Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 1157

Capítulo 1157: WW1: Cape Town (4)

The entire battle may have appeared extremely complicated, but in reality, the engagement lasted only a few hours. The Bharatiya fleet executed only a single pincer manoeuvre, and by the time its ships withdrew to prepare for the next move, the European fleet had already been defeated.

What was left behind after the battle was nothing but devastation. Ship debris littered the waters, and among it floated bodies, pale, bloodless, and cold, drifting helplessly as turbulent waves pushed them about. The fires aboard the wrecked vessels had not yet died down. Flames still raged fiercely, reducing wood to ash and sending thick plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky.

Vijay lowered the binoculars without any expression on his face. What he saw just now was like a post-apocalyptic landscape, where a disaster had destroyed an entire port. With his keen eyesight, he could even perceive that the colour of the water hitting the shore had a light hue of red formed by the amount of bloodshed that just taken place. But things like this no longer affected him. He was simply satisfied in his heart that he did not have to lose too many troops in the battle, thanks to the full metal ramachandra class battleships.

Almost an hour passed from the time the battle had ended, and Vijay felt like it was enough time for restlessness on his side to settle down and for the nerves on the enemy side to tighten. “Send in the Marines, let’s conquer Cape Town in one fell swoop,” Vijay ordered, and the communications officer who was responsible for passing his commands immediately sent the Emperor’s order to both the commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Yashvardhan Keshav, and the general of the armed forces, Lieutenant General Mugund Padmanabam.

On the other side, General Hendrick van Nassau watched the Bharatiya fleet with bated breath. He stood behind a hastily fortified wall of sandbags, his hands pressed firmly into them, his eye fixed to the telescope. He remained in that position for more than an hour, unmoving, as if rooted in place.

Hendrick was sweating profusely, his entire body drenched and foul with the stench of fear and exhaustion. He was worn down both mentally and physically, yet he did not dare relax even for a moment. He knew the Bharatiyas would come at any time, and that anticipation kept his nerves stretched to the breaking point.

Deep down, he understood that what he was doing was foolish. He knew the crafty Bharatiyas were deliberately delaying their landing to tighten the pressure on him. And yet, he could not stop himself. Even though the lookouts could have done this job for him, after witnessing firsthand the destruction of their navy, he was far too restless to remain idle. Staying in one place, blind to what was unfolding, and placing his trust in others had become impossible in his current state.

Because of this insistence of his, the situation became worse as time went on. Although he seemed extremely focused, staring at the Bharatiyas like a hawk, in reality, his eyes had become dull, as if they were simple optical devices without any intelligence behind them.

There was finally a change in the stagnant scenery. Several metal warships of the Bharatiya Empire, the smaller ones, approached the dock, navigating the wreckage at high speeds.

Since he saw the same thing for more than an hour, and stood like a statue for that exact amount of time, he did not immediately react to what was happening.

Only when a Bharatiya ship hit a large debris and made a sound did Hendrik wake up from his stupor and react.

“Prepare for battle,” he roared.

The soldiers, who had begun to relax when the Bharatiyas did not immediately attempt a landing after the battle, suddenly sprang to their feet and raised their guns toward the approaching vessels.

“Artillery, take aim and…” “Fire.”

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

The cannonballs pierced through the air, hurtling towards the Magadha Class warships at speeds exceeding 200 metres per second.

“Brace for impact,” the captains of the Magadha Class warships roared in unison, as they themselves held on to a sturdy part of the ship tightly, unwilling to let go, even as the ship rocked violently.

A captain’s face was filled with anger for being hit. He looked after his warship with so much care, and even during the battle, he was so meticulous as not to let it come under the direct fire of the enemy. Now, the bastards actually dared to fire at his ship. He was beyond furious.

“Calibrate the first turret, Y at 0 and X at 10.”

Even before the order got to the artilleryman, the executive officer of the ship looked at him with surprise and bewilderment. “Captain, we’re not in the optimal range yet; the probability of causing damage is very close to negligible.”

The captain did not change his decision at all. He already knew that the shot wouldn’t hit anything meaningful, but it was not his habit to receive a beating and not give it back, and he is the kind of person who cannot wait to give it back. “I know, I’m aware of the problem, but still relay my order. Tell the artillery men to adjust the angles to aim right in front of the enemy, the closer the better.”

His expression became ruthless. “It doesn’t matter if the shells do not directly hit them; what I want these cannonballs to hit is their morale. They should see and feel that we are approaching; death is approaching.”

The executive officer wanted to refute, but looking at the captain’s expression, he swallowed his words and dutifully passed the orders.

“Boom!”

The firing from the Magadha Class warship at the front was like a bolt from the blue; it drew the attention of all the other ships in the group. They were confused, as none of their vessels were equipped with the larger naval guns installed on battleships. Instead, they were fitted with smaller calibre breech-loading cannons, and from the sound alone it could be made out that the enemy had quite a number of large defensive cannons installed, which typically had a longer range.

Technically, they should not have had the ability to counterfire yet, but here they were, with one of them actually firing toward the enemy. And this was not just once; it happened continuously, one shot after another.

“What is this guy doing?”

“Whose ship is it?”

“How did a person who gave such an order become a captain?”

Numerous questions arose from the fellow captains, but one of the captains noticed something strange. The attack of the enemy became less accurate and even a little erratic. Although it was barely noticeable, he cleverly caught it. “Could it be?” An idea popped into his mind, and his eyes brightened.

“Quick, calibrate the turret and fire just like BNV Punnapalli.”

“Boom!”

Hendrick’s expression turned ugly as yet another ship began firing at them. Although the cannonballs fell short every time and the ships were still some distance away, the incoming shells startled his soldiers, who had witnessed only hours earlier the devastation caused by the very weapons now being fired in their direction.

Because of this, their efficiency dropped sharply, and even their accuracy weakened. Hendrick was so enraged that he wanted to replace the artillerymen on the spot, but with only a limited number of specialised soldiers available, he had no such option. All he could do was stand behind them and roar at the top of his lungs, urging them on with whatever encouragement he could muster. All of it, however, went to waste, as the number of cannonballs fired at them increased substantially, continuing to rise as more ships joined the ground ploughing initiative.

The cannonballs began to land only a few hundred metres in front of their positions, and with every passing moment, the distance shortened by several metres. With each heartbeat, it felt as though death itself was drawing closer.

He became so nervous that he did not realise that nearly 80% of the artillery shells missed the target, and of the remaining 20%, only the edge was hit, and even for the ones that squarely hit the ship, it was useless, because even though the Magadha Class ship was not a battleship like the Ramachandra class, it was still a 1000 tonne warship made up of metal. A few decades ago, it would have been the main battleship of the Bharatiya Empire, so its defence was not weaker than the Ramachandra class at all.

As the harbour was only a few metres away, the men on the machine guns unloaded everything they had. Even though there was no one on site, they wanted to make sure that the enemy in the distance, at a better vantage point, would not advance to stop their landing.

The Marines jumped into the harbour without hesitation and immediately assumed defensive positions.

Numerous bullets began to rain in their way, but they quickly took defensive positions against a three-inch-thick tower shield that had to be moved by over three men.

Behind the shield, fortifications were unloaded from the ship, and a small temporary wall made up of sandbags was formed.

‘clip!’

The Marines quickly installed mortars and rocket launchers and started bombarding the enemy without a gap in the firepower.

General Hendrik’s expression was completely opposite now. Before, he was staring at the enemy like his life depended on it, and now he completely hid his face, not even peeking towards the harbour. After all, the stories of Bharatiya snipers taking out high-value military targets had spread throughout the world, and he had no interest in becoming one of those stories.

He heard the deafening sound of explosions, screams, and cries from his soldiers, and understood he had lost the harbour.

“Retreat back to the city,” he resolutely ordered. He knew there was no way he could compete with the Bharatiya Army on land, especially with the numerous kinds of weapons and the tactics they used.

As the Europeans began their retreat, rangers and commandos were immediately deployed to secure a narrow perimeter around the harbour. Sharpshooters were positioned at every vantage point, overlooking streets, rooftops, and approaches, ensuring complete control of the area. Only once the zone was firmly locked down did the main army move in, finally setting foot in the harbour of Cape Town.

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