Enter the Dragon: Chinese Invasion of Tibet continues....

In March 1950, the PLA which had been building up in Sichuan, crossed into Kham and occupied Dartsendo, the big Tibetan trading centre in the frontier zone.

By the middle of April, over thirty thousand troops had gone through Dartsendo towards the interior of Kham to the west. In June 1950, the PLA captured Dengko, a small town off the main caravan route, but where there was a small Tibetan government military garrison, probably in order to take captive the Tibetan radio operator with his radio. In about July, the PLA occupied Lithang.

By August 1950, by feverish road-building activity in the precipitous terrain, a motorable road had been constructed from Dartsendo to Kanze in the north, the next important trading centre in Kham. The river was the main geographical feature that divided Kham into an eastern and a western part. Chamdo, the capital of Kham, lay about 160 km west of the river. The PLA now held all of eastern Kham up to the Yangtse River.

The battle front of 320 km between Tibet and China’s PLA along the Yangtse (Drichu) River was held by a poorly equipped and badly led force of anywhere between 2,000 and 3,500 Tibetan government troops, spread out over the front. The PLA’s concentration areas were all in Kham and Amdo, with the forward assembly areas or launch pads at Dege, Kanze, Batang, Lithang, Nyagrong, and Dartsendo.

To be continued....