Chapter 178: Battle of Nadiad [2]

Zaid was using the cover of the lush forest to mask his march towards the Fort. He already had the land around the fort surveilled for any hidden tunnels to escape. To his surprise, he was spot on, as he quickly found a tunnel leading into the fort in the forest.

He was ecstatic by the discovery and told the commander. He was allotted a special unit to lead and sabotage supplies in the Fort.

Before Omar started marching, Zaid had already split from the army. He made his way to the tunnel in the forest.

The special unit surveillance the area once again to ensure that they weren't being watched. They then had to wait till the fight began and the Maratha commander was focused on Omar.

"Let's enter the tunnel." He ordered as he saw the cannons firing on the fortifications.

The horses were tied to the trees. Zaid then wrapped an oilcloth on a stick to create a makeshift torch.

Other members also had their makeshift torch and lit it on fire. They ventured into the dark tunnel.

Their goal was the supplies of the Marathas. They could retreat and starve out the Marathas if they succeeded in this mission.

The tunnel was cold and moist. It seemed very old. Moss was growing on it's walls and the cracked stone path occasionally made some sounds upon stepping.

Drops of water fell from the roof of the tunnel.

Zaid looked at the special unit leader. His face was barely visible in the faint light of the torch.

"Did you survey inside the tunnel?"

"Yes, we survey some parts of the tunnel. We stopped going forward after some time as we could hear the noises from inside the fort."

"I see, so you are sure this leads to the Fort."

"Yes, it does lead to the Fort."

Meanwhile in the Fort, Vasant was talking to the special unit of skirmishers. They were discussing the possibility of the Qutb's sending in units to sabotage their supplies.

The leader of the special unit suggested Vasant not use the back door of the fort. It was better to use the tunnel to go out of the fort and look for targets. They could move some soldiers to the back gate for now.

"Hmm!! The tunnel eh? It is better, I guess. We cannot predict if the enemy is close to the gate!!" exclaimed Vasant.

Vasant thought about it while entering the old, desolate tunnel. The tunnel was used to escape during the fall of the fort.

The fort had never fallen to invasions so the Marathas never used the tunnel. Vasant was venturing through it for the first time in his life.

He looked at the moss growing all over the walls off the tunnel and large vines covered the ceiling It was like a small forest ecosystem inside the tunnel.

"Hmm, this seems to be hard to navigate," said Vasant, using his knife to cut the vines off.

The soldier stepped carefully on the ground, as it was wet and muddy.

"Commander, Do you think they would have found the tunnel?" The special unit leader asked.

"Yes, It is likely that they have found it! Do you think that Coward would do that if he didn't find an easier way to get into the fort?"

"What should we do then?"

"There is a junction in the tunnel. The battle just started a while ago. They won't reach that place before us. We will ambush them near the junction."

As the commander. He was given training on various fort's secrets in the kingdom. The pathway junction of the tunnel was one of them.

"This tunnel is huge," said one soldier.

"Right, we have been walking for a long time now."

"Keep quiet," ordered Zaid, walking carefully. "Where is the scout ahead? Don't me, he slipped."

Zaid walked forward, looking for the scout. He stumbled across a junction in the tunnel.

"Guys, there is a junction here."

The soldiers moved forward at Zaid's call.

"There are two pat—"

"Commander? What happened?" The soldiers asked as they moved forward to check. The light from their torches flickered and illuminated the lifeless body of Zaid lying with a dagger stuck in his throat.

"W-What?"

Marathas soldiers charged with their soldiers stabbing the soldier in the front.

"RUN AW—" The soldier was beheaded with a shift slash from Vasant before he could say anything.

The panicked Qutb soldiers, seeing their comrade fall like moth to the flame, began to run for their lives but the Maratha special unit wasn't the one to let them live.

They charged, aggressively killing every enemy in sight.

Meanwhile, Omar had been hoping to see the signal of Zaid's successful mission in the fort.

They were on the backfoot despite having superior numbers and tools to take out the fortifications.

The siege walls of the Qutbs were burnt by using oil pots.

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The cannons were unusable due to excessive heat. The numbers of the Qutb were dwindling at a rapid pace.

"Fuck!!" cursed Omar. "What is that bastard doing?" He muttered.

The battering ram barely dented the door of the fort as the shield wall was riddled with arrows from the gate.

The soldiers were desperately trying to break the gate.

A thunderous sound echoed through the battlefield as the gates of the fort flung open.

Omar looked confused.

'What the hell?' He thought.

The soldiers in the shield wall looked surprised at the gate opening.

Hundreds of cavalry charged through the gate into the battlefield, stabbing the surprised soldiers.

'That crazy bastard.' cursed Omar. 'What the hell is he doing.'

He saw Vasant leading the charge. Vasant had raised his spear in the air and Omar saw someone's head on it.

He squinted to get a better view.

It was Zaid's head raised on the spear.

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Omar felt terror as he witnessed the scene; his legs trembled and there was a lump in his throat.

"We are fucked." He muttered.

"RETREAT!!" He screamed.

But to his horror, hundreds of Maratha infantrymen emerged from the forest near the backline of the army.

Vasant used the tunnel to send the infantry to circle around and capture or kill Omar.

Omar screamed.

"You bastard."

The last thing he saw was a spear moving towards him at high velocity and his vision went blank.

The Battle of Nadiad ended with the overwhelming victory of the Marathas against the Qutb army.