November 5th, 1655
Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, Kakatayapuri State (Andra + Telangana), Godavari River Bank Industrial Zone.
On the banks of the Godavari River, also known as Dakshin Ganga, the vital artery of the eastern region of the empire, looms a colossal array of factories. These industrial giants, resembling voracious metal dragons, devour all the iron resources within the empire to churn out weapons of war.
The massive water wheels arranged in a straight line along the riverbank, continued to turn tirelessly, powering this monstrous facility. The massive and towering smoke from the chimneys of these factories reaches the sky, casting a dark and gloomy hue. At these industrial facilities, everyone is in a hurry, as if their deadlines were about to be reached at any moment.
On the outskirts of these factories, fast food hotels have become the norm due to the tight timelines set by the factory directors. The work is hard and gruelling for the workers; however, the pay is very good, especially now that they are involved in the war with the Mughal Empire, making their work more stable.
Additionally, for the extra work they do, they are receiving extra compensation from the factory cadres.
Amidst a flurry of activity, carriages of varied hues and sizes traverse the industrial base. However, the majority of departing carriages form a straight line, similar to ants in their determined march, revealing their military origins. Their distinctive greenish-black paint, reinforced suspensions, and sturdy build give away their purpose.
Within these carriages lie newly forged weapons, destined for direct shipment to the northern defence line of the Empire.
Amidst the ongoing war, nearly ten million individuals find themselves directly or indirectly engaged in employment. With the empire’s population inching towards the 50 million milestone, it’s evident that one in every five citizens is actively involved in supporting the war efforts in some capacity or another.
Narmada Bank Industrial Zone is one of the six major industrial zones in the empire responsible for a large part of the empire’s production capacity. Together with the other five industrial zones, the river bank industrial zone contributes 80% to the empire’s artillery and weapons manufacturing capabilities.
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It was 8 AM in the morning.
Surprisingly, the directors of various factories stood outside their establishments as if waiting for something. The workers on the street were suddenly surprised by the sight, as this was not a daily occurrence and it was the first time they were witnessing such an event.
Due to this, the streets suddenly became quiet—so quiet that even the flowing water could be heard.
*glug glug*
The directors, feeling uncomfortable with the silence, initiated small talk with each other.
"Hey, brother, I heard your milling machine was out of order. Is it true?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Fortunately, the committee arranged an engineer for the factory as soon as possible. At first, I was skeptical after looking at his younger face, but soon I changed my mind because... That boy, although young, fixed the machine very quickly, and it is now operational."
These talks lasted for a few more moments until they were abruptly halted as all of them stared at the different carriages that had arrived on the premises of the industrial zone.
On the surface, these carriages appear to carry the iron required for initiating the manufacturing process. However, in reality, they transport orders for producing parts for the New Brown Bess Musket and other military weapons. These orders are divided among multiple factories, with each factory unaware of what the others are producing.
Final assembly takes place in a separate assembly plant to minimize the risk of information leakage. Although only a distraction, The iron transported in these carriages is also genuine, sourced from various smelters in the empire. After processing, it is shipped to the industrial zones where it undergoes machining to create various parts.
Currently, the Narmada Riverbank industrial zone, like all other industrial zones, receives its daily supply of iron from the factories that operate blast furnaces.
Among the managers waiting for the supply of iron was Jitendra Naidu, a 35-year-old man who started the Naidu Iron Works when the business liberalization occurred in the empire. His previous job involved producing common iron tools for the construction of roads in the empire.
However, when machine tools were introduced to the public and plots in the river base industrial zone were put up for auction, he immediately took the risk after witnessing the power of these machine tools. He sold both his workshop and the land he owned at his previous location and directly opened another factory at the Narmada River Base Industrial Zone.
Additionally, with the remaining money he purchased a few hydraulic machine tools.
Although his family was against his move, his bet finally paid off because just a week after this change took place, the prices of many products collapsed due to the flooding of cheaper tools into the market, thanks to the increased efficiency brought about by the hydraulic machine tools and the industrial base of the empire.
Jitendra felt fortunate for his decision then, and with the same mentality of not being left behind by the competition, he started manufacturing different precision parts for the military and civilian industries. He began diversifying what his factory could manufacture, which, as he expected, paid off.
His factory was finally selected as a key military procurement enterprise by the military logistics department. He was so happy with this news that he threw a huge banquet for his colleagues and neighbours. With the reputation brought by military-supported enterprises, his civilian sales also increased, firmly establishing his factory in the middle-class enterprises of the empire.
However, his life took a turn when the war started, and his factory had to be confiscated due to the military economic system of the empire and its rules. Jitendra was heartbroken when this happened and even cursed at whoever was responsible many times. Fortunately, he was still made the director of his factory, which put him somewhat at ease.
His disappointment soon morphed into excitement as more and more resources were invested in his factory by the government, leading to his factory becoming one of the leading suppliers of military parts in the empire. Jitendra knew that according to the law of the empire after the military economy system ended, the factory would be handed over to him again.
At that time, he would transition from being a small to medium-sized manufacturing company to a large-scale military-grade parts manufacturing company, one among only a handful in the empire.
*creak*
The carriage carrying the logo of Vijay Anand Roadways Limited (VRL) stopped right in front of the factory, which bore the sign "Naidu Iron Works" and also the designation "Military Precision Parts Collective," indicating both the private and public name of the factory as a unit capable of producing high-quality military parts for the empire.
Jitendra quickly had the iron blocks transported inside. He instructed for the box containing the orders and designs of the parts to be removed from the carriage and taken to the technicians of the factory for quick debugging of the production line.
