Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

205  War Of Ahom Part: 4

Ahom Kingdom, Shillong, Southern Battle Zone.

*Chirp Chirp*

Various birds rejoiced in the morning light of Shillong. The weather was excellent with minimal clouds and warm temperatures, making this place in the East Khasi hills a beautiful one. The hills had a unique appearance, rolling on top of each other like sand dunes. For this reason, when the British took over this area in the past timeline, it earned the name "Scotland of the East" due to its resemblance to their homeland.

On this beautiful day, when people should have been out celebrating the natural abundance of this place, a war was unfolding.

In the barracks.

Yogendra Singh sat across from the military leaders of the Ahom Kingdom. To his surprise, a familiar face was present at the table, recognized by the people of Dakshin Bharatiya Empire – it was Ripun, the deputy leader of troops who had previously come to Dakshin Bharatiya Empire for artillery training.

Yogendra Singh looked around the room, carefully observing everyone's expressions as he began to speak. "Alright, I have identified the potential breach points where those Mughal invaders could enter Shillong. Ripun, I want you to order your men to station the cannons on the hills along the routes they might take. In addition, the rangers will act simultaneously, flanking the Mughal military base located to the west in Mairang. If we can defeat them in Mairang, we stand a good chance of successfully defending Shillong. Any doubts?" he asked loudly, addressing the military leaders gathered around the table.

"No, sir!" The sound echoed through the barracks as the officers from the Dakshin Bharathiya Empire and the Ahom Kingdom shouted in unison.

The town of Mairang.

The temporary headquarters for the southern battlefront had been decided. Initially, the southern battle group contributed significantly by assisting the northern battle group and swiftly reaching their destinations. However, as the terrain became increasingly unfavourable, their momentum was about to come to an end. In the early stages, they capitalized on their overwhelming artillery advantage and favourable terrain, effortlessly defeating towns along the way. Yet, as they approached Shillong, the advantageous terrain turned into a hindrance, making it challenging for horses to pull the carriages through the hilly landscape.

The possible solution of abandoning the cannons and proceeding on foot was considered, but unfortunately, this option proved impractical. Shillong was a primary target, but not the ultimate goal. The expedition aimed to capture the entire Ahom Kingdom. While discarding the cannons might offer a short-term advantage, the strategic dilemma lay in the necessity of cannons for future conquests once Shillong was secured. The decision-making process became more complex, requiring a careful balance between short-term gains and long-term objectives.

A group of military officers from the Mughal empire are having a military discussion of their own, with Malik Ali, at the helm of the southern battle group, planning his attack strategies with his subordinates.

"His Excellency Iqbal is occupied managing the northern battlefront, so the responsibility falls on us to advance towards the Shillong area and push into the heartland of Ahom. Alright, then it's settled; we'll take these three routes. This time, I'm confident we'll navigate through the hilly terrain more effectively. We were a bit too confident in our previous approach," Malik Ali glared, directing his attention to an officer seated at the corner of the desk.

The officer, feeling Malik Ali's glare, quickly bowed his head. It was his idea to directly rush into Shillong, but it was not a reckless or thoughtless suggestion because it was exactly what they were doing in their prior battles. So, despite it being his fault for suggesting the strategy, he felt cheated because all the blame was put on him when it was Commander Malik Ali who made the final call. 'Would you still make the call if you did not agree with my point of view?' he thought. 'Hence, just as much fault lies with the commander as with me.' However, he did not say it out loud as he did not want to be punished for insubordination.

Malik Ali couldn't have known what was running in the officer's head, but he continued to say, "Because of the tight roads in this hilly area, we were bottlenecked by only a few hundred Ahom soldiers and incurred casualties twice the proportion. This time it will be different; I have arrested a local to interrogate all possible routes to reach Shillong. So, we will split up into different groups and launch attacks separately on the following routes," he said as he shared the map. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Since the battle strategy had been formulated, the soldiers went on the move, swiftly splitting up into three groups and heading in different directions to reach Shillong. Unfortunately for them, their movements were seen by scouts, and their logistics had some interference from the Bhartiya External Pragya. The Bharatiya Sainik Pragya, currently controlled by Yogendra Singh, also picked up movement in the forest at different places. The departments of Bharatiya External Pragya and Sainik Pragya contacted each other for information sharing, each providing their unique insights.

Upon arriving in the Ahom Kingdom, the Bharatiya Sainik Pragya spread across various battlefields, acting as scouts and intelligence gatherers. They collaborated with the Bhartiya External Pragya to work together and obtain live battleground reports, along with intelligence from the Mughal Empire. All this intelligence was directly sent to His Majesty, Jaidwaj Singha, Commander Lachit Borphukan, General Yogendra Singh, and other core members of the battle, including Neerub, Ripun, and others.

In the dense forest, a small trail led to a mountainous canyon, with the path running through its centre, leading to the large city of Shillong. One group among the three Mughal groups was heading this way. The air was humid, and numerous insects crawled around. Some reptiles could be seen moving in various nooks and crannies.

