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After the war started, Arjun immediately took off and climbed the high wall of the city before taking a position from where he could observe the whole battlefield.
After making sure his position was right, he pulled his bowstring back to his ear.
"Swiish...Swishhh...!!"
Before the Panchala soldiers—who were also aiming with their bows and arrows on the rooftops in the opposite direction from Arjun—even before they could aim their iron arrows at the street below where the Pandavas and their soldiers were, Arjun unleashed a lightning-fast volley of arrows.
"Shwiish...swiish....!!"
He didn't shoot to kill the citizens—instead, his precision arrows shattered the platforms, pinned the archers' bows to the wooden beams, and destroyed their supplies of arrow quivers. In moments, the rooftop advantage that had devastated Duryodhana's troops was completely neutralized by Arjun's great mastery of archery.
"Hahaha....come...come face my mighty Gada (Mace)!" Down in the narrow streets, Bheem laughed loudly as he taunted the soldiers, becoming an unstoppable force of nature.
"Haaaa...!!" Holding his massive mace high, he let out an earth-shattering war cry that made the Panchala horses rear back in panic. Alongside Nakul and Sahadeva, who moved like twin whirlwinds of cold steel, Bheem charged right into the center of the Panchala veteran soldiers.
Armed with unmatched brute strength and perfect coordination, the three brothers dismantled the enemy formations. Nakul cut down the reins of the enemy chariots with swift sword strikes, while Sahadeva effortlessly disarmed the high-ranking soldiers.
Nobody was a match for Bheem's strength as he swept through their vanguard like a storm, throwing aside armored soldiers and shattering their heavy wooden shields into splinters.
Meanwhile, Yudhishthira drove his chariot directly toward King Drupada, keeping his calm and calculated vision locked onto the veteran ruler.
"Hmmn...the Pandava Princes are formidable!" Drupada muttered to himself, realizing that these young princes were far more dangerous than the ones before. He fired a dense shower of glowing arrows to halt Yudhishthira's approach.
"Swiishh...Swiish...!!"
But Yudhishthira intercepted every single projectile in mid-air with his own swift counter-arrows, expertly neutralizing Drupada's strategic moves before they could take effect.
Seeing his soldiers and generals falling one after another, and looking at his rooftop defense completely dismantled by Arjun's non-stop arrow cover, King Drupada tried to maneuver his chariot to reform his troops. But Arjun, observing everything from the high wall, spotted the move instantly.
"Swiiish....Boommn...!!"
With a single, impeccably aimed shot, Arjun severed the axle of Drupada's royal chariot from a tremendous distance.
The heavy vehicle crashed to the ground, throwing the Panchala King off balance. Before Drupada could even recover his footing or draw his sword, Bheem stormed through the remaining guards, clearing a path like a runaway elephant.
"Surrender, King Drupada, you have lost this war," Arjun said loudly. With a single breath, he leapt down from the high wall, landing lightly right in front of the fallen king with his bow fully drawn, while Yudhishthira stepped forward to block any escape.
Surrounded by the five brothers, his army scattered, and his city secured with minimal bloodshed, King Drupada knew he was thoroughly outmatched by both wit and might. He slowly lowered his weapon.
"Very well, you have outmatched me and I have no complaints. I yield this victory to you, Pandavas." King Drupada stood up while putting down his weapons as he turned to the Pandavas before accepting his defeat.
Bheem swiftly bound the proud King of Panchala with a rope, securing him onto Arjun's chariot. In less than two Prahars, exactly as Arjun had promised their Guruvar, the Pandavas turned their chariots around and began their march back to the outskirts of Kampilya to present their captured prize at the feet of Guru Drona.
"Guruvar, just as we promised, here is King Drupada at your feet." The Pandavas arrived back where Guru Drona and the defeated Kauravas, along with Mama Shakuni, were waiting for them. Arjun presented the bound King Drupada at Guru Drona's feet, speaking with a proud expression.
"Well done, my Pandava Shishyas. I am proud of you." Guru Drona nodded and smiled widely, seeing that the Pandavas had succeeded in capturing King Drupada.
"King Drupada, do you remember in the past when I had nothing and was very poor? You humiliated me in front of everyone. Now look—you are bound and captured by the Shishyas I taught." Guru Drona turned towards King Drupada as he spoke, reminding him why he had wanted revenge against him.
"Yes, Guru Drona! I remember, and I apologize for the past mistakes which I have made in my foolishness. You can do whatever you deem fit, and I will accept the punishment for my atonement." King Drupada didn't make any excuses; he simply humbled himself and apologized for his mistakes, ready to accept whatever punishment Guru Drona deemed fit for him.
"I praise your bravery and humility in accepting your mistakes and taking responsibility as a king. As a Guru to the Princes of Hastinapur, I will not pursue you any further, but as punishment, you must part with half of your Kingdom." Guru Drona sighed, looking at King Drupada, who accepted his mistakes like a true king, and decided to take only half of his Panchala state as punishment and forgive him for now.
The entire Kingdom of Panchala was divided in two by the Bhagirathi (Ganges) River.
Northern Panchala, whose capital was Ahichchhatra, Drona took for himself, while King Drupada was given the other half of his kingdom: Southern Panchala, whose capital they were currently standing in—Kampilya.
Drona then said to King Drupada, "Now I rule half the kingdom, and you rule the other half. We are now equals in wealth and power."
After that, they departed from Panchala, back to Hastinapur.
Even though the Panchala King Drupada accepted his defeat at the hands of the Pandavas, he felt his pride as a warrior was ground to dust by Dronacharya. He swore to himself that he would take his revenge against Dronacharya, and until he did, he would not rest.
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