Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Chapter 375: Realisation From The Battle & Seemantham

April 2nd, 1656

Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, Vijayanagar State, capital city - Hampi

In the study room of the Royal Palace in Hampi, Vijay is lying on his back, simply giving himself some rest as bandages can be seen in various places on his body.

It has been two days since the tragic battle against the Swiss mercenaries ended in the fortress of Ballari. It was in this battle that Vijay was injured in various places. Even though he had a very powerful body, super reflexes, and danger-sensing abilities, fighting against so many top-class mercenaries in the world was not an easy task. It was inevitable that he would suffer some injuries.

Fortunately, the injuries were not too severe, and they would recover by themselves in a few months. Currently, a mixture of turmeric and Ashwagandha has been applied to all his injuries to minimize the possibility of infection to a very small number.

Although the wounds currently hurt a little, it was not too much for Vijay to bear. However, more than the injuries, it was the battle with the mercenaries that had left him with a lot to think about.

Although he knew there would be some discrepancies when facing the elite mercenary forces of the world, which even the major European countries had to vie for, he never expected the discrepancy to be so big that they were almost single-handedly dominated.

Of course, Vijay also knew why such devastating losses occurred after experiencing the battle. For instance, even though their homemade cannons matched the European cannons in range, they were still far inferior in accuracy, leading to a disastrous defeat.

Even though their guns, the Brown Bess rifles, were nearly 70 years ahead of their time, they were still traditional flintlock rifles that shot one bullet at a time. This meant that, although their firing efficiency was 50% more than the enemy’s, credited to their advanced mechanical features, advanced concepts, and advanced standardization design, such guns still loaded one bullet at a time.

In the final analysis, the effectiveness of the weapon came down to the user. The Bharatiya soldiers, who had barely had the guns for a few months, were no match for the European firearm users who might have experienced dozens of battles and had an excellent familiarity with their weapons.

And that is not considering the higher power of the old-school muskets and arquebuses. Although these two firearms were clumsy and a pain to maintain, in the hands of professionals who knew these guns every inch of their bodies, this disadvantage could be infinitely minimized and their advantages in firepower could be infinitely maximized.

Ultimately, this is what happened on the battlefield.

The other thing Vijay noticed was how easy it was for their formation to be broken. Vijay is not talking about the Japanese cannon; no, because that situation was something no one could predict or expect.

What Vijay was talking about was how easy it was for his soldiers, even the ones trained in the most difficult special forces training plans, to be split apart once the vanguard was broken. They were almost like animals that forgot how to think and attacked wildly according to their instincts.

Vijay had never witnessed this happen before, even when they fought against the Mughal army or the Dutch army.

But after some thought, he did reach a realization that made him sigh.

The conclusion Vijay reached was that the Bharatiya Empire had not gone against anyone of a higher calibre. The Mughal Army could be considered of the same calibre as the Bharatiya Empire and, in most cases, even a lower calibre.

As for the Dutch, although their main army could be considered an opponent of the higher class, they had actually sent an untrained army with no battle experience, thinking that the subcontinent was easy to gain a foothold in.

So, in the final analysis, the Swiss military unit that attacked the Bharatiya Empire showed what the world’s top-tier military was like.

This realization made Vijay wake up, and the battle immediately brought him to reality.

"The continuous victories of the empire had made me a little arrogant, huh?" Vijay muttered to himself, his teeth clenched and fists trembling as he realized this was yet another mistake he had committed.

Fortunately, it was not too late. If this realization had come when multiple European countries turned their attention to the empire, which was a big piece of meat in an era where agriculture meant power, he would have had to pay a higher price than he did today.

Thankfully, he made the realization quickly, regained his calmness, and determination filled his eyes as he planned to fix the issue immediately.

Thinking about all these matters, he was about to close his eyes and rest before attending the event that had started downstairs. However, his wish couldn’t be fulfilled as he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in."

It was the director of the Bharatiya Internal Pragya, Selvan, who entered the room dressed in luxurious black attire.

"We have collected the information you requested, Your Majesty," Selvan said, his eyes firm and expression calm.

Vijay’s drowsy eyes immediately brightened as he knew exactly what Selvan was talking about.

"Then tell me, who is the employer of those Swiss mercenaries?"

He was eager to know the identity, so he intently watched Selvan, waiting for his answer.

Selvan did not delay and immediately replied, coming straight to the point.

"Your Majesty, after a thorough investigation, and cross-checking with multiple of the remaining mercenaries, we came to a conclusion that was both unexpected and expected."

Vijay: "What does it mean?"

Selvan: "Well, Your Majesty, the expected part was that the Dutch had a part in the investment for the Swiss mercenaries this time, which was not too surprising considering our history." A thoughtful expression appeared on Selvan’s face as he continued, "But it was the next investor that was unexpected, it was the Kingdom of England.

I do not know what enmity we have with them for them to attack us, but the truth is England took part in the investment in the mercenary operations."

Vijay’s face immediately darkened, and his eyes blazed with killing intent. "Is it fate for such things to happen? Is the destiny of the two nations inseparable in this life too? Never! I will never let it happen. If it has to happen, it will only be over my dead body.

So what if the fate of the two nations is such? I will sink that small island if I have to," Vijay muttered, his expression extremely fierce as if he were meeting his mortal enemy.

