Chapter 1259: WWI: Glass house
The fall of Warsaw was devastating, and it only put the European Union more on edge.
The one who was most affected was Ferdinand I, the king of the Prussian Kingdom, since the next target of the Bharatiya Empire was most likely Prussia. Although he was the one who suggested that surrendering was a viable option, if possible, he did not want to surrender and give up everything he had built.
So, without hesitation, he mobilised all the resources he could through the European Union, and also mobilised the people within the kingdom, and swiftly formed an army of over three million troops, and sent them directly to the eastern border.
"Your Highness, are you sure you want to do this? We can’t last long," said a nobleman, with a hint of worry on his face.
Ferdinand looked determined, but in the depths of his eyes there was a hint of exhaustion.
The kingdom might not have directly participated in the war, but over the last few years, in order to hold back the Bharatiyas on the eastern front, the resources of the nation had been constantly consumed, be it monetary, industrial, or even human. In the span of the last two years, he had continuously allocated over a million troops to the Balkan region and Polish Lithuania, and furthermore, in order to hold back the Bharatiya navy, he had invested hundreds of millions of euros to add more battleships to the navy.
Sadly, all of it proved to be ineffective, and instead of consuming the offensive capabilities of the Bharatiya Empire, it ended up draining the kingdom’s own foundation.
Due to this, even the railway line could not be completely built. Apart from the lines connecting various industrial bases within the kingdom to neighbouring countries, the railway line that was supposed to be set up for defence had not been set up at all.
Coming back to his senses, he looked at his minister of finance. "How long can we last?"
The nobleman had clearly come prepared. "The salary is not a problem, since we are already paying them the bare minimum, but considering the reserve of grain in our warehouses, without any unforeseen circumstances, it can last about 6 to 7 months."
Ferdinand sighed. "What did the merchants’ association say? Are they willing to sell the grain to the kingdom?"
"They are, your Highness, but what they ask is a premium of 45%. The kingdom cannot afford such a price."
Ferdinand was not surprised. "Try to negotiate with them again, just make them understand the current situation," he said, finally revealing the helplessness he had hidden in his heart.
The nobleman felt a little bitter, but in the end, he only nodded and left.
"If only I had implemented the military economy act," he muttered.
In truth, he had always been resolute in his idea of implementing an act similar to that of the Bharatiya Empire or at least like the one he had implemented in his kingdom before the union came into existence, where the entire economy would come under the direct control of the monarch during times of war. He firmly believed that such a system would have allowed the kingdom to better coordinate its resources and sustain a prolonged conflict. But sadly, he never had the opportunity to implement it, since, in order for the European Union to be formed, it required the full support of the business alliances, merchant guilds, and labour unions spread across the continent.
One of the key conditions they had put forward, alongside the adoption of unified tariff codes, was that business would remain completely separate from governance, and that under no circumstances would the governing organisation take direct control over any form of commercial activity. This condition had been non-negotiable from their side, and without accepting it, the very formation of the union would have been impossible.
Ferdinand, along with several other monarchs, was well aware that such a condition carried the risk of becoming a hidden danger in the future. However, at that point in time, the immediate need for unity across Europe outweighed those concerns. As a result, the condition was accepted as a temporary measure, set to remain in effect for 20 years, after which it would be reviewed and potentially revised. But now, as the consequences unfolded before him, he, along with the rest of Europe, was beginning to experience the negative effects of that very decision they had once agreed upon so readily.
In reality, the proposal from the merchant guilds had not been particularly unpopular across the continent. The reason for this was simple: in Europe, business had traditionally remained separate from governance. While many lucrative enterprises were indeed controlled by high-ranking nobles, they still operated independently from the mechanisms of governance. Because of this long-standing structure, many nobles and representatives who participated in discussions regarding the European Union did not view the condition as especially concerning or problematic.
Only a small number of individuals recognised the long-term implications of such an arrangement. They understood that, unlike Europe, the Bharatiya Empire possessed the ability to directly control the cost of grain, ammunition, and other military supplies, adjusting them as needed to sustain their war efforts. This gave them a significant advantage, allowing them to fight for longer durations while maintaining lower logistical costs. In contrast, European nations lacked that level of control, placing them at a clear disadvantage.
