the PLA in a short period of time, and Nehru in the rear was dumbfounded when he heard the news.
But at this time, Nehru still had hope for the prospect of war, believing that the Chinese army was a blind cat and a dead mouse, and he planned to ask the Americans for a sum of military aid to re-equip 30,000 ace troops of the Indian army into the battlefield.
[Nehru inspects the army]
Our army did not expect that Nehru still had the courage to launch a counterattack in a short period of time, and the front was stabilized after a short period of confusion, and the Central Military Commission also realized that India's war ambitions had not been completely defeated by the PLA, so it transferred the 54th Army, the ace of the PLA, to reinforce the Sino-Indian front.
The Sino-Indian border conflict entered its second phase, which became known as the Battle of Walong.
A defeated Indian army
The main goal of the 54th Army was to recover Warong and completely annihilate India's military forces in this direction.
【Indian Army】
Since the Indian army has occupied Warong for a short time, a large number of fortifications have been built here, and it is a plateau and mountain battle, which can be said to be easy to defend and difficult to attack.
After inspecting the battlefield, Ding Sheng of the 54th Army realized that the key to this battle was that the logistics and supply of the 54th Army must keep up.
The 54th Army carried forward the glorious tradition of our army's in-depth penetration, and a battalion of the 54th Army directly detoured back to the rear of the Indian army, unknowingly cutting off the Indian army's retreat.
【People's Liberation Army】
The main force of the 54th Army went straight to the Indian army headquarters in Walong, and in the face of the offensive in multiple directions, the Indian commander's head was obviously down, and he was simply unable to cope with the ferocious offensive of the 54th Army.
The battle lasted only 10 hours before it ended, and the so-called ace of the Indian army was completely erased from the world.
When the news came back to China, Nehru was completely desperate, and he suddenly realized that he had made an extremely serious strategic miscalculation from the beginning, that India was not China's opponent at all, and that any provocation and conflict would only lead to a complete defeat for India.
【Indian Army】
In fact, it was not only Nehru who was shocked by the outcome of the war, but also Ding Sheng, the commander of the 54th Army.
The reason why the central government transferred the 54th Army was that it believed that the 30,000 ace troops of the Indian Army should be a hard nut to crack.
Unexpectedly, the Indian army was completely vulnerable, and although the 54th Army was victorious, it had no sense of accomplishment at all.
Ding Sheng even complained after the war, commenting on the Indian army and saying: It's really a bullshit trump card, it's not as good as the national army.
【Ding Sheng】
It is not surprising that Ding Sheng was so disappointed, after all, the initial tactical arrangement of the 54th Army was aimed at fighting a protracted war.
Before the war, Ding Sheng spent a lot of energy studying what to do if the PLA logistics was interrupted, but these preparations were not used, and the battle was over.
India has also been strongly affected after the Battle of Warong, and many Indians even believe that India's demise is imminent and China will take over the whole of India.
However, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is a righteous army, and the purpose of the expedition is not to expand the territory, but to defend the territory, and the apocalyptic situation expected by the Indians has not appeared, and India has not dared to continue to provoke the mainland on the border issue for a long time after the war.
【Indian Army】
The Sino-Indian border war can be said to have brought peace to the mainland for 30 years.
Sources:
[1] The compilation team of this book: the history of self-defense and counterattack operations on the Sino-Indian border[M].Military Science Press,1994,p.238.
[2] Sino-Indian Border Self-Defense Counterattack Combat History Compilation Group.Sino-Indian Border Self-Defense Counterattack Combat History.Military Science Press.1994.435, 437