Venetian republic
In the Grand Parliamentary Hall of Venice, the Doge Giovanni Morosini had just received the latest updated information about the Gujarat region being completely occupied by the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire.
This news caught him off guard, not because of the attack by the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire; no, he already knew that they were about to attack the Mughals. What surprised him was how quickly the Mughal Empire’s defence crumbled in the region of Gujarat. In only a week, four major cities and a capital city were compromised, and within a few more weeks, more cities fell one after another.
According to his prediction, the whole Gujarat region would be in the hands of the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire by now.
There was a strange glint in Giovanni Morosini’s eyes. "Can I exploit this situation?" he pondered, his shrewd businessman instincts momentarily surfacing. However, he quickly suppressed them. While he could envision the benefits of acting as a third party in the war and negotiating for interests from both sides, it could only be feasible if his own country wasn’t dependent on either party involved.
With the Venetian Republic fully engaged in the War of Crete, he had no time to entertain schemes involving the war in the subcontinent.
Beside Giovanni, there was a man who looked over 50 years old with grey hair sitting beside him. This person was Marco Molin, the Patriarch of the Molin family. He had come to seek an audience in order to consult him for something.
"Mr. Morosini, have you received the news from the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire?" Marco asked with a knowing expression.
Giovanni didn’t understand why the old man was asking this question, despite knowing the answer himself. Still, in order to amuse him, he answered, "Yes, Mr. Molin, I have just received the news. And I have to say, we have found a very good partner for ourselves. The benefits of this alliance are already showing, as the price of weapons has dropped again and the quantity has increased.
Now, I can vaguely see the possibility of us being able to counterattack the Ottoman Empire."
Marco nodded in agreement. "What you said is indeed true, Mr. Morosini. It is indeed a very good investment."
He said and smiled.
Just when Giovanni was trying to figure out why the old man had come to visit him, the old man himself revealed the news.
"Mr. Morosini, talking about the investment, you also know about our family’s investment in the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire’s shipbuilding industry. Due to this investment, although we did not get a direct benefit from it, we did end up getting a lot of returns in the form of 30% cheaper artillery and weapons for the Republic.
By selling these weapons, we also ended up making the profit that had been lost by the investment."
Giovanni was still staring at the old man, not able to figure out where the man was getting to, as everything he had mentioned was already known to the higher-ups in the empire.
"So my trust in this South Indian Empire has increased, and I would like to take a risk," Marco said, but looking at the confused face of Giovanni, he did not hide it anymore and directly revealed the information.
"It seems the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire’s military has been pressuring young Francis Molin for the design of a man-of-war battleship ever since our investment,"
Giovanni suddenly realized he couldn’t recall who Francis was, but then it dawned on him that there was only one Francis from the Molin family who was overseas. "Isn’t Francis Molin your youngest son?" he asked abruptly.
Marco nodded his head and replied, "Yes, he is indeed my youngest son. I was hesitating whether to agree to the request placed by the military of the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, but now after this war, I have decided to invest my family’s resources in this empire."
Giovanni nodded in understanding, recognizing the thoughts running through the old man’s mind. However, he still harboured doubt as to why the old man had come to talk to him if he had already made up his mind.
Observing Giovanni’s puzzled expression, Marco quickly comprehended the doubt and clarified, "Although I have made a decision on this matter, the technology being exchanged is still related to battleships, albeit a generation older than the current modern ones.
So, I wanted to confirm with Your Excellency the Doge whether the Republic has any intentions to intervene in the war between the two subcontinental nations or if there are plans to pursue benefits in the subcontinent."
This time, Marco’s face became serious as he felt like this answer from His Excellency the Doge would not only decide the future of his family but also potentially the future of the Venetian Republic.
Giovanni suddenly understood the whole purpose of the old man; it was nothing more than to confirm whether the Republic would try to colonize this subcontinent. Giovanni smiled bitterly because even if he wanted to, it was currently impossible to do so. Hence, he said the answer straightforwardly, "We will have no hostility towards this Empire until at least the war with the Ottoman Empire ends."
Little Northern War
While most of the European mainland is peaceful, except for the War of the Venetians with the Ottoman Empire, there is another major war in the eastern part of the Empire.
The Swedish Empire, led by Charles X Gustav, finally showed its fangs as it aimed to increase its influence in the Baltic Sea region.
As a response, an anti-Swedish coalition was formed, composed of Polish-Lithuania, headed by John II Casimir Vasa; Tsarist Russia, headed by Alexis I; and Brandenburg-Prussia, headed by Frederick William.
So, all the nations started the Little Northern War, which would be fought for the next 5 years according to the previous timeline. However, how the existence of the Dakshin Barathiya Empire changes the war in this timeline, is yet to be determined.
Due to this war, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Tsardom of Russia, the Duchy of Brandenburg-Prussia, and potentially Denmark and Norway, if involved, wouldn’t have much time to concern themselves with the outcome of the conflict between the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire and the Mughal Empire.
Overall, it could be reasonable to assume that these powers would not get directly involved in the war between the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire and the Mughal Empire.
