Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1228: WW1: Taking back Thessaloniki (2)

Çorlu, Slavic Byzantium, European Union

"Fire the 12-pounders, 24-pounders, and the 48-pounders!" the artillery commander roared, veins bulging in his neck and nerves pulsing in his forehead.

"Hit them with everything you’ve got!" His shout, spittle flying everywhere, finally snapped the men out of their momentary stupor. Their hands began to move again, quickly regaining the silky-smooth rhythm they had practised countless times.

"Take this, you infidels!"

"Damn bastards, you’re not going to win that easily this time, hehe!"

"Hahaha, did you like that, shite heads?"

The artillery line came alive as the gunners fired salvo after salvo, loading and firing the cannons relentlessly without pause. Sadly, only a few salvos later did they realise how delusional they had been just moments earlier.

The weapon systems equipped by the Bharatiya Empire were not something the European Union could manufacture. They fielded artillery originally modelled after the Armstrong gun, various types of mortars heavily influenced by the Coehorn mortar, several kinds of howitzers, rifled artillery, machine guns, volley guns, and even the massive Asura Hanta, a siege gun not too different from the Krupp breech-loading siege gun of 1870 developed by Alfred Krupp himself.

Under such an onslaught, the artillery force of the European Union looked laughable. It was as if a teenager who had just won a street fight was competing with a heavyweight kickboxing champion. As a result, the inevitable happened: screams were heard throughout the defensive perimeter, soldiers dropped dead like moths to a flame, and the defensive perimeter crumbled every passing second.

Commander Lucca Petrovich gritted his teeth with anger. He knew guarding Çorlu was going to be a difficult task, but he did not think about the sheer magnitude of the difficulty. It was simply several leagues apart from what he had originally imagined.

’No wonder the high command ordered me to never engage in frontal combat with the Bharatiya Empire.’ Looking around, he only now understood the actual reason for such an order.

’Thankfully, I’m not completely hopeless.’ He quickly called over his subordinates and ordered, "The time is ripe; both of you take your troops and flank the enemy."

The two high-ranking officers were taken aback, but then their eyes lit up, "Sir! You mean....?"

Lucca understood what they were thinking. "Yes, I’m ordering you to use the tunnels." At that very moment, the siege cannon of the Bharatiya Empire fired again, blasting a section of the wall into rubble and sending debris flying everywhere. Lucca rubbed his temple in annoyance and pointed toward the Bharatiya forces wreaking havoc on the frontline." There’s no longer any need to hide it now, is there? So depart quickly. I am authorising both of you access."

The two officers immediately understood the situation and resolutely went on one knee as a show of respect and loyalty.

The mobilisation was astonishingly swift. Each unit, numbering over 10,000 troops, assembled within an hour, fully prepared to move out. These soldiers were not part of the regular forces guarding the frontier. Instead, they belonged to isolated regiments formed and trained for a different purpose, units specifically intended to match the capabilities of the Bharatiya Empire’s special forces.

Whether their claim of being comparable to those elite troops was true remained to be seen, but their rapid mobilisation, disciplined momentum, and imposing physiques made one thing clear: they were far superior to the average European soldier.

The two officers, fully geared up, marched with their regiments to a remote corner of the city, where they entered an abandoned, rundown monastery. Yet the moment they stepped inside, it became clear that the place was far from empty. The monastery was bustling with soldiers armed to the teeth, and several light artillery pieces had even been installed at various points, all aimed directly at the entrance.

The two officers were not surprised by this situation. Although the normal soldiers and the officers in the army were not aware of the tunnel that was being dug right under the city for the last half a year, they were aware of it thanks to their privilege as the commanders of the special forces regiments.

"Authorisation?"

"Hear!"

"A moment, please."

The captain of the soldiers guarding the tunnel swiftly opened the locker to which only he had access, pulled out a sealed envelope, and cut it open. Inside was half of a mural, covered with various patterns and numbers written in a seemingly random order. The captain then brought out the other half of the mural that the senior officer had given him. As soon as he placed them together, the two pieces fit perfectly like a puzzle, the numbers on both halves mirroring each other.

"It matches, please, sirs, advance."

The officers solemnly nodded and swiftly led their troops into the tunnel that was the width of a small carriage. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

After marching for a certain distance, they arrived at an intersection where the road led to four different paths. The senior officers looked at each other and solemnly nodded.

"Good luck on your mission. May the blessings of the Lord grace your troops."

"Likewise, my comrade. We will drink together once more after the victory."

They bumped their arms together, then decisively separated and went their own ways.

