Now that I've scolded you enough, moai spammer, here is an extra-long update.
On the Back of an Elephant, Part 3: Raipur
Illachiyaventhan was resting with his injured arm, and had been sleeping for the past several hours, when Kaavalan entered.
"Illachiyaventhan, wake up. General Inniyavan has requested all of our presence for a meeting," announced Kaavalan.
"Wha-what? Okay, I'll be there in a minute," responded Illachiyaventhan sleepily.
"As you know, a week ago, we successfully took this city, and we successfully defended it from a counterattack. Our military is severely weakened. We have lost one whole unit of Swordsmen, and our remaining unit is too weakened and needed to defend the city. Therefore, the capture of Raipur rests in the hands and tusks of our Imperial Elephants!" announced the general.
"What?" exclaimed Kaavalan and Oliveanthan at the same time.
There was mixed response to this. Many soldiers were cheering at the chance for renewed battle, including Nerivaanthan. However, some had grave expressions, because they knew that the strength of the unit had been severely weakened. Illachiyaventhan, Kaavalan, and Oliveanthan all had doubts about the success of the attack for various reasons.
"Furthermore, in order to catch the Mauryan generals off guard, we will begin marching against the city today! The march will take roughly a week. So, rest up and get ready to march onwards for the glory of the empire!" he concluded.
A few days later, the army was on the march. There was quite a bit of tension between the four members of the squad, as a lot of traveling with the same group of people every does. The particular conversation topic that the group kept coming back to was whether this attack was worthwhile. While Nerivaanthan and Kaavalan took their typical stances or being for and against the attack, respectively, Oliveanthan was very much against the attack and was very vocal about it, unlike his usually quiet nature.
"I respect the general and all, but this attack seems extremely risky. We are down a quarter of our unit and our espionage tells us that while Raipur has no wall, it is defended with a full unit of Axemen!" complained Oliveanthan.
"I think he's good. We get lots of attacking, lots of fighting, not a lot of waiting, and lots of plunder," responded Nerivaanthan.
"Wait, you said that there are no walls in Raipur? We never were told anything about that. Just out of curiosity, how did you know that?" asked Illachiyaventhan.
"Erm... uh... I've been there once or twice," responded Oliveanthan.
Illachiyaventhan realized that he had just made a major slip of the tongue. He knew that Nerivaanthan would completely hound Oliveanthan for that, and while Illachiyaventhan suspected that Oliveanthan wasn't telling everything he knew, he felt pretty sure that Oliveanthan wasn't a spy.
"Probably more than once or twice! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he turns out to be a spy! It's obvious! First, he acts very quiet and inconspicuous for a very long time, and then starts complaining when we get near the city where his true emperor, Asoka, is personally defending the city! I should turn you in, but I don't have completely sufficient evidence!" exclaimed Nerivaanthan.
Oliveanthan gulped. Illachiyaventhan could tell that the accusations had unnerved Oliveanthan a lot more than was visible.
"That's where you're wrong, Nerivaanthan. A true spy would be very vocal in support of the war and appear to be firmly on that side. Then, because of that, he would gain more respect among his superiors and get promoted until the final stab in the back. We all know someone who is acting like this, and I have heard rumors from officers about your promotion. Do you have anything to say about that?" explained Kaavalan.
"And how would a pacifist boy like you know this?" asked Nerivaanthan.
"Through the fact that even a 'boy' can understand common logic," retaliated Kaavalan.
"Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Everyone here is loyal to the empire! Besides, we are at Raipur right now," yelled Illachiyaventhan.
As it turned out, Raipur was in front of them. They had been one of the last groups to arrive, and the rest of the unit was camped right there. The squad dismounted and rested for a while, until a meeting was called. As usual, General Inniyavan was there, about to start the meeting.
"Greetings! We are planning on attacking as quickly as possible, and as a result, we are attacking this very evening! However, notice one thing behind me that puts the odds in our favor; there are no walls!" the general announced, to much applause. "Furthermore," the general continued, "some of you may have heard that the Maurya emperor, Asoka, is defending the city in person with the Axemen garrison. This is true. However, our glorious emperor, Rajendra Chola, has devised a stratagem to take the city. Not only will he explain it to you right now, but he himself will lead the first charge in battle!" This news was met with much cheering from nearly everyone, until the emperor entered. All bowed down in silence at his approach.
"Stand up, stand up! We can't conduct a meeting like this! Anyway, the stratagem involves attacking on three different sides to demoralize the enemy, surround them, and make it appear that we have more soldiers than we actually have. The first charge will be led by me and appear to be the full army. However, a few minutes in, once the real fighting has begun, another group will charge in from one side and make it look like another army is doing a flanking maneuver. General Inniyavan will lead that group. Then, a significant amount of time later, or if the enemy gets a second wind or one group falters, the third group will crash down from another side. That will conjure the illusion of another army of reinforcements coming in on the enemy. The general and I will discuss who will lead the third group and announce it before the start of the battle. Get ready to fight and strike another victory for our glorious empire!" explained Rajendra.
Two hours later, the squad was lying around, discussing the feasibility of the attack and who would be chosen as the commander.
"I think the attack is a brilliant stratagem. It will almost certainly work, and we will be plundering the city in no time!" said Nerivaanthan.
"It is very, very risky, and there is a big chance that the enemy could discern the tactic and crush each part one at a time. However, if it works, it will work resoundingly, and it is probably the best attack plan given our resources," responded Oliveanthan.
