Red Heretic
1st September 2005, 03:37
Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted in a while. Unfortunately I've lost my net access due to a personal crisis. However, I dropped in to post a couple articles.
22 August 2005. A World to Win News Service. The following eyewitness account of the
battle of Pili is from the notebook of war correspondent Om Sharma, published in the
Nepali Maoist weekly Janadesh 16 August.
As one section of the People’s Liberation Army Second Brigade was still a half hour
march away from the Royal Army camp, a message came via the communication set:
shooting had broken out and the fighting had begun. At that moment it was 5:50 in
the evening. Word was passed to the PLA contingent to speed up its pace. The roaring
of cannon and automatic rifles could be heard easily from where we were. The news
that the PLA had begun its attack spread like a tempest. The contingent was eager to
reach the battlefield and hit the Royal Army. The soldiers crossed the distance in
20 minutes and took up their positions.
Another contingent, selected for the first assault, was already in place. All
artillery sections were present with their weapons. We arrived in front of the RNA
camp. The sky of Pili was roaring with the mortars and light and heavy machine guns
from the camp and retaliatory firing from the PLA. The political commissars and
military commanders were giving information through communication sets to the units
under their command to bring everyone into place and set the assault sequence. Many
PLA fighters had already reached closer to the camp without being seen by the Royal
Army. The Lishne-Gam Third Brigade laid siege from the north, the Eighth Brigade
from the south and the Third Brigade from the east. A night vision-equipped
helicopter arrived to support the RNA within half an hour of the start of the
fighting. The helicopter fired dozens of 81mm explosive rounds from its heavy
machinegun into the hillsides of Pili. The PLA digested this firing several times,
without much damage.
The roar of the firing was heard not only in Pili, but in distant areas. The PLA
units were busy getting into position to lay siege to the camp as per the plan. The
Royal Army was almost unconscious and fired at random. The various different sounds
of heavy and light weapons were heard. PLA soldiers were also firing socket bombs,
discharge cups and other types of bombs.
The revolutionary soldiers displayed strict discipline. Their units came closer and
closer to the camp, cordoning it off completely. A fighter is felled by a bullet
from the camp. Another fighter picks up the rifle and advances towards the camp
fence. None of the injured fighters were vacillating. They were anxious for the
revolution instead of their own lives. Even some soldiers near death asked, “What’s
happening with the fighting?”
Because the PLA grasped the methods of war correctly in this battle, the casualties
were less in comparison to previous ones. There were dozens of people’s doctors and
health assistants on the battlefield to provide treatment for the injured fighters.
The fighting was continuous; volunteers were porting the injured towards a safe
place. The injured fighters on stretchers were telling us that no revolution can
succeed without shedding blood. The volunteers were happy with the fighting. They
said to the fighters, “You are fighting on the front line and we are helping you
from the rear.” In revolution everyone helps by doing what he or she can.
As the PLA tightened its grip around the RNA camp, there was a hullabaloo. Time and
again the RNA fired flares, some of them very bright. After a few hours of battle,
the PLA captured the RNA advanced post. The barbed wire surrounding the camp was
destroyed and the PLA made a plan to enter the camp together. They attacked the
bunkers and other posts and entered the camp’s tunnels. The PLA captured an 81mm
GPMG. While comrade Sangam of the Thirtieth Battalion of the Second Brigade reached
the post, he found an RNA soldier at ready position about to fire the 81mm and
another man set to reload it. Both RNA soldiers surrendered right away when he
ordered them to, and he brought them out with him.
Vigorous fighting took place when the PLA began to surround and enter the barracks.
The hard fighting continued from 2 am to almost 4 am. PLA units were further
tightening the noose around the base camp and firing bigger weapons. The Royal Army
also fired bigger and bigger weapons from inside the camp, but in vain. By around 10
or 15 minutes to 4, the PLA had completely captured the base camp.
The roar of gunfire stopped. Twinkling lights began to appear in the hills. A PLA
unit began to search the camp. Corpses of RNA soldiers could be seen everywhere.
Other RNA members remaining alive began to surrender to the PLA one after another.