On the surface,

The Bharatiya Empire continue to wreak havoc and rain destruction on the European fortress.

The bombardment started only a few hours ago, but the fortress is already showing signs of complete collapse.

"It looks like I don’t have to use any of the hidden cards after all," Vaibhav Krishnamurthy muttered as he finally sat down, ready to relax.

One of the greatest mistakes a general could ever commit was to look down on the enemy and underestimate the opponent. This lesson had been repeated countless times during his years in military school, and his own experience had only reinforced it. So, despite clearly holding the upper hand, he had never underestimated the Europeans.

He had remained on constant alert, fully prepared for the enemy to reveal some unexpected move that might turn the tide of battle. Yet it seemed his caution had been unnecessary. The Europeans attempted nothing new. Instead, they simply continued to endure the beating while offering futile resistance, finally giving him a moment to sit down and take a breath.

Now, Vaibhav was not saying that the Europeans couldn’t put a dent in his army, no, because in reality, several thousand soldiers had already fallen under the cannons of the Europeans, and tens of thousands had been injured. What he was implying was simply that each and every life of a Bharatiya soldier was exchanged for several lives of the Europeans. Since the war started and up until now, he predicted that the artillery bombardment had killed at least 20 to 30 thousand Europeans. Killed, not injured, but killed, so even though he was a little infuriated at the loss of his troops, he couldn’t stay sad for long.

"Bang!" Unfortunately, just as he was about to mobilise the cavalry to charge through the breach that had been opened up, a scout quickly ran into the barracks, his expression not looking good.

Vaibhav’s heart tightened, but he maintained his stern expression. "What happened?"

"Your Excellency, there are enemies at the rear. Two units have suddenly popped up from the left and the right."

Vaibhav’s brows furrowed. "How many of them are there?"

"It’s hard to ascertain, sir, as they are acting in individual battalions and their numbers are constantly increasing. From what I see, I can conservatively estimate that there are at least two brigades, around eight thousand."

"Hmm, you did a good job, you may leave now"

’How did they appear at the rear?’ was the first question that came to his mind, but he knew that could not be answered anytime soon. So he changed his line of thought and focused on how to cope with the situation. Only a few minutes later, he came up with a solution. He summoned the communications officer and gave a series of orders.

"Have the infantry at the rear spread out and assume the role of scouts. I want them to widen their formation and keep their eyes open. If the enemy tries anything further, I want to know immediately."

"Next, the heavy infantry will form a defensive perimeter around the war tractors and our supply carriages. Those vehicles are the backbone of our advance, and we cannot afford to lose them. Make sure the defensive line is tight and well coordinated."

"Simultaneously, order the commandos to engage the enemy forces that have appeared at the rear. They will take the lead in the confrontation. Assign part of the Rangers to provide suppressive firepower and support the commandos during the engagement. The remaining rangers will move together with the scouts and investigate how the Europeans managed to appear behind us so suddenly."

The next moment, a series of fireworks shot into the sky, spreading orders across the massive battlefield within seconds.

In different parts of the battlefield, the army immediately began to respond.

"Alright, soldiers, form up. We’re dispersing from the regiment," a sergeant ordered as he cocked his gun and began moving forward, his eyes scanning the surroundings with a predatory gaze.

"Squadrons five through nine, form a defensive formation and assemble in a pincer perimeter," a second lieutenant commanded, directing the heavy infantry under him to carry out the orders of the lieutenant colonel.

"Listen up, boys, looks like a few rats have suddenly appeared at the rear. Let’s go take care of them." The brigadier general commanding the commandos showed a bloodthirsty smile as he advanced toward the gunshots echoing from behind.

Part of the Rangers split from their command and integrated themselves into the commando units, taking orders directly from the brigadier general. The rest of the rangers joined up with the scouts, riding their horses and bikes as they circled around the gunfire that had erupted at the rear.

At the rear

"Ahhh!!!"

"Cowards! The brigadier will not let you get away!"

A few Bharatiya soldiers lay sprawled on the ground, bleeding profusely. One moment, they had been resting in their camp, waiting for orders from the frontline, and the next, they were ambushed. Before they even understood what was happening, the attackers had already slaughtered them.

"Hahaha! Take that, bastards!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The European high-ranking officer laughed maniacally as he ruthlessly butchered the last two soldiers in the camp before moving on to the next one.

"Come on, move faster!" he roared as he quickened his pace. His objective was the artillery of the Bharatiya Empire, and he had to do everything in his power to destroy it, or at least disrupt its firepower.

The other high-ranking officer on the other side had the same thought in mind as well, urging his troops to pick up their pace.