New Delhi
The Indian government had been hit with a series of crises, one after the other. Netaji was still in Moscow and his absence from India had encouraged the detractors to move forward with their plans. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Maharaja Yadvinder Singh were running things while Netaji was gone but the ferocity and quickness with which the bad news was coming had thrown their entire administration into a policy paralysis. When Netaji arrived back in India what he learned could only be described as 'rebellion on all fronts'.
Hyderabad and Kashmir had seceded from the Indian Union. Both of them had jointly declared war on the Union but Hyderabad had gone a step ahead. The teenage monarch had declared himself the new Mughal Emperor and announced the resurrection of the Mughal Empire. The Nizam had about 20,000 of British-trained non-mechanised state forces. This was bolstered by over 2,00,000
Razakars, the Holy Army of Jihad. These forces were armed with medieval weaponry and were completely ill-trained. The Nizam was acutely aware of this and was trying hard to acquire weapons for them. He succeeded to some extent but it was very difficult to train that unruly bunch.
Kashmir, on the other hand had a professional fighting force of about 10,000. Similar to Hyderabad, there was an unruly militia of about 1,00,000. However Kashmir was facing problems even before it could get its rebellion underway. The Muslim majority of the kingdom loathed their Hindu king. The Maharaja had as a compromise appointed Sheikh Abdullah as the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and had made him the commander of the military forces. Maharaja Karan Singh had been made into a puppet ruler.
Another thing that shocked Netaji was Muhammad Ali Jinnah's resignation from the cabinet. Jinnah had fled to Hyderabad and made a radio address asking all Muslim League supporters to rise up and take 'Direct Action' against "everyone who opposes Pakistan" which was a euphemism to incite communal hatred towards non-muslims. The teenage Nizam had appointed Jinnah as his Prime Minister. Jinnah now styled himself as the Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire.
The Muslim League members who had begrudgingly joined the congress were now rioting all across India. Since no orders had been received from the top, the police was not taking any action against what was perceived to be rioting congressmen.
Netaji, even though he was angered by what was happening, loved a good crisis. Habib was surprised to see the spring in his step. He had grown rather bored and was looking forward to the upcoming fight.
War suited him.
General Prem Kumar Sehgal was given the command of the southern theatre and was tasked with attacking Hyderabad before the state forces could move out. He was given 50,000 mechanised infantry for this along with air support.
General Shahnawaz Khan was given the northern command and 30,000 troops.
Lastly, Netaji announced a state of emergency declaring martial law all over the country and issued orders to arrest all rioters. Officially, lethal force was not authorised and the police were ordered to stick to water cannons and
Lathi charges but tacitly the officers were actually encouraged to shoot at rioters and kill them.
Jinnah had betrayed Netaji's trust and undermined his government.
This time, Netaji decided that, the Muslim League and its members needed to be fully exterminated.
Heinrich Himmler and his cronies were recalled from Burma.
Lahore
Shaukat Malik sat across from Langlands while pretending to read a book. Langlands slept in his blissful ignorance. He had no idea who Shaukat was and still considered him a completely random Sikh. Shaukat mistakenly took Langland for Mountbatten and decided to call in the army once he reached Peshawar and from there escort Mountbatten to Delhi. He had no idea about the fall of Peshawar.
Peshawar was being occupied by about 80 British renegades but had already gotten out, it had just not reached the Indian government.
Langlands was hoping to get Mountbatten safely to Peshawar and somehow fly him to safety to the departing British garrison in Tehran. None of his men knew how to fly an airplane and he hoped that Mountbatten did.
While both Langlands and Malik sat idle, the Indian spies were patrolling the train and came across Langlands' men multiple times, both groups being unaware of each other's identities. One of Langland's men got up to go to the washroom and when the train suddenly shook, he bumped into one of Shaukat's men. He proceeded after saying his apologies but what he did not realise is that he dropped his knife. The knife was completely unlike that carried by Sikh men. Instead, it was a British army standard issue knife. The spy was bewildered about a Nihang carrying such a sophisticated piece of weaponry. Perhaps he stole it off a British soldier. Regardless he thought to inform Shaukat.