This marked the first day for Jitendra to initiate the manufacturing of new parts for the new rifle in the empire.
Seeing the contents of the box, Jitendra was very happy, a wide smile spread across his face. His factory had been assigned to manufacture two parts for the gun, and Jitendra was thrilled when he received this notification from the committee. He understood the significance of this opportunity.
These two parts were not to be underestimated; they were incredibly challenging to obtain a military license for.
In fact, it was even harder than winning a jackpot. Not everyone could get the opportunity to manufacture parts for the new rifle used in the empire. It required standardized parts, regular security inspections, very high precision requirements, and most of all, very high scrutiny of the shareholding structure of the factory before it became state-run.
This was to ensure that after the military economy system ended, the technologies the Empire invested in the unit should not fall into the hands of two or more people, and the technology should be as centralized as possible to increase the accountability factor.
But obviously, Jitendra followed all these requirements, and his sacrifice paid off.
After the iron bars were unloaded, the machine tools roared to life as the power of the Narmada River began to turn these machines at full speed. Jitendra currently had twenty machines of different kinds wholly focused on producing these military parts for the new weapon of the empire. As for the designs and the requirements of the parts he won, they were for the trigger and the cock.
With the help of hydraulic machine tools such as the grinding machine, the milling machine, and the turning lathe, the two parts of the trigger and cock were quickly produced after the debugging of the production line.
These parts were tested for all the indicators mentioned in the requirements, after which full-scale production began.
*Dam dam dam*
The factory floor suddenly became noisy as the workers began to move like gears in a machine, producing the required parts with absolute precision and practice.
Similar to Naidu Iron Works, different factories in the Godavari River industrial zone also debugged their production lines and started producing new parts for the new military weapons.
Fortunately, all the parts were standardized in order to simplify logistics.
By the end of the day, all these parts were shipped to various assembly plants in the empire. Normally, assembly plants and manufacturing plants are not located in the same area in order to increase the security and secrecy of manufacturing the gun.
Overnight, the Rifle parts produced in the Godavari River Industrial Zone reached an assembly plant covertly located in the city of Vijayawada.
In the assembly plant, situated in the open plain, soldiers were stationed outside with flintlock rifles, patrolling all over the premises. For every 100 meters, five soldiers could be found patrolling the compound of the assembly plant.
The assembly plant was very large, employing a lot of people from all over the empire. Due to strict secrecy measures, these workers were selected after careful and deep intelligence gathering, and they were kept in the assembly plant for six months at a time.
Hundreds of carriages carrying various parts of the rifle had arrived one by one, unloaded the goods, and swiftly left as the drivers were not allowed to enter the plant.
These parts were then sorted out according to a pre-existing division and sent to various departments of the assembly plant.
Throughout the various phases of the assembly, secrecy was maintained as much as possible. The internal components of the gun were sent to the most secured division in the assembly plant, where experienced technicians, all under 25 years old, worked on assembling the firing mechanism of the flintlock musket.
As for why teenagers are employed, it’s because they have thin fingers that are very dexterous, which proves advantageous in this sort of job. Fortunately, in order to avoid child labour, unlike a certain northern neighbour, Vijay put a cap on the age of the workers, allowing only those above 16 to work.
However, it was mainly the thin and lean kids who got the job. Fortunately, it all ended up working out, as most of the kids who fit the description were either naturally thin or came from a disadvantaged family background, Being unable to procure the needed nutrients. This job ended up working in their favour because of the higher salary compared to any other job in the assembly plant.
Later, they could use their earnings as starting capital to start their own businesses or buy a plot of land to live the rest of their lives happily.
Similarly, the stock, butt plate, cock, flint, frizzen, rear sight, front sight, muzzle, ramrod, key, pan, lock plate, and trigger were assembled in a clean and structured manner.
By the end of the process, a brand new Brown Bess Musket was produced. As a final step, a batch of muskets was randomly selected and tested to check for any quality problems. If the number of defective pieces was lower than the specified guidance line, the batch was deemed good to go. Otherwise, they were rejected, and production started again.
The musket wasn’t the sole item under production within the Empire; the manufacturing also encompassed the puckle gun, the wheel-lock pistol, and the culverin cannon. Each of these weapons was crafted in distinct facilities or assembly plants, tailored to the specific type being manufactured.
Various components were forged in separate factories and then clandestinely transported to the assembly plant for final assembly.
In the expansive Godavari River industrial zone alone, diverse factories were tasked with creating specific parts for the four different weapon types. Orders were given in such a way that no single industrial zone should be able to produce a complete weapon by exchanging the design drawings themselves, as this action is deemed treason by law.
With the total resource support of the empire, currently nine assembly plants are in operation. Each assembly plant has reached the production of 40 units per day, totalling 1200 units per month and 14,400 per year. With 9 assembly plants, the total production of the Brown Bess muskets is 129,600 pieces per year and 10,800 per month.
Given that one piece requires an average of three kilograms of metal, the total usage of iron has reached 388.8 tonnes per year. The production speed continues to improve month by month, as workers become more adept at assembly and supporting industries become more experienced in the production of new parts.
In the coming months, it is anticipated that achieving a production rate of 50 units per day will not be out of reach.
Adding the more metal-consuming weapons like cannons and puckle guns, the metal usage of the empire for weaponry has almost reached 5,000 tonnes which also includes the Navy of the empire, which is closer to 38.46% of the empire’s iron production at the beginning of the year.