The Great War of Hind by Vaibhav Anand

Author:Vaibhav Anand [Anand, Vaibhav]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mobilism
Publisher: Srishti Publishers & Distributors
Published: 2015-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

It was around the time of sunset on the eighty-first moonrise of battle, when one of the sentries on duty at the watch tower of the south gate saw a band of what seemed like twenty men approach. They seemed leaderless and wore the detail of the Snipera battalion. From a distance, they looked haggard and unkempt, their uniforms tattered and caked in mud.

The sentry rang the giant bell atop the south gate to alert his fellow soldiers of the approaching men. Within a few breaths, archers had taken their stances atop the parapet and the on-duty kaptaan of the sentry regiment – a burly man called Rajeev – had been raised to take stock of the situation. Unsure of the identity of the approaching men, Rajeev ordered for his archers to fire warning shots to bring the approaching men to a halt.

A succession of arrows thudded into the ground before the band of men and one of them amongst the fore of the group, raised a hand in an apparent command that halted the progress of the group. This man got off his horse, took off his helmet and began to shout something for the benefit of the men atop the ramparts, waving his arms frantically.

Rajeev and his sentries listened intently but could hardly hear a word – the band of men having been halted a hundred horselengths from the fort walls. After conferring with a few of his men, Rajeev decided to let the leader of the group, the man who currently stood shouting inaudibly, approach the gate and be let in. He asked for one of his archers to fire an arrow with a note containing instructions scribbled in Hindustani for the man to follow.

Inside the Dehleez fort, a reception party of fifty men on horses was raised to receive the man before the south gate to the Dehleez fort was opened. Taking ample precaution, even though the men appeared to be their own from a distance, a small band of scouts escorted the leader of the men inside the fort, under the protective gaze of archers atop the fort ramparts. To their relief, the band of men in tattered Ayodhi uniforms got down from their horses and sat down harmlessly on the ground – most of them looking dejected and tired.

Before climbing down the ramparts to meet the visitor, Rajeev sent a runner along to Janak with the message that a lost band of the Snipera seemed to have made its way home. He then made his way down the fortifications, having ordered his archers on the ramparts to stay alert and watchful all through.

As he reached the side of the man, the evening had almost completely dissolved into night. Rajeev regarded the man’s face by the nascent moonlight and realized that he looked familiar.

“Sanjeev?” Rajeev said, the man’s features finding footing in his memory.

The man smiled and nodded. Rajeev could see that there were tears in his eyes. “We…we have been cut off since the

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