Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1222: Building Naya Samrat (2)

"Have you guys completed your tasks yet?" Akshay Purohit asked his team as he examined the newly fitted components on the chassis.

His mechanical assistants, almost all of them from his own company, quickly stood up and brought over the parts they had prepared. Earlier, he had instructed them to assemble the brake drum systems and the wheel hubs he had designed, so while the main assembly work was being carried out on the vehicle by Vaidya, Nayar, and Mengal, his men focused on putting together the freshly machined components so they would be ready when needed.

"Completed, sir, all the brake drum assemblies and wheel hubs have been assembled," the leader among the group came forward and showed the parts.

Akshay Purohit took a look at the gleaming parts glistening under the light of the bulbs and nodded with satisfaction. Then he looked at Vaidya and Nair, who were still working on the car, so he waited since he needed a larger space.

After both of them were done with their tasks, he swiftly came in and installed the brake drum assemblies and the wheel hubs.

While Purohit was working on the brake drums and wheel mounts, Draupadi Nair sent back all her mechanical assistants and only kept a couple of boys who were the most talented among her subordinates. The three of them together mounted the worm and sector steering box onto the front cross member. She designed this part to fit on like a Lego, so the installation was not very hard. Right after the steering mount was installed, the drag link was connected to the front axle. She then installed the friction dampeners, clamping to each spring stack at the four corners.

By the time she was done with her work, Akshay Purohit was done installing the brake drums and wheel mounts. He then directed his assistants to install the wheels, and they quickly got on with the task.

Almost simultaneously, without anyone having to direct them to do so, the four engineers began to cross-check their work.

"Drivetrain looks good, the clearance is as intended, and there is no conflict with other systems."

"Suspension seems to be working properly, the tension looks just about right, but we have to test it more under complete load."

"Brakes look good, this seems to be properly rigged."

"The alignment of the wheels seems to be proper as well."

All four engineers who had participated in the building until now took a step back and looked at the result of their hard work. Sure, they looked haggard and worse for wear, but looking at the underbody of the vehicle that was completed, pride couldn’t help but spontaneously appear in their hearts.

The contraption before them might not look like much, but it was the foundation of the truck they were building, so when everything went without a hitch, one could expect how happy they were, because a sound and error-free underbody meant there would not be any critical structural errors when assembling the rest of the car.

Looking at the underbody that was rolling around with the push of their assistants, all four of them felt immense joy. It was so fulfilling to watch something they had worked so hard on, something they had imagined in their minds, come to life right before their eyes. Although what they envisioned was not fully there yet, the core was already there.

"Wow! How on earth did they do that?"

"Did you see how fast they worked? Oh my god, are they even humans?"

The four engineers, as soon as they relaxed, were suddenly startled to find out that the entrance of their booth was filled with engineers and mechanics from other booths gawking at their booth as if they had seen a ghost.

Arjun Vaidya was so startled that he jumped up with a screech. He only heaved a sigh of relief after figuring out that they were simply onlookers. He patted his beating chest and breathed in long breaths to calm down.

"Were they here all this time?" he asked.

Vasudha Tata came forward and stood right next to them. "Pretty much," he nodded and patted Arjun’s back. His hands were messy, but it didn’t matter, since Arjun’s clothes were practically an ink collage.

"People began to stand at the entrance shortly after you guys started to work," he informed.

"Oh!" Arjun nodded in understanding.

Akshay Purohit recovered from his shock and looked back at the undercarriage. He then suggested, "Let the boys test this thing a little more. Meanwhile, should we go for lunch?"

Everyone came back to their senses and looked at their truck. "Might as well." Draupadi Nair walked straight into her personal dressing room.

Balbir and Arjun did not stand on ceremony either; they too went to freshen up.

Several booths down the line,

Venkatesh Yadav had a strained look on his face. A few hours ago, engineers and mechanics suddenly began to gather around a single booth as if they were watching an amazing play. He initially did not care, since he had complete confidence in his own design, but as time went on and more people began to gather, his curiosity took the better of him, and he stepped out of his booth and went to see what the commotion was all about. However, when he saw the series of actions that were going on within the Sapta Abhiyantāraḥ team, his eyes widened, and for the first time, he began to doubt the direction he had chosen.

