The Sun and the Lion

After waiting for several days, Sikandar Khan finally waited for the arrival of the astrologer. In order to obtain the reward from the Sultan, the astrologer called the result a good omen several times, which made him feel calmer.

But the good omen was followed by bad news: "Your Majesty, the enemy attacked our camp again, and the sentry was seriously injured."

While the Sultan of Delhi was waiting for these few days, Ibrahim was not idle. Seeing that the Delhi army was not making any moves, he kept sending cavalry to raid the camp, hoping to induce it to take the initiative to fight.

At the same time, the Afghan cavalry led by Gulbuddin detoured to the road further south. In addition to harassing the countryside, forcing farmers and landowners to flee, blocking trade routes and killing merchants, they also plundered a baggage convoy transporting supplies to the army from Delhi. Sudan The transport team consisted of five hundred camels and dozens of carts pulled by mules. Gulbuddin ordered all the pack animals to be taken away, and the carts and baggage that could not be taken away were destroyed.

When the news that the baggage was robbed reached the camp, Sikandar Khan immediately blocked the news. He believed that like the previous days of harassment, the invaders were motivating him to fight as soon as possible. In order to lure him to take the initiative, he also divided his troops. Despite this, The division of troops will probably not affect the main combat strength.

"Seeing the huge size of our army, these invaders were afraid and did not dare to take the initiative to attack. Therefore, they made this plan to let our army take the initiative to attack so that they could take advantage." At the meeting, Sikandar Khan's vizier commented on the current situation. The situation expressed the above opinions.

Mansour objected on the spot: "Your Majesty, as well as the vizier and the emirs, please allow me to talk about the war in Sirhind first."

Under the control of Sikandar Khan, no one ridiculed him on the spot as the defeated general at the meeting. Mansoor, who received permission, recounted the battle he had seen in public, causing everyone to think.

"Your Majesty, I have reasonable suspicion that this is Emir Mansour's excuse for the defeat. Although this is not intentional, it is suspected of shaking the morale of the military." Questions quickly emerged, thinking that this was an exaggeration. .

The arguments between the two factions bored him, and he finally decided not to waste any more time.

…………

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the enemy is in formation." The personal guard shook Ibrahim awake from his sleep regardless of etiquette. This was the first sentence he heard when he woke up.

"Well..." Ibrahim propped himself up and sat on the bed, trying to be more awake. Then he asked: "Did you just say that the enemy made any moves?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the scouts have detected that the enemy is leaving the camp in an orderly manner and forming a formation. It is suspected that they intend to attack our army." The guard repeated.

He immediately went into battle, and the Safavid troops in the camp then assembled in formation according to the arrangements made a few days ago amidst whistles, bugles and officers' shouts, preparing to fight the enemy.

Ibrahim arranged his formation according to custom, with artillery and infantry as the center, red heads on the two wings, and the Guards Cavalry and Afghan Cavalry as the rearguard.

When the army was in formation, the Delhi Army happened to appear in everyone's field of vision, and the boundless black mass was extremely oppressive. Ibrahim looked at his own formation. From top to bottom, no one was panicking, and they all seemed very calm in the face of powerful enemies.

The cavalry of the Delhi Army was at the forefront. Sikandar Khan had slightly more cavalry than Ibrahim. In order to defeat the enemy at once, he mixed most of the heavy cavalry and light cavalry as spearheads for the first attack. Wave assault.

The Sultan of Delhi looked at the Lion's Sun behind the Safavid formation and knew that was the location of the enemy commander. As long as the cavalry could directly attack that location, the entire battle would be over.

When the Delhi cavalry saw the field fortifications consisting of trenches, fences and gun emplacements in front of the Safavid center, they planned to rush towards the enemy's flanks, hoping to quickly defeat the two wings and attack the center from the side.

The field artillery refrained from firing, and only the musketeers deployed between the gun positions were firing. Because of the long distance, the killing effect was not very satisfactory. At one time, only a dozen Delhi heavy cavalry fell from their horses and fell to the ground.

The red heads on both wings did not sit still and wait for death. Under the organization of the officers, the counterattack began. Ibrahim strengthened the camel cannon that was originally assigned to the infantry to the cavalry on both wings. The solid bullets and cannonballs first swept through the crowd. The sound and smoke after the gunpowder was ignited frightened the horses. This unprecedented scene made the original The Delhi heavy cavalry, who wanted to attack with all their strength, hesitated.

"Woooooooo~" A rapid trumpet sound suddenly sounded from the Safavid army, which shocked the Delhi heavy cavalry even more - those who reacted quickly had already guessed that the big one was coming.

The red heads at the front of the military formation seized the opportunity to attack the enemy troops who were unable to advance or retreat. They shouted religious slogans - "Huda will punish all the disbelievers in the world on behalf of Huda!" "Huda will grant victory to the devout and brave people!" "Suffer Huda!" The blessed Shaykh is with us!" - Fighting with lances and swords against the hesitant enemy, Sheshi's scimitar collided with Indian swords and shields, both sides of the fight were trying to seize the opportunity to use their hands Send the sword to the enemy's weakly protected area.

