7 First Historical Quest - III

Azam Khan who had always been keeping quiet chose to speak this time,

"We will not go back towards the Ahmednagar district, instead we will attack and capture the fort of Dharur."

He knew that the road to Ahmednagar district was already looted by the rebel forces. If he went towards the district, the lack of provisions would make the expedition even more difficult.

He then looked towards his trusted official Multafit Khan and said,

"Take 5,000 men and attack the pethas (weekly Bazaar) of Dharur. Make it quick."

"As your wish my lord."

Miltafit Khan bowed and left the commander's tent.

The next day, Miltafit Khan led 5,000 Mughal troops and attacked Dharur Gaon. As he was approaching the town, He felt that something was not right.

'The town is too quiet…'

Multakit Khan looked at the Dharur Gaon in front of him suspiciously. He sent a party of 50 men to scout the area of the town. He did not dare to enter the town with his army for fear of ambush. After a while, when the team returned from their scouting, they reported directly to Multakit Khan that the whole town along with all of its pethas was empty.

'As expected, all of the civilians ran away…'

He then ordered his messenger to send a report to Azam Khan.

"Send an emergency report to the commander, the town and all the pethas are empty. Not even a single grain of rice was found."

"As your wish my lord."

The messenger hurriedly left towards the main army camp.

Inside the main army camp, Azam Khan looked at the report from Multakit Khan while deep in thought. 50,000-60,000 people migrated somewhere and he or his scouts did not even receive a single message.

'Unless They were able to migrate all the people in the Dharur Gaon in a short time. '

While deep in thought, Azam Khan looked towards the fort of Dharur.

"Interesting enemy we have here…"

He then turned towards the army commanders and said,

"Let us go and meet our friend inside the fort."

At that time 5 horses left from the main Mughal camp towards the fort of Dharur. As they got near the fort, they got a warning from the petrol army stationed on the walls of Dharur fort.

"The fort has been closed and no one is allowed entry inside the fort. Return back immediately. "

Towards the patrolling guard's harsh words, one of the Mughal officers took his sword out and replied,

"How audacious, do you know who you're talking to? Bring the killedar of the fort to meet our commander Azam Khan immediately."

The patrolling guard on the city walls was scared when he heard that it was Mughal army commander Azam Khan. He left the walls to report to his superiors quickly.

Soon, the news reached Aarv's ears. He took his officials towards the city gate to have a chat with Azam Khan.

After reaching the fort wall, Aarv looked towards the man dressed in green with golden armour.

"What a powerful aura…"

Aarv felt suffocated by the aura of Azam Khan, the 'Ace Vazir' (Title. Similar to the prime minister) of the Mughal empire. Still, he kept his head cool and stood upright.

At the same time, Azam Khan also looked toward Aarv.

"What a young killedar…"

Azam Khan felt shocked when he saw Aarv who looked no older than 20. Especially in Aarv's eyes, he could see a burning desire to fight in his eyes.

Both commanders looked at each other and nodded. Azam Khan then spoke to Aarv,

"Young killedar of Dharur, If you surrender to the Mughal empire, we will spare your life and bestow you the title of Khan (literal meaning change his religion)"

Aarv looked at Azam Khan and replied proudly,

"Bestow me the title of Khan…? HAHAHAHA…"

"LISTEN AZAM KHAN…! Even if Shah Jahan himself comes here to bestow me the title of Khan I will spit on it. Listen carefully, Until my last breath Dharur fort will never surrender."

All the soldiers present on the walls of dharur fort along with the officials felt their blood boiling as they cheered,

"Yeahhh… Dharur fort will not surrender. Mughals go back…"

"Mughals go back, Mughals go back, Mughals go back"

Hearing the insulting words of Aarv and the loud cheers from the crowd, Azam Khan felt humiliated. His face turned purple with anger as he hollowed loudly,

"How audacious, Not only Dharur fort will fall, I will personally slaughter every single citizen of Dharur."

After saying the last sentence, Azam Khan left with his officials to the Mughal army camp. Aarv looked at the retreating Mughal officers with a satisfying expression. He knew that Mughal had helped him boost the morale of the whole dharur army. He turned towards Sagar Rao and ordered,

"Distribute sugar among the civilians. Tell them the whole story. Assure them that we will not abandon them."

"Yes my lord…"

Sagar Rao with a proud expression on his face left to execute his orders.

That night, while the Mughal army was preparing for war, there was a festive atmosphere inside the fort of Dharur. Civilians sang all night to express their gratitude. This atmosphere also helped soldiers of the Dharur fort to feel more at ease while standing on the walls of the fort.

'This is what we are defending the fort for…'

Some soldiers looked toward the civilians celebrating with teary eyes. A sense of duty arose within the whole army of Dharur that night.

---

The next day Azam Khan sent a 5,000 strong vanguard army toward Dharur fort. Their main objective was to test the waters. But, as soon as the vanguard force reached within the firing range of the cannons inside the dharur fort, the horses at the front wailed tragically as they fell down.

'What is happening…'

While Mughals were still confused, the next line of horses fell in a similar fashion. The whole vanguard formation of Mughals became very chaotic.

Seeing the formation in chaos, the Mughal commander ordered them to retreat. But before the army had a chance to organize their retreat, the cannons on the walls of Dharur fort thundered.

Boom… Boom… Boom…

Cannon shell after cannon shells fell on the soldiers of the Mughal army making them helpless. Only a third of the vanguard army returned after the initial confrontation between Mughal forces and dharur forces.

Seeing the retreating Mughal army, cheers broke into the fort of Dharur. This was the first time soldiers experienced a one-sided fight with the Mughal forces.