Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1203: WWI: Attack on the British Isles (1)

The journey of the Bharatiya fleet to the Gibraltar Strait took several days. Entering the vicinity of the strait, the entire fleet positioned itself at the port of Rabat. Baron Aurelio de Silva, who was in charge of managing the port, had no idea how to handle the situation. One random day, without warning, the Bharatiya fleet entered the area and took control of the entire harbour. As a response, he did not try to resist. Instead, he tactfully let the Bharatiyas do whatever they wanted and did his duty by informing Madrid of the situation, but he was not sure the capital knew how to respond either.

After all, the Bharatiya vessels did not attack the port, nor did they declare sovereignty over it. They simply occupied it by force. Given the grim news of the European fleet’s defeat, he doubted that His Majesty would want to provoke the Bharatiya Empire, especially now, when they were already short on warships.

So Aurelio, just like his superiors, looked at the warships and battleships that were undergoing service at the harbour and acted as if nothing happened. He hypnotised himself with the thought that the Bharatiyas had rented the port for a few months, so the current situation is normal.

Vijay, looking through the telescope at the passing vessels, had no idea that the presence of his fleet brought a small baron an almost existential crisis. But even if he knew, he wouldn’t care; after all, he had more important things to worry about. Things like ’why the hell did the defeated European fleet that retreated not arrive?’

He was hoping he could catch them off guard before they completely disappear into the Mediterranean and end the job he had started, but sadly, days turned into weeks and weeks into several weeks. But there was still no sign of the European fleet.

"Could they have really gone to attack the northwest African colonies?" he considered the possibility, then shook his head. "Unlikely. If they had, I would have heard the news by now. Or... maybe they sailed toward Cape Town?" He paused for a moment, then shook his head again. "That’s unlikely as well. They wouldn’t attempt a deep strike when their logistics are nonexistent, and their warships are already in poor condition."

Vijay’s brow furrowed, looking like a dried-up riverbed.

As he was in contemplation, a young officer with a special purple loop around his collar, a feature that is only present in the uniforms of the communications officers, stepped on the bow and came closer to him.

Vijay came back to his senses and looked at the young man with a questioning gaze.

The young man was slightly out of breath, yet he straightened himself, offered a firm salute, and spoke, "Your Majesty, our sources within Europe report that the European fleet we were waiting for has already returned to the Mediterranean."

"Huh! Is the source verified?"

"Affirmative, Your Majesty. This information comes from senior intelligence agents and from multiple sources. Moreover, several battleships from that fleet are reportedly undergoing repairs in the major Mediterranean ports. As a result, this news has already become common knowledge among civilians as well."

Vijay’s skepticism disappeared, but more doubts arose. "How did they enter the Mediterranean?" He was sure that he arrived near Gibraltar straight faster than the European fleet. How did the Europeans manage to deceive him?

The young officer, hearing the question, hesitated, but in the end he still managed to find the courage and replied, "According to the intelligence, the Europeans seem to have sent only a few ships at a time, that too mixed in with the merchant vessels in the depths of the night, your majesty."

"In order not to cause any suspicions, they seem to have done this operation for a whole week."

Hearing the method, Vijay couldn’t even get mad. "Well played indeed," he commented, acknowledging the patience and the cunning shown by the enemy, but acknowledging is one thing and being alright with it is another.

Now that the whole reason for their existence at the Gibraltar Strait has been invalidated, what was he supposed to do?

For a moment, Vijay considered directly breaking into the Mediterranean, taking the opportunity of the European weakness to destroy their naval bases, but just when that thought arose in his mind, a threat of death immediately clouded his mind. This threat was so intense that only the one time he was almost hit by a large cannonball could compare.

He was surprised. ’Could the Europeans be hiding part of their forces?’ He considered, but he shook his head the very next moment. If they really had some strength left, they would have already used it in the Canary Islands battle. He was in confusion for several hrs, pacing around the bow at times and facing around in his living quarters at another, until he figured it out.

