October 21st, 1655
Agra, Mughal Empire
The meeting continued...
" So we are really in a very tough situation, especially with our Arabian Sea Navy completely compromised"
Saying this, the chill in Muhammad’s eyes reduced a little, and he had a hint of helplessness in his expression. When he learned about the military economy system of the Bharatiya Empire, he couldn’t help but feel envious and even a little frightened. As far as he could understand, Vijay could now control all the resources of the Empire without anyone hindering his path.
’unlike me ’ he added silently in his mind. And there weren’t even proper nobles in that empire for the emperor to give some favours for more political stability, ’like myself again ’, having to please the annoying nobles in order to maintain political stability in the empire.
Muhammad wished for the same powers as Vijay in the Mughal Empire, but he clearly knew that it was only wishful thinking. If he tried to touch the power of the nobles, even though they did not have any private army, he knew how many connections these individuals had in the military. He also knew that they were capable of splitting the military into multiple private armies at a moment’s notice.
*sigh*
He let out a sigh inwardly and proceeded to ask with the same emotionless expression that he put on at the start of this meeting, "So, where do you all think our enemy’s next target is?"
Hearing the question from His Majesty, the subordinates looked at each other, silently debating whether to voice their thoughts. They had been in this situation multiple times since the war began a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, most, if not all of the predictions they had made had turned out to be wrong.
Consequently, they now even hesitated to voice their opinions, which was their whole job, as it was very similar to the think tanks of Vijay’s past timeline.
Muhammad harboured doubts about the ministers of the empire because all the plans that were supposed to be kept secret were somehow leaked to the enemy. The only time this didn’t happen was during the attack on the Bhutan and Nepal regions when false information about attacking Tibet was provided to the ministers.
So, while his new idea of an advisory council wasn’t working well, he still managed to tightly control the flow of information through this organizational approach.
Muhammad’s impatience was evident as his face grew round with frustration while observing their hesitance. "Say it, or I will replace all of you."
This threat struck fear into the subordinates, as they knew the consequences of being replaced. It meant more than losing their jobs; it meant losing their lives as well.
Finally, not willing to bear the consequences, the fat man who had been about to speak at the beginning of the meeting, spoke again on behalf of his colleagues. "Your Majesty, we expect the Bharatiya Empire to attack Bengal this time with a high probability,"
Muhammad frowned as soon as this decision was heard. This was the same decision the council came up with last time, and it did not end well for the empire. What was the reason the same decision was reached? He asked, despite containing a lot of anger within himself, "How did you come to this conclusion?"
The man hesitated for a moment after feeling the anger evident under the calm voice of his majesty. But it was either explain his thoughts or give up his job. Hence, he chose to live. So, the fat man hesitantly began to speak out.
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"Your Majesty, although this answer is not 100% accurate as we cannot truly predict what the enemy does in such a large playing field, all we can say is, due to their recent attack on the Gujarat region, the most likely chance is they will avoid attacking the surrounding region.
Because the Western part of our empire is very close to most who are relatively friendly with our empire, so I think it is very disadvantageous for the enemy to attack our western region again. And since our enemy seems to be smart, I think he will avoid that."
"One more reason is that currently, Bengal shares borders with two powers that are hostile to us: both the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire and the Ahom kingdom, both of which have actively prepared for battle. The fortifications along the border have significantly increased from the last time our war with the Ahom kingdom concluded.
So, if the attack is coming from two fronts, it is possible to take over Bengal with a high possibility if the empire does not provide reinforcements on time."
"Also, Your Majesty, both these predictions could be wrong, and our enemy might attack our Empire from the Central Region. But if this is done, I am confident that we can defend the region with absolute confidence.
The Navy cannot help in the scenario of the attack on the central region, which, in all honesty, puts us in a pretty advantageous position since we do not have to get involved in a naval battle with the Bharatiya Empire, which clearly has a better naval fleet even though the number of ships is less."
"And when it comes to land warfare, although I would dare not claim we are the best in the world, we are not too far behind from the best. Also, we have one of the best defence forces in each city in the central region.
Unfortunately, those useless nobles in the Gujarat region were made fools of by the rich landlords and merchants right under their noses, and they could not command the city defence troops properly after filling the Defense Corps with some second-generation rich losers, which ended up causing the empire a huge loss."
Muhammad thought for a while and felt that it made sense. Although he did not like how the fat man described the nobles and rich merchants of the Gujarat region, he could honestly agree for the most part after witnessing the reforms made by the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, which ended up absolutely destroying the rights of these interest groups.
He was about to agree to the allocation of the troops, but suddenly remembering what happened last time, he stopped himself and decided to take a cautious approach. "Half of the troops will be sent to the Bengal region, and the other half will be divided between the central region and the Western region."
Hearing the conclusion reached by His Majesty, everyone could understand the carefulness of The Emperor, so they nodded their heads and accepted the arrangement.
After everyone left, Muhammad summoned Mustafa and asked, "Mustafa, how many troops could we recruit in a span of a month?"
Mustafa, who already had a tired expression on his face, replied, "Your Majesty, if we take back some of the troops stationed in Bhutan and Nepal, along with recruiting some within the empire, we could theoretically recruit nearly a hundred thousand troops. But, Your Majesty, these troops’ combat effectiveness will not be too high."
"Mustafa, let’s say if I give you 300,000 people to train, how long will it take for them to be prepared for war?"
Mustafa’s drowsiness suddenly disappeared as he carefully looked at His Majesty. To his surprise, there was a chill in His Majesty’s eyes and a ruthlessness that he had never seen before. An army of 300,000 people is a huge burden on the empire, and the amount of resources it takes to train them is even more monstrous. But still, the cost of raising this army was not something he should consider.
In order to answer the question, Mustafa thought for a while and finally replied.
"Your Majesty, I do not know what level you want these people to be trained to, if I may enquire."
"Enough to march in formation and execute a few moves."
"Also, it would be ideal if they have theoretical training on the operation of a gun in their course."
Mustafa thought for a while and replied, "Your Majesty, if that is the case, I can drill some basic steps into these recruits in a few months and within a week make them proficient in operating a gun, at least theoretically. So, I can safely estimate the time to be within three months—"
Muhammad nodded his head and replied, "Good, then get ready to accept these recruits."
Saying that Muhammad left the room, and Mustafa watched his back with a wary expression.
He could feel that there were some changes in the mentality of His Majesty. Mustafa felt that his Majesty was now completely obsessed with defeating the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire at any cost. He just hoped that it would be good for the empire and that this obsession would not burn the Empire down.
Later that day, news spread throughout the Mughal Empire that sent shockwaves through the Nation.
The Emperor has decided to collect a new type of tax called the war tax, an additional 5% on top of whatever tax the citizens are paying. The way to overcome this tax and even get a chance to reduce the taxes is to join the army and participate in the war.