Editing Third Battle of Panipat (section)

=== Afghans cross Yamuna and the Battles of Samalkha and Meerut ===

Ahmed Shah and his allies on 17 October 1760, broke up from [[Shahdara district|Shahdara]], marching south. Taking a calculated risk, Abdali plunged into the river, followed by his bodyguards and troops. Between 23 and 25 October they were able to cross at [[Baghpat]](a small town about 24 miles up the river), unopposed by the Marathas who were still preoccupied with the sacking of Kunjpura and visit to nearby [[Kurukshetra]]; an important Hindu pilgrimage destination.<ref name="tss" />

After the Marathas failed to prevent Abdali's forces from crossing the Yamuna River, they set up defensive works in the ground near [[Panipat]], thereby blocking his access back to Afghanistan, just as Abdali's forces blocked theirs to the south. However, on the afternoon of 26 October, Ahmad Shah's advance guard reached [[Samalkha]], about halfway between [[Sonepat]] and Panipat, where they encountered the vanguard of the Marathas. A fierce skirmish ensued, in which the Afghans lost 1000 men but drove the Marathas back to their main body, which kept retreating slowly for several days. This led to the partial encirclement of the Maratha army. In skirmishes that followed, [[Govind Pant Bundele]], with 10,000 light cavalry who weren't formally trained soldiers, was on a foraging mission with about 500 men. They were surprised by an Afghan force near [[Meerut]], and in the ensuing fight, Bundele was killed. This was followed by the loss of a contingent of 2,000 Maratha soldiers who had left [[Delhi]] to deliver money and rations to [[Panipat]]. This completed the encirclement, as Ahmad Shah had cut off the Maratha army's supply lines.<ref name = "csp">{{Cite book|title= An Account Of The Last Battle of Panipat |last1= Pundit|first1= Casi Raja|author-link1= |translator-last1= Brown|translator-first1= James| editor-last1 = Rawlinson| editor-first1 = Hugh George |url= https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.6002/ |publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1926 |isbn= 9789385509544 }}</ref>

With supplies and stores dwindling, tensions started rising in the Maratha camp. Initially the Marathas had moved in almost 150 pieces of modern long-range, French-made artillery. With a range of several kilometres, these guns were some of the best of the time. The Marathas' plan was to lure the Afghan army to confront them while they had close artillery support.<ref name = "csp"/>