Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1242: WW1: Balkan Attack (2)

Unbeknownst to anyone, not even the commanders, a piece of information slowly travelled through the Mediterranean and into the Middle East, its contents important enough to change the very dimension of the war.

The Black Sea

Senior officer Jaladeep, commanding a force of 48 warships, four among which were Maharaja Ramachandra class battleships, steadily advanced towards the port of Varna, the largest and currently the most important port of the Slavic Byzantine Kingdom.

Jaladeep’s job was straightforward; it did not involve any feints or strategy, it was simply a conquest mission where the opponent was unable to defend himself. Not that he was complaining, though, for all he cared, it was easy merits, and he was only a few merits away from being promoted in rank, so he was content with the mission.

"Reporting, we are T minus 10 minutes away from being capable of firing the large battery."

"Good. Arm the cannons and wait for my command."

"XO, send the boat."

"Yes, sir."

The battleships slowly arranged themselves in an attacking formation, with the batteries all inclined over 50 to 60 degrees.

Then a small boat, which had gone to make contact with the port, came back and sailed near a large logistics ship, where it was taken up with the help of cranes. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"They rejected the offer, sir," the executive officer relayed the message.

Jaladeep, not surprised, did not hesitate and ordered for the salvo to commence.

Ionian Sea

Rear Admiral Vyu Khanna stood on the deck with a furrowed brow, but he quickly relaxed. He had figured out that although the Italian Navy’s actions were a little tricky, considering his mission, it would not matter. If his goal had been to occupy all the major ports along the eastern coast of the Italian Peninsula, then the scattered Italian forces that launched skirmisher attacks once in a while would indeed prove to be a nuisance and could drag down the whole fleet.

Thankfully, his objective was nothing more than to bombard a few important naval bases along the southeastern coast of the Italian Peninsula, enough to stop the Italians from quickly reinforcing the Austrians.

"Pay no attention to those ships. Just continue sailing towards the objective," Vyu Khanna ordered.

Paolo Mancini, lowering his telescope, had an ugly expression on his face. Like the high command, he had thought that the Bharatiyas were going to attack all the major ports along the eastern coast, but by the looks of it, the Bharatiya Empire was very precise in its target. They seemed to only want to attack the southeastern coast.

This made things much more difficult. If their target was only a relatively small area on the Italian coast, then the fleet would remain closer to one another, not giving him too many chances to launch sneak attacks. Because if he wanted his attacks to work, then he had to pick small targets, like a small clipper or a frigate. Larger targets like heavy clippers and frigates would not work because most of the ships under his command, the majority being merchant vessels, did not have enough range to snipe a target while staying outside the enemy’s firing range. And the closer the fleet got to the coast, the tighter its formation became, leaving him with even fewer opportunities.

"Should I really use the battleships?" he asked himself painfully.

But in the end, he shook his head and rejected the idea, not because he was reluctant to part with them, although that was part of the reason, since there were only four battleships in the Italian roster and he did not want them destroyed before even being part of an actual fleet. The main reason, however, was that the current situation did not look like the Armageddon-level crisis the high command had feared.

It seemed like the Bharatiyas were attacking only to temporarily cripple the naval capabilities of the Italian Federation on the southern tip.

If it wore only this much, then there was naturally no need to risk the new battleships. He could simply act as if nothing had happened and save the Federation resources, and later use those resources to rebuild the ports that were inevitably going to be destroyed.

Thinking like this, from his perspective, there was no reason for him to be blamed either.

’That’s right, that’s how it should be,’ he nodded repeatedly, convincing himself that what he was doing was for the benefit of the Federation.

Rear command

The war on land continued, and the number of small fortresses and bastions the army had to break through did not decrease; instead, it increased, and the resources consumed became even more intense, with the transport of logistics becoming more frequent.

If the enemy were to attack the logistical supply lines at this point, it would be devastating, but thankfully, the silver lining in the strategy chosen by the European Union was that there was no need to worry about enemy troops staying behind. The Europeans had already done all the work in gathering their forces and assigning them to various fortresses and bastions.

So taking them down also meant removing the influence of the European nobles at a fundamental village level.

"Tch!"

Vijay clicked his tongue in annoyance. He had really hoped that someone would come up with a better way to breach the fortresses and bastions instead of simply bombarding them until the path opened up. And although he received reports of various methods the four commands had tried, like blasting gas canisters into the enemy fortresses, or filling naptha within a hollow shot and firing it into the enemy, where once the shot disintegrated, the naptha would spread all over the fortress and summon a bright red inferno, or even using hot air balloons to drop in paratroopers, in the end, none of it worked reliably across the board.

