Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 1151

Capítulo 1151: WW1: Sharpen the weapons

23rd June 1698.

Mumbai, Akhand Bharatiya Empire.

Vijay had just received the latest intelligence on the developments in Europe. Ganesh stood opposite him, as he had done countless times before while delivering reports to the emperor, yet this time he could not stop himself from trembling. It was not because his majesty was angry, but because he was calm, unnervingly calm.

You have to know, the kind of information he was relaying was nothing less than a major threat to the Bharatiya Empire, which had not been relayed ever since the Mughal Empire, which was at its peak declared war on the Vijayanagara Empire. Honestly, Ganesh felt like he could breathe easier if his majesty simply got angry and lost control, but the calmness he was seeing in his majesty’s eyes was like a serene lake without a ripple, and this made him extremely tense.

After finishing the report with some difficulty, he let out a deep breath and stepped aside, standing in complete silence while watching the emperor cautiously. He could tell that his majesty only appeared calm on the surface, like a clear blue sky, while internally a volcanic eruption was brewing. Because of that, he did his best not to disturb the emperor and even refrained from offering the opinions he usually gave.

Moments later, there was finally a reaction from the emperor.

Vijay let out a deep breath and rubbed his eyes, as he hadn’t blinked for a long time. ” The Mediterranean fleet is now in the Red Sea, yes?”

Ganesh quickly answered, “That is correct, your majesty. Over a hundred warships, among which three battleships and one battle cruiser, have made it out of the war. They are currently guarding the Suez Canal entrance from the Red Sea and undergoing repairs. His Highness Agni is overseeing the operation.” Remembering something, he added, ” The fleet we sent as reinforcement should have joined this group by now.”

Vijay nodded and got up. He walked to the safe that he travelled with, he took out the special seal as well as the document and drafted an ‘Edict’ to declare an emergency as well as to switch the Empire to a military economy.

“Send it to the various relevant departments and summon all the commanders that are currently present in the empire and who can reach Mumbai within half a day.”

“As you command, sire.”

8 hours later.

All the commanders, both from the navy and the army, were in front of Vijay, waiting for his instructions like students in front of a lecturer.

“Gentlemen and ladies, “Vijay started as he looked around at the room, “After a long time, the empire is facing a great adversity, and this adversity is not a nation or an empire, but the whole continent of Europe.”

He spread open the map on the wall and pointed to it, ” At the beginning of the month, Crete, an island territory of our ally UGSR, was attacked, and two battle groups of our empire’s navy had been destroyed.”

“The attack came from a nation we had considered an ally, the Italian Federation. It was an open act of betrayal. But unfortunately, we could not immediately punish the enemy for the betrayal because by the time reinforcements from the Bharatiya Mediterranean Defence Fleet reached Crete, the French had already joined the Italians to form a coalition. With intelligence confirming that the Dutch and the English fleets were also on their way, the commander of the Bharatiya Mediterranean Defence Fleet decided to pull back and secure the Suez Canal instead.”

“He made a correct decision, as the Suez Canal ended up being the primary target of the European coalition, as they brought their entire fleet, composed of over 800 warships, to occupy the port city we had built, the Dakshina Mukhi.”

“The battle was fought, and despite only being around 200 warships, we were able to disable and destroy more than 100 warships of the enemy, but at this time, another intelligence came to light. The Portuguese and the Spanish were on their way to join the coalition.”

“With them joining, knowing that the chance of victory is next to none, Agni had the fleet retreat. Out of the 250 warships in the Mediterranean Defence Fleet, only 100 odd ships are left, most of them incurring damage of various levels. They are currently guarding the entrance of the Suez Canal from the Red Sea, while on the other side, the coalition is making preparations to advance.”

In just a few moments, the entire eastern Mediterranean on the map was filled with red lines. Vijay looked at the commanders with a grim expression.

“Make no mistake. This is not purely a naval war either,” he said. “The moment our navy suffered a setback, the Kingdom of Slavic Byzantium and the Kingdom of Austria both declared war on our ally, the UGSR. The European coalition, which had already occupied bases inside UGSR, has begun using those bases as staging points and is now pushing inland with troops they imported.”

“On top of that, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Kingdom of Polish Lithuania are showing clear signs of supporting Slavic Byzantium and Austria. They appear to have reached an unofficial non-aggression understanding, one that will last until this war against UGSR is over.”

He looked around at the sombre expressions on everyone’s faces and continued, ” The British, the Portuguese, the Spanish, the French, the Italian, the Dutch, the Austrian, and the Slavic Byzantium. These eight countries are our main adversaries. The Prussians and the Polish Lithuanians have a high chance of becoming our enemies as well, but they are sitting right on the edge.”

“So I will reiterate once more. We are up against the entire European continent, one of the continents where advanced human civilisations were born.”

“But…” Vijay’s tone hardened, cutting through the room, “Are we afraid?”

“NO!” the commanders roared in unison.

“Since they want war,” Vijay said coldly, “it is only right that we reciprocate.”

“However…” He stepped forward, pointed at the map of Europe, then violently tore it apart and threw it into the dustbin. The sudden act startled the officers, the sound of tearing paper echoing through the chamber like a declaration of intent.

“We do not play by their rules.” He showed the map of the entire world that was under it. “We set up the chessboard, and our chessboard is the entire world.”

The commanders immediately clenched their fists in excitement. Most of the people sitting in the room are talented officers who had grown up under the legends of men like Sarvesh Ranavikrama, Gangadhar, Ramayya Senapati, and others, and read and heard about their stories and exploits throughout their childhood. That was one of the reasons they joined the armed forces, but once they reached their current rank, they found that the empire was already at its peak, and there was practically no major conflict for which they had to be used. They spent their days training the troops and holding naval exercises, but now that his majesty declared war on such a grand stage, they could not help but get excited.

Vijay could feel their emotions and nodded in satisfaction.

“Here’s what we are going to do. We attack all their naval bases and colonies. We either destroy their navies and armies, or we make them submit.”

“This war will be fought in three stages. The first stage will be centred on Africa. Every region occupied or controlled by the Europeans will be attacked and wiped out. European influence will be completely erased, and the liberated people will be brought under our system.”

“The second stage will follow the same approach in the Americas. As for the third stage, we will finally turn our full attention to the source of all these problems, Europe, the land of warmongers and colonists.”

“We will defeat them on their own soil. I want them to pay for their arrogance.”

“Now, gentlemen and ladies, I expect your units to be battle-ready and capable of operating at a moment’s notice.”

“That concludes this briefing. Further instructions will be issued in the coming days.”

“Dismissed.”

After the briefing, Vijay directly summoned the chief of logistics, Basaveshwara, and directly ordered, “All 12 Ramachandra class battleships will be put into service immediately. Quickly take over the ships and integrate them into the navy.”

Basaveshwara took a big gulp and nodded, “As you wish, your majesty.” Previously, he had no such power to directly take over the ships from the shipyard without completing the negotiations, but now that his majesty had declared an emergency, everything had changed. His power has increased severalfold, and he is now able to legitimately take over the ships and not worry about immediate compensation.

Vijay looked at Basaveshwara with a serious expression, “The new battleship under construction is bound to be completed in three months, right?”

Basaveshwara immediately understood what ship his majesty was talking about and nodded in a serious expression, “Yes, your majesty, you are right.”

“Alright, immediately inform the shipyard to expand its scale and ask them to manufacture ten more ships and have them be ready by the end of the year.”

“Gulp!”

“As you command, your majesty.”

“Dismissed!!”

“Thank you, sire.”

Vijay leaned back and fell into deep thought.

The new ship he was referring to was not the Ramachandra class itself, but a new battleship developed as an upgraded version of it. In terms of looks and overall aesthetics, it retained the same design language as the Ramachandra class, using a similar metal composition, though refined through several iterative upgrades. Its weapon systems followed the same pattern as well, with improved versions of the primary, secondary, and tertiary batteries, along with upgraded fire-control systems.

The most significant change, however, was the ship’s size. The Ramachandra class displaced over 2,850 tonnes, while the newer ship exceeded 3,750 tonnes, making it roughly 32% larger. Another major difference lay in its power system, which was, in fact, the primary reason this ship was designed in the first place. Unlike the Ramachandra class, which relied on reciprocating steam engines, this new battleship marked a major technological leap.

That leap was made possible by an Assyrian scientist who had emigrated to the Bharatiya Empire during the Ottoman massacres. He developed a theoretical concept for a steam turbine. His second son, Vedant, took a keen interest in the idea and, after handing over the research of the third-generation Jalaputra engine to other researchers, began working on steam turbine development alongside Vega.

They were successful two years ago, and since then, a ship has been built using the Bhairavi Vega Generation One steam turbine as its core power system.

The new ship, named the Maharaja Rama Chandra class, was equipped with two steam turbines arranged in the same layout as the Ramachandra class. However, because steam turbines were far more powerful, the performance gain was substantial. For comparison, the second-generation Bhairavi Jalaputra Generation 2 engine produced 280 horsepower with a torque of 30,000 Kanda-metres. In contrast, the Bhairavi Vega first-generation steam turbine delivered 420 horsepower each, a 50% increase in power, with a torque output of 22,000 Kanda-metres. This figure was measured at the propeller rather than at the gearing. When both turbines were combined, the Maharaja Rama Chandra class battleship achieved a total output of 840 horsepower and 44,000 Kanda-metres of torque, clearly optimised for speed.

It was precisely because of this ship’s development that Vijay halted the production of the Ramachandra class after only twelve vessels had been built. With the Maharaja Rama Chandra class in service, a ship comparable to a First World War–era dreadnought in strategic impact, the need for smaller battleships had become almost nonexistent.

Vijay’s plan was simple. The twelve Ramachandra-class battleships would be used to clear the first stage of the war, while the Maharaja Ramachandra class would be reserved to deal with everything that followed.

Once he had a clear understanding of what needed to be done, Vijay rose and left. There was still the matter of allocating troops to march into Greece. After all, even though he had decided that Europe itself would be dealt with last, the three remaining major allies in the region, the Kingdom of Egypt, the Kingdom of Israel, and the United Greek Socialist Republics, could not be abandoned. Until stages one and two were completed, those three nations had to hold out.

As he walked, he thought silently, ‘With the Bharatiya Navy temporarily absent, the coastlines of all three countries would effectively become enemy territory. But, I’m sure it will only be temporary.’ Thinking this, his eyes sharpened. ‘So you like blocking important waterways, right?’ He thought coldly. ‘Fine. I will show you how it is really done.’

P.S. Thank you, otakuboi67, for the 20,000 coins worth of gifts (ʘᗩʘ’).

P.S. Thank you, udhanva_SH, for the ice cola.

P.S. Thank you, Rajat_Singh_0489, for a luxury car and a massage chair.

P.S. Thank you, Rahul_Rajput_9898, for the ice cola.

Like it ? Add to library！

P.S. Thank you, otakuboi67, for the 20,000 coins worth of gifts (ʘᗩʘ’).