Kanpur, the region of Uttar Pradesh
August 4th, 1656
Syed Ahmed nervously paced in his room, continuously searching for some sort of an idea to escape his current predicament, where the enemy had completely surrounded him.
One option was to go out of the city and engage in battle since the number of troops on both sides was similar, but Syed Ahmed resolutely opposed this decision as he had no confidence in his army made up of civilians to defeat the skilled militia of the Bharatiya Empire.
Another option was to continue to stay inside the city until reinforcements arrived or the Bharatiya military made a mistake.
Syed Ahmed found this option more to his liking, as even though the enemy cannons were powerful and constantly bombarding his city wall, he was not too worried since dedicated personnel were assigned to the task of constantly repairing the city wall if possible, or even rebuilding the part of the city wall which was most damaged.
Additionally, due to the fear of the enemy striking from the river, he had completely evacuated the northern side of the city and turned it into the most defensive area of the city.
In order to survive longer, as far back as when the city of Dhaka fell, he had already started procuring obscene amounts of grain to defend the city for multiple months if necessary. He even had an idea of demolishing the slum area and completely converting it to farmland, but considering the public opinion it would generate, he unwillingly gave up this idea.
Syed Ahmed, who had so many advantages, still had a lingering feeling of palpitations which he just could not get rid of.
As if to prove his fear right, his lieutenant came running in. "Your Excellency, it is not good. The enemy has brought in reinforcements."
Syed Ahmed was taken aback. His heart rate began to rise as he cautiously asked, "How many are there?"
The lieutenant, as if he had seen a ghost, answered the question with his face pale and drained of blood.
"Fo-Fo-Four hundred thousand, your Excellency."
*Boom!!*
A tremor similar to an earthquake was felt in the heart of Syed Ahmed. 400,000? Four? Hundred thousand?
He constantly kept repeating the number in his mind as he couldn’t even comprehend what this many enemies meant. His hands and feet started to vibrate as he began to have a panic attack.
However, he forcefully made himself calm down and quickly got on top of the watchtower.
Seeing the ocean of enemies neatly dressed in Bharatiya uniforms equipped with Brown Bess rifles and cannons, Syed Ahmed could not stand up anymore and collapsed to the ground.
"It is hopeless!!"
"We’re done!!"
He kept muttering under his breath. The vibrations that were suppressed by him had resurfaced more intensely, and he now felt that he had no chance to come out of the battle alive.
He was decisive; his eyes became firm, and he ordered, "Raise the w-w-white flag, we s-s-surrender."
By the end of the sentence, maybe due to the constant emotional fluctuations in his mind or maybe due to his past medical history, his ability to speak was greatly reduced as a part of his face lost feeling, and this numbness soon took over his left hand and leg.
The lieutenant who heard the order was initially very shocked, but later he felt relieved that his life would not be in danger. However, he was caught off guard by the general’s situation.
Not hesitating, he immediately informed some of his men to send the signal of surrender while at the same time having the general carried into the mansion.
---
Ramayya Senapati, who had received the letter of surrender from the Mughal general, was greatly surprised by how easy the task was.
Visit freёwebnovel.com for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience.
Prior to the arrival of the civilian army, he had received the subsequent strategy from His Majesty for the operation of these civilian soldiers in order to convince the enemy of their strength and admit defeat.
The strategy ranged from mixing actual soldiers equipped with real guns into the civilian soldiers, and even artillery into these fake knockoffs, in order to further threaten the Mughal general.
But looking at it now, the Mughal general admitted defeat after barely seeing the 400,000 people at his doorstep.
"What a waste of resources," Ramayya Senapati commented with annoyance on his face, but carefully observing his eyes, one could clearly see the happiness present in them.
---
Agra battlefront
"Pfff!"
Vijay immediately spat out the water he was drinking as soon as he read the battle report about the Kanpur confrontation.
That’s right, a confrontation, and that was all it was since realistically a battle did not take place.
The reason he was shocked was that he had never expected his preparations to be a waste of resources since it looked like the Mughal general was already on his last straw and would have given up even if 100,000 civilians picked up sickles and hammers and stood on his doorstep.
"Why do such weak-willed people become generals of such large armies, especially the Mughal soldiers composed of 200,000 soldiers, no less?" Vijay couldn’t help but lament.
Roshan, who had submitted the news, could not help but nod his head as he commented, "Initially, Your Majesty, we all thought that this person was a very talented and cautious general, seeing how well he defended the city and how many preparations he had done. But who would have thought that the guy was nothing more than a paranoid and weak-willed person."
Vijay nodded his head but still, thinking about all the gold coins that had been spent on this army, he couldn’t help but feel a little reluctant.
"Leave it. We have won without many casualties. The loss of money can be earned back. No big problem," he inwardly comforted himself.
Roshan, already having submitted the most confidential news of the day, proceeded to take out the second confidential news and handed it over to Vijay.
Vijay was not surprised that there would be a second confidential document, as he had gotten used to it since the war started.
However, reading through the document, he was taken aback by the information as his brow furrowed, making his forehead look like a dried-up riverbed, and his eyes became a little cold.
"So these guys have not given, huh," he said to himself after learning about the recent activities of the Rathore and Kachwaha dynasties, who had promised not to get involved in the battle.
What annoyed him was naturally not these two dynasties, who were desperate, but the establishment of a new kingdom formed with the union of Sindh, Rajasthan, Lahore, Punjab, Kashmir, Nepal, and Bhutan. All these regions combined make up an area of 1.345 million square kilometers, which is not small in size.
This new empire formed due to the union of seven major regions has a width of nearly 4000 kilometers.
So taking down this new empire is bound to be annoying, and this is exactly what Vijay is unhappy about.
As for the threat this empire poses, it is actually very limited. Although this new empire is large in size, its population is very sparse due to its geographical conditions. Hence, in the current age where quantity is a huge deciding factor for the strength of a nation, this new empire does not have the chance to threaten the Bharatiya Empire.
Sadly enough, the opposite is also true. Similar to Baluchistan, the Bharatiya Empire would have to expend a lot of resources in order to capture these regions.
As for the chance of failure, Vijay didn’t even consider it.
Even the Mughal Empire, spanning over three million square kilometers with a population of nearly 110 million, and under a united dictatorial regime, was defeated by the industrial and military might of the Bharatiya Empire. How would a fragmented and federalized empire, with barely 10 million people spread across a vast area, compare?
Hence, Vijay is not worried.
"Roshan, keep an eye on these guys for me," Vijay ordered, still choosing to be cautious, keeping the name of United Jabal Empire in his mind.
Having finished his duties, Roshan was about to get up and leave, but Vijay stopped him and asked in a low voice,
"How is the mission in Ahom Kingdom going?"
Hearing the question, Roshan immediately became serious and explained, "Word of mouth is spreading quickly, Your Majesty, and the reputation of the Bharatiya Empire is continuously increasing within the hearts of Ahom citizens."
"By the time we make our move, public opinion should be fully consolidated."
Vijay nodded in satisfaction. "That’s good. It is good if we can solve the matter peacefully. I really do not want to be enemies with them."
By the end of the day, Vijay sent multiple military orders. One was to disband the civilian army that had been recruited, which left a lot of people disappointed and annoyed as they got to know what they were used for. Secondly, the armies from Kanpur, Prayagraj, and Varanasi were ordered to arrive at the final battlefield of Agra and Delhi.