Page 149 - Leadership in the Indian Army

The enemy strength at this time was about 1,500. They attacked at dawn
on 24 December, a day before Christmas, which was also Jinnah’s birthday.
Jhangar was planned as a birthday present for the Qaid-e-Azam (supreme

leader), the title Jinnah had assumed after becoming President of Pakistan.
A day before the attack, Usman had decided to reinforce Jhangar with a
company of 1 Rajput, which had joined the brigade. As predicted by
Grewal, he had asked for 3 Para MLI but this battalion had still not reached
Naushera. A column of the 1 Rajput company left Naushera on the morning
of 23 December, escorted by two armoured cars of 7 Cavalry. Four miles
outside Naushera, the column was ambushed and had to stop. Two

armoured cars that had set out from Jhangar to meet the column halfway
met with the same fate—they were ambushed just a kilometre away from
the point where the first ambush had taken place. To ensure that the
columns could neither advance nor retreat, the enemy blew up bridges on
both sides of the ambush site.
To extricate the ambushed company, Usman sent the remainder of 1

Rajput, which succeeded in its mission but at the cost of seven casualties.
However, when the enemy attacked Jhangar, the 1 Rajput company was not
there. The first objective to be assaulted was Pir Matalsi, which was
overrun in an hour, despite the gallant efforts of the company that was
holding it. The second company guarding the Mirpur approach fell soon
afterwards, and Kullar readjusted his defences by occupying small features
around the road junction. After a few hours, the enemy launched another

attack, this time from the north-west. With the road to Naushera blocked,
reinforcement was not possible, and due to bad weather, even the air force
could not provide any succour to the beleaguered troops defending Jhangar.
Wisely, Kullar decided to withdraw to Naushera and sent back all available
transport. He did not know that the road was blocked, since wireless
communications with Naushera had broken down after the second assault,

at 7.30 a.m.
As soon as Usman learnt of the attack on Jhangar, he decided to send
reinforcements, in spite of roadblocks. He despatched 1 Rajput, less a
company, with a section each of mountain artillery and medium machine-
guns, to Naushera via a diversion. It was too late, however. The defences of
Jhangar had been already overrun, and the enemy was knocking at the gates
of Naushera itself. The relief column came up against a roadblock after

advancing just 3 kilometres, and had to halt. Attempts by the Rajputs to