The next day after a brief court session was over, after rechecking the supplies and souvenirs, I walked towards the royal carriage.
I took a moment and stood silently in front of the carriage, thinking and reassuring myself about my future success in the east.
Suddenly I felt warmth enclosing the palm of my hand, I closed my eyes in relief and breathed freely as a smirk appeared on my face.
Soon the melodious and enchanting voice of my Rani rang through my ears.
“Please be safe out there!!!
If you feel something is off or uncanny, return at once.
I don’t want you to risk your life for the sake of just defeating these lowly British.
Don’t you dare go on sacrificing yourself.
I wish you all the best for your success in the east.” As she finished speaking, I nodded with a smile and waited for the right moment and when no one was watching, I caught her by hand and pulled her closer, “Don’t you go on getting all emotional on me, my dear.
I assure you I will never disappoint you.
This person, standing here in front of you, still has so much left to show to these British.
I am not going to die in just a measly persuasion.” Her eyes looked away, her cheeks flushed, she said pouting, “you better stand by your words.” I laughed and hugged her dearly.
As I sat in the carriage and started to drive away, I noticed that Begum Hazrat Mahal was missing, my mind wondered where she could have been, but then instantly focused my brain on the strategy and vulnerabilities of the east.
Late that day when the court was held, Rani looked a bit worried.
All the ministers also talked about whether the expedition would be successful or not.
As all were lost in thought, Begum Hazrat Mahal’s arrival was announced.
When she entered the royal court, she was well dressed and the fragrance of her oudh perfumed the entire courtroom.
Rani and all other ministers were left confused.
Rani, unable to comprehend the reason behind her special attire, asked her if today was something special in Awadh.
She came in front of her attendants and explained, “As we all know that our guardian always gives his very best to keep the alliance together, in fact he is the very reason the allied kingdoms sleep peacefully at night.”
All the leaders and people of the courtroom unanimously agreed.
“But I still don’t understand what does it have to do with your attire?”, Rani asked, confused.
Begum announced, “Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, we have a huge debt of Guardian on ourselves, his sleepless nights, his efforts in modernising the land are praisable and commendable.
I, begum Hazrat Mahal of Awadh, as his sister-in-arms declare that I will lead an expedition in the north in order to consolidate more allies and strengthen the alliance.
I am from Awadh and I am very well aware that there are still many powerful kingdoms which could be a potential threat to alliance if they were to align with the British.
Therefore I plan to reach out to the north and northwestern kingdoms to solidify the northern frontier of the alliance.
I also will depart today to carry out this task and ease the burden on my brother in arms.” Rani and everyone else was shocked by her decision, but at the same time, they were very impressed.
In the whole alliance none matched the wit and charisma of Begum Hazrat Mahal.
With her going to the north, it would be a piece of cake.
All the ministers unanimously agreed.
As the court break was held, Begum secretly moved towards Rani, who was still worried about me and still shocked over her decision.
“Awwwww!!!!!
The guardian has just left and Rani instantly starts daydreaming about him.
I wish I could have such a caring lover.
Listen, Lakshmibai!
I don’t want you to tell this to the Guardian yet.
It will be the best surprise for him.”, Begum said, with a mischievous smile on her face.
Rani shook her head, tired of the week’s amusements.
“Fine, fine!!!
Both you, brother and sister are alike.
God only knows how you two come up with these ideas.”
Begum chuckled as she walked towards her carriage and escort ready to move towards the Northern mountains.
After a few days of a long, tiring carriage journey, I, with my allies, stopped in the land of Bihar.
At that time Bihar was not integrated as a modern Bihar but was mostly the part of Bengal Presidency under the British.
The fact that the main headquarters of the constituency were located in Bengal and were quite far away from Patna made the planning and meetings much easier.
At nightfall all the regiments entered Bihar stealthy.
I had already prepared some silencers which proved to be a boon in moving the heavy vehicles faster and easily without much problem.
I silently made contact with Kunwar Singh, an elderly landlord who was said to be the head of driving forces in Bihar.
He listened to me attentively and was surprised how agreeable and likeminded our brains were.
He offered his own home to me as refuge from the British.
There we all changed our uniforms and attires with simple peasant clothes.
I told him that I had come from the Jhansi Awadh alliance to help with the revolt and better the conditions of the peasants and the locals.
His eyes lit up, “So you are the famous Sahab about whom I have heard so much !
I am quite grateful that you came this far to help us gain freedom from these ‘Firangis’.
Please guide us with your knowledge.” I held him with my hands, “I assure you within a few days your people will see the bright and free sunshine within a few days.
Soon he called for a late-night meeting, all the villagers gathered at his house and were surprised to see us.
I told them I was from Jhansi and wanted to help them in their war against the British.
I managed to convince most of them but a few, although they didn’t believe me, they also wanted freedom from this oppressive British regime, so they decided to keep mum.
I decided on a schedule for their covert training.
They were introduced to newer Bolt-action rifles.
