Sitting in an abandoned building in a Batalik village, the men are happy just to be able to wash and eat warm food. There's a lot of backslapping and prayers -- God, let them come back alive.

Recounting the details of their operation, they said this time they didn't take chances having lost Capt Amol Kalia and his 13 brave soldiers fighting for the same peak. Then they had just rushed into the operation, unprepared and unaware of the enemy strength. There was no back-up team for Capt Kalia either. This time the effort was concerted, slow and tough.

``The chances of our coming back alive were few. Brave Captain Kalia's death had to be avenged too. So on the night intervening June 10-11, we left Batalikand began climbing from Dah. Our assault party comprised 75 soldiers. We divided ourselves in five groups of 15 soldiers. In the still of the night, the first group began climbing,'' a jubilant soldier relaxing with his feet in river Indus says.

The first party of para-troopers began climbing. Initially the plan was to slither down a helicopter behind enemy lines but a careful study of enemy defences showed that the plan was not feasible. At the base of the mountain peak, a camp was set up. Four other parties of 15 men each began climbing from the other side. Ropes were fixed at night. Each party was carrying rocket launchers, machine guns and flame throwers.

``It took us 10 days to surround the enemy. And that too only partially. Peak 5203 was risky business and it was a do or die task. We covered each and every nullah. The enemy guns had to be silenced. Once that was done our troops took over those posts. And then we began climbing,'' says his colleague while relishing the hot fresh food the base of themountain peak, a camp was set up. Four other parties of 15 men each began climbing from the other side. Ropes were fixed at night. Each party was carrying rocket launchers, machine guns and flame throwers.

``It took us 10 days to surround the enemy. And that too only partially. Peak 5203 was risky business and it was a do or die task. We covered each and every nullah. The enemy guns had to be silenced. Once that was done our troops took over those posts. And then we began climbing,'' says his colleague while relishing the hot fresh food after 15 days. For all those days, the soldiers survived on dry rations.

Though the paratroopers climbed at night, the enemy saw them and opened fire. ``For two whole days, we sat crouching behind a boulder not daring to move. But our artillery gave us effective cover. We wanted the surprise element in our favour. So even when we reached close to the Pakistani intruders, we did not react. They probably thought we had fled, and they relaxed a little. Then suddenly on thenight of June 23, we attacked,'' adds another para-trooper, settling down in his sleeping bag.

``The enemy was caught unawares and we gained a toehold. But numerically they were much stronger than us. It was a pitched battle but they did not realise that we would or could climb from the cliff side. Our paratroopers and boys from Ladakh scouts joined the attack from the other side. And we used rocket launchers on their `sangars' (bunkers). Suddenly they panicked as more and more of them kept falling,'' recalls another soldier.

All this in pitch darkness. The only light came from burning bunkers. the enemy fled abandoning the post. ``They too had ropes and slithered down to the other side. We shot as many as we could. Some just slipped and fell to their death, thousands of feet below. In the morning we saw that they had some kind of a camp in the nullah. We hurled grenades and fired rocket launchers there too and destroyed it,'' the soldier adds.

At peak 5203 in the Batalik sector, soldiers found that theenemy signals unit had installed a line telephone too. ``He used it to direct artillery fire on our troops as they climbed. We also found a spare barrel of a heavy machine gun, medicines with Pakistan's army medical corps markings and ammunition with their Ordnance depot markings. Bodies of some 15 of their soldiers are lying in the nullah there,'' a soldier says.

The task for the troops was not over yet. Though the peak was recovered, the ridgeline still had enemy defences. ``Yesterday, we finally cleared the entire ridgeline too. But the infiltrators continue to fire at us from peak 5603. Though the fire is not very effective, it's harassing fire, and soon we will sort them out there too,'' adds his buddy confidently.

The paratroopers look pale and drawn. ``For 15 days, all we ate was week-old poori dipped in tea and our composite rations comprising of 36 gms sugar, 125 gms pulao, 100 gms halwa, 30 gms milk and 25 gms tea leaves. But for the next 10 days we will eat an elephant's diet and regain ourstrength. And then we will evict Pakistan from all the peaks, even on the right flank of river Indus,'' they say.

But these 10 days of rest and recuperation (R&R in army jargon) will be spent writing letters home, regaining strength and working out new strategies for further action.