Chapter 117: Battle of Nagpur
While all the other generals left for their respective goals, Yogendra Singh held back as his target was deep inside the battle line. He waited in the barracks for two whole days until he got the message that Panhala Fort had been conquered by Kiran Pujari. Upon hearing the news, he couldn't wait any longer and quickly mobilized his three brigades of the army, soon heading to the Panhala fort. Upon arrival, he could see the destroyed city being reconstructed, with dried bloodstains all over the ground wherever he looked. His heart dropped as he knew what this meant.
Passing through the city walls, Yogendra encountered increasingly gruesome sights, with remnants of human bodies scattered about in the groves of the walls and buildings. Despite efforts to clean up the battlefield, the pervasive bloodstains made certain details difficult to cleanse in such a short duration. Yogendra proceeded towards the barracks where Kiran had stationed his forces. Upon entering, he immediately sensed the sombre atmosphere prevailing within. Although everyone appeared to be fulfilling their duties, an intangible heaviness hung in the air, indicating that the soldiers were not in their optimal state of mind.
Finally, he met Kiran Pujari, who looked a little thinner than before. The moment he saw Kiran, Yogendra asked, "What are the casualties?" He noticed no pride of conquering the most difficult fort in Kiran's eyes; on the contrary, a hint of guilt was evident. Making his heart firm, Kiran replied, "8000 dead, 2000 heavily injured, and 2500 with light injuries."
Upon hearing the data, Yogendra's jaw dropped in astonishment. This amount of casualties had never been seen in the Vijayanagar Empire. His face contorted in rage, and he was about to lose his mind and confront Kiran Pujari, but suddenly, he saw a yearning in Kiran's eyes, A yearning for him to get punished. This calmed Yogendra down as he realized that he was not the one to punish Kiran Pujari; only his highness could do that.
Looking at this man who was much older than him in this expression, Yogendra sighed and did not continue to inquire as he left the barracks. Kiran, seeing the retreating back of Yogendra, sighed in disappointment, as he really wanted to get yelled at or scolded badly. At least that would alleviate his guilt even a little bit. Unfortunately, it looked like only his majesty could do something about it.
Yogendra left the Panhala fort the next day with his soldiers in tow. Unlike other generals who were neatly marching in tight formations, he divided his soldiers into separate squads, moving in different groups that looked more like a ragtag group of mercenaries than a well-trained army. They were given the freedom to operate individually as a squad, and their clothing varied. Yogendra understood the difficulty of his mission as the only general of Vijayanagara tasked with capturing a location so far inland in the Mughal Empire. Given this, he didn't want a head-on battle so deep within the enemy's defence lines, where reinforcements were next to null. Instead, he opted for what he did best: urban and guerrilla warfare.
Unlike Panhala, the intelligence in Nagpur and Ratanpur Fort was not compromised. After two days of continuous marching, Yogendra reached Nagpur. Rather than deciding to attack immediately, he chose to blend in with the civilians, entering the city as merchants. Nagpur, a bustling city in the central region of India, is a prosperous transit station of the Mughal Empire, known as the City of Oranges.
Due to the city's prosperity, although rare, this sudden influx of people did not raise any suspicions, as the Mughal army was procuring resources for war at a rapid rate. The Vijayanagara army would be able to slip through unnoticed. Yogendra considered all this information and ordered a battalion of 5000 men to blend in with the crowd and enter the city. The remaining troops were stationed separately, along with elephants carrying large cannons on the outskirts of the city, 5 km away. He did not plan to use the cannons in this battle. After successfully infiltrating the city, Yogendra activated the intelligence network and identified vulnerabilities in the guarding structure.
He received information so swiftly that even he marvelled at the efficiency of Roshan's intelligence network. The detailed documents included things like Drink breaks, lunch breaks, and identified guards who were lax in their duties, along with officers who posed potential threats. The next thing he did was to secretly plan multiple sets of assassinations to be done on the potential threats. When this plan came up during the strategy discussions back in Vijayanagara, all the generals looked at him with an unkind expression. He knew why; It was Because the plan he proposed would be viewed as cowardly, dishonourable, and possibly incompetent. Coming from the lowest of low of society, he understood that there would be no life if he considered all such things as honour and etiquette. To his surprise, out of all the people, Vijay seemed to agree with him.
Vijay confronted the generals with a single, pivotal question, "There would be no Empire if we lost this war. Now, where is the priority? Is it defeating the Mughals in an open and honest way, or defeating them in any way possible and existing to fight another day on the battlefield?" This singular question worked as a catalyst, causing a shift in the perspectives of conservative and traditional generals. They began to see Vijay's strategic viewpoint and, albeit hesitantly, agreed. Some of them even went on to make adjustments in their battle plans, changes that they might never have considered otherwise.
In the present time:
"Ahh...!", a chilling cry echoed through a luxurious villa as a person's throat was ruthlessly slit. The unfortunate victim convulsed on the ground, writhing in pain. This individual unfortunately held a prominent position on the dangerous targets' elimination list of Vijayanagaras intelligence network which brought him this fate.
Simultaneously, across different parts of the city, similar scenes unfolded. The throats of combat-effective Mughal officers were slashed, and they bled out in silent, deadly efficiency. By the time the Mughals became aware that something was amiss, Yogendra, orchestrating the covert operation, signalled the soldiers stationed outside the city to launch a synchronized attack.
This situation caught the Mughals off guard, as there were enemies inside and outside the city. The infantry poured in like a tide to every street and corner of the city. The Mughal soldiers, with no strong leaders surviving, could not form an effective plan and couldn't regroup. Gunshots and the sounds of grenades being exploded could be heard throughout the day. The civilians were in panic, fleeing away from the chaos of the city.
Fortunately, the Vijayanagara army did not harm the actual civilians; they assessed them carefully and let them go free. Suspected individuals were not left free; they were detained for interrogation at a later stage.
At the end of the day, the battle ended quickly without a cannon shot being fired.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel