As Ayush and his soldiers approached Garha Fort, the sun dipped below the horizon.
The return trip was quick, but he bore the weight of duty. Though they had defeated Rudra Singh, Ayush's heart was heavy.
His father Pashupati Yadav was locked in a Mughal prison, and with every moment, they inched closer to a fate Ayush could not allow to happen.
Rajeshwari was on the horse next to him, her face masked, but in her silence, Ayush felt her apprehension.
The warriors behind Ayush waved the flags of victory, but Ayush knew a battle had just ended but not a war.
After sometime of travelling.
When the large stone walls of Garha Fort appeared in the distance, a horse rider hurried towards them and stopped sharply in front of Ayush with a salute.
"My lord! General Vikram and Maan Singh have returned before you. They have urgent intelligence and are at the plans room waiting for you."
Ayush gripped his reins tight in his hands. He responded with a quick nod. "Show me the way."
Into the Chamber
The room was dimly lit by oil lamps which created flickering shadows upon the large map, spread out on the long table.
In the middle of the table, Vikram and Maan Singh sat, their faces hardened.
As soon as Ayush entered, Vikram stepped forward.
"My lord, we have found him."
Ayush's heart began to race.
"Where is my father?"
Maan Singh unfurled a scroll and placed it on the long table. He pointed to the place.
"He is imprisoned in the dungeons beneath the Mughal fortress, at Chunar Fort."
Ayush bent over the map. His golden eyes sharpened. "Chunar Fort..."
He exhaled. "One of the most fortified strongholds overseen by the Mughals in the region."
Vikram nodded gravely. "It's on a rocky hill overlooking the Ganges. Its thick rock walls and its position make it almost unstoppable."
"However, there is something even more urgent than the fortress itself."
Ayush straightened and clenched his jaw.
"What is that?" Maan Singh paused for a moment before he could speak.
"We also know the exact date that your father will be murdered."
The air in the room became heavy with an unsettling silence.
Everyone turned to Maan Singh.
"It's planned for October 15th," he continued. "On Emperor Akbar's birthday."
As he considered this, a slow smoldering anger emerged on Ayush's face.
Ayush said coldly, 'Akbar plans to make my father's execution a spectacle."
"A public spectacle designed to bolster his rule and remind the people that you will get executed for rebellion."
Rajeshwari's hands were now clenched in tight fists. "This means you father will be executed, but it will also be a spectacle—that will send a message to anyone that opposes the Mughals."
Ayush tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword with some force. "Not if I get there before them."
Vikram chimed in with his thoughts. "My lord, the execution will occur in the central courtyard of Chunar Fort."
"Zahir Khan, the governor of the fort, is the one planning the event. He is a brutal man, and he is fanatically loyal to Akbar. Maan Singh added, Mughal officials will be present for when you father is executed, including the Rajahs from adjacent provinces."
"They will ratchet up security to a maximum level."
Ayush took a large breath and ran his hand through his hair. His mind was already racing ahead with plans, possibilities, and outcomes.
Rajeshwari clutched her arms to her chest. "There's no hope of storming Chunar Fort. It's practically a death trap."
"They'd be prepared for an attack from the outside."
Ayush turned towards her with a grin and a glint in his eye. "So, we won't attack from the outside."
Vikram looked at Ayush with a scowl. "Sir, what are you getting at?"
Ayush's golden eyes sparkled serious but with a dangerous light. "We're going to infiltrate Chunar Fort before the execution."
"I will go into that fort myself if need be, but my father will be saved."
"We are not just going to escape, we are taking Chunar Fort from the inside."
A quiet stillness settled in the room as everyone listened to him.
Maan Singh's eyes were wide. "That... that is terrifyingly dangerous."
Vikram, on the other hand, smiled. "And completely brilliant."
Rajeshwari smiled mischievously. "You always manage to figure out how to think ten steps ahead right?"
Ayush looked back at the map. "We have a little more than two months to prepare."
"And every step we take now will have its impact on the mission."
He bore his gaze downwards to the ministers. "Maan Singh, I'd like you to gather intelligence on the internal layout of Chunar Fort."
