how 93000 soldiers surrender

9 December - 19 Punjab crosses the Meghna

At the same time as 4 Guard was moving, 19 Punjab had moved further south on the eastern bank of the Meghna to the village of Charlalpur. From here, using commandeered civilian fishing boats, they crossed the Meghna under cover of darkness, with the entire battalion having crossed within a few hours. They immediately moved to surround the Pakistani forces at Bhairab Bazar, as there were fears of an imminent Pakistani attak on 4 Guards.

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10-11 December - advance on Narsingdi

4 Guards had reorganised and regrouped by 0400hrs, following the landings at Raipura. After patrols had scouted out Pakistani positions on the road to Narsingdi, 4 Guards began their attack on Narsingdi railway bridge. Their objective was to keep the Pakistani defenders occupied and unable to detonate the explosives on the bridge. By the end of the day, the battalion had secured a river crossing point on the western bank of the Meghna and had captured the railway bridge at Narsingdi. It materialised that the Pakistanis had left behind only 1 platoon of paramilitary to defend Narsingdi, with the Army moving across the Lakhya River to bolster the defence of Dhaka. As such, 4 Guards faced no casualties and wiped out or captured the platoon with ease.

As 4 Guards was fighting in Narsingdi, the Mi-4s were carrying out multiple sorties to land 10 Bihar at Raipura. From there, 10 Bihar (along with a battery of medium artillery which was also landed) moved west to assist in the capture of Narsingdi. Simultaneously, on the 11th, 19 Raj Rif had been crossing the Meghna on boats and linked up with 4 Guards by midday, being transferred into 311 Mountain Brigade.

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AftermathEdit

Operation Cactus Lilly, combined with the success of the Tangail Airdrop and its consequences, meant that the Indian Army had reached the gates of Dhaka by 12 December. As Lt. Gen. A. A.K. Niazi realised that Dhaka was surrounded, he and the thenGovernor of East Paksitan, began the diplomatic process of organising a ceasefire and then a surrender. Due to this, the Indian Army's forward units received the order to advance on Dhaka slowly, to give the Pakistanis time to surrender. Regardless, the Indian Army's first heavy artillery reached artillery range by 14 December. On the same day, the Indian artillery began a bombardment of Dhaka Cantonment and the Pakistani positions at Dhaka. By the 16th, the war was over and the Paksitani forces would sign an unconditional surrender

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Popular culture

Hindustan Ki Kasam a Hindi war moviedirected by Chetan Anand and released in 1973 was based on the incidents of Operation Cactus Lilly.

it the story of operation cactus Lilly .

of indo Pakistani war at 1971.

Objectives

First phase

The objective for the 57th Mountain Division in what became the first phase on their advance across the Meghna were as follows, in the order that follows:

Capture AshuganjCapture and cross Coronation BridgeCapture Bhairab BazarAdvance toward Dhaka

Second phase

As the Pakistanis, while withdrawing from Ashuganj demolished Coronation Bridge, rendering it unusable, the objectives - for what became the second phase - were as follows, in the order that follows:

4 Guards, 311 Mtn Bde

Land at RaipuraAdvance toward NarsingdiCapture railway bridge at Narsingdi

73 Mtn Bde

Use civilian fishing boats to cross Meghna under cover of darknessAdvance toward Bhairab Bazar and surround it

19 Rajputana Rifles to link up with 4 Guards at Narsingdi

Following this, the 57th was to begin the advance on Dhaka.

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