Acting Sgt Dipprasad Pun, 31, was on sentry duty alone at night when he discovered two insurgents preparing to plant a bomb outside.
As enemy fighters launched wave after wave of attacks, the 1.7m (5ft 7in) Gurkha opened fire with a machine gun, a rifle and a grenade launcher.
When he exhausted all ammunition he tried to batter one militant with a sandbag before bludgeoning him with a machine gun tripod, as he roared in Nepali: ‘I will kill you.’
The soldier, from the Royal Gurkha Rifles, was alerted to the enemy when he heard what he thought was a cow or a donkey near his sentry post.
But, when he climbed on to the roof, he found two insurgents digging a trench to lay an improvised explosive device at the checkpoint’s front gate.
He then found himself pinned down under attack from rocket-propelled grenades and AK47s for more than 15 minutes, as he frantically radioed for back-up.
At first, he was afraid but he said yesterday: ‘As soon as I opened fire, that was gone – before they kill me I have to kill some.’
When the fight was over, his company commander arrived, casually slapped him on the back and asked if he was OK.
