As the battle raged on the enemy bank, the flotilla closed in within range and formed a perfect target. The commander at Lalpur, Matin, in his hurried and difficult move the previous night had left his 106 mm RR with the company at Ashuganj under Nasim. The RR could not be moved because of carriage difficulties. However, one 75 mm RR was moved from Gokanaghat to the mouth of Titas which scored 5 shots at the LCT without causing any material damage.
When the flotilla was still looking for our position with searching eyes, a trigger happy soldier from the middle opened fire. The enemy returned immediately with a volley from the tanks. Instantly all the fire opened up. Our rocket launchers and mortars started pounding the enemy. The enemy was taken aback. The flotilla gradually started drifting away from the bank while the guns kept on spitting fire. In no time, six Sabre F-86 fighters were on our positions at Bhairab, Ashuganj, Lalpur and at Brahmanbaria. They were playing havoc and kept us pinned down. Air action left my troops in a spell of chaos and confusion. This continued uninterrupted for 6 hours from 5-30 a.m. to 11-30 a.m. it was during this time that I noticed a beeline of MI-8 helicopters yonder across the river to Shohagpur between Ashuganj and Ajabpur. The helicopters squatted for a while to unload the Pakistani “Maroon Barets” and flew back to fly in more sorties. It was a company plus that landed behind our position. I had no anti-heli force to counter this dangerous threat behind my back. Thus, to our great disadvantage, another dimension was added to this battle, where we could not help much.
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