Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

"Throw those bastards off," yelled a Maratha captain from the walls.

The Mughals scaled the walls with their ladders, and the Marathas began to throw boulders and set the ladders on fire to stop the advance. It was to no avail, as tens of soldiers were being sniped away by the archers.

Archers stood under the cover of a shield wall to avoid the archers on the fort.

*BOOM*

Another shell was hurled at the gate, damaging it further.

It was a second day of battle. The pungent, rotten smell of the gunpowder filled the air as the thick blumes of smoke were emitted by the cannons.

The gate was being bombarded, trying to pry it open for the Mughals to swarm into the city. Askar also deployed the catapults and trebuchets in the flanks to help tear down the walls.

The second layer, already cracked on both sides, almost revealed the third layer of fortification. The Mughals also began to scale both sides of the fort enmasse. The Marathas tried to keep them at bay.

But it was becoming harder to do with each passing moment. Askar employed a net of scouts to look out for ambushes; the sally ports were constantly monitored. So ambushes on the backline were out of the question.

The openings were close to none in the Mughal army. They were moving with practiced efficiency.

The Vanguard of the Mughals was led by Vice Commander Usman. They reached the gate and began to use the ram to break in. Cannons behind the vanguard changed its aim towards the walls quickly at Askar's command.

Askar ensured the soldiers felt confident in his command. The morale of the Mughals was at a high and the momentum of the siege was on their side. The Marathas fort was crumbling under their onslaught.

The impregnable fortress was crumbling slowly.

Askar looked at the destruction and smiled.

'Finally, we got the momentum. If we can keep this up. We can win against these Kafirs,'

he thought.

The crude cannons of the Marathas overheated, firing and destroying some of their catapults and trebuchets.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Some of them exploded as the archers fired flame arrows and ignited the gunpowder. The flames were rising on the walls as their cannons began to melt. The flames were quickly taken care of with the help of the maid and soldiers working together.

Askar scanned the battlefield.

He glanced back at his backline units. "Go and reinforce the right flank. It's losing numbers."

The unit captain nodded aggressively and moved swiftly, making their way to the right flank using the cover of the partially broken palisades and shields.

Meanwhile, two individuals sat on the tree in the forest behind the Mughal camp. One was nonchalantly dangling their legs from the tree and watching Askar from afar while the other was lying down on the huge branch looking up at the sky. They were dressed in black tunics and had a cloth belt wrapped around their waist. They had a distinct mask with bluish characters on it.

"I am bored. Can't we just kill Askar and go back?" One guy mumbled.

"Why should we even bother? We will intervene if the battle tips too much in his favor." The other one said, shifting his gaze from the sky.

"Boooooo.."

"Don't blame me! This wasn't in our expectations. An inexperienced commander going toe to toe with Askar?"

"Now that you put it like that." He pouted.

He got up and stood on the branch. "Let's go." A dark smile was seeping through his mask. "We don't have to do anything!."

"Really? Are you sure? We can't get in trouble later."

"Trust me." The other man said it with a smile.

A sudden, startled voice emerged.

"Who are you?"

It was a Mughal soldier from the camp who wandered into the forest. He glanced up at them and pointed his spear.

"Come down befor—"

*STAB*

Before he could even complete the sentence, a dagger was lodged in his neck. The Mughal soldier began to writhe in pain on the hard ground.

"So annoying." The man said it coldly.

The other clicked his tongue and jumped down from the tree and killed the soldier instantly.

"I will go dump this body somewhere."

"Right, I will clear all the traces."

Inside the capital, Shivaji's mind was racing, looking for solutions to get out of this grim situation. The momentum was all on the Mughal side. The gates were crumbling and the walls were slowly falling due to the constant swarming of the Mughal soldiers.

"Commander," a soldier's voice brought him back to reality. "The second gate is about to break."

Shivaji looked down at the gate. The city had a narrow pathway after entering the gate towards the plaza. It would be a great chokepoint to trap the Mughals.

But that was when the Mughals broke the portcullis. The final gate of defense of Karnavati.

"Bring the oil pots." He ordered.

They were quickly brought over to the gates by the maids and soldiers.

Spearman and shield infantry were near the gate to take the onslaught after the second gate broke.

"Throw the oil pots at the gate." Shivaji ordered the soldiers.

The soldiers were confused but trusted him regardless and threw the oil pots, through the gaps of the Portcullis, into the space between the second gate.

"Bring the grenades and torches out." Shivaji roared.

The grenades and torches were ready for use. The large amount of oil began to seep through the gaps of the second gate to cover the passage in slimy oil as the Mughals pounded the second gate.

Soldiers quickly understood the reasons behind the oil pots.

"Spear men stand back. The Shield infantry will throw the grenades and torches when the gate collapses."

The hinges of the second gate flew out with a force and the gate collapsed to the ground. The Mughals swarmed into the floor filled with oil. Hundreds of soldiers broke through with their weapons.

Shivaji roared.

"THROW IT NOW."

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