Page 315 - Leadership in the Indian Army

objective, flopped down for a well-earned rest. But the FOO with the
leading company realised that what they had captured was not the top of the
feature, and expressed his doubts to the company commander, who had

been his batchmate at the Academy. The latter’s response, accompanied by
a choice expletive, was to advise the FOO not be afraid and go to sleep.
When dawn broke, the enemy began firing from the top, and then counter-
attacked. 4 Rajput withdrew in disorder, leaving behind a large quantity of
weapons. The casualties were substantial—two officers and 63 other ranks
killed, and four officers and 47 other ranks wounded.
Soon afterwards, the divisional commander visited 68 Infantry Brigade

and discussed the plan for the link-up with 93 Infantry Brigade, which was
undertaking an offensive from Punch towards Kahuta. Bakshi was ordered
to advance southwards towards Kahuta. Once again, there was a
disagreement, since Bakshi would have preferred to operate along the
eastern ridge of Kuthnar—Ziarat, while the divisional commander ordered
an advance along the western side. 1 Para was tasked to capture Ring

Contour south of Point 8786 in phase one, while 19 Punjab was to capture
Point 8777 in phase two. Both attacks failed.
Bakshi then decided to switch to the eastern approach, which he had in
any case preferred. On 8 September he ordered 1 Para to relieve 6 Dogra.
The revised plan was to capture Point 9270 with 19 Punjab and Point 7720
with 6 Dogra. Both attacks were successful, and operations continued
further south. On 9 September, 19 Punjab secured Ziarat, while 6 Dogra

captured Halan Zanubi the next day. On 10 September, Major Megh Singh,
with a platoon of commandos from Punch, made contact with 19 Punjab at
Ziarat. Kahuta, an important town north of Punch, was captured on 11
September, and this opened the road link between Uri and Punch, which
had not been in use since 1947. However, the enemy was still holding
strong positions around Gitian, from where they could interfere with the

movement on the Uri–Punch road. On 15 September, the enemy attacked 19
Punjab positions between Kahuta and Gitian three times without success.
On 18 September, Bakshi ordered 6 Dogra to capture enemy positions south
of Gitian, consisting of Left Knoll, Tree Hill and Hut Hill. It was to be a
silent attack with a prearranged fire plan on call. 6 Dogra was to attack Tree
Hill and Hut Hill, while one company each from 1 Para and 19 Punjab were
to divert the enemy’s attention by simulating attacks on Ring Contour and

Point 8777 respectively.