Posted on 06/17/2020 6:24:54 AM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
The hand-to-hand combat lasted hours, on steep, jagged terrain, with iron bars, rocks and fists. Neither side carried guns. Most of the soldiers killed in the worst fighting between India and China in 60 years lost their footing or were knocked from the narrow Himalayan ridge, plunging to their deaths.
A day after reports of the “violent face-off” in the western Himalayas emerged, Indian news outlets began naming some of the dead and a clearer picture started to build of what transpired on Monday night on the high, steep ridge lines above the fast-flowing Galwan River.
SNIP
Reinforcements from the Indian side were summoned from a post about 2 miles away and eventually about 600 men were fighting with stones, iron rods and other makeshift weapons in near-total darkness for up to six hours, Indian government sources said, with most deaths on both sides occurring from soldiers falling or being knocked from mountain terrain.
SNIP
At least four more Indian soldiers were said to be in critical condition. Indian media outlets cited intelligence sources claiming up to 50 Chinese soldiers may have been killed in the melee but did not present the evidence. Chinese CCTV’s widely watched evening news broadcast made no mention of the border confrontation on Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
War sure has regressed quite a bit
Shangri la is getting further away.
I’m very confused as to why neither side would be armed. Could’ve routed the other side in short order, or avoided a fight all together. Guns could’ve saved lives here.
Leftists want to ban military style weapons, or any weapon that is or was used by the military. So, no more rocks? I better call a landscaping company... ;-/
Both sides being out on patrol, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t at least have a sidearm.
Perhaps the area is so tense that both sides agree a rock toss is better than a shoot out.
They preferred honor to life. I would call it admirable.
They have agreed to not carry arms in that region to avoid major bloodshed, I believe. However, this fight was so intense, quite a few people got thrown off of the cliffs. China will probably seek advice from New York, ,Seattle, Ferguson or California authorities on how to handle those "Democrat" Indians.
By mutual agreement.
If only deadly weapons were banned.................Oh.
Let’s see. They have gone from words to sticks and stones. No doubt more will be coming. The only question is: Will the US be wise enough just to watch?
Jane Wyatt’s been gone awhile now.
“The goal isn’t to die for your country, it’s to make the other guy die for his” or something like that.
When they start throwing PIES at each other we’ll know that it is REALLY over.
First they shoot at each other with guns; then some one calls in the arty; then some one calls in air support; then the tanks are called up and so on. Its not about saving lives, its about avoiding a major war with the use of nukes on the table.
Both India and China have agreed to no guns at this point, in order to prevent escalation.
...Guns could’ve saved lives here...
Since both sides have nuclear weapons, there is a good chance that introducing firearms into the fight would have resulted in artillery, then aircraft, and sooner or later a major exchange.
Be thankful they did not use guns.
Just laid out 2 yards of 4” minus river rocks to make a dry creek bed so if things get bad I should have a pretty good stock pile of ammo. Looks fairly decent too. LOL!
Hey, rocks work great if you have high ground and are dropping them on people below. It is just a tool. If you can’t see much in the dark and spray and pray is just a waste of ammo, dropping boulders down a hillside to hit as many people on a narrow trail below is not the worst strategy.
But I have no clue the actual melee here. They could have been just smashing each other on the head while fighting along the same narrow trail. I don’t know.
Saturday Night Live should do a skit where Indians and Chinese are beating the hell out of each other and suddenly, a FAT Chinese (or Indian) woman begins to sing and they all smile and shake hands and break it up.
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