Luckily I had brought surplus ammunition.
I divided the gathered people into groups of eight to ten such that if anyone was captured, they would only know their own small cell and assigned a commander and instructor to each of them.
I told the commanders that it was their responsibility to train these people and make them skilled assassins.
The commander also nodded in acceptance.
They were told about the forests and caves which were seldom visited by the British or were inaccessible to them.
Those would be the perfect training ground for the people.
They were to train after midnight and pre-dawn.
Soon after the discussion their training began.
They were taught basic handling of rifles, fitting and use of silencers, breathing control with the help of unloaded rifles.
I specifically ordered the instructors to make them practice “dry firing” i.e., firing without any ammo.
The training usually took place deep in the forest or inside closed rooms.
I popularised the use of suppressed bolt- action rifles.
Their specialization lay in silent and quiet but lethal shots.
They were perfect for ambush or assasination.
The volunteers practiced daily but slowly, there were only five to ten rounds assigned to a person to keep the suspicions of sustained gunfire at bay. You are reading on novelping dot com, the official source.
Usually I staged fake or materialistic festivals and celebrations to cover the sounds from training sessions.
I supervised their practice sessions in order to keep eyes on anti- alliance activities if any and also to keep the track of developments in Bengal.
I had stationed various scout parties near the villages, they acted as call birds and kept a close eye on the routes of Bengal in case there was any sort of military movement from Bengal.
They were taught the use of walkie- talkie for coordination between cells.
I had planned escape routes for every training site.
I assigned my squad leaders to “adivasi” areas of Jharkhand.
The secret updates continued to come in through walkie- talkies.
Due to continuous introduction of modern techniques and weaponry the training of people of Jharkhand was going on smoothly.
After months of continuous and rigorous training and supervision, I could really see a crystal clear difference in their personalities and their techniques.
Their personalities had become more refined and serious.
Their focus and precision had become razor sharp and they had developed their tactical judgement to the very best state.
They had also practiced the taught assasination techniques to perfection.
The crowds of simple, and non judgemental villagers had become precise, methodical, apex and voracious assassins.
I called them “shadow cells” or Nishachar Dal.
Now was the time to put their months of hard work to test.
A British supply convoy moving from Dinapur to Bengal was selected as “lab rat” for the experiment.
After discussion, a narrow stretch of road twenty to thirty miles southeast of Dinapur was selected as a target route.
The nearby dense forest made for a perfect escape in case the mission failed or as a rendezvous point after mission completion.
A few nights before the scheduled movement of the British convoy, the team leaders dispatched their drones as surveillance cameras on the route.
They were deliberately small so as not to make the British suspect anything.
They mapped entire routes along which the British supplies moved .
The drone scout teams made regular appearances so that it will seem normal to the people.
My men told people that they were new kinds of birds which flew in from somewhere in order to avoid local suspicion.
I sent many of my spies along with some villagers, disguised as farmers or travellers, to confirm timing and any additional escorts.
The observation teams kept eye on the caravans as hawks.
They identified several breakthroughs and vulnerabilities in the British caravans.
The rear carts were less guarded.
At last the fateful day came, the night was pitch black, the moon hidden behind thick clouds, an ideal day for the Nishachara Dal.
I lay prone on a small ridge overlooking the Grand Trunk Road, my suppressed bolt action rifle steady.
Through the walkie talkie, the scout’s whisper came.
Scout:
“Convoy in sight.
Twelve carts, twenty guards, two British officers at the front.
Moving slow toward Bengal.”
I clicked the radio twice; the signal to begin.
My two Shadow Cells moved like smoke.
Four men silently flanked the rear while I led the frontal team through the tall grass.
The suppressed weapons made our approach almost ghostly.
As the lead cart creaked into the kill zone, I gave the hand signal.
Phut… Phut… Phut…
Three muffled shots dropped the rear sepoys before they could raise the alarm.
The British officer at the front spun around, shouting, but before any sound came from him, my second man put a clean suppressed round through his chest.
Panic spread in the darkness.
“Down!
Weapons down!” I hissed in Hindi, my voice low but commanding.
One team covered the surviving guards, they were terrified, the British officers fell before their eyes completely unknown to them why?
The others moved fast.
We looted three carts, crates of Enfield ammunition, barrels of rice and salt, British uniforms, and a small iron box of coins.
We took what we could carry and set fire to the rest, denying the supplies to the enemy.
After losing their commanders, the British escort was thrown into a complete disarray, making it easy and simple to dismantle their weapons
One young sepoy, trembling, looked up at me.
Sepoy:
“Who!
who are you?”
I leaned close, my face hidden in the darkness.
Me:
“We are the night that watches the British.
Tell your officers the shadows in Bihar are waking.
But tonight, you saw only dacoits.”
We vanished into the forest within minutes, using the pre-planned escape routes along the riverbank.
By the time the alarm reached Dinapur at dawn, we were already dispersed, distributing the looted food to sympathetic villages and hiding the weapons in secret caches.
