July 8th, 1656
The Kingdom of Lahore
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions rang out one after another at the defence line of the Kingdom of Lahore. The flag hoisted in the city of Lahore had already been changed from the Golden Lion with a green background of the Mughal Empire to the family emblem of the Asif Khan Dynasty in front of a green background.
The soldiers of Lahore, dressed in brown military attire, constantly fought back against the Mughal soldiers who tried to get close to the wall. On top of the city wall of Lahore, the 20-kilogram calibre cannons manufactured in the factories of House Asif Khan continued to exert their combat abilities.
Yusuf Khan Asif, looking at the besieging Mughal soldiers and his own troops fighting back bravely, was quite satisfied. He was also a little proud of being able to resist the 200,000-strong army sent by the Mughal Emperor.
Even though his total troops numbered only around 80,000, he was able to resist the onslaught of the Mughal army with the help of the strong defensive fortifications of Lahore, which could not be breached even after continuous bombardment for multiple weeks.
However, looking at the damage taken by the reinforced wall, Yusuf knew that his defensive advantage would not last much longer. But he was not worried, as he had allies afterall,
"Those guys should arrive anytime now," he muttered to himself, his expression a little expectant.
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In the Mughal camp, General Syed Abdullah was informed of very bad news.
"Your Excellency, itâs not good. We have just received news from the scout about the army of the Himalayan Sultanate, numbering 50,000, approaching from our rear."
"Oh no, Your Excellency, we have received yet another report that our logistics chain has been cut off and the supplies have been stopped."
"What!! How did it happen? " Syed Abdullah roared as he found it difficult to believe.
Didnât His Excellency the Minister of War say that the Himalayan Sultanate would very likely fortify their borders and would not send troops to Lahore? Now what the hell is happening? And why was their logistic channel cut off? Werenât they only passing through the region of Punjab, which is a part of the Mughal Empire?
How were the Bharatiya soldiers able to reach so far inland, bypassing the region of Rajasthan?
Wait, did the Rathore and Kachwaha families also betray the Mughal Empire?
"These damn traitors," Syed Abdullah cursed.
Unfortunately, he could never have expected that it was actually the Nawab of Malerkotla, Abdullah Rahman, who was responsible for disrupting the logistic line of the Mughal Empire that passed through his region.
"Retreat!" Syed Abdullah roared, as he already knew that his campaign would be impossible to succeed, so he decisively chose to give up.
The battle, which had been ongoing for multiple weeks, suddenly halted, and the Mughal soldiers, who had looked resolute and stubborn, immediately changed their demeanour and ran away faster than they had come.
Looking at this scene, Yusuf Khan Asifâs mouth couldnât help but twitch.
"These bastards run fast enough," he thought.
However, he wasnât going to let this army retreat because if he indeed let them retreat, then this army would come back to bite him when he was least prepared. And especially now, with his whole plan of cooperating with the Nawab of Malerkotla revealed, he did not wish to take any more chances.
Hence, within a few moments of the Mughal soldiers starting to retreat, he decisively rallied his soldiers and quickly chased behind the Mughal army.
The Mughal General Syed Abdullah, noticing the pursuing enemy, couldnât help but get annoyed and roar, "God damn it!"
"Speed up!"
If Syed Abdullah were an experienced and strategic military general, he would have utilized the enemyâs urgency to lay an ambush or trap, dealing with them decisively before addressing the approaching Himalayan army. However, Syed Abdullah was only trained within the Timurid Dynasty and had very little actual combat experience.
As a result, Syed, who only knew that enemies were pursuing from two directions and that the remaining direction, where the logistics were cut off, might be a place where Bharatiya soldiers were waiting to ambush him, did not intend to take chances in attacking the enemy first. To him, one wrong move could lead to the total defeat of the army.
So, he resolutely chose to take the less risky approach and rushed toward the region of Punjab.
---
Fifteen kilometres to the north, Sulthan Hyder Bin Awadh, who was personally leading the Himalayan army to reinforce Lahore, was quickly informed of Syed Abdullahâs retreat without a fight by a messenger. Upon learning this, a strange smile spread across his face.
"Idiot," he muttered to himself, as he quickly changed his course and rushed towards the region of Punjab.
---
The chase of Yusuf Khan Asif lasted for nearly two hours until the army of the Mughal Empire reached Jalandhar, the back garden of the Malerkotla Nawab Dynasty, in the region of Punjab.
Mughal General Syed Abdullah was completely relieved upon arriving at this place, as he quickly tried to enter the city and get reinforcements.
However, to his surprise, he was not let in by the gate guards.
"What do you mean Iâm not allowed? Do you know who I am? I am a general of the Mughal Empire, and you will do well to respect my authority, you bloody slaves!"
Syed Abdullah yelled, clearly feeling insulted.
However, the gate guard who was yelled at did not feel angry but felt a little pity for the man in front of him, because, half an hour ago, he, along with his fellow soldiers, received a command from His Excellency Abdullah Rahman, the nominal head of the Malerkotla Nawab family, to stop the Mughal general from entering the city by any means possible.
Seeing the weird look he was getting, Syed Abdullah was fuming with rage.
