Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Chapter 374: The Swiss: Helvetian Vanguard Part: 3 (End:XL)

March 30th, 1656

Fort Ballari

Black smoke, like a volcanic eruption, rolls up into the air as the battle near the fortress of Ballari reaches a moment of peak.

A figure equipped with demon-like armour and drenched in blood dances through the battlefield as he single-handedly tries his best to overturn the situation he is currently facing.

*Slice*

"Looking at my weakness,"

*Slash.*

"you are taking advantage of it, isn’t it?"

*Slice*

"Ha? TELL ME, ISN’T IT?"

*Stab*

"NOW DIE"

The figure, who is undoubtedly Vijay, keeps roaring as he snatches one life after another.

"Come, come, come, come,"

*Slice*

"You **** Europeans can’t mind your own business,"

*Slice*

"have to come here to **** die, you pieces of ****."

*Slice*

"COME AT ME! B***"

Vijay, who was feeling tired, couldn’t help but get angry at the circumstances. His face was livid, and he was very annoyed by the cunning Europeans.

He let out all his emotions in the battle as he became the grim reaper of the Swiss.

General Conrad von Zwingli, who was watching the scene of dozens of men being slaughtered by a monster every minute, was overwhelmed with dread.

"U-use the sharpshooters," Conrad urgently ordered, his face visibly panicked.

"B-But sir, our people will also get hit," John Meyer, the chief of staff, replied with some hesitation.

However, Conrad, who heard the reply, became furious and roared, "I said let the sharpshooters shoot, **** **** it!"

"Y-y-yes s-s-sir," John stammered a few times and replied.

The sharpshooters, although hesitant, followed the orders and resolutely pointed their guns at Vijay.

"Bang!"

Vijay immediately felt the threat of death approaching at lightning speed. Before he could even think about what to do next, his body instinctively acted, and he actually dodged the first bullet that was about to hit his neck.

Vijay’s face was gloomy as he quickly identified the person who shot at him. He was about to close the distance, but another gunshot rang out.

Fortunately, this time he was aware. As the iron projectile pierced through the air travelling at supersonic speed, Vijay swung down his Raktha Asthram with full force. The bullet, travelling at high speed, was immediately sliced into two pieces by Vijay. The enemy who was about to ambush Vijay from behind fell down, bleeding from their body.

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

The sharpshooters were shocked as they could not believe what happened in front of their eyes, but seeing the man quickly approaching, they did not let up their firepower.

Vijay, like a professional parkour athlete, took advantage of his higher reflexes, danger sensing, and battle awareness, weaving around the battlefield like threading a needle. Additionally, most of the places he moved were where the Swiss were the densest.

Hence, every time Vijay deflected, dodged, or sliced a gunshot, there would always be a soldier hit by the bullet.

"Shoot now, bit****!" Vijay yelled as he jumped up in the air, did a 45-degree flip, and brought down his sword that had accumulated momentum due to the rotation onto the sharpshooters.

The sword effortlessly sliced through the armour of the first sharpshooter. Due to its momentum and its unusually long length, the sword continued to move forward with the same strong momentum and cut down another two members who were in the vicinity in one strike.

"Oh God!"

"Is this really the devil?"

General Conrad von Zwingli exclaimed as he took a step backwards, considering whether he should retreat.

He even looked at some of his men who were fighting in the battle to order them to retreat. However, he saw something that made him reconsider the decision.

"Well, I’ll be damned," he muttered as he regained his footing, and a smile appeared on his face.

Even though he could see Vijay slaughtering his mercenaries like chickens and vegetables, he also noticed that except for a relatively small number of Bharatiya soldiers, the rest looked very clueless about what to do as they individually tried their best to kill their enemies.

On the other hand, the Swiss mercenaries that Conrad commanded, even if they had split up, cooperated very well with each other. They formed teams of two, with one working to lure the enemy while the other finished the job.

