Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

"ARGHHH!" cried out Venkat, seeing his son vanish into the enemy lines.

The battle was in the final stages. The corpses riddled the battlefield as the fatigue of the fight slowly settled. The swords of the infantry were slicing through heaps of enemy soldiers. The cavalry charges broke through the formations of the shield wall slowly.

Raghav was looking over the situation from the side. He sliced off the neck of a special unit soldier sent by Venkat to kill him. The war elephants of Shekhar's army were preparing for a charge on the right flank.

Anticipating the charge, Raghav blew his war horn and commanded.

"ARCHERS MOVE TO THE RIGHT."

Archers swiftly moved to the right of the shield wall as the war elephants charged at the tight knit flank of the shield wall.

The archers precisely targeted the masks of the war elephants. Although the Mahout were equipped with shields to deter the steel barrage of the ers, the arrows managed to find their way through the gaps of the shield, taking out a couple of Mahouts in a coordinated defense effort.

Although the infantry numbers on the right flank dwindled. The strategic formation taken by Raghav bolstered the defense. He moved around the middle of the formation to support the right.

Raghav looked over at his bodyguard.

"When are the reinforcements coming?"

"The scouts haven't reported any sightings, My Lord."

"What the hell! This is bad; we don't have numbers to take on another elephant charge from that army."

The attacks from Venkat were getting more aggressive as time passed. The mindless charge of the infantry and cavalry were dwindling the already low numbers.

Finally, amidst the chaotic situation, a cavalry unit managed to break through using the forest as a cover. They emerged close to the backline and killed many archers and infantry. A flank was finally broken, and Raghav had no choice but to back down into a full defensive position till the reinforcements arrived.

"RETREAT TO THE BACK." Commanded Raghav.

Venkat's army, emboldened by the success of the breakthrough, pushed through aggressively, slicing the necks off the retreating enemies. The bodies of the enemies were falling, and the cries of the wounded were echoing through.

The mangled flesh of the dead was trampled mercilessly. The blood coated the grass field.

"My Lord. The reinforcements are on the way. We have to hold on for some more time till they reach the battlefield."

"ASSUME TORTOISE FORMATION"

The tortoise formation was one of the best defensive positions; it could defend not only from the incoming arrow attacks but, at the same time, can also fend off the incoming charge of the infantry.

The cavalry were ordered to become the infantry. Several units of cavalry dismounted and picked up the fallen shields and began to bolster the defensive positions of the reddies.

Not all cavalry units dismounted. Few of the units and war elephants were still charged at the right opportunity, chipping away at the enemy numbers.

Venkat, who was visibly frustrated by the tight defense of the Raghav army, let out a frustrated cry.

"YOU BASTARD REDDY! HOW DARE YOU KILL MY SON!"

The tides of the battle had changed in his favor, although the defense was hard to penetrate due to the tortoise formation taken by Raghav.

"Kill the bastard!" Venkat muttered.

'How did they know we were coming? And why the hell is Raghav stalling time?'

Venkat started to doubt the situation. Their plans were definitely leaked, as the ambush was well setup and Raghav was well prepared to retaliate.

He looked at the army and saw the face of Raghav from afar, smirking menacingly at the battle as if waiting for something to happen.

Gears quickly shifted in the head of Venkat, trying to figure out the reason. That's when a scout of his came quickly with an urgent message huffing heavily.

"My Lord, another army is approaching."

"Huh?"

Venkat's worst thoughts came true as reinforcements poured into the battlefield. The commanders of the reinforcements charged into the shield wall, cleaved through the ranks of the infantry with ease, and slaughtered many soldiers.

The reinforcements had finally arrived for Raghav. The defensive army of Raghav quickly turned its gear to the offensive, taking charge and pushing his army back.

He realized he was betrayed badly by the Nayakas. The Nayakas probably knew about the information even before the battle had begun due to the high-level intelligence capability.

"Fuck. We are totally defeated."

The greed and ambition of Venkat were totally shattered as he saw his army getting decimated by the reinforcements. His mind went blank, forgetting to issue commands to his army. The disorganized army was barely holding on to the onslaught from both sides. Hundreds of soldiers were sliced and killed in the charges.

'I should have never trusted the Nayakas,' he muttered mindlessly.

Nayakas played him like a fiddle; they didn't say anything about the reinforcements to stab his family in the back for the throne race. He was a pawn for the Nayakas used and thrown out. Considering the patriarch's movements, Venkat was sure that he would sweep up the region of the Reddies later too.

The reinforcements were injured, which meant they were ambushed on the way. This was just a ploy.

Venkat's last scene was a soldier lunging at him with a sword. His vision went blurry. The head of the commander rolled over, covered in mud and blood.

A battle cry indicated the defeat of the Shekhar's.

The morale of the army went rock bottom as they began surrendering, throwing their weapons to the side. Corpses riddled the battlefield as vultures circled for a feast of the dead.

"WE WON!!" roared Raghav.

The battle of the Warangal had ended, lasting a day. The casualties were heavy on both sides. The commanders of the Shekhar family and their patriarch, along with his son, were among the many dead from the battle.