Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 1145

Capítulo 1145: Greek war: Siege (1)

1st June 1698.

Simhasana Bhavana, Imperial capital Bengaluru, Akhand Bharatiya Empire.

Vijay got into the car with a sombre look on his face, catching the royal guards off guard. It took nearly a week for the intelligence about the attack on Greece to reach the capital. As soon as Vijay received the news, he did not hesitate and got in a car, his main destination being Mumbai, where he would meet the admirals of the other three naval fleets.

Vijay motioned Ganesh to continue.

Ganesh nodded and continued from where he left off, “After Admiral Rajendra Singh Rathore received the information about the Dutch and the English participating in the war with their European fleets, he made a decision to avoid confrontation with the French and Italian coalition in the Souda Bay, and retreated.”

“It is mentioned in here that Admiral Rajendra Singh Rathore suspected and strongly believed that the reason for the four kingdoms to lodge an attack on the Bharatiya Empire was because of the Suez Canal, so he directly retreated back to the Suez Canal, abandoning the strategic positions in Greece.”

Vijay frowned, but he could not blame Rajendra. If Rajendra had ordered for the Navy to go back to their bases, then it would have been easy picking for the coalition of four fleets. After all, no matter how advanced and how strategically advantageous positions they held, sometimes overwhelming quantity is enough to overcome quality, not to mention the difference between the ships themselves was not too great.

Sure, the Bharatiya ships were harder to sink, but in terms of handling and speed, they were not too far off. Besides, the conclusion Rajendra came to was spot on. The Suez Canal was definitely the trigger for this war. Isn’t that why Vijay sent Agni to participate in the inauguration, only after warning him of the possibility?

“Go on,” Vijay motioned with his hands.

Ganesh nodded and continued, “After the coalition of four fleets was formed, it launched attacks on four main locations. The first one is the island of Rhodes, the second one is the coastal city of Smyrna (Izmir). The third is the port of Thessaloniki, and finally the Gallipoli Peninsula.”

Vijay’s brows jumped. “Give me a European map,” He rang the bell that was right by his handrest and looked towards the front of the car. The royal guard quickly perused through the list of maps and handed one over through the heavy metal armour separating the compartments.

Vijay took over the map, had Ganesh hold it down on one end so that it wouldn’t roll over, and started circling the places that had been attacked.

Vijay studied the marked locations, and his expression darkened. Every single place that had been targeted, even by themselves, was of critical importance, either geographically or economically.

Take the Gallipoli Peninsula, for example. It controlled the Dardanelles Strait, the gateway to the Sea of Marmara. It was through this control of the Dardanelles that the Bharatiya Empire maintained a firm grip over Slavic Byzantium, as Constantinople was, at its core, a port city on the Sea of Marmara.

Moving on, the port of Thessaloniki was one of the most important harbours on the Greek mainland. Smyrna, meanwhile, was a key city along the Aegean coast, situated at the very heart of western Anatolia’s shoreline, granting a decisive advantage and immense influence over the Aegean Sea. The island of Rhodes was another major naval stronghold. And finally, there was Crete, the spark that had ignited it all, a crucial naval position and a central Mediterranean staging base. From Crete, influence could be projected across the entire eastern Mediterranean, making it a ladder to regional dominance.

But what Vijay was more worried about was that the combination of all these locations formed an unpenetrable bastion on the sea, turning the Aegean Sea into the world of the enemy coalition.

Vijay let out a deep and turbulent breath and leaned back, letting the map roll by itself. Vijay knew all this clearly because the Bharatiya Navy did the same thing. If the Mediterranean Fleet had not retreated and maintained its naval positions, even the coalition of the four fleets would have had to pay a very heavy price to capture the key strategic bases, but alas.

Vijay was not blaming Rajendra for abandoning the bases, since he knew he made the right decision. Compared to the Aegean Sea, the newly opened Suez Canal was much more crucial for the Bharatiya Empire. As long as the canal was still in its hands, what had been lost could slowly be taken back.

