In the end, they had done a considerable amount of damage to the unsuspecting group of reinforcements. The commander of that reinforcement group ordered the men to take cover by making a formation of shields on the front and on the top. There was a low chance of their arrows actually hitting any targets at this point.
However, this fact was not a bad result. The formation of raising their shields meant that their approach would be slowed down by a few minutes and this was the result Nirpendra was hoping for. If this group of reinforcements would've taken five more minutes to reach their main group, then now it'd take about twelve minutes. And besides, they were already able to snipe off around 200 men with 7 volleys of arrows. This was a large success in Nirpendra's mind.
"Fourteen more minutes before our reinforcements arrive…" Nirpendra muttered to himself.
"Commander Suman, bring your force of 70 archers with me. Tell the rest of your men to stay here and aim at the enemy if they stop using the shield formation. Hurry."
"Yes, your highness."
This commander's previous doubts had been cleared and he looked at the king with newfound respect. He quickly ordered his men and came back with a group of archers, leaving a few behind under the command of the female archer captain.
"Take your men to the eastern flank and wait. I'll be there in a moment."
The commander did as the king ordered and took his archer group to the eastern flank. Meanwhile, Nirpendra went towards the middle of the battlefield, where clangs of clashing swords and screams of occasional fallen soldiers filled the air.
In the middle of this battlefield, Ivan was vigorously fighting, slaying many men with his sword and indomitable strength. He was not only restricted to using his sword as his strength was more than enough to break a few bones of anyone that got too close. He was slaying many men and raising the morale of his own.
Such was the fighting style of Ivan. He was a veteran fighter who took part in the battle of Kuti during Nirpendra's father's reign. The battle of kuti was a very tough battle and Ivan was rumored to be the reason they had won.
Nirpendra unsheathed his own sword and joined the battlefield. Nobody really recognized him because everyone was focused on their own battles.
Getting close to Ivan proved difficult to Nirpendra. Ivan was a beast in the battlefield, launching bodies here and there and moving from one place to another to assist his allies. Due to which, he couldn't get close enough to the indomitable commander.
However, at one point, Ivan had noticed the appearance of the king in the battlefield as they locked eyes. At this moment, Nirpendra signaled the commander to come to him.
"Ivan, I want you to push forward."
"I am already trying, sir."
"Yes, but I want you to push twice as fast by concentrating most of your forces in the middle. We need to cover as much land as possible before their reinforcements arrive. I'll send some more men your way."
"As you wish, your highness."
With this short interaction, Ivan moved up the battlefield and he sliced an opponent and kicked another in his ribs.
"Everyone! Move up! Take this chance to kick their asses!"
With a single battle cry, everyone seemed to be much more invigorated as they roared battlecries while rushing into more battle.
Nirpendra estimated that his side had about 500 men left, however their opponent had 1200. That meant Ivan suffered losses of only 300 men while their opponent lost 800 men.
Nirpendra had believed that in medieval warfare without guns and tanks, but instead with swords and bows, a disadvantage of numbers would prove to be impossibly difficult. However, Ivan was the sole exception. He was truly an indispensable talent in this battle. He reckoned that nobody would be able to fill the shoes of such a person if he'd died.
Nirpendra left and approached the company that he had fled from the forest with. They were just preparing to go into the battlefield when they reached the king.
"Your highness!"
The newly appointed commander of this company greeted the appearance of the king. Vijaya had died and they had quickly nominated a new captain to be promoted into the commander and they were approaching the battle field.
"I want you to split your army. Bring a hundred… no fifty men along with you and command the rest to join with Ivan's force in the middle of the line and push forward."
"If I may ask, what is the purpose of the split troops?"
"The group of 50 men will wait in the forest in the eastern flank… I saw some movement there. So the men will ambush them if enemies emerge from that forest."
"Understood!"
Once the company split, the larger group went to aid Ivan's force in the middle whereas the smaller one hurried to the forest in the east.
Everything so far was going according to his plan. Nripendra watched the small group going towards the forest and disappearing into the trees. Using his Vision Projection, he was able to tell that a large group of people were moving from within the forest. This was probably Jitamitra's group of men but Nirpendra did not want to take any chances so he set the men to make sure.
At this point, Nirpendra realized that he'd been idle for too long and hurriedly ran towards the eastern flank of the frontlines. He was spectating the battlefield as he went on, the cacophony of screams and battling was dominating his surroundings.
The battle was so fierce that at one time, a head flew into the air and landed behind the lines. This head rolled and rolled until it stopped at the bottom of Nirpendra's leg. When it stopped, the head had a frozen expression of fear and sorrow with its mouth open wide. He paid this no mind and quickened his pace to meet the archer group he's yet to give orders to.
He'd once thought that he wouldn't fare well against seeing blood and death in such a manner… but perhaps because this was a war, where people would not be considered people, but be referred to as numbers. But considering the fact that Nirpendra had no reaction to commander Vijaya dying in the forest nor the decapitated head of a random soldier, it was not very likely.
Maybe it was due to his mind inhabiting the body who's trained to be accustomed to such things, because he was certain that in his previous life, such a scene of lost lives and decapitated heads would've surely caused a gag reflex for him.
Later, once he finally reached the eastern flank, a group of archers were waiting for him. The commander of this group, Suman immediately greeted the king.
"Your highness."
He respectfully bowed with his hands joined.
"Is the reinforcement group in view?"
"Yes, your highness. We were only waiting for your guidance to take the shot."
"Then let's begin… Draw your bows!"