Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 838

Chapter 838: Cause and Effect (1/2)
Vijay’s eyebrows furrowed, and dark lines appeared on his forehead as the intelligence he received from the Middle Eastern battlefront left him bewildered and confused. Although he could understand that better military equipment alone does not equate to military prowess, he was still shocked when the Ottomans actually caught everyone off guard. How did they manage to cause so much damage to the Kingdom of Lalishsthan? How were they able to breach the Line of Actual Control? Is it not heavily defended? Then what went wrong? Did some sort of collusion happen within the alliance army, or did something else transpire? Questions like these continued to appear in his mind, causing his expression to darken further. He could not hold on any more. He bid farewell to Kavya and the children and set off to the Middle East, as he wanted to understand what happened in person.

A few days later,

Vijay sat in the heart of the Vajra Gharba with Commander Lachit Borphukan, General Ezidi Serwan, General Kaveh Atashban, General Rajendra Varma, and others sitting around the table with cautious expressions on their faces.

Being in the presence of the Emperor of the Bharatiya Empire, especially after what could be considered the biggest loss since the battle with the Ottoman Empire started, they were all feeling a lot of pressure. Even though Vijay had no displeased or annoyed expression on his face, they could all tell that he was definitely unhappy with the situation.

Even Lachit Borphukan, the commander of the alliance army and a person with the nobility rank of a titled king, was feeling the pressure. If anything, he was feeling it more because, technically speaking, the failure of the battle could be considered his responsibility as the commander of the alliance army. The more Vijay continued to stay silent and look around the faces in the room expressionlessly, the more Lachit Borphukan felt the pressure. He could even feel his back becoming cold with sweat.

Fortunately, after a long time of silence, Vijay finally spoke out, putting an end to the depressive atmosphere.

“I want to know how the Ottoman cavalry broke through the Line of Actual Control in the first place?”

“Were there no soldiers guarding the border?”

His voice was calm, and his eyes were filled with a hint of curiosity. For a moment, it was enough to calm everyone’s nerves since there was no anger in his voice, but looking at his expressionless face that was devoid of any emotion, everyone, including top-ranking generals who had seen mountains of blood, felt a chill rise up in their hearts. “I wonder who would be unlucky if the answer is ‘no one was guarding it’,” they all thought.

Lachit Borphukan, who felt the most responsible, made the determination in his heart and responded, “That is not true, Your Majesty. There were indeed soldiers guarding the border, but” Hearing the answer, Vijay turned his gaze towards Lachit Borphukan and waited for his next sentence. The pressure on Lachit Borphukan increased once again, but he still gritted his teeth and replied, “As you know, Your Majesty, since the Line of Actual Control is too wide, not all areas of the border are fortified with artillery positions.”

“The Ottoman cavalry breached through the Line of Actual Control in the northwestern part of Lalishsthan, in an area that did not have an artillery position. And since they came in too swiftly, we could not devise an effective counter.”

Hearing this, Vijay’s expression did not change, and he continued to inquire in a monotone voice. But if anyone were to carefully observe, they would notice a hint of displeasure in Vijay’s eyes, as they seemed to have suddenly become a lot sharper, like a sword ready to slash at any time. “If a whole cavalry unit can pass through the area you mentioned, then why hadn’t it been fortified? Is this the negligence of your duty?”

‘Gulp!’

Lachit Borphukan suddenly became silent. He did not know how to answer the question.

Ezidi Serwan, who was silent until now, clenched his fist and responded. In what happened, he felt like he also held unshakable responsibility, not to mention that the breach happened in his kingdom. “Your Majesty, the reason the area had not been fortified is that the Ottomans would have had to cross a lake to reach it. Previously, attacks from that direction were minimal to none, and most of those that did occur came from infantry units, not cavalry.”

“So it naturally need not be fortified, since there were other parts of the Line of Actual Control that required fortification and maintenance.”

“Ohh?” Vijay’s expression finally changed; his eyebrows were raised with a little surprise. “In that case, do we know what enabled the Ottomans to suddenly use this area, which is supposed to be unusable for cavalry?”

“We do, Your Majesty,” Lachit Borphukan responded, this time with a hint of annoyance in his tone, as if he was feeling ashamed and angry that he could not anticipate the enemy using this strategy. “Your Majesty, the lake General Ezidi Serwan spoke of is between a canyon-like formation. So, when we investigated what could have happened and what could have allowed the Ottomans to use this route, we discovered that the whole canyon was blasted with explosives, causing the lake to be filled up with sand and debris. ”

“After our scouts investigated the situation more thoroughly, it was confirmed that the lake was not too shallow; it could only be a few meters deep. So, with further calculations from the research and analysis wing, we have evidence and logical reasoning to believe that the blasting could not have taken more than two or three days to get the job done. Currently, on top of the lake filled with debris, a rudimentary pavement has been laid down in order for the cavalry to pass through.”

Vijay’s eyebrows relaxed as he let out a breath of air. ‘What an ingenious technique.’ He was very impressed. It looked like the Ottomans were not one of the overlords of Europe for nothing. They were in a completely different league compared to all the other countries the Bharatiya Empire had come into contact with. Even when they were at a disadvantage against the Bharatiya Empire in terms of hardware like weapons and equipment, their rich battle experience was used to make up for it. In this showdown alone, Vijay saw how ingeniously the Ottomans used the resources they had in their arsenal and maximised their advantages while exploiting the Bharatiya Empire’s disadvantages. Altogether, maybe this loss was good for the alliance army—it could be seen as buying a lesson.

Taking a deep breath, Vijay went on to ask further questions to clarify the doubts in his mind. “When the Ottoman cavalry launched a raid, why were they not kept permanently in Lalishsthan?” This was something that left him confused. Theoretically, the alliance army had enough troops and weaponry to completely obliterate the Ottoman cavalry that had ventured into the enemy territory. But not only did that not happen, on the contrary, the Kingdom of Lalishsthan suffered great losses.

Ezidi Serwan’s face immediately turned red. He considered not being able to keep the Ottomans one of the most shameful experiences in his life, but when His Majesty brought it to the forefront directly, he felt that it was better to die than to listen to his incompetence from the emperor. In the end, he had no choice but to harden his heart, tighten his fist strong enough for the nails to dig into his palm, and reply, “Your Majesty, after they breached the Line of Actual Control, they stayed very far away from the fortresses, and did not launch an attack on the major cities. Instead, they launched their attacks on towns, villages, and other buildings.”

“Since they were all using horses, we could not exactly respond faster than they could run. In the end, I commanded the 8th Regiment and formed a net and eliminated and caught a lot of Ottoman cavalry, but ultimately, the majority of the Ottoman cavalry got away.”

Vijay’s expression suddenly changed as his eyes narrowed. He had caught a small detail in the statement that made him pay attention. “What you mean is, by the time our cavalry went to chase the Ottomans, they escaped?” The repercussions if the statement were true were really huge.

Ezidi Serwan was somber. “Precisely, Your Majesty. This was the most annoying tactic I have had to deal with.”

Vijay’s expression darkened even more. “In that case, doesn’t that mean the Ottomans have a way of passing intelligence with each other in Lalishsthan? How did that happen? Are there a lot of spies that have not been discovered ?” The cautiousness of Vijay was not unwarranted, because if it could happen in the Kingdom of Lalishsthan, who can guarantee that it will not happen in the Kingdom of Persia? Maybe it can happen in the Bharatiya Empire as well?

To be continued…