The first major convoy raid was a clean success.
The British would think it was bandits.
We knew better the League had just drawn its first real blood in the East.
In Kullu region, Begum’s escort finally came to a halt.
Soon in the court of Raja Pratap Singh, a messenger arrived.
“There is a woman covered in jewels and costly woollen attire.
She claims herself to be Begum Hazar Mahal from Awadh.
She also says that she has come here under the flag of alliance.
If you grant permission, My Majesty, I could call her in for you.
The Raja nodded and said, ” I have heard of a strong and capable queen and a leader from Awadh.
I wonder who this lady here is?!!
Soon Begum Hazrat Mahal was called in, and she entered the royal court of Raja Pratap Singh in Kullu .
The environment was freezing cold.The grand darbar hall fell into a heavy silence as Begum Hazrat Mahal stood before the throne of Raja.
The air carried the scent of sandalwood incense and mountain pine.
Nobles and military commanders watched her closely, their expressions a mix of curiosity and guarded skepticism.
Begum did not bow low like a petitioner.
She stood with quiet regal poise, dressed in a deep maroon saree edged with gold, carrying herself as an equal ruler who had already faced the British and refused to break.
She began speaking in a clear, resonant voice that commanded attention without raising volume.
Begum Hazrat Mahal:
“Raja Pratap Singh, warriors of the Kullu court, I stand before you not as a beggar from the plains, but as a sister who has tasted the same poison that now threatens your mountains.
Awadh has bled.
Jhansi has bled.
Rajputana stands ready.
The British speak of protection, yet they bleed your passes, tax your people, and demand your sons for their wars across the sea.
I ask you plainly; how long will you wait for the blade that is already at your throat?”
She paused, letting her words settle, then continued with masterful calm, addressing their deepest fears while offering dignity and strength.
Begum:
“I know the concerns that weigh on your hearts.
You fear losing your independence.
You fear becoming another pawn in someone else’s game.
But hear me clearly, the League we are building does not seek to rule Kullu.
We seek partners who stand tall beside us.
Join us, and your passes remain yours.
Your honour remains untouched.
In return, we offer what the British never will: open trade through the new Road of Fire that will bring prosperity to your valleys, modern weapons to defend your borders, and medicine that will heal your wounded instead of leaving them to die in silence.”
Her eyes swept across the assembled nobles, reading their faces, adjusting her tone with perfect precision.
Begum:
“You are warriors of the mountains.
You value courage and loyalty above all.
I offer you a chance to prove both.
Stand with Awadh, Jhansi, and Rajputana today, and when the British come knocking with their treaties and their threats, they will find not a divided land, but a united wall of steel and honour.
I have seen what happens when rulers wait too long, their thrones become prisons, their people become slaves.
Do not let that fate touch Kullu.”
She stepped forward slightly and lowered her voice just enough to make every ear strain to listen.
Begum:
“I do not ask for submission.
I ask for alliance between equals.
Give me your hand today, and together we will ensure that the North remains free not just for this generation, but for all who come after.
The choice is yours, Maharaja.
Will Kullu stand alone and risk being swallowed, or will it stand with us and become one of the pillars of a free Hindustan?”
A long, tense silence filled the hall.
Raja Pratap Singh studied her carefully.
Then, slowly, he rose from his throne.
Raja Pratap Singh:
“Your words carry the weight of truth, Begum Sahiba.
Awadh has proven its courage.
We have seen how the British treat those who trust them.
Kullu will not make that mistake.”
He extended his hand.
Raja:
“We accept your pact.
Mutual defence, open trade, and honour as equals.
Let the Road of Fire reach our valleys, and let our passes remain closed to the British.”
Begum Hazrat Mahal smiled not in triumph, but in quiet satisfaction.
She took his hand with grace.
Begum:
“You have chosen wisely, Raja Sahaab.
History will remember this day as the moment the North began to awaken.”
As she stepped back, the nobles began to murmur in approval.
In a single audience, she had turned cautious skepticism into firm commitment.
The preliminary pact with Kullu and Himachal was sealed.
Soon, the reports of successful liberations of areas of Patna reached Jhansi.
Rani was overjoyed.
She said she knew I would succeed without much problem.
I ended the call early as I had to plan for other eastern regions.
As Rani got up to attend the royal meeting.
Her radio once again cracked to life.
“This is Begum Hazrat Mahal, the first day of talks with the Himachal was great.
I successfully persuaded them to join the alliance and they have agreed.
How are things on my Brother’s side?
Is he doing ok?”
Rani assured her and explained to her the first success of our eastern campaign.
Both of them sighed in relief.
Begum jokingly teasing Rani, said, “If Guardian accelerates his plan in the east, I also will not stay behind, when he returns he will be only talking about me.
Just wait and watch Rani Sahiba!” Rani chuckled lightly and teasing Begum back she said, “Oh is that so!!!
We will wait and watch.”