Without waiting for anyone else to comment, Major General Virk stood up. The pen held gently between his fingers rotated slowly. There was complete silence in the large committee room. Placing the pen on the table, he began. ‘Sir, we need to immediately open another front. We should attack Lahore with our full might. This will force the Pakistanis to stop Uncle Sam’s armoury from advancing deep into Khem Karan. They are overconfident at this point of time. They wouldn’t expect us to breathe down their necks in Lahore and Sialkot. We can keep them engaged and cause heavy damage to their pride, Lahore. This way it would become impossible for them to retrieve their battle tanks. With the surprise element in our favour, we can force them to run for cover. The sooner we attack, the better it would be.’

As soon as Virk finished his short speech, General Rathod quizzed, ‘But that would mean crossing the Line of Control, wouldn’t it?’

‘Yes, Sir, it would,’ came Virk’s response. General Rathod paused, thought for a while and said, ‘Please wait.’ Without adding a word more, he excused himself and rushed to his private office. Once inside, he lifted the hotline receiver and said, ‘Connect me to the prime minister, please.’

Minutes later, the firm and familiar voice of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri came through the receiver. ‘Yes, General, what’s the status?’

Rathod began in a hurry. ‘Sir, we will need to attack Lahore in order to stop the advancement of the Pakistani tanks into our territories.’ After finishing his brief statement, Rathod waited for the response.

The prime minister said, ‘Then what are you waiting for? Please go ahead. Let this be a lesson.’

General Rathod responded with ‘Jai Hind’ and replaced the receiver. Back in the war room moments later, he stood at the same spot and steered the pointer to the dot circled in red ink on the map. ‘Gentlemen, we have received orders to attack Lahore and Sialkot as soon as we are ready. I am aware, General Virk, that all your pultans are eagerly waiting for this very opportunity. Go tell your boys there shall be no mercy. It’s our men versus their machinery. Show them what we are made of. I wish you all the best.’

As soon as the area commander placed the pointer back into its holder, the officers stood up and, almost in unison, saluted the general officer. The briefing ended soon after.