Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

The Shot from The Barbarian Killer Cannon was fired.

"Bang!"

The shot fired by the Bhutanese startled the Mughal artillerymen, as it landed perilously close to their cannons. With a collective sigh of relief, they realized that, fortunately, the shot had missed its mark.

Zulfikar, observing the near miss, grew visibly angrier and more impatient. "Bastards! I want everyone to move, go now!" he commanded with authority, ordering his troops forward.

"Bang!"

Although the next shot from the Barbarian killer cannon did strike the Mughal Empire’s artillery, successfully bringing down a single cannon, its impact soon became inconsequential. The vast sea of soldiers began to march forward, heedless of the infantrymen advancing ahead.

"What are they doing?" Langonpa exclaimed as he observed the infantry, who were advancing cautiously, being forcefully propelled forward by the swiftly marching army. He noted the soldiers’ expressions of reluctance and unwillingness as they moved.

"Oh, Buddha," Langalpa exclaimed, aghast at the Mughals’ willingness to sacrifice their own soldiers for a slightly swifter victory. "Have the infantry block the Mughals. Instruct the civilians to retreat to the capital," he commanded, his expression grave with concern for his people.

The governor had a complex expression on his face but still followed the orders.

A large number of armed soldiers bravely marched out of the Dzong fortress they quickly formed a defensive formation opposite the approaching Mughal army. But this looked like a useless effort as the Mughal army, which looked to devour anything in its path, did not care about the small two or three battalions’ worth of soldiers in front of them.

Although the front runners of the Mughal army were successively stabbed and killed without any way to fight back, the soldiers of Bhutan could not resist the human tide of the Mughal army; they were overwhelmed. But fortunately, for what it’s worth, they did buy enough time for the civilians to retreat.

Within half a day, Langonpa had led the retreating people to the capital. As soon as the news of his arrival spread throughout the capital, panic set in. Along with the arrival of His Excellency Druk Desi, the refugees also mentioned what happened in Thimphu.

Langonpa’s wife and daughter came forward and hugged him and his son in relief. Although they knew that they should not be relieved when their kingdom was about to be destroyed, they couldn’t help it. Langonpa’s and Jigme’s well-being occupied most of their thoughts.

Langonpa offered comforting words to his daughter and wife, but even he found little solace in them. He had not anticipated the swift movements of the Mughal Empire. Typically, at the onset of war, an enemy would take time to replenish their resources before advancing.

However, the Mughal army deviated from this norm, seizing whatever they could and advancing directly within hours of conquering the previous town. While this strategy inflicted significant casualties on the Mughals, it left the Bhutanese feeling suffocated and overwhelmed. They found themselves unable to properly utilize the human resources within the kingdom and mount a respectable counterattack.

Half a day passed in dreadful anticipation as they awaited the arrival of the enemy, and their fears were realized. Zulfikar and his army, now numbering 20,000 soldiers, marched towards Punakha Fortress. With only 2,000 soldiers available for recruitment, and many more unwilling to participate in what seemed like an impossible battle, the situation appeared dire.

The battle took a similar approach to what happened in Thimphu. But fortunately, this time the terrain came to their rescue again. Unlike the hilly terrain in Thimphu where human tactics were used to breach the fortress, the same tactic is not plausible here. In order to breach the fortress of Punakha, a confluence of two rivers should be crossed.

Zulfikar swiftly commanded for the cannons to be installed along the bank of River Mo Chhu. The 23 surviving cannons roared to life, unleashing their deadly payloads towards the fortress. In response, the Bhutanese defenders also unleashed their cannons from within the fortress, but their effectiveness was hampered by the increased distance across the river.

Only the five barbarian killer cannons stationed within the fortress could effectively target the enemy.

Zulfikar, keen to gauge the enemy’s cannon range, boldly positioned himself on the river bank outside the range of the cannon and the arrows, using his presence as a provocation. Unfortunately, what he could not notice was that the farther he went from the fortress, the narrower the river channel became. He was only 50 to 60 meters away from the opposit bank of the river.

Without realising his seemingly dangerous position, Zulfikar, with a casual wave of his hand, ordered the deployment of makeshift rafts. Suddenly, Mughal soldiers emerged with hundreds of rafts, fearlessly advancing towards the fortress despite the barrage of cannon fire.

