Sunday, August 02, 1350 AD
"On that border there is another entry point, at the river bed. It would be best to position a quarter of the troops there, in case they attack from two directions. Even if that doesn't happen, we will be at an advantage if we can surround them from two sides."
"What about the river current, can a horse cross it?"
"For the current weather, the river current is not strong. We don't need a boat."
"Good..! Mmm, it would be even better if we could attack not only from two sides, but from three sides at once. Is it possible to create a new route in the south?"
"We don't have much time. They have already started to set up camp on the border. If we open the new path now, it is feared that the scouts will find out. Let alone attacking from three sides, the plan from two sides could be revealed. Moreover, the area is quite dangerous, the cliffs are very steep, the soldiers will easily fall while running."
"Yes, you are right, we can't clear the forest in that cliff area now." He paused for a moment, then his eyes widened, "Oh yeah, is that river you were talking about under that steep cliff?"
"Yes, the border river is right below that cliff."
"How lucky!" he said excitedly. "I'll even have half our troops ready below the cliff. Yes, they can attack from the river!" his smile widened.
The early morning negotiations under the starlight were over. Then, Gajah Mada stepped into his tent. And Bara mounted his horse, ignoring the dark or light conditions he hurried back to the royal palace.
Gajah Mada just left this morning to explore the journey to the battlefield. In this battle, he brought all the Majapahit soldiers. A number of troops that would actually make the opponent's courage shrink. But he divided them into three attack positions, through different routes. Of course, the other two routes that were to be passed had been sterilized from spies, as long as the calculation of the travel time was according to plan. With that tactic, the opponent could not guess the exact number of Gajah Mada's troops. ***
It was very rare for the Majapahit palace to be empty of its soldiers. Only major wars required Gajah Mada to bring all his soldiers. This condition was exactly like that time. During the Majapahit-Manunggal war, the palace was abandoned by all its soldiers. Because the palace was empty, Arya was able to kidnap me. "Ah, even if it wasn't empty at that time, Arya could still kidnap me. Oh yes, Arya did kidnap me before all the soldiers went to the battlefield." I don't know why my memory suddenly dug up about him. There is no certainty of information whether he has died or not. Now even though Bara hasn't returned, I'm not worried because there are no more people like Arya.
My imagination was daydreaming about those times. Yup, I was daydreaming, but my daydream was disturbed by a loud noise from the main gate. Even though my room was at the very back of the palace, why was the noise so loud all the way here? Because I was curious, I walked past one pavilion after another. Until at the last pavilion, I was about to turn, someone bumped into me because of his haste, "Princess, run! Come with me to the queen's room!" He pulled my hand without first asking for my permission.
"What's wrong? Why do you have to run like this?" I asked impatiently wanting to know the situation.
"The palace is in..," he had not finished answering my question, suddenly a sword strike attacked him. He then serves the enemy. However, it wasn't just one enemy. They came in droves!
"Run, Princess!" he shouted in between sword swings. It seemed like he was cornered fighting 20 enemies at once. His life was in danger. I was in a confused position, whether to help him or run away. He tried to save me, would I betray him? Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to help him fight the enemies.
I had no choice. I ran away from him, and kept looking back at him. Then, just in time, the enemy's sword struck his neck. Oh no, the soldier who saved me was dead… The soldier was one of my friends here. He was the one Gajah Mada had assigned to guard me. My tears were still flowing but I had to keep running faster because the enemy who had survived was chasing me.
It turned out that the palace was under attack. The soldier told me to run to the queen's room because that was the only place where the strongest soldiers were at the moment. They were the queen's special guards, known as the Bhayangkara soldiers. The Bhayangkara soldiers consisted of selected soldiers from all over Majapahit. They were strictly selected to be selected as a group of Bhayangkara troops. They were specifically tasked with guarding the queen or king of Majapahit.
My breath was ragged. The queen's palace room was not far away. But the two people chasing me were also getting closer. I didn't know if I could reach the room safely.
The distance between the two people was getting closer, only a few meters behind me. Luckily the door to the queen's room was already visible. I ran fast towards the door. As if I was using up the rest of my energy towards it.
Finally, I arrived at the door. Without knocking, I pushed the door open. OMG, it turned out the door was locked! I tried to ask for the door to be opened. But the queen's guards needed time to open the door that was supported by wood and chains. Meanwhile, two enemies had arrived right in front of me. Oh my God, my chest felt tight. One of them raised his sword, he swung it at me…
"Aaakhhh..!" he screamed in pain. His hand was stuck in a flying dagger, making his sword fall. The other enemy also collapsed, struck by a sword.
Someone approached me. I was still sitting weakly, his hand patted my shoulder, " Are you okay?"
I nodded my head to answer him. My heart was relieved to see his presence.
When the door opened, Bhayangkara soldiers were on standby to guard the queen. There were 80 of them.
"How are the conditions outside, Bara?" the queen walked quickly towards us.