"Your Majesty."

"YOUR MAJESTY!"

Fortunately, he was brought back to his senses with a shout from Selvan.

Vijay immediately suppressed his emotions and continued to ask, "Is there anything more?"

Selvan fell into deep thought, and as if he suddenly remembered something, he replied, "Well, Your Majesty, the Swiss Chief of Staff John did say that there was a third investor, but unfortunately, neither he nor his General Conrad knew who this investor was, according to him of course.

After cross-checking this piece of information with the remaining survivors, the authenticity of this information should be high."

"A hidden enemy, huh? Is it the Ottoman? If so, that would not be surprising," Vijay muttered under his breath as he speculated about the mysterious investor. Still, he was uncertain because if it was indeed the Ottoman Empire that had invested in the mercenaries, then they would have no reason to hide their identity.

Additionally, the scenario of the Ottoman Empire cooperating with both England and the Dutch is very unlikely, so Vijay is still hesitant to finalize his conclusion.

"Oh well, one step at a time," he thought, planning to invest in intelligence networks in Europe after the war.

As a final question, Vijay asked, "Do we have any information about how these mercenaries got inland without us knowing?"

Selvan nodded his head and responded, "Yes, Your Majesty. After investigation, we found that this was because of cooperation between the Swiss mercenaries and the Mughal Empire. The Mughal Empire, which was very quiet and docile in the Bay of Bengal due to our powerful naval might, suddenly, for some reason, used all its inland naval force to attack Vishakhapatnam.

Due to this, Commander Gautam had no choice but to mobilize naval forces throughout the Bay of Bengal. This created a temporary vacuum in the areas near Vishakhapatnam, and unfortunately, Ongole, which is only a few hundred kilometres away from Vishakhapatnam, clearly fits the bill.

Taking this as an opportunity, the European Naval vessel, which was secretly docked on an island off the coast of Anuradhapuri, immediately acted and swiftly entered inland. After that, with the help of Mughal intelligence, they were able to avoid multiple cities and settlements and came directly to Ballari upon learning of your arrival there."

Vijay frowned, as this was unexpected. Initially, he thought it was the Mughals who somehow smuggled these people in. But now his assumption was completely overturned as it was confirmed that it was because the navy was not strong enough.

This was simply unexpected

Since the majority of Europeans travelled to the subcontinent through the Cape of Good Hope in the west, and with the Bharatiya Empire having conquered most of the west coast, requiring a significant naval presence, 70% of the naval forces were focused there. The remainder were spread between the eastern coastline and the protection of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Now that these Europeans could travel from the eastern hemisphere by taking advantage of a loophole, Vijay fully understood that he had to immediately tighten up the defences even more.

Vijay: "Also is there any clue about where the Japanese cannons came from ?"

Selvan: "Yes, Your Majesty. They are indeed from Japan and were not manufactured by these Europeans. Apparently, while setting sail, they stopped in Japan for resupply and restocking. It was at that time that General Conrad took a liking to the hand cannon and, after some persuasion, took a single piece with him.

I heard he was initially planning to take it back to his homeland and replicate it, but now it seems like he won’t have the chance."

Vijay’s heart was finally let down.

"Alright, keep me updated for any new information."

"As you command, Your Majesty."

Saying that Selvan quickly left the room.

---

Vijay saw the time, and a wry smile crossed his mouth as he noticed that the time for the ceremony had unknowingly arrived.

Hence, he quickly dressed in noble attire and descended downstairs, where he was respectfully welcomed by all the guests, including his close relatives, high-level government leaders, and a few nobles.

Today marked the 7th month of Kavya’s pregnancy and was also the day of her Seemantham, or in Western terms, baby shower.

Since morning, the puja and prayers had been ongoing, along with the receiving of gifts and blessings. Vijay arrived just in time for the rituals, which usually constituted the main part of the event.

Vijay also used this event as an opportunity to reunite with family, which had become challenging due to recent schedules and the war. Vijay met up with his uncle, Ravi Shetty, and his aunt, Nirmala Shetty. Surprisingly, he also saw a young girl around 4 and a half feet tall who bore a striking resemblance to his aunt.

He immediately recognized her as his niece, Divya Shetty, who was now 12 years old. She had been studying in a gurukul since childhood and had recently transferred to a high school when education regulations were set up.

Vijay, after not seeing her for many years, recalled from memory that this little girl was only a few feet tall when he had last seen her. Now, she had almost doubled in height and carried herself with a little elegance, like a young lady.

With a joyful smile on his face, Vijay approached her, chatted and teased her for a few moments, and gifted her some pocket money like a doting uncle.

Vijay also caught up with Aditya Bhonsle, his brother-in-law, who had changed a lot since he last met him. Aditya seemed calmer and appeared to have a better grasp of the overall situation. It seemed that the harsh conditions of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands had indeed contributed to his brother-in-law’s maturity.

Moving on, Vijay was surprised to find that his little nephew, Rajendra Bhonsle the Second, was now able to walk on his own and could even utter a few sentences. It was incredible how fast the boy grew up. Especially since Vijay could remember the fall of the Maratha Empire and the birth of his little nephew like it was yesterday. He couldn’t help but lament about the passing of time.

The day ended in a warm and jovial atmosphere for Vijay.