Because I was caught off guard. For a time, the heavily outnumbered Delhi heavy cavalry was at a disadvantage. Many heavy cavalry could not withstand a few blows and were beaten to the point of losing their fighting ability. Chaos spread to the rear, and those heavy cavalry who were not attacked had to retreat continuously.

The irregular cavalry following these heavy cavalry took this opportunity to circle to the flank, intending to shoot at the enemy with bows and arrows to support the friendly forces, but they ran into trouble before they even finished shooting a round of arrows.

The red heads in the back row intended to surround these Delhi heavy cavalry, but unexpectedly they bumped into the Delhi light cavalry who were also turning to the flanks. Naturally, these light cavalry were unable to gain an advantage in close combat with the red heads due to their inferior equipment. They even It was difficult to hold on, so they all took the initiative to retreat.

"Pursue and crush all these enemy knights wearing rags!"

Under the coordination of the commander of the flanking troops, the red head who was fighting the Delhi light cavalry did not turn to attack the enemy's flank, but continued to chase the retreating enemy in front of him. These irregular cavalry with only light armor or even no armor were slaughtered by the chasing red heads, and they had no power to fight back.

The red-headed horses are stronger and faster than these irregular cavalry, which makes the escape of the Delhi light cavalry a luxury. However, a wise man once said this simple truth: "When you are chased by a beast, you don't need to run faster than the beast, you just need to run faster than your companions to escape."

The lucky guy who was originally at the back of the queue was realizing this truth, relying on the blood of his comrades behind him to escape.

As for the gap between the two teams of red heads, the camel artillery team was used to fill it. For the entangled Delhi heavy cavalry, the shotgun was no gentler than the enemy attacking from the side.

The loud noise coming from behind made many Afghan and Turkic warriors on the edge of the crowd feel trembling. Before the offenders could turn around to check, shotguns were fired into the crowd, causing chaos.

The frightened neighing of the war horses and the wails of the wounded affected the other cavalry present. Coupled with the fierce attack of the red head, the originally high enthusiasm for combat was gradually wiped out, so that the idea of ​​staying on the battlefield began to be regarded as a burden.

The Delhi Army, which suffered a double blow, had to retreat. The chaos on the front line forced Sikandar Khan to separate his reserves, first to meet the retreating light cavalry, to repel the pursuing red heads, and then to fight with the light cavalry. Attack the camel artillery together.

At the same time, the slower-moving Delhi infantry rushed to the battlefield. They used bows and arrows to shoot at the entire Safavid army, while the mixed melee infantry tried to cross the defense line composed of trenches and fences.

"Load, aim at these enemies, and fire freely!" the infantry officer shouted to the musketeers beside him. These infantrymen who had served for several years skillfully loaded the matchlock guns in their hands.

Just before the Delhi infantry rushed to the trench, many Safavid musketeers were already raising their guns and preparing to take aim. Now that the enemy had rushed forward, there was no need to take more aim.

There was a burst of gunfire, and several leading Delhi infantry officers were killed instantly. The lead bullets hit their chests and heads without any suspense, and their bodies fell directly into the trench.

Ordinary soldiers at a later position also suffered the same fate. Hundreds of them were incapacitated by the attack of matchlock guns. If the camel cannon had not been transferred to support cavalry operations, the shotshells and solid shells of the breech-mounted revolving gun could have been used in the dense infantry queue. Get more results, but even this is enough to scare these Delhi infantrymen. After all, most of them are not professional warriors like heavy cavalry, they are just conscripts who were forcibly recruited because of the Sultan's orders.

At the same time, the disadvantaged situation on both wings of the Delhi Army also affected the infantry of the Chinese Army. They had to form formations to the sides and front to resist the impact of the cavalry. Even though they retreated a little, these infantry who were nailed to the spot could not escape and turned into matchlocks. The fate of the target.

Seeing that the current enemy offensive had basically been neutralized, Ibrahim temporarily relaxed and continued to observe the battle situation.

Between the strange weapons in the Safavid army that could frighten war horses and the large number of camels, Sikandar Khan believed that it was not the time to send out elephant soldiers. In order to reverse the decline, he decided to personally lead the royal troops who had not yet entered the battlefield. Troops were fighting fires all over the front.

The appearance of the Mamluk cavalry on the battlefield boosted the morale of the Delhi army. The surprise attack of these elite cavalry made the red head who was chasing the Delhi light cavalry suddenly become the one to be beaten. The red head immediately retreated, intending to use Parthian archery to deal with these A tough enemy.

As the direct troops of the Sultan of Delhi, the strong armor on these Mamluks was enough to ensure their safety from being hurt by arrows. However, the impact was not reduced and they could not let the red head escape smoothly.