"They have successfully passed through the gate. They must be heading this way, we must always be vigilant." Then Bara shouted to the troop commander, "Get ready..! Reinforce the door with additional iron!"
But when the troops were carrying the iron door, suddenly the queen changed the order, "Stop." She looked at Bara and held his arm, "Bara, I trust you. You go to my son. Saving him is more important than me."
Bara seemed to understand the queen's intentions, " Calm down, Queen. I knew this invasion would happen sooner or later. I have anticipated it. I will guarantee your safety and the crown prince's, as long as you two do not go far from me. Then, we better head to the crown prince's room. Keeping you two in one place is the best way."
At the request of the queen who chose to prioritize the safety of the prince, Bara changed the plan. Everyone in the queen's room now marched to Prince Hayam Wuruk's room.
While walking quickly holding the queen's hand, Bara had a dialogue with the leader of the Bhayangkara troops, " We must be able to hold off the enemy troops for no later than 3 hours. The troops I have prepared will arrive here in no more than 3 hours."
The troop commander answered him with a fiery gaze.
***
Earlier, when he arrived at the palace and witnessed the rebellion, Bara lit firecrackers towards the sky. That was a sign for his troops who were on standby to come to help. The reserve troops had been prepared by Bara and Gajah Mada long ago. The two Majapahit strategists had taken into account the presence of traitors from the Majapahit family camp.
The condition where all Majapahit soldiers came out, must have been very advantageous for the traitor. Therefore, Bara and Gajah Mada kept reserve troops outside the palace. Jiteng was in charge of commanding the reserve troops which numbered no more than 5,000.
The traitor this time was still a descendant of the first king of Majapahit. He brought nearly 8,000 troops.
At this time, Bara and the Bhayangkara soldiers had to hold off the enemy soldiers until Jiteng arrived. I was worried that this disproportionate number would make things difficult for Bara. On the way to the crown prince's room, I tried to sneak out of the group. A brilliant idea came to mind to return to my room and take the Keris Galaksi.
"Where are you going? Did you forget about the sword incident that almost struck you earlier??" Bara suddenly asked firmly while pulling my arm.
"I will take the keris, Bara."
He paused and told me to go back to the group. "Stay with the group, follow them. I'll get them." He gave me the order and turned back to my room.
For my second time in this era, he did not ask for the Keris Galaksi. Instead, I wanted to give him the keris. Very different from the first meeting. Maybe in this second meeting he felt he could still handle the enemy without the help of the Keris Galaksi.
But for now, this second, I am sure he needs the Keris Galaksi. No matter how great a person is, it must be difficult to hold back thousands of soldiers. Hmm, my grandfather was right, the Keris Galaksi knows when he is needed. He is with me coming to this era now, of course because it is needed.
***
We arrived at Prince Hayam Wuruk's room. He looked scared amidst the guards guarding him. The queen approached him and held his hand tightly, " We will be fine, my son."
The noise was getting closer. In a matter of seconds, the enemy would soon arrive and surround us. The guards were already preparing to face them.
That's right, the rebels have arrived! Without further ado, they immediately attacked. Apparently, the rebels did not hesitate even though they were staring at the face of Queen Tribhuwana Tunggadewi who was famous for her fame. In fact, the two of them were still related by blood.
The fierce battle and the fall of soldiers after soldiers were inevitable. Although in a defensive position, the Bhayangkara troops looked quite stable in facing their opponents. The Bhayangkara troops, it turns out, were not only famous by name. They were truly experts. Bara was also seen who was always surrounded by enemies. But he had not yet taken out the Keris Galaksi.
I was right next to the queen and the crown prince. In the din of swords clashing, shouts of encouragement and groans of pain, my eyes were blank as if I couldn't believe what I was witnessing. Time passed, it seemed like more than 2 hours, but the reserve troops brought by Jiteng had not yet arrived. Hopefully the Majapahit soldiers in this room were still able to hold out.
Bara also used the Galactic Keris, and the enemies who surrounded him were defeated. However, there were still many enemies who attacked other soldiers remaining.
I was lost in watching the extraordinary event before me. And suddenly, very quickly, an arrow passed right in front of my eyes! Not towards me. But to the side of me, which was none other than towards the crown prince. Of course, I could not do anything, it was too late to move because the arrow flew like the wind.
The arrow stuck in her back! The Queen gave up her back to save the prince. And the prince panicked as he asked his mother to hold on. But finally, the queen collapsed unconscious.
Although I was also very panicked, I tried to stay calm. I looked at the queen's wound and the arrow that was stuck in it, thinking about what I should do. In the past few years, I had indeed studied herbal medicine, but not to treat serious wounds, let alone bleeding like this.
I removed the arrow, and tried to stop the flow of blood using my shirt. He had to be rushed to the infirmary, but what could we do, we were still cornered in this room. I could only hope that backup troops would arrive soon so that we could open a path to the infirmary.
______________________