"I agree with Oliveanthan that is is a very big risk. However, the key part of the plan is while many defending generals might expect the attacker to split the army in two to flank, they wouldn't expect the army to be split in three. Furthermore, the long wait time will make it easier to fool people into thinking that it is a completely new unit attacking instead of 1/3 of a unit," reasoned Illachiyaventhan.
"I'm against the whole war in the first place, but this plan does seem to make sense," commented Kaavalan.
"What I'm more curious about is who the leader of the third group will be. It would definitely need to be someone with a sound head on their shoulders," said Oliveanthan, bringing up a new conversation topic.
"Maybe it could be you, Illachiyaventhan," guessed Nerivaanthan.
"I doubt it. I don't have as much experience as some other squad commanders," answered Illachiyaventhan.
At that moment, a messenger approached Illachiyaventhan.
"Sir, our glorious emperor Rajendra Chola and the general Inniyavan request your presence, Illachiyaventhan," the messenger announced.
"I'll be on my way," responded Illachiyaventhan.
"Funny that that happens right after I say that..." muttered Nerivaanthan.
Illachiyaventhan walked over to the area where the emperor and the general were discussing things. It was much more upscale than the areas for the common soldiers, with a tent having been pitched for the emperor.
"You requested my presence, your majesty?" asked Illachiyaventhan.
"Yes, there you are. After much discussing, Inniyavan and I have decided that you will be the leader of the third group," said the emperor.
"Me? Really? That surprises me. I would expect you to have picked someone with more experience," responded Illachiyaventhan.
"I picked you for several reasons. First, you are young and popular. More people look up to you than you think, especially in your own squad. Secondly, you are creative and decisive. You will know when to strike and not be wishy-washy, and you will think of ways to fool our opponents into believing that you are leading a second unit. At the same time, you are logical enough to know what will work. I trust that you will know what to do," explained the emperor.
"Thank you, your majesty," said Illachiyaventhan.
"You're welcome. That, and call me Rajendra, please. You are dismissed," replied Rajendra.
A bit later, the entire unit was assembled and split into three groups. With Rajendra were the least experienced squads, because Rajendra was the most experienced commander. The most experienced squads were with Illachiyaventhan, not only because of his experience and possible need of advice, but because they were the soldiers that could truly turn around a battle.
As Illachiyaventhan's troops advanced into place, which was a short distance outside the city on the northeast side, Illachiyaventhan remembered the orders that Rajendra had given him. He was supposed to wait for twenty minutes after the battle began, or when either army was in critical condition. Fortunately, he was on top of a hill,so he could see how the battle was going.
Illachiyaventhan was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard and saw Rajendra lead the first group into battle. He then saw the enemy army start to peel off and thin out, leaving themselves vulnerable to the charge of the second army. That demoralized the enemy, but then the plan started to go wrong. The enemy army regrouped around Asoka, and then formed itself into a pincer formation that was closing in around the two groups. At that point, the enemy's strength in numbers became apparent, causing them to fight harder and kill more Tamil soldiers. However, Illachiyaventhan could see that they had left their northeast side critically exposed. The battle was in a critical state deemed necessary for reinforcements. Illachiyaventhan gave the signal to charge.
Dust caked the air as the reserve force thundered onto the area of battle, and slammed into the enemy at their weakest spot. Tamil morale soared as soldiers fought on with renewed energy, and the Mauryan army was shattered into pieces as the elephants broke their pincer formation. During the charge, an axe hacked at Illachiyaventhan's elephant's knee, sending both mount and rider tumbling on to the ground. Illachiyaventhan quickly pulled out his sword and fought on through the sea of opposing axes and elephants.
Though the battle had swung in favor of the Tamils, the Mauryan army still fought hard, led on by Asoka himself. One axeman was particularly difficult. Illachiyaventhan narrowly survived several feints and was on the defensive. However, as his swings became more powerful, he left himself open more and more. After a swing that nearly knocked Illachiyaventhan's hand, the axeman, seeing his foe's pause, readied a massive overhead stroke for the kill. However, Illachiyaventhan's bluff paid off, as he sidestepped it with ease and stabbed the axeman through the heart. However, just as he pulled his sword out, he heard Oliveanthan shout, "LOOK OUT!"
Just then, he turned around and barely parried an axe aimed at his neck. The force of the blow knocked Illachiyaventhan's sword right out of his hand. With quick reflexes, he kicked him back to be able to retrieve his sword, but then he looked the enemy in the eye for just a short second.
The enemy axeman's stare was hauntingly familiar, and it was a burning glare of pure malice and hatred. Illachiyaventhan knew that look from somewhere and someone, though he couldn't pin down who. However, Illachiyaventhan quickly grabbed his sword and thrust at him, driving him back. Oddly enough, instead of fighting, the enemy simply left, despite having no wounds.
As Illachiyaventhan kept fighting his way through the dwindling horde of enemy Axemen, he noticed that Rajendra was completely surrounded by enemies. He saw Rajendra's elephant go down and knew that the emperor was in a tough spot. Sweeping enemies out of the way, he went to help Rajendra.
Illachiyaventhan could see that Rajendra was surrounded by seven enemies that were all hacking at him. Illachiyaventhan had no idea how Rajendra was still alive, but he ran up and cut down two from behind, then distracted two more to give his emperor some breathing room. After defeating the two of them, he realized that the battle was nearly over. Very few enemies were left, though Asoka was still alive and fighting. It was inevitable that Rajendra Chola and Asoka Maurya would duel to the death.