Ardashir’s the Greatest Battle
Ardashir’s name was enough to break the swords in the battles. He had won many critical battles for his kingdom. Twice the army of the city yielded without fighting when they came to know about Ardashir’s presence. His valour had brought him fame more than the Emperor. It was spring when the Emperor decided to strike a blow to his neighbours in the north. Many names were decided and finalised, but the Emperor wanted to send Ardashir. A confidant of the Emperor came at night to inform him of his new mission. He accepted it. For he was not afraid of wars. The wars were afraid of him. By the night of the next day, Ardashir made his entire preparation. The best men, animals, and food were given to this army. They had to depart early in the morning. For that, Ardashir slept a bit earlier. While he slept profoundly, the whole city was awake. It was because every person wanted to see him depart for the battle. They wanted to see his glory and grandeur with the background music from the band. And so, morning came, Ardashir stood at the gate of the city, looked back at the palace of the Emperor, and left for the battle. Many army commanders dreamt of this day. The people saw his army leaving for a battle. Giving prayers and food to eat. But, Ardashir was not concerned about anything. For him, it was a normal day. Battles were part of his life. Winning them was also a part of his life, just like meals are in a common man’s life. He had an indifferent attitude. This indifference about going to a battle came from his sheer confidence. In himself. All these attributes made people get carried away.
The two armies confronted at the roughest part of the earth. It did not bother Ardashir. Nothing bothered him. He was sure of his victory. But, this time it was something else. Ardashir was informed of several casualties on the western flank of his army. It was because of the heavy artillery used by the other side. Though they had made significant advancements on the eastern side, this bothered him a lot. He got off his horse, and Ardashir went to his tent. Everyone was surprised to see this. The second-in-charge of the army also went there to see him. He came back startled. He could not believe in himself. Inside the tent, he saw a trembling, frustrated Ardashir. He was a few seconds away from giving a victory speech, but Ardashir had already thought that they were going to lose. He did not want to face the anguish and shame. Therefore, he made the preparations and abandoned the army. While abandoning, he told everyone that they were going to lose and that it was better to leave.
For Ardashir, ever yone was killed or was going to be killed. He made a plan to sneak into the city and inform the Emperor about this shame. On the way, he met some thieves. In fear of being killed by them, he did not fight or tell his name. He was taken in as a slave. Afterwards, due to his sturdy build, he was sold to a farmer. The farmer had a huge farm, and there was no one to take care of it. He bought Ardashir to take care of the farm. Ardashir, a warrior whose name would frighten the strongest ones, was now farming. After months, Ardashir remembered his plan and decided to run away from the farm. He did it and managed to reach the outskirts of the city. Ardashir knew a secret passage into the city, and so, he went there. On entering the city, he was astonished to see the latest developments.
A huge statue of Ardashir was placed in the middle of the bazaar. His neighbourhood was renamed after him and had banners of people thanking him for his valour and services. The Emperor had decided to rename the newly-conquered city after his name. But, why all this treatment? After secretly meeting the same second-in-charge, who was surprised to see him, he came to know about everything. The moment he abandoned the battle was the decisive moment. After he was gone, the second-in-command came forward and gave a thrilling and courage-boosting speech. He gathered the torn pieces of the army that Ardashir had left. For him, losing from here was a shame.
“We are a few inches away from our destiny. It is the test of our faith and determination. We should not allow such circumstances and moments to overwhelm us. Instead, we should overcome them and we should give the final blow. My comrades! Let us strive till our last breath, let us wield our swords until every one of us is dead. For a man writes his destiny for himself and we have already written the city to our names.”
A person who has never failed in his life is himself a failure. Ardashir did not know what failure or hard times were. For him losing a few men was an indication of failure. He had never confronted hard times. Therefore, it all led him to lose his stability and hence he fled the war. If Ardashir had known hard times, he would have stayed there no matter what had happened. Abandoning a bit earlier without seeing the consequences was also his mistake. The same goes for us. Hard times or failures are a part of life, one should face them with valour and honour instead of fretting. Ardahsir fretted about the results also. Instead of standing strong, he fretted and fretted about the end of the war. He thought he had met failure, but it was not like that. Therefore, a person should remain steadfast, should not abandon too early, and must not fret about the results (instead he should take action to regain the losses) on his journey to destiny. One should be like Sheharyar instead of Ardashir. Sheharyar also had not faced any failure in his entire life, but the will to see the end and not abandon kept him alive.
