Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1187: WWI: Battle of the Atlantic (2)

25th February 1701

Within an hour of the emergency flare being raised, the officers who had gone out to sea to fish, swim, or simply relax abandoned their leisure without hesitation. They rushed back to their ships and immediately set sail to rejoin the fleet. Sailors who had been playing team sports with the indigenous Africans, volleyball, cricket, football, even kabaddi, saw their relaxed smiles vanish in an instant, replaced by sombre, hardened expressions.

The African boys who had been playing alongside them watched their backs as they ran, a sense of worry tightening in their chests. Something serious was happening, and even without words, they could feel it.

As for the high-ranking officers, those of five-star rank and above, they had already gathered inside the conference cabin of the Kathmandu-class military transporter.

"What might have happened?"

"I have no clue. The best guess is that the Europeans might be making some moves."

"But how is that possible? Didn’t we receive confirmation this morning that the Atlantic fleet of the European Union is still stationed at the British Isles without any movement?"

"We did, I deciphered that message personally, but who can guess what the Europeans are up to?"

The high-ranking officers spoke in hushed voices, each offering a different conjecture about the Reason for the emergency to be declared. But their murmurs came to an abrupt halt when a tall, burly man stepped into the room.

"SIR!"

They rose at once and saluted sharply. The man, none other than the admiral himself, acknowledged them with a brief nod and gestured for everyone to take their seats.

Looking at the admiral, all the officers had weird looks on their faces. An hour ago, when the emergency flare went up, they thought something serious might have happened, but now, looking at the expression on the admiral’s face, which looked like he could barely contain his smile, they could not help but have wild thoughts running rampant in their minds.

Had the admiral made a serious mistake? Was he abusing his authority? Could this end with a military court, and if so, might one of them become the next fleet commander? Such thoughts raced unchecked through their minds.

Yashvardhan Keshav had no idea what his officers were thinking, but even if he did, he wouldn’t care. After all, he was once in their position, and he could understand their troubles.

Without wasting any time, he pulled out a map from the hanger and looked at the officers, his eyes filled with seriousness.

"The Europeans have made a move, and this could be their biggest one yet," Yashvardhan said as he paused briefly. Looking around, he could tell that the officers were itching to ask a certain question, but, without giving them the chance, he answered it himself.

"And no. Although it is indeed the European Navy that has made a move, it is not the Atlantic Fleet, but the Mediterranean Fleet."

The officers were shocked. Some of their mouths parted a little, while their eyes widened. Although their initial doubts about how the Europeans could make a move while their Atlantic fleet was still stationed in its base were solved, new doubts arose.

"Your Excellency, isn’t the Mediterranean fleet trying to break into the Red Sea? Why would they come to the Atlantic?" Raghunathan, the vice admiral and the second in command, asked, his brows wrinkled.

Yashvardhan shrugged, "I thought the same at first, but it now seems clear that it was only a feint or a distraction. Their real objective all along was the African colonies they had lost."

"But... but why would they do that?" someone could not help but mutter in a low voice.

"Who knows, their demand for cheap labour and raw materials might be higher than we have presumed, and given that their colonies in northwestern Africa are relatively near, it makes sense in that aspect as well." The Admiral’s answer left everyone thoughtful.

"Your Excellency, since the Mediterranean fleet is no longer at the entrance of the Suez Canal, wouldn’t it be a perfect opportunity for our fleet stationed in the Red Sea to take this chance to breach into the Mediterranean Sea?" Rear Admiral Krishna Nambiar suddenly asked.

But out of his expectations, everyone didn’t show a look of contemplation. Instead, they all looked at him with a doubtful gaze, as if they were asking, how did you even get to your current position?

Yashvardhan didn’t even need to answer the question as Vice Admiral Raghunathan did it for him. "Rear Admiral, do you think we matched the Europeans in numbers when we defended the Red Sea?"

"No," Krishna Nambiar answered without hesitation. Then it hit him. He bit his tongue in annoyance and showed a look of apology. ’Idiot, idiot, idiot,’ he cursed himself repeatedly.

