The Sun and the Lion

After confirming that he had no worries, Ibrahim led the Safavid army to continue marching eastward from Lahore. The forward troops led by Ismail did not encounter any decent resistance. Ibrahim who followed behind had been receiving his younger brother. The ransom was extorted.

The smooth march made everyone in the army quite optimistic. Fortunately, no one was dazzled by this and became slack. Everyone in the camp performed their mission with great enthusiasm, and every soldier you met in the camp was actively talking about the glory to be gained by conquering Hindustan.

It was not until Sirhind that Ismail encountered a truly worthy enemy. These Delhi troops defended complete city fortifications, but the forward troops were not equipped with artillery.

This is the origin of the Lodi dynasty. The father of Sikandar Khan was the governor of Sirhind appointed by the previous dynasty, and he seized the power of the Sultan from here.

Sikandar Khan ordered the large forces to assemble in Agra and at the same time detach his troops to go west to detect the progress and combat power of the invaders. This cavalry force with thousands of people arrived in Sirhind City a few days ago. And cautiously released scouts to explore the situation.

Ismail, who was marching quickly, was discovered by these scouts and reported to Mansur, the commander of this partial division.

You mean this cavalry is smaller than our army, but it looks very elite? Mansour thought while stroking his beard, and repeatedly asked the scouts for information about this enemy army.

Yes, General. The scout lowered his head and replied.

Not finding the enemy's main force made Mansur hesitate. He was not sure whether the forward was out of touch with the main force, so he had to send this important information back to Agra first.

But be conservative and shrink all the troops within the city walls. He may be labeled as cowardly by his political opponents and attacked. His relationship with the Sultan is average. He was appointed as the forward because of his outstanding performance in the war against the Rajputs. .

General, what should we do now? Several deputy generals asked, urging Mansour to make a decision as soon as possible. Finally, the emir decided to take the initiative and try to fight.

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Your Highness, the scouts have detected that enemies are gathering outside the city. They may have noticed the presence of our troops.

After receiving the news, Ismail immediately went to check with his soldiers and scouts, and found that the Delhi army that was leaving the city was about to assemble and was planning to kill the Safavid army.

The troops in Mansour's hands are mainly composed of feudal cavalry provided by the Iqta fief. These well-trained and well-equipped warriors are mainly Afghans, Turks, Tajiks and other foreign Muslim immigrants. In addition to the feudal cavalry, the Sultan also gave him a lot of irregular cavalry, as well as another half of the infantry that he despised.

Mirza quickly gathered his troops and prepared to move forward to engage the enemy.

The cavalry archers were at the forefront of the Safavid army. The arrows could not cause effective damage to the Delhi cavalry, which was wearing excellent armor. Seeing that they could not stop the enemy's assault, these red heads took advantage of the situation and retreated, moving to the two wings to leave a passage for friendly forces. .

Ismail personally led the charge forward, followed by the other red heads. In terms of equipment and quantity, the Delhi cavalry galloping on the plains at this time had no obvious advantage. The two sides fighting each other were competing for courage and fighting skills. For the red heads with fanatical beliefs, the will to fight was the most indispensable.

Just as Ismail was fighting the regular cavalry under Mansour, the red heads who had retreated to the wings could not continue to use arrows to shoot at the enemy's flanks because the irregular cavalry in the Delhi army came up at this time, trying to They must detour to the flank of the Safavid army and collide with them.

Javelins and arrows flew from far and near, and the retaliatory arrows also flew away fiercely. The two sides reached a stalemate in maneuvering and shooting. Fortunately, these light cavalry saw that they could not seize the advantage for a while, so they took the initiative Exit the battle, retreat back, and continue to observe the battle situation and wait for opportunities.

Taking advantage of the victory, the red heads took the initiative to pursue these tribal cavalry, and used swords and arrows to knock many of them off their horses, breaking up their already scattered organization and unsteady fighting will. The red heads did not pursue them until they reached the main group Delhi The infantry retreated after a long distance.

These trash! Mansour was anxious at this time. He had already noticed the problem of the disconnection between the cavalry and the infantry, but his own light cavalry, which could previously entangle the enemy's cavalry on both wings, chose to retreat at this time, allowing all the enemy cavalry to The most elite warriors under his command were besieged from all sides.

Go, take your personal guards to stop those who retreat without authorization, and rush them back to the battlefield. After ordering the lieutenants to gather the light cavalry, he asked Shuyuanｗww.zhaoshuyuan.com Mansur to urge the infantry to advance quickly. Hopefully, reinforcements can be put on the battlefield as soon as possible.

However, Mansoor was still a little slower. Ismail's assault was unmatched. Those who were brave and outstanding were all beheaded by him. The morale of the Delhi cavalry was greatly reduced. They were panicking in the fight with the red head. Unsurprisingly, he fell into a disadvantage.

In addition, the red heads on both wings had just repelled the unreliable tribal cavalry and were able to turn around and shoot the Delhi cavalry in the back. The armor-piercing arrows pierced the chainmail of these warriors from the back. The back attack from the side and rear was The final straw for these Delhi cavalrymen.

Seeing that the cavalry was besieged and collapsed by the enemy, Mansour had no choice but to order a retreat into the city. He asked his deputy general to lead the light cavalry that had just gathered and returned to the battlefield to attack the Safavid army with projectile weapons. He concluded that the Safavid army was at this time. The army should be exhausted by now, and such a disturbance should prevent the enemy from pursuing.

However, these light cavalry could not hold out for long. Ismail directly continued to attack and fight these irregular troops. Once they were caught in the fight, these almost unarmored horsemen almost lost all combat effectiveness and courage and immediately collapsed.

Mansour had no choice but to order the infantry to stand firm and gather up the scattered cavalry, hoping to gain a chance. However, the collapse of the battle was like dominoes, unless the Safavid army took the initiative to make a major mistake that could make the enemy overturn. Otherwise, he would be unable to remedy the current disadvantage.

Seeing that the enemy's cavalry had basically withdrawn from the battlefield, Ismail concentrated on dealing with the infantry who were still forced to stay on the field. He made a single charge and dug into the enemy's formation along the gap opened by the arrows. These forcibly recruited infantrymen dispersed after a symbolic and survival-based resistance.

Upon seeing this, Mansoor and other Delhi officers knew that the defeat was irreversible, so they retreated eastward with the gathered cavalry, not even able to defend the city.