We never heard uncivilised and filthy words. The PLA was used to addressing captured
RNA men politely and with respect. The captured soldiers were treated as per the
Geneva Convention. We saw some frightened RNA men try to jump into the river. They
were stopped by the PLA and made prisoners of war. Some of the RNA solders fell
under attack as they tried to escape towards Manma, the Kalikot district
headquarters. The rest of the soldiers offered their weapons. Some said, “Comrade,
take this weapon!”
The civilised behaviour of the PLA surprised the RNA personnel who had been trained
in a brutal manner. Injured RNA soldiers were provided first aid treatment by the
people’s doctors. The Maoists did not torture the captured soldiers, nor mutilate
the living or the dead, as the RNA later claimed. If they had any intention of
killing the captives, they could have done so easily.
By 4:35, a helicopter appeared in the sky. As it approached the PLA blew off its
lights, but the copter continued to hover overhead. The PLA kept searching every
nook and cranny of the camp. The voice of Divisional Commander Comrade Pravakar was
heard over the communication set, and there was a brief conversation between the
commander and the head political commissar. The commander expressed his thanks for
the successful battle. He directed the commissars to leave a few units around the
camp while others retreated. As the golden rays of the morning sun spilled over the
hills around Pili, the PLA set fire to the Royal Army camp. Thick smoke rose up and
spread into the sky. The camp buildings collapsed into ashes. People around the hill
began chanting, “The oppressive Royal Army has no place in our village pretending to
be road builders.”
Taking the enemy by surprise
The PLA adopted a stratagem to take the RNA by surprise. Revolutionary fighters
opened fire with a GPMG at 5:50 pm. The moment they opened fire, the RNA soldiers
coming towards the helipad to port the goods dropped by a helicopter a few minutes
previously ran towards the camp. Some of these soldiers were wounded in the legs and
hands while running. People’s doctors treated the injured after the battle was over.
Following the plan for this battle, PLA fighters reached the area close to the camp
fence by 8 pm. The revolutionary fighters moved silently from 9 pm to midnight. By
then all the PLA units were gathered around the fence. During this time the RNA was
perplexed. The Royal Army commanders thought that the PLA had taken the goods
dropped by the helicopter and left. A radio cassette was playing loudly. When PLA
members began to get into the camp the RNA suddenly felt suffocated. Starting about
30 minutes past midnight, the assault began from three directions. The PLA fired
light weapons, discharge cups and hand grenades. While the first assault group
entered the camp it did not need to open fire. Some Royal Army soldiers began to
hand over their weapons right away. The Third Brigade commander announced, “Our
supreme commander Comrade Prachanda has told us not to kill anyone who surrenders,
but to treat them with respect as prisoners of war. Hand over your weapons and we
will not kill
you.”
The base camp had been established only 13 days ago, but it was well fortified. A
barbed wire fence supported by iron pillars surrounded the installation. The tunnels
and bunkers were strong. It took 45 minutes for the PLA to fight from one bunker to
another. All the posts were constructed to defend each other. There were eight to
ten buildings in the camp made of concrete and 30-40 tents. The camp was situated on
a hill over the Tila River.
A huge arsenal of weapons
The PLA not only destroyed the base camp; it also captured a huge arsenal of
weapons. This is the first time the PLA has seized such a large amount of weapons in
one place since the beginning of the People’s War. We saw them with our own eyes.
Comrade Bibidh, divisional vice commander, gave us a report while we were
retreating. The PLA had seized an 81mm gun and its 150 explosive shells, a heavy
machine gun, 20 light machine guns, about 150 automatic and self-loading rifles,
several mortars and handguns and other weapons and more than 70 thousand rounds of
ammunition.
Finally -
We were together with the PLA and the captured RNA men. The prisoners of war were
happy when they saw us. The moment we introduced ourselves as journalists from
Janadesh weekly, they said, “The PLA obeys the law of war a thousand time better
than the RNA.” They were furious at the mass media of the old state [for falsely
claiming that these men were sent to build a road, not to fight]. “The PLA caught
us with weapons. We are not non-combatants. We all are RNA fighters,” they said.
