1st phase & 2nd phase

1st phase

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Battle of Ashuganj

What became, effectively, the "First Phase" of the Meghna Crossing, was the advance to Ashuganj. The advance was spearheaded by 73 Mtn Bde, supported by tanks from 63 Cavalry. However, the Pakistani 27 Infantry Brigade had turned Ashuganj into a fortress. The spearhead of 18th Battalion, Rajput Regiment and 10th Battalion, Bihar Regiment, supported by a squadron of PT-76s from 63 Cavalry reached the outskirts of Ashuganj at 1300hrs on 9 December. They arrived to find that the bridge had already been blown up ahead of the arrival of Indian troops and a significant force of the Pakistani 27 Infantry Brigade was camped at Ashuganj to defend it. In the fighting, 44 Indian soldiers were killed and 4 PT-76s destroyed or damaged, as against 29 Pakistani soldiers. However, by the morning of the 10th, the Pakistanis had retreated from Ashuganj on the last remaining boats to Bhairab Bazar

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2nd phase

9 December - air assault

It had become clear to Gen. Safat Singh by 7 December, that an air assault operation would be required to cross the Meghna. Inspired by the airlift/air assault operations that had surrounded Sylhet between 6 and 9 December, he ordered plans to be drawn up for a similar operation to cross the Meghna. The engineers of 15 Engineer Regiment and Group Captain Chandan began to plan the operation. They identified possible landing grounds and, with the help of the Mukti Bahini, began to mark them with modified torches. Mukti Bahini fighters set up these modified torches in paddy fields at Raipura (the DZ) in the hours before the helicopters landed. At 1300hrs on the 9th, as 18 Rajpur and 10 Bihar entered Ashuganj, 4 Guards was recalled from the lines at Ashuganj to the stadium at Brahmanbaria. Sometime in the evening, they began to board Mi-4 helicopters bound for Raipura. According to Major Chandrakant Singh, an officer in 4 Guards at the time, the 14 Mi-4s were escorted by 2 Folland Gnatfigters and landed at their DZ without any issue.

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The Mi-4s had had to land, in the pitch dark, on dimly lit fields. As such, upon landing,Flying Officer D. S. Shaheed got out and began to mark the DZ with wheat flour. At the time, there was a fear that the two brigades of the Paksitani 14th Inf Div at Bhairab Bazar would spot the landings and overwhelm 4 Guards before they'd had a chance to regroup. However, no such counterattack materialised. By 4 am, the helicopters had conducted about 50-60 sorties and had moved all ~700 men of 4 Guards, along with an artillery battery from 82 Light Regiment, to Raipura.After the war, it was revealed by Paksitani POW's that - upon hearing the sound of helicopters - it was assumed that an entire Indian brigade had been landed to their rear and as such, they were not allowed to move out of Bhairab Bazar.

COMPLETE ✅

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NEXT - 9 DECEMBER of 19 Punjab regiment

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