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“So far, the Indians have been careful to maintain good, in-depth air defense as far as three hundred miles behind the Pakistani border. You can expect primarily SA-2 and SA-3 SAM batteries, as well as ZSUs and conventional tripIe-A.” He paused and surveyed his audience. “Are there questions?” There were none. “If not,” Neil added, “I’ll relinquish my pointer now to Commander Aubrey.”
Daniel Aubrey was a slight, rumpled-looking man with a brushy, unkempt mustache and a quick wit. He was the senior officer of Jefferson’s Strike Ops, a separate component of the carrier’s OX Division. Strike Ops published the ship’s pink and green sheets that listed upcoming operational events, prepared the daily flight schedule, and planned and coordinated underway replenishments.
And as their name suggested, Strike Ops was responsible for targeting and planning all tactical air strikes.
Aubrey accepted the telescoping pointer from Neil. “Thank you, Commander Spook,” he said with a grin. He gestured at the TENCAP photos of SAM sites in the Indian state of Gujarat. “Now that we all know where not to go, maybe I can shed some light on where the party’s going to be at.
“As our spook friend told us,” Aubrey said, “the Indians have been heavy into snakes this week. Assuming, of course, mat the crypto boys in OS Division have their ears screwed on tight, our radio intercepts suggest that New Delhi is calling their big push into Pakistan ‘Cobra.’
“Naturally, that suggested the code designation for our counterstrike. Operation Mongoose will be directed at the principal logistical routes that are supplying Indian forces at the front.” He used the pointer on the map. “The Indians have one pretty blatant Achilles’ heel, and mat’s their logistical network into southern Pakistan. In this whole area, between Punjab and the salt marshes down here by the sea, they have exactly one decent road and rail line: Jaipur to Jodhpur, then across the border and through Naya Chor, Mirpur Khas, and . . . “He smacked the pointer tip against the map with a loud crack. “Hyderabad. We’re calling that road Highway 101. Hit that supply line, hit it hard, and we could stall the entire .Indian advance.” He paused and looked at Admiral Vaughn. “And that, of course, is exacdy what we want to do.”
He gestured to the slide projector operator. A photograph
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appeared on the screen, replacing an earlier shot of a SAM site in Gujarat. It showed a line of vehicles shot from overhead, canvas-covered trucks mostly, but there were a pair of ZSU-23s escorting them. The colors were the odd blend of greens, whites, and yellows that marked the slide as an infrared photo. The truck and tank chassis engines showed as hot smears of white against the cooler greens of the background. “This came through from a KH-12 early this morning,” Aubrey continued. “It shows one portion of a supply convoy on Highway 101 east of Naya Chor that numbered over two hundred vehicles.
“Now, I don’t want any of you to get the idea that cutting the Indian supply lines is as simple as just bombing the crap out of this road. The Great Thar Desert is largely hardpan gravel and is perfectly able to support tanks, trucks, or whatever. There are some sandy places. In the ’72 war, a Pakistan armor advance bogged down in soft dunes near Ramgarh and got picked off. Most places, though, the Indians can choose their own route across the desert.
“But we have to keep in mind that the convoys themselves need supplies. Food. Water. Fuel. It’s two hundred miles from Jodhpur across the desert to Naya Chor, three hundred to Hyderabad. The road not only helps the supply vehicles cross the desert faster, it serves as access for the supplies that keep those vehicles moving. If we knock out the roads, the Indians will be able to reroute their convoys to die north or south, but it is going to cripple their logistical efficiency. We could expect lots more vehicle breakdowns in off-road travel, especially in rocky or gravel-covered areas.
“The real high-priority targets, of course, will be the bridges. Every time Indian pioneers have to build or repair a bridge in this region, it’s a major engineering operation, with the equipment and material being ferried all the way up from Jodhpur. The Indians are especially vulnerable here, with eight major streams or canals to bridge or ford between Naya Chor and Hyderabad. Some of these aren’t more than a trickle in the sand, but the Nara Canal is a major obstacle. And, of course, once they get to Hyderabad, there’s the Indus River itself. The Indians are probably planning massive bridging operations coupled with paratroop or commando landings to get across the Indus. If we can delay them here, we could cripple their whole operation.”