LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 700: Invitation
2nd July 1660
The port of Visakhapatnam welcomed a couple of unusual guests, which left the nearby people bewildered as they could not take their eyes off them. The guests were all tough and strong-looking men between 18 to 40 years old, wearing the old naval uniform of the Bharatiya Navy. They stood on the harbour, straight as a spear, their eyes darting around the port, amazed by how much it had changed since the last time they had seen it.
"Bali, are you sure someone is going to pick us up here?"
Suddenly, a voice was heard from a man standing in the group. The man was looking at a tall young man who, unlike others with silver and copper embroidery, was wearing a cap with gold embroidery.
Bali, the top performer of their group, wrinkled his eyebrows. "I shouldn't be wrong. This should be the place. I received the instructions when we stopped at Port Swaraj." He was confused as to why no one had come to pick them up until now.
"Ah!"
" Idiot! drape the carpet quickly !"
Soon, a fat middle-aged man came running towards them, sweating profusely. He was holding in his arms more than a dozen flower garlands, which he was about to put on Bali and the others, but Bali, with a frown, gestured him to stop. The fat middle-aged man became embarrassed and dropped the flower garlands, but he still put on his due courtesy and smiled. "Captains, I am really sorry for the delay. It is my oversight. I hope you forgive me." He did a namaskar with as much sincerity as possible, wrinkling his face to look as pitiful as possible.
Bali and the other captains, who had returned from studying in Portugal and Spain, did not take any offence. Compared to the hardships they had faced in the foreign nation and the difficulties they faced during the return voyage, a few minutes of delay was nothing.
Bali relaxed his expression and reassured the man, "It's all right Mr...Um—," Suddenly he remembered he did not know what his name was. " You are?"
The fat man's face, which was already red, turned the colour of a ripe tomato. "Huh! Look at me. Where's my manners, sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Lal Chandra Oja. I am the deputy director of the Visakhapatnam Port Administration." He clumsily put his chubby hands into his pocket and took out his identity card.
He handed it over with a smile. Bali took the ID card and passed it over to the person next to him. After receiving a nod of approval, Bali gave back the ID card and nodded.
Lal Chandra took back the ID card with a wide smile, almost making his eyes into two-dimensional curves. "Please come with me, Sirs. I will take you to the naval outpost."
Soon, with the help of coolies, the captains, along with their luggage, arrived at the naval outpost located in the port of Visakhapatnam. The naval officer heading the outpost, Kaushal Lohi, warmly welcomed Bali and his group.
Bali, Kaushal, and the others sat near a bunch of coastal defence cannons as they discussed and exchanged each other's experiences, which caused the smiles to not leave the face of anyone involved. Adding the salty and refreshing breeze coming from the sea, the whole picture looked soothing and calming.
Unfortunately, these sweet moments were short-lived,
Remembering something, the smile on Bali's face slowly faded away. Looking at all the people around him laughing and enjoying themselves, he suddenly felt a little lost. With some hesitation and some hope, he looked at Kaushal. "Sir, when we went overseas to study, we had to resign our posts. Now that we are back, has the Navy arranged any positions for us?" He looked a little concerned and expectant.
The sound of laughter immediately disappeared.
The captains, who heard the question, soon looked at the director with serious expression. Naturally, they were all patriots of the empire, so the biggest reason why they signed up to study abroad was to be of some use to the motherland. And now that they had completed their studies overseas and had learned as much as possible about navigation and exploration from the Portuguese and the Spanish, their biggest goal and hope now was to be of some help to the motherland and to make use of their skills.
Kaushal thought for a while, stopped smiling, and nodded. "For now, all of you will get a week of paid vacation. If you want to meet your families, you can do that "
"We are all orphans, sir. We grew up in the orphanage built by the empire," Bali quickly added. "It doesn't matter if we don't have the vacation; the whole return journey was a vacation for us."
The captains nodded in approval.
"Uh!" Kaushal's face grew red with embarrassment. "I am sorry to hear that."
"No, sir, it's alright. Please do continue."
"Yes, even if you do not want to take the vacation, there is no other way around it. You will have to take the vacation, and each of you will be given 1000 Varaha to spend. One week is plenty of time to travel around Kakatiya Puri."
"A lot of development has taken place in the Empire. All of you should experience it for yourselves."
"Coming back from the vacation, your group will be divided into two different batches. One batch will serve as assistant instructors for the Marine Exploration and Marine Nautical Cartography majors that are newly established in the Naval University. While the rest of you will be employed by private logistics companies as instructors in the naval voyage over the Pacific Ocean. "
"The roles are not permanent. Both of your roles will keep changing roughly once every two months until enough marine exploration and navigation talents are produced."
Bali frowned. "Aren't we assigned to a battle fleet?" He looked a little lost.
