Upon the other hand the troops of the nabob, who had had no
experience, whatever, of the superior fighting powers of the
Europeans; and who had effected so easy a conquest at Calcutta,
flushed with victory, regarded their European foes with contempt, and
were preparing to annihilate them at a blow.
Manak Chand, the general commanding the nabob's forces, informed by
spies of the movements of the English troops, moved out with fifteen
hundred horses and two thousand foot. So worn out were the British
upon their arrival at the dried bed of the lake that, after detaching
a small body to occupy a village near the enemy's fort, from which
alone danger was expected; while another took up the post in some
jungles, by the side of the main road, the rest threw themselves down
to sleep. Some lay in the village, some in the shade of the bushes
along the sides of the hollow. Their arms were all piled in a heap,
sixty yards from the eastern bank. The two field pieces stood
deserted, on the north side of the village. Not a single sentry was
posted.
Manak Chand, knowing that, after marching all night, they would be
exhausted, now stole upon them, and surrounded the tank on three
sides.
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