However, he did not try to use force because he could see that these guards were equipped with muskets. So he was waiting for his army to reach the vicinity of the city so he could have the capital to use force.
His expected army did come, but what happened next made it all seem like he was living in a fairy tale and god was playing a bad joke.
"BOOM!!"
The cannons on top of the city walls actually started firing at his army, leaving everyone petrified. In one round of volleys alone, thousands of troops were taken out. The soldiers were clueless as to why they were being attacked by one of their own. They ran indiscriminately in all directions, as quickly as possible in order to avoid the cannon fire.
Moments later, even the opportunity to run away ceased to exist as the army from Lahore and the army from the Himalayan Sultanate quickly boxed them in.
The Mughal soldiers, looking at enemies on all sides, did not hesitate and swiftly dropped their weapons, raising their hands high to show that they were unarmed.
Syed Abdullah, who was still in shock, managed to recover. Understanding what had happened right before his eyes, he couldnât help but smile bitterly.
"Oh, it is the Malerkotla Nawab that backstabbed the Mughal Empire, huh? No wonder the logistics channel was cleanly cut off. If it is the Malerkotla Nawab, it perfectly makes sense."
*Bang!!*
Sadly, he couldnât think anymore as he was blasted in the head by the door guard whom he had previously called a slave.
Moments later, Abdullah Rahman, the Nawab of Malerkotla, Yusuf Khan Asif, the King of Lahore, and Hyder Bin Awadh, the Sultan of the Himalayan Sultanate, met up on top of the city wall. All three of them, dressed in exquisite Arabic attire, talked and laughed with each other.
"Initially, I thought that it would be harder to deal with the Mughal soldiers. Who would have expected they would be so weak?" King Yusuf commented with a smile on his face.
"Yeah, when I was a part of the empire, I thought it was strong, but now that I see it, the Mughal Empire is nothing but a paper tiger. It looks good and imposing on paper, but in reality, it is very weak," Sultan Hyder commented.
"Look, even with 200,000 soldiers, they could not even breach the city wall of Lahore."
"Yes, it is very unexpected. Today, I opened my eyes," Abdullah Rahman commented. Then he looked at the two men who were nominally supposed to be his enemies and asked, "Now that both of your armies are present, why donât you solve my problem once and for all? I have fulfilled your requests."
He asked with a hint of expectation in his eyes.
Yusuf and Hyder looked at each other, and then with hesitation, Yusuf replied, "I am sorry, Your Excellency. Although we promised to suppress the riots in your region, that was a promise that could only be realized if our own kingdoms were not at war."
"Currently, the Mughal Empire may retaliate again, so we need to be prepared."
Hyder nodded his head and continued, "Also, if you really want your troubles to be solved immediately, you could declare your independence from the Mughal Empire. I have received the battle report from the front lines; it seems that the city of Patna in Bihar has fallen.
According to my estimation, the Mughal Empire will fold without a doubt, so you donât have to worry about retaliation from the Mughal Empire, and you donât have to be scared about your close proximity to Delhi."
Abdullah Rahman fell into deep thought. He had considered becoming independent like the two men opposite him before, but considering his close proximity to Delhi and Agra, he never acted upon his thoughts. However, now that the Mughal Empire was most likely done for, he could consider it. Also, the unrest in his region had continued to increase day by day.
Although he had suppressed these riots by force before, he could no longer do so since the riots had morphed into the Sikh and Hindu populations working together in the dark to destroy any institution of his from existing.
Whatâs more, no matter how much he requested support from the capital, he was not getting any help in return. On the other hand, he was responsible for providing manpower, wealth, and weapons to the war efforts of the Mughal Empire, which made the influence of his family constantly shrink within the region of Punjab.
With the absence of his influence, the separatist forces who advocated for an independent Marathi country, an independent Sikh country, or even joining the Bharatiya Empire arose in large numbers.
It was not like he hadnât tried to suppress them by force as he did before, but for some reason, it looked like even among his army, traitors had deeply penetrated his higher ranks. As soon as he gave the order to suppress these riots, the riots quickly disappeared as if they never happened. And when the army that was sent to suppress them left, the riots immediately began again.
So he was really desperate to get any help he could get; hence, he more and more considered taking the risk of completely breaking away from the Mughal Empire.
But there was still one last doubt which prevented him from putting his thoughts into action.
So he did not hesitate and voiced them out. "What if the Bharatiya Empire, after defeating and erasing the Mughal Empire, proceeds to attack our regions?"
This brought both Yusuf Khan Asif and Hyder Bin Awadh to a momentary silence as it was indeed a possibility.
"Donât worry. Havenât you seen the region of Rajasthan? It seems like they have come to an agreement with the Bharatiya Empire to leave them alone in exchange for not participating in the war," Yusuf Khan Asif stated. "If possible, we can make that agreement too."
"Also, even if they come to attack, we are not as easy to defeat as the Mughal Empire. We will show them how heavy of a price they have to pay to mess with us," Hyder Bin Awadh comforted.
With this thought, the independence of the region of Punjab from the Mughal Empire was confirmed.
P.S. Sem 6 Exams are only 20 days away now IA 2 Going on, updates may be slow sorry, Will maintain 1 chap a day, will try for 10-14 chaps per week