And, as Chairman Prachanda said, as this campaign approaches the threshold of
victory, the PLA is about to write history.
22 August 2005. A World to Win News Service. The following eyewitness account of the
battle of Pili is from the notebook of war correspondent Om Sharma, published in the
Nepali Maoist weekly Janadesh 16 August.
As one section of the People’s Liberation Army Second Brigade was still a half hour
march away from the Royal Army camp, a message came via the communication set:
shooting had broken out and the fighting had begun. At that moment it was 5:50 in
the evening. Word was passed to the PLA contingent to speed up its pace. The roaring
of cannon and automatic rifles could be heard easily from where we were. The news
that the PLA had begun its attack spread like a tempest. The contingent was eager to
reach the battlefield and hit the Royal Army. The soldiers crossed the distance in
20 minutes and took up their positions.
Another contingent, selected for the first assault, was already in place. All
artillery sections were present with their weapons. We arrived in front of the RNA
camp. The sky of Pili was roaring with the mortars and light and heavy machine guns
from the camp and retaliatory firing from the PLA. The political commissars and
military commanders were giving information through communication sets to the units
under their command to bring everyone into place and set the assault sequence. Many
PLA fighters had already reached closer to the camp without being seen by the Royal
Army. The Lishne-Gam Third Brigade laid siege from the north, the Eighth Brigade
from the south and the Third Brigade from the east. A night vision-equipped
helicopter arrived to support the RNA within half an hour of the start of the
fighting. The helicopter fired dozens of 81mm explosive rounds from its heavy
machinegun into the hillsides of Pili. The PLA digested this firing several times,
without much damage.
The roar of the firing was heard not only in Pili, but in distant areas. The PLA
units were busy getting into position to lay siege to the camp as per the plan. The
Royal Army was almost unconscious and fired at random. The various different sounds
of heavy and light weapons were heard. PLA soldiers were also firing socket bombs,
discharge cups and other types of bombs.
The revolutionary soldiers displayed strict discipline. Their units came closer and
closer to the camp, cordoning it off completely. A fighter is felled by a bullet
from the camp. Another fighter picks up the rifle and advances towards the camp
fence. None of the injured fighters were vacillating. They were anxious for the
revolution instead of their own lives. Even some soldiers near death asked, “What’s
happening with the fighting?”
Because the PLA grasped the methods of war correctly in this battle, the casualties
were less in comparison to previous ones. There were dozens of people’s doctors and
health assistants on the battlefield to provide treatment for the injured fighters.
The fighting was continuous; volunteers were porting the injured towards a safe
place. The injured fighters on stretchers were telling us that no revolution can
succeed without shedding blood. The volunteers were happy with the fighting. They
said to the fighters, “You are fighting on the front line and we are helping you
from the rear.” In revolution everyone helps by doing what he or she can.
As the PLA tightened its grip around the RNA camp, there was a hullabaloo. Time and
again the RNA fired flares, some of them very bright. After a few hours of battle,
the PLA captured the RNA advanced post. The barbed wire surrounding the camp was
destroyed and the PLA made a plan to enter the camp together. They attacked the
bunkers and other posts and entered the camp’s tunnels. The PLA captured an 81mm
GPMG. While comrade Sangam of the Thirtieth Battalion of the Second Brigade reached
the post, he found an RNA soldier at ready position about to fire the 81mm and
another man set to reload it. Both RNA soldiers surrendered right away when he
ordered them to, and he brought them out with him.
Vigorous fighting took place when the PLA began to surround and enter the barracks.
The hard fighting continued from 2 am to almost 4 am. PLA units were further
tightening the noose around the base camp and firing bigger weapons. The Royal Army
also fired bigger and bigger weapons from inside the camp, but in vain. By around 10
or 15 minutes to 4, the PLA had completely captured the base camp.
The roar of gunfire stopped. Twinkling lights began to appear in the hills. A PLA
unit began to search the camp. Corpses of RNA soldiers could be seen everywhere.
Other RNA members remaining alive began to surrender to the PLA one after another.
