The Indian Army maintained a base at Pathankot, twenty three miles away from Shakargarh and quickly mobilized forces to defend the region.

In an attempt to gain advantage through the element of surprise, the Indian Army, though outnumbered, attacked Pakistani positions in Jarpal area, triggering the Battle of Basantar.

Thus, while the Indian division was bogged down as the engineers had not cleared all the mines, 2nd Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal of the 17th Poona Horse regiment, in a daring counter-attack, led his 3 tanks into the minefield area.

However, despite being at a quantitative and qualitative disadvantage, Indian troops made massive gains during the final days of the battle and also repelled the Pakistani thrust.

Towards the tail end of the battle, Pakistan Army's Lieutenant Colonel Akram Raja made a frantic attempt to counter-attack the Indian stronghold near Shakargarh by jumping into an old-style cavalry charge with his tanks.

India had gained control of more than a thousand square miles before finally settling down to 350 sq mi (910 km2) - 1000 km2[8] of Pakistan territory that included approximately 500 villages.

observation post officers of 75 Medium Regiment with these formations and units engaged a large number of active enemy targets including missile, launching bases and RCLs in area Lagwal.

Thereafter the artillery engagement continued with the remaining forward observers passing corrections to the commanding officer of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel KN Thadani, over the armour net.

During the period immediately preceding the war Lieutenant Colonel KN Thadani initiated intensive affiliation training, particularly with armoured squadrons.

The forces in Samba-Zafarwal sector consisting of 54 Infantry Division with under command 16 (Independent) Armoured Brigade with 75 Medium Regiment in direct support were unleashed on the enemy.

The regiment engaged a number of tanks, RCLs, active machine guns and mortar positions considerably facilitating the advance of the armoured and infantry columns.

The enemy RCLs and machine guns covering the minefields were effectively engaged by Major MS Brar and Captain Madhu Mahbubani.

The success of this engagement was entirely due to the swift forward movement by the armoured tanks and close and intensive fire support provided by the regiment.

The devastating effect of artillery fire made a major contribution in shattering the enemy's will to fight, greatly facilitating the capture of the fortified defences in area Chakra-Delhra.

'C' company 3 Grenadiers under command Major Hoshiar Singh with Captain Mohan Krishnan[13] as the forward observation officer came under heavy enemy artillery shelling and machine gun fire followed by a massive counterattack.

His sincere efforts and leadership made a major contribution in providing the continuous fire support called for by the advancing 16 (Independent) Armoured Brigade.

The advance was through a seemingly impassable terrain, fortified at a number of places by Pakistani forces with extensive minefields all along likely approach routes of ingress.

On December 5, 1971, at about 7.30 pm, 2/Lieutenant NP Singh of the regiment left with his task force for Dera Post from where they started laying an operational track for the Indian offensive.

The Regiment's Commanding Officer, Lt Col BT Pandit,[18] after briefly supervising this specialized task, proceeded ahead in order to guide his men.

Simultaneously, 405 Field Company was rendered engineering support for the advance of 16 (Independent) Armoured Brigade in the area south and south-west of Bari.

On the night of December 10/11, a platoon of 405 Field Company, deployed with 16 (Independent) Armoured Brigade and commanded by Naib Subedar Doraiswamy, was employed on minefield breaching task with trawls.

Naib Subedar Doraiswamy,[19] on his own initiative and displaying exemplary courage, took a small party forward through the Pakistani artillery barrage and succeeded in hand-breaching a detour round the stalled tank ensuring speedy induction of armour and essential infantry support weapons through the minefield and into the bridgehead.

On December 15, an Engineer Task Force comprising elements of 404, 405 and 406 Field Companies was grouped with 47 Infantry Brigade for crossing Basantar in the Lagwal area.

The Task Force, under Major VR Choudhary,[20] was deployed for breaching minefield and constructing a passage for tanks and other vehicles through the river Basantar in Lagwal area.

Sensing the urgency of the situation, Captain Ravinder Nath Gupta[21] displayed exemplary bravery and volunteered for this hazardous task and led a small party of one junior commissioned officer and two other ranks right up to the far edge of the minefield.

Despite the grave risk involved and very intense enemy fire, he and his party brought back vital data by 9.30 pm which enabled the task to be successfully completed by 2.30 am on December 16.

Subsequently, when the enemy put up in a counter-attack, Captain Ravinder Nath Gupta personally guided tanks of 17 Horse through the cleared minefield lane for which marking was still in progress.

Pakistani military forces stationed in Sialkot base would keep Pathankot at bay, thwarting any Indian attempts to capture Shakargarh.

Pakistan's Hamoodur Rahman Commission recommended that the Commander 1 Corps, who "surrendered to the enemy without a fight" should "be tried for criminal and willful neglect of duty" and poor conduct of operations, that "seriously jeopardized the Army offensive in the south.

[24] Lt Col Mohammed Akram Raja was awarded Hilal-i-Jurat by the Pakistan Government on the basis of a citation written by Lt Col Ved Airy, who was Commanding Officer, 3 Grenadiers, Indian Army 1971: Beyond Borders (2017) directed by Major Ravi (with Mohanlal as Colonel Mahadevan fourth in Major Mahadevan film series, modeled on Hoshiar Singh Dahiya Param Vir Chakra and Allu Sirish as Arun Khetarpal Param Vir Chakra PVC, Arunoday Singh as Col. Raza (Pakistan).