"Brother, the reserve force of the Sultan of Hindustan has moved. It seems that this is the enemy's most elite force." Ismail's reminder made Ibrahim focus on the right wing, which was declining.

"Well..." Ibrahim originally wanted to use field artillery to deal with the elephant soldiers, but it has not been deployed yet. If the artillery unit is not used now, it is likely to cause a lot of unnecessary losses.

"Give me the order. The field artillery can be fired. Don't begrudge the gunpowder and shells. And you, Ismail, I will hand over all the friends of Shah to you. Move back behind these elite enemy cavalry. Don't let them go. No one can escape." Ibrahim immediately ordered adjustments to be made.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Ismail immediately led the defenders to bypass his right wing. Perhaps the Sultan of Delhi focused his attack here after seeing that this was close to the city of Karnal.

It can be said that these reinforcements from the Shah's friends arrived very timely. In order to cover the camel artillery, the red heads who fought with these Mamluks can be said to have suffered heavy losses and were on the verge of collapse.

"Mirza is coming, reinforcements are coming!"

The arrival of Ismail was undoubtedly a boost to the red head. He ordered the red head to retreat and rest, and asked the adjusted camel artillery team to provide him with fire support.

The Mamluk cavalry, which had just been liberated from the fight with the red heads, immediately had to fight with the friends of Shah again. These guard cavalry made Sikandar Khan obviously feel more pressure. Their sophisticated equipment and more powerful combat power made him I am convinced that this is the most capable force for the invaders.

Only a round of shotgun blast and the numerical and physical advantages of the new force made it difficult for the Mamluk cavalry to defeat the enemy in person. However, the Sultan of Delhi believed that it would be no problem to hold off all the enemies.

He looked around the battlefield. The enemy's wings were fighting with his own cavalry, while the Chinese army was fighting with his own infantry. Reserves were also sent out to deal with the Mamluk cavalry under his command. Isn't this the critical moment that determines the outcome of the battle? ?

It happened that he held back and patiently did not let the elephant soldiers enter the battlefield in advance. He judged that the enemy could no longer spare troops to deal with his elephant soldiers, and now he could safely enter the battlefield.

The Sultan of Delhi asked his soldiers to give orders to the elephant soldiers to launch an attack to reinforce friendly forces, and then continued to engage in the battle with the Safavid cavalry.

In the central army, the Delhi infantry endured continuous attacks from the Safavid firearms troops and suffered heavy losses. The bottom of the trench in front of the fence was covered with corpses. And because the Safavid pincer offensive on both wings continued to squeeze the Delhi army, the cavalry and infantry were completely mixed together, exacerbating the chaos.

Driven by the officers, the Delhi infantry approached the trenches and fences many times, trying to dismantle these field fortifications that hindered the attack. Again, many soldiers were wasted in defense with matchlocks and sabers.

Just when people's hearts were depressed, several loud roars were heard, and a total of four hundred war elephants from the military camp appeared in everyone's sight. Looking for Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com These giant beasts were walking heavily. Running towards the Safavid positions added a lot of psychological pressure to the Safavid soldiers.

The gunners nervously adjusted the artillery. After being trained by foreign consultants and artillery directors, the artillery brought by Ibrahim can be said to be skilled and experienced.

Two artillery regiments with a total of one hundred field guns fired at the war elephants, which posed a great threat. The scene that Ibrahim wanted to see the most appeared. Although it was a little later than expected, the effect was not compromised.

The sound of artillery and the hard shells hitting the war elephant immediately caused the war elephant to lose control. The infantry who were just feeling lucky for the arrival of reinforcements were now in a great panic. The war elephants were rushing around and The trampling directly killed and maimed many soldiers and officers on the spot, and the Chinese army's formation was completely disrupted.

"There is no suspense now. Our army has won." Upon seeing this, Ibrahim said directly to the officers around him.

Next came the harvesting time of the musketeers and artillery. Lead bullets and iron cannonballs continued to rush into the crowd. The central army of the Delhi Army had completely collapsed. The corpses of men, horses and elephants were strewn across the field. Soldiers and officers were desperate. Fleeing to the rear, no one could stop and reorganize these troops.

The Delhi cavalry on both wings was unable to support itself. With the support of infantry and artillery, the Safavid cavalry finally defeated the Delhi cavalry, which outnumbered itself. Whether it was the heavy cavalry from the Iqta fief, the light cavalry from Afghan and Turkic immigrants, or the royal army that the Delhi Sultan relied on most, they all suffered heavy losses under the attack of the Safavid army.

For the Sultan of Delhi, the only good news is that he himself did not die on the battlefield. Ismail tried many times to capture the Supreme Being of Hindustan, but he was repeatedly blocked by his own soldiers, allowing him to successfully capture him. Opportunity to escape from the battlefield.