The Battle of Longewala (1971), Paintings by R M Singh and Deb Gohain : The Desert Battle That Turned Pakistan’s Massive Tank Blitz into a Catastrophic Disaster
The Battle of Longewala saw Pakistan launch a massive nighttime blitz into the Indian desert with over 3,000 troops, 40+ Chinese-made Type 59 tanks, and hundreds of armored vehicles. Facing them were only 120 Indian soldiers with 2 RCL jeeps and 10 camels. Surprised by the night attack, the Indian troops were given the option to withdraw, but they refused and chose to fight. They held the post through the night with heavy resistance, waiting for the Indian Air Force, which lacked night-strike capability at the time. At dawn, Hawker Hunter jets unleashed devastating attacks on the Pakistani armored column, destroying or forcing the abandonment of over 36 out of 40 tanks, hundreds of vehicles, and killing around 300 Pakistani soldiers. India lost only 2 soldiers, 1 RCL Jeep and 5 camels in the battle.