The Play: Part 1

Vijay was very excited today; as it was the first day that MMA and team sports would be introduced into both Vijayanagara North and South Military academies.

He was on his way, excitedly going to watch the MMA, rugby, and Kabaddi games. However, his thoughts changed when Vinod informed him, "Your Highness, we have received news from the Sondagars team you sent out. Apparently, They have discovered a large amount of open pit iron mines near Bagalkot."

While this was good news in itself, it couldn't stop Vijay from going to the Military academy, as he already expected there to be iron mines in that area. He ordered, "Very good! Recruit the workers immediately and start mining the ore. Send the mined ore directly to the Raya Ironworks. Is there any other news you want to inform me about?"

However, what really changed his mind was when Vinod said, "Your Highness, we received a piece of news from Raya Ironworks. Apparently, Hey Ram and his team were successful in producing the prototype of the blast furnace."

This news compelled him to immediately change his plans and head to the Raya Ironworks.

Although sadly, Vijay did not manage to make it to the military academy, the games still took place.

Vijayanagara North Military Academy

Today is the day when Vijay's plan for sports in the academy is being implemented.

Upon hearing about the news, the soldiers became very excited and couldn't wait until the games started.

During the physical training hour, All the soldiers in the platoon were gathered around a match that was going on right now.

Two young men were fighting inside the circle. One of them was Dinesh Reddy, and the other person was a large and strong young man around the same age as Dinesh. After the rules for martial arts fights were promulgated by the king, he had been fighting multiple opponents since then. Back when he was younger and an orphan, he used to get picked on by the bigger kids in the village a lot. However, being the strong-willed child that he was, he used to fight the bigger kids a lot without giving in and developed his own fighting style. He failed a lot and used to get beaten a lot at first, but as he gained more experience, he started to win more fights. That's how he met Nandan when the bigger kids were bullying him. Dinesh felt pity for him and shooed them away. With experience, he could redirect the opponents' strong power against them, trip them off the centre of gravity, and win a lot more.

Because of this, he has been winning many games according to the newly promulgated rules.

He even has a few people asking him to teach them how to fight like him.

"Boom!"

"And another win for Dinesh Reddy," the referee proclaimed.

"Yeahhhhhh!"

Everyone cheered for Dinesh as he won the match yet again. Apart from martial arts fights, rugby and Kabaddi are also played. Earlier in the morning, all the cadets were briefed on the rules and regulations of rugby.

Even though Kabaddi is known to everyone, as they have played it since childhood, the rules of Kabaddi they are about to play have been changed according to the Pro Kabaddi rules in 21st-century India.

As time approached, all the cadets in the platoon gathered on the military field.

A colonel came to the recruits and asked, "Lads, what are we going to do next?!"

"Rugby!"

"After the last briefing, are you familiar with all the rules?"

"Familiar!" all the soldiers shouted in unison, with excitement.

The colonel continued, "Then let's get started soon!"

"Then let's do it like this. Each platoon will split up into two teams each, and each team will get a sand clock of time to score the most points possible."

The Rugby field is a flat grassland near the military academy, with a length of about 100 meters and a width of about 50 meters. It is lined with white lines every ten meters. To prevent the lime powder from being erased during intense sports, the border is not clear, so on the white line intersections on both sides, there are wooden poles planted.

According to Vijay's requirements, the platoon leader can only serve as the coach of the team, and the squad captain must serve as the team's quarterback. The coach should arrange tactics according to the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent, along with the strategy needed in each part of the game, and the quarterback is the team's core. They have to change their tactics in time according to the changes in the field and lead the players to victory. Vijay planned it like this to exercise the leadership ability of the Squad captains. He believes that in modern competition, rugby is a game similar to ancient cold weapons. The confrontation of the middle road and the flanking of the two wings can not only exercise the soldiers' strength, speed, and agility but also foster unity and cooperation within the team and enhance cohesiveness. At the same time, it can also train the captains and team leaders to think calmly and respond quickly in fierce competition.

The first event before the game is the coin toss, to determine the order of offense.

Today's trial game is played by Nirmal and his team with Venkat as the team coach, against Rohan and his team with Manjunath as the coach.

Nirmal was fortunate enough to get the first attack. "Coach" Venkat began to assign tactics to the team:

"You, you, you, you first. The other party pays attention to catching the ball after kicking it. After receiving the ball, don't hesitate, to pass it to Nirmal. Nirmal, you pass the ball to the big man and let him run with it, testing the strength of the other side. Others, pay attention to blocking the opponent for him!" Venkat arranged tactics for the players.

At this time, the whistle sounded and the referee urged both teams to start playing. According to the regulations, the instructors, mainly composed of veterans in the academy served as the referees, a total of four referees are used.

The soldiers removed all their metal gear such as helmets, armour, and knives. They wore only the new equipment to reduce the risk of serious injuries. Meanwhile, the two teams wrapped red and blue cotton strips around their upper bodies to easily tell them apart. In total, the platoon had 40 soldiers, but only 11 of them played in the match at a time. The others were substitutes, which was important because Rugby is physically demanding. Many soldiers would tire quickly due to the exercise they had completed before the game. To keep their energy and combat effectiveness up, they needed to make regular substitutions.

"Peeeeeeeeep!!!..."

The referee gave the order and the game started.

The sand clock also started timing.

To be Continued...