The might of Balistas

The next day, news of Khilji forces entering the territories of Mevad spread through the whole region as 1,20,000 Khilji forces then marched towards the fort of Chittod. The army consisted of horses along with elephants and chariots.

When the news reached the fort of Chittod, the atmosphere once again became tense. The king ordered all his commanders to prepare for war.

"Bong… Bong… Bong… Bong…"

The sound of drums thundered through the skies of chittod making the common people aware that war was coming.

When the Rajput warriors heard the sound of drums, they knew that it was time for them to leave for war. They quickly took their armours out of their crates, polished their swords checked their spheres and mended their shields. While they were preparing their weapons, The ladies inside the house quickly prepared something sweet for them to eat. Some prepared Kheer, while others laddu. They smilingly served the sweet dish to their husbands or their sons and watched them eating it lavishly. After watching them eat the whole thing, they quickly prepared Aarti for their beloved.

The Wives of soldiers put Kesri tilak on their foreheads while the mothers gave them blessings as their sons bowed in front of them.

"Vijayi Bhava (Be victorious…)"

The soldiers then took a final look at their children, their old parents and their wives as they left their house.

Nobody inside their house spoke as they watched their beloved leave the house. Every woman inside the fort had a single expression on their face, Pride…

They felt proud that their son/husband is going to defend their country, defend their dignity.

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After leaving their house, all soldiers gathered towards the Kalika Mata temple inside the inner walls of Chittod where they attended the sacrificial ceremony along with their king where they prayed for their victorious return. After the ceremony was over, All the soldiers went towards the fort walls ready to defend the fort.

While on the other hand, Aarv asked instructor Shyam to bring the Ballistas to the city walls. Soon enough, the soldiers on the walls saw a lot of people walking toward the fort walls along with their carts. At first, the soldiers didn't mind, but when they saw the people bringing these massive carts on top of the fort walls, they asked angrily…

"What are you all doing…?"

The people who were installing these carts cowered in fear. Just as when the soldiers were scolding the people, Aarv intervened and said, "These are the things I ordered them to install on the wall…"

After learning that it was Aarv who asked these people, the soldiers went silent and did not ask further questions as they diverted their attention toward the upcoming Khilji army.

As expected, the Khilji army this time did come prepared. They bought massive structures with them that Rajput warriors have never seen before. But, Aarv knew that these structures were trebuchets that at some point ruled as the king of siege weapons in the middle east.

But, unlike their previous behaviour, the Khilji army stopped before they crossed the uneven ground created by the Rajput people. While the main army stopped, a few carriages made their way out of the Khilji army and started to level out the ground.

'As expected… the news was already leaked...' Aarv thought as he looked at the workers that were levelling out the ground. He looked calm, unlike other lords who were freaking out about this matter. Yet, at this point, they could do nothing but watch as all their hard work was being levelled up.

It took the Khilji army 2 prahars to finally level out the entire region surrounding the fort. At the same time the trebuchets started to move, instructor Shyam came toward Aarv and said, "All the Ballistas have been installed Aarv babu…"

Aarv nodded at the instructor and said, "Have the workers retreat inside… From here on it will depend on all of us to…"

Before he could finish his sentence, one of the trebuchets fired a large fireball toward the fort of Chittod. All the Rajput soldiers watched as the fireball went over their heads and landed behind them.

"Ahhhh~~"

The sound of people screaming came from the fort of Chittod as the fireball landed inside the fort. Then before the soldiers on the walls could react, a second fireball came, then a third, a fourth… By the time they came to their senses, all 200 trebuchets fired at the fort of Chittod. The whole fort looked like it was set on fire as the fire burned inside the fort.

As the soldiers were freaking out after just one volley of attack, Aarv unscathed his sword.

"Load…"

When Aarv gave the order, multiple sounds of gears came from the Ballistas, "tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk…" and the strings on all 100 ballistas were stretched out. once the strings were stretched out, the soldiers loaded the Ballistas with 10 feet-long Arrows and waited for Aarv's next orders…

"Pratighaat…" (TL: Counterattack)

When Aarv's sound reverbed throughout the fort walls, all 100 Ballistas roared as they shot 10 feet-long arrows towards the trebuchets.

"Sew... sew… sew…"

The 100 arrows split the air apart as they advanced through the skies of Chittod. 20 of them directly collided with the trebuchets making a loud crashing sound. The wooden structures of trebuchets were blasted apart by the sheer momentum of the arrows making them unable to function properly.

"Reload…"

Aarv did not stop there, he quickly ordered his soldiers to reload the ballista.

"Tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk…"

Within 10 seconds, all 100 ballistas were reloaded again and fired their arrows towards the trebuchets. This time, more than 50 trebuchets were shot down by the massive arrows making the Khilji army fearful.

When Alauddin Khilji saw this scene, he quickly ordered his soldiers to retreat along with the 130 trebuchets that were still in working condition. He knew that he could not lose more trebuchets as they were very expensive to make.

On the other hand, all Rajput soldiers on the walls watched as the weapons they feared retreated along with all the Khilji army. They were unable to hold their feelings as they all shouted in unison… "Jai Bhavani…"

But, Aarv was not done as he quickly ordered amidst the cheers,

"Raise the angle to 45°…."

Balista were not only infamous for their high damage but their long-range. Aarv took full advantage of the long-range of the ballista and before the enemy trebuchets could move out of the range, shot down 30 more Trembuchets making Alauddin Khilji's heart bleed with pain.

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Author Thoughts:

Hello guys...

With all of your support, this novel is going to be promoted on both 'ongoing releases' and 'encouraging novels' tabs...

I thank all of you for supporting the novel and making me work extra hard to release chapters.

Thank you...