Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

12th July 1660

A massive fleet composed of nearly half of the Bhartiya Empire's Andaman and Nicobar Fleet, the future Pacific Navy, could be seen floating calmly off the coast of Lav and Kush Islands. (Cocos and Christmas)

The giant 2000-tonne war machines could be seen flying the flag of the Ashoka Chakra proudly, with the emblem of the Bharatiya Navy represented by the half-human Matsya, the first avatar of Lord Vishnu, visible right alongside the empire's flag.

On the water, the naval officers, special forces, and army soldiers were having fun playing games. Except for military drills, the three organisations of the empire rarely cooperated with each other. Now that they were working together on one of the rare occasions of actual combat, the soldiers and sailors were pretty excited. The shouts and screams could be heard throughout the battle group, and the sailors and soldiers aboard, not joining in the fun, couldn't help but chuckle from time to time and feel a bit envious. Unfortunately, not everyone was so leisurely.

Aboard the large Delhi-class battleship, Commander Akhil was looking through the new 10X telescope invented by Pillai Optics as he stared at the horizon with great anticipation. He was waiting for a couple of Kolkata-class clippers to show up.

Akhil's eyes were still fixed on the horizon as he lowered the telescope and spit out the wheat gum he was chewing. He shook his head with a little loss. "No visual yet." He looked at a burly middle-aged man standing right next to him, curious to see what his reaction would be.

The middle-aged man, with a burly and muscular build, stood tall at more than 6.5 feet. He had no expression on his face, but he looked dignified and regal. Looking at his face, one could tell he was a handsome man, but unfortunately, the beauty was destroyed by a few scars around the neck, chin, and ears. However, depending on who made the judgment, one could say the scars added to the wild charm the man already possessed.

Sarvesh, hearing the verdict from Akhil, nodded without any comment. Numerous battles had already honed his emotions, and now Sarvesh was not someone who changed his expression so easily.

On this expedition, Sarvesh had command of over 8,000 special forces, making up two brigades, with soldiers taken from all three branches of the Bharatiya Marines, the Bharatiya Commandos, and the Bharatiya Rangers.

Vijay took the operation very seriously. This war was, practically speaking, the first instance where the Bharatiya Empire deployed its forces deep into enemy territory overseas to engage a foreign nation, albeit a pseudo one. The war in the Middle East did not hold the same significance, as it was a combined effort of three different nations.

Similarly, the actions taken in Southeast Asia until now had been primarily naval operations, espionage, and intelligence missions, with minimal involvement of the army or special forces. But every major endeavour had to begin somewhere, and the Dutch kingdoms served as the perfect stepping stones for Bharat to gain invaluable experience in overseas warfare.

The force of nearly three battle groups, composed of more than 300 ships along with 30,000 soldiers and 8,000 special forces, could be considered excessive, but that was because Vijay put forward only one condition for the war: to end it as quickly as possible. Vijay did not want to be like Russia moving into Chechnya, America moving into Afghanistan or Iraq, the British going into Boer-occupied South Africa, or even America moving into Vietnam. From his foresight of the future, he knew that no matter how much intelligence his agents had collected from the local area, it would not surpass the knowledge of the locals who had been imprisoned by the Dutch. He also knew that equipment, weaponry, and investment alone could not win wars. So, Vijay had used as much force as possible.

If not for the fact that the Bharatiya Empire still needed a fleet to patrol the waters of the Bengal Sea, he would not hesitate to fully deploy the Pacific Fleet for this one mission. That was how much this mission meant to Vijay. In this situation, if he had not appointed Sarvesh, his most trusted battle wizard—the Demon Sword—what was he doing? Not to mention, he himself had personally shown up in Southeast Asia for the first time. This battle was not only to remove European influence from Southeast Asia but also to show the powers and countries in the region who the real hegemon of this part of the world was.

Moments passed as a small group of Kolkata-class clippers rushed forward at full speed. Akhil, looking at the scene through the telescope, was overjoyed. After confirming the mission was a go and receiving the latest situational update from the scouts, Akhil smiled and nodded while looking at Sarvesh.

Sarvesh looked determined and resolute as he put on the camouflage blue military cap he was holding in his hand. "Assemble the captains and the generals," he ordered as he turned around and went into the war room at the naval base on Lav Island.

