December 10th, 1655
The region of Baluchistan, on the frontier of the Mughal Empire, the city of Khuzdar
*Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom*
The Bharatiya Scorpion grenade launcher on the outskirts of Khuzdar continues to fire with relentless precision. It has maintained its relentless barrage since the start of the war four days ago. When repairs are needed, another unit seamlessly takes over, ensuring no gaps in the firing process.
This relentless assault persists even through the night, with troops divided into four units, each responsible for maintaining the attack around the clock.
This left the citizens of Khuzdar sleepless, tormented by the constant blasting of grenades. Sardar Lashari, who had sought help from neighbouring tribes, was deeply disappointed by their response, as only a few hundred people were sent to participate in the battle.
This is because, although the tribe of Lashari is not their enemy, it is not their friend either. The Lasharis occupy the fertile region of Khuzdar and have a permanent place to stay, while they, who are the nomadic tribes, lack that luxury and must travel throughout Baluchistan during various seasons to survive.
This is one of the reasons these neighbouring tribes, who are nomadic in nature, are unwilling to send their manpower to aid a foreign tribe, even though they know the invader is a foreign power intent on conquering their entire region.
Moreover, even if this power conquers the whole of Baluchistan, what does it matter to them? The invaders are primarily targeting the main tribes and important cities in Baluchistan. Even if all these cities and tribes fall, it will not affect the nomads’ lifestyle, as there is no force capable of stopping their way of life in the vast expanse of Baluchistan.
In fact, this decision was also true even before the invasion. During the Mughal control of Baluchistan, these tribes, which did not have permanent settlements and were small to medium in size, relied on a nomadic lifestyle.
They were relatively free to do whatever they wanted, as even the Mughal Empire could not control their actions. Controlling them was more difficult than conquering the territory of Baluchistan because it is a vast region, and managing these nomads who have travelled every inch of Baluchistan is impossible without investing at least 200,000 or more troops.
This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.
Without such a force, if a half-hearted attempt was made by sending fewer troops, the power that sent the troops would be surprised to find that suddenly half of their troops were missing and more seemingly disappeared.
Hence, in actuality, controlling these loose forces in the region of Baluchistan was considered too much effort for very little benefit, so even the Mughal Empire did not bother with them too much.
This is the reason for their confidence. These tribes, who still did not have a permanent settlement, knew exactly what their strength was: mobility. With this mobility, no power could threaten them in the region of Baluchistan.
Sardar Lashari, who understood this after a brief period of contemplation, couldn’t help but sigh.
He had already inquired with Bhaktihar Lashari and Farzana Lashari, and he knew that the city would not last a few more days.
Asking for help from other tribes with permanent settlements was out of the question, as these tribes typically had big feuds with each other and were constantly fighting among themselves.
With disappointment, Sardar convened another council meeting to deliberate the next move.
On the other side of the city wall...
The city wall, although still holding up strong, looked like it could only endure so much punishment.
This development should have been a cause for celebration among all participants in the siege. However, it turned out to be quite the contrary. The expressions on the faces of all the Bharatiya troops were sombre. Each soldier’s face bore an unmistakable air of frustration as if they were owed a debt.
Nonetheless, despite their sour mood, they diligently carried out their duties as expected, refraining from excessive complaints.
As for the reason for their unhappiness, it was because it had already been four days since the war started, and living in the barracks in the extreme weather of Baluchistan had been hell. They could not get proper sleep due to the sound of the grenades or the extremely cold weather, which could not be mitigated even with multiple layers of clothes.
Additionally, they couldn’t escape from the sweltering heat during the day, causing them to sweat profusely and making quite a few of the soldiers sick due to such drastic weight loss. Despite these troubles, in the morning, they would have to start their work again in the same sweltering heat of Baluchistan.
Unfortunately, this condition was also the same for the higher-ranking military leaders, which even included the highest-ranking commander of the army, Ramayya Senapati. He had also become tired of the repetitive lifestyle of the past few days and had become more worried for Narasimha Naik, who had yet to arrive.
Although he was confident that Narasimha Naik could successfully finish his mission, Ramayya did not know what was taking the commander so long.
Even though it was traditionally expected to persist for months or even longer in a siege battle, the development of better cannons in the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire had made his life easier, and he yearned for the cannons.
*Bham*
*BHAM*
Ramayya was suddenly awakened by the two gunshots he heard from behind. His face filled with excitement, he immediately emerged from his barracks, which, in all honesty, was a large tent, and eagerly looked towards the rear of their camp.
And sure enough, Narasimha Nayak, along with his army, was approaching.
"Haha, great," he said to himself, his face now filled with joy.
