Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1232: WW1: Taking back Thessaloniki (6)

Seven kilometres from the frontier,

Brigadier General Veera Venkat and Second Lieutenant Veerabadra Shastri dismounted from their bikes and finally arrived at the tunnel exit dug out by the First Lieutenant of the Rangers, Sumit Pawar.

Veerabadra Shastri was still a little confused about what was happening because in his original plan, the only thing he had suggested was to set off the flare and let the enemy think they had won, so that they would relax a little. Then the army could take advantage of that moment and breach the fortress in one decisive move. But now they were here at the tunnel instead.

Veera Venkat first greeted Sumit Pawar and praised him for his actions, after which he finally explained the strategy that His Excellency the commander had come up with.

Veerabadra Shastri’s eyes finally regained their clarity, and the joy on his face was palpable.

The next moment, all 1,600 commandos forming two battalions decisively entered the tunnel that had been excavated under Sumit Pawar’s command.

Within the tunnel, there was absolute silence, but after a certain distance, the sounds of an army marching began to be heard. However, hearing these sounds, neither Veerabadra Shastri nor Veera Venkat were startled, because after the commander received the news that the tunnel had been secured, the order he gave was to enter the tunnel, neutralise any other threats, and also find the other exits of the tunnel.

Sumit Pawar personally led this operation and successfully completed it, eventually finding three other tunnel exits. These exits were then used to bring in the infantry and a motorcycle regiment.

After greeting the Brigadier Generals of the other groups, Veera Venkat took the lead in spearheading the march.

"Everyone, equip your masks," he decisively ordered. Then he gave two of his men, who were carrying a large cylinder on their backs, a firm nod.

The two men carefully advanced forward, their footsteps making almost no sound. After reaching what looked like a heavy door, they did not immediately try to blast through it or place explosives on it. Instead, they pulled out an exhaust nozzle connected to the cylinder and carefully pushed it against the gaps below the door. The next moment, they gently turned the lever, making sure that the exhaust of the gas would not make too much noise.

Several minutes passed. Dull thuds were heard from the other side.

The two men turned around, their masked faces illuminated only by the torches on the wall, making them look like worshippers of Satan, and firmly nodded.

Veera Venkat let out a relieved sigh and then nudged a strangely dressed group of men to move forward.

The men eagerly nodded and stepped ahead. Unlike the two soldiers who had released the poison gas through the gaps under the door, this group of around ten men forming a squad decisively kicked open the door with all their might. As soon as the door slammed open, they rushed out. In their hands were not guns but long sticks with a hose-like attachment. The moment they pulled the trigger, flames spewed out, engulfing everything in their path.

"Ahhh!"

The enemy guarding the tunnel entry had previously lost consciousness due to the gas, but they were immediately awakened by the burning of their skin. Sadly, before they could even understand what was happening, the temperature of the flames rose to an unimaginable level, and they were soon turned into cinders.

The squadron, called the Pyro Squadron, literally rained hellfire throughout the run-down monastery, killing all the soldiers defending it in one single sweep.

Everything might have seemed complicated and lengthy, but in reality, from the moment Veera Venkat reached the vicinity of the tunnel entrance to the moment the enemies’ ashes were scattered to the wind, it had taken barely twenty minutes.

After the Pyro Squadron finished their task, Veera Venkat advanced with his commandos, put out the fire, and quickly secured the perimeter.

The two infantry regiments quickly followed behind, and finally, the motorcycle regiment also exited the tunnel. Brigadier General Kushal Kesari of the motorcycle regiment pulled out a flare gun from a suitcase and shot a flare into the sky.

Çorlu

Lucca Petrovich was immediately alerted when a flare appeared on the horizon, reflected in the corner of his eyes. Looking at the purplish blue flare, he was first taken aback, confused as to whether it meant anything since he couldn’t remember such a colour being used to communicate in his army, not to mention it was coming from within the city. But then his heart went cold as he felt the familiar vibrations in his feet. These were the same vibrations that were felt whenever the siege cannon of the enemy was used. It was so powerful that even if he was nearly 400 to 500 metres away from the wall, he could feel it in his bones.

"Your Excellency, it’s not good, the enemy’s long-range artillery has started to function once again, and they seem to have mobilised the war tractors and are quickly approaching the breach that was newly opened."

"Oh lord, Commander, there are enemies at the rear. They are approaching the garrison."

Luka Petrovich lost all his vitality.

"Fu**."

A week later.

Brussels, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, European Union.

Around a large round table, all the kings and monarchs of the European Union had settled down, their expressions cold and icy. The atmosphere was extremely tense; it was almost as if the tension could be cut with a knife.

Unable to hold on any longer, Leandro Contrerini, the Doge of the Italian Federation, took the lead in standing up and setting an objective for the Union session.

"So, gentlemen, there is no use brooding about what has happened any longer. The breach of the frontline and the premature attack of the Bharatiya Empire are already a fact. Let us discuss how to move on from now on."

His words were like an icebreaker, finally putting the session into motion.

"What Your Excellency Doge said is extremely correct. There is no use worrying about something that has already happened, and we should indeed discuss the future countermeasures and come up with a way to take on the Bharatiya Empire. But I’m not sure if this council is willing to accept that in order to even put up a decent resistance against the enemy, we would have to voluntarily withdraw from the Greek mainland."

John William’s words, like a chilly breeze blowing past the nape on a snowy night, immediately caused intense reactions from the monarchs and the council members.

