Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1209: WWI: The assault on Constantinople (3)

The hall erupted into an uproar. Dmitry, Alexander, the Duke of Sofia, and the Duke of Bucharest all sprang to their feet, disbelief written across their faces, their mouths hanging open. The Duke of Sofia’s hands even trembled slightly, as if he had recalled something deeply unsettling.

Out of everyone present, Alexander Dimitrievich Romanov, prince of the Slavic Byzantine Kingdom and son of Dimitri Alexevich Romanov, was the first to react.

"That cannot possibly be true. How dare you spread such false information?" Alexander’s face contorted with rage, flushing an intense red.

The officer who had barged into the palace to deliver the emergency report was trembling uncontrollably. Without hesitation, he dropped to one knee with a heavy thud, a dull pain shooting up his spine. He ignored it. At that moment, preserving his life mattered far more than a bruised knee. He could not afford to let His Highness believe he was fabricating such news.

"What I speak is the truth, Your Highness. This report comes from several reconnaissance units stationed along the shore. The sightings have been confirmed multiple times."

"You—"

Alexander opened his mouth to retort, but no words followed. He was unconvinced, yet the weight of the situation seemed to choke his response.

Dmitri finally regained his composure, though his expression had turned grim. "How could the Bharatiya warships sail through a storm?" His fists were clenched tightly, and deep in his subconscious, fear began to take root as his confidence wavered.

"Their ships are extraordinarily watertight, Your Highness," the chubby Duke of Sofia replied gravely. "On top of that, they are notoriously difficult to sink. Under such conditions, it is indeed possible for them to sail through harsh weather. It appears the Bharatiyas did not dock anywhere and instead came straight toward the Bosphorus."

As for the Duke of Bucharest, he remained completely silent at first. However, when he could no longer endure the tension in the hall, he stepped forward and declared, "I will immediately depart for the frontline, Your Highness, and personally command the coastal defence. I shall bring you news of the Bharatiya defeat. Your Highness, farewell."

Dmitri nodded and didn’t make any comment, but the worry in his heart could not be controlled; what the Duke of Sophia said only moments ago was still ringing in his mind. The Bharatiyas might not brute force their way through the Bosphorus; they might first try to dismantle the coastal defences through a surgical strike and only then use the Navy, but if that is the case, he wholeheartedly hopes that the Bharatiyas would not land their troops at the rear, as the defences at the rear of the city are still a little lacking.

Unfortunately, unknown to him, his fate was already sealed the moment the Bharatiya Battle Group acted.

Twenty kilometres away.

Admiral Anurag Abhimanyu looked at the beach at a distance through his binoculars and nodded in approval.

"Commence the landing and unloading."

Soon, several dozen boats split off from the battle group and crashed onto the beach.

"Enemy ahead."

A Marine who observed a glint of light reflecting off a metal object in the distance immediately shouted.

"Bang!"

The gunfire immediately started. The Bharatiya Marines were the most experienced when it came to landing operations, so as soon as the other Marines heard that there were enemies ahead, it was as if a switch had flicked in their minds, and they suddenly became alert. All their guns were pointed at the end of the beach.

"Bring the shiel, form a wedge, let’s move."

The orders from the Brigadier were short and concise, but all the Marines understood exactly what the Brigadier wanted, so the Marines first fell back, taking cover behind the mound of sand on the beach, and assembled themselves in the wedge formation. Just as they got up on their feet in unison, they were welcomed with a barrage of gunfire, but bulletproof shields were already deployed on the outer layer of the wedge, which absorbed most of the gunfire, while the Marines in the inner layers of the wedge started to counterfire.

"Brrrrrrr!"

The machine guns roared to life. Though low in accuracy, they made up for it with a high rate of fire. The moment the dual guns opened up, piercing screams erupted from the enemy lines.

As their wedge formation advanced closer to the suspected enemy position, the resistance intensified. But it made little difference. Their own firepower escalated in equal measure. The Hasta Dwani hand cannons thundered, and the newly improved Molotov and frag grenades were hurled without pause, triggering explosion after explosion across the battlefield.

Barely an hour after the Marines landed, the coast was clear, and the location of the enemy was also discovered; it was a trench several hundred metres away from the beach. When the Marines got to the location, most of the people were dead, while some people seemed to have retreated.

"Send the signal," The Brigadier ordered.

Anurag Abhimanyu was watching the entire battle from the battleship, and he immediately smiled when he saw a green flare go up into the sky.

"Operation Serpent is a go, get the ships closer to the shore," He ordered.

