With the Indian troops commanding heights in the eastern Ladakh and overlooking Chinese positions along the Line of Actual Control, an anxious People Liberation Army (PLA) has resorted to psychological warfare to demoralise the Indian troopers deployed at the rarefied altitudes during the bitter winter, says a report published in Hindustan Times. The Chinese forces have started using loudspeakers to play messages and music aimed at Indian troops.
The PLA Army on the southern banks of the Pangong Tso Lake, where the Indian Army had ‘readjusted’ its positions along the strategic heights, have used loudspeakers to communicate with the Indian forces. As a part of its psychological warfare, the Chinese PLA soldiers stationed at the southern bank of Pangong Tso lake spoke in mangled Hindi to their Indian counterparts about the futility of being deployed at such heights during the winter on the sudden and impulsive decisions by the Indian politicians back in Delhi.
Similarly, the PLA troops deployed at the northern bank of Pangong Lake Tso played Punjabi songs on the loudspeakers. However, the Indian Army was not impressed by the antics pulled off by the Chinese military, and the officers commanding the position had a hearty laugh after the PLA soldiers started playing out Punjabi scores to lure the adversary into lowering their guard on the simmering LAC.
Chinese psychological warfare to subdue the enemy without fighting
The Chinese tried to pull down the morale of the Indian soldiers and sow seeds of dissatisfaction among them by pointing out that they don’t get proper meals and logistical support from their government. This is an old-trick, pulled out from the Chinese playbook of the 1962 war, said a former Indian Army Chief. He added that the Chinese used similar tactics in 1962 skirmishes in the western and eastern sectors as well during the 1967 Nathu La skirmish to dispirit the enemy forces.
“The Indian Armed Forces were foxed about the Punjabi songs on Finger 4. Maybe, the PLA thought that troops from Punjab were holding on to the higher heights of Finger 4 feature,” said the former army chief.
Chinese rattled after the Indian Army made ‘readjustments’ along the LAC to dominate the strategic heights
Ever since the Indian Army outwitted the PLA in the Chushul and Pangong Tso Lake region, occupying the strategic heights, the Chinese have been thoroughly rattled by the daring audacity of the Indian forces. The Chinese military first tried to militarily cow the Indians by swiftly moving in tanks and infantry combat vehicles. However, the Indian forces made it clear that there would be retaliation if the Chinese cross the line on either bank of the Pangong Tso lake.
Chinese had however tried to carry out provocative military movements to alter the status quo in the intervening night of August 29 and 30, but the Indian Armed Forces personnel thwarted their nefarious intentions by pre-empting their movements on the Southern Bank of the Pangong Tso lake and strengthening their positions to stop the unilateral Chinese expansionism.
