Indo-China War

Tibet and India came to an agreement that Tibet will become a self-governing state of India for 20 years, and will have a plebiscite after that whether it wants to remain with India or not. Only Foreign policy and defence will be dictated by India during this connection, and during an emergency Lok Sabha and newly formed Rajya Sabha's joint session with all the available members in Delhi, Article 485 was passed.

Satyankar tried to talk to Mao, but stating 'health issues', he couldn't get on call with him. Even then, the Chinese forces were told to withdraw all their forces from Indian territory within a day.

Many congress members, and commies, opposed going to war, but Sardar Patel arrived on wheelchair in the Lok Sabha, despite nearing the end of his life.

"Opposing war right now isn't going to do anything. China has made its intention clear. Sooner or later, it will attack us. And having Tibet under them will give them huge advantage. It's best to strike right now."

Somehow, Sardar Patel managed to convince most of the people to agree for the war, especially Nehru and Gandhi's followers in the Congress.

War Emergency was declared, and on 3rd March, India entered the war.

USA also wanted to enter it, but was advised against direct intervention to prevent making it bigger than it already is. USSR went through with its neutrality.

Due to investing in Airforce since independence, many soldiers were airlifted and delivered into Tibet much faster.

Pamphlets were also thrown from the aircrafts about 'China has withdrawn from the battle' in Chinese, but most of the soldiers didn't know how to read, and they continued invading.

After a month, sufficient Indian troops were stationed in Tibet, and had managed to reconquer many parts of Tibet.

Despite India's attempt to convince China to end the war and back off, China continued to fight with frevor.

Mao said, "Even if 100 million people die, we will still be left with 300 million people. But, China will never be bullied again, no matter the cost!"

The war was benefiting China internally. While Korean War did unite people a little, most of the people weren't as much concerned as they were about Tibet. Tibet came under the Qing dynasty, and both the communists and nationalists claimed it as a part of China. That's why, people sympathetic towards nationalists were also supporting CCP now.

External wars often unite the internal people.

Soviet Union has been giving weapons to China, despite claiming neutrality, and has been considering sending aircrafts for a while too.

After another month passed, and China refused to back down, the Airforce was allowed to bomb all the Chinese footholds in Tibet. India was aiming to finish the war early. But China kept pouring in soldiers despite the death toll it was taking.

Due to PRC being occupied, the nationalists in Burma and other countries south of China moved back into China, preparing for an attack in Beijing.

Three months in, India had reconquered almost every part of Tibet, but the onslaught from China was just not stopping. Casualties from India's side reached an approximate 15,000, from Tibetian villages it reached more than 60,000, and from the Chinese side, it reached more than 70,000. The bombings were not stopping despite the soldier casualties.

Four months in, it seemed like it has become a battle between whether India runs out of its bombs, or China runs out of its soldiers.

The pipelines from Soviet Union to India via Afghanistan were agreed upon under the Treaty of Friendship successfully signed between the countries. That's why, aircrafts to China were being delayed, and Soviet Union started trying to convince China to stop.

Afterall, shipping its goods via Gwadar port seemed like a very beneficial proposal, which will also solve Soviet Union's major weakness of not having good access to ocean that isn't frozen.

After five months, in September 1951, the Chinese troops' casualties has gone to an astronomical 110K, with majority of them being untrained volunteers. Indian casualties have also reached 30,000, along with loss of 3 bombers, 6 military helicopters, and shortage of explosives.

On 17th September 1951, in Pokhran range, India tested its Uranium-based nuclear bomb, becoming world's third nuclear power.

This finally pressured the Chinese government for a ceasefire, and India and China finally come to the negotiation table.

The one who benefited the most from this war were Soviet Union, USA, and China. The decades it would have taken to unite and completely control mainland China was done in a matter of months, with a loss of around 40,000 soldiers, and 70,000 'volunteers' that were being held in prisons before the war started. Out of the 15,000 prisoners of war from China's side, around 10,000 are also 'volunteers'.

India will surely not hold Tibet for more than 20 years. And the feudal system won't change too. This will give China 20 years of preparation so that Tibet joins on its own.

India's debt crossed 60%, but internally, it wasn't effected much. The green revolution's first monsoon saw India being able to produce 80% of its required rice, wheat and maize, being able to complete 60% of its total food requirements compared to 40% last year. And economic growth was slowed down a bit, but was not much affected overall.

The main loss to India was its soldiers, and military equipments. Gaining Tibet, albeit for possibly 20 years, was a gain.

*Sorry for the short chapter. Certain things that happened between the war will be covered in the coming chapters.