Battle of the Basantar River

On December 3, 1971, the Pakistan Air Force launched massive attacks on Indian air bases. This was the beginning of the third war between India and Pakistan.

On the night of December 4-5, India began to build up forces on the border to attack the Shakargarh ledge. On the northern flank of Shakargarh in the direction of the Pakistani village of Barapind, located on the banks of the Basantar River, the 16th tank brigade was assigned (tanks "Centurion"). On the southern flank in the direction of Nainakot (Kot Nyna) the 2nd Panzer Brigade ( T-55 tanks) was assigned. The Pakistanis in this area had the 6th armored division (Type-59 tanks) and the 8th tank brigade (13th, 27th and 31st regiments from the M47 / 48 tanks and 15th self-propelled regiment). ^[3]

The battle began immediately at 20:00 on December 5, when the 54th, 39th and 36th Infantry Divisions of India, under cover of tanks, crossed the border of Pakistan. ^{[4] [5]}

On the night of December 7-8, the 14th Panzer Regiment of the 2nd Brigade crossed the border and began moving towards Ninakota. ^[6]

On the night of December 10-11, the Indians captured the Dehlra-Chakra complex, 6 Patton were destroyed and captured.

From December 10 to 11, Indian T-55 tanks of the 14th regiment captured Sultanpur and surrounded Ninakot, allowing the infantry to capture it. ^[7] Two Pakistani tank counterattacks were repelled, Indian T-55 destroyed 9 Pakistani M47 / 48 tanks, without loss on their part. ^{[8] [9]}

At 20.00 on December 15, the Indians crossed the Basantar River on the northern flank and sappers began clearing the minefield on the shore. On the morning of December 16, to eliminate the bridgehead, two Pakistani companies "B" and "C" consisting of 28 M48 tanks of the 13th regiment went to the Indians in the decisive battle of the entire operation. The sappers were under heavy fire from tanks and artillery and asked for help, but only one platoon of 3 Indian tanks of the 17th regiment could help them. In a subsequent brutal tank battle, all 3 Indian tanks were hit, the first one got hit and was left by the crew, the second one broke and was abandoned, the crew of the third burning tank remained in the car, the first Pakistani company retreated with losses, only 5 tanks remained in the second . The Indian commander ordered the last crew to leave the tank and prepared to announce the failure of the entire operation. However, the commander of the last Indian tank, Arun Khetarpal, refused to comply with the order of the commander and began to attack Pakistani tanks in a burning car. Arun Khetarpal managed to finish off the Pakistani tanks before he died from his injuries, the bridgehead was saved. ^[one]

For the whole day on December 16, Pakistanis lost 46 ^[10] - 48 Patton ^[11] . Early in the morning, the Pakistanis again counterattacked with the forces of the 31st Tank Regiment, the Indian infantry battalion, with the support of the Centurion tank company, repelled the attack, destroying up to 30 Patton. ^[12] Before the armistice, the Pakistanis made their last attempt to drive the Indians off the bridgehead. At 5.30, the 35th battalion of Pakistani border guards launched an attack; due to command errors, the infantry did not receive the support of armored vehicles of the 27th regiment and artillery. As Pakistani historians pointed out, border guards in open and illuminated areas on foot went on a suicidal attack on the Indian Centurions. About 80 killed border guards along with the commander dotted the area in front of Indian tanks. The end of the war was declared. ^[one]

It is not known exactly how much the Pakistanis lost in 10 days of battles at Shakargarh, according to fragmentary information from 80 ^[2] to more than 90 tanks ^[13] , mainly M48 (the 13th Pakistani tank regiment was almost destroyed, the 31st tank regiment was defeated ^[14] ), Indian losses amounted to 23 wrecked tanks. ^[15] Directly the city of Shakargarh was taken in a half ring, from the north by the 16th tank brigade and from the west by the 2nd tank brigade.