Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

Chapter 74: Battle of Mahishapura [2]

Govinda's army was faltering under the relentless assault of Keshav's army. Initially, Govinda held off the barrage of arrows with his close-knit formations of infantry, fending off cavalry charges.

As the battle raged on, Govinda employed a swift maneuver. As he saw their war elephants approaching, he decided to use his war elephants to charge at the other side.

He managed to breakthrough for a few minutes and do considerable damage, but it was quelled easily by Keshav with a change in formations, targeting the mahouts and taking down the war elephants by switching his own war elephants to the other side.

Govinda later made another breakthrough with a cavalry charge, which was also quickly suppressed by Keshav. Meanwhile, Keshav's precise tactical cavalry charges onto his infantry were chipping off the numbers, coupled with the barrage of arrows, doing a lot of the damage and forcing him to back off under pressure.

Govinda's personal bodyguard gaze shifted from the surroundings to his master.

"Lord, they have broken through the flank."

Govinda's formation was a mess now, as Keshav had finally made a breakthrough on the flank, decapitating his infantry's formation and splitting them into two.

"Go and tell Karan and Rahul to start the plan."

The bodyguard left swiftly to relay the message to the commanders of the army. Minutes passed as the army was demoralized by the breakdown of the formation.

A shout pierced through the battlefield.

"SOLDIERS REGROUP AND RETREAT TO THE FOREST."

It was an inevitable situation, as their formation broke apart. They began to retreat into the small strip of forest behind them. Keshav's army, still mounting pressure, began to follow them into the forest to rout them overwhelmedly.

The army of Keshav Pillai, with renewed energy, followed them under the command of Keshav. Govinda's army regrouped in the strip of forest and kept retreating deeper as they clashed with the enemies.

Retreating into the forest allowed the army to get a foothold as the enemies couldn't do charges and maintain close-knit formations like in the open field.

Special units sprung into the fray as they began retreating deeper into the forest. The special units were adept at forest warfare; the special units wrath was quickly suppressed by the counter by Govinda's own forest unit.

Commander Karan sliced off the neck of an incoming enemy cavalry and pierced another's chest with his sword.

"STAY IN FORMATION, SOLDIERS, AND KEEP BACKING UP," said his voice, cutting through the air.

Although demoralized, the soldiers kept their cool and stayed in formations, backing off slowly deeper into the forest.

Keshav, who was on cloud nine at the scene of a desperate retreat by Govinda, looked at them with an amused smirk.

"Look at these worms; they are retreating like cowards in front of us."

His bodyguard beside him nodded and agreed.

"They never stood a chance to Lord's experienced warfare."

Letting out a hearty laugh, he patted the shoulder of his bodyguard.

"We still have to take Govinda's head. Keep the charge."

The numbers in Govinda's army kept dwindling against the relentless assault. The retreat was also not doing them any favor, as they were still being chipped off little by little by the archers.

Commander Karan came to Govinda to report.

"Lord, all the preparations are done. Should we start up the plan?"

"Yes." Govinda looked forward to the execution of his plan. It was his first major battle he has led personally.

"Soldiers, TURN TO THE RIGHT AND KEEP RETREATING."

The army's position quickly shifted sharply to the right. The sharp turn puzzled the attackers; the soldiers quickly fell back into positions and kept retreating.

"What's happening?" asked Keshav with a curious look. "Why are they retreating that way?"

"It seems to be a desperate tactic. My lord, should we keep up the charge?"

"Yes, keep it up. Youngsters these days don't know anything about warfare."

'Some of their troops are missing? Is it just my imagination?' Keshav thought, but dismissed it quickly. Keshav clearly underestimated Govinda, as he was just an inexperienced boy with milk teeth in front of him.

The army retreated into a narrow passage that was just at the exit of the forest. The forest covered the passage very well, as it was nestled just outside the exit, so the enemy wouldn't see it until they reached very close to the exit.

Govinda, along with his army, retreated into the narrow passage. The pathway was narrow, so the smaller numbers could get into better formations quicker as the larger army had to accommodate more numbers into the small path.

Keshav army poured into the narrow passage. He looked over the pass and noticed no one.

"Charge," he ordered his soldiers.

Keshav charged into the passway to eliminate the rest of the army of Govinda Rao. His pride had made him blind to the openness of the trap laid by Govinda. The ego and pride he held made him underestimate Govinda, and the result of his actions was clear.

In front of him were infantry lined up in neat formation. With their backs towards the dead end, Keshav's previous intuition of the missing soldiers turned out to be right, as above the passage were hundreds of archers stationed aiming at his army.

To Keshav's horrors, his worst nightmare had come true when he turned back to the entrance of the path.

He found it was blocked by another line of infantry with linked-up shields and pikes. Govinda had anticipated his superiority and hid an extra unit close to passage to block them off from both sides.

Keshav Pillai was completely trapped. His arrogance and ego led to his own downfall. The sense of superiority he held was shattered before his eyes, like glass. His mind went numb, his eyes trembling at the sight of Govinda's face set in a wry grin.

His shoulders slumped, and the sword in his hands clattered to the ground. The grim sight of the infantry moving in to box them together and the barrage of steel shot by the archers was the last sight in his life.