१८५७ का स्वातन्त्र्य समर (वीर विनायक दामोदर सावरकर - अंग्रेजों द्वारा छपने से पूर्व प्रतिबन्धित महाग्रन्थ)

THE CONFLAGRATION
waiting in the fort fully prepared, the occasion for which
they were waiting arrived and the Revolutionaries besieg-
ed the place.
While these twenty-five Englishmen and fifty Sikhs were
trying to defend the fort obstinately, the Revolutionaries,
instead of assaulting it, were busy in shutting them com-
pletely on all sides. It is probable that they considered
the place almost in their hands and did not think it worth
while to spend time and men in capturing it by general
assault. They probably thought it more advantageous to
look after the surrounding territory and other English
camps. Partly for this and partly for the fierce artillery
of the besieged, the Sepoys brought up their guns and
began to use them instead of ordering a general assault.
In one or two places, mines were laid and blown up with
dynamite. In a few days, the water-supply in the fort was
exhausted. But the Sikhs were too valiant to bear to see
the miseries of the English. In twenty-four hours, they
dug a new well in the fort ! And, while this work was
going on, they were, at the same time, fighting like
demons. The Europeans would not agree to a conditional
surrender, thinking of the fate of their Cawnpore comrades.
When the Sepoys discovered that there were Sikhs, be-
sides Feringhis, fighting within the fort, they grew wild
with indignation. Because, then it was not alone the
Sepoys that were besieging the English but it was Kumar
Singh besieging the followers of Guru Govind Singh. The
Sikhs were extraordinarily brave but basely treacherous
to their country. Every evening, efforts were made to bring
them round to their duty. The messengers of the Revolu-
tionaries would stand behind pillars and shout out to
them words of advice : "O Sikhs ! What hell do you
look forward to by thus helping the Feringhis ! They who
have destroyed our kingdom, they who are violating our
Mother-country, they who have insulted our religion !
Fighting on their side, what hell do you look forward to ?"
The Revolutionaries would bind them with oaths of reli-
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