400 Meters Away

On top of the hill, scores of cannons were camouflaged with dirt and greenery. These cannons were strategically placed throughout the hilltops to provide a good shooting angle, covering the path below, no matter where the enemy was. It took a whole night to get the cannons up there, and a lot of manpower was utilized to make it happen. Unfortunately, these cannons could no longer be removed, as it would be harder to get them down in one piece. It's alright though; Yogendra had no plans to retrieve those guns and was planning to use them as disposable cannons, as they had been paid for by the Ahom Kingdom anyway. Unlike the Mughals, whose plans were to conquer the Ahom Kingdom, his whole plan was to stop the Mughals' footsteps, not to regain the lost grounds; that was for the group of Ahom leaders to decide. The group of thousands of Mughal soldiers slowly made their way through the hilly path below, pulling with them hundreds of cannons.

The eager soldiers on top of the canyon wanted to fire the cannons as soon as they saw the approaching Mughal Army, but they were stopped by Ripun, the artillery leader of this engagement. He felt that it was too quick to take action; they had to wait. Fortunately, they were not discovered. However, they experienced quite a scare when a soldier accidentally dropped a small rock into the canyon, alerting some Mughal soldiers. A lot of the Mughal soldiers simultaneously turned their heads up in vigilance, as they also suddenly realized that this was an excellent place for an ambush. The soldiers on top of the canyon had to sprawl on the ground flat in order to go unnoticed. Fortunately, though, the Mughals' doubts seemed to clear up when a monkey showed up at the exact time, saving the Ahom soldiers' rears. The monkey was climbing a tree after pushing aside a small rock. After seeing this scene, the vigilance of the group decreased as they went farther inside the canyon. As they got to the middle of the canyon, Ripun signalled that the time had arrived. "Fire!" he yelled as the person in front of him quickly lit the fuse.

Cannon shots rang out suddenly on top of the canyon, making the ground rumble. The Mughals were caught off guard, as the aim of this bombardment was their cannons which they were towing with difficulty. They wanted to retreat but were already halfway inside the canyon, and no matter which direction they chose to run, they would always be covered by firepower.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Metal collided with metal as the iron cannons were torn apart by iron shots coming at super speeds.

The smell of gunpowder was in the air, reminding the Mughals of the impending threat. Suddenly, realizing that trying to save the cannons was no good, the commanding officer, signalled the soldiers to split apart and run in both directions. But they were in for a treat, as with the order of Ripun, a group of Dakshin Bharatiya Empire soldiers took the ropes tied to a boulder and lowered themselves below the canyon.

Before the Mughal soldiers reached the end of the canyon, there was a phalanx formed by the Bharatiya. The people at the front held a musket attached to a short sword, and the people at the back held a flintlock. The Mughals, seeing the sudden arrival of the troops of the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, were taken aback. Now they finally got to know where those cannons came from. 'It was these bastard's fault,' they thought, once again remembering the cannons they had to abandon. Going back to the base, they were also sure that only death awaited them after they abandoned the cannons, so the little fear they had when facing the phalanx disappeared as they also lifted their muskets (those who had them), and the rest made a spear charge.

Looking at their determination, the will of Bhartiya soldiers also became firm as their captain ordered, "Fire!"

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

The guns spewed out the fire as the frontline blazed in iron and blood. The bullets passed right through the armour the Mughals were wearing. A bullet that left the barrel managed to pass right through the left eye of a Mughal soldier, turning his brain into mush. When he fell down, his face was of fear, and as he fell, his ears also leaked with white fluids.

The phalanx switched places as the volley continued, but the Mughals were also very fearsome. They used their comrades as human shields and managed to form a small 4-foot wall in which they could duck down and fire their own shots. Although this was an isolated case where only a few soldiers could fit in these temporary walls, it still caused a lot of casualties for the Bhartiya army.

But this slight advantage was short-lived, as frag grenades were thrown next to them, sending them to smithereens.

On the other end of the canyon, an identical situation occurred where the retreating Mughals were completely obliterated. The second group of the Mughal army faced a similar situation, encountering a variety of ambushes along their path. In the forest terrain, numerous booby traps were strategically placed to create a false impression of the attack style chosen by the Ahoms. These traps also had the intended purpose of guiding the Mughal group into a specific location. Upon entering the forest area and progressing to an acceptable depth, the entire expanse of the forest was set ablaze. Executing this strategy demanded a substantial amount of resources, including a significant quantity of oil used for the ambush, sufficient aromatic substances to mask the smell of the oil and a considerable manpower effort required to establish an isolation zone inside the forest, preventing the fire from spreading.

" BOOM "

The fire spread like a wave and the Mughals were turned to ashes. The third group witnessed a frontal confrontation, but this time the troops of the combination of Ahom and Bhartiya Empire were a lot more in number than the Mughals had. With the superior quality of the Bhartiya troops, the battle ended quickly with moderate losses. The news of three victories was swiftly conveyed to Yogendra Singh at Shillong. Seizing this opportunity, he promptly rounded up the remaining active soldiers and rushed to Mairang. Due to the hastily dispatched army, Mairang was ill-equipped to resist Yogendra Singh.

The fall of Malik Ali marked the first victory for the Ahom forces. A glorious victory banquet was held that night, but unfortunately, their joy was short-lived. More troops poured in from Nongstoin, prompting them to withdraw back to Shillong. However, this time, the Mughals did not push forward but stayed in the same place.

*Slash*, The head of Malik fell as Yogendra Singh lobbed it off.