Hence, although the casualties of both sides were increasing at a rapid speed, the death rate of the Bharatiya soldiers was higher compared to the Swiss mercenaries, even though the Bharatiya soldiers had higher numbers.

Conrad, looking at Vijay again, couldn’t help but be overjoyed.

He just noticed that this monster of an emperor was finally showing weakness. Just now, Conrad saw Vijay stumble on his feet and almost fall down, although, at the last moment, he recovered as he rolled on the ground and chopped off a mercenary. His combat effectiveness had decreased a lot nonetheless.

General Conrad von Zwingli, looking at the overall situation, could now see that on his side there were almost 10,000 mercenaries remaining, while on the Bharatiya side, he could tell at a glance that they wouldn’t exceed 8,000.

Thinking about the rich rewards promised by the employer if the head of the emperor was brought to them, he couldn’t help but shiver in excitement. Especially now, since the majority of the mercenaries had fallen, the remaining could actually get a larger percentage of the rewards, and that was even more so for him, the general.

"Maybe this time I could buy a hereditary earl title and permanently settle down," he thought to himself, fantasizing about the future.

Meanwhile, the situation on the battlefield changed again.

The Royal Guards, who had realized that they were losing and, seeing the obviously tired movements of His Majesty, not caring about their lives, quickly circled around Vijay in a desperate manner.

While they made this move, a few hundred of them were shot dead, but the move was successful nonetheless as they formed a temporary fortress around Vijay.

The outer shell of the fortress was composed of the light infantrymen who had survived, as the heavy infantrymen barely remained. These light infantrymen carried the heavy tower shields that had been taken off the bodies of the heavy infantrymen and resolutely attached them to the ground.

Behind them, the remaining gunners and grenadiers formed small phalanxes as they stood ready to die.

*Pant* *Pant* *Pant* *Pant*

Vijay stood there, blood dripping, panting for breath. His stomach was rapidly heaving up and down, and he could feel that the sugar levels in his blood had decreased considerably as he began to sweat obscene amounts of water. He removed his helmet, now drenched in blood and all sticky.

Looking at the soldiers who had formed a defensive perimeter around him for a few meters, he couldn’t help but feel a complex mix of emotions.

However, he did not do something as hypocritical as ordering them to withdraw. He knew that the soldiers were willing to lay down their lives for him, and he would honour them and fulfil his duty as a monarch, which was to stay alive.

General Conrad von Zwingli, who saw this, knew that the matter was settled.

"Regroup! Pincer formation, advance!"

The mercenaries immediately acted as they regrouped and marched in a pincer formation, their movements like a Jörmungandr about to swallow the world in one gulp.

The distance got very close, so close that General Conrad could now clearly see Vijay’s face and could actually communicate.

"Your Majesty, I am very impressed and blessed to see you in action, but this is the end. Please put down your struggle and come with me," General Conrad von Zwingli said, his expression grave, his demeanour akin to an elder warning a junior.

*Ptooey.*

Vijay, his head hunched in tiredness, spat out the blood that was in his mouth as he regained his breath a little. "Huhu," he chuckled after hearing the opponent’s words.

He raised his head slightly, just enough to see General Conrad’s face through the strands of hair now drenched in blood, sticking to his face.

"Ah!"

Just from this glance, General Conrad was startled, trembling with fright. But he quickly regained his composure, bolstered by his superior position in the battle.

Vijay, finally standing up straight, had a smirk on his face. The blood-drenched on him gave him the appearance of a devil.

"Bist du dessen gewiß?" he asked in German of this era, "Are you sure about that?"

General Conrad von Zwingli was immediately shocked that the monarch in front of him could actually speak German. He was even more panicked as he did not understand where the opponent’s confidence came from.

"Stop bluffing and quickly accept your fate-"

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

Before Conrad could finish his sentence, multiple cannon shots, dozens in number, rang out from behind them.

The people at the rear, including the Aquabusers, sharpshooters, and musketeers, were immediately torn apart by the high-speed projectiles. Unfortunately, that was not the end; not only did these projectiles break apart the men, but they also exploded on contact, taking dozens of mercenaries in the vicinity at a time.

