March 25th, 1656
The Mughal Empire, the region of Uttar Pradesh, capital city Agra
In the Royal Palace
"Your Majesty, the news has just arrived," Moeen Ali, the spymaster of the Mughal Empire, humbly informed his majesty as he handed over the war report to Emperor Muhammad V, who was seated on the throne before him.
Muhammad was expressionless as he took the report and read it fully.
"Hmm, so the army did fail the mission," Muhammad said with an expressionless face. There was no emotional fluctuation in his expression as if the news was expected.
But unlike him, the court nobles and Moeen Ali were taken aback by the reaction given by his majesty. It was as if his majesty did not care about the life and death of those 400,000 soldiers.
However, the next words that came out of his mouth immediately put an end to the doubts of the people.
"Although the depth they reached is less than what I expected, well, it should do for now," Muhammad said with a grin.
This one sentence confirmed that from the start, his majesty did not have the idea of winning the war.
"Looks like his majesty has bigger plans," some said to themselves.
However, Muhammad did not stop his self-talk. "The only pity is I lost such a good general like Salim Khan. He would have been useful for the upcoming war," he stated, his face showing a little disappointment. "Oh well, we can’t win everything, I guess."
Muhammad crumpled the report and threw it out. Simultaneously, Moeen Ali also stepped down from the stage and left to sit in his position, his eyes flickering.
Muhammad stared at each and every person in the courtroom. After a few minutes of silence, he suddenly asked, "So, my dear nobles, how are the preparations going? Your time to play your role is almost up."
There was an intense and suppressed atmosphere in the courtroom, not letting anyone take even a single breath.
Moeen Ali’s brows were raised as he did not know what his majesty was talking about. He had a bad feeling in his heart, and sweat began to pour down from his forehead as his mind became very tense.
The nobles, on the other hand, as if they knew what his majesty was talking about, got up one by one and replied.
"Your majesty, representing the Nawab dynasty of Malerkotla in the region of Punjab, 300,000 troops equipped with 2,000 pieces of artillery and 80,000 flintlock rifles are under your command."
*Boom!*
Like a rock dropped into a calm lake, this declaration sent ripples through the courtroom. Courtiers who had known nothing about such an event couldn’t help but feel shocked; their eyes opened wide. Not because the military strength declared by the Nawabs of Malerkotla was too high. On the contrary, in actuality, the military strength was the opposite—it was too low.
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The reason for their shock was that this data was only for one region. As far as they could see, there were currently five prominent noble families sitting in the courtroom. Wouldn’t that mean all these people also had trained their own armies and were waiting for His Majesty’s orders?
The court nobles proficient in economics felt a chill run down their backs. The thing they had feared had finally happened. They were witnessing a war that could undoubtedly cripple the Mughal economy. If something went wrong, the Mughal Empire might disappear into the long river of time, known as a nation that crumbled due to its own stupidity.
Of course, the territorial nobles sitting in the courtroom had no such considerations. They didn’t worry about such calculations. In their opinion, the only thing they had to do was defeat the Bharatiya Empire and fully conquer it. As for the economic troubles, those would naturally be covered with resources after the victory. What if they lost? Such things were not a consideration.
Returning to the courtroom,
As soon as the Malerkotla Nawab Dynasty spoke out, the rest of the regional noble families did not sit idly by. They too stood up one by one and declared with proud tones,
"As a coalition of Rathore of Marwar (Jodhpur) and Kachwaha of Amber (Jaipur) in the region of Rajasthan, we have prepared 200,000 troops equipped with a thousand artillery pieces and 40,000 flintlock rifles."
This declaration caused some frowns among the nobles. The Nawab of Malerkotla decided to voice his opinion, "Why so little? aren’t you Rajputs very rich? What happened? You’re only contributing this much to the Empire?"
The Patriarchs of Rathore and Kachwaha were immediately embarrassed. It was not that they deliberately wanted to send fewer troops, but circumstances forced them to deploy only this much military power.
"Haha, it’s nothing you don’t know, Your Excellency Nawab. You also control some parts of the lands ruled by the Maratha kingdom, so you must understand our difficulties. Most of our lands were previously part of the Maratha Kingdom, and frequent rebellions occur in our region. Isn’t it natural that we can only mobilize so many troops?"
Some people found this answer reasonable. Since the fall of the Maratha Kingdom, resistance to their rule had continued, especially since the legitimate heir of the Maratha Kingdom the Bhonsle dynasty remained in the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, providing spiritual sustenance to these rebels.
However, the Nawab of Malerkotla scoffed, "Hmph, these are all excuses. If you had eradicated these rebels like I did, why would you still face such troubles?"
Hearing this, both Rajput Patriarchs wore wry smiles. They had indeed been lenient in dealing with the rebels, but they couldn’t massacre entire villages and threaten their citizens with the same circumstances to hand over rebels, could they? Though they were loyal to the throne and command of the Timurid dynasty, they were not so ruthless as to slaughter their own people.
Fortunately, after a while, there was no further opposition to the strength provided by the Rajputs in the court. Even the Nawab of Punjab only interjected and opposed due to territorial disputes, which often led him to oppose the Rajputs whenever possible.
It was not his true intention to accuse the Rajputs of insincerity, as everyone in the courtroom knew that the Rajputs had no choice but to remain loyal to the Mughal throne, Hence there was no basis for the nawab’s claim to begin with.
The declaration continued.
"Your Majesty, from the Dynasty of Dost in Madhya Pradesh, we have prepared 600,000 troops with 3,000 artillery and 120,000 flintlocks ready to act on your command."
Upon hearing the highest number so far, some weak-willed court nobles fainted on the spot.
"Your Majesty, from the Asif Khan Dynasty of Lahore, we have prepared 200,000 troops equipped with 950 artillery pieces and 30,000 flintlock rifles."
"Your Majesty, from the Awadh Nawab Dynasty, we have prepared 50,000 troops along with 300 artillery pieces and 5,000 flintlock rifles."
Surprisingly, upon hearing the lowest number so far, no one opposed or questioned the Awadh Dynasty. Everyone knew that the population in the regions of Nepal and Bhutan had been very low, further reduced due to recent wars. Producing even 50,000 troops was a significant achievement from such regions.
"Your Majesty, from the Murshidabad Nawab Dynasty of Bengal, unfortunately, we have no strength to offer. I beg your forgiveness."
"What!"
"Unforgivable!"
Multiple opposing voices immediately followed after the Murshidabad Nawab’s descendant made this declaration.
How could they work so hard to collect and contribute to the empire while the Nawab of Murshidabad got off scot-free?
Unfortunately, their voices were silenced by the hand raised by His Majesty, the Emperor.
"The Murshidabad Nawab Dynasty is pardoned, as the strength of 400,000 troops equipped with 3,000 artillery and 90,000 flintlock rifles has already been committed, and there is no need to dedicate any more."
The nobles immediately fell silent, as they knew this obvious truth. The only reason they accused the Murshidabad Nawabs was because of their wealth. Occupying such a rich and prosperous area of Bengal, the wealth of the Murshidabad Nawab Dynasty was second only to the royal family.
This caused a lot of jealousy and animosity among the fellow nobles, who were no weaker in strength but weaker financially. Due to this significant wealth disparity, there were frequent disagreements between the Murshