At a place called Kudaung, no traces of the Rohingya rebels were found along the eastern banks of the Mayu River. The spot was twenty kilometers from Sittwe. It seemed that the information provided by the army intelligence was not right. Major Thong kept thinking about it standing on the road which ran along the river bank. He looked at his wrist watch. It was three thirty in the morning. Under the faint moonlight, two APCs and three troop carrying heavy lorries had been standing for half an hour. The soldiers were scattered along the roadside. The surface of the vehicles glittered as the light of the half-moon reflected on them. The Major became a bit impatient. He climbed up one of the trucks and took the microphone of the wireless set which was next to the driver’s seat. After informing Brigadier Lee about the situation, he kept waiting for further instructions from his commander. After a while, once more the speaker of the wireless set became alive. Lee told the Major to set up a temporary check post along the roadside and retreat from the spot. He was to hand over the command of the post to Lieutenant Hu with five troops under him. The Major was told to take position with rest of the troops, a kilometer south from the spot. Thong sensed that Lee’s intuition was up to something.

Lieutenant Hu and the troops under his command were quite aware of the danger they faced. They wore night vision goggles. However, on the eastern side of the road, the area was covered with thick forest. As a result, the night vision goggles were mostly rendered useless. The temporary check post was erected alongside the road and behind it there was an open space for about twenty yards. The huge trees of the forest reigned beyond the open space. Sitting inside the check post, Hu was trying to adjust the frequency of their wireless set. One of the troops was smoking a cigarette behind the post while the rest discussed among them the development of the day. Suddenly they heard something hitting the post. They ran behind the post only to find the soldier who had been smoking sitting on the ground with his back resting against the post. They noticed a red dot over his forehead. It looked as if the shot had been fired from the forest. Everyone ran to the other side of the road and lay down for protection. They pointed their weapons at the forest, but could not detect the presence of the enemy even by using their night vision goggles. The enemy had used silencer, so they didn’t hear the noise of firing. Three times Hu sent out urgent request for reinforcement. Hu was told that reinforcement would reach the spot within five minutes. Heavy exchange of gunfire followed after this. At regular interval hundred millimeter mortar shells kept landing all around the check post, each shell exploding with a bang so loud that it could be heard from miles away.

Lee had been directing the operation from his command post at Sittwe. He had speculated that something like this could occur. The temporary check post at Kudaung was a mere trap, and the prey had stepped into his trap. Subsequently, Lee gave the command to implement the next stage of his plan, and waited for the expected outcome. In the meantime, the reinforcement was well on its way to Kudaung. These forces were spearheaded by the two APCs of the thirty third Light Infantry division of Tatmadaw.

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Before a final turn the whole unit halted its advance. After the turn, the check post would be within its visual range. The soldiers disembarked from their truck at the rear of the column. They began moving towards Kudaung through the jungle, while rest of the reinforcement resumed its advance over the road. The APC spearheading the advance drove past the check post, and took position on the road hundred yards from it. The second APC and the troop-carrying lorry following it stopped when they were fifty yards to the south from the check post. As the lorry stopped, the troops in it rushed out to take position. They lay on the ground having the lorry before them as a shield. By this time the attention of the enemy had been diverted away from the check post. The troops on the ground and the lorry before them became their new targets. They began shooting at the fuel tank and the wheels of the lorry. The fuel tank was protected by a ten-millimeter-thick steel plate, so it remained in one piece. But the wheels of the lorry were all flattened. Enemy fire receded to a great extent when the heavy machine guns of the two APCs had become active. Before they were completely silenced, the enemy came under attack from the flanks and the rear by the troops who had earlier disembarked from their lorry. One by one, when the guns of the enemy had become silent, Lee’s troops stopped firing, awaiting further instructions from their commander.

Sergeant Mong was told to advance towards enemy position with two of his comrades. Soon afterwards, along with his comrades, Mong began crawling towards their objective. Mong noticed a barrel of a gun sticking out of the bush six to seven yards before him. He could not detect any movement, indicating human presence on the other side of the bush. He left behind his comrades and quietly took up position right in front of it. Then, like a big cat looking for a prey, he raised his head, parting the bush before him with his left arm, to see what was on the other side. Behind the gun which protruded from the bush, he discovered a rebel lying dead on the ground. He could hear the sound of moaning coming from the injured rebels. Very carefully Mong stood up on his feet, and saw around a dozen Rohingya rebels lying scattered on the ground. Some of them were still alive. He raised his left arm, and beckoned to his comrades to come forward.

Major Thong immediately reported to Lee after capturing the enemy position. With signs of relief, Lee came out of his command post. Already the birds were flying around in the morning sky. Lee’s official residence was only hundred yards from the two storied structure where Lee had his command post. After a long sleepless night, he was overtaken by fatigue. But he was not yet ready to go to bed. Most likely he was going to be adorned with an extra medal for this mission. Strangely the thought failed to arouse any kind of enthusiasm in him. He wasn’t sure why. He looked oblivious to everything around him, as he dragged himself to his residence. He took off his cap and gently stroked his head. From the rear, he heard his adjutant saying, “Sir, should I prepare the report for the army headquarters?”

Abruptly Lee stopped on the concrete slab. Without looking back, he raised his right arm slightly, and then dropped it. His adjutant assumed, it could wait, as the exhausted general resumed heading for his residence.