Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1217: Dvidhara Twin 1530 cc (Data)

5th October 1704

"Goodbye, dear," Vijay bid farewell to Kavya, got into his one-of-one Raya Imperial R5 Deluxe, and set off for the Royal Palace.

Today, he received a piece of good news from Vedanth, and honestly, he couldn’t wait to rush into the research institute immediately and check what he had cooked, but first, he had to handle all the other matters beforehand.

The travel was short, it was only a couple of minutes, so when Vijay got to his office, the first thing he did was to check out the war report from the frontline for the week.

After the Suez Canal was breached a few months ago by the Empire, it did not immediately launch an all-out raid against the European Union. Instead, after occupying the Dakshinamukhi, both the Navy and the Army shifted into a standby mode, gradually building up their strength for a decisive battle. The European Union, likewise, made no tactical moves and focused on strengthening its own forces.

In a recent intelligence report, there was not much different from what he had received the previous week. The only thing that caught his attention was that the Greeks, the Egyptians, and the Israelites were constantly requesting the military command to help them recover their coast.

Thinking about it for a moment, Vijay did not feel the need to answer. Even though the Bharatiya Empire owed them security, since they had allowed naval and military bases of the Empire to be built on their soil using their own money, and had supported the war effort both monetarily and logistically, Vijay did not feel that it was the right time. He did not want to jump the gun prematurely.

What he wanted was an overwhelming offensive, one that would alarm the Europeans so thoroughly that they would give up the struggle and surrender immediately, so that further bloodshed could be avoided. Vijay was aware of the tenacity of the Europeans. Even though they were the enemy, he admired their warrior spirit.

These were people who marched to their deaths. He would never look down on the European Union, as they were as ruthless as they came. With God on their side, they dared to commit the most atrocious and horrific acts with a clear conscience. While the so-called ’clear conscience’ might be hypocritical and, quite honestly, a load of bull crap, Vijay could not deny their effectiveness. A soldier with a clear conscience as he massacred the enemy, or strapped bombs onto his body and sneaked into enemy camps to detonate himself, was a dangerous person, and quite frankly, a terrifying opponent that he did not want his army to face.

In his previous life, during the First World War, the Serbians recruited over 800,000 soldiers, and their population was only 4.5 million, meaning over 18% of their population was mobilised. The French conscripted over 21% of their population, the Germans 19%, the Austro-Hungarians 15%, the British 19%, the Romanians 10%, and the Bulgarians a staggering 25%. The Bulgarians had a population of only 4.8 million at the time, yet in what they considered a war of extinction, they raised an army of 1.2 million.

This was only the First World War. The numbers in the Second World War were even bloodier, and that alone showed what the Europeans could do when pushed into a corner and placed in a desperate situation.

Vijay did not want the Europeans to feel that kind of desperation. Instead, he wanted them to feel as though they had no chance at all. He wanted them to realise that there was no point in fighting.

Ultimately, the only way to fight the upcoming war was to demonstrate the overwhelming might of the Bharatiya Empire and use every card at his disposal. Any other approach carried the risk that the conflict might devolve into a war of attrition, the bloodiest kind of war any nation could fight. If such a scenario unfolded, millions could die every few months, and by the end of a single year, the population of a principality or a duchy might be wiped out.

Although Vijay had grown accustomed to death on a large scale and his heart had long since hardened, there was still a number that even he felt was too much.

Setting aside the intelligence report from the front line, he picked up the report prepared by Agni regarding the situation in the Americas.

When he first heard about Agni’s idea to artificially raise the societal level of the natives so they could stand on their own, he was slightly surprised, but ultimately pleased. He understood well enough that the freedom the natives were experiencing in the Americas was only temporary, unless they developed a proper societal structure and a capable military framework.

Still, he neither particularly cared nor wished to involve himself too deeply in that aspect. In the grand scheme of things, it mattered little to him whether the natives formed their own kingdoms on the American continent or not.

What he wanted was America’s decoupling from the European continent, and that, he had already achieved.

Of course, providing assistance would be like planting a seed and harvesting its fruits decades, perhaps even a century, into the future. Yet he had already arranged so much for future generations that he was reluctant to add more. In fact, he feared that doing too much might cause his descendants or successors to grow complacent.

However, when Agni brought up the matter on his own initiative, Vijay asked only two questions: if you help them now, are you willing to ensure that the result of your assistance is a net positive for the Empire, and not a net negative? He also asked whether the natives were being incorporated into Agni’s long-term vision for the Empire.

When Agni answered yes to both, Vijay was satisfied and gave his approval.

Just a month ago, a large shipment of medical supplies had departed from the Empire, and by now, the digging of the canal should already have begun.

The letter he just got was nothing more than an explanation of what had happened over the last few weeks.

He later read some reports from the naval bases in the Northwest African region, and after making sure that everything was normal, he handled a bit of the empire’s affairs, and finally, only a few hours after he entered the office, he set off to the railway station, his destination being the military capital of the empire, Nagpur.

The journey took over a day. Thankfully, Vijay had his own VIP coach, so he simply rested in his bed throughout the journey, leaving him energetic and refreshed by the time he got down at the Nagpur Railway Station.

Disembarking from the train, he swiftly got in a car and arrived at the headquarters of the Bharatiya Academy of Military Sciences and entered the underground laboratory, the same laboratory where the Sangapathi Mark One engine was tested.

