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

DELHI FALLS
had a strategic advantage in thus besieging the town of
Delhi, because the Revolutionary army was shut up there
in one place. If that vast host had spread over the pro-
vince instead of being thus bottled up and had harassed
the English after forming small detachments everywhere,
this guerilla warfare would have soon reduced the small
English force to impotence. But Delhi being besieged, the
battlefield was restricted, the English force had not to put
up with an unbearable strain, and the Revolutionaries
were inconveniently huddled up together in one city and
thus were more liable to attack. In these circumstances,
to raise the siege of Delhi was to break the dam and let
the Revolutionary forces inundate the whole country.
Even if Delhi were captured, the Sepoys would no doubt
have spread all around. But there was a vast difference
between driving them out of Delhi, defeated and dejected,
and making them elated by raising the siege and allow-
ing them to fall upon the English. Though the English
commander thoroughly understood this difference, despair,
discouragement, and the fierce onslaughts of the Revolu-
tionaries made him think of raising the siege. At that
moment, the English power in India hung in the balance.
It was, indeed, fortunate for the English that there was,
at this time, a bold and desperately courageous officer
like Baird-Smith in the English camp outside Delhi. When
all other officers were thinking of a retreat, he said with
determination, “We must not release our hold of Delhi
even by an inch ! Our noose, fallen round her neck like
cruel death, must be constant and thorough ! If we raise
the siege of Delhi, the Panjab will be out of hand, India
will be gone, and the Empire ruined forever ! ”
Encouraged by the words of Baird-Smith, Brigadier Wil-
son determined not to turn back without taking Delhi.
The Revolutionaries, on the other hand, sustained the siege
with rare ability and courage. They would make a
sudden sortie, attack either the right or the left wing, kill
as many people as possible, and retreat quickly when the
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