Witnessing this sight stirred up unsettling memories for Langonpa, reminding him of the human sea tactics once again. He had thought that it would be impossible to use such tactics with a river protecting the fortress, but he was greatly mistaken by the ruthlessness of the Mughal general, adding to the tension of the moment.

Clutching his fist tightly, Langonpa couldn’t help but feel a surge of frustration and despair, realizing that the years of hard work he and his brother had devoted to the kingdom were now seemingly coming to an end.

But suddenly, something marvellous happened.

"Bang!"

A bellowing gunshot was heard on the opposite bank of the Pho Chhu River. The gun was aimed precisely at the place where Zulfikar was located. Zulfikar was taken aback and quickly tried to dodge, but it was unfortunate as the bullet was faster than his reflexes. It directly hit his sholder and crushed everything as it passed through.

Things suddenly turned around for the better, and the general of the Mughal Empire suddenly died just like that. The battlefield was suddenly silent.

Langonpa was taken aback and quickly looked at the opposite bank. Surprisingly, it was the Ahoms. They had arrived, and the person holding some sort of stick was none other than Lachit Borphukan, the great general of the Ahom kingdom. His eyes became wet with gratitude.

Within a few more minutes, to his delight, the tribes of Tibet also arrived. These people were wearing woollen ropes, woollen hats, leather boots, carrying spears, and curved blades. They looked very imposing.

The Mughal army, which suddenly lost a general, did not know what to do.

There was chaos in the ranks and people were panicking and speculating whether to retreat.

Everything looked like it would be going alright for the Bhutanese. But then it took a turn again. The captain of the scouts suddenly relayed information to the remaining leaders of the army: "Reinforcements are here."

The Mughal Army, which was seconds ago in chaos, suddenly became very orderly and quiet.

Feroze Jung, having concluded his campaign in Nepal, journeyed directly to the capital of Bhutan. His travels took him from Namchi at the border of Nepal, through the Dromo region of Bhutan (Yadong County of modern China), Paro Valley, and then onward to Thimphu, where he beheld the sight of the ruined fortress, much to his satisfaction.

With hopeful anticipation, he finally arrived at the capital, trusting that the missions had been accomplished.

However, as Feroze Jung observed the standoff between the three forces when he arrived at the capital, he couldn’t help but feel surprised. Learning of Zulfikar Khan’s death and the circumstances surrounding it, Feroze Jung couldn’t hide his disgust for the arrogant general. He harboured a disdain for individuals who ascended to positions of power solely through familial connections.

Initially, Feroze Jung was first hopeful of this Zulfikar because he had fought multiple battles in reality, but it looks like he was only a lucky bastard who fought wars against weak rebels. "Maybe his family thought the same about the Bhutan Kingdom too, and almost succeeded in ranking him up," Feroze thought.

But still, he couldn’t help but be saddened by the reckless use of the veterans by this useless bastard.

The Bhutanese, The Ahom and the Tibetans looked at the arrival of an army of no less than 30,000 people, and they couldn’t help but be apprehensive . They were unaware that they were facing an army of this scale. Lachit immediately made a decision and conveyed his opinion to the Tibetans and the Bhutanese, after which decisions were made immediately among their ranks. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Langonpa was quickly informed of their decision, and he was suggested to take refuge in Tibet. Langonpa, looking at his kingdom for perhaps the last time, sighed as he accepted the offer.

Looking at the retreating Bhutanese, Ahom and Tibetans, Feroze did not give chase. Although he was confident in defeating all three forces, he did not want unnecessary casualties for not much to gain.

The three forces quickly retreated, and the Mughal forces completely occupied Bhutan. The dome of the monastery fortress was destroyed and turned into an Arabic-style dome. It was transformed into a mosque to signify the victory of the Mughal Empire over the country of the kafirs.

It was 30th September 1655. Both the regions of Nepal and Bhutan came under the control of the Mughal Empire. Muhammad had finally gotten a foothold in the Himalayas. He could now finally explore the Tibetan plateau and see if he could expand the empire. Unfortunately, his wish would not be fulfilled as the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire suddenly declared war on his empire.

P.S. This arc took 2 days, Damn it, and I was hoping to finish it in 2 chapters. You know what? I will finish the Nepal arc in 1 chapter. Watch me.