Narasimha Nayak was also happy to finally reach his destination after going through so much trouble.
As expected, after more troops joined the fight, the city wall, which looked like it could hold on for two more days, suddenly appeared even weaker as more scorpion grenade launchers were installed in the fight.
Inside the city wall...
Sardar, who was about to start the meeting as the remaining four council members had just arrived, was suddenly startled by the increased intensity of the enemy’s bombardment.
His face became pale as he had a bad feeling about this. Looking at the faces of the tribal chiefs, they had the same expression with bloodshot eyes, as they had not been able to rest in the past few days.
However, when they were in this delicate mood, rapid footsteps were heard as a tribal man with panic on his face barged into the council room and informed the council chiefs of the immediate news.
"Your Excellency, it’s not good. More enemies have gathered, and the number of that exploding egg-throwing machine has suddenly doubled," he exclaimed.
Hearing this news, the council members, who had persisted until now with the best of their abilities, finally felt heartbroken and hopeless. They closed their eyes in defeat.
"It’s over," Sardar muttered to himself, already foreseeing the defeat of their tribe at the hands of these enemies from the southern part of the subcontinent. His face was lifeless.
On the other side of the city wall...
"Oh, no wonder it took so long for you to arrive," Ramayya exclaimed in surprise as he finally understood why Narasimha Nayak was delayed for so long.
"Yes, if not for the blasting operation, I would have reached this place at the same time as you," Narasimha said with utmost confidence.
"However, my time was not wasted. With the blasting operation being a success, the Empire should have already started blasting the hills in their path to construct roads. His Majesty loves building roads, after all. well, Not like I could complain," he said with a nonchalant attitude.
However, this speculation of Narasimha Nayak greatly satisfied Ramayya Senapati, as he knew that with the construction of the roads, the cannons could be used in their future battles.
"I hope the path will be opened up quickly. I can’t wait to use the cannons and finish the battles quickly like before," he said with hope in his eyes.
However, Narasimha had a frown on his face as he replied, "That is very unlikely to happen. The road cannot be constructed fast enough for the carriages to pass through, and even if they are somehow laid down, the cannons are still unmanageable in this hilly terrain. So the cannons, which cannot operate on other places except for the constructed road, are not much use in battle."
Hearing this reply by Narasimha Nayak, Ramayya Senapati wasn’t too depressed because he knew this truth too; it’s just that he had the urge to complain about it now and then.
While this conversation was happening, the launching of the grenades immediately stopped, which startled both commanders as they got up and inquired. However, the reply they got was very surprising and unbelievable.
"Your Excellencies, it looks like the enemy is ready to surrender. They have raised a white flag on the city wall, so the artillery did not know what to do and temporarily stopped their bombardment."
Narasimha Nayak and Ramayya Senapati, arriving near the city wall, saw the white flag that had been hung on top of the city wall.
"So it’s true then," Ramayya said to himself with excitement. However, in order to be truly sure that this is a surrender of the enemy and not a plan for an ambush, he ordered the light infantry, "Search in all directions of the city. See if there is any reinforcement or any soldiers waiting for us to act."
Fortunately, a few hours later, with the return of the light infantry, he was relieved that there was no such thing.
However, Narasimha was still doubtful. Hence, he approached the wall and met up with a man who called himself one of the tribal chiefs. He learned about the Lashari tribe’s willingness to surrender to the Bharatiya Empire.
With Narasimha’s negotiation, the door of the city wall immediately opened. However, despite Narasimha Naik coming to an understanding with the tribal leader, one could not be too cautious. So, in order to be foolproof, only a platoon of troops entered the city wall to be wary of any sneak attacks or traps.
Fortunately, when these council leaders surrendered, they also willingly submitted themselves to the custody of the Bharatiya Empire, in order for the enemy not to assume wrong of the tribe and launch an attack on their citizens.
With the surrender of these tribal leaders, Ramayya Senapati and Narasimha Nayak finally confirmed that they didn’t have to fight. So, immediately, the army moved inside the city, took control of different defence points, and secured the grain and crucial necessities.
The council leaders, although unwilling to see these invaders take control of their city resources and security, unfortunately, had nothing they could do, especially after witnessing the horror of the firearms these people carried with them. There were thousands and thousands of them with the enemy, so they did not want to be treated as targets in their practice.
Hence, ultimately, they remained silent and let these invaders do whatever they wanted, as long as they did not cause any harm to their citizens.
With this, the war that should have lasted a few more days ended abruptly with the arrival of Narasimha Nayak.
P.S. Sorry, I only one chapter today, and probably tomorrow too, have a lot of work to do