Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

Bairam glanced at the cannons getting ready for the siege of Patan. He was excited to take down the king of the Marathas.

He and his brother were always second to Askar. He wanted to complete the task that Askar Khan couldn\'t do. It would make them better than Askar. The opportunity was put on a plate for him.

The Emperor Farrukh gave him access to the cannons to take down the king. The cannons were supplied by the Portuguese for the war effort. He also planted special units into the refugees.

Bairam\'s plan was complete to take down the King. He just had to wait and watch his plan unfold.

He took a look at the top of the wall to notice the Crown Prince of the Marathas gazing towards the Mughal army with a cold expression.

\'So that\'s the little runt of the Marathas.\' Experience tales at mvl

"Brother, Who is that man??? He seems strong!! I want to fight him. said Babar Khan

"Sure, you can fight him." He agreed.

Babar was a fighting maniac. He liked to fight strong people. He even picked up fights against Askar Khan and lost many times but the losses didn\'t deter him.

Meanwhile, it was clear that Askar was toying with him the whole time.

"Send the Messenger." ordered Bairam to the captain.

The captain nodded and scurried off to inform the messenger.

Aadarsh looked down to see a man riding the vast distances towards the fort.

It was clear as day. They were tricked by the Mughals. Askar wasn\'t here. It was the twin devils commanders of the Mughals leading the army to Patan.

His father stood beside him with a clenched fist. His mind was racing. Askar Khan would be the vanguard of the Mughal army.

This meant that the Royal Commander would be the one facing Askar and Devendra knew despite his physical prowess.

Baldev was no match for Askar.

"Father, I think you must leave this to me and go back to the capital," said Aadarsh.

"Don\'t be foolish, my son. I have to fight them."

"But Father, What about Askar." Aadarsh asked with a concerned expression. "You know, no one other than you can take him in a battle."

Devendra smiled warmly. "There is someone else who can also take him in battle."

"Who is it?"

The king turned to Aadarsh and smiled softly, patting his shoulder. "It\'s you, my son. I believe you can defeat Askar Khan. You have become stronger than me. Have some confidence in yourself."

"Bu—"

He was interrupted by his father.

"Don\'t argue. I will open up a way for you."

"You are the Future of the Kingdom."

The man dressed in armor riding a horse with a scroll in his hand went towards the southern wall of the fort.

He looked up towards the wall and yelled.

"By the grace of His excellency Farrukh. We implore the Maratha king and Crown prince to surrender to the Mughals. We shall deliver you with a quick death unbefitting of Kafirs."

Aadarsh fumed and clenched his fists in anger.

His father stood with a calm expression.

"We, the Marathas, shall not scum to the orders of scum," roared Devendra like a lion.

His voice sent shudders to the messenger, who began to shiver under the gaze of the old king.

"Tell your commander, The Marathas will never surrender."

Devendra let go of the visibly scared messenger. The exchange of messengers and the last rites of the battle had taken place.

The ground shuddered as the Mughal army began to march towards the fort in neat formations.

The battle of Patan had begun.

"Let\'s wipe these Kafir scum," shouted Bairam Khan.

The Mughal soldiers roared in response.

"Bring out the cannons. We shall show them the Might of the Mughal Empire."

The cannon crew pushed the cannons towards the fort and lined them up in the backline as the shield walls were being put in place for the siege.

Battering rams, Siege walls and ladders were also present in the Mughal army camp. These weapons were crucial for a siege.

"Take defensive positions, my soldiers."

The Mughal soldiers lined up in front of the battering ram equipped with a shield to protect the ram from the arrows.

"CHARGE!!!"

The battering ram moved at Bairam\'s commander with the shield wall in front in neat formations towards the gate of the southern wall.

The cannons were loaded up in the meantime by the cannon crew and perfectly lined up in range to take down the fortified walls.

Catapults and trebuchets of the Marathas couldn\'t reach the cannons as they had less range than the artillery in the Mughal arsenal. This was a major advantage, as Bairam could slowly chip away the walls of the fort.

"Let\'s see how you deal with this," said Bairam in a mocking tone.

Babar Khan was ready to fight with his sword out but he was stopped as they had to wait till the siege opened up a way into the fort.

He already took measures to open up the gate. He just had to inform the special unit to commence the plan inside the fort. Bairam decided to wait so that he could chip away and demoralize them with cannons before sending the signal to the special unit.

"I will win this time, Askar."

"Archers, draw your bows." ordered Aadarsh.

Archers were lined up neatly on the fort walls waiting for the mughals to come in range.

The mughals soldiers came into range.

"Fire."

The archers unleashed a rain of steel on the mughals soldiers. Some fell as the arrows pierced through the gaps of the shield walls.

The shield wall stood tall as the soldiers made their way to the gate.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

The cannons roared to life as they spit out iron shells at a high velocity towards the fortified walls.

The walls began to crack under the strength of the cannons. The outer layer of the walls began to chip apart from the first barrage of the cannons.

The crew swiftly moved to reload the cannons for the next barrage.

Aardash felt the ground shake.

Devendra cursed under his breath looking at the cannons. The town has lower fortification compared to other cities.

"We need to do something before the walls fall."

He turned to Aadarsh. "How long will it take the soldiers to reach the backline?."

"We need to hold out for a few hours. They left just now."

"get the siege tower ready." Screamed Bairam.

"Yes commander."

The shieldwall was set up in front of the siege tower.

"Use the cannon fire as cover and move to the right flank." He ordered.

The soldiers moved along with the siege tower. They pushed the siege tower with all their strength.

The defense was well put by the king. He understood the dangers of the cannons on his troops and focused more on taking out their numbers.

Despite their numbers they were sieging a fort. The defenders held the advantages in this situation.

Bairam couldn\'t let the king get a precise understanding of their weaknesses.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Another barrage of iron shells shot at the walls.

Aadarsh clicked his tongue in disgust.

"Damn it, those Mlecchas have done it again"

"Don\'t worry son, we can win this."

Devendra was calm. The situation wasn\'t bad. He already built a second layer of fortification knowing that the wall won\'t hold out.

They also had a week of supplies too. It was enough to hold out and defeat the duo of Bairam and Babar khan.

\'Once we hit thier cannons the battle should be easier.\'

Meanwhile bairam looked surprised that their battering ram was destroyed by the catapults.

\'Damn that old fart he really thought this through.\'

He smiled. He still had a Trump card.

\'guess it\'s time.\'

He lit a fire signal and it went high up in the sky to see from the inside of the town plaza.

Devendra and Aadarsh noticed the signal from afar.

"What the hell is he trying to do now?" He muttered.

After a while, they both understood the meaning of the firework.

"FIRE"

"FIRE"

The soldiers yelled urgently as they ran towards a building on fire

Black smoke filled the air from the building as the flames rose high.

"The grain warehouse is on fire" Yelled a commander.

Aadarsh stared at the fire with a bewildered look.

\'What the hell is happening? Why is the warehouse on fire.\'

His father had a similar look. They could hear faint screams of agony from the soldiers going to put the fire out.

They both saw that some of refugees they took in were stabbing their soldiers.

Both of them realized it. The mughals had razed the villages with a purpose of sabotage.

It was successful as they witnessed the warehouse burned down to the ground.

The week\'s worth of supplies were gone in an instant.