Chapter 115: Panhala Fort Battle! Part: 1
One week ago:
The time the naval vessels departed from Visakhapatnam and Mangalore Port, General Kiran Pujari also left for his expedition. He started his march in Belgavi at the northern border of the Vijayanagara Empire. His destination is not very far, as Panhala Fort is only 132 km from Belgavi. Marching at a steady pace, he was able to reach the Mughals' stronghold within a day. There had been a lot of skirmishes near this area throughout the decades because of the friction between Vijayanagara and the Mughal Empire.
The arrival of Kiran and his company quickly caught the attention of the scouts around Panhala Fort. As the Mughal Empire was about to wage war soon on the Vijayanagar Empire, they had their instructions to be alert at all times. Soon, the information was conveyed to the higher-ups of the Mughal army in Panhala Fort.
The Mughal commander, Amir Ali Khan, who was resting quietly in his room, was jolted awake by the news brought by his servant. He is a seasoned general of the army, stationed in Panhala Fort year-round. Unlike the pesky nobles who obtained their positions through nepotism or political favours, he got there relying solely on his talent and hard work.
Scars could be seen on his naked upper chest, resembling wounds left after being slashed by a sword. He had a majestic grey beard that covered his entire neck, giving him the appearance of a dignified veteran warrior.
"Tell me, where is their camp?" Amir asked in contemplation. The guard, in a kneeling position, quickly answered, "Sir, they are just 2 km to the Southwestern direction of us." The scout replied in a steady voice.
"And what of their strength?" Amir asked what he considered the most important question.
The scout, being an experienced and well-trained veteran, answered the question as he had already prepared. "Sir, from the rough estimation, we were able to conclude that there were at least 15,000 soldiers from what we could observe. We are unsure if there is any other hidden strength they have not revealed."
Amir frowned, as the number of troops dispatched by Vijayanagara was very less to take over his fort. He would not be so naive to think that Vijayanagara had no idea about his standing army of 30,000 soldiers. Maybe if it was anyone else, they could have overlooked it, but he was aware of the deeply integrated spy network of Vijayanagara in the Mughal Empire.
Although many times he wanted to warn the Minister of War about the same issue, the Minister of War got offended by being pointed out by a junior, so he was kicked to the frontline against Vijayanagara.
Even under his own jurisdiction, he tried a lot to curb the spy network in his management, but no matter how many rats he caught, there would be more to help the Vijayanagar Empire. Even a common farmer could be a spy of the Vijayanagar Empire. He knew the exact reason for this; it was because of the overly oppressive rules his Majesty the Emperor had promulgated, which led to the common people of the Mughal Empire having no belonging to the empire and always longing for their own freedom. But he couldn't say all these things to those stuck-up nobles, as he was sure that he would be beheaded the next moment.
"Sigh, what do you have up your sleeve, Logananda Senapathi?" He thought to himself, recalling his old rival, Logananda Senapathi.
The scout, who was silent till now, suddenly spoke out. "Sir, there is one more detail that is very suspicious."
"What is it? Tell me."
"I don't know why the Vijayanagar army brought with them 10 elephants in tow, and these elephants were pulling a single carriage each. Unfortunately, I was not able to determine what they were carrying as it was covered in a tight tarpaulin," he said in a confused expression.
But Amir was sharp; intuition told him that this was the reason for Vijayanagara's lack of soldiers. Thinking about the cannons that were recently sent by the capital, his heart started beating fast as he feared that Vijayanagara was able to not only conquer their cannon technology but was also successful in advancing the technology, and creating a better weapon.
"Allah bless your child," he said to himself in prayer, wishing that his guess to be false.
Being a qualified military commander, he wouldn't leave the fate of his and his army's existence to the hands of luck. So, he quickly began taking measures in case his fears came true. Secretly, he began to make another defence line inside the fort in the confines of the housings. Because he knew if his fears were true, the wall would be as good as breached. He could see that if the cannon had better firepower, it would also have better range, rendering his own cannons useless. By taking cover behind the buildings, at least they could be saved from the direct bombardment of the Vijayanagara army.
Due to his years of careful management, the fort began to roar in efficiency as cannons were towed and fixed over the city wall, and a secret defence line was built inside the city. Bed crossbows and archers were densely packed in this defence line. All this was done within half a day. If Vijay had seen the method this man used, he would have been jealous of his talent and would have wanted to recruit him to his own side. Amir, seeing the preparations about to be completed, slowly walked towards the city wall, where he could see the Vijayanagara army once again on the move as they slowly marched towards the city wall 500 meters away.
It was a cloudy day; there was no rain, but it was quite windy. Commander Amir's beard danced because of the breeze. The commander stood there, glancing at the small figure in the distance; he felt vaguely familiar. He had seen this kid in his previous battle against Logananda. If he remembered correctly, he was still working under Logananda.
As he closely observed the movements of the Vijayanagara army, a small delegation emerged from their ranks, prominently carrying the flag of Vijayanagara along with a white flag—an unmistakable signal of a messenger. This group approached, bearing a message from the Vijayanagara Empire. The messenger, with due formality, announced, "His Majesty, the Emperor Vijay Devaraya, has declared war on the Mughal Empire in response to the atrocities committed against his people and their way of life. The Emperor requests the honourable Commander of the Mughal Empire to surrender the Paradip Fort. In return, no harm will befall any Mughal official, and they shall be safely sent back to the Mughal Empire."
Upon hearing these words, a deep furrow formed on Aamir Ali Khan's brow, distorting his countenance. Before Amir could respond, one of his subordinates, a fiery young man, erupted with indignation, his face flushed with anger, and bellowed, "How dare you! Behead him!" The command hung in the air, just as the soldiers poised to fulfil the order, ready to be executed. Aamir Ali Khan intervened, and in his skeptical gaze on the messenger, he uttered two decisive words: "I reject it."
The Messenger, who felt scared just now hearing that he was going to be beheaded, soon felt relieved by the commander's words. He slightly bowed as he left quickly with the message from the Mughal Empire. Kiran Pujari, who got the reply, did not change his face, as he was already anticipating the failure of the small diplomatic mission. But he felt like these small things should be done against a respected opponent. "Bring the cannons," Kiran said. Soon the large cannons were swiftly positioned for launching an attack. A total of seven large cannons were brought with him, seven carriages of cannons along with three carriages of ammunition. These cannons were the exact reason why he dared to launch an attack on the Mughals with only half the troop size.
To be Continued...
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