Later Mughals v1.c9.s18.4

v1.c9.s18.4

Thus far the garrison of Sadhaura had made a very stout defence. They had so contrived that they could be ready to continue their fire, even while they were cooking or eating, and the men on duty were protected from both the heat and the rain. The cannon balls, even when they hit the fort, made no impression on the walls. When Zain-ud-din Ahmad Khan had brought his trenches within forty or fifty yards of the fort walls, he formed a battery, placed a large gun in position, and commenced to fire. Although the fire was ineffectual, the garrison, out of mere bravado and to show their valour, resolved to remove this cannon in such a way that no one should hear a sound or know how they had done it. Opposite the position of the cannon, they dug a long passage, leaving only a foot or two of earth at the outer end. The oxen and ropes used in dragging their carts were held in readiness. It was the rainy season. One night it had been raining heavily from an early hour in the evening, and of the besiegers not one cared to put his head outside of his tent. Owing to the sound of the pouring rain, it was impossible to hear anything else, and it was so dark that nothing could be seen. At midnight the Sikhs broke through the remaining wall of earth, and ranged yokes of oxen, one before the other, in the underground passage. Then some of them crossed the fort ditch, in which the water was rushing down with great force, and reached the besiegers' earthen battery where they tied their ropes firmly to the gun-carriage.