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in the surrounding hills as the first of the three air-defense fighters streaked down the end of the runway and lifted into the air...
     
     
    HILLS OVERLOOKING THE VILLAGE OF SHIQUANHE
    SOUTHWESTERN TIBET
    MAY 15, 1930 HRS
    The path down the hillside was not easy. The loose gravel and shifting rocks meant that one small mistake and one could end up sliding down the side and smashing into the rocks below. But there was no choice at the moment. Gephel and the other soldiers of his team were moving down the northern side of the slope and attempting to reach the next line of hills parallel to the one they were on. On the southern side of this hill the battle between the remaining Tibetan rebels and the PLA was in full flow, with the Chinese now hammering the hillside and the outskirts with artillery. In essence, the two PLA battalions in Shiquanhe were fighting on both the eastern and western outskirts of the village while controlling the central northeast-southwest road that ran through it. But it was not as serious a tactical problem as it might seem.  
    The reason for this is that Tibetan plateau is relatively flat. Unlike the steep gradients along the Greater Himalayas on the southern edge of this plateau, most urban and rural areas of Tibet are accessible from numerous directions. In the case of Shiquanhe, another road ran down from the direction of the Aksai Chin to the northwest. Gephel and his team had been positioned to the north of the village with both these roads on either side of them, having descended towards the village from the north. But now with two PLA convoys inbound towards the village from both these roads, the only escape route was back north again. Doing so was not going to be easy. The ground was barren and exposed. If detected crossing these open terrains, the intruders ran the risk of annihilation.
    At the base of the next line of hills, Gephel looked left and right to see his men taking cover behind some boulders. With their heavy backpacks strapped on and their rifles at shoulder level, they scanned the open terrain in front of them. The sky above was lit with stars, but there was no moonlight. The top of the hill the team had been on before was now silhouetted against the continuous flashes of manmade light from a mixture of flares and explosions. The headlights of the dozen odd vehicles driving down the road from the northwest were also visible, thanks to the good line of sight from their elevated positions.
    “Troop trucks,” Ngawang reported as he handed the binoculars to Gephel.
    “They will be swarming these peaks by afternoon tomorrow. I doubt they will do anything beyond securing the village tonight,” Gephel replied. A few seconds later he handed back the binoculars:
    “We have till daybreak to get under cover.”
    “What about our contacts?” Ngawang asked.
    “They are probably dead. Those who aren’t will be taken away. Either way, there’s nothing for us here. Let’s move out,” 
    “Yes sir,” Ngawang adjusted the night-vision optics attachment to his helmet before lowering it in front of his eyes. The rest of the team had done the same. Gephel was the last one to do it as he gave a final look to the flashing lights silhouetting the southern peaks behind them. Thirty seconds later he picked up his AK-47 rifle and moved out as Ngawang began leading the group across the cold, dark plains.
     
     
    THE SKIES ABOVE SOUTHWESTERN TIBET
    MAY 15, 1935 HRS
    One of the components missing during the 1959 rebellion in Tibet was the extensive use of Chinese airpower. While there were transport aircraft in use at the time and while some bombing missions were done, it did not constitute a determined use of airpower offensively. Of course, at the time, the Chinese airpower was very restricted to begin with. This time around, however, the PLAAF was out in force in support of the PLA in Tibet. J-10s based at Shigatse and Lhasa were already assisting the local PLA forces with precision