"Welcome, your majesty, we’re honoured to have you here."

He was immediately welcomed by Sangapati, the inventor of the combustion engine, along with his son Vedanth and a few researchers and engineers.

After replying to the pleasantries, he smiled and asked, "So, where is the engine? Pull it out."

Hearing the eagerness in his father’s tone, Vedant couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement. Even after so many years, his father’s curiosity had not diminished at all; he was still the same person, eager to witness the new creations coming to life in front of his own eyes. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"This way, please, Father!" he invited.

Vijay nodded and followed along, not hiding the expectation and excitement. It has been nearly four years since the development of the Sangapati Mark 1 engine, and finally, a new engine that was not simply an iterative upgrade over the Mark One was finally heard.

And to his great delight, the engine had actually been researched by his son himself. Vedanth had apparently become interested in transforming the single cylinder of the combustion engine into a dual-cylinder configuration, which was something of his speciality. Vijay remembered that Vedanth had done the same with the Bhairavi engines when they were first invented.

In any case, he had thrown himself into the project, directly recruiting the chief researcher of the original internal combustion engine program to serve as his deputy researcher.

Arriving at the centre of the lab, a red drape immediately caught the attention of Vijay, not because it was colourful, but because it hid something which he was dying to see.

Vedant didn’t want to whet his father’s appetite any longer, so he decisively pulled the drape, revealing a metallic contraption which gave off a sense of metallic beauty, a kind of beauty that arose from exquisite machine construction.

Looking at the twin cylinder engine in front of him, Vijay was mesmerised. It looked so similar to the engines of the future, with its two chambers placed in a V pattern and a crankshaft chamber connecting them both; it almost appeared as if it were a beautiful petal in his eyes.

"This is a four-stroke internal combustion parallel twin cylinder engine, with two cylinders operating in a vertical parallel 180-degree crank offset in an even fire configuration."

Vedant started to report.

"It has a side valve cam actuated valve system, which is practically no different from the Mark 1."

"Similar to the Mark One, it is an air-cooled engine, but thanks to His Highness Hey Rams Hey Ram Materials Private Limited, we are able to integrate a new, enlarged fin design, which increases the surface area per cylinder to compensate for its increased power output and cools down just as fast as the Mark One."

"The lubrication is still splash lubrication, but instead of a single feed of the Mark One, it is a shared sump dual oil feed lubrication."

"The displacement it produces is practically similar to the Sangapathi Mark I, which is 765CC, but since it is a twin cylinder engine, its total displacement is 1530 cc. There are other improvements in bore length, stroke, compression ratio, and other things, but the biggest improvements we have noticed are in the power output."

"This beauty is capable of putting out 13.5 horsepower at 720RPM, an increase of two to three times from the Sangapati Mark One, which produced over 5.9 horsepower at 660 rpm."

"Naturally, the maximum torque is also increased from 25 Khanda metre to 58 Khanda metre, and the same goes for the operating rpm range, which saw a slight increase by 12 to 15 percent."

"What stayed the same was the speed, both the Sangapati Mark One and the new engine we developed are rated to around 30 to 40 kilometres per hour, but the difference is that the Sangapati Mark One is designed to be utilised in small machines, but the twin cylinder engine is designed to be installed in larger machines, potentially even trucks and cars."

"Also, since it is a torque-based engine, its ability to pull loads is also quite good, and given that we have changed its fuel from kerosene petroleum distillate to high-purity petroleum distillate and slight quantities of naphtha, the power we generate, as you just heard from its power rating, has increased exponentially. Also, the thermal efficiency has reached around 37 to 40, an increase of nearly 10% from the Sangapati Mark One."

"The ignition system is still a spark ignition system using the Dynamo, but now we have dual dynamos for dual cylinders."

"The rest of the things, like the mechanical efficiency, overall brake efficiency, are quite similar. We saw some improvement in continuous runtime, where it can now reach 10 hours as opposed to the previous 7 hours, but that’s not a huge deal. Other things we did include using the new alloy metals produced by His Highness Hey Ram’s laboratory."

"Apart from all that, as you can imagine, it is heavier, 81KG heavier to be exact, as it now weighs 248 kilogrammes. The only other thing is the new driving system His Excellency Sangapati has proposed, called the three-speed counter shaft gearbox system, which is in the later stages of development and in a few weeks, that should be completed as well."

"So that is about it, Father, what do you think?"

Vijay didn’t speak for a long time until he finally opened his mouth, "Does it have a name?"

"Not yet, father, please give it one."

Vijay thought about it and decided on one, "How about Dvidhara?"

Agni’s eyes lit up, "Dvidhara, Twin power, it’s an excellent name, father."

Vijay smiled and looked at the researchers, along with Sanghapathi. "All of you have outdone yourselves. I am certain this engine will go down in the history of humankind for its importance."

"Congratulations."

The researchers were instantly flattered, their faces flushing red with pride at the praise. The laboratory, which had moments earlier been filled with the thunderous roar of the twin-cylinder engine, now carried an air of restrained triumph and anticipation.

Having witnessed the demonstration of the Dvidhara engine in full force, Vijay wasted no time. He immediately began preparing his company to manufacture a truck powered by it. At the same time, he instructed the military logistics department and its engineers to ready themselves as well, for he already envisioned the engine’s role extending onto the battlefield.