Some of the classes were fun. Conducted by Directing Staff (DS), as the instructors are known, they provided the much required chance to catch up on sleep, and the LCs looked forward to them. Most of them had learnt the art of sleeping with their eyes open, and never missed an opportunity to use the theory classes for a nap.
That day, the theory class was on tactics. Colonel Deepak Dhar was the instructor. The DS was a handsome man with an impressive personality.
Unlike in other classes, the LCs remained wide awake when he spoke. Goggle-eyed, they soaked in the words raining from his mouth. Such a good-looking person can’t be too strict, was the general consensus. It was not an accurate analysis, they were to realize quite soon.
‘India has a border that runs through different kinds of terrain. The armed forces are its guardians. The army has to defend the borders, therefore we have to take up defences along the border, and when required, carry out attacks, raids across the border and even lay ambush. Right from the plains to mountains and deserts, we have them all. These operations are termed as “Ops of War”.
‘Today we shall discuss defence in the plains,’ lectured the instructor. All the LCs nodded their heads devotedly.
Nutty, who was sitting in the second row, let out a deep sigh. ‘I must report sick tomorrow,’ she muttered. ‘My bloody heart is beating too fast.’
‘Perhaps you suffer from hypertension,’ suggested Lucky.
A piece of chalk landed on Nutty’s head. ‘LC Patil, start rolling,’ thundered Colonel Dhar. ‘You can take your neighbour with you for company.’ He had been unable to decipher Lucky’s name on her nameplate.
‘And to make it difficult for the enemy to break through our defences, we have to create obstacles. What do you think these obstacles could be?’ the Colonel continued.
‘Low wire entanglement, and minefields in front of the troops could act as deterrents,’ said Cockroach, who had come prepared for the lesson.
‘Any other suggestions?’ asked the instructor.
‘Construct a ditch-cum-bund,’ came the reply from Kiran, who had also done her homework.
Ditch-cum-bund (DCB) is a man-made obstacle. It is like a canal with two banks, the one on the enemy side a bit lower than the one on the other side. It serves as an obstacle for vehicles, mainly battle tanks The cadets had been expected to study its details in the notes handed to them before the class.
‘Very good!’ said the colonel. ‘Any other ideas?’
‘A double ditch-cum-bund filled with water could be an effective obstacle,’ suggested Cockroach, continuing to come up with the ideas provided in the notes.
‘Very good! Let’s have some out-of-the-box ideas, not the ones covered in the notes.’
There was pin-drop silence as the LCs struggled to come up with fresh ideas.
‘Can you not come up with a single idea?’ urged the instructor.
The silence remained unbroken. ‘Alright, I think it’s time to bring in the others to do some thinking.’
The Colonel ordered the LCs rolling outside to enter the room. ‘Let’s see if you can come up with any ideas about obstacles to stop the enemy from entering your territory?’ he asked Nutty, who was pleased to be back in the room.
‘Sir, we could put some huge crocodiles, like the ones they show in National Geographic, in canals dug along the border,’ proposed the irrepressible girl.
‘That’s a real good idea. A really innovative one, I must say,’ praised the colonel.
Beaming happily at the class, Nutty sat down.
‘No, don’t sit down,’ ordered Colonel Dhar. ‘I have not finished the discussion. ‘So, how many huge crocodiles will you need?’
‘We can put a dozen of them,’ replied Nutty after a couple of minutes of hard thinking.
‘What will be the approximate length of the canal, and will you be placing the crocodiles along the entire length?’
It was a trick question. Everyone except Nutty realized the instructor’s game.
‘Yes, sir,’ she answered. ‘I will place them along the entire length.’
‘What if the length is around 600 kilometres, including the main and subsidiary canals?’
‘No problem, sir. They can be placed at the most likely approaches.’ Nutty waited for applause, which didn’t come.
‘Considering you have a dozen crocodiles, there will be around one crocodile every 50 kilometres of the canal. I think the density would be rather low.’ A sly smile lurked on the instructor’s lips.
‘In that case we can put one crocodile every 100 meters,’ said Nutty, after some thought. ‘That will stop the enemy.’
‘In that case you will need 6,000 crocodiles.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Nutty said doubtfully.
‘Where do you think we will find so many huge crocodiles?’
‘We could get 1,000 initially, and then the rest can be acquired.’ Nutty dug her grave deeper.
‘And how do you propose to transport 1,000 huge crocodiles to the canal at the border?’
‘They can be shipped.’
‘In the desert? And have you given a thought about who will keep a tab on them and feed them?’ The colonel was openly smiling now.
‘The ASC can do that, sir,’ responded Nutty doggedly.
A few giggles were heard from the back benches. By now, the girl realized she had put her head in the noose and that the instructor was tightening it with each question.
‘Fantastic! We shall not discuss this any further. You can write a paper on this and take your own time to submit it. Am I clear?’ Colonel Dhar was no longer amused. The game had continued for too long.
‘Sir, I think this plan will not work,’ admitted Nutty in a low voice.
‘I was wondering how long it would take for you to realize the stupidity of your plan,’ the instructor rebuked the girl. ‘I asked you to think of innovative ideas, not ridiculous ones.’
He continued his lecture and followed it up with the documentary Defence in Plains. Although a few LCs slept through the film, Nutty watched it attentively. She was fascinated by the different strategies shown in the film.
The exercise had outlined the importance of planning and execution. It gave the LCs several ideas, which they shared with the instructor during subsequent classes. They could now think more logically.
As the days passed, the LCs were introduced to elements of attack, raid, ambush and the so called ‘Ops of War’ in different types of terrain, by day as well as night. The manoeuvres they learnt were put to good use by a few cadets.
A couple of LCs used the tactics they learnt to steal out after dinner to meet newly made boyfriends and slip back into their respective companies before the 10 p.m. deadline. Their meetings took place on the P Hill, near Adyar River or behind the swimming pool.