Was it not obvious that the Europeans would shift from offence to defence? If the Bharatiya Empire could use only a few battle groups to bottleneck the entire Mediterranean Fleet of the European Union, then the European Union could do the same to the Empire’s advance. Although the Ramachandra Class and the Maharaja Ramachandra Class were resilient and could absorb immense damage due to their armoured construction, it was still doubtful whether they could withstand continuous bombardment from 120 degrees without rest.

Yashvardhan Keshav ignored his Rear Admiral’s slip of tongue and stated, "Anyway, why the Europeans did what they did is irrelevant now. What we have to focus on is the battle ahead of us."

"According to the intelligence, we are going up against over 1200 warships, among which there are 95 Sovereign class, 70 Nelson class, and 45 Santisima class battleships."

"As we all know, and we ourselves have proved, numbers do not mean everything. We have defeated the Europeans who had higher numbers time and time again, but it is still worth noting the disparity, especially this time around."

He pulled out a comparative analysis table prepared by the research and analysis wing.

"The Europeans have 2.18 times more warships than we do, and the total tonnage of their fleet is 1.69 times greater than ours. Their force is heavily battleship-focused, fielding 2.63 times the number of battleships we have. They also hold an advantage in heavy frigates, with 2.67 times our numbers. The same applies to standard frigates and light forces, where they outnumber us by 1.27 times and 1.04 times, respectively."

"The only area where we hold an advantage is logistics, with 2.22 times the number of support ships. However, this advantage is largely negated by our long supply lines, making such vessels a necessity for us, while the Europeans do not face the same constraint. Finally, in steel warships, we have sixteen, while they have none."

"But here’s the ringer. On average, a Ramachandra class battleship can take down three to four Sovereign class battleships, and the Maharaja Ramachandra class can take down, let’s say, six to seven. The 16 battleships in that idealistic calculation are equivalent to around 76 battleships, and adding the 80 Delhi class battleships we already have, you could, in a perfect world, consider that we have 156 battleships and not 96."

"But unfortunately, we are not in a perfect world. The sixteen full-metal battleships cannot make up for 76 Delhi-class battleships, and even if somehow that was possible, we would still be 54 battleships short."

It was not that Yashvardhan Keshav wanted to frighten his officers. He was just telling the truth. If it was before he received His Majesty’s letter, he would have avoided such a talk that was quite demoralising, but now he had no fear.

Vice Admiral Raghunathan, Rear Admiral Krishna Nambiar, and Rear Admiral of Logistics Hari Nathan all wore sombre expressions. As they listened to the analysis, their heartbeats quickened, and cold sweat broke out along their backs. They understood that the admiral was slightly exaggerating both the strength of the enemy fleet and the weakness of their own. After all, he had not accounted for the fact that each Delhi Class battleship, equipped with newer weapon systems, was at least equivalent to two first-class battleships of the European Union.

Even so, they were shaken, because the words that followed sent a chill straight down their spines.

"Not to mention, this is only the Mediterranean Fleet. While we are tied up in a brawl with it, what happens if the Atlantic Fleet finally decides to join in on the fun?"

"Although the European Atlantic Fleet is not strong compared to the Mediterranean fleet, and their numbers are inflated by merchant vessels retrofitted with naval guns, the Atlantic fleet doesn’t exactly have to participate in a blow-for-blow battle. Instead, they could act as guerrillas and simply focus on being floating cannons on the sea, aim, load, fire, one simple operation, that is all they have to do."

"This should be enough for us to consider retreating, isn’t it?"

"I reckon the Europeans thought the same thing, catching us off guard and pressuring us with everything they got. I have to say, they are unrelenting and extremely ruthless, almost pointing a gun to our faces and roaring to back down."

"But!"

A sly smile appeared on his face, and looking at his officers, who were pale and were at a loss for words, he finally decided to give them the good news.

"Someone in the empire seems to have anticipated the move made by the Europeans."

P.S. Sorry its a little ruff today.