Scene 1: **"The Frozen Gauntlet"**
*Base Camp, Zoji La Pass. November 1, 1948. -30°C. Dawn.*
**General Thimayya** stomped ice from his boots, glaring at the 11,575-foot wall of ice. "Sher Khan's *ghus* sit up there thinking they're invincible. Prove them wrong."
**Major Inder Singh** (7th Cavalry) slapped a Stuart M3 tank's frozen hull. "Sir, grease solidifies in minutes. Guns jam. Men lose fingers changing tracks."
**Engineer Nair** held up a blowtorch. "We'll wrap engines in *yak* wool. Mix kerosene in fuel. But General… no tank has ever climbed this."
Thimayya gripped Nair's shoulder. "*You* are my bison, Nair. Ram this pass open. Or Ladakh starves."
A Gurkha whispered prayers to Kali as frost crystallized on his eyebrows.
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Scene 2: **"Ghosts on the Glacier"**
*Zoji La Heights, Pakistani Outpost "Eagle's Nest." Same Day.*
**Captain Sher Khan** (Pakistani Regulars) scanned the pass through binoculars. "Nothing but ice devils, Subedar."
**Subedar Rahim** spat *paan* blood onto snow. "Hindustanis send *tanks*? Madness! Our machine guns will feast."
A sentry pointed: "Sahib! Movement below!"
Sher Khan laughed. "Mountain goats. Even *they* freeze here."
Through the howling wind, the faint *clank* of metal went unheard.
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Scene 3: **"Whiskey and Welding"**
*Hidden Ravine, Zoji La Base. Night.*
Engineers huddled under tarps, blowtorches flaring. **Sepoy Gyan** poured rum into a gearbox. "Mother's milk for metal!"
**Major Singh** inspected a Stuart's modified treads. "Nair? Will she hold?"
**Nair** tightened bolts with frostbitten hands. "We stripped armor, added spiked treads. She'll climb… or kill us all."
A Sikh driver tested the engine. It coughed, died. "Fuel line's frozen!"
Nair shoved a burning rag into the engine bay. "Try now!"
The Stuart roared to life, flames licking its belly.
Thimayya's radio crackled: *"Ladakh reports 48 hours of food left."*
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Scene 4: **"The Ascent"**
*Zoji La Pass, 2:00 AM. Blizzard.*
**Stuart "Bison-1"** ground upward, spiked treads clawing ice. Inside, **Major Singh** wiped frozen vomit from his periscope. "Driver! Left track slow! *Slow!*"
**Driver Rahman** (Muslim Indian) strained against stiff controls. "Sir! Ice sheet ahead—"
*CRUNCH!* The tank lurched, tilting 30 degrees.
**Gunner Arjun** screamed: "We're sliding!"
**Nair** leapt from support jeep, ramming wooden beams under the track. "Gurkhas! *Ropes! Now!*"
Ghurkas hauled the tank level, ropes cutting into shoulders. Blood froze on the fibers.
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Scene 5: **"The Guns of Eagle's Nest"**
*Pakistani Bunker, 5:30 AM.*
**Subedar Rahim** peered into thinning blizzard. "Allah preserve us! *Tanks!*"
**Sher Khan** scrambled to a Vickers machine gun. "Aim for treads! *Fire!*"
Bullets ricocheted off Stuart hulls like hailstones. **Bison-3** took a direct hit. Flames erupted.
**Major Singh** (in Bison-1) radioed: "Arjun! Load HE! Knock that nest out!"
**Arjun** rammed a shell into the breech. "Up!"
The shot screamed high. *"MISS!"*
Sher Khan's gunners laughed. "Go home, cowards!"
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Scene 6: **"Bison Charge"**
*Zoji La Crest, 6:00 AM.*
**Bison-1** stalled 200 yards from Eagle's Nest. **Major Singh** threw open the hatch. "Infantry! *Fix bayonets!*"
Ghurkas surged past tanks into machine-gun fire. **Naik Bahadur** took three rounds, kept running.
**Nair** leapt onto Bison-1's hull with a wrench. "Rahman! When I bang, *full throttle!*"
He battered the frozen track. *CLANG! CLANG!*
The tank lurched forward—
*SNAP!* The track broke.
**Sher Khan** stood, cheering. "See! I told—"
**Arjun's** second shell struck the bunker's ammunition store.
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Scene 7: **"Breakthrough"**
*Eagle's Nest Ruins, 6:15 AM.*
The explosion shredded Pakistani positions. **Major Singh** led Ghurkas through smoke, bayoneting survivors.
**Sher Khan** crawled from rubble, firing his pistol. "You sacrificed men for *ice*!"
**Singh** kicked the gun away. "We sacrificed men for *Ladakh*."
Below, Stuarts rolled past burning wrecks into the Dras Valley. Ladakh's road lay open.
**Thimayya's** voice crackled on radio: "*Bison*, status?"
Singh stared at 19 frozen bodies on the slope. "Zoji La is ours."
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