Posted:
My first impulse was to take the war strategy as it was given and served up to us without analyzing it. There were several red herrings and howlers which stood out. None of these had anything to do with the acting prowess of the actors and the performance of the choreographer of the war scenes. The flaws were at the level of conception; a few glaring scripting flaws. I had no qualms with the acting part or fighting part. They were all exceptionally done. So with those few words let me proceed with my post.
A Mass Dueling Match
This was a predominant impression I got while viewing the war scenes. It looked as though a mass dueling match was in progress complete with seconds and the spectators who had reserved their front seats for this match through advanced booking. Challenges and counter challenges were thrown at each other, the team leaders spoke to their respective teams to boost their morale, and we also had interesting comments from the spectators to make the whole thing spicy and interesting. I don't know if this was what the CVs were exactly trying to achieve through their scripting.
Attack or Defence
This was another thing that stood out like the odd man out. I understood from the strategizing sessions of both the sides that while Chandrakya were planning for the offensive, the Magadhan side was going to play defensive, lure the enemy inside, and then pounce upon them and capture all of them. I suppose all these thoughts were thrown to the winds by both the sides on the battle field. They just indulged in some mass dueling with some women also joining up in the later stages and making merry, while Chandra hovered round the battle field like Subramanya Bharathiyar's Thee Pandham or Ball of Fire razing down everything in his path.
One side was going to play a prowling leopard or an elephant running amuck in a cane field while the other was setting up a mouse trap. But what was it we saw on the battle field. Nand and Co come out in the open field for a rat hunt while they were supposed to be setting up a mouse trap. I really forgot for a moment who was supposed to attack whom, and who was trapping whom. It was a bit of chaotic reasoning and implementation of war strategy by both the sides.
Attacking Techniques or Breaking Fort
So since Chandrakya were planning for attack, they would essentially adopt attacking and offensive techniques of war and try to break fort. While on the other hand, since Nand and Co were going to play defensive and let the enemy come up till them, they were essentially going to play safe and remain on the parapet of their fort towers playing the waiting game. Just when the enemy would approach very near their fort walls, they would use their archers, throw down scalding oil, burning logs, etc while having a second contingent somewhere outside the fortress wall in the near vicinity to launch a two pronged attack on the approaching enemy.
In the event, the enemy succeeds in breaking the fort doors with their siege engines and cavalry(ashwa dala or horse regiment), those defending fort were going to keep their war elephants ready near the fort doors to let loose on the approaching enemy. The defenders were never going to expose themselves to the enemy the way Nand and Co did coming out as though they were out on a rat hunt. If at all they were just intending to battle it out between each other what was the point in all this discussion about offensive and defensive.
The Element of Surprise
So since Chandrakya were going in for the attack mode, one of the primary things they had to take care was the element of surprise. That thing was completely missing because Nand and Co seemed to have got intelligence reports of their plans early on itself, giving them time to prepare and fortify their defenses, and lie in wait for the enemy.
Since this was so, the only way Chandrakya could have surprised them is a night attack when they are not expecting, or attacking from a particular side from which their defenders are not expecting them to attack. It could be a crocodile infested water body, or scaling the sheer rock face of a cliff or the steep and tall walls of the fort, or it could be misleading and diverting the enemy attention with a dummy attack on one side and launching the real attack from another side, or it could have been a two pronged or three pronged attack on Magadh if Chandrakya had the adequate numbers to play with, they succeed in some clever inside infiltration and have the fort door opened and the drawbridge drawn up for them at a time they have mutually agreed upon and barge in lightening quick before anyone on the Magadhan side can react quickly.
Since Chandrakya did not have numbers, the things they could have tried out were a night attack, scaling the walls of the fortress, crossing the water body, or inside infiltration. While scaling the walls, they had to be extra careful because they would be within the range of the archers who could have a nice shot or the scalding oil pots which would make scaling the walls very difficult with its slipperiness. So the time they must choose should be at some time like a festival or celebration when even the sentries on the fort walls would have been absent from their duties, or at least inattentive.
Or if at all, the CVs could pull out a brilliant scripting coup like Chandra discussing with Chanakya the different shifts in which the sentries of the fort wall work and using the time gap when soldiers belonging to one shift leave duty and the other shift soldiers take over from them. The interim period between this would not be more than three to five minutes. They could use such things for planning their attack.
The Rationale Behind The Flags
So while discussing strategy, Chandrakya decide upon four flags signaling four different things Chandra should do on the battle field while leading his men. One flag signals Attack, while the other turn left, another for turn right, and yet another flag signals Retreat. Okay so Chandra refuses to heed the retreat flag forcing Chanakya to barge in, give a speech and drag him away.
