BXBX NOVEL Chapter 97: Treachery of Mangalore [3]
Parvathi donned her specially made armor. She took a look at Asokan waving at her from the other flank and smiled.
She ordered her commanders to set up the defensive line as they marched. This morning Asokan had asked some of the cannons to be positioned to his side as well.
Some of the crew and cannons were transferred to the side of Asokan.
The army morale was high from the destruction of their enemies yesterday. The cannons were doing a good job. Battlefield was about to witness something deadly today.
The day had finally dawned upon Parvathi to take off her mask. She looked at the imperial army approaching from a distance.
'Asokan. Your death will mark the new era of our master's.'
Parvathi was a traitor.
It all began on the fateful day, when she had taken the lives of her father and brother in the succession race, or so was the rumor. This was far from the truth. She never took the lives of her brother and father.
She still recalled the day. Master was standing in the rain, and the heads of her father and brother were rolling on the stone courtyard. Blood mixed with water was getting washed into the drain.
Parvathi came to kill her father and brother. But she was too late; someone took her moment. She fought against the intruder and lost pathetically.
Grabbing her by the neck, the intruder said.
"You are strong! Be my pawn! Make sure no woman goes through what your mother went through."
Parvathi struggled under their grip but managed to croak out a response.
She wanted revenge for the honor killing of her mother by her father and brother. Despite this, she was powerless. She wanted to change the world that looked down on women based on their gender.
Her eyes turned red from not being able to breathe.
"I will do-"
That was how she ended up in the Cochin faction under the order of her master. Recently, another command came after a long time.
She was supposed to return to the capital as soon as possible to assist Master. Determined to go through with the plan.
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
The cannon shell destruction began as explosions thundered across the battlefield. Parvathi flank was not getting the bulk of the soldiers. As they were flocking on to the side of Asokan, that was the prime target of the battle.
Asokan, despite being the youngest on the battlefield, contributed significantly to the faction. He was smart enough to think quickly and act when he was at an advantage. His loyalty to the prince was unshakeable.
If he reached the capital, their plans were doomed. Bhairava already had a huge army and many cannons. More soldiers would be adding even more burden on the Master.
On the other flank. Asokan was watching his flank getting flooded with enemy troops as they chipped away at the numbers. The cannons helped a bit in the start, but they went unusable after a while due to the heat.
Asokan, being observant, picked up some cues. The other flank was barely swarmed by soldiers. Their movements were slightly off. Parvathi's movements were unusual, as her eyes were scanning towards his side, looking for an opening.
He had noticed that the cannons, which fired 20 to 30 shots before they needed to cool off, were only firing 10 shots on his flank. Something was going amiss.
"So it was true," he muttered.
He called his bodyguard close.
"Yes, my Lord."
"Go and do as we planned. I confirmed it."
The bodyguard went off quickly, whispering to some men on the backline. They quickly set out, breaking out from the backline, and took a detour into the forest.
Anand and Gopala were mounting up pressure on Asokan, immensely breaking through his defense and dwindling up his numbers.
"So, Lord Gopala. The plan has started, I suppose," asked Anand Jadhav.
"HAHAHA, yes. Let's kill that eyesore," replied Gopala Sastri.
Cannons stopped abruptly, and the imperial army broke through the frontline of the army, separating Parvathi Nair from Asokan. The encirclement had begun as Parvathi Nair gave way for the Imperial army to launch an encirclement attack as she moved her army towards the only escape route of Asokan's army.
Panic fell upon the army of Asokan as the soldiers realized that the support from the Parvathi waned and Imperial's army began encircling them and launching barrages of arrows and charges, breaking their shield walls.
Asokan Nair looked visibly angry as he stared down at Parvathi Nair's smirking in the distance. She had betrayed him. The most infuriating thing for Asokan was that she had betrayed the prince.
"That wench," he muttered.
"SOLDIERS TAKE DEFENSIVE POSITIONS!! SWITCH TO TORTOISE FORMATION!" he screamed on top of his lungs.
The panic-ridden soldiers calmed down as their leader was still alive and ready to fight for them. Asokan was well respected by his army. He was known to be selfless by his soldiers. He considered the soldiers to be part of his family. This made the soldiers trust in him very high compared to the other nobles.
"WE SHALL NOT BOW TO THESE SCUM! WE WILL NOT SURRENDER!!"
"HIT AND KILL"
"HIT AND KILL"
"HIT AND KILL"
The soldiers' war cries bellowed. The earth trembled as Asokan army morale went from rock bottom to new highs as adrenaline took over the soldiers. The infantry and cavalry charged, slicing apart the imperial ranks.
But this wasn't enough; he was outnumbered by a lot. Three armies were on him. He finally dropped the banner he held on to for so long. Betrayal was evident.
"Is he surrendering?" Smirked Anand, looking from the distance.
Little did the imperial army know. The banner was a signal to someone else.
The earth was trembling. The trees were shaking. The sky thundered with battle cries of soldiers and horses. Tens of thousands of soldiers poured into the battlefield near the backline of Anand Jadhav's army.
Viswa, leading the army of Patwardhans, had entered the battle.