"How could you suggest such a thing, Your Excellency? Are we holding this session to discuss how to counterattack the enemy, or are we discussing how to retreat?" Leopold I of Austria was the first to stand up and refute John William Frisco Van Nassau-Dietz, the plenipotentiary of Wilhelm III of Orange.

In fact, his motives for opposing John William, the potential successor to William III of Orange, were not entirely pure. He rejected the suggestion mainly because it was the Kingdom of Austria that occupied the majority of the Greek lands. Such a rich territory, which he believed should rightfully belong to him, how could he simply give it up?

Several people immediately stood up in his support. Dimitri, who would lose the most if the European Union withdrew from the Greek mainland, should have been one of the main forces opposing the new Dutch Stadtholder candidate. However, after losing the most important city in his kingdom and then the frontier in quick succession, he did not even know if he could keep his own territory.

Because of this situation, his opinion no longer carried much weight in the council. In fact, many had already pushed him down to the ranks of a second-tier power. Not to mention, he was already old, and he personally did not have a strong opinion either. As long as the Bharatiyas were kept away from his kingdom, he would be satisfied, even if it was the Austrians whom the hateful Bharatiyas attacked instead.

John William listened to all the complaints and rhetoric, but in the end, he remained calm and asked a question. "It seems Your Excellency Leopold is resistant to my suggestion. In that case, could I assume that you have a better solution?"

Leopold I readily stood up and put forward his suggestion. "The distance from the frontline to the next important military base, which is Thessaloniki, is over 390 kilometres. Along the way, even if there are not many major fortresses capable of slowing the Bharatiyas down, it should still take them at least a week to move their troops to the vicinity of Thessaloniki."

"If we keep launching ambushes and guerrilla attacks along the way, this time will only increase. So while we are slowing them down, we can concentrate our troops in Thessaloniki."

"As you all know, Thessaloniki is a major military base crucial for both the navy and the army. I know that the Greek troublemakers have currently occupied parts of this port. I also know that the Bharatiyas frequently supply the Greek rebels through one of the harbours. But if we actually mobilise our troops as I suggest, it would not take more than an hour to completely bring the port under our control."

"With such a strategic position, a million troops, and an excellent fortress like Thessaloniki, it would be practically impossible for the Bharatiyas to breach it. We could also take this opportunity to cut off their supply lines and isolate their troops."

"We are having a hard time matching the performance parameters of the Bharatiya artillery pieces. Don’t you all think this is also a good opportunity to take all their weapons for ourselves? They have equipped the entire million troops, you know?"

Leopold’s words left everyone in contemplation. Some immediately felt that the proposal was feasible, their greed naked before everyone, but others instead stayed silent, waiting to see how the matter would turn out.

At this moment, John William, who asked the question, scoffed, "Concentrating our forces and defeating the opponent in one fell swoop. Don’t you all think this strategy sounds a little familiar?"

A few people’s expressions immediately changed; they looked like they had seen a ghost.

"That’s right, this is the same strategy we used with the navy. In the end, we all know how it turned out."

"Besides, Your Excellency Leopold, have you perhaps forgotten that we currently do not have a proper navy capable of taking on the Bharatiya fleet in the Mediterranean? If they sail into the central region, we could use our advantage in numbers to overwhelm them, but the Aegean Sea is currently the Bharatiya Empire’s domain. With the Greeks taking back their major ports, we no longer have the same advantage. So how do you suggest we handle the bombardment from their navy?"

Leopold immediately became silent. He had no answer.

"So I firmly believe my original recommendation is still the best solution."

"We could make it harder for the Bharatiyas to take back the Greek lands we have occupied, but that is all we can do. In the meantime, we can start slowly building up our defences in layers throughout the Kingdom of Austria, the Kingdom of Slavic Byzantium and the Italian Federation."

"I cannot be too sure how long the Bharatiyas would take to integrate what they have occupied and launch an attack, but going by the past records, it should not be more than a few months. So by that time, even if we cannot build up adequate defenses we should make use of the palaces, manors and bastions that are abandoned and turn them into stumbling blocks."

"Doesn’t each town and village have one of these? Position our troops in each and every one of these ready-made defences. They do not have to fight to the death. They simply have to consume the enemy and bring their advance to a snail’s pace while we keep building defences further inland, taking advantage of the time we have gained to build better and stronger defences."

"Also, I suspect the reason for the Bharatiya Empire’s premature attack is due to our breakthrough in locomotive technology. Emperor Vijay is probably worried that the war cannot be won if Europe is covered in railway tracks, so he jumped the gun and took the initiative so quickly. This tells us one thing: the locomotives drastically increase our battle capabilities. So while the three kingdoms of Slavic Byzantium, the Kingdom of Austria and the Italian Federation are holding off the main force of the Bharatiya Empire, central European and western European countries like ours will start laying down railway tracks on a large scale, preparing for a counterattack where we might actually have a chance to defeat the Bharatiya army and push them back."

Leopold, Dimitri and Leandro were all stunned by the proposal. Is it not simply a roundabout way to propose using them as meat shields while others inland develop?

They immediately wanted to band together and refute, but Charles Stewart of England, who had been silent until now, feeling like such a policy would be very beneficial to him, immediately stood up, "Now we have two solutions, everyone please cast your votes."

The three people who had been made as outliers had an ugly expression, but looking at how everyone tacitly avoided making eye contact with them, they knew that they had no choice but to bear this burden with tears in their eyes.

P.S. Thankyou Sudhanva_SH, for the IceCola