We never heard uncivilised and filthy words. The PLA was used to addressing captured
RNA men politely and with respect. The captured soldiers were treated as per the
Geneva Convention. We saw some frightened RNA men try to jump into the river. They
were stopped by the PLA and made prisoners of war. Some of the RNA solders fell
under attack as they tried to escape towards Manma, the Kalikot district
headquarters. The rest of the soldiers offered their weapons. Some said, “Comrade,
take this weapon!”
The civilised behaviour of the PLA surprised the RNA personnel who had been trained
in a brutal manner. Injured RNA soldiers were provided first aid treatment by the
people’s doctors. The Maoists did not torture the captured soldiers, nor mutilate
the living or the dead, as the RNA later claimed. If they had any intention of
killing the captives, they could have done so easily.
By 4:35, a helicopter appeared in the sky. As it approached the PLA blew off its
lights, but the copter continued to hover overhead. The PLA kept searching every
nook and cranny of the camp. The voice of Divisional Commander Comrade Pravakar was
heard over the communication set, and there was a brief conversation between the
commander and the head political commissar. The commander expressed his thanks for
the successful battle. He directed the commissars to leave a few units around the
camp while others retreated. As the golden rays of the morning sun spilled over the
hills around Pili, the PLA set fire to the Royal Army camp. Thick smoke rose up and
spread into the sky. The camp buildings collapsed into ashes. People around the hill
began chanting, “The oppressive Royal Army has no place in our village pretending to
be road builders.”
Taking the enemy by surprise
The PLA adopted a stratagem to take the RNA by surprise. Revolutionary fighters
opened fire with a GPMG at 5:50 pm. The moment they opened fire, the RNA soldiers
coming towards the helipad to port the goods dropped by a helicopter a few minutes
previously ran towards the camp. Some of these soldiers were wounded in the legs and
hands while running. People’s doctors treated the injured after the battle was over.
Following the plan for this battle, PLA fighters reached the area close to the camp
fence by 8 pm. The revolutionary fighters moved silently from 9 pm to midnight. By
then all the PLA units were gathered around the fence. During this time the RNA was
perplexed. The Royal Army commanders thought that the PLA had taken the goods
dropped by the helicopter and left. A radio cassette was playing loudly. When PLA
members began to get into the camp the RNA suddenly felt suffocated. Starting about
30 minutes past midnight, the assault began from three directions. The PLA fired
light weapons, discharge cups and hand grenades. While the first assault group
entered the camp it did not need to open fire. Some Royal Army soldiers began to
hand over their weapons right away. The Third Brigade commander announced, “Our
supreme commander Comrade Prachanda has told us not to kill anyone who surrenders,
but to treat them with respect as prisoners of war. Hand over your weapons and we
will not kill
you.”
The base camp had been established only 13 days ago, but it was well fortified. A
barbed wire fence supported by iron pillars surrounded the installation. The tunnels
and bunkers were strong. It took 45 minutes for the PLA to fight from one bunker to
another. All the posts were constructed to defend each other. There were eight to
ten buildings in the camp made of concrete and 30-40 tents. The camp was situated on
a hill over the Tila River.
A huge arsenal of weapons
The PLA not only destroyed the base camp; it also captured a huge arsenal of
weapons. This is the first time the PLA has seized such a large amount of weapons in
one place since the beginning of the People’s War. We saw them with our own eyes.
Comrade Bibidh, divisional vice commander, gave us a report while we were
retreating. The PLA had seized an 81mm gun and its 150 explosive shells, a heavy
machine gun, 20 light machine guns, about 150 automatic and self-loading rifles,
several mortars and handguns and other weapons and more than 70 thousand rounds of
ammunition.
Finally -
We were together with the PLA and the captured RNA men. The prisoners of war were
happy when they saw us. The moment we introduced ourselves as journalists from
Janadesh weekly, they said, “The PLA obeys the law of war a thousand time better
than the RNA.” They were furious at the mass media of the old state [for falsely
claiming that these men were sent to build a road, not to fight]. “The PLA caught
us with weapons. We are not non-combatants. We all are RNA fighters,” they said.
And, as Chairman Prachanda said, as this campaign approaches the threshold of
victory, the PLA is about to write history.