The sense of danger should be coming because he planned to break into the personal lake of the Europeans. To defend this lake, the Europeans don’t necessarily only have to use warships and battleships. They could use the thousands, if not nearly tens of thousands, of merchant vessels sailing throughout the Mediterranean.

Even though individually they are nothing, combined they are like a horde of zombies, enough to drown out any opponent. Even if each ship only has a single anti-pirate defence gun, multiplied over a scale of thousands of ships, Vijay did not know if even his fleet could handle it. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

It’s similar to if the Europeans break into the Bharatiya Mahasamudra during the absence of the Bharatiyan Navy. A similar situation would probably unfold. All the merchant ships would immediately be nationalised, and thousands of ships would descend on the European fleet, giving them no chance to breathe.

Vijay was annoyed. In order to take on such a force, he would need to have an overwhelming advantage of firepower, preferably a group of 40 to 50 Maharaja Ramachandra class battleships, nearly 100 Ramachandra class battleships, and a few hundred Delhi class battleships. But he did not know if he should splurge so much on the Navy. What if the Europeans suddenly surrender? Wouldn’t so much investment into the Navy go down the drain, not to mention, with the way things are going now, the ships might become outdated in the next 10 years.

’Should I have the fleet retreat back to the Northwest African colonies?’ He considered, but not for long, before he shook his head. The Europeans are badly hurt; he didn’t know if he would get a better chance to beat them when they are hurt than now.

He looked at the European map and was lost in thought, but it did not take long for him to decide on a target, and looking at this target, his eyes brightened, and the enthusiasm in his face could not be hidden.

London, England.

Charles had lost a lot of hair, and he even had insomnia after he got the intelligence about the loss of the European fleet. The physician he had hired, proficient in Eastern Medicine, prescribed him several concoctions so that he could sleep better, but sadly, although the concoctions worked, he was in no mood to sleep soundly when a series of events reached his ear.

"Your majesty, the Bharatiya fleet is advancing towards the Gibraltar Strait."

"Your majesty, the Bharatiya fleet has forcefully occupied Rabat."

"Your majesty, there is no statement from the Spanish. Neither His Excellency Balthazar Carlos Domingo Joseph Fernando de Austria, nor the Prince Juan Jose Domingo Baltasar Carlos Ingrecio de Austria made any comment about it."

"Your majesty, the Bharatiya fleet seems to be waiting for the arrival of our fleet that had retreated after being ambushed."

"Your majesty, good news, our fleet successfully entered the Mediterranean. We’re successful in deceiving the Bharatiyas."

"Good!"

He heard some good news after such a long time that it made him so happy.

In normal times, he would consider such news as a disgrace and not good news at all. After all, who would celebrate successfully running away, but he was bombarded with so many horrible nuisances for such a long time that even slightly neutral news appeared to be the best thing that ever happened in his ears.

He was able to peacefully sleep that night, but sadly, his peace was once again ruthlessly crushed by the Bharatiyas.

"Your majesty, the Bharatiya seem to have disappeared into the Atlantic, and according to emergent vessels, they seem to be advancing forward."

"Your majesty, we have got confirmation from the Portuguese, the Spanish, and the French. All their major ports, like Lisbon, Porto, Santiago Di Compostela, Bilbao, and other ports, are safe. They don’t seem to be the target of the Bharatiya Empire."

As soon as these words dropped, a palpable chill radiated through the entire palace.

Since it is not Portugal, the Spanish, or the French, it could only mean that the Bharatiya’s target is them, the British or the Dutch. Most people hoped it would be the Dutch, but sadly, they also knew in their subconscious that the British Isles were easier to attack from the Atlantic, whereas in order to attack the Dutch, the Bharatiya’s would have to enter the North Sea, which could pose a lot of challenges to the Bharatiya fleet if they wanted to retreat smoothly.

"Call for reinforcements from the union immediately," Charles ordered, his eyes bloodshot. Never in his wildest dreams, not even in his nightmares, did he think that an Asian country would reach such a point that they were right at his front porch, threatening to bombard it to bits.