Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

Chapter 175: Massacre of Jalgaon [1]

In the city of Jalgoan in the Qutb Sultanate. Some soldiers were patrolling their perimeter as usual. The soldier numbers were lower than usual due to the war effort against the Marathas.

The soldiers were patrolling on horseback, clad in leather armor and a sword hung on their waist. Jalgaon held a small garrison of soldiers in the city to ensure that the region wouldn't have a rebellion, as the garrison was responsible for suppressing the rebels.

The people living in the city were given a strict curfew due to a chance of rebellion. The sultanate's exploitative tax regime, coupled with it's abuse of the populace, created many rebel groups.

The rebels were easily suppressed by small garrisons placed in various cities due to them being under-equipped farmers and people that didn't know how to fight.

Recently, the rebels have become more organized and began to plan their moves to disrupt the activities of the soldiers.

There were 29 incidents in the past month along. This included the burning of warehouses of nobles that hoarded luxury items. Assassination of local nobles, large-scale theft of grains from warehouses.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to locate rebels.

The current war effort was the best chance for the rebels to strike and take over regions in the Sultanate.

Two patrolmen were riding their horses along the entrance wall of the city of Jalgaon.

"I want to end my shift and go home," sighed a patrol soldier, holding his torch.

"We can't do that and get fired," sighed the other soldiers.

"Ahhh! I wish I co-..."

Before he could complete his sentence, a dagger struck right in his throat. It threw him off the horse before the other could process anything.

A arrow whistled through the air and pierced his chest.

Before the man could make a sound, a cloaked figure dropped from the walls and stabbed the man right in the throat.

Both of them died without a sound. Continue your journey on m|v-l'e -NovelBin.net

The cloaked figure looked at the archer walking towards the corpses.

"Mukesh, well done." He said.

"What about Nishant?" Mukesh asked while wiping the blood off his dagger.

"He took out the 4 soldiers on the other end of the wall." The archer said with a smirk.

Mukesh nodded and did a whistle.

Two other men emerged. "Clean this up quickly. We don't have time." He ordered.

Then turning to the archer. "Let's move on with our plan. Let's go."

Mukesh and the archer went to meet with Nishant's group.

"Hey brother, should we move in right now?" He asked, waving at Nishant from a distance.

They came closer and Nishant pulled his ear.

"Don't scream like that. Do you want to inform the other soldiers." He scolded Mukesh.

"So what's the plan?" asked Mukesh, rubbing his ear.

"We wait for orders from that man." He pointed at a man in a mask standing on the wall, looking down into the city.

"Him!!"

Mukesh quickly went silent at the sight of the man.

Nishant told him the man was assigned by the person that was funding them. Mukesh could sense the cold gaze of the man. He met the man when he was assigned as the supervisor to the group.

He didn't speak much apart from giving orders to do their job in a proper and calculated way.

The man was a member of the Yamaduts who was assigned to the rebel group of Kashyap to ensure that the rebellion went well.

The man wore a mask and black clothes. Mukesh could barely even sense the presence of the man. He always moved so silently and covertly.

He turned to Nishant. "Can you ask him when we can move?"

"No way? I don't even want to go near that guy!!" Nishant complained in a low voice.

"You guys are restless," a voice said, standing close to him.

The man that was standing on the wall was right in their faces.

Mukesh fell down with a surprised expression and Nishant almost pulled out his sword at the sudden voice.

The man looked at both of them.

"The shift of the slain soldiers should be over soon. We will be moving when the new group of patrol soldiers takes over. Take some rest; I need you guys in top condition."

Nishant instinctively saluted like a soldier at the cold command of the man. "Understood." He dragged Mukesh along with him to rest in the forest cover.

"I should go meet that Kashyap guy." He sighed and climbed up the wall.

He was surveying the area to check the efficient way to take over.

'That area is less guarded than the others. Hmmm!. The Northern entrance is mostly filled with small stalls and has fewer patrols as well.'  He thought as he jumped to the other side.

He walked through the desolate streets to a small house in the city close to the northern entrance.

Kashyap was nervously waiting for his arrival. He had a bloodied spear in his hand and a metal plaque covered with blood.

Kashyap jolted as he saw him enter the room but quickly composed himself.

"Here! I have done as you said."

He inspected the metal plaque. "This is good. How did you find him?"

"The man always wandered around this area after drinking heavily." He began. "I took advantage of this habit and grabbed him into an alleyway and killed him."

"Good job. You seem to learn fast." He complimented Kashyap.

"Now that the vice captain of the garrison is dead. You can leave to call your men. We will begin our offensive at the start of the next patrol shift." He added.

Kashyap nodded.

"I will give you the signal after we take care of the patrol soldiers around the walls."

"Ok, where should I station my men?" Kashyap asked.

"Three units on the northern entrance and two units on the north eastern wall."

"Understood," he nodded.

"Don't move without my signal."

Kashyap looked worried. "What will be the signal?"

"A firework would be the signal. The moment you see the fireworks. You can assume everything is in place and move to take over the garrison."

"Alright."