Kaushal shrugged. "No, the Bharatiya Navy's area of operations has not spread beyond the Bharatiya Mahasamudra for now. Keeping your group in the Navy would be a waste of talent. Instead, working as a consultant and instructor for private naval logistics companies, as well as an assistant professor at the Naval University, could not only earn you a lot of money but also increase your experience. This would help you build the merit so that when the time comes for the Bharatiya Navy to expand beyond the Bharatiya Mahasamudra, you might directly be promoted to battle group captains."
The captains looked at each other with confusion. They thought that upon returning to the Motherland, their future would be bright, but from the looks of it, they could only feel uncertainty.
"If we are employed by private logistics companies, aren't we part of the Bharatiya Navy anymore?" a captain with a birthmark on his face asked, worried.
Kaushal shook his head. "No, you're still part of the Bharatiya Navy. The only difference is you will be employed by private logistics companies on their voyages."
The captain who asked that question was relieved. Bali had another doubt. "Sir, you mentioned we are assistant professors. Can you tell us who the professor is?"
Kaushal smiled. "It's Mark Anthony Lopez, the Spanish prisoner of war who has been employed by the empire's Navy for almost a year."
"He alone led three separate voyages over the Pacific Ocean for the Bharatiya Empire, his skills are highly valued. So in order to make full use of his experience and talent, he was tasked with leading the two new majors, serving as the Head of the Department for Exploration for both majors."
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The festivities of Aikyotsava have begun, and it is bigger and better than ever before. As the Aikyotsava Festival is celebrated for the third time, its size and impact have only grown from a few years ago.
The festival is no longer only celebrated in the capital of the Empire, where the finals of various games are held, but in all states, districts, taluks, and towns of the empire, where city administrators hold their own sports games for the entertainment of the masses and to encourage the integration and cohesion of local cultures and societies.
In such an exciting atmosphere, the newspapers from the last few days have been filled with news related to sports and the inland industrial zones. However, unknown to many people, the Bharatiya Navy, the Chola Regiment of the Army, and a few brigades of Special Forces commanded directly by the Demon Sword of the Empire, Sarvesh Ranavikrama, have all boarded a few battle groups and set off to the twin islands of Lav and Kush off the coast of Sumatra and Java. (Cocos and Christmas )
Unknown to many, even Vijay has boarded the Delhi-class battleship, specially built for him, and set off to Kuala Lumpur.
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Ava (Inwa), Toungoo Dynasty
"Your Highness, His Majesty the Emperor of the Bharatiya Empire, Emperor Rajyapathi Vijay Devaraya, has sent you a letter."
King Narathi Hapate was immediately startled; his relaxed appearance was no longer visible. He quickly snatched the letter from the messenger and opened it to read it himself.
As he quickly glanced over the letter, doubt filled his face. 'Is this a trap?' he questioned. But as soon as the thought appeared, he immediately rejected it. If the Bharatiya Empire wanted to harm him, it did not need to use such elaborate tricks. If the Bharatiya Navy came and stationed itself at his doorstep, he would simply have to surrender.
'In that case, it is better to agree.'
He looked at the messenger and ordered, "Prepare my ship."
Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Ayutthaya Kingdom
King Narai, reading the letter sent by Vijay, had a bewildered expression. He thought that the Bharatiya Empire did not care about his small kingdom, but apparently, he was wrong.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? He did not know, but only time would tell.
"Bring the red ruby from the treasury and prepare my carriage."
Phnom Penh, Chenla Kingdom
King Soriya Reachea II was surprised when he received the letter from the Bharatiya Emperor. But since the Chenla Kingdom and the Bharatiya Empire had good relations—well, according to him—nothing bad would come out of it, so he immediately set out for Kuala Lumpur.
Vientiane, Lan Xang
King Sourigna Vongsa frowned. "We don't have any relationship with the Bharatiya Empire, so why does this emperor invite us to Kuala Lumpur?"
Sourigna was about to reject the letter, but his son, Sourigna Vongsa II, quickly stopped him. "Your Highness, the Bharatiya Empire is a massive nation. Currently, it has the final say among the surrounding countries in Southeast Asia. Not even the Qing Dynasty will be its opponent. In my opinion, this invitation should not be out of malice. I request you to meet with His Majesty Vijay and see what he has to say."
"Also Father, Qing is getting restless. It would be a catastrophe if the Qing wanted to use war and expansion in order to quell the restlessness. So it is better to have the support of the Bharatiya Empire. With its support, I believe the Qing Empire won't act too rashly."
King Sourigna Vongsa thought for a long time, then he looked at his son with a complicated expression. "Alright, it makes sense. Let's do as you said."
"Prepare my carriage and send a message to King Narai that we will be passing through his kingdom."
He looked back. "Son, in my absence, I leave the kingdom to you."
Sourigna Vongsa II was overwhelmed for a second, but he still nodded with determination.
Similar letters were sent to the two Vietnamese kingdoms, Dai Viet and Dang Trong. Although skeptical, both the kings of the nations immediately set off for Kuala Lumpur.
P.S. Tomorrow is the Report submission hope every thing goes well