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In 1962, the self-defense counterattack against India was launched in the Kejielang area and near Xishankou. It went through two combat phases. However, after only one round of fighting with the Indian army, the PLA had a good understanding of the Indian army's combat habits.

According to Zhou Bin, a veteran of the war against India and a communications soldier of the 163rd Regiment of the 55th Division, he recalled:During the Xishankou battle, the Indian army fled everywhere in the mountains and had no fighting power at all. There were even prostitutes accompanying the army during the battle.

1. The Indian Army was Defeated at Xishankou

In October 1962, China and India clashed in the Kejielang area. The Indian army dispatched the 7th Brigade, an ace brigade, and deployed a large number of troops at the east and west ends in an attempt to invade Chinese territory.

At that time, the top Indian military officers were confident and believed that the Chinese army would never launch a counterattack.

Unexpectedly, under the command of Zhang Guohua, commander of the Tibet Military Region, the Tibetan 419th Troops set out from the eastern section, while the Xinjiang Troops started from the western section, deciding to defeat the Indian troops one by one.

At 7 am on October 20, after only three hours of fierce fighting, the Indian Army's ace brigade was completely defeated and the remaining troops began to flee into the dense forest. However, after being encircled and suppressed by our army, the commander of the 7th Brigade, Dalvi, who was in deep shortage of supplies, finally couldn't stand it anymore and was captured by a company of our army on the way down the mountain.

The Indian army's embarrassment instantly made Nehru and Defense Minister Menon furious. They quickly organized their troops and wanted to set up a long snake formation starting from the West Pass and all the way to Bandila, preparing to launch another attack on our army.

This time, the Indian Army's attacking troops came from the Indian Army's ace 4th Division, which had participated in World War II and was known as the "Bearded Soldiers". The leader of this force was Lieutenant General Kaul, a close confidant of Nehru.

Faced with the Indian soldiers with rich combat experience, our soldiers did not retreat. Instead, under the command of their superiors, they specifically took advantage of the characteristics of the Indian army's long snake formation and defeated them one by one.

On November 17, more than 20,000 border defense troops of the Tibet Military Region began to encircle the Indian troops in Xishankou and Bandila from multiple directions.

Not only did it cut off the Indian army's retreat, but it also prevented the support of other Indian main forces. At this time, the Indian commander realized our army's intention, but it was too late. The Indian army was in disarray and the huge snake-shaped team began to fall into chaos.

With the deafening sound of artillery fire and the shouts of our army, the Indian troops abandoned their weapons and fled south. Our army ordered the 163rd Regiment to pursue and attack the fleeing Indian troops.

At that time, the 163rd Regiment discovered that the Indian army was planning to evacuate in large numbers in the direction of Xishankou, so it immediately sent the 9th Company of the 3rd Battalion to pursue and intercept them. However, the Indian army also fought back mercilessly, but in the end, the Indian army was completely wiped out.

As our army seized Xishankou, the Indian army was caught off guard. Except for a small number of soldiers who continued to fight desperately, most of the rest began to flee southward. At that time, the soldiers of the 9th Company were responsible for defending the original position, while the 1st Battalion cooperated with the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion to continue to pursue the enemy southward and eliminate the remaining enemies in Xishankou.

According to Zhou Bin, a veteran of the 163rd Regiment of the 55th Division:By the time we captured the mountain pass, only a few remnants were left resisting, while the rest had already fled in all directions.

Zhou Bin said that the Indian army's failure was already doomed, because in addition to the difference in weapons, the combat thinking of Indian soldiers was also one of the main reasons for their failure.

2. Differences between Chinese and Indian Soldiers

As the competition between China and India continued, our army gradually discovered some characteristics of the Indian army. In Zhou Bin's recollections, he mentioned:

"As a professional military, the Indian Army may look arrogant and domineering, but in fact it is just a paper tiger and has no combat effectiveness at all."

In the view of our army, the weapons used by Indian soldiers were still left over from the British era. Although the PLA soldiers were using Soviet weapons at the time, what the two sides fought for was not weapons but a kind of professional spirit.

Indian officers and soldiers have different ideas from Chinese soldiers. Their thoughts are completely different. The fighting ideas of our officers and soldiers are very clear: defend the country, drive the enemy out of their territory, fight for the country, and fight for the nation.

The Indian army is different. They do not have this so-called concept, or their awareness is even weaker. What's more, during the Indian army's war, there are prostitutes accompanying the army to provide services for them.

This is incredible to everyone. The Indian army's thinking still continues the ideas of the British colonial period. Just like the "comfort women" during the Japanese army period, the Indian army's practice of living in brothels every Sunday also reflects their lax combat thinking.

This phenomenon has formed a unified pattern from top to bottom within the Indian army.

November 14th is a special day, as it is the birthday of Indian Prime Minister Nehru. Lieutenant General Kaul started preparing a "birthday gift" for Nehru more than a month in advance.

In order to be able to report the good news of "a major victory for the Indian army" to Nehru on this day, Kaul did not hesitate to replace a large number of brigade commanders and chiefs of staff in an attempt to achieve better "effects" for the war.

In fact, this willful behavior soon made the Indian army taste the bitter fruit. Not only did it pay a bloody price, but it also caused dissatisfaction within the Indian political elite.

In addition, when the war was imminent and the Indian army was about to be defeated, Kaul, the commander of the 4th Army, retreated from the battlefield. He not only fled back to New Delhi with several senior officials on a special plane, but also blamed all the problems on Nehru. Obviously, this "good style" within the Indian army is exactly the same from top to bottom.

In contrast, the Chinese army had strict discipline and clear ideas. In the confrontation with the Indian army, they were not only fearless and fought bravely, but also created many "miracles".

During the Xishankou battle, a four-member team led by Pang Guoxing successfully lifted up 200 Indian soldiers, which made people praise this memory.

On the battlefield, although our soldiers were young, they were not afraid of death. The four of them went deep into the enemy's interior, fearless of danger, fighting wits and courage with the enemy, and with only a few submachine guns, they killed the Indian commander with one shot.

This also made the Indian troops terrified and began to flee in all directions. However, four people also broke out of the encirclement and chased the 200-man team. With the confluence of the large forces, our army successfully captured the remaining Indian enemies.

As a result, Pang Guoxing won the first-class merit and was awarded the title of combat hero, while Wang Shijun and the other three won the second-class merit.

What makes this infantry squad so brave and invincible, apart from their determination to fight bravely in the face of the enemy, is their military spirit as a Chinese soldier.

Conclusion

The Indian army's defeat was already doomed. According to the Henderson Brooks Report:

"At the moment of launching the attack on the Chinese army, no one knew anything about the attack area, not even the enemy's strength and weaponry."

Obviously, to the outside world, this was an unprepared war.

The Indian army had long been seriously corrupt, and the officers and soldiers' combat thinking was out of control. The Indian army paid more attention to personal interests and had no sense of the overall situation. Therefore, it was like a pile of loose sand in the battle. It was not surprising that a Chinese infantry squad of only 4 people could easily shake a team of 200 people.