COMILLA, East Pakistan—If India invades East Pakistan, a major thrust will come from India's Tripura State against this rail and road junction town six miles from the border, Pakistani military commanders here say.
Maj. Gen. Rao Farman Ali Khan said last week that Comilla was Pakistan's chief concern and charged that Indian troops across the border are poised for an offensive.
Military headquarters reports almost daily shelling of the Comilla sector by Indian artillery, and the Pakistani army has reinforced here and moved most of its troops up close to the border. The Comilla commander now operates from a mobile field headquarters rather than the spacious military camp in Comilla town.
Last Sunday, artillery or mortar shells fell on the town itself for the fourth time, killing 10 civilians. Wounded young boys and old men are recuperating in Comilla's hospital, in beds adjacent to those wounded in the three earlier shellings.
In addition to the misery and fear manifest here, there are two striking indications of Pakistan's military weakness should India decide to invade.
Comilla's Bengali population, like Bengalis throughout East Pakistan, mistrusts the Pakistan army and seems likely to offer little, if any, support in a war.
Many residents are convinced that the four shellings of Comilla Town are the work of the Pakistan, not Indian, army.
Some, who would have to have astounding eyesight, claim they have seen the shells in flight and know they came from Comilla's airport where the Pakistani army has some artillery and mortars.
Others, who are not ballistics experts, argue that fragments prove that the shells are mortars, not artillery. Mortars could not reach Comilla from the Indian side of the border.
Still others base their allegation on coincidence. Comilla is shelled only when a group of foreign visitors are present, they say. The Pakistani army puts on the shelling, this argument goes, in order to convince foreigners of India's inhuman, random killing of civilians.
Maurice Williams, deputy administrator of the Agency for International Development in Washington, and his party were in Comilla when the shells landed Sunday.
Although the charges are unproven, they illustrate the Bengalis' hatred for the West Pakistani army which has ruled here through force since last March. This
hatred causes several well-informed Bengalis in Dacca to predict that the capital's population will take to the streets in an uncontrollable riot the day it appears Indian troops are about to defeat Pakistan's army.
The second sign of Pakistan's weakness here is the Dacca-Comilla road.

COMILLA: HATREDS, POOR SUPPLY ROAD INDICATE PAKISTAN WEAKNESS

It is 58 miles from Dacca to Comilla: There is almost no traffic but the journey takes three and a half hours with luck.
For a major supply route, it is a disaster because of four ferry crossings on small, flat-bottomed barges which can take only three to four cars at a time. In between ferries, the road is a causeway, a ribbon of high ground running between swamps and villages accessible only by boats.
If Pakistan expects to hold the Comilla sector, as its military commanders say it does, it seems puzzling that they are not even trying to make maximum use of the road for supplies.
In a recent round-trip journey, only one small army truck was seen on the road.
Police and local volunteers (Razakars) who guard the many bridges along the highway appear to be totally without access to transport.
Three times, police flagged down a civilian car and explained they needed a ride. With their rifles, small quantities of ammunition and bundles of food, they climbed into the car.
One group of Razakars was travelling with a small, black goat, evidently stolen from one of the villagers.
Another lone West Pakistani policeman was trying to transport a single crate of small-arms ammunition back to his bridge-security garrison. He had drafted a Bengali to carry the crate, but earnestly asked a passing civilian to turn his car around and drive back 10 miles to carry him to his post.
He doubted there would he another car along the road for hours, the policeman said. "This trouble comes from God," another policeman who clambered into the car said of the East Pakistan crisis.
"With God's help we shall certainly defeat India," he said several times during the ride. Then, as he alighted at his destination, he turned to say: "East Pakistan is a mischievous country. This is a naughty country."

LITTLE PREPARATION

An invading Indian army will certainly have troubles with the Comilla-Dacca road and its four ferries. But after the first line of Pakistani defense between Comilla and the border there seems to be as little preparation of defensive positions along the road as there is military transport on it.
Those Pakistani officers who admit the weakness of their military position in East Pakistan counter it with claims that troops attacking from West Pakistan will steamroller their way into Kashmir and other parts of India and thereby balance Indian military successes here.
Well-informed sources here who have recently visited New Delhi have come away convinced that India is confident it can do well on both fronts of an IndoPakistan war.
India's Defense Minister Jagjivan Ram has said that India will never give back any territory it seizes should there be war and reports from observers who have visited Delhi indicate that Indian planners speak openly of resisting international appeals for a cease-fire until they have gained as much territory as possible should a war break out.