Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

Mangalore, Vijayanagara Empire.

The death of Anand Jadhav sent waves of panic over the battlefield. One of their most senior commanders and leaders of the army was killed in an instant. The other commanders couldn't control the panicked army.

Adding to the chaos was the relentless, aggressive onslaught by the army in the backline. Killing hundreds of support troops and cavalry. War elephants fell one by one to a shower of arrows by the skilled archers targeting the mahouts.

Chaos ensued as Viswa took charge of Patwardhan's army, taking out everyone who stood before him. Everyone looked at Viswa as if he were a madman. He stood up on his horse and lunged at the enemy commander, impaling the gut of the enemy with his lance and knocking him to the ground.

He continued his command by taking control of the enemy's horse. The enemy and allies were aghast by his reckless actions. Even Raj Patwardhan looked pale after he saw the display of athleticism.

'That reckless brat' Raj cursed inwardly.

The last commander of Anand's army was killed by Viswa. The morale of the enemy went downhill from there, and most soldiers began to flee, scattering in different directions.

Gopala Sastri and Parvathy looked visibly shaken by the sudden entry of an unknown enemy. They weren't briefed by Nakul on this. Information about Patwardhan's movements was uncovered by Alfonso. But he didn't report it to Nakul, so it didn't reach the Gopala and Parvathy.

"REGROUP! MOVE SOUTH SOLDIERS!." Gopala commanded.

Parvathy, on the other hand, began to reinforce Gopala Sastri. A new army was created, with some of the remaining soldiers of Anand's army joining back.

A new front was created to deter the new enemy. This wasn't enough, as Asokan charged during the surprise entrance.

The clashes were relentless as bodies piled up on the Imperials side. The fresh energy of Patwardhans and the high morale army of Asokan were dwindling their already lower numbers as Anand's army was completely routed.

Parvathy looked at the mounting pressure by the Asokan and ordered.

"USE THE CANNONS!." She roared.

She waited. But no shells were launched, and no destruction was done. She turned around to spot the cannon crews.

Cannons were the trump card for their victory. But little did they know that Viswa had already accounted for their cannons in his plan. He had already sent in a squad beforehand to station itself close to the cannon crew.

When the panic settled in and the quick formation changes happened. Parvathy failed to account for the speed of moving the cannon carts. Culverins were less mobile cannons and during the decision to reinforce Gopala.

The crew that was trained to operate the cannons was taken out by the enemies, and they took control of the cannon fully.

Now the cannons were pointed at Parvathy's army.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Destruction echoed through the battlefield as shells landed on her army.

'How do they know how to operate the cannon's?' She thought.

Alfonso also knew the basics of operating a cannon, and he trained some rudimentary squad to handle it's operations, which came in handy.

"CAVALRY UNIT CHARGE AND TAKE BACK THE CANNONS."

The cavalry quickly began speeding towards the cannons seized by the enemy. The charge was cut short as units of infantry with shields bashed into the cavalry and trampled them, sending them to the afterlife.

Asokan anticipated the charge sent in his infantry units to protect the cannons against the charges. He also sent in some spare archers to protect against the remaining war elephants; thus, the failed cavalry charge resulted in more artillery shelling on the armies of Gopala and Parvathy.

The tides changed very quickly as the morale of their army was dropping every minute. The fresh legs and stamina of the enemies were taking a massive toll on them.

The battle raged. But their defeat was dawning on them slowly. The tides were completely in their favor. The cannons stopped after a few shots. But the damage was done as the Imperial army was completely demoralized by the cannon shots.

"YOU WENCH! HOW DARE YOU BETRAY THE PRINCE!!!" screamed Asokan as he charged at Parvathy.

She parried the slash with ease. Blocking several powerful swings bending her flexible body.

Parvathy clicked her tongue, deflecting a powerful stab at her gut by Asokan.

Her bodyguards stepped in to stop Asokan as she began retreating.

Parvathy looked at Gopala Sastri, who also knew that the battle was over. Defeat was evident. They had to flee.

Parvathy Nair and Gopala Nair fled the battlefield with a small entourage of soldiers as their army was routed and demoralized. Asokan was blocked off by the soldiers and couldn't chase down.

Alfonso, who emerged beside Asokan, stopped him from pursuing Parvathy any further.

"Calm down, Lord Asokan."

The battle of Mangalore ended within two days of the battle with the deaths of thousands of soldiers along with many commanders, the main highlight being Anand Jadhav's death and the fleeing of Parvathy Nair and Gopala Sastri from the battlefield.

After the battle. The celebrations were ongoing. But at the main tent.

"Why didn't we pursue them? Prince?"

"We don't want to get ambushed in the forest too."

Viswa entered the tent.

"What's going on here?. The battle is done anyway."

"But we haven't caught the traitor yet. We don't know what they will do to the prince."

"So you want to pursue them?." Viswa asked with an annoyed expression.

"They can't do anything to the prince. Nor will they reach the capital in time. The battle at the capital should be starting soon, and it takes a week to reach the capital from here."

"Wh-"

"Silence." Viswa said, pulling out his sword. "We have some surprises for them on the way; they will not reach the capital."

Asokan stared at the sword with some fear in his eyes.

"That said. You will be under surveillance till the battle in the capital ends!." Viswa stated bluntly.

Many people entered the tent dressed in black and inspected for weapons and armor.

Viswa smiled sarcastically, putting his sword back into the sheath.

"See you later, Lord Asokan. Have a great day! Hope you enjoy the rest!"