The General and the Boy

‘Don’t waste your arrows, shoot only those who have lowered their shields’ the Second Prince sounded mellow. ‘They mustn’t take the walls’ he added, this time a bit tersely. ‘Don’t worry’ Chotoo reassured, ‘once the gates are breached, they will have just one thought of rushing through those’ he sounded rather casual. Standing on the battlement of Nondon Kanon, they watched the hoard of Deb Rokkhi infantries creeping closer and closer. From the distance, they seemed like a swarm of beetles, slow and assured in their approach and ungainly under the covers of their shields. The longbowmen on the battlement watched the advancing army like an eagle searching for prey, and the occasional arrows would fly to any Deb Rokkhi with his shield down. ‘On your guards’, the voice of the General would occasionally boom across the battlefield. He was painfully aware that though it was tiring, it was the easiest phase of the battle. But it was rather tedious to hold a heavy shield over the head for a long time and more than a handful would drop their guard and would drop dead. The hoard would keep marching unbothered by the losses. The soldiers kept pathways straight to the gates of Nondon Kanon and the elephants were ambling along those paths.

The phalanx stopped only a few yards from the ditch surrounding the walls, and the first few rows of soldiers formed a screen with their shields. Behind the screen sprang the archers of the Deb Rokkhi and started to send volleys of arrows towards the guards on the battlement. The guards ducked behind the parapet and the arrows flew harmlessly over their heads. Now, the elephants charged; with the guards nailed down, there appeared nothing to stop a dozen raging beasts. Then, at the signal of the crouching guards, the archers assembled inside Nondon Kanon started shooting, the screen of shields protecting the Deb Rokkhi archers was of little use against the steep trajectory of the arrows fired from inside the fort and they had to take cover. The moment the Deb Rokkhi archers ducked for cover, the longbowmen sprang up from behind the parapet and started targeting the elephants. Every time the Deb Rokkhi archers tried to get up from under their shields to attack the longbowmen a volley of arrows from beyond the walls would send them scuttling back to the cover of their shields. But the longbowmen couldn’t stop the elephants; wounded and angry, the great beasts crashed on the three huge gates of Nondon Kanon.

Now, the Deb Rokkhi soldiers threw caution to the wind; the archers sprang up once more and sent a barrage of arrows aimed at the guards on the battlement who once more took shelter behind the parapet. The Deb Rokkhi commanders had been observing the trajectories of the arrows fired from inside Nondon Kanon and calculating the possible location of the enemy archers. As the next volley of arrows flew out from beyond the walls, the Deb Rokkhi archers fired a barrage in a trajectory matching that of the enemy arrows. Soon, both the archers on the walls and those beyond it seemed to have been subdued. Now, hundreds of soldiers started to throw ropes tied to grappling irons to the parapet and as soon as one got hooked, a soldier would start to climb up the walls. By now the gates were creaking and cracking and wouldn’t survive another ramming by the elephants. As the elephants attempted the final blow, groups of men appeared on the battlement over the gates but instead of weapons, they were holding big earthen pots. As soon as the pots started to hit the elephants, they howled and went berserk; the pots were filled with boiling oil. The sticky, hot liquid clung to the skin and started burning into the flesh. Driven mad by the excruciating pain, soon the elephants started rampaging through the ranks of the Deb Rokkhi soldiers. Taking advantage of the chaos and distraction, thousands of archers sprung up on the battlement; first, they made light work of the soldiers trying to scale the wall and then started to target the soldiers who had dropped guard. This made the situation even more chaotic and for a time it appeared like the whole army was going to be in disarray.

‘Shields up. On your guard’ the voice of the General boomed, echoed across the battlefield by his commanders; gradually, the soldiers started to reorganize and soon they presented the archers with an impregnable layer of shields. Then, three columns of soldiers marched up to the gates; as those on the sides held up their shields for protection from the arrows, stones, and boiling oil thrown from above, those in the middle started to hack and ram the gates. Although the elephants had left the gates in tatters, what remained was still a considerable challenge for the soldiers. But the soldiers were possessed, many fell, but their ranks were quickly replenished. Finally, the gates collapsed and hundreds and hundreds of soldiers swarmed through the great archways, and the swarm kept swelling as the whole hoard seemed to have just one purpose, flooding inside the wall that had kept them at bay. The whole hoard would have squeezed inside Nondon Kanon if the General hadn’t ordered them to stop; he was growing uneasy, it all looked too easy to him. By now, most of the soldiers were already inside, they had rushed up to the barricades put up about a hundred yards from the fort. They had tried to scale or remove the barricades, but barrages of arrows told them not to. The hoard was no longer a single, concentrated mass of soldiers, it had now split into numerous smaller columns crowding the streets and the fields.

