Osmani was absent on the first day of the conference, since he had resigned as commander-in-chief the previous day. A group of Bengali officers had discussed the creation of a war council, headed by Ziaur Rahman with the sector commanders as members, and Osmani was expected to become defence minister. The plan, presented by Q. N. Zaman and supported by Ziaur Rahman, was for a separate operational wing to run the war and lessen the burden on Osmani. Osmani, possibly misinterpreting its intent, resigned, but returned to his post the following day. The conference defined the operational area, strength, command structure and role of the Mukti Bahini. Osmani remained commander-in-chief with M. A. Rab as chief of staff and A. K. Khandker as deputy chief of staff. Bangladesh was divided into 11 combat sectors, with commanders selected (or reconfirmed) for each. Of the eleven proposed sectors eight were organized and active by July, with sectors five and eleven following in August. Sector 10 (east of Teknaf and Khagrachari) was never activated, and it was incorporated into sector one. The Mukti Bahini was divided into regular forces and freedom fighters. The regular forces consisted of defecting Bengali soldiers and retired Pakistan Army and EPR personnel. They were organised into three battalions, later known as Z, K and S Force. The shortage of trained regular troops meant that most of the forces were former EPR troops or new recruits. Trained army, EPR and police personnel were formed into sector troops: lightly armed conventional units commanded by army officers. The freedom fighters were primarily deployed within Bangladesh. Although Osmani made strategy decisions and liaised with Indian officers from July to December 1971, he did not organize an operation like the Tet Offensive or lead a battle similar to Dien Bien Phu as commander-in-chief. His strategy (a product of his military career and the demands of the situation on the ground) influenced his leadership style, and he relied on his background in the Southeast Asian sector during World War II. On 15 May the Indian Army began to help build the liberation force, and an Indian officer was appointed liaison between the Bangladesh government in exile and the Indian Army. Khaled Musharraf and Osmani met at Teliapara in Sylhet District and prepared a paper on war strategy. Osmani's differed with the Indian Army on the size of the Mukti Bahini; the Bangladesh government had hoped to raise a regular force of 30,000 soldiers and 100,000 guerrillas in 1971, which the Indians thought unrealistic.