That, in the end, was one of the key reasons why, despite strong opposition from monarchs like Ferdinand, the proposal still managed to pass.
A month after the fall of London.
August 1708.
The city of Bristol was attacked along with Newport. Without the navy, it wasn’t a big problem to take the two coastal cities under control.
A week later, a new campaign was launched. The army went northwest, their aim was Oxford, one of the intellectual centres of the Kingdom of Britain.
Subsequently, the troops that landed at Bristol, over 200,000 in number, set off on a campaign directly to Birmingham, one of the industrial hearts of the Kingdom of Britain, with over 70 Agni Ratha tanks.
In the meantime, King Stewart ran from one place to another, mobilising as many troops as possible in order to take on the Bharatiyas who were devouring his kingdom right before his eyes.
September 1708.
The two other major ports of Portugal, Porto and Lagos, fell under the onslaught of the Bharatiya Navy, completely cutting off the outward reach of Portugal. By this time, the army that had gone to Lisbon had already occupied a city inland called Evora, which lies right at the border between Portugal and Spain.
With the conquest of Evora, nearly one-third of Portugal was cut off from its main body, prompting King Alfonso IV to make a declaration that he would make a final stand against the Bharatiya Empire in Coimbra, one of the industrial bases and the last remaining major city at his disposal.
By this time, the Empire’s army was heavily stretched. They were still making advances into the hinterland of enemy kingdoms, thanks to the advanced weapon systems and the biggest MVP of them all, the Agni Ratha tanks, but the speed had slowed down drastically.
Thankfully, the recruitment of troops back home had not stopped at all; if anything, it had only become more proactive, since there was no longer any need to conscript soldiers in a sneaky manner. Recruitment campaigns were held across the empire, in the capital Bengaluru, in Nagpur, in Kochi, in Kolkata, in Indraprastha, and hundreds upon hundreds of other cities.
Over the last few years, the civilians had only heard good news about the military campaigns. They had read about various war heroes who achieved great deeds, various soldiers who had gone from having nothing to becoming some of the most well-off people in their vicinity. The empire’s media machine, the internal Pragya and the military propaganda department had been constantly disseminating news across the empire, mostly positive and some negative here and there, in order to make sure that it did not come off as fake.
Thanks to such well-thought-out media work, the people who signed up for the army came in droves. Whole streets were filled with people standing in line, and given that military drill training had become a compulsory part of every military-aged man’s life, with drills conducted across the empire, be it in colleges, in companies, or in manufacturing plants, the recruited men didn’t have to go through a lot of training either.
In such a way, in under a month, a million troops were once again transported across the Atlantic using the same military transporters that had transported the first million troops.
Like a huge war machine, the empire continued to operate in the background, providing whatever the frontline required, including troops, weapons, equipment, resources, and everything else.
November 1708.
With fresh blood joining in, the progress suddenly jumped. Leon in Spain, which had lasted for more than a month, had finally been breached, and a new campaign had been set for Salamanca.
Adding 200,000 more troops, the army in Bordeaux once again set off on a campaign to Toulouse, but that was not all. The navy finally destroyed all the undersea mines that were laid throughout the English Channel, and with their destruction, the navy was finally able to access some of the important ports and bases along its coast. For France, it was Le Havre in the region of Normandy.
Similar to Vijay’s last life, a Normandy landing finally took place, and the army of 320,000 that landed set off directly to Rouen, with the next target being the capital of the kingdom, Paris.
December 1708.
Throughout the naval campaigns of the Bharatiya Empire, the Kingdom of the Netherlands had been quite fortunate, because the Bharatiya Empire’s navy wasn’t keen on entering the North Sea, the stronghold of the Nordic entities. But now, with the English Channel freed from all the undersea mines, the Bharatiya Empire immediately attacked Amsterdam, Hague, and Dunkirk.
Hundreds of thousands of Bharatiya troops rushed inland, completely ignoring the hail of bullets coming their way.
Several months of intense battle later, the first European adversary of the Bharatiya Empire, the Dutch, finally gave in and surrendered.
The news was like an earthquake that spread throughout Europe. If they did not know before, now they finally knew they were not living in the most powerful continent in the world, but were simply living in a glass house that had cracked.
