In the City of Gold and Silver by Kenize Mourad

Author:Kenize Mourad
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Europa
Published: 2014-09-21T16:00:00+00:00

20

At 9 A.M. on July 20th, a huge explosion startles Major Banks as he is sipping his morning tea. A cloud of dust rises near the batteries positioned to the west of the Residency: a mine has just exploded.

The clarions immediately sound the alarm. Led by their officers, the artillerists race to their positions, and the infantry moves in behind the trenches. From the direction of the town, a human tide advances towards them, the flags of Awadh flying at the centre, alongside the rajahs’ pennants. Their cries of “Har Har Mahadev!” celebrating Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, and “Allah hu Akbar!” rend the air as thousands of sepoys prepare to attack.

The mine, placed under cover of darkness, has just exploded near to the Redan Battery, the most important British cannon unit. It should have opened a breach in the rampart walls, large enough for the attackers to scramble through and take over the Residency. Just barely after impact, and through the thick smoke, the Indian infantry makes headway swiftly while the artillery discharges incendiary shells to set the Residency buildings on fire. However, as the soldiers approach, they are met with intense bombardment and rifle fire. They had badly miscalculated the actual location of the mine and so the undamaged British batteries can spew their deadly fire.

Spurred on by their leaders’ calls of “Chalo Bahadur!”69 the waves of insurgents continue to move forward under the hail of bullets. Although they fall by the hundreds, some manage to reach the palisades. Pressing against them, safe from the bullets and cannon fire, they catch their breath and then relaunch an attack. Appearing from all directions, they try to break through the ramparts, fighting a merciless hand-to-hand combat with swords and bayonets; they slip in the pools of blood on the ground covered with corpses.

Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah leads the attack on the Bailey Gate70 side. He has found an ingenuous defence tactic to protect his men from enemy fire: the soldiers advance, concealed behind bales of cotton, and before the British realise the ploy, the Indians reach the foot of the ramparts. Once there, spurred on by the maulvi brandishing the green flag of Islam, his troops separate into two groups that push forward, heedless of the gunfire, until they capture an enemy battery. In a panic, the British artillerists call for reinforcements, and a furious battle ensues. The Indians seem to have gained the upper hand, when suddenly, under the astonished gaze of the British, instead of pursuing their advantage, they begin to retreat.

It is later discovered that, at this crucial moment, the Indians found out their ammunition supply was exhausted. The maulvi will never forgive the high command for this negligence, which he suspects was deliberate. From that moment on, he decides to fight the occupying forces alone.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.