Chapter 733: A Battle (2)
It was perhaps a miracle to catch as many as 450 prisoners in a single battle in the modern war.
Especially when multiple rocket launchers, self-propelled guns, and towed artillery guns fired precision shots from afar, and portable missiles were launched to attack from up close, no soldier would have survived.
It was only possible as the Kazakh soldiers fought against the mechanized troops mainly, but the situation would have been worse if they had fired on infantry that had no defense at all.
The infantry unit, which had relatively weak firepower, quickly lifted the white flag, so they could save half of the Chinese troops.
The victory was possible because the Kazakh military tracked the Chinese military’s movement in Xinjiang Uyghur with a satellite from the time the troops started moving.
The satellite launched with the help of Russia was of great help.
The movement of the Chinese Uyghur troops was informed by local intelligence agents, so the Kazakh military started satellite tracking and found that their destination was the Pamir Plateau, so it could be fully prepared.
It attacked the Chinese troops when they were at rest after struggling to climb the slope with heavy equipment.
Nevertheless, it was a failed battle that 149 young men under a commander were killed or injured.
Of course, it was due to the death of the commander in the early stages of the battle, but if the command system had been solid, the commander of the next lower rank could have commanded the unit.
The troops lost their cool and had many deaths or casualties while attacking the enemy forces directly when they were dealing them with multiple artillery guns and self-propelled guns outside the range would have sufficed since the Chinese troops could not have been able to withstand the harsh battle environment of the Pamir Plateau anyway.
Still, it was a huge accomplishment to win a huge victory against a powerful mechanized unit at such a cost.
The Chinese military and the Chinese government were in a panic.
It was the biggest defeat since the border conflict with the Soviet Union, which was an operation that resulted in an indelible defeat by the commander’s misjudgment.
With this worst-case scenario, the commander of the Western border was somehow still in place despite the fact that 800 Chinese soldiers were hurt, killed, or captured.
As expected, it was like the Chinese leadership did not care about mere soldiers’ lives.
Not wanting to see such a reaction for long, Youngho quickly returned the prisoners to the Chinese side because holding on to the wounded and prisoners would only cost Kazakhstan their medical treatment and food.
Also, it was better to send them to China as soon as possible for the future since there was no guarantee of how long this dispute would last.
He needed to show some generosity to China to leave some room for reconciliation and negotiations.
That was not to say that he was trying to improve relations with China, but nothing should be rushed without thinking about an exit strategy.
Either way, this battle was worth a page in modern combat history.
Far from sympathy, the world did not hesitate to criticize China, even though China suffered near annihilation by the Kazakh military while advancing to Pamir.
The reason was that China abused its power to attack a weak country first. Such criticism was made because if left unchecked, China would project its power elsewhere.
In response, the Chinese government insisted it was the victim, saying that it
was just a show of force, but the Kazakh military launched a surprise attack without declaring war.
From the Kazakh side, that was nonsense as the troops only defended its country when the Chinese troops invaded the territory. If the Chinese troops had not crossed over, there would have been no deaths either in the Kazakh military.
No matter what China said, Kazakhstan remained unresponsive.
The reason for sticking to the principle of non-response was to express its intention to attack unconditionally without prior warning if its territory was violated.
Although the royal family and the government were silent, the world and the people of Kazakhstan insisted on criticizing and attacking China respectively day after day.
With the victory in Pamir, the people of Kazakhstan completely shook off their fear of China, which was not desirable either because the Kazakh side only won this time due to the Chinese side’s lack of preparation and strategy.
Even so, Chinese forces were not to be overlooked.
China would certainly provoke in any way to avenge its defeat in the Pamir Plateau.
The evidence was that the commander of the Western border was not replaced.
This would mean that he was given a chance to avenge and recover his name.
Kazakhstan’s military was fully prepared, expecting a stronger attack.
Since closing the border, the border had been strengthened fully.
Intelligence agents working in various parts of China were also checking the movements of Chinese troops, and China was being scrutinized with military satellites.
The Chinese military would also check the Kazakh military’s movements in detail through satellite, but there was nothing to pay particular attention to because the military had already deployed all the necessary troops at the border.
Now, it was necessary for Kazakhstan to stir up other places to disperse the Chinese military’s nerves before it provoked Kazakhstan first.
***
The Uyghur militia members trained in Afghanistan infiltrated Tibet through the Pamir Plateau in Tajikistan.