Chanakya too makes mistakes as we saw him doing in the war scenes. He knew how his protege was. So he should have known how difficult it is to prevent his student while he is on the battle field fighting in full flow. It is very difficult aborting a fired missile midway in air just because truce has been signaled. The onus is on the one pressing the buttons. So the second time round, Chanakya should be careful when, where and how he fires his missile, Chandra. This experience must teach him how difficult it is to prevent Chandra from hitting the target after fixing and programming it once.
Since both sides were discussing vyuhs, and Chanakya himself says that Rakshas has devised the Scorpian Vyuh to trap Chandra based on his observation from his vantage point on the hill, my suggestion to the CVs is that they could include a few more signals, codes, or flags to say how a particular Vyuh must be countered with a counter Vyuh from Chandra. In ancient warfare, every Astra, every Vyuh, every Sena or contingent, had its equal, opposite and appropriate counter Defence. So there could be a code to tell Chandra which Vyuh it is, and the counter Vyuh to be used to defend from it.
The Agenda of Chandra's Supporters
Chanakya recruited this huge ramshackle army telling that they were going to drive out the Unanis. So when Alexander departs from the field citing health concerns, how do they switch over to this second agenda of overthrow Padmanand? This point was never clearly made or clarified anywhere. Did this army come together with a twin agenda in mind: 1) Drive away Greeks from Indian soil 2) Overthrow Padmanand. Since one task was accomplished, they automatically turned to the next task.
I think I never understood the rationale behind why this varied and diverse group was supporting Chandra. It is not too late to show that even now. We could perhaps have a bonfire scene between Chandra and his men in the forest after the retreat where each of them could speak for themselves why each one of them were fighting this battle loaded with such heavy odds paying such a huge price for it.
I would love to know the motivations of each of these men and the reasons why they are fighting this battle. It will also improve the bonding between Chandra and his men, and we can literally feel and sense why all these men were ready to sacrifice their everything for their motherland and for the Chandrakya combine.
Chanakya's Words on the Eve of Battle
This was a very interesting scene between Chandrakya on the eve of the battle. Chanakya has a number of questions on the efficiency of the army he has somehow recruited in his mind. He does not keep Chandra in the dark about it. Though it would look offsetting for a general leading his first army, and a warrior fighting his first real battle about the potency and capabilities of his men and comrades fighting alongside him, I felt it was better this way. Going in with full facts and truth is better than going in with half truth and suppressed information. At least Chandra will be mentally prepared for all this. So these are some of my views with regard to strategy employed by both the sides.
A Mass Dueling Match
This was a predominant impression I got while viewing the war scenes. It looked as though a mass dueling match was in progress complete with seconds and the spectators who had reserved their front seats for this match through advanced booking. Challenges and counter challenges were thrown at each other, the team leaders spoke to their respective teams to boost their morale, and we also had interesting comments from the spectators to make the whole thing spicy and interesting. I don't know if this was what the CVs were exactly trying to achieve through their scripting.
Attack or Defence
This was another thing that stood out like the odd man out. I understood from the strategizing sessions of both the sides that while Chandrakya were planning for the offensive, the Magadhan side was going to play defensive, lure the enemy inside, and then pounce upon them and capture all of them. I suppose all these thoughts were thrown to the winds by both the sides on the battle field. They just indulged in some mass dueling with some women also joining up in the later stages and making merry, while Chandra hovered round the battle field like Subramanya Bharathiyar's Thee Pandham or Ball of Fire razing down everything in his path.
One side was going to play a prowling leopard or an elephant running amuck in a cane field while the other was setting up a mouse trap. But what was it we saw on the battle field. Nand and Co come out in the open field for a rat hunt while they were supposed to be setting up a mouse trap. I really forgot for a moment who was supposed to attack whom, and who was trapping whom. It was a bit of chaotic reasoning and implementation of war strategy by both the sides.
Attacking Techniques or Breaking Fort
So since Chandrakya were planning for attack, they would essentially adopt attacking and offensive techniques of war and try to break fort. While on the other hand, since Nand and Co were going to play defensive and let the enemy come up till them, they were essentially going to play safe and remain on the parapet of their fort towers playing the waiting game. Just when the enemy would approach very near their fort walls, they would use their archers, throw down scalding oil, burning logs, etc while having a second contingent somewhere outside the fortress wall in the near vicinity to launch a two pronged attack on the approaching enemy.
In the event, the enemy succeeds in breaking the fort doors with their siege engines and cavalry(ashwa dala or horse regiment), those defending fort were going to keep their war elephants ready near the fort doors to let loose on the approaching enemy. The defenders were never going to expose themselves to the enemy the way Nand and Co did coming out as though they were out on a rat hunt. If at all they were just intending to battle it out between each other what was the point in all this discussion about offensive and defensive.
