Thread by @cbkwgl

A reflection of what we people are always saying. And the esteemed General puts it succinctly. India's victory is not in taking land or crushing the military might of China. It's in stopping China from achieving it's objectives and forcing it to spend the whole winter there.

Whether you surrender a few hills or not, the lesson which either country learnt is this. China cannot maintain the position for a whole winter there. Even if it builds roads and sets up excellent facilities for it's troops, the reality is, the cost is prohibitive and

soldiers are not going to be happy. There are no train lines, there are no sufficient airbases(every plane taking off from Ngari can be shot down by Indian ground fire) and there are exactly three roads to reach there. Realization will not dawn on those sitting in Beijing.

It will dawn on those trying to protect these impossible lands where even water is not available and there are no people around - why exactly are we here and what are we doing here? Is it really worth our lives? And whom are we fighting for? These questions are already coming.

That is exactly how a Dynastic Cycle starts - a distant army in an inhospitable climate which Beijing cannot support - and the longer such things happen, the more the chances of China imploding into fragments.

But, make no mistake. China is going to come back again, and with an equally bigger force and with an aim to conclude the matters in a single summer-spring season.

There are three reasons why China is going to do that.
1. Loss of Face.
2. China knows winter is India's advantage and is in a race against time.
3. The ultimate aim for China is Ngari-Leh-Skardu road link as an alternate to Karakoram Highway. This round, I believe is to

separate North Ladakh from Ladakh by attempting to link China with Pakistan - North Ladakh and Siachen will not be taken but they will be starved to submission - and it's a huge loss of face for China and their greatest defeat after 1980 Vietnam and 1987 Arunachal.