23. Catcher of Shells

On the fifth day of the battle, British artillery shut down a gun on the western face of the fort. Their shells demolished the gun-platform too. It was necessary to rebuild it.  After the midnight, some masons were brought.  One of them lay down flat on the tower, so as not to be sighted by British gunners. A human assembly line was formed from the foot of the tower, to pass bricks, etc, up. They rebuilt the platform and put the gun back. This gun started shelling the enemy's position, and shut down two English guns.

The English barrage upon the fort peaked on the seventh day.  They targeted Shankar Fort at day-break.  The English have binoculars, one can see the whole fort through them, and whereabouts of men working inside. They cost a couple of thousand rupees, or more. Through one such binocular, the enemy saw that there was only one source of water in the fort. They started shelling it. Four Brahmin water-carriers died. There was a gun-powder factory inside the fort, at Tamarind ground. A shell fell there, and the gunpowder caught fire. There was smoke everywhere, even in the palace down below. Nothing could be seen. When the smoke cleared, it was found that some thirty men and seven-eight women had died of burns. Another forty were injured.

There was no water for bath in the fort that day. Queen's gunners then swung the guns to aim at British position, and shut down a couple of enemy's guns. Thus, reverses and triumphs continued.

The battle became too intense on the eighth day. At night, it was as if the skies had opened up; enemy's guns spewed red balls of fire over the city. People left the houses to save themselves.  On the morrow, the Queen was verily worried. Jhansi forces needed help from outside badly, Raosaheb Peshwa's troops were yet to arrive.

She consulted Dhekre, the priest, and Pandit Upasni, and had a hundred Brahmins perform anushthan at  Ganesh temple , so that Raosaheb may reach quickly.  While the anushthan  went on, the Queen dozed off awhile at night. In her dream, she saw a beautiful married woman, fair, with a straight nose and broad forehead, bejeweled, wearing a red sari and white silk blouse, standing on the ramparts. She was catching the shells with bare hands. While at it, she spoke to the Queen, showing her hands which were blackened by ash, "But for me, who would catch these shells?"