25 Facts about Battle of Longewala

I am ready to bet that these facts will surprise you and I am sure you were not aware about it. 

1.       Major Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri was the company commander of one of the companies of 23^rd Battalion of Punjab regiment which took defences in Longewala. It was a detached company which implies that rest of the battalion had taken up defences far away from the location.

2.       The distance between Longewala and the 23 Punjab Battalion location by road was approximately 26 kms. This meant that in case Longewala was attacked then it would be difficult to reinforce the Longewala defences on time.

3.       Tactical commanders considered Longewala as less important location, and this was the reason to employ just one detached company.

4.       Pakistanis entered India from a place called Ghotaru which is 40 kms by road away from Longewala. There was direct axis from where they could have attacked Jaisalmer.

5.       Pakistanis objective was to attack Jaisalmer and not Longewala.

6.       Pakistani came with an armoured brigade which meant more than 2000 soldiers along with tanks.

7.       Pakistani armoured brigade commander came to know that there is a company sitting on Longewala. Knowing this, he changed the route and marched towards Longewala. Pakistani came in search of enemy. No one knows, what was going in his head. If they had ignored Longewala then they would easily reached and attacked Jaisalmer on that fateful night.

8.       Pakistanis reached Longewala approximately 0030 hours. They saw that there was fencing which they interpreted as fences for mines.

9.       Actually, those fences were not depicting mines but BSF had kept it to keep their camels within the periphery. This confusion played vital role in deciding the fate of Indian Soldiers.

10.   Before all this, the battalion commander had asked Major Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri to withdraw from Longewala with his company as they were overwhelmed by Pakistanis in numbers.

11.   Major Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri had only approximately 80 odd men to fight against an armoured brigade. Major Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri decided to hold the ground till death.

12.   In the confusion of the mine fences, Pakistani soldiers started breaching the mine field, in which they wasted almost four hours.

13.   Perfection of fire control was displayed in this battle. For the four hours, Indians did not open fire, not even a single bullet was fired. Because of darkness, Indians defences remains unseen by Pakistanis.

14.   Indians called for air support, but the hunters aircraft deployed in the sector were not having the capability to fly in night. This meant, the brave men of Punjab regiment had to hold the ground till the first light.

15.   When Pakistani soldiers reached 70 meter short of the trenches of Indian troops, the first bullet was fired by India. The time now was approximately 0430 hours in morning.

16.   By this time, the morale of the Pakistani troops had died down as they had marched for several kilometres and till early morning they had not seen the fight.

17.   The Pakistani commander was killed by RCL gun which was held up by this company.

18.   No one in this world has won the battle being in defences. Indians were in defences and they won the battle of Longewala by defending the ground. This is the only battle till now in which defending force won.

19.   By the first light Indian Air Force Bombers bombarded the Pakistani tanks and Pakistanis were forced to retreat. Literally, the Pakistani soldiers started running back to save their life.

20.   Approximately 135 Pakistani soldiers were killed and several captured. Their tanks were also captured as the war memento by the Indians. India lost the life of 2 brave hearted Jawans.

21.   Leadership of Major Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri was exceptional who led and utilized the bravest soldiers of 23 Punjab.

22.   After three days, India launched counter attack led by 19^th battalion of the Kumaon Regiment. It was the day light attack launched early in the morning, and Indian army captured three Pakistani Ranger’s post opposite to the Longewala sector.

23.   In this counter attack India did not lose even a single life.

24.   Indian army was considered weak in day light battles.

25.   But this counter attack changed all perception and showed the enemy that sometimes numbers cannot overshadow the bravery.

This is my salute to all those soldiers of 23 Punjab who showed young warlords of Indian Army that sometimes tactics become meaningless in front of determination and sheer conviction.