Plans and Manoeuvres
Soon after the formation of the allied organization,
detailed plans were made to confront the Chinese at various fronts.
40 different leaders of various levels were appointed and assigned
various responsibilities. 18 commanders were appointed to control
the military movements. Assignments had been directed, locations
to be scouted had been assigned, and monasteries, estates and provincial
Dzongs to contact for assistance had been identified. A 27-point
military law governing the conduct of the volunteers had been made.
While still in Dri-Guthang, the Tibetan government
under pressure from the Chinese sent a four-member delegation including
the governor of Lhokha with a large number of escorts to the South.
Their repeated demand was the presence of General Gonpo Tashi at
the provincial Dzong. Suspecting their repeated demand, General
Gonpo Tashi and other top leaders refused to come to the Dzong
but, instead, sent some sub-leaders to invite the representatives
to the military headquarters. When they refused to come to the
camp, the general sent more volunteers with sub-leaders to get
whatever orders they had from the government or else to tell them
to leave the place. So, finally, the delegation made their mission
known through the sub-leaders. They demanded explicit answers as
to why Gonpo Tashi, Jago Namgyal Dorjee and the people of Kham
had left their homes and taken up arms. They wanted specific reasons
for their actions and movements. The leaders gave their answers
in writing and the delegation returned to Lhasa.
As soon as the government delegation returned
to Lhasa, in accordance with the strategic plans, the headquarters
was moved to Tsona with Jago Namgyal Dorjee in charge. Knowing
that an official request required by the CIA for assistance to
the resistance had been ignored by the Tibetan authorities and
also knowing that it would take a long time, even if one would
ever be forthcoming, General Andruk Gonpo Tashi, with a rather
large division of selected men and horses under his command, started
moving towards Shang Gaden Chokhor to get weapons and ammunition
from the Tibetan government depot there. The rest of the volunteer
troops were detailed in small groups of 50-100 to various places
to scout and to ambush the Chinese movements. After quite a few
encounters with the Chinese troops and several ambushes of Chinese
convoys by the volunteers, the Lhokha area, south of Tsangpo (Brama
Putra river) was free of Chinese presence except for Tsethang,
where a Chinese garrison with underground tunnels was occupied
by a Chinese army force of about 2,000 which could not be driven
out despite repeated attacks by the volunteers.
The arms that the resistance volunteers took
up against the Communist Chinese at this initial stage were purchased
by the volunteers themselves with their own funds. They consisted
of mainly British-made 303 rifles, German-made 7.62 rifles and
Russian-made 6.72 rifles. There were also rifles of other makes
but they were in small quantities. These arms had been originally
imported from India, Russia and China after the Second World War.
Later the volunteers obtained arms from Tibetan government depots,
from airdrop by the CIA and from the Chinese army.
Meanwhile, General Gonpo Tashi's troops took
all the arms and ammunition from Shang Gaden Chokhor and headed
back south but, as a result of many serious encounters with Chinese
soldiers who blocked all the routes, they could not penetrate through
the Chinese army to cross Takdru Ka and return to the South, but
had to move towards the North and further northeast from Nemo Shang.
Hence the division became known as the Northern Regiment. They
passed through Jang Yangpachen and Jang Namtso towards Jang Lharigo,
then proceeded through Gyasho Bengal to Sarteng and Chakra Pelber
in the area of Shota Lhosum. On their way the volunteers had to
fight numerous battles and suffered heavy casualties. In a serious
encounter with the Chinese army in Dre-Gung Mashung, General Gonpo
Tashi was wounded by shrapnel and bullets and later in exile, despite
months of medical treatment in England, he died of these old wounds
in Darjeeling in September 1964. As the number of recruits increased,
a few more commanders were named in Chakra Pelber, which then served
as temporary headquarters of the Northern Regiment, and a number
of scouting forces were sent from Pelber to Powo Tamo, Naksho Tsogu,
Lho Dzong area and to Tsawa Pesho to recruit new volunteers, to
scout and to obtain as many arms and as much ammunition as possible
from government depots.
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