Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

Keshav Pillai was the one to lead the charge to the capital with the sizeable army contingent he had prepared for this endeavor. He had 7,000 infantry and 3000 cavalry, 30 war elephants, and siege equipment. Keshav Pillai also had a special unit of 1000 men for various guerilla tactics.

The newly built roads supported the weight of the march of the army well. The roads built on the land of the Cochin kingdom were now under the control of the control of the noble authorities. Seeing the big army marching through the road, the patrol guards of the roads had no choice but to back off from their duty to save their lives.

"AHAHAHA, this is good. The youngest prince wasn't as useless as I thought." Keshav let out a hearty laugh while riding on his horse. Beside Keshav were elite guards that he took everywhere to protect himself.

Keshav looked at his aide.

"Any movements from the first prince yet?"

"No, Lord. We have placed scouts ahead of us to give us pointers for potential threats to our march to the capital."

"I doubt they would stay still after Balaji was murdered right on the outskirts of the palace."

"We will not lose, My Lord."

As the army made its way to the capital, the scouts came back and reportedthe news to the camp of Keshav Pillai.

"Lord, they have sent Govinda Rao."

"Hooo, they really think a young'un can stop me."

The first prince camp had dispatched Govinda Rao to take care of Keshav Pillai's army. Govinda was not one to be underestimated; although quite a young figure, he had reached the top with his abilities.

Govinda's excellent understanding of warfare always gave him an edge in battles. Although now he was meeting a seasoned Keshav Pillai, whose experience was well above the level of Govinda,.

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"What's the estimate of his army?"

"Lord, close to 15,000 strong."

"SOLDIERS PREPARE FOR BATTLE!" His voice echoed through the field.

"FOR COCHIN!!"

"FOR COCHIN!!"

"FOR COCHIN!!"

Keshav Pillai smirked in amusement.

"Govinda, I will have your head."

Meanwhile, in Govinda Rao's camp,.

"Lord, the scouts of Keshav Pillai saw our army already. We can assume they are close by." said Commander Karan, the head of the army and the seniormost commander in his army

"It's fine. I knew the scouts would spot us. I took some actions beforehand."

"Understood, My Lord."

"We shall take them on. We cannot afford to lose this battle; we already lost Balaji; taking Keshav Pillai's head would be favorable for us."

"Call in Rahul and leave for your post, Karan."

"Yes, Lord. I will take measures according to the plan."

Rahul came to the camp, where Govinda was seated and thinking of plans to defeat Keshav Pillai. His gaze shifted to Rahul.

"I have a job for you, Rahul."

"Yes, my lord. I will do anything."

"Scout this area quickly and report." He said this, pointing at the terrain map he had laid down on his desk.

"That can be done quickly, My Lord. We will send in a report soon."

Govinda was in for a lot from the battle with the seasoned Keshav. He had a plan, but truly, it would work only if Keshav would take the bait.

After a few hours of searching, Rahul returned from his search. Govinda skimmed through the detailed report compiled by Rahul and pondered what to implement to take on the experienced Keshav.

Keshav's personality was that of a prideful commander; Govinda took that into account. A fresh, out-of-the-mill guy like Govinda taking on Keshav was a huge task in itself, which also meant that Keshav would definitely want to secure an overwhelming victory.

'That could prove useful for me if he wishes to wipe us out overwhelmly. I could use his personality to my advantage.'

"This is going to be a bloody war," he muttered to himself.

Govinda knew this war would wipe out at least half the noble factions from the Empire. Prince Bhairava wouldn't want anyone who opposes him alive; that also applies to the First Prince Chandra.

He remembered the conversation with the Prince just before he had been dispatched to stop Keshav Pillai.

"Govinda. This war will be the life and death for the Empire and us."

"Yes, Your Highness. But why did you assign me to stop Keshav?"

"It's because I think you tend to underestimate your own capabilities; you shine in the least favorable situations. Remember how you got to your position?

"But.." His voice trailed off as if a lump was stuck in his throat.

"I believe you can defeat Keshav. There is no turning back now. This war will end only when either me or Bhairava dies."

"Your Highness, still, we have already lost Balaji; is this important battle in the hands of an amateur like me?"

The prince looked at him and lightly smiled.

"Despite this, I wouldn't send it to you if I knew you would lose."

"I will do my best, Your Highness."

The prince let out a hearty laugh at his nervous and stiff reply, standing up straight.

"I will go give you advice. Use the terrain and think of the person's personality. You observed Keshav a lot; you might know how his personality is."

Govinda silently nodded.

"Use it to your advantage. Remember, no one is invincible."

Govinda closed his eyes and deeply pondered the best strategy he should use against Keshav.

'What should I do?'

He looked through the terrain map again and again, during regular intervals, as the battle neared as the morning approached. Govinda was pacing around the room, glancing at the terrain map occasionally to think of the strategy.

He looked at the map again and saw a narrow strip of forest leading to a narrow passway. The passage appears to be quite inconspicuous, just close to the exit out of the strip of forest.

This suddenly clicked something in the head of Govinda, who finally made a breakthrough in his planning.

"This is perfect," exclaimed Govinda as he called in a guard.

"Call Karan and Rahul to join with the other commanders. We are going to have a finally strategic meeting before we fight."