---

Moments later, the battle group captains, the army generals, and the special forces generals looked at Sarvesh with some expectation and reverence. Only considering rank, the rank of Sarvesh was no different from Akhil, as both were commanders of the military. But if anyone asked who was the most decorated military personality in the Bharatiya Empire, then the answer could only be Sarvesh Rana Vikrama. The close second could be Kiran Poojari. The people rarely put Admiral Gangadhar in the top five, much less the commander of a fleet, Akhil.

His name, the Demon Sword of the Empire, his title, Raja of Videha, his emblem, a sharp kukri, and his special status as the leader of the Ghurka Regiment were enough to signify his weight and importance to the military of the Bharatiya Empire.

Fortunately, Akhil was not a narrow-minded person, so he did not take any offence to the unequal treatment he was receiving. On his own, he knew that warriors like Sarvesh, who were always on the front lines of battle, resonated with the people more than people like him, who were commanding giants far away on the ocean. So, he understood the mentality of the people.

Akhil looked at everyone with a reassuring gaze and spoke, "Ram Ram, everyone. First of all, let me start off by saying that, It brings me immense pride to work with all of you, veterans of the military. With that being said, let me briefly explain our battle plan."

Akhil immediately pulled out a map and showed it to everyone. "Our targets are the three Dutch kingdoms: Kingdom of Lynden, Kingdom of Reede, and Kingdom of Verschuer, situated in Palembang City of Sumatra, Jakarta of Western Java, and Surabaya of Eastern Java."

"Our main aim is to compromise the governing structure of the three pseudo-kingdoms while their leaders are heavily concentrated in the three cities."

Sarvesh took over, "The battle in this operation is a bit special, as it will only last for a few days or even a single day. However, the preparations required to reach the location will take a few days to a whole week, especially since the majority of the journey involves an arduous trek."

Akhil nodded as he took out a long stick and pointed at the map. "The landing for the special soldiers and the army will be at three different places."

"Number one at Semangka Bay of South Sumatra, number two at Pelabuhan Ratu Bay of West Java, and finally, number three at Bali of East Java."

Akhil could see the confused expressions on everyone's faces. "I know everyone is wondering why the navy can't just enter the inland waters of Sumatra and Java, but unfortunately, that option is no longer available."

"The Dutch are not fools. Sangiang Island, which a battle group of the Bharatiya Empire in the past defeated with little effort, is now completely armed to the teeth. Last time, only a few warships were able to handle these defences due to the Dutch not being prepared enough, but this time it won't be so easy. We will have to pay a heavy price to destroy this fortress floating on the water."

Sarvesh nodded his head as he took out a paintbrush and drew a red carving line on the map, looking back at the soldiers.

"While a part of the fleet goes to clear out the defences on Sangiang Island, the remaining battle groups will use the battle as a distraction to disembark all the soldiers and special forces. The location chosen is not frequented often by the Dutch soldiers or civilians. It is a beach area located between a mountainous region, and it has a small pass leading to the inland of southern Sumatra, which will eventually lead to the first Dutch kingdom, the Kingdom of Lynden."

"The second location is the same situation. It is a landing area without any Dutch security forces or defences, and to enter the inland, there is a clearing that is rarely frequented except by a few villages."

"Finally, we have made plans to discreetly enter the island of Bali, where we will be received by a few local forces. They will be our guides to reach the third Dutch kingdom, the Kingdom of Verschuer."

Akhil briefly looked at the time and informed,

"We will reach the first and second targets at roughly the same time, at 07:00 tomorrow. But reaching Bali will take a bit longer due to the 1,900 kilometres we will have to sail."

"Hopefully, by then, the first two teams would have come into the vicinity of their targets. So when the team from Bali launches the attack on the Kingdom of Verschuer, the other two teams could also launch their attacks simultaneously. And if we are lucky, the fortress blocking our path at Sangiang from sailing inland will have been broken, and naval support will be provided to the soldiers launching their attacks from the rear. The war on two fronts should completely collapse the three Dutch kingdoms."

"I hope everyone got the gist of it. With that being said, dismissed."

P.S. I discovered something today. Sometimes, I take a very long time to edit. For example, if I type 1,000 words in my draft, after editing, it becomes 1,200, 1,500, or sometimes even 2,000 words. Today, I finally understand the reason—those are the chapters I started writing without much prior knowledge, which makes it difficult for me to construct the situation as I originally intended. Today's situation was somewhat similar. I started this chapter and ended it with only 900 words, but after editing and polishing, it reached 1,800.