25. The Breach

On the night of the eleventh day of the battle, a shell fell on a fully-grown elephant which was tethered at the front entrance. It singed his back. Some shells hit the menagerie, which housed some exotic birds, mynas, peacocks, other animals. The poor beasts cried out and cried out: all of them perished. It was a  disaster.

On the morning of the 12th day,  the English army had its men stack up countless piles of water-soaked hay against the southern city-wall. Using them as stairs, thousands of  English troops climbed the wall. Those guarding the southern side panicked, and fled. English now had no obstruction.

The Queen heard this, and descended from the fort at the head of a force of a thousand-and-half long-serving Muslim/Arab soldiers. Soon, they came face to face with the English.

A hand-to-hand battle broke out, blades flashed. The only right simile would be Mahabharatian war. The English lost heart, and ran off eastwards. They entered some houses, and started shooting at the Queen's Muslim force. The Muslims had no means of returning the fire. An old general, a septuagenarian, went to the Queen and said to her holding her hand: Your highness, if you were to advance, a bullet will kill you. There is no glory in dying a whore's death. The English are sheltering behind house walls. Let's return to the fort and lock ourselves in,  let the God then guide us on future course of action.