JESSORE, PAKISTAN.-The sudden and surprisingly easy
capture of this key bastion in western East Pakistan by
Indian forces on Dec. 7 leaves virtually the whole
western half of the country without a major resistance
Point.

This is the opinion of Maj. Gen. Dalbir Singh, commander
of the Ninth Indian Division, which spearheaded the
assault on Jessore.

This correspondent was in the first group of Western and
Indian newsmen to enter Jessore on Dec. 8 and to
interview General Singh.

CHANGE OF CHARACTERS

The interview took place in the same former schoolhouse
military headquarters where less than one month ago this
reporter interviewed Pakistani Maj. Gen. M. H. Ansari
who was then one of the generals commanding the l
defense of Jessore.

As the Indian general described in detail the battle for
Jessore, it became clear that contrary to expectations
the struggle for the city itself had not involved heavy
clashes, heavy loss of life, or heavy damage to the
town.

The Pakistanis, he said, had built very strong defenses
in front of Jessore. But they were unable to defend the
city properly when the time came because they did not
man those defenses sufficiently and because they made
mistakes.

With obvious relish General Singh related that "if they
had fought sensibly we would have been here for one
month."

SPEEDY BATTLE

As it was, the battle lasted only slightly more than 24
hours. The general said his strong Ninth Division was
confronted only by four Pakistan battalions- about 3,000
men- when he launched his attack early on Dec. 6.

The four battalions of 800 men each already had been
reduced in fighting effectiveness by weeks of earlier
combat when Indian forces darted in and out in pursuit
of their "defensive actions."

As the battle began, General Singh said he found two
enemy battalions in the marshes in front of Jessore. He
promptly punched a hole between the two and proceeded to
exploit his advantage.

RETREAT CUT OFF

He wheeled south and cut off one battalion at a river
which lay in front of it. As he prepared to strike a
second battalion in the morning, he found it had
dispersed and he was no longer able to find it. It
apparently was fleeing northeastward in the hope of
reaching safer territory.

One of the other two battalions decided to retreat to
Jessore town, but it did not move fast enough, according
to General Singh. He beat them to Jessore airfield with
his forces appearing there at 8 o'clock in the morning.
As he described it the fourth battalion- now reduced to
about 300 men encumbered with their families from
Jessore-now were in a precarious position.

This remnant force was about four miles southeast of
Jessore on the afternoon of the eighth attempting to
retreat to Khulna. They had four Chaffee light tanks
with them.

General Singh was deliberately withholding full-scale
attacks on this unit in deference to the women and
children included he said, and in the hope the
Pakistanis would accede to his urgent surrender
requests. The whole of Jessore town, meanwhile, had
fallen into Indian hands by noon on Dec. 7 without any
heavy fighting in the urban area.

TOWN DESERTED

When correspondents were driven through the town en
route as close as possible to the 300 Pakistanis
surviving in the pocket, it was apparent that Jessore
had been virtually deserted by its civilian population
and that there had been no fighting in the streets.

Shops, offices, and business establishments were
shuttered and padlocked, but not even window glass was
broken. This correspondent spotted only one body in a
field within the city limits.

While we were there, however, residents obviously were
beginning to flock back to Jessore to pick up the pieces
of their lives and businesses. Most of them had learned
it is best to evacuate the cities and towns in time of
trouble and seek safety in the small outlying villages.

COUNTRYSIDE SAFETY

Except for certain villages deliberately put to the
torch by Pakistani troops, according to civilian
accounts, most rural areas remained safe hiding places.

Two Roman Catholic missionaries, the Rev. Antonio
Alberton and Sister Posario, told us the Pakistani
forces and their families pulled out of Jessore in a
wild panic on Monday. Their vehicles sped past as never
before, the missionaries said.

I could not help remembering Jessore as it had been
early in November when Pakistani forces were firmly in
control. The briefing rooms in division headquarters
were as they had been-even to the large wall maps
showing details of the Jessore area.

Then we had landed at Jessore in a Pakistani helicopter.
While we were being briefed by General Singh, an Indian
helicopter landed on the same pad.

EARLIER BUSTLE SILENCED

Then, Jessore was crowded with people e and traffic. The
court house and mosque in the center of town were busy
places. On Wednesday, both buildings seemed undamaged
but also unoccupied. And the streets were bare of
crowds, buses, and oxcarts.

Aside from the occasional crump of distant Indian
artillery and the roar of several Indian jets circling
overhead, the front southeast of town was quiet
Wednesday afternoon. We heard almost no firing. The sun
shone and the birds twittered.

But the houses and fields stood vacant. And a squadron
of Indian armored cars was rolling forward to get in
attacking position on one road. Down another clanked a
file of Indian tanks - Soviet-type PT-59. We did not
stay for the conclusion. Jessore had fallen and it was
time to tell the world how it happened.