Chapter 14: Armies in India

For the first time in a while, Prashant woke up with a plan in mind. First, he'll solidify his persona from last night's fight. He visited the temple amid the whispers of people and left the town in a mighty display of power. 

A full 2000 Rajputs rode horses, and he was carried by a white steed in front. He is going to meet up with Rajput uncle and Jayendra and start his rapid campaign. According to M, these two days will have clear skies. 

"Uncle, how was last night? Any casualties?" Prashant had no idea what happened to the spawned people after their deaths. Were they brought here from a parallel timeline? But they don't show any attachment to previous life. 

Are they mindless drones? Nope, all come with quirks. From Rajput uncle's stories, it seemed like they had lived for a long time, and were able to understand things from modern times too. Who knows what mess the cheater-baba (henceforth name for cheat system) made in spawning them. 

"No, my Prince. This whole affair was negligence on my part. When we first met, that night, the girl you asked us to save came to meet us. And she easily defeated us in a duel. 

She gave me the feeling that she was the strongest person I've ever met. Your safety was guaranteed by her, so we never actually bothered to be on guard." Uncle was almost ready to bow, but how could Prashant let him feel bad? Anyway, everything was under control, no need to hurt our own. 

"Don't worry. Plus, the 500 men you left did a fantastic job. They easily subdued the attackers. Now we'll link up with Jayendra and see his condition. Let's go, time is of haste. And the flies wandering nearby, let them be. Let them inform their masters, soon we'll meet face to face." The group left while he disclosed a plan for attacking castles.

The group linked up; thankfully, there were no casualties there either. Now, the idea was to ride up to all surrounding castles in a show of force. The defenders won't commit to a fight without understanding the full situation.

As Prashant was bringing in a force of 3,000 elite cavalry. Usually, such a force would be the core of a minor regional invasion. Further bolstered with various mercenaries, specialists and people carrying supplies to a size of 20,000. 

People imagine elephants as a distinctive feature of subcontinental armies. After all, the modern game of chess was derived from an Indian wargame involving units like elephants, cavalry, chariots and foot soldiers.

But the era has passed, and India has kept up with the world with slight variations. For example, elite cavalry in the West invokes the image of a knight. Heavily armoured cavalry unit with high social status and martial experience. They will come in for a glorious charge while the rest of the army holds the enemy in place.

Think of the battle of Helm's Deep in the Lord of the Rings movie. While that was a specific case, the general feel of how elite cavalry fight in battle is still the same. Image of a shining lance breaking the enemy.

India, however, changes this. Martial cultures like Rajputs or the civic class of Jahagirdar (landholder) did enjoy high social standing. They would often invest a lot in their training and equipment. But on the battlefield, they would carry lots of javelins to harass the enemy. When they find weakness, they would charge in for damage and retreat.

The idea was to be an enduring unit that would swoop in occasionally while always keeping the enemy under pressure. This was not due to a lack of valour. India has a hotter climate, so armour can't be very heavy; soldiers would find it suffocating.

The land was often shifting, some hills here, some forests there, some streams, and to top it off, monsoon would make a mess of everything. Mud, heavy downpour and poor visibility. So a single charge was usually not the answer.

If someone wants to find plain ground in non non-rainy season, which allows a pitched battle and an opportunity for a decisive charge? Congratulations, you were looking for India's premier battlefield.

It's just outside the capital, Delhi. In the northern plain, with bearable temperatures. The winner can directly take all the wealth of Delhi. And if he wants to stay, half the population of the country is within his striking range.

But everyone already knows about this. That's why battles of Panipat were often a coin toss moment; both sides were equally prepared, and who would win was unclear at the start. 

So then was Panipat a field for knights? Nope, elephants, artillery and giant armies made the life of any wannabe knight still difficult. Imagine you were dreaming of glory, so you gathered your buddies and went in for a cinematic charge.

Only to find the enemy being unsportsmanlike. He has placed 100 war elephants in front to countercharge. Even the horse will be scared, let alone the dude on top. 

Next, Babur demonstrated the use of field artillery. So another red no-no sign. Even after that, if you did Kungfu and reached the enemy formation? Congrats, now you're facing 30,000 footmen all carrying bows, javelins and all manner of weapons used precisely to disrupt cavalry charges and wait till elephants, their cavalry or cannons start working. 

"There will be thousands more peculiarities, some pedantic, some genuine. But one I find fascinating is that India usually had no mentions of levying peasants like feudal Europe. Nor the conscriptions like the Chinese imperial power would or the centralised kingdoms in Europe in the gunpowder age. Instead, India made extensive use of mercenaries and specialists. 

Be it Turks offering their cavalry expertise, Afghans their skirmishing, Abyssinians their knowledge in siege, or European artillery crews. Then add auxiliary roles like Banjara for logistics, Bhills for guides and Bargir for raiding. There is little use in adding unwilling peasants. If there is a critical need for those, then you've already lost and adding them won't matter.

And all of this gets branded in culture as Kshatriya has the duty to fight. There are cultural reasons for such varna (class) division of society. But traditions and culture can't survive without a conducive environment." Prashant offered his observation. He has read so many children's books and watched cartoons that he thinks of himself as a doctorate in history. But there might be a kernel of truth, after all, literature is the mirror of a culture.

So the spies saw the Prince furious about the attack, posturing below all nearby castles. Issuing challenges for the duel like it's mythic age. Defenders whisper if the Prince is a mighty hero from the tales or a guy overly developed in muscles but lacking brains. Some even joked that if he came just a bit closer, his giant frame would make an easier target. Plus, all over-the-top yelling is just asking for a few arrows. 

When the "muscular" Prince was posturing outside the castle. Prashant, a much leaner guy, who looks like a cartoonish starry-eyed boy, was inside the enemy castle. He simply snuck in among the sheepherders and now, the first fort is within his grasp.