The Iron Gate
*Skardu Fort Ramparts, January 12, 1948. -30°C. Dawn.*
**Colonel Sher Jung Thapa** scraped ice from his binoculars. Below, the Indus Valley churned with movement—a sea of tribal *pattu* cloaks and glinting rifle barrels. Five thousand souls hungry for blood and loot.
*"Allahu Akbar!"* The cry rolled up the slopes like thunder.
**Subedar Arjun Dev** spat on the frozen stones. "Crows gathering, Sahib. Shall we give them lead?"
Thapa's voice was glacier-calm. "Hold fire. Let them taste our walls first."
A tribesman on horseback galloped forward, waving a green flag. "Surrender, *kafirs*! Jinnah promises mercy!"
**Sepoy Hari Ram** (17, trembling) raised his Lee-Enfield. "Permission to—"
*CRACK!* Thapa's Webley flashed. The horseman toppled, crimson blooming on snow.
**"Skardu answers."**
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The Stone Eaters
*Fort Courtyard, Night 45. Blizzard.*
**Quartermaster Rakesh** stirred a cauldron of boiling leather belts. "Eat, brothers. Or the cold eats you first."
**Sepoy Hari Ram** retched at the stench. "We're *dogs* now?"
**Naik Bahadur Singh** (missing three fingers to frostbite) shoved a steaming strip into his mouth. "Dogs *live*. Swallow."
A mortar shell screamed overhead—
*BOOM!* The latrine block vanished.
**Thapa** emerged from dust, face bleeding. "Report!"
**Arjun Dev**: "West wall breach, Sahib. Ghulam's section... gone."
Thapa peeled his frozen glove off. Raw bone gleamed where his pinkie had been. "Plug it with the flour sacks."
**Hari Ram** whimpered. "Sahib, we've had no airdrops in—"
**"PLUG IT!"**
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The Night of Knives
*Sappers' Tunnel, March 3. Moonless.*
**Captain Akbar Khan** (Pakistani Regulars) crawled through stinking mud. "Allah wills it—tonight Skardu falls!"
Above, tribesmen feigned an assault. *"Jihad! Jihad!"*
**Sepoy Hari Ram** pressed his ear to the fort's foundation. "Sahib! Digging under the armory!"
**Thapa** grabbed pickaxes. "Follow me."
In the claustrophobic dark, Thapa's men met the sappers. Pickaxes clashed. A tribesman sank teeth into **Bahadur Singh's** throat. Hari Ram drove his *kukri* through the man's eye.
**Akbar Khan** lunged at Thapa—
*CLANG!* Thapa blocked with his pickaxe.
"*Namaste*, Captain," Thapa grinned, blood on his teeth.
Their struggle rolled into a pit. Thapa jammed his dagger into Akbar's ribs, once, twice. *"This* is Dogra mercy."
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The Last Radio
*Command Bunker, May 10. Midnight.*
Static hissed on the wireless. **Operator Dinesh** shook Thapa awake. "Sahib! Srinagar responds!"
*"Skardu, this is Tiger Base. Relief column stalled at Kargil. Hold 48 hours. Repeat: Hold—"*
The transmission died. The generator sputtered out.
**Arjun Dev** slammed his fist. "They abandon us!"
Thapa lit the last candle. Its flicker danced on 79 skeletal faces—all that remained. He unfolded a stained Indian flag.
**"We hold."**
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The Blood Sunrise
*Main Gate, May 14. 4:30 AM.*
Tribesmen massed in the grey light. No war cries now. Only the rasp of *tulwars* being drawn.
**Thapa** stood atop the rubble, Enfield in hand. "Dogra *veer*! Today we dine in Shiva's hall! *Jai Mahakali!*"
*"Ayo Gorkhali!"* The Ghurkas' cry echoed.
Human waves crashed against the fort. Tribesmen scaled corpses like ladders. Hari Ram fired till his rifle glowed red, then swung it like a club. Bahadur Singh, blind from shrapnel, gutted a looter with his *kukri*.
**Thapa** emptied his pistol into a sea of faces. Click. Click.
A tribesman tackled him. Steel flashed—
*THUNK!* Arjun Dev's bayonet took the man in the neck.
**"Go, Sahib! I hold—"**
A bullet tore Arjun's jaw off.
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The Silent Flag
*Fort Rooftop, May 14. 8:00 AM.*
Thapa hauled himself up the last steps. Below, the courtyard ran red. Bahadur Singh lay pinned to the flagpole by spears, still gripping his broken *kukri*.
**Tribal Chief Rahman** climbed the rubble, *tulwar* gleaming. "Yield, Colonel! Your bravery is legend!"
Thapa spat blood. He raised the tattered Indian flag.
*"Skardu... still... stands."*
Rahman sighed. Nodded.
His sword swept down—
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The Seventeen
*Fort Ruins, May 15. Dawn.*
**Indian Relief Force Commander Ahuja** stared at the carnage. Frozen bodies stood propped against walls, weapons frozen in dead hands.
**Sepoy Hari Ram** crawled from a corpse pile, clutching Thapa's scorched flag. "Sahib... we held."
Ahuja counted the living:
- Hari Ram (left eye gone)
- 16 Ghurkas (all missing limbs)
**Rahman** approached, white flag raised. "Take your heroes, Colonel. We bury Thapa Sahib with honors."
Ahuja gestured to the ruins. "Was it worth it? 200 for a pile of stones?"
Rahman placed Thapa's dagger on a cairn. **"Men like this are mountains. You cannot conquer them. You can only break yourself against them."**
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