The Battle for Boolah PassIbrahim Suleman led his band into a copse of trees overlooking the pass and immediately lit up his hookah. The hash clouded over his mind and soothed his old wounds and he watched confidently as his warriors put his plan into action.
Gul Hassani charged his faithful at the double up beyond the crest of the pass and attacked the Chagarzai squatting in the alcove, seeking respite from the cold in the high rocks overlooking the pass. The surprise attack and ferocity of the warriors was offset by the advantage of higher ground and the Chagarzai struck down a third of the faithful, driving them back down to the pass pinned.
Seeing this, Khan Walli who'd been following close behind directed his Allai warriors to fire on the britishers' dogs, killing a few of them and pinning them in the rocks.
Ibrahim continued to observe as his battle unfolded. Khan Walli pushed up the hill which bought time for Gul Hassani to rally his warriors only to watch a unit of Ghazis appear from the rocks and crash into them. The fighting was fierce between the two bands of warriors, tulwars slashed down, steel on steel, and steel through flesh, before the ghazis were driven back with minor losses to both units. Gul Hassani had held the pass, but then lost control of his warriors as they counter charged driving the ghazis back.
The Allai warriors fired into the Chagarzai on the heights and killed fully a third of the worthless curs, driving them down the mountain, then quickly consolidated the position occupying the heights above the pass.
Mohmad Saeed, his force nearly halved, routed from the pass. His only hope of salvaging his honor was to warn Shafqut Khan of a great attack at the pass.
Yaqub Hussain, though inexperienced, inspired his ghazis with flowery prose into forcing the heights to retake the high ground and attempt capturing the rifles; but were again repelled at a loss of a quarter of his warriors.
From the nullah to the south Bhal Famrah forced the pass killing Gul Hassani and his remaining warriors, Bhal, a hot blooded leader, fell leading the charge, a great tulwar cleaving his head from his body.
Khan Walli's Allai fired into the retreating ghazis killing more of them and driving them down the valley. Ibrahim Suleman, chagrined at the bothersome new threat, ordered his warriors to fire onto the Chargazai on the pass killing a good number of them and driving them back off of the pass.
Both of the Chagarzai bands rallied and turned again into the withering fire. Yaqub, so eager to prove himself, fell under the Allai fire. Remnants of Bhal's unit, stuck between Ibrahim's fire and the heights, charged against the Allai warriors and were driven back losing a full half of their number. Their resolve broken, they too ran from the carnage.
The Nandihar and Allai warriors had taken Boolah Pass. Ibrahim Suleman ordered his warriors to secure their positions overlooking the pass and to finish off any of the fallen or stragglers lurking Chagarzai dogs among the rocks. Taking another deep draw on his hookah he exalted praises on Mersey for shining down on the field of battle. "Just as I had planned."
25 April 2011, 08:17:58 PM