Dutch Republic or the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
The Current Stadtholder, William III of the House of Orange-Nassau, was sitting in his office deliberating what to do with the news that he received about the South Indian Empire conquering another territory, nearly 200,000 square kilometres in size. He felt like the expansion of this empire had been non-stop for the past few years.
In only a short span of five years, this empire almost doubled in size and it was still expanding at a remarkable speed.
From what he had seen, the Navy of this empire was also expanding very fast along with its offensive technologies, catching up with Europe. William felt that it was troublesome to let this empire continue its expansion unchecked.
However, unfortunately, the Dutch Republic no longer had the power to go against this South Indian Empire, especially now with the loss of both battles against the South Indian Empire and the English. Due to these consecutive losses, discontentment among the Council of Provinces of the Netherlands towards his handling of the nation’s affairs has been increasing.
"Grand Pensionary, see if you can contact other European countries in order to stop the rise of the South Indian Empire," William III said with a helpless expression.
"Although most of Europe is now busy, there should be some countries that should be interested in dealing with this empire."
With the loss of the Dutch Republic against both the South Indian Empire and the English, a lot of losses have been caused to the Dutch East India Company. With the involvement of the English in these waters, trade had begun to go downhill, visible to the naked eye.
Now, the only profitable business in Asia is the island of the East Indies, including the various trading forts and the city of Batavia.
So, in order to find another way for the Dutch Republic, William focused most of his attention on the Dutch West India Company and put more emphasis on the exploration of the Americas. He increased the focus on Suriname, New Holland, and New Netherland (areas around the Hudson River, which included present-day New York City, and extended into present-day New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut).
Commonwealth of England.
Oliver Cromwell was in deep contemplation after reading the information about the South Indian Empire successfully conquering five major cities in the region of Gujarat, practically winning the battle.
"Son, what do you think?" Oliver Cromwell asked his son, Richard.
"This Empire should be very strong, isn’t it Father? Should we make an alliance or send diplomatic channels to establish friendship?" Richard Cromwell asked with a Curious expression.
Hearing this, Oliver Cromwell felt disappointed in his son and began to worry about his future after he passed on the legacy as Lord Protector to him.
However, he maintained patience as he explained, "Son, our empire is formidable. We boast the strongest naval force in the world, and we need not seek friendships or alliances with others. If there’s something we desire, we have the strength to claim it for ourselves, provided it doesn’t conflict with the interests of major European nations.
As long as our ambitions lie beyond Europe, we have the power to seize whatever we desire."
"So, don’t fear this South Indian Empire, which is appearing as strong and majestic. Their navy pales in comparison to even a single fleet of our empire. If we manage to cripple their economic lifelines, the entire empire will fall under our control. And as for their large population, there’s no need to worry. They’re no different from those black African Niggers.
They are just a lighter shade of monkeys, but a monkey is a monkey nonetheless."
Oliver said, with a hint of disgust apparent in his eyes, as he held onto the mentality that the white man is the epitome of the human species, and all other species are lower beings who are still in the form of primates.
But this disgust soon morphed into limitless greed as he spoke to his son with a convincing tone.
"I’ve reviewed the subcontinent where this empire exists and found it to contain fertile soil spanning over one million square kilometres, more than most small nations in Europe combined. Just imagine the wealth we could amass from capturing such an empire."
Oliver said with a Green glint in his eyes as if showing his son the future prospects of his plan, knowing that he would not be alive to see that day, and it would be his son, Richard Cromwell, to get it done.
Originally, England didn’t have this idea until the 18th century when it finally noticed the absolute differences between each and every strata of society in various countries and nations of the subcontinent.
But Oliver Cromwell, who is not from a royal lineage, with a few victories against the Dutch and by defeating the Spanish Empire with the Portuguese as a proxy, thinks that the Commonwealth of England is the most powerful European Empire in the world. He now even dares to swallow the giant mammoth of the subcontinent.
*Bang*
But suddenly, his door was violently blasted open.
Oliver Cromwell and his son, Richard, were both shocked by this sudden incident as they quickly got on the ground with the sheer terror they felt.
Oliver turned his head towards the door, and the group of people who entered through it greatly shocked him.
His heart filled with dread as numerous realizations dawned on him all at once. No wonder he sensed an undercurrent brewing in the political circles of the nation. "So it was true all along; the banished prince really returned," he thought to himself. His heart ached as he finally grasped the gravity of the situation.
Forget about taking on the South Indian Empire, forget about his own life for a moment; he was now doubtful whether even his son could survive.
Oliver Cromwell felt despair for his son, who lay beside him, trembling in fear. He wanted to plead with the person who entered through the door, but suddenly, a sharp pain gripped his heart as if it were shattering into countless pieces. His blood surged within him, his body aflame with agony, and an overwhelming sense of impending doom engulfed him.
In an instant, his heart ceased its beating, and the Lord Protectorate of the Commonwealth of England, Oliver Cromwell, passed away.
This content is taken from freёwebnovel.com.