The soldiers roared war-cry and jubilation as the General galloped inside, but his face was grim. He took a few moments to scan the situation, ‘Fools’ he screamed, ‘On your guards, you fools’. Even before he had finished, the number of archers on the battlement doubled and thousands more appeared on the windows and balconies of the upper floor; their first volley took those who barely realized what had happened. The next volleys took those scampering to get out of the range and form the defensive formation. By the time the protection was complete, many hundreds had fallen. But their troubles were far from over. Soldiers, who were far from the fort, were well within the reach of archers on the towers. But the archers had stopped showering arrows; instead, they meticulously targeted any body parts which were not covered by the shields. Though it didn’t kill any soldiers, the wounded ones became useless in maintaining the defence. ‘How long can they hide behind the shields?’ a boyish voice rang on the battlement, the Second Prince looked calm, even a bit amused. The General cursed in silence, the boy was right, the soldiers would become tired and careless after some time. He carefully scanned the fort, then he consulted his commanders. The stairways offered an opportunity; though they were heavily barricaded, with enough force and determination they could be taken. Even if a few were taken, the soldiers could spread through the corridors along the whole fort.

By now he had news, the battle on the plain wasn’t going well either. The commanders galloped back to their soldiers, commands were shouted, and many columns of many men attacked the staircases all across the fort. Like the way they had attacked the gates, those on the sides provided protection while those in the middle started clearing the barricades. Just as when they were breaking down the gates, soon they became obsessed with their purpose and oblivious to their losses. Sometimes the reinforcements simply trampled on their fallen comrades. But their dogged determination was bearing fruits, at some places, the soldiers had reached the upper floor landings and in a few places, they were already battling in the corridors. The price was heavy, but they were on the verge of achieving a breakthrough. Then, one after another, the staircases caught fire. Unknown to the soldiers, and unnoticed in their assault, the staircases were soaking wet in oil; and just as the soldiers were gaining an upper hand, the defenders set the staircases ablaze. The assault collapsed immediately as the soldiers leapt back in shock and horror, hundreds who were fighting on the staircases were engulfed in the flames. At first, the soldiers were too shocked even to rush to help the flaming comrades who managed to come out of the inferno. Just as they were gathering their wits arrows rained down upon them, pushing them further from the fort. From the distance they watched the flame die, and from the distance they watched the defenders rebuild the barricades.

The ecstasy, determination, and courage of the morning were all gone now. The hoard was now filled with exhaustion, frustration, and trepidation. The General and the commanders were clueless, they had conquered many forts built to thwart the enemy, but this one was built to swallow the enemy. It wasn’t a fort, it was a deathtrap. Although his losses weren’t great, the General knew he had been defeated. It would be mindless to launch more assaults, and it would be useless to keep the siege. He ordered to evacuate the dead and the wounded soldiers to the camp on the other side of the river. Just as the last batch of the wounded were leaving Nondon Kanon, huge gates on one portion of the fort started to creak open. The soldiers became weary of yet another unknown hazard and the General and the commanders rushed to the forefront. Twenty elephants smoothly walked out of their stable, though they were initially a bit restive and suspicious of the unknown people, they quickly calmed down at the gentle urging of the Mahoots. Even then, the huge animals were intimidating; but more than fear, the soldiers were amazed at how calm and well-behaved the animals were. ‘Beautiful animals, eh?’ the boyish voice rang again. The Second Prince was leaning on the railing of the upper-floor corridor, he had almost a leisurely appearance. ‘But they will be just as deadly as your monsters when we attack you after nightfall’ he added in a matter-of-fact tone. There was an impregnable hush as the soldiers, the commanders, and the General imagined the nightmare; raging beasts and men cloaked in darkness rampaging through them, their shields and armours wouldn’t be of no use.

‘We have seen how much you cared for your dead and wounded, wouldn’t you show the same care for them too’ he waved across the hoard of Deb Rokkhi. There were long moments of silence as the General struggled for a response. He was a General of numerous wars, he was a General of numerous men, and yet he was schooled by a boy still in his adolescence. But that wasn’t what amazed him. Even though the boy knew that victory was within his grasp, he didn’t sound arrogant or patronizing; he sounded compassionate and understanding. ‘We can lay siege, you know’ the General finally mastered a response. The Second Prince laughed, a boyish giggle full of mirth and innocence. ‘What good would that do for you? Our granaries are full and once you leave, we will start preparing for the next crop.’ He said cheerfully. ‘You will have to leave before monsoon, but your soldiers will be more exhausted and frustrated’ he added. The General had no answer. He gave the boy a gentle bow and turned his horse for the gate. Like the gently ebbing flood water, the Deb Rokkhi hoard started emptying out.