The constant eroding of his authority by the Menon-Kaul partnership saw him hang up his boots ‘a sad and disillusioned man; his advice regarding China ignored and the Army in the same state of unreadiness for its ordained tasks’. On one of his last visits to some of the formations, he is reported to have said: ‘I hope that I am not leaving you as cannon-fodder for the Chinese. God bless you all.’