He was just lamenting that all of this would not have happened if the Mediterranean Defence Fleet had more battleships and warships. But sigh, it was completely impractical. The costliest to maintain were actually not the three other large fleets in the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, or the Atlantic Ocean, but the Mediterranean Fleet.

It was because in order to send a fleet there, ships had to be sent around the entire continent of Africa, and all the necessary supplies that had to be provided for the ships had to be purchased from allied countries. Whereas the three other fleets had their own military bases completely controlled by them, so the cost had been reduced a lot. In fact, they even had small manufacturing plants in their ports to replace any simpler parts.

The situation could have changed after the Suez Canal. He could have invested more into the Mediterranean Fleet, but such a thing happened. He had to give it to the Europeans; they picked a really good time for the attack.

Recollecting his thoughts, Vijay asked, “Anything else?”

Ganesh quickly looked through the intelligence report, and his eyes widened slightly. “It is said that the Kingdom of Slavic Byzantium and the Kingdom of Austria have both declared war on Greece. They have already mobilised the troops and are very likely to attack in the next few days.” Ganesh paused and looked at the emperor with a little worry. “The attack might have already been launched, your majesty.”

Vijay nodded. It was indeed the case, since this intelligence was a week old, the battle might have already started.

“Is there any other information about the naval coalition formed by the four kingdoms?”

Ganesh perused through the intelligence report once again and shook his head, “None, sire.”

Vijay became thoughtful. If his instincts were not wrong, the enemy should be launching an attack on the Mediterranean Fleet as well. Because he felt a slight threat to the life of Agni in his heart, and Agni was at the Dakshinamuki Port. He concluded that other than the enemies attacking the Suez Canal, there was no other possibility for his life to be threatened.

Thankfully, the threat was barely noticeable, so he was not worried for Agni. After all, he had survived much worse situations.

Dakshina Mukhi.

Looking at the large and encompassing fleet stretching throughout the horizon, Agni’s expression became sombre.

With the loss of two complete battle groups, amounting to over forty-one warships, the Bharatiya Mediterranean Defence Fleet was reduced to just over 219 vessels. Among them, only fifteen were battleships, supported by a mere six battle clippers.

The enemy situation, however, was far more forgiving. Although the Italians had lost more than five battleships and over two dozen vessels had been severely damaged, nearly rendered permanently inoperable, they managed to repair a significant portion of their fleet within the span of a week. Their strength soon rebounded to more than 100 warships. The French, English, and Dutch, meanwhile, suffered no notable losses, aside from detaching a battle group to secure their newly conquered bases in the Aegean Sea. The rest of their fleets converged to form the Four-Nation Coalition Navy.

The British Royal Navy contributed over 300 warships, the French Marine Royale more than 200, the Dutch Republican Navy around 190, and the Italians brought 100 warships of the Armata Federazione Italiana. In total, the coalition fielded more than 800 warships, including at least 100 battleships, the majority of them British-built.

Looking at the enemy ships appearing in every corner the eye could stretch, even Agni was a little shaken. Facing an enemy four times their own in number and at least three times in terms of firepower, he was a little unsure if the war should even be fought.

But looking back at the Suez Canal, the large stretch of water that flowed into the Middle East, splitting Israel and Egypt like a long snake, and joining the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, he became determined.

If the Suez Canal is lost, it will be equivalent to almost cutting off the influence of the Bharatiya Empire in Europe, and not only that, it will be like giving the Europeans direct access to the backyard of the Bharatiya Empire. No matter the cost, Agni should not let it happen.

“Prepare for battle,” he ordered.

Rajendra’s heart was palpitating. One look at the 800 warships, and he was completely shaken, but at the end of the day, he was a soldier of the Bharatiya Empire. He had reached the position of admiral after competing with hundreds of thousands of sailors every step of the way. Even if he lost his composure, he had enough experience to put himself back together.

“Yes, Sir!” Rajendra saluted with firm determination, turned around, and left. He might have recovered from the shock, but he did not know if his sailors could do the same, so he went first to boost their morale.

The entire time, Agni did not divert his gaze. His attention was completely fixed on the coalition fleet that was approaching.

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