General Conrad von Zwingli realized that the situation was dire. This time, he did not hesitate and roared, "Retreat!"

The soldiers who heard the command immediately tried to run away. But Vijay would not allow it. Summoning all his remaining strength, he roared, "CHARGE!"

The soldiers who were in a tight defensive formation, in order to protect Vijay, were already like wolves pushed into a corner. But now that they got a chance to counterattack, they did not miss the opportunity. They broke out with unparalleled momentum and cruelty.

"Kill!"

Vijay was no exception. Mustering all the remaining energy in his body, he ran forward, immediately becoming the god of death that he was, slicing apart a few men who had their backs turned to him.

The soldiers, even though wounded, did not stop. They rushed forward, taking advantage of the chaos, strangling the Swiss mercenaries one at a time.

And this time, when they regained their advantage in numbers due to the arrival of support, they did not give the Swiss a chance to counterattack.

"Die!" *Stab*

"Die!" *Slice*

"DIEE!" *Slash*

Vijay, like a man possessed, mowed down five to six men at a time and quickly caught up with Conrad, who was trying his best to run away and reach the horse they had left in the foothills, as horses were unable to participate in the battle.

Vijay lunged high in the air like a cheetah pouncing on its prey, he made a clawing motion as he flew toward the mercenary general.

Blood drained from Conrad’s face, turning it pale white with fright.

Vijay, having caught his prey, did not give Conrad a chance to speak. With great struggle, he got up, stomped on Conrad’s shoulder, and without waiting for a response, used his own weight as a force to resolutely lodge his blade into the back of Conrad’s neck, instantly severing the spine and causing instant death.

Knowing that the enemy had died and seeing the mercenaries fleeing in all directions, he had no energy left as he collapsed next to Conrad’s dead body.

Meanwhile, his sword was still lodged in Conrad’s neck, standing like an unparalleled weapon of war.

----

6 hours ago,

Before the frontal combat took place,

15,000 Bharatiya troops that were split from the main army left on a mission.

They carried with them the latest Bharatiya Hastha Dhwani armour-piercing hand cannons.

Due to the fortress being built on top of a rocky hill, there were no secret passages to and from the hill. Hence, the soldiers, numbering 15,000, were equipped with trekking gear. Fortunately, getting off the fortress was easier than anticipated; therefore, they immediately descended from the fortress with the help of ropes.

Surprisingly, when the Bharatiya Army had regrouped and was about to ambush the enemy from below the hill, the Brigadier General immediately ordered all his troops to stop and stay quiet as he had just received information from a scout about the enemy troops trying to ascend the fortress with the help of ropes.

"How many are there in number?"

"I don’t know exactly, but there should not be less than a few thousand."

Knowing the situation, the Brigadier General acted immediately.

He had a soldier climb back to the top of the hill the same way they got down and ordered them

"Wait until the majority of those guys are on their way to the top, then take the opportunity to immediately cut off the ropes," the Brigadier General ordered.

The troops acted swiftly, climbing up the ropes they had descended from and rotating to the other side of the hill using grippers and hinges. They cut off the ropes the enemy was using to ascend, causing many of them to fall to their deaths.

A substantial number of enemies died immediately, and the Bharatiya troops launched a swift strike, eliminating the remaining mercenaries in the battle. The Brigadier General was surprised; even in such a desperate situation, the enemy put up a fierce fight, resulting in the loss of nearly 1500 to 2000 of his men.

Feeling a sense of urgency, he rushed to the top of the hill, As he felt worried due to the unexpected strength of the enemy. From there, he saw the scene where his army and his majesty were surrounded. Without hesitation, he ordered the soldiers to position the cannon at an optimal angle and fire.

The ignited projectile spun rapidly due to its rifling in the barrel, travelling toward the enemy at high speeds. Upon impact, it tore the enemy apart and triggered the sensitive black powder layer, causing a devastating explosion.