Venkatesh, being a chief engineer of the most profitable and biggest car manufacturer in the empire, had a wealth of experience under his belt. So, although he too saw the speed at which the mechanics worked, he was more attracted to the decisions they had made.

The brakes, the suspension, the axles, the drivetrain, and everything else they were using were somewhat...old. The suspension system, for example, although it was the newly improved single tyre suspension system, its design was the same as that used on carriages. The same went for the drivetrain and other things. They looked to be older designs used in machine tools or tractors. He wondered why they would choose so many last-generation technologies to build the car with the latest twin cylinder internal combustion engine and the latest three-shift crankshaft gearbox.

He soon left the booth after looking at it briefly, but the question lingered in his mind and refused to disappear until it was answered. But then, as he arrived at his own booth and the end of the wall appeared in his peripheral vision, he suddenly remembered the list of design philosophies hung on the wall of the Sapta Abhiyantāraḥ team.

Then it suddenly hit him, ’Right! Those designs may be old, but they are extremely reliable, and many factories in the empire already have experience in building those things. Even if there is a little change in the specifications, the production line doesn’t have to be tweaked too much.’ Then he realised something else, ’Wait, the parts seem modular as well, does that mean being able to be replaced is also one of the reasons for choosing those old parts?’ His eyes widened in disbelief.

When the Sapta Abhiyantāraḥ team decided on their principles to build the vehicle, Venkatesh and everyone else thought that it was almost impossible to build a vehicle that encompassed all seven principles they had set upon. Not to mention, most people thought those principles were not even what the military was looking for.

Some thought they wanted an armoured vehicle that could traverse any terrain and carry people and cargo alike, so they went with designing a tracked vehicle. Some assumed that the military wanted a heavy armour unit capable of carrying people and supplies, so they paid their complete attention to the armour, even adding two more wheels to handle the weight. Some people like himself assumed that the military wanted a car that could carry people and cargo alike while being relatively swift, so they went with a design that was closer to the conventional car, albeit with a lot more focus on safety.

’Could the military really be looking for a vehicle that is extremely serviceable, where every part is replaceable, even at the cost of using older technologies?’ This doubt couldn’t help but spontaneously arrive in his mind. As soon as it arrived, it sent a chill down his spine.

He quickly shook his head and started to study his own blueprints, forcefully expelling the idea from his mind as he slowly lost himself in his designs.

In fact, it was not only Venkatesh Yadav who was affected. Almost all booths, whether they were commanded by a single engineer or a team, all of them were affected, and they began to question their own designs.

The most experienced and senior engineers like Venkatesh Yadav were able to recover from the shock that was dealt to their ideological body, but other engineers teaming up together could not help but question their own designs again and again, in the end falling into an abyss of modification where there was no end in sight, where their old design became so blurred that they did not even know what they were building.

The young Brigadier General who overlooked everything that had transpired within the warehouse from his room had a worried look on his face. "Is this really all right?"

The middle-aged man next to him simply smiled. "Of course, in fact, this is actually very good for the military. In this way, only the best designs will come to the forefront, allowing us to get the best of the best."

"Hmm," the Brigadier was thoughtful. "Is it like showing the normal soldiers the training of a Marine, where some would be intimidated and step back, while the ones who are brave show excitement?"

"Hehe, you use the correct analogy this time, General."

The Brigadier’s eyebrows raised. "I was right the last time as well. I said the Sapta Abhiyantāraḥ were like a group of generals with similar skill level tasked with the same mission, and you said that was probably not the case since each general could have their own expertise. But now look at them, aren’t they the same? They have clearly divided the tasks according to their speciality. So I was right in my last analogy as well." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"..."

The middle-aged man looked at the young Brigadier next to him, his face showing a look of someone who had eaten a fly.