Pakistan Invades India, Sept. 1965

Blow by Blow is a game on the Pakistani 1st Armor Division’s bold plan to cut off the entire Indian 11th Corps by severing the Grand Trunk Road in the Jullundhur area. Both the Indian and Pakistani had planned offensive operations to begin around the same time. Indian forces had the task was to secure Pakistani territory up to Ichhogil Canal, which in this area was about 4 km from the Indian border, destroy the bridge over Ichhogil Canal over road at Khem Karan-Kasur, and to occupy a defensive sector to contain a possible Pakistani offensive. This was accomplished to some extent in the early days of September, 1965.

The main Pakistani attack originated from Kasur aimed at severing the entire Indian 11 Corps' line of communication. Their 1st Armored Division was the best equipped division and far superior to any armor formation the Indians had. Armed with over 200 M-48 tanks and trained using American doctrine, its sole mission was to cut Grand Trunk Road in area Jullundhur.

In other words, the Pakistani 1st Corps had assigned the 1st Armored Division an objective some 100 miles inside India and one which required crossing of one major river !

History notes that the Pakistani's borrowed from the boldness that Rommel had displayed, striking deep to cut off the main line of communication. Opposing the 200 modern M-48 tanks, the Indians only a handful of Centurions and old Sherman V tanks (these were not able to penetrate the M-48 armor unless firing from close range). What seemed like a "slam dunk" to the Pakistani , the unexpected outcome has provided for intense analysis and debate since 1965.

To the rest of the world, wrapped up in another more serious war called Vietnam, the East-West stand-off in Germany between the US and the Soviet Union, and the Beatle's newly released LP and movie, Help! (which debuted in the #1 spot for two months), the Pakistani-Indian war went unnoticed or at best, buried in the back pages of newspapers in America, UK, and Europe.

Regardless, it was the largest use of tanks since WW2!