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Rh took off part of her dress and threw it among them, saying, "This is your dress. Remain at home; I will go and fight." The resolve to get them destroyed was known to them, but such was the stern democratic discipline of their army councils, such their devotion to their warlike faith, that determination even now animated every man. They fiercely reproached her and her courtiers. Addressing the Maharaja, they said, "We will go and die for you, your kingdom, and the Khalsaji"; but to the others who had incited them to war and now taunted them with their folly in hoping to vanquish the conquerors of Hindostan, "We will leave you to answer to your God and your Guru, while we, deserted and betrayed as we are, will do what we can to preserve the independence of our country."

From this time on the Sikhs fought with doom against them. They now made a further effort upon the Upper Sutlej, which they crossed with 15,000 men and 67 guns