Chhangu Lake, Sikkim: At 12,800 ft, this famous tourist spot is usually a rather peaceful place.
This morning, the peace was shattered by heavy artillery pounding a nearby hillside as the Indian Army carried out Exercise Fireball, a simulated gun battle, at the Chhangu firing range, 1 km east of the lake.
The area is located just 3 km from the India-China border.
The day was bathed in clear sunshine after overnight rain had washed away the target markers. “In the past 10 days, we could practice only once,” said an army source.
Blue army, or the home side, used Bofors guns, 105-mm field guns and 120-mm mortars to fire 112 rounds of live ammunition on the Red army (the “invaders”) hiding in Lungsey Hill, located 2 km south of the firing range.
“The objective is to capture enemy positions before they can attack,” said the commentator over the public address system for the benefit of the civilian spectators, who included 300-odd schoolchildren.
Backed by an imaginary run by fighter planes of the Indian Air Force, the artillery unit of a mountain division based in Sikkim carried out the operation in two ear-splitting phases. The spectators witnessed how, one by one, the enemy targets were blown away by the army’s firepower. Several modern signalling and radar equipment were also used.
The schoolchildren clapped and cheered when a six-gun battery fired 12 shells at one target, resulting in loud reports and plumes of smoke from the hillside. The grand finale comprised rapid fire by all the guns at the four enemy targets, and red flares fired by the forward observation posts signalling that the invaders had been defeated.
This was the first time that the army has carried out a mock battle in the hill state.
“We wanted to showcase the capabilities and prowess of the army to the people of Sikkim,” said Lt Gen. C.K.S. Sabu, the general officer commanding of Trishakti Corps, which oversees army units in north Bengal and Sikkim.
Source: The Telegraph
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