At 9:22 a.m. on October 22, 1962, the commander of the Indian Brigadier General's 7th Ace Brigade, Pashuram John Dalvi, and his seven companions had been on the run for two days in the depths of the jungle, and the tension of the battle and the hunger made them intend to enter a narrow path in search of life. However, tragically, as soon as he crossed the path, he entered an ambush circle of a Chinese infantry company.
At that time, the black holes of more than a dozen guns were coldly aimed at the remnants of the 7th Brigade who had fled. As the supreme commander of the Indian army, Dalvi's identity is of course very important to the PLA. But. To Dalvi's shock, not a single Chinese soldier was captured in this battle.
1. Preferential treatment for Indian prisoners of war
From October to mid-November 1962, the Sino-Indian border war was completely launched, and in the course of the operation, the PLA border guards captured a total of 3,968 Indian officers and soldiers (3,942 according to the Indian side), including 1 brigadier general and 26 officers at all levels. In the face of the capture of the Indian army, the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army particularly emphasized the "five prohibitions":
"No killing, no ill-treatment, no humiliation, no binding, no confiscation of all property."
What our army did not expect in this self-defense counterattack against India was that the Indian army was so vulnerable, capturing thousands of Indian troops in just 32 days, and even capturing senior Indian generals.
In order to respect the religious beliefs and ethnic habits of the Indian prisoners and to provide timely treatment to the wounded Indian prisoners, the PLA border guards regularly treated the Indian troops and communicated with the other side in a timely manner.
Since some of the Indian prisoners died due to ineffective rescue, the staff of the Chinese border guards also tried their best to find out the names of the Indian soldiers and the numbers of the units to which they belonged, and properly handled and buried them.
However, this was not the case in the eyes of the Indian prisoners. As we all know, in 1951 India signed the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War, and China ratified it in July 1952.
All of China's humanitarianism has been maliciously misinterpreted in the Indian Journal of Political Science. An Indian soldier who was captured described that on the day he was captured, along with 15 or 16 wounded soldiers, he needed immediate medical attention, but his cries of pain were ignored. It wasn't until they endured 48 hours of pain that they were treated.
Indian media said that the Chinese government has seriously violated Articles 12 to 15 of the Geneva Conventions.
Not only that, the Indian side also said that in order to obtain more information, the Chinese asked Indian prisoners of war to fill out a detailed form, many of which went beyond the content of the inquiry under Article 17 of the Geneva Conventions.
Obviously, some Indian prisoners of war did not understand the intentions of the Chinese government, and still lived the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain. However, China's regulations on the preferential treatment of prisoners of war were still well implemented by our border guards, and when some Indian prisoners of war were released, there was even a scene of reluctance.
In addition, the Chinese troops also collected all the equipment abandoned by the Indian army when they retreated, and then wiped it down and returned it to the Indian army in as good condition as possible according to the list.
However, the Indian side only sent a few administrative officials to handle the handover procedures. After the incident, the Indian side felt that the Chinese side was likely to insult itself with this action, but the Chinese government never intended to take such a move, but only expressed its sincerity for a peaceful settlement as much as possible.
2. Never be an enemy of China
In 1963, Indian prisoners of war were sent back to China, and for them, they were very excited to be able to return to their homeland. However, an Indian soldier named Che Long was very sad, and in the face of the management staff of the shelter, Che Long wailed:
"I am willing to be a prisoner of China for the rest of my life, and I don't want to go back."
Maybe this is also the same idea that most Indian soldiers have, but how can India be discarded as their homeland? In particular, as Brigadier General Dalvi and more than two dozen officers, they have important responsibilities and ranks. Once the intention of staying in China is made, it is undoubtedly treason.
Among them, Dalvi, as the supreme Indian army general captured in the Sino-Indian War, was in a trance at the beginning of his captivity, until he was entertained with good cigarettes and fruits every day in the Chinese internment. He slowly accepted the result.
According to Dalvi's recollection, the war was too tragic for India, and in less than 32 days, India was defeated on all fronts, and the reason for this was inseparable from the erroneous actions of the Nehru government and Defense Minister Menon. They blindly started fighting without any materials and military personnel to support the war, which would lead to the defeat of this war.
In fact, Dalvi knows China very well, and he also understands the historical background of the Sino-Indian grievances, and understands that Nehru's erroneous political policy (forward policy) has further stimulated the contradictions between China and India.
In the face of Nehru's continuous crossing of the "McMahon Line" and the establishment of private Indian military bases in China, Dalvi and most of the officers and soldiers did not agree very much.
When the 7th Brigade of the Indian Army had to carry out a precise strike on the Chinese border post, Dalvi looked very solemn. Many people don't understand why they have fought so hard, and the Chinese army has not stood up to fight back, is it because they are afraid of the ferocity of the Indian army.
Who knows, Dalvi said very seriously:
"The Chinese army has been prepared for a long time, this is a diplomatic battle, and they are waiting for us to fire the first shot."
Sure enough, just after Dalvi finished speaking, the counterattack of the Chinese army also came as scheduled, and the artillery fire in the sky began to hit the Indian stronghold, and every shell seemed to have eyes, and smashed at the feet of the Indian army without bias, and countless Indian soldiers were buried forever at the foot of the Himalayas.
As soon as the war began, Dalvi seemed to have encountered a terrible defeat, and sure enough, in just 2 days, the Indian ace brigade completely collapsed and was basically wiped out. Dalvi could only take the few remaining soldiers to hide in the deep mountains and forests.
However, with no offensive weapons and no food supplies, Dalvi led the remnants of his army to climb from a height of 10,500 feet to a mountain of 18,500 feet. Then it turned back to 10,500 feet.
Everyone was already tired and hungry, almost ineffective. Dalwi, who had always been proud, could not have imagined that the troops he led would be defeated so quickly.
However, even in this kind of hiding, he was eventually captured by the Chinese border guards, which became an indelible stain on Dalvi's life.
After returning home, Dalvi, like most of the Indian army's captured officers and soldiers, had a different impression of China's attitude. In his book, The Himalayan Misstep, he warned future generations never to be an enemy of China.
It has to be said that China's strength has made Brigadier General Dalvi remember his life, and from the post-war preferential treatment of prisoners of war, the Chinese have done much better than India, and have successfully achieved an impressive ratio of 0:3942 prisoners of war.