Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 1148

Capítulo 1148: Greek war: Siege (4)

1st June 1698

Countless thoughts ran through Agni’s mind. He knew if things went on like this, the Navy would lose its battle effectiveness completely, and things would end before he could imagine.

The European coalition and the Bharatiya Navy were like tall buildings, and if firepower is the height and defence of the building, then the number of ships is the foundation and the base. So, even though in terms of firepower and defence, the Bharatiya Empire is not too far off when compared to the European fleet, but due to the huge disparity in numbers, the possibility of the building caving in all of a sudden due to a weak foundation is not out of the question.

Agni knew this exactly, but no matter what idea he came up with to combat the situation, he ended up rejecting it himself. Well, the cards he was dealt were not good to begin with, so there was very little of what he could do. The bombardments went on, and the sounds of screams and explosions were like stimuli to Agni’s mind.

Every moment he could not think of a solution, he felt irritated, especially since he could almost feel the aura of desperation emanating from his sailors.

“Damn it”

He cursed under his breath, not only because he could not come up with a solution, but also because he could only see one possible outcome from the whole ordeal, an outcome that would let the majority of the fleet survive, but sadly, this is also an outcome where the Bharatiya Empire would be losing the Suez Canal.

Agni looked out over the sea with growing irritation. Just as he was about to give the order for a strategic retreat, his eyes moved across the enemy fleet, and a strange thought crossed his mind, the image of a land battle. Infantry lines colliding, banners whipping in the wind, and then cavalry charging in, smashing through the enemy formation. ‘If only there were cavalry, ‘ he thought.

Suddenly, Agni’s eyes widened as an idea struck him.

It was bold, almost reckless, even by his standards. Yet his instincts told him it could work, and with few options left besides retreat, he decided to take the risk and try it.

“Come here”

Agni called his communications officer and explained his plan.

The communications officer was visibly shaken. ” Are you sure, your highness? ” He asked with a little panic. In the end, Agni nodded. “Just relay the news. ”

Soon, fireworks flew into the air, and the messages were very quickly transmitted between the ships.

Captains and senior captains of various battle groups were uncertain about the orders, but even they realised that they couldn’t hold on against the European fleet for much longer, so they all unanimously decided to give the idea of his highness a try.

Unlike the captains, Rajendra Singh Rathore was not immediately doubtful about the idea. Instead, receiving the instructions from his highness Agni, he had his eyes lit. Unlike others who could not completely comprehend the plan of Agni, he caught the essence of it and was very confident about it.

‘What a brilliant plan, ‘ He thought to himself. He not only felt that using the cavalry tactics in a naval battle was novel, but he also felt it was brilliant because it maximises the advantages of the Bharatiya Navy while minimising the advantages of the opponent.

“Quickly get into formation, ” He ordered eagerly, with his eyes burning with passion.

What he, in fact, did not know was that even Agni himself did not have as much confidence as he did, because Agni actually had not thought about maximising the advantages of the Bharatiya fleet, or even minimising the very same advantages of the European fleet; he simply wanted to disrupt the situation and see if better possibilities would arise.

The six Surat-class battle cruisers were damaged to various degrees, but they were all still usable. All the Surat class ships moved forward and formed a pincer formation, followed closely by the 17 Delhi class battleships, forming a formation resembling an arrow. Heavy frigates, heavy clippers, light frigates, and light clippers began to fall into the gaps between the Delhi class battleships and took the centre position in various layers.

Edward Russell squinted his eyebrows and had a clueless expression on his face. ‘What the hell are they doing?’ He asked himself. It was not only Edward who was confused; the other admirals of the various fleets, like Anne Hilarion de Costentin, comte de Tourville of France, Marco Antonio Giustiniani of Italy, and Sir John de Witt of the Netherlands, all looked at what the Bharatiya Navy was doing, dumbfounded.

Rajendra Singh, seeing as how the formation was in place, took out the gun from its holster, pointed it up, and pressed the trigger.

“Bang!”

“Charge!”

The Six Surat class battle cruisers were like race horses that were taken off the reins, with sails unfurled fully, and the winds pushing them forward.

The battleships, frigates, and clippers, taking advantage of there being no wind resistance, followed closely behind, tailing each other in tight-knit formations.

“Battery1 position X-90 Y-45.”

“Battery2 position X-90 Y-35.”

Orders rang out across the decks, sharp and urgent. Gun crews sprang into motion, throwing their full focus into calibrating the naval guns, adjusting elevation, windage, and range with practised precision. On the frigates and clippers, Gatling gun teams hurriedly swapped out overheated barrels and fed in fresh ammunition belts, the metallic clatter echoing over the waves. At the same time, mortar crews secured their shells, checked fuses, and angled their tubes, while the crews of the high-calibre multi-fire guns locked breeches, primed triggers, and stood ready, waiting for the single command that would unleash everything at once.

Although the Europeans did not understand what the Bharatiyas were doing, they took the opportunity to dish out a concentrated round of fire now that the area of the target had shrunk.

The Delhi class and the Surat class were absorbing all the damage and chugging along. The captains and the senior captains knew that this could not go on for long. A few more rounds of bombardments, and they would be done for. Even if the battleships of the Bharatiya Empire have a reputation of being unable to sink, there is only so much punishment each of the ships could take, and now that the capital ships are basically the target of the entire European fleet, their death may come sooner.

