Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1239: WW1: Someone happy, Someone sad

Florina, United Greek Socialist Republics

Mayor Leon woke up with a heavy heart; it was yet another day of serving the Bharatiyas. He muttered a few words in a disgruntled tone and quickly freshened up.

Waving farewell to his grandchildren, he stepped out of the house with a smile, only for it to be ruined by the sight in front of him. Thousands of tents stretched across an entire plot of land, with Bharatiya soldiers causing a huge ruckus, playing whatever stupid games they played. And seeing even the villagers joining those foreigners, he could not help but curse the incompetent parents who couldn’t raise their children properly.

Alas, what could he do? He was but a simple mayor of a small village that had now become a town due to its position on the northern border of the Greek Republics.

Honestly, in Leon’s opinion, it would have been better if the village had stayed a village instead of becoming a town. Not only did the soldiers constantly place demands on the villagers, leaving him tasked with handling those demands, but they also meddled in the civil affairs of the village, which they should not be doing; that was his job.

However, even if he had complained, he endured it, since it was the Republic’s own army that was stationed there, and the soldiers were also fellow Greeks. He couldn’t raise his voice against them, especially under a communist-style government system. But now, looking at the foreigners acting as if they were in their own homes, and treating people like him like dirt, his anger was beyond words.

They did not ask for any supplies like the food they had grown, sure, but they required his fellow villagers to do all sorts of labor, like reaping grass for them to play some stupid game, setting up tents, or even taking the young people of the village as their lackeys, following them around as if they were the tails of a dog.

Many times, he was only a step away from lodging a complaint with the district’s people’s representative, hoping that the Bharatiya troops would be stationed farther from the village and no longer participate in, or even come into contact with, the affairs of the village and its young people.

But he held back, not because he was worried for his position or anything, but simply because he was wary of what might happen to him, and also because he believed that the Bharatiyas would not be staying in his village forever; they would eventually depart.

Around noon, after completing his work, he came out of the small administrator’s office and was welcomed with a pleasant surprise.

"Finally, the day is here," he muttered. "Are these guys finally leaving? haha. Good riddance." He felt extremely excited in his heart.

He was so happy that he didn’t even put on his signature fake smile as he entered the living area of the Bharatiya military. Instead, his genuine smile appeared, one that looked far more radiant and sincere than all the smiles he had shown in the past.

Major General Arpit Mitra, looking at the mayor, let out a helpless sigh. He knew that Leon did not like their presence; it was quite clear from the way he behaved. Still, not wanting to cause any trouble, since answering to the military court and going through investigations over whether he had bullied the locals was quite a hassle, and a painful one at that, he kept the matters between the military and the village strictly official and businesslike.

When Leon gave him a professional smile and offered empty remarks, he would do the same and end the conversation quickly. But now, looking at his radiant smile, the most genuine one he had ever seen, he felt a little upset. It was not as if his troops were a plague to warrant such disgust and disregard. In the end, thinking that it would not be a good look to cause a conflict right when departing, he put on his trusted professional smile and offered a namaskara.

"Mayor Leon, our gratitude towards you is immense, but we will stop indulging in your hospitality any longer."

’Bah, what a hypocrite!’ was what Leon wanted to say, but in the end, he laughed heartily and shook his head.

"Where, where, how does your staying make it an indulgence? You are our guests, so it is only natural that we support you whenever necessary. I even feel a little disappointed. I feel sad that you are leaving so soon. The young ones of this small village of ours will miss you all quite dearly."

As if to prove his words, the kids who had gone home to have their afternoon meal came back running, with looks of reluctance on their faces as they stood behind Leon.

Leon’s good mood was instantly destroyed, but conversely, Arpit Mitra smiled and bid farewell to the teenagers and young boys and girls of the town.

He knew he should be grateful as they had helped the Republic regain its territory and also control the most important city on the Mediterranean, Constantinople. But all those things were too far away from him; the only thing he cared about was that his authority had become nonexistent with the presence of the Bharatiyas.

Such a situation was not unique to Florina; it was seen all over the western part of the Republic. Maintaining five million troops is no joke; all the troops cannot simply stand on the front line forever, they require a lot of resources to survive and maintain battle-ready abilities. And one way they do that is by scattering throughout the northern regions, with forces as small as a company and as large as a corps, settled in towns, villages, and cities.

Although for the main supplies like food and fruits, the army does not impose itself on the people, for other necessities like water and labour for miscellaneous tasks, it relies heavily on them. Naturally, this causes a lot of friction with the local representatives, exactly like Mayor Leon, with some people being even more straightforward in expressing their dissatisfaction. Of course, not every military officer would be as understanding as Arpit Mitra, so conflicts erupted throughout the north.

However, both the Bharatiya military and the Republican government had completely turned a blind eye to what was happening. After all, in the larger scheme of things, the conflicts were nothing but small squabbles. Not to mention, what was happening was basically the norm when fighting in another country, so none of them thought that it was a big deal.

However, on the other side of the Strait of Otranto, the Italians were anything but calm. They could not ignore the intelligence that had just reached their desks.

Administrative Capital, Federazione Italiana

All the members of the parliament and the ministers gathered in the main hall, their expressions wary and cautious.

"Can we address this intelligence? Could it be a move of propaganda made by the Bharatiyas? It’s not like it is the first time they are doing this. Maybe attacking our coast is just a feint, and their actual target is something else?" a minister suggested.

But then Leandro Conterini, the Doge himself, shook his head and refuted,

"This is intelligence we ourselves have obtained, and it was sent from within the Bharatiya army itself, from the hands of a four-star officer, a lieutenant colonel no less. We have confirmed that this information is not available to regular soldiers and lower officers in their army, so chances are the news is accurate."

These words immediately caused tensions to rise, and the room grew restless.

"The key is what can we do? We cannot take on the Bharatiya Navy; our forces have not been rebuilt yet."

"Doge, please mobilise the Union navy, or else our coast is done for."

"That’s right, Doge, and also what if they plan a landing operation right after the naval attack? So the army should be prepared as well. There are currently over five million Bharatiya troops in Greece; if even a small fraction of them come, we will be overwhelmed. I request the Doge to mobilise the Union army as well."

Leandro Conterini was getting a headache listening to all these panicked voices reaching his ears at the same time, so he banged the table to quiet everyone down and catch their attention.

"Your worries are warranted, I have them too, but there is no use panicking."

"First things first, mobilise all the merchant ships of the Federation and have them patrol the coast. Even if these ships cannot compete against naval artillery, maybe they can slow them down, and by this time I will see if I can mobilise the forces of other countries through the Union."

"As for the mobilisation of the army, there is no need to mobilise them so quickly, since they would only be needed if the navy fails. And even in the worst-case scenario, it will take at least four to five days for our naval strength to be exhausted. We can take countermeasures and mobilise our forces within this time."

The ministers thought about it and finally decided to adopt the suggestions of the Doge.

Right as the Bharatiya Empire made its move, the top brass of the European Union were alerted, and they watched with bated breath.