Lets see in the context of India vs China at LAC: We are in the mountains, Chinese are on the Tibetan plateau. Their terrain is different.
The PLAGF artillery must be on vehicles 'cause they have less hiding places. Where necessary, we will have MGS and K9 in the mountains as well, like North Sikkim, Depsang and Chushul.
If your Counter battery fire capability is so good that you can take out a self-propelled gun, then an MGS will not fare any better. The IA has actual combat experience in the mountains, more than any other army in the world, so of course the IA is more logical. The US Army as well, their infantry and Stryker units only use light towed guns instead of tracked guns. With all that said, there's something else people don't realize, Chinese guns are not fully automated, so their shoot and scoot capabilities are limited compared to something like the Archer.
So the current ATAGS MGS is slightly more automated than the Chinese PCL-181 'cause it won't manually load the round, only the charge.
Experts suggest that truck-mounted howitzers and self-propelled artillery excel in flat terrain, whereas they face significant challenges in navigating mountainous terrain. Areas with superior infrastructure, such as the newly built DSDBO road in India with multiple prefabricated military truss bridges and roads, could support their deployment. Another option is the 105mm Indian field guns, which can be dismantled and reassembled, making them suitable for use in high mountain peaks. To deploy artillery in the Himalayas, a combination of towed, truck-mounted, and self-propelled guns would be most practical.
So things aren't all as they are cracked up to be when considering the differences in equipment and tactics between the Indian and Chinese forces at the LAC.