They picked Ngari, the capital of the Tibetan borderland that bordered Tajikistan as their base of armed protest so that they could travel to Tajikistan and Afghanistan at any time to suit their needs.
It was not only an area where military supplies were easily supported but also the only Muslim-dominated area in Tibet, a Buddhist country.
Tibet in December, like a plateau, was quite cold in winter, but this cold was nothing to the people from Xinjiang Uyghurs.
Compared to Xinjiang Uyghur’s cold weather, the weather in Tibet was like a spring day.
Although the Uyghur militiamen could endure cold well, they were wearing winter uniforms that were given by the Royal Bodyguards.
Uighur militiamen, who entered the city under the cover of darkness, breathed heavily and watched a building which was clearly lit up by security lights.
Their goal today was the building of the People’s Armed Police Unit in Tibet.
At the commander’s beck and call, the crew quickly disappeared into the opposite alley.
All the crew were moving in perfect order, having already rehearsed several times.
They were only armed with portable missiles and private rifles, but it was nothing for them to raid on a police unit.
That was because the local security was so lax.
There had been frequent peaceful protests calling for independence in Tibet, but never at the request of the Dalai Lama’s government in exile, which used nonviolent independence movements as its motto.
The People’s Armed Police Force or the Tibetan military command in Tibet was an organization that checked India or Bhutan, not an organization that monitored Tibetans.
That was why the security was unusually not tight.
On a moonless night, fires were seen from weapons prepared by some 20 Uyghur militiamen.
It was the moment when the curtain of armed independence struggle went up in Tibet.
Roaring portable missiles broke the windows of the building and destroyed the building.
The building quickly burst into flames when the explosion occurred every few seconds.
People’s armed police, who were sleeping inside the building, fled the building in confusion, but AK rifles were waiting for them.
Loud gunshots, like the sound of roasting beans, woke up Tibet’s winter night.
It was such a sudden attack that no alarm bells or sirens rang, but the sound of gunshots were telling people what was going on.
The Uyghur militia, which completely devastated the building, left without a sound.
Such attacks did not only occur at the People’s Armed Police Unit.
The same situation happened at government offices across the city of Ngari.
However, there were no people there because it was a late night.
It was about 10 minutes later that the emergency bell rang at the Tibetan military command.
When the Chinese troops stationed in Ngari showed up at the scene, fire engines were putting out fire after arriving.
At that time, troops stationed in Ngari were also under attack by Uyghur militiamen.
Dozens of Uyghur militiamen’s portable missiles and hundreds of bullets flew into the empty space where most of the troops left the unit on alert.
It was not an attack to kill anyone, but to destroy the unit, so they immediately withdrew when the Chinese military responded.
Confused Chinese troops fired back, but they did not dare to come out of the unit as they were lost in the sudden attack.
While the Chinese officials and military leaders were in confusion, the Uyghur militiamen, who escaped the city with ease, were reviewing whether there was a mistake in today’s operation in a prebuilt hideout outside the city.
***
Tibet’s young blooded people thought they had finally opened a new chapter in the armed struggle for independence in Tibet.
They had been envious of the Uyghurs’ struggle for independence.
Finally, in Tibet, meaningful people began to fight for independence.
They were desperate because their non-violence independence movement led by the exile government seemed to be pointless.
This was because China would not even flinch its eyebrows even if Tibetans fought non-violent independence for a hundred years.
Neither the world nor even the Indian government, which had an exiled government itself, did not recognize the Tibetan exile government, as if they believed Tibetans had the will to become independent.
Considering what the government in exile, which had sustained for more than 50 years, has done so far, it was clear that its policy was not working.
Only when there were bloodshed and armed struggle, could people around the world pay attention and help since there was no country that would help Tibetans who did not show a strong will for independence.
On the other hand, the Uyghurs were different. They were supported by each country thanks to their steady armed struggle for independence despite China’s oppression.
Following Tibet, armed fighting resumed in Xinjiang Uyghur as well.
Some of the Uyghur militiamen trained in Afghanistan infiltrated into Xinjiang Uyghur and instigated an internal struggle by encouraging local forces.
Uyghurs’ anger caused by Chinese armed police’s forced suppression of a recent demonstration to stop excessive inspections led to an armed struggle.
China’s military, which was only concerned about the Kazakh border, was not able to recover its senses after Tibet and Xinjiang Uyghur rose up against it all at once