Chapter 1254: WW1: Fall of London and Lisbon (1)
While the raid on Lisbon successfully started in the Kingdom of Portugal, the other Naval Groups that had to travel farther finally made it to their targets across the British Isles, French lands, and Spanish beaches.
Rear Admiral Puri Vadivelu was responsible for taking command of the London expedition, and he was given the same task as his colleague Phulkesh Roy: to first escort the Marines so that they could set up a perimeter for the army to land, and then to make sure that all the troops and the equipment were safely transported to the shore.
Since the naval battle between the Bharatiya Empire and the European Union in this operation had taken place near the Iberian coast, there was naturally no debris stopping the battle group from getting closer to the English shore, as it did for Phulkesh Roy. However, Puri Vadivelu did not order the battle group to move forward.
As the saying goes, each person has their own troubles. An hour ago, he had received a classified intelligence document from the command centre operated by His Highness Agni himself. Apparently, his highness had uncovered intelligence that the English, wary of what had happened last time, had set up undersea mines across the major naval ports as well as commercial ports.
So he was waiting, waiting to get the right route to advance.
"Any news?" he enquired, his expression expectant, but the communications officer simply shook his head in disappointment.
Puri Vadivelu’s brows furrowed, "It can’t be that difficult, can it? The British are an island nation; they depend heavily on trade, so merchant ships must be moving in and out of their ports all the time." He squinted his eyes and added, "They would obviously know which routes are safe, wouldn’t they? So can’t the External Pragya get even that much information from them?"
"I apologise, sir, but it looks like there have been some complications at the External Pragya."
Puri Vadivelu shook his head in dejection and shrugged in resignation, "Forget it."
"Well, it can’t be helped then. XO, release depth explosion torpedoes."
The executive officer was caught off guard because the depth explosion torpedoes were the new underwater weapon systems developed by the Shastra Innovations design bureau, put into mass production only a few months ago. These weapons were very limited in number, so one could understand why he was surprised.
However, thinking about it for only a split second, he understood that there wasn’t a better way to go about it. After all, depth explosion torpedoes were built for this exact purpose, so what was the point of keeping them locked up?
The next moment, the battle group became tightly packed and came into a sphere-like formation, while the Maharaja Rama Chandra Class battleships, the only battleships equipped with the depth explosion torpedoes, fired several dozen at a time.
The difference between the depth explosion torpedoes and normal torpedoes was simple: the explosion of a normal torpedo is triggered by contact with a sufficient amount of force, while a depth explosion torpedo explodes according to the timer set before launch.
The idea is that the explosion is enough to trigger the underwater sea mines, which will then provide a safe passage for the battle group.
Moments after the torpedoes were launched, several explosions occurred underwater, with the waves pushing out hot, bubbling steam. The explosions continued one after another, and the whole sea surface looked like it was boiling, but despite the explosion of several dozen torpedoes, there was no explosion of the sea mines.
Puri Vadivelu rolled his eyes in annoyance as he figured out what was going on, "Looks like these mines only trigger for the battleships." He looked at his executive officer, "Increase the angle a little more."
The angle was changed, and another round of torpedoes was launched.
One annoying thing about using such a method to deal with undersea mines was that it consumed too many torpedoes. Water absorbs explosions and projectiles very well, so even if the explosion happens only 100 metres away from the sea mine, the mine doesn’t get triggered. At most, it might sway a little due to the water currents normally observed after an explosion.
Thankfully, Puri Vadivelu wasn’t trying to clear the entire sea area of the mines; he simply needed a safe passage for his battle group, which drastically reduced the number of torpedoes required to open up the path.
Finally, along with the explosion of a torpedo, a secondary explosion was also heard, the explosion of a sea mine. In this way, the battle group slowly moved forward, with the Maharaja Rama Chandra Class battleships taking the lead.
Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Pulikesh Roy successfully completed his mission of escorting the army straight to the enemy’s coast. He signed off on the command documents and directly handed command of all the military forces to the commander who would be taking over from now on, Sr. Commander Seethapathi Yadav.
Seethapathi Yadav offered a namaskara with a smile and confidently signed off on the command documents.
