"The battle of Rezang La in Chushul valley during the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Popular for being the last stand of Major Shaitan Singh(PVC) and his 123 Ahir Soldiers.
In freezing Himalayan cold of 17 November 1962, C company of 13 Kumaon Regiment was ordered to hold on to Rezang La against the Chinese invasion. Armed with British era .303 rifles, the soldiers battled cold, hunger, lack of ammunition and warm clothing. The battleground was disadvantageous for the Indian side as it was not visible to the Indian Artillery and hence, no support was expected from them. Shaitan Singh, well aware of the fact, knew the only line of defence standing between the Chinese and the tiny little Ladakhi village of Chushul was his company. In the battle that ensued, the C company put its everything to protect the 3 km pass, enduring the onslaught of waves after waves of Chinese aggression. The Chinese infantry launched 5 consecutive attacks, all of which were repelled by the Company. Dejected and improvising, the Chinese changed their plans and resorted to heavy artillery shelling of the geographical features. Deep craters were left all over the pass by the 132 mm rockets launched by the enemies(where the Indian side did not have a single bunker). The Chinese displayed a spectacular show of firepower against the defenders.
With just a handful of men left after the pounding, Maj. Shaitan Singh never lost heart and continued motivating, regrouping and reorganizing his handful men and weapons. During his run between the positions, he was wounded by enemy LMG fire. Since the enemy had cut off all lines of communication between the forward post and the Battalion HQ, he ordered two of his men to leave him and rush downhill to inform others of the events. He was again wounded in the abdomen and froze to martyrdom in the night. But it was not only him, who fought without fear. Ahir guns kept blazing till they ran out of ammunition. Of the 123 soldiers posted there, 114 laid their lives. The Chinese side suffered heavy casualties ranging somewhere between 500-1700.
Maj. Gen. Ian Cardozo, himself a Vir Chakra winner, writes in his book Param Vir Chakra, Our heroes in Battle:
"“When Rezang La was revisited the next summer, dead Jawans were found in the trenches, still holding onto their weapons … every single man of this company was found dead in his trench with several bullet or splinter wounds. The 2-inch mortar man died with a bomb still in his hand. The medical orderly had a syringe and bandage in his hands when the Chinese bullet hit him… Of the thousand mortar bombs with the defenders all but seven had been fired and the rest were ready to be fired when the (mortar) section was overrun"…"
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