However, Rajendra Singh, despite the violent shaking of the ship, remained unmoved. His eyes were still burning bright, ” Anytime now…” He kept muttering as he gauged the distance between his fleet and the European fleet.

On the opposite side, after looking at the approaching Bharatiya fleet, Edward Russell and the other admirals soon figured out what the Bharatiyas were up to. If they could not even figure that out, their positions would have been all for nothing.

After the realisation, the attacks became even more frantic and almost desperate.

“500 metres, 400 metres, 300 metres….”

The distances kept getting closer, and the ships spearheading the formation started to show a bloodthirsty light.

Leblanc was startled; he couldn’t help but rub his eyes. The Bharatiya ships that were fast approaching, though completely riddled with holes and blood stains, with some places even catching on fire, did not look less threatening at all. Instead, it showed an aura of a sharp blade about to pierce through his heart. Cold sweat appeared on his back, and he frantically looked around to see if there was a way out.

Looking at the big ship behind him, he roared to his sailors, “Hard right, and fall back.”

The sailors started to operate, but Leblanc kept urging, “Quicker, quicker, quicker.”

Just as the French clipper took cover beside an English Drake-class heavy frigate. The Bharatiya fleet caught a gap between the European fleet and rushed into it at full speed.

“Fire!!”

The battery lit up, and the muzzles were set ablaze.

“BANG!”

The ships at the front and the sides were blasted apart, and shockwaves were sent throughout the battlefield.

“BRRRRRRRRR”

“Hahahah, take that, you bastards.”

The Gatling guns lit up, putting 1000 holes in each ship.

“Boof”, “Boof”, “Boof”, “Boof”.

The mortars and multi-fire guns all went off, blasting anything that was to its side, with no resistance whatsoever.

“Reload and fire.”

As soon as the Bharatiya fleet pierced into the European coalition, it was as if the coalition’s combat effectiveness was reduced by half.

Now that the Bharatiya fleet was literally swimming in the middle of the European fleet, breaking through it like a hot knife through butter, like a bloody cavalry stomping down on the light infantry on a battlefield, the Europeans could not even aim properly. All the while, the Bharatiya Empire did not even need to aim; they simply turned their guns to the general direction of the enemy and kept firing as if there was no tomorrow.

Barrels turned red hot, and some even melted and bent, but it did not matter. Each and every Bharatiya sailor was in no mood to keep the ammunition for tomorrow. It was as if they were in a competition of who would empty out the ammunition first.

The Bharatiya naval fleet sailed on its own path, a bloody path, a path that had become the grave of battleships and warships alike, a path filled with debris, bodies, blood, and a horror story that would stay in the minds of those who survived and be told to their descendants for generations.

“Hahahah,” Rajendra Singh Rathore was laughing maniacally as he felt like he was the one holding the battle halberd, at the front of the cavalry charge, on top of a warhorse, his entire body drenched with blood, letting the cavalry slaughter the enemy with no resistance.

All the repressed emotions were unleashed, and he felt extremely comfortable.

The Bharatiya fleet ferociously drove through the middle of the European coalition. Edward Russell was unlucky to be on a capital ship that was in the middle of the coalition fleet at the rear end, so when he saw the fleet of the Bharatiya Empire like a bloody train, butchering everything in its path and wreaking havoc everywhere it passed by, he had his heart in his throat.

“Quick, fire, fire, fire,” he roared as he quickly sat down on the emergency boat and had it lowered.

The top officers who knew what was happening frantically tried to get on the same boat the admiral was on, while some, understanding that there was no time, simply jumped into the water and swam to other ships.

The Bharatiya fleet was here.

The Delhi class battleships scraped the walls of the sovereign class, and before the sailors on the ship could react.

“Boom!” A cannonball passed right through the hull of the ship, almost splitting it in half.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

Edward Russell saw in horror as the fleet of the Bharatiya Empire sailed past him like a blur, causing devastation for a few hundred metres throughout its surroundings.

Agni put down his binoculars and clenched his fist in excitement, but just when he was about to order for the same tactic to be repeated, his communication officer came to him with an odd expression and whispered something in his ear.

Hearing the intelligence, Agni’s expression darkened, and his fist that was loosened was tightened again, but this time, he was not filled with excitement, but anger.

In the end, he controlled his emotions and made a rational decision.

The Bharatiya fleet finally pierced through the European naval coalition and sailed into the free sea. The view was clear again, but this was not a good thing. The European coalition once again recalibrated its weapons and started firing from the back, but thankfully, the firepower was not so intense since an entire area of the fleet had been rendered ineffective and there were noticeably less weapons at the rear of the ships.

Rajendra Singh ordered the ship to be turned around for the second run.

“Your Excellency, the over 5 flagships are damaged beyond repair, and the masts have already tilted.”

Rajendra frowned and made a quick decision, “Abandon the ship, replace the flagship with the Guwahati class military transporter, and let’s go.”

But just when all the ships were about to set course for another opening in the European naval coalition, a red flare shot up into the sky at the distant horizon. Looking at this flare, everyone was in disbelief.

“Why?”

Rajendra was bewildered. His eyes widened.

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