"Every entry point, every hidden pathway, every potential weakness."
Maan Singh nodded in agreement. "I will send out scouts right away."
"Vikram," Ayush continued, "start assembling a small group of our best fighters."
"It will not be open war, but rather a special operation."
"We need people who can fight quietly, kill quietly, and simply disappear without a trace."
Vikram placed a fist against his chest. "Support that being done."
Ayush then turned his attention toward Rajeshwari.
"We will take charge of training our fighters."
" Our fighters should train for combat in the city, which may be novel for them. Chunar Fort is not an expansive battlefield, but rather a maze of stone walls and narrow alleyways."
Rajeshwari nodded her assent, determination lighting in her eyes. "Let me do it."
Ayush finally surveyed all of them. "This mission is not only about rescuing my father; it is about striking a blow to the Mughals from which they will never recover."
"If we win, not only will we gain possession of Chunar Fort, but we will also have shown that Ayush Chandra Mourya is a name to be remembered."
Vikram and Maan Singh exchanged glances and then knelt. "We are with you, my lord, to the end."
Ayush exhaled slowly, his head racing with tactics. The clock for October 15 had started ticking.
Few Days later
In the vast outdoor forge, furnaces burned in rows and blacksmiths worked the glowing metal with heavy hammers.
With the bright orange hot metal, the blacksmiths slowly formed barrels for guns and parts for muskets and cannons.
Huge wooden wagons rolled down from Rudra Singh's ruined fort loaded with usable metal debris to ensure that nothing was wasted.
Vikram stood next to one of the forges, his strong arms gleaming with sweat, as he inspected a newly made musket barrel. He looked toward Ayush and smiled.
"All my lord, the pace of our production is increasing."
"We have already produced twenty muskets so far today, and more are on the way."
Ayush took the musket from Vikram's hands and ran his fingers across the barrel. "Good."
"But the speed would not do, we need it to be correct.These weapons need to perform in battle."
Rajeshwari, with her arms crossed and sharp eyes watching everything, said, "Still, muskets are powerful, but they are slow to reload. Even the best shooters would be killed off in one shot by a skilled swordsman before they got a second shot."
Ayush replied with a smirk, "That's why we won't rely only on muskets."
"Our strategy will be to combine weaponry with traditional fighting styles. Our front lines will have muskets shooting from a distance while our swordsmen and cavalry deal with the hand to hand fighting."
Rajeshwari nodded her head. "A deadly combination."
To the far side of the forge, Maan Singh and is workers were measuring out precise amounts of gunpowder and putting them into clay pots. Each pot had a symbol on it to show that the gunpowder was dry and stabilized.
He looked up as Ayush got close. "Gun powder supply is still limited, my lord. We have enough for one large battle and will need saltpeter and sulfur after that."
Ayush sighed. "Next we need to get a consistent supply."
Vikram tapped his jaw. "Chandrapur is where we are headed next right?"
"By taking over the city, we take over their trade routes. One aspect of gunpowder is."
Ayush's eyes lit up. "Exactly."
"We won't fight with just weapons, we will fight with resources."
"Whoever controls the supply routes controls the battle."
Examining the Muskets As the forge stayed busy, Ayush led a group of fighters out to a training field, just outside the fort.
There were a series of wooden dummy targets, some looked like enemy soldiers, lined up. He handed one of his fighters a musket. "Here is your new weapon."
" It can reach an enemy from far away, but you have to learn to use it correctly."
The fighter was just a rookie soldier in a fight, but he was skilled enough in combat, and he took a deep breath, aimed toward the barrel, and fired.
BANG!
Smoke erupted out, the powder igniting.
The musket struck hard against the soldier's shoulder, but the wooden mannequin was reduced to splinters.
Then there was quiet, and then murmurs erupted among the troop of soldiers.
They had just seen a glimpse into the future.
Ayush smiled. "Now imagine fifty of you firing at the same time."
Vikram chuckled. "The enemy won't even know what hit them."
Rajeshwari folded her arms finally nodding her head in agreement. "I must admit, this changes everything.
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