A Slave who became Emperor 58 First day of the war

Zaffar sent a message to Pinaka stating that on the third day from the current day, they would march to the battle field.. according to the strategy made by Pinaka and team, it was important to draw the enemy into their ranks... Pinaka came to meet Samyukta, he said, 'come, there is an element of surprise ..which I intend to use in war.... ' and took her to a huge tent which was situated far off from the other soldiers, she went inside and got the shock of her life.. she said, 'are they trained? are they ready? ' Pinaka said, 'yes.. they will help us save the lives of so many soldiers.. ' she nodded..

Zaffar was with his generals, he said, 'this is important for me, for you.. for all of us .. we need to win this.. let the Shah's men fight in their style, but you need to be quick and decipher the strategy... they are disciplined soldiers, so they won't resort to dishonor.. they fight with honor, but we don't care for honor.. so let's just butcher them'..

The day of the war came, Zaffar's army marched out, Zaffar was leading his men, he had both cavalry and infantry.. his men dressed in black robes, covered in armour, were all set and ready.. Samyukta was leading the archers, all archers were assembled into the artha chandra (half moon) formation, Pinaka blew the holy conch signalling the start of the war, he was standing with the ranks of cavalry.. the unified army were dressed in gold and red and covered with armour..

Zaffar cried, 'death to Hindustan! ' while the army of Hindustan cried, 'Jai Bhavani! '(hail goddess of strength)

Samyukta cried, 'archers.. ready.. position.. ' the archers took out their arrows, she said, 'nook, ' everyone loaded their bows with arrows, she said, 'hold. ' they were ready... Zaffar marched his army forward, they approached, as they were at a distance of a kilometer, Samyukta cried, 'loose! ' a thousand arrows left the bows at a time, it felt as if the sky was raining arrows.. Zaffar's general cried, 'shields.. ' and their soldiers took their shields out, many soldiers were hit..some men fell off their horses... almost a hundred soldiers were injured..Samyukta again said, 'nook.. loose.. ' this time Zaffar's men were ready, they kept themselves covered with shields..there were only twenty people who were injured... again for the third time Samyukta said, 'nook.. loose.. ' as the arrows left the bows, she cried, 'back.. now! ' all the archers moved to the back.. they took their positions on the high platforms built for them and kept raining the arrows, Samyukta too joined the other archers and started showering her arrows on the enemy soldiers, one of her arrows struck Zaffar's general right in his heart.. he fell from his horse on the spot and died.. she kept raining arrows.. and made more Zaffar's men fall..

The enemies came, they reached a particular distance and stopped.. they saw that the opposition has not adapted any strategy.. there were rows of soldiers on horses, waiting for them.. Zaffar cried, 'attack.. kill! ' all Zaffar's men moved towards them.. as they came in, the soldiers of unified army present on the front took out shields and spears.. Pinaka cried.. 'engage! ' the army moved out and met Zaffar's army..the horses ran forward neighing and charging towards the enemy..their spears injured many of the enemy soldiers killing them, some of the enemies were forcefully dismounted off their horses and trampled by the horses coughing out blood.. they died..

Zaffar took out his sword he was a fierce warrior..he killed every enemy he faced.. almost twenty men met their death in his hands..as they were engaged in the war, they didn't know that forty rows of Pinaka's cavalry already moved away, they split into two segments of twenty rows each and started coming towards Zaffar and his men from left and right.. a general noticed this and shouted, 'trident formation.. retreat.. ' few hundred soldiers were trapped within the trident formation, but many of Zaffar's men managed to retreat out of the formation.. the trapped men were slaughtered.. Pinaka seemed to be everywhere, his excellent swordsmanship was evident, Zaffar studied him intently.. General Rudra Verma,Prince Deepak,Prince Surya were fighting with stupendous skill..,

once the trapped men were slaughtered, the unified army retreated and stood back.. Pinaka cried.. 'retreat.. make way.. ' Zaffar looked at a general and said, 'make way? for what? ' the general shrugged..

From the gaps in the posts of the unified army, they heard a high pitched cry.. it was an elephant trumpeting.... through the gaps came huge war elephants.. they ran berserk towards the ranks of Zaffar's army.... there were mahouts controlling them and making them head towards the enemy.. earth shook under the trample of elephants..

Zaffar and his men remained stunned..they shook like dry leaves.. war elephants.. oh God.. this was their doomsday.. Zaffar cried, 'fall back.. to the barracks.. retreat..! ' as they were turning around, almost twenty elephants entered their ranks and started trampling the foot soldiers.. almost two hundred of Zaffar's infantry died in the stampede..

This was a huge loss for Zaffar... on the first day itself he lost so many men.. he was furious with himself for underestimating his enemy..

Chapter end