Suddenly, two men grabbed him and gagged him. One slashed his neck and the other threw him out of the moving train and simply walked away. The two men proceeded to grab the swords out of their trunks and hand them to their own comrades to slay all the Indian spies they had made. There were about 20 of them, including Shaukat. The train was going through an isolated tunnel and Langland's men took the Indians to task. Seven of them were thrown head first out of the train. Five of them had their necks slashed. They stabbed another six while the remaining two got into a brawl and managed to alert Shaukat before being shot. Shaukat took out his pistol and put it at Langlands' head. Langlands' men converged on the both of them and as Shaukat looked at them coming Langlands kicked the pistol out of his hand and tried to get away. Shaukat caught hold of his arm and smashed the middle part against the fixed metal rod next to the seat, breaking his arm in two. He then began to twist Langlands' hand and aimed his sword at his men. As he broke his hand, one of Langlands' men shot Shaukat in the leg. The hulking brute fell and the Britishers cuffed him.
Suddenly, Shaukat's remaining men surrounded them with their submachine guns. They pulled the train's chain and stopped it just outside the tunnel. They thought they had the Brits licked. As they moved in to restrain them suddenly they heard jeeps pulling around the train and armed men swarming inside. They were wearing Indian Army uniforms and just when the Indians felt relieved due to their reinforcements, they were shot at and all of Shaukat's remaining men fell. Then they sprayed the passengers full of bullets, killing all of them.
Shaukat was tied up and Langlands' men threw him into one of the jeeps. Mountbatten took off his disguise and sat in the same jeep. They were still about 20 kilometres out of Peshawar and the jeeps slowly moved towards the city.
Geoffrey Langlands had succeeded in his mission. He had secured Lord Mountbatten and was now transporting him to Peshawar along with his men. Plus, he had captured an Indian spy, who seemed to be their leader but he was unsure.
"How's that bullet wound, boy ?"
"Fine and dandy, soldier. How's that arm ?"
"You are strong I'll give you that. But strength does not compensate for brains. Your men should not have pulled that chain."
"What should they have done then ?"
"Kept it going, of course. You could have redirected back to Lahore and captured us all."
"I'll do that in, Peshawar."
"He is right about that, Lieutenant."
"What he and you don't know, My Lord, is that Peshawar lies in British hands. He cannot do shit to us there."
"They still control the Afghan border don't they ? How will we get out of India ?"
"We have a plane in Peshawar, sir. We'll use that."
"Do you have pilot with you ?"
"No sir. I was hoping you'd know how to fly it."
"Well, I am sorry to say Lieutenant that we are shit out of luck on that one. I am afraid I cannot fly."
"HAHAHAHA--
Langland's landed a blow to Malik's face
"Shut up, boy. What the hell do you mean, sir ? None of my boys and I know how to fly. We don't have another way of getting you out."
Shaukat sensed an opportunity.
"Listen to me, Saheb.
"I told you to shut up.''
Another blow to his face.
"Come on let him speak. The ride is boring enough as it is."
"Right. I can help you if you let me live. I know how to fly a plane."
"Indians flying planes. How amusing. Do you take us for a bunch of fools ?"
"I am your only option. And I don't see an alternative in the middle of this fucking desert."
"He is right, Geoffrey. He is our best bet."
"I am not sure about this, sir but very well he can fly us."
"I am going to need some help. I need a cloth to wrap my bullet wound and you need to uncuff me."
"Oh, forget about it."
"Fine, go ahead and wrap a cloth around it yourself."
As Langlands began to bandage the wound, Shaukat decided to make his move. He had the strength of a gorilla and had not been much affected by his wound. He managed to break the handcuffs and pulled Langlands' pistol from him and put it at Mountbatten's head. Their car was the last out of the three and other cars could not see what was going on.
"Be quiet. You shout and I blow off your lord's head."
"Alright alright I'll shut up don't shoot."
"Now, move into the driver's seat, Lieutenant. You get back here, driver."
As they switched seats, Malik slit the driver's neck and changed into his uniform. He threw the body out of the car.
"Alright, Langlands' keep driving behind them like its business as usual. Now where's this plane ?"
"We did not have an airstrip so we parked it outside the old fort. It has a clearing which we felt would be long enough for the take off."
"Keep driving. Get us straight to the plane. No detours. You nod when I command you. Any other reaction and I kill Lord Mountbatten."
Langlands nodded.
The Nizam's army parading in Hyderabad
Jihadist fighters of Kashmir, under the employ of Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir