‘The Dhola area was unsuitable as a forming-up place for mounting any form of attack against the intruding Chinese. I could see the three tiers of Chinese defence positions, the first was on the river bank opposite our own troops; the second half way up the Thagla slopes on Paitsai Spur and the third on the crest of the ridge.’ To have any chance against the network of machine guns deployed on the forward slopes and the mortars on the reverse slopes, 7 Brigade would need massive artillery support. At the present time, never mind artillery guns, the brigade did not even have heavy mortars.
