While the Kargil war is remembered mainly for being India’s first Televised war, it was also a war that showed how synergy between the Infantry and the Artillery can be a game changer.
The extensive and innovative use of artillery in direct support role for the brave infantry soldiers battling the Pakistani intruders on the jagged, narrow peaks in Dras, Batalik and Mushkoh sectors proved to be a master stroke.
Maj Gen Alok Deb (then commanding a field artillery regiment as a Colonel) recalls in this interaction: All arms and services of the Formation worked together in close cooperation.
In particular, mention must be made of the synergy between infantry and artillery, a noteworthy takeaway from Operation Vijay which was instrumental in achieving success.
While joint planning remained the preserve of the higher headquarters, there was almost minute-to-minute coordination at infantry brigade and artillery regiment level and below.
Joint reconnaissance by infantry and artillery COs of routes and staging areas, coordination of details such as common names for landmarks, objectives and other targets ensured that no confusion arose at any level, culminating in the production of simple and workable outline fire plans to support attacks.
The battle of Tololing witnessed the ultimate synergy between these two arms, when, on the death of a company commander during the assault, the Observation Post (OP) officer from the direct support field regiment held the company together, pressing home the attack till relieved by the CO of the battalion.
Watch previous episodes from ‘Kargil: 25 Years On’ series here:
Part I: How Batalik Was Won
Part II: The Tololing, Tiger Hill Turning Points
Part III: Why Pakistan Launched Kargil Ops
Nitin A. Gokhale is a media entrepreneur, one of South Asia's leading strategic affairs analyst and author of over a dozen books so far on military history, insurgencies and wars.
Starting his career in journalism in 1983, he has since led teams of journalists across media platforms.
A specialist in conflict coverage, Gokhale has covered the insurgencies in India’s North-East, the 1999 Kargil conflict and Sri Lanka’s Eelam War IV between 2006-2009.
Gokhale now travels across the globe to speak at seminars and conferences, and lecture at India’s premier defence colleges. He has founded three niche portals, Bharatshakti.in, stratnewsglobal.com and Interstellar.news.