The gas canisters worked a few times, but then stopped being effective after the enemy figured out that the effect of the gas would wear off in a few minutes, and all they had to do was cover their mouths with a damp cloth. The naptha worked reliably, but the problem was that it was much more expensive than simple gunpowder, and its production was also much more limited. Then there was the hot air balloon paratrooper strategy, which worked, but just like the naptha strategy, it was too expensive.

In the end, the most reliable strategy was still the most straightforward and simple one, to bombard the fortresses one at a time, mind-numbingly and mechanically so.

Thankfully, Vijay was smart enough to equip all four commands with the 3rd generation siege guns. These were prototype guns that used new hydraulic systems for horizontal and vertical turret movement of the gun, along with a large steam-powered system for movement on land. They were thrice as heavy and twice as large as the first-generation siege guns. Not many of these were built, only five so far, four of which were used in the current battle.

And it was confirmed that a single shot from this behemoth was enough to put a hole in any fortress, so Vijay reluctantly agreed for the commanders to use these guns more regularly.

He was resistant at first for multiple reasons. For one, it cost a lot for a single shot; every time it fired, it was 150,000 varaha, which is the price of a brand new civilian car. And number two, it was supposed to be one of the hidden cards, used to breach the toughest of the toughest fortresses and catch the enemy off guard. But now that the European Union had chosen the strategy of attrition to buy time, he was left with no choice but to use them more frequently.

The Hague

The situation in the Netherlands was completely different from that of Austria and Slavic Byzantium. It did not look like it was in a war at all; instead, it looked like a thriving economy, with industries propping up everywhere and railway tracks being laid down at breakneck speed.

In fact, this was not the situation of the Netherlands alone; all the Central and Western countries had similar local conditions. Industry was thriving more intensely than ever before; coal, steel, and steam had become the defining themes throughout France, Prussia, Denmark, Norway, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and Polish Lithuania.

But everyone sitting around the round table of the union conference knew that this prosperity could disappear at any time. The enemy attack on the Kingdom of Austria and the Kingdom of Slavic Byzantium had made them extremely tense.

"Don’t worry, everyone, isn’t the current situation moving according to what we predicted? The advance of the Bharatiya army is extremely slow, and with winter right around the corner, it will become even slower."

"Adding both these factors together, we should at least have two years to build up the railway network."

Alfonso’s words were indeed comforting to some people, but unfortunately, they were not comforting to everyone.

"It is easy for you to say, Your Excellency, your Portugal is on the westernmost edge of the continent, but my Polish Lithuania is right next to Austria and Slavic Byzantium. Once the Bharatiyas are done with my neighbours, the chances are I will be next. I doubt two years, maybe by this time next year, my neighbors would have been finished, and the Bharatiyas will be at my doorstep. In such a short span of time, it is impossible for us to complete the railway tracks. Not to mention, winter not only affects the Bharatiyas, but it also affects us as well."

Casamir Vassa warned, his eyes bloodshot, "I am warning everyone here, when the time comes that the Bharatiyas are at my doorstep and I have no means to defend myself, I will readily admit defeat and open the doors for the Bharatiyas to Western Europe."

His words immediately shocked everyone present, their eyes wide open. But what was even more surprising was that Denmark-Norway and Sweden all took the same stance. With their subtle eye contact with each other, everyone suddenly understood that a small alliance had been formed within the union to protect their own interests.

The first to break out in a cold sweat was the Prussian representative. If that really happened, wouldn’t Prussia be the next target of the Bharatiya Empire? He spoke in a hurry.

"Please, gentlemen, there is no need to make decisions in such a hurry. Since we are a union, it is only natural that we hold out and direct all our resources toward facing the common enemy."

"What you said makes sense. It is indeed possible for the Bharatiyas to arrive at your nation in at most a year, and it is indeed not possible to construct the railway tracks so quickly. So, how about this, being your neighbour, I will support you with human resources and industrial supplies. I am sure the western members of the union will do the same."

As he said that, he glared at the French representative, the Spanish representative, the British, and the Portuguese with a threatening gaze.

’I dare you to disagree.’

The French, Spanish, Portuguese, and the British, along with the Dutch, looked at each other with a glint in their eyes, but in the end, Alfonso smiled and nodded.

"Of course, it is only natural that we support our ally wholeheartedly."

In this way, the meeting went on. All the while, the Italian representative, the Doge himself, Leandro Conterini, sat silently, completely isolated from everyone else. He was angry, but also powerless. He had no other choice but to rely on the union to fight against the Bharatiya Empire.