The procedures were already planned and well thought out, so with a single command from the rear admiral, all the battleships got as close to the beach as possible, avoiding the risk of jamming the ship on the shore.

The next moment, huge rolls of wood were thrown onto the sea, which were then unfurled by a bunch of sailors who got on boats and took the unfurled end to the beach.

The soldiers aboard the ships had been fully prepared for this very moment. They quickly formed orderly lines on the deck, waiting for their turn. At the same time, more than sixty wooden crates stored in the cargo bay were brought up to the surface. Each crate was fastened to a crane and carefully lowered onto the temporary wooden pontoon bridge that had been set up.

Every crate was assigned to a specific soldier. As the crane descended, the soldier, fully equipped with all his gear, stood firmly atop his own crate, riding it down until both he and the box were safely placed onto the bridge below.

Once on the wooden pontoon bridge, the soldier immediately dismantled the crate, revealing the semi-assembled bike inside. With swift, practised movements, he pulled out the separately packed wheels and mounted them onto the frame within seconds. He then poured in the fuel he had carried, performed a few quick initial checks, and kicked the engine to life.

As the bike roared and rolled toward the shore, the process repeated itself again and again, until all sixty motorcycles had been assembled and deployed onto the beach.

After all 2,100 bikes had landed on the shore, the marines quickly reboarded the ships. The pontoon bridges were dismantled and destroyed, and the battleships slowly began to move away from the coastline, leaving no trace behind.

"Alpha team, it’s time to move," the lieutenant general commanded firmly. The mobile unit’s engines roared as he twisted the accelerator, and his bike surged forward at high speed toward the dense shrubs ahead.

In the next instant, every soldier in Alpha Team followed close behind, engines growling in unison.

With the modifications made to the Haridwar, the suspension had been significantly softened, allowing the bikes to handle bumps and uneven terrain with relative ease. The deep grooves in the tyres, along with the micro-spikes embedded directly into them, provided exceptional grip on loose soil and rough ground.

All 2,100 bikes advancing through the dense shrubbery resembled a swarm of earthworms emerging from the soil, moving steadily at around 35 kilometres per hour as they cut through the terrain.

At the same time, along the southern frontier of Constantinople, troop movements accelerated sharply. Orders rang out across the lines as soldiers hurried into position, falling neatly into their squadrons. Rifles were checked, bayonets fixed, and ammunition distributed. Within minutes, the entire formation stood ready, weapons primed, prepared to march into battle at a single command.

At that very moment, the battlefield commander, Vaibhav Krishnamurthy, stepped forward. A revolver rested firmly in his hand. Without hesitation, he raised it toward the sky and pulled the trigger.

The shot cracked through the air.

"Charge!" he roared.

Almost instantly, the artillery barrage began. Cannon after cannon thundered, and the exchange of fire erupted without delay. Hundreds upon hundreds of war machines positioned along the frontline lurched into motion, their heavy frames grinding forward to form an advancing iron wall. Behind that armoured shield, waves of infantry surged ahead in disciplined formation.

Missiles streaked across the sky. Mortars arced overhead. Hand cannons discharged relentlessly. Hundreds of rounds were fired at a time, with little regard for the staggering cost of such expendable ammunition. The objective was simple: overwhelm, dominate, crush.

Watching the relentless advance, whose momentum seemed capable of tearing apart the enemy’s entire frontline, the Greek commander Papadopoulos turned to Vaibhav and asked, "Your Excellency, this assault feels different. It no longer appears as though you are merely testing the enemy."

Vaibhav Krishnamurthy allowed himself a faint smile. "That is natural," he replied calmly. "Because this time, we are going for the kill."

The words stunned Papadopoulos.

"Has the Empire found a way to deal with the European navy?" he asked eagerly, his eyes lighting up. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Until now, the land frontline between the European Union and the Bharatiya Empire had remained fixed at the outskirts of Constantinople. This was not because the Bharatiya forces lacked the strength to push deeper inland. Rather, it was because without naval support, holding the Bosphorus Strait was impossible. Even if Constantinople were captured, the European navy could bombard any logistical lines constructed across the Bosphorus, isolating Bharatiya troops who crossed over and leaving them vulnerable to annihilation from the opposite shore.

But now, hearing the commander speak with such certainty, Papadopoulos could not help but feel a surge of excitement.

Vaibhav glanced at his Greek counterpart and, after a brief pause, chose to reveal part of the truth.

"Indeed," he said evenly, "we do have a way to deal with the European navy. And the answer is simple, we will use the Empire’s own navy."