Bridges, culverts and the war of the roads
East Bengal is a land of rivers, canals and flooded fields. In 1971 every road and railway the Pakistani army used crossed hundreds of bridges and culverts, and each crossing was a place where a column could be stopped.
Destroying them was one of the main tasks of the Mukti Bahini guerrillas. Fighters trained in demolition in the camps across the border came back with explosives to blow bridges and culverts, cut railway lines and bring down power lines. The aim was to slow the army's movement, cut its supply lines and force it to spread its men thin.
To protect the crossings, the army posted guards on bridges, often men of the Razakar militia raised from collaborators, backed by regular soldiers. Many demolitions were therefore night operations: a small section moving unseen, a sapper setting charges, and a withdrawal before the reaction force arrived.
The mission "The bridge at Comilla" is a composite. It dramatises the pattern of these operations rather than one recorded demolition, and its characters are fictional.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukti_Bahini
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sectors_in_Bangladesh_Liberation_War
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razakars_(Pakistan)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War