The Sun and the Lion

In the palace of Agra, Sikandar Khan was angry at the three newly delivered documents. The ministers and attendants on the side did not dare to speak out to offend His Majesty the Sultan.

The two documents on the top of the table were letters sent by Ibrahim and the Governor of Lahore. He had read both. The attack on Punjab was beyond his expectation. He knew very little about the invaders. He only found out about Ibrahim's identity through diplomatic letters.

Moreover, the governor of Lahore's private correspondence with foreign sultans aroused his dissatisfaction. Regardless of whether the behavior of communicating with foreign countries can be called loyalty, the relationship between Delhi and Multan can only be regarded as mutual non-aggression. Regarding The question of whether the Langa would send troops was clouding his judgment. However, there is no point in holding the Governor accountable now. At present, he can only accept the established facts and make decisions based on this.

In the previous few years, his energy had been focused on the enemies in the south and east. He had not paid much attention to anything west of the Khyber Pass, and he had not paid special attention to the information sent by the merchants. When Ibrahim first entered India and plundered Peshawar, he was reported by the local governor as a large group of Afghan plunderers. Sikandar Khan only sent reinforcements to mow down the unyielding Afghan tribes.

Before even looking at the third document, Sikandar Khan felt from the governor's wording that the matter was very urgent, and it was very likely that he would be unable to catch up now. Sure enough, the senior military officers who escaped from Lahore sent chaotic battle reports to Agra after arriving in a nearby temporarily safe city. After browsing through them, Sikandar Khan could not extract any useful information from them except that the entire Punjab had fallen. .

He did not know how ambitious the invaders were. In his letter of persuasion to surrender, Ibrahim only asked him to cede Punjab and pay tribute, but the Sultan of Delhi did not believe that the invaders would have such a small appetite.

Losing Punjab means losing a large tax source. Equally important are fine horses. The best horses in the Delhi Army are Central Asian, Arabian, and Persian horses imported through Afghanistan. A stable and sufficient supply of foreign war horses is the Delhi Army. A big advantage over other Indian regimes.

The loss of Punjab meant that the Delhi Army's overland channel for importing good horses was narrowed, and this channel was still in the hands of hostile foreign rulers, so it was not unforeseen that it would be cut off.

Therefore, he believed that there must be a battle now, and the war would not stop until he defeated the opponent's main force. After sorting out the known information, he believed that this would be a battle that could rival Timur's invasion. Therefore, he decided to gather all his troops. Defend against intruders.

The troops of the Delhi Sultanate were divided into several parts. The most loyal and powerful combat force to the Sultan was the royal army stationed at the palace. Sikandar Khan had the most elite Mamluk cavalry of all troops, professional siege troops and large-scale elephant soldiers.

In the local area, various Iqta fiefs provided the Sultan with regular cavalry and irregular cavalry from complex sources. The quality and equipment level of these feudal and tribal cavalry were slightly worse than those of the royal army, but their scale was very large. They were for the Delhi Army. main body.

In addition to the cavalry, Sikandar Khan could also mobilize an equally large infantry team, mainly composed of conscripted militia, with a mixture of mercenaries, rangers and volunteers as the backbone. These infantry are mainly archers and light spearmen. They mainly assist the cavalry in attacking the enemy and are not regarded as the core force of the army.

In order to deal with this matter, he specially convened a royal meeting to discuss how to respond. The viziers and emirs present circulated letters requesting help and battle reports to understand what had happened in Punjab in the past month.

After calming down his anger, Sikandar Khan asked everyone: "What do you think about this?"

All senior Delhi officials present agreed that all forces should be mobilized to fight with him, and there was no other way. The Sultan was pleased that his subjects all agreed with him.

Sikandar Khan ordered the vizier in charge of military affairs: "I want you to raise as much military supplies as possible and notify all conscripted troops to gather in Agra."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The vizier responded respectfully.

Other senior officials also reminded Sudan of other matters that needed to be addressed, the most important of which were information collection and diplomatic operations.

"Diplomacy...well, you are right, I also need to consider the Sarchis and the Prince of Gwalior." The Sultan of Delhi thought about it. At present, he needs to appease the other two enemies as much as possible, at least not with the Persian invasion. They came to Agra together.

It was impossible to hide the invasion of the Delhi Sultanate from neighboring foreign rulers. Sikandar Khan had a simple idea of ​​how to prevent these two main enemies from disturbing the situation.

"I gathered a large army in Agra. It is impossible that the prince of Gwalior did not know this move. In terms of military strength, he is not as good as me. I plan to take advantage of the gathering of the army to deter him and reiterate the peace agreement with him." He narrated his idea to those present. Everyone, and asked the clerk standing aside to prepare a diplomatic document for the Maharaja of Gwalior.

Sikandar Khan arranged all the preparations for the war in an orderly manner at the meeting. Looking for Shuyuan www.zhaｏｈｙuan.comｍ The next step for him was waiting time, just waiting for the army to gather and the enemy's attack. arrival.

He does not intend to take the initiative. Foreign invaders will not be tempted by Delhi's wealth. The Delhi army can take advantage of this advantageous situation and wait for the invaders to come over in a dusty way.

…………

The decree issued by the palace caused a commotion in the city of Agra. The increase in taxes and military service this time was greater than before. In addition, business travelers from the west spread the news that the Persians had invaded and the Five Rivers area had fallen. The two factors were linked. can get the answer.

"It is said that the cruelty and bellicosity of outsiders can be compared with that of Timur. Do you know the Mughals led by Timur?" In the restaurant of the caravanserai, several travelers and local citizens gathered at a table Listening in and out of Agra.

Seeing the confused faces of the surrounding audience, the narrator had to briefly talk about Timur's invasion of India: "The Moguls who came from Turan were bloodthirsty, cruel, and warlike. Their leader was especially so. It is said that he was There are no princes or sultans in the Five Rivers Basin and Delhi who can stop them. They are killing people all the way, and Delhi has become a dead city..."

At this point, an audience member suddenly reminded him: "The Sultan specifically ordered not to spread rumors..." After saying this, both he and the narrator glanced at the people nearby who might be able to hear their conversation.

Those present were all smart people. After all, telling the story of the past breach of Derry City might be considered a vicious metaphor that would shake the hearts of the people in the city.

However, this temporary order cannot prevent the city from discussing the future development of the current war. Due to Sikandar Khan's many previous external victories, the citizens of Agra still have confidence in their Sultan.