The Moghul

moved on to other tents and discovered several hundred more cannon. Some were the same gauge as those being deployed, others much larger. All had been fitted with harness, ready to be moved, but now they stood in long rows, waiting. As he moved onto another row of tents, pushing through the swarm of men and bullocks, he discovered a vast cache of smaller cannon, thousands, also mounted on wooden carriages but small enough to be moved by a bullock, or even two men. These too were harnessed and sat untouched.
    Beyond there were other rows of tents, where seven-foot-long muskets—together with powder, bags of shot, and a wooden prong to rest the barrel on when firing—were now being broken out and distributed to the infantry. The men were being armed, but the camp itself was practically without fortification.
    Hawksworth stood brooding about the preparations, about the Rajput horn bow he had only barely learned to use—he was finally able to hit the todah , practice target, a mound of earth piled near Jadar's officers' tent, but shooting under a shield seemed impossible—and the situation began to overwhelm him. Jadar's position was becoming more hopeless by the minute.
    He stared around the open camp and decided he would try to requisition as many matchlocks as possible, and perhaps also try to teach Shirin to shoot in the time remaining. If they had muskets, he told himself, perhaps they could somehow defend themselves when the Imperial army swept through the camp.
    He turned and pushed his way back toward where muskets were being issued. Men were walking past him carrying heavy matchlocks, five feet in length with a barrel of rolled steel welded together end to end. The barrel was attached to the stock by a broad steel band, and both were profusely ornamented with embossing and colored enamel. Some of the muskets had wooden tripods attached to the end of the barrel.
    As he approached the munitions tent, he saw Vasant Rao standing in its center, issuing orders with an easy smile, his moustache and turban as prim as though he were on muster. Behind him was a head-high pile of muskets, each wrapped in a roll of green broadcloth. Hawksworth stared at him for a moment, then pushed forward. Through the shouting mob he finally managed to catch the Rajput's arm and pull him toward the rear of the open tent.
    "Why aren't the cannon being deployed?"
    "But they are, Captain." Vasant Rao stroked his moustache and looked past Hawksworth's shoulder toward the next stack of matchlocks.
    "But only the medium-bore guns, and even those have no shot. Nothing else has been moved."
    "By medium bore I assume you mean the gau-kash , the ox-drawn cannon. That's true. But these things all take time."
    "You're spending what little time you have left deploying medium-bore cannon, and those with no shot! Who the hell is in charge?"
    "Prince Jadar, of course. The gau-kash cannon are the key to his strategy." Vasant Rao moved past Hawksworth and barked orders for the next stack of muskets to be unstrapped. Waiting infantrymen in ragged cloaks pushed forward. "Take a musket, Captain, if you want one. They're probably of some small use. When I'm finished here, I have to check all the harness on the fil-kash cannon, the large guns that will be drawn into position by elephants. Then I still have to issue the mardum-kash guns, the small cannon that are assigned to two-man teams."
    "Where will this other artillery be deployed?" Hawksworth shouted toward Vasant Rao's back.
    The Rajput seemed not to hear, as he paused to speak to one of the men assisting him. Then he turned and unwrapped a musket, selected a tripod, and passed both to Hawksworth. The other man was bringing a wide velvet belt from the back of the tent, and he handed it to Hawksworth. Hanging from it were a powder flask, bullet pouch, priming horn, match cord, and flint and steel. "The prince will issue orders for deployment of the fil-kash and mardum-kash guns after they've all been harnessed."
    "He'd better issue them soon. It'll start growing dark in a couple of hours, three at most."
    "I'm sure he's aware of the time, Captain." Vasant Rao turned and disappeared into a circle of bearded Rajputs, barking orders.
    Hawksworth watched him disappear, then turned and grabbed two more muskets. Holding them ahead of him like a prow he pushed his way back into the milling street. The air was rank with sweat and the crowds seemed more disorganized than ever. Women jostled in the streets,