After taking over the command, he wasted no time and went straight to brief his lieutenant generals and major generals.
It was now a crucial moment, not the time to slowly set up barracks, build a good defensive structure, and only then move forward like he always did.
"The Agni Ratha tanks will take the lead, and right beside them, the Haridwar 200 motorcycle units will act as the skirmisher and support unit. Right behind the tanks, all the heavy infantry regiments will move forward, shortly followed by the infantry and the sharpshooters."
"The battle will be fought within the city, the enemy’s city. They are bound to have an advantage over us when it comes to familiarity, so we have to overwhelm them with numbers and by working smartly."
"So while the conventional army will be the main force leading the charge against the enemy, and the tanks can be used to deal with heavy defences and as a deterrent, the Marines, commandos, and Rangers, all three, will cooperate and flexibly deal with the enemy troops lurking within the city in squadrons."
The lieutenant generals and the major generals soon raised their hands and asked all the questions they had doubts about, and Seethapathi Yadav answered them as straightforwardly and concisely as possible. This went on for a whole hour until eventually everything was clear and the army started to move.
Seethapathi Yadav commanded a force of over 200,000 troops, composed of artillery, infantry, and sharpshooter units, along with 30,000 special forces, 20,000 logistical personnel, and several thousand medical personnel. For this battle to take the capital of Portugal, once one of the closest allies of the Bharatiya Empire in the past and now one of the traitors, he decided to go all out.
The hundreds of Agni Ratha tanks, their fuel fully topped up, roared in unison and moved forward, approaching the city of Lisbon.
Erik Debrosio, hearing the rumbling sounds of the tanks coming closer, felt extremely bitter. He was helpless. He wanted to fight, but with what? The opponent had no loopholes at all, no matter how much he shot, the metal tanks would absorb almost all the damage. And even getting closer to the enemy was a problem because those **** moving artillery pieces couldn’t even be scratched if they shot from a distance.
When threatened, even a rabbit fights back, not to mention him, so despite not seeing any way out, he still decided to give it his all.
"Divide into two groups, and let’s flank the enemy," he ordered.
The idea was simple; they could not do anything to the tanks, but the same could not be said for the heavy infantry and infantry following behind. If he could get to the underbelly of the Bharatiya forces, it would not be too difficult to rip it open.
The European gunshots continued to be heard from the front, and the metallic sounds of bullets hitting the tanks repeated again and again, but Seetharama Yadav looked unconcerned. Such an offensive couldn’t even break through the defences of the first-generation war chariot, not to mention the second generation, which could be considered a whole step above the last generation.
However, his expressionless face finally showed a change when his subordinate whispered something in his ear.
"Oh." His eyebrows were raised, and his eyes widened, "Looks like the opponent has decided to put up a struggle to the very end." He smiled.
"Alright, in that case, let’s send them on their way. Have Major General Ravi Pratap and Major General Padma Vibhushan take care of it."
"Yes, sir."
Ravi Pratap, the leader of the commandos, and Padma Vibhushan, the leader of the Rangers, immediately set up their men in various positions, waiting for the opponent to arrive.
As soon as the European army appeared in their visors, they did not hesitate and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
The barrage of gunfire sounded all the way to the city, and it lasted the entire time the army approached.
"Commander, it looks like the Europeans have formed a blockade; it might be a city defence force," Seetharama Yadav was alerted.
Seetharama Yadav got on his personal Naya Samrat jeep and came forward to look at the so-called blockade.
Before him, thousands, if not tens of thousands, of men stood behind what looked like a temporary wall built using sandstone and whatever rubble they could collect within the city. He even saw a few remains of a statue.
"Did these guys really destroy their own statues to put up a wall?" He was amazed, but in the end, what he felt was not annoyance; instead, it was pity.
If it had been before when he did not have the tank, he might have been annoyed, given that the artillery would have to be used once again and in such a path that would lead to more deaths. But now, with the tanks, it was no longer necessary.
He looked back at the man who looked at him with eagerness, who was none other than the Brigadier General of the tank brigade, "Go on then."