The Element of Surprise
So since Chandrakya were going in for the attack mode, one of the primary things they had to take care was the element of surprise. That thing was completely missing because Nand and Co seemed to have got intelligence reports of their plans early on itself, giving them time to prepare and fortify their defenses, and lie in wait for the enemy.
Since this was so, the only way Chandrakya could have surprised them is a night attack when they are not expecting, or attacking from a particular side from which their defenders are not expecting them to attack. It could be a crocodile infested water body, or scaling the sheer rock face of a cliff or the steep and tall walls of the fort, or it could be misleading and diverting the enemy attention with a dummy attack on one side and launching the real attack from another side, or it could have been a two pronged or three pronged attack on Magadh if Chandrakya had the adequate numbers to play with, they succeed in some clever inside infiltration and have the fort door opened and the drawbridge drawn up for them at a time they have mutually agreed upon and barge in lightening quick before anyone on the Magadhan side can react quickly.
Since Chandrakya did not have numbers, the things they could have tried out were a night attack, scaling the walls of the fortress, crossing the water body, or inside infiltration. While scaling the walls, they had to be extra careful because they would be within the range of the archers who could have a nice shot or the scalding oil pots which would make scaling the walls very difficult with its slipperiness. So the time they must choose should be at some time like a festival or celebration when even the sentries on the fort walls would have been absent from their duties, or at least inattentive.
Or if at all, the CVs could pull out a brilliant scripting coup like Chandra discussing with Chanakya the different shifts in which the sentries of the fort wall work and using the time gap when soldiers belonging to one shift leave duty and the other shift soldiers take over from them. The interim period between this would not be more than three to five minutes. They could use such things for planning their attack.
The Rationale Behind The Flags
So while discussing strategy, Chandrakya decide upon four flags signaling four different things Chandra should do on the battle field while leading his men. One flag signals Attack, while the other turn left, another for turn right, and yet another flag signals Retreat. Okay so Chandra refuses to heed the retreat flag forcing Chanakya to barge in, give a speech and drag him away.
Chanakya too makes mistakes as we saw him doing in the war scenes. He knew how his protege was. So he should have known how difficult it is to prevent his student while he is on the battle field fighting in full flow. It is very difficult aborting a fired missile midway in air just because truce has been signaled. The onus is on the one pressing the buttons. So the second time round, Chanakya should be careful when, where and how he fires his missile, Chandra. This experience must teach him how difficult it is to prevent Chandra from hitting the target after fixing and programming it once.
Since both sides were discussing vyuhs, and Chanakya himself says that Rakshas has devised the Scorpian Vyuh to trap Chandra based on his observation from his vantage point on the hill, my suggestion to the CVs is that they could include a few more signals, codes, or flags to say how a particular Vyuh must be countered with a counter Vyuh from Chandra. In ancient warfare, every Astra, every Vyuh, every Sena or contingent, had its equal, opposite and appropriate counter Defence. So there could be a code to tell Chandra which Vyuh it is, and the counter Vyuh to be used to defend from it.
The Agenda of Chandra's Supporters
Chanakya recruited this huge ramshackle army telling that they were going to drive out the Unanis. So when Alexander departs from the field citing health concerns, how do they switch over to this second agenda of overthrow Padmanand? This point was never clearly made or clarified anywhere. Did this army come together with a twin agenda in mind: 1) Drive away Greeks from Indian soil 2) Overthrow Padmanand. Since one task was accomplished, they automatically turned to the next task.
I think I never understood the rationale behind why this varied and diverse group was supporting Chandra. It is not too late to show that even now. We could perhaps have a bonfire scene between Chandra and his men in the forest after the retreat where each of them could speak for themselves why each one of them were fighting this battle loaded with such heavy odds paying such a huge price for it.
I would love to know the motivations of each of these men and the reasons why they are fighting this battle. It will also improve the bonding between Chandra and his men, and we can literally feel and sense why all these men were ready to sacrifice their everything for their motherland and for the Chandrakya combine.
Chanakya's Words on the Eve of Battle
This was a very interesting scene between Chandrakya on the eve of the battle. Chanakya has a number of questions on the efficiency of the army he has somehow recruited in his mind. He does not keep Chandra in the dark about it. Though it would look offsetting for a general leading his first army, and a warrior fighting his first real battle about the potency and capabilities of his men and comrades fighting alongside him, I felt it was better this way. Going in with full facts and truth is better than going in with half truth and suppressed information. At least Chandra will be mentally prepared for all this. So these are some of my views with regard to strategy employed by both the sides.
