Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Chapter 202  War Of Ahom Part: 1

The Mughal Empire, Bengal, Kolkata Royal Palace.

Mohammad V has been quite excited for the past few days. The army he had been training has completed mobilization and has been sent to the border area awaiting further orders. His cousin Empire in the Mediterranean has agreed to build him 10 Man-of-War battleships. According to the promised time, the ships should arrive in a few months at the latest. Today, he convened a meeting in Bengal, Kolkata to fully plan the invasion of the Ahom kingdom. After a few moments of waiting, multiple people enter the palace. The first person is Iqbal, the Minister of War, followed by Muhammad Muizzu, the Prime Minister of the Empire.

Also present are the Governor of Bengal, Hamza Umar, along with Malik Ali. Hamza and Malik will be the commanding officers of two different battlefronts in this war, and Iqbal will be the strategist behind the war.

"So tell me, Iqbal, how are the preparations going?"

Hearing the question asked by his majesty, Iqbal replied with confidence and pride on his face, "The preparations have been completed, Your Majesty. We have 50,000 troops ready for battle at any moment. We have also dispatched 200, 20 kg calibre cannons, along with 10,000 muskets."

When it came to muskets, he couldn't help but praise His Majesty, the Emperor. "Your Majesty, you are the most wise in manufacturing the muskets with your own resources. Most nobles would not have responded to the Empire's call and were always looking for profits. Also, when that route was tried the last time, we got all shoddy products. So, if it were not for you adopting the same manufacturing style as the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire in your own workshop, we would have never been able to produce so many muskets."

Hearing the compliment, Mohammad was satisfied and showed a proud look. However, only he knew that deep down, he had a bitter smile because although he had put in a lot of resources into manufacturing these muskets, only 10,000 were produced. The war with the Vijayanagara Empire ended almost half a year ago, so you could see how producing only 10,000 muskets in 6 months could be a problem.

Shaking off his bad memories, he asked Iqbal, "What is the battle plan?"

"Your Majesty, Hamza Umar will lead an army of 25,000 soldiers at the Gauripur border town of the Ahom Kingdom. Gauripur is also a strategic location where the Brahmaputra river flows down to our Bengal, so we can also utilize the Inland Navy in this region. Another entrance is down south in a town called Tura, where Malik Ali will lead with the strength of 15,000 soldiers. Attacking through these two regions, we can directly go to the heartland of the Ahom Kingdom. But there are still two obstacles in fully destroying the Ahom Kingdom - this place here in Sarighat and this place down south in Shillong," Iqbal said as he pointed to two locations on the map. "These two places act as natural barriers blocking us off from the heartland of the Ahom Kingdom. Even though conquering the land till these barriers will make it painful for the Ahoms, the roots of their kingdom will not shake."

Listening to the full plan, Mohammad nodded his head in approval, and the next step was signing the documents for the start of the war.

Bengal Eastern Border.

Soldiers were stationed near the border as they waited for further instructions. They had been living a tough life for the past few months due to the upcoming war, undergoing rigorous training. They were all eagerly waiting for the training to be over, preferring to go to war instead of enduring more tortuous training. However, the last two days had been the happiest they had experienced because they were given no training tasks and were just stationed at the border, awaiting further orders. To kill time, they even played a few matches of Kabaddi and rugby. Rugby had spread widely even among the Mughal army, although it was not favoured by His Majesty, the Emperor. The Minister of War, on the other hand, loved the game. Iqbal saw rugby as a way to resemble a battlefield. Many strategies developed in this game could also be applied in war. However, he couldn't help but marvel at who came up with this game, which was seemingly designed for military tacticians.

Finally, the governor of Bihar, Hamza Umer, arrived at the barracks and brought with him the marching orders. The same thing happened in Jamalpur at the southern border, where the Mughal army stationed was finally given orders by Malik Ali to march forward. Back in Rangpur, where Hamza's troops were stationed, they started their march, swiftly crossing the Kumar River, a tributary of Brahmaputra. After further marching, they crossed the border of the Mughal Empire into the territory of the Ahom Kingdom. There were scouts of the Ahom's along the way who were quickly dispatched with a shot from a Musket. After crossing the Golakganj River, they finally laid siege to the city of Gauripur. The city had no chance of resistance as hundreds of cannons were used to bombard the city gates into pieces. After breaching the city, it was time for plunder. A similar situation happened on the southern front. Malik Ali led his troops through the Dalu border area and straight into Tura town. The fortifications and defence put forward by the Ahom could not resist the bombardment of the Mughals.

With the two battle fronts secured, logistic channels were quickly established. The Inland Navy dispatched from the Bengal area of the Brahmaputra River, was temporarily stationed at Gauripur awaiting further orders. At the southern front, more cannons were dispatched to the Tura frontline. After this initial victory, there was a short celebration in the army Barracks. They were proud that they sliced through the defence put forward by Ahom like a hot knife through butter. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The morning of that day,

Jaya Dwaj Singha was informed of the Mughals attacking his western border. Quickly, he called Lachit Borphukan and ordered him to defend the kingdom.

Lachit nodded his head and promised to protect the kingdom with his life. Initially, he did not make any drastic moves after the Mughals invaded Tura and Gauripur because, in reality, he wasn't confident that he could withstand a frontal attack by the Mughal Empire in such unfavourable terrain.

However, after assessing the information about the strength and numbers of the Mughal Empire, he felt that he could give it a try. So, he fortified a few strongholds on the at the western side of the empire - Bilasipara, Lakshipur, and Villanagar (William Nagar) in the south. He stationed a total of 10,000 soldiers across these three locations. With the permission of His Majesty the King, Lachit also sent a letter to the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, asking for reinforcements.

Unfortunately though, by the time the reinforcements from Dakshin Bharatiya Empire arrive, it would already be too late. Unlike the last time when the Mughal Empire took their time conquering one stronghold at a time, this time the Mughal army is looking to steamroll everything in front of it.

Hamza Umar ordered them to march forward again, and this time they had the Navy backing them up. As they marched through Alomganj and Bogribari, there was no sizeable resistance put up by the Ahom Kingdom. However, things took a different turn when they reached Bilasipara. The fortifications there were surprisingly strong, with cannons similar to theirs.

When they got closer to the fortifications, *Boom* - the loud sound of a cannon rang out as a squad was blasted apart. Sensing the problem, Hamza ordered the Navy to circle around and see if they could flank Bilasipara. Unfortunately, his dreams were shattered when fortifications were found on the opposite banks of the Brahmaputra River near the town of Lakhimpur. Due to this unforeseen circumstance, a few frigates were not able to resist the bombardment and drowned.

The Mughal army moved 60 km inland in the north and nearly 115 km in the south. All this took place in just a few days. It was also at this moment that the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire received the distress signal. Unfortunately, by the time they mobilized the troops, the Mughals would have already occupied a large part of the Ahom Kingdom.

When they got closer to the fortifications, *Boom* - the loud sound of a cannon rang out as a squad was blasted apart. Sensing the problem, Hamza ordered the Navy to circle around and see if they could flank Bilasipara. Unfortunately, his dreams were shattered when fortifications were found on the opposite banks of the Brahmaputra River near the town of Lakhimpur. Due to this unforeseen circumstance, a few frigates were not able to resist the bombardment and drowned.

Fortunately for the Mughals, the luck of the Ahom seemed to run out as Villanagar could not resist the constant bombardment of the southern army. This was partly because most of the artillery was dispatched with the southern army as the terrain was more forgiving compared to the north. Thousands of Ahom soldiers in Villanagar did not stand a chance, even with their artillery; they were just too outnumbered.

After securing Villa Nagar, Malik Ali sent in reinforcements to Lakhimpur. As soon as they reached Lakhimpur, they flanked the stronghold from the opposite side and bombarded the walls to smithereens. The muskets finished off the rest. With the Lakhimpur stronghold falling, Bilasipara could not last long as the Navy in the Brahmaputra River managed to flank the stronghold and circle it, cutting off its connection with the Ahom Kingdom. Seeing no chance of winning, the stronghold's captain waved the white flag, accepting defeat.

The Mughal army moved 60 km inland in the north and nearly 115 km in the south. All this took place in just a few days. It was also at this moment that the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire received the distress signal. Unfortunately, by the time they mobilized the troops, the Mughals would have already occupied a large part of the Ahom Kingdom.