Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 1142

Chapter 1142: Greek war: Overwhelmed!! (6)
“Heh heh, Captain Agarwal could have retreated and survived. After all, we already had the upper hand against the Mughals, but he chose to stay behind, draw the enemy’s attention, and save our squadron. In the end, we won the war the very next week anyway. His death made almost no contribution to the victory, but because of him, we survived.”

The kind old man patted the back of a young boy dressed in a military uniform. “Little Adi, the uniform you’re wearing carries great responsibility and burden.” The old man gently smoothed the fabric with his wrinkled hands and corrected the collar. “So once you wear this uniform, even if you feel helpless, even if you feel like you do not matter, you must move forward with determination. You must do the best you can, just like my captain did, because that is what a soldier does, his best.”

Aditya Malhotra’s emotions were in turmoil when he understood that Senior Captain Amarinder Prasad had deliberately stayed behind. Knowing the weight of that decision, he could not help but recall the words of his late great-grandfather, Prakash Malhotra, a captain of the 5th Reconnaissance Special Forces Unit of the Bharatiya Army.

Ever since he was a little boy, he heard such stories from his grandfather about how there were people who died in the line of duty in heroic sacrifice in order to save their men. But he had never witnessed anything like that with his own eyes. That is…until now. He finally understood that the kinds of people his grandfather used to talk about really existed.

“Would I do the same?” he asked himself. Honestly, he didn’t know. Even though he, like millions of others in the military, had sworn to protect the nation and its interests with their lives, he knew that almost no one truly wanted to die if they could live. He was no different. Perhaps if it had really been him on that ship, he would have evacuated with everyone else instead of gambling on a final, defiant triumph.

Maybe that was what separated people like him from the legendary heroes his grandfather used to speak of.

He removed his hat and put it on his chest, looking at the place where the ship had completely sunk with deep respect and reverence.

“Soldiers, get ready for a battle. Our navy did its job, and now it’s time for us to do ours.”

The soldier’s eyes were blazing with fire. Instead of having a demoralising effect, the defeat of the Navy actually lit up a fire in everyone’s belly, especially after they heard the final actions of senior captain Amarinder.

Since the Navy had already bloodied the Italian fleet, giving it a bruised face and a broken leg, why couldn’t they do the same? Forty ships of the Bharatiya Navy had crippled nearly a hundred enemy vessels and destroyed at least thirty of them outright. Were they any weaker than those sailors? So what if the enemy had greater numbers? There were four thousand Bharatiya soldiers on land, and with the surviving sailors joining their ranks, couldn’t they take at least twenty thousand enemies down with them? What was there to fear? Wasn’t this simply finishing what the Navy had started?

Heh. They would not let the sacrifice of Senior Captain Amarinder, or the thousands of sailors, go to waste.

The entire port was silent, but the aura of bloodlust radiating from the Sauda Brigade was unmistakable. Even the lookouts on the Italian ships took in a big gulp and drew a cross on their hearts.

‘Thank God we won’t be going up against them.’

Armata Federazione Italiana

“What was that last attack?” Marco Antonio Giustiniani asked, his brows furrowed.

His first and second in command, Francisco and Giovanni, looked at each other, confused; they did not know either. In the end, Alessandro put forward his conjecture.

“It might be some sort of a rocket that is launched underwater, sir.” Thinking about it, he added, “The sailors who were closest to the enemy capital ship said that four sharks were released from under the ship. These sharks they talk about might be the underwater missile released by the Bharatiya Empire, and given that three explosions happened, I think one of it missed the target.”

“This also explains why the hull of the ship was punctured. These missiles hit the ships from under the surface.”

Marco’s expression turned grave, ‘A rocket that can be fired underwater?’ Even thinking about it made him shudder, ‘If they had weapons like this, why didn’t they use them from the beginning?’ Realising something, he asked himself, ‘could it be…’ His eyes flickered. Could it be because it is not possible to use it reliably, or is it too expensive? Whichever it is, for him it’s an advantage. More importantly, one did not explode?

He swiftly turned towards Francisco, “Find the missing explosive, send it back to the federation. Hopefully, if we can replicate it, it will be one of our biggest trump cards. Oh, and…” His voice became lower, “Do it before the arrival of the French.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Putting that aside, what’s the status of the three ships?”

Francisco, his first-hand man, responded, “Their condition is not good. The first layer of the hull is completely flooded, with the hole at the bottom being as big as a small tub. It is only thanks to compartmentalisation technology that water did not flood the entire ship, but despite that, it has already tilted quite a bit away from its centre of gravity, and it would need extensive repairs before it is operational again.”

Hearing this, Marco grew deeply troubled. When they arrived, he commanded a total of fourteen battleships. Now, nearly three Venezia-class battleships had been completely destroyed and lay at the bottom of the bay, while the rest had suffered varying degrees of damage. Although he still possessed a large number of heavy frigates, clippers, light frigates, light clippers, supply ships, and other vessels, the absence of even a single fully operational battleship had drastically reduced the overall effectiveness of his fleet.

“For now, start the internal repairs and salvage the parts from the wrecked Bharatiya ships on the sea. Oh, and when you send sailors to find the underwater weapon, have them salvage those Bharatiya weapons as well.”

“We’re not going to take over the port, sir?” Francisco asked, surprised.

Marco shook his head, “Advanced weapons have much higher leverage on land battles than at sea. We have to pay too much in order to take over the port, so let’s wait for the French. They should be here any moment now. It wouldn’t be too late to take over the port with their assistance.”

“Understood!”

Slowly and finally, the French Marine Royale, a fleet consisting of 251 ships, out of which 47 were capital ships, arrived at the Sauda bay.

The admiral of the French Marine Royale, Anne Hilarion de Costentin, comte de Tourville, shook hands with the Italian supreme commander, Marco Antonio Giustiniani.

“Greetings, monseigner Marco, I see you had a tough battle to fight.”

Marco nodded, “Well, what can you do? These Bharathias are tough bastards to crack.”

Tourville nodded in understanding, “That is indeed true. I’ve heard much tales about the Bharatiyas and their fight to the death battle philosophy,” “But monseigner Marco, you still managed to defeat them so quickly, haha. The Italian federation really does have a good talent. The heritage of the Venetians is not wasted.”

Marco merely smiled and said nothing. He could sense the schadenfreude, tinged with a hint of sarcasm, but there was little he could do about it. He was in a weaker position and had no choice but to remain silent, especially since he still needed the French. However, his silence did not spare him from Tourville’s scrutiny.

“I see you are salvaging the spoils,” Tourville remarked coolly, “yet you have not occupied the port. Could it be that the Bharatiyas still hold it?”

Marco nodded. “There is a brigade holding the port, and the Greeks have joined them as a coalition. Conservatively speaking, there are around eight thousand armed defenders.”

Tourville frowned. “That’s not good. We also need to replenish our supplies. More importantly, this bay is an excellent defensive position. We have to clear the port immediately.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Marco agreed. “All four of my military transporters are intact, along with eight supply ships carrying troops.”

“I’m ready to commit ten thousand troops at once.”

Tourville considered it for a moment, then nodded decisively. “Very well. We French, will match that number. We should move quickly and seize the port.”

“Yes.”

After coming to an understanding, Marco let out a sigh of relief. The reinforcements from the rest of the Bharatiya battle groups should be here in a few hours. Within that time, the port should be under control, so that the armies they had bought can be garrisoned on the port, and they could get a steady supply of materials to fight the Bharatiya battle groups.

Souda Bay

Aditya Malhotra looked ugly. The Italians actually sided with the French; this was something he had never foreseen, but he quickly came back to his senses after realising that numerous small boats were approaching the shore at a fast speed.

“Fire at will,” he roared.

The machine guns, cannons, mortars, howitzers, and rifles all went off, welcoming the coalition of Italian and French troops with a bloodbath.

However, unfortunately, now that there was no Bharatiya Navy to provide protection to them, the naval cannons were pointed towards the port.

“BOOM!”

Cannonballs capable of leaving large craters on the ground began to fall on the port, killing dozens of people at a time. Aditya tried to attack the ships, but at this time, the Italian and French soldiers took the opportunity to move forward despite the firepower from the Gatling gun cutting down a lot of them.

Knowing that he was fighting a losing battle, he decided to take a step back.

“Pull back the heavy artillery, and the rest provide cover fire. We will retreat to the city.”

Earlier, he had ordered Lieutenant Colonel Karan Singh to evacuate the residents of the city far inland and set up defences within the city for a gorilla-style attack, and now it looks like his decision was correct. Although he felt helpless under the bombardment of the naval cannons of two different fleets, he was pretty confident in holding his own in the city landscape and forests, no matter if he was outnumbered once or twice.

The Italians and the French got what they wanted: the port.

Marco was overjoyed and immediately ordered for the damaged ships to be repaired, while the French started to replenish the supplies.

At this time, the French reconnaissance vessel brought a piece of news which alerted both Tourville and Marco.

The reinforcements from the Bharatiya Navy were here.

They both looked at each other with smiles in their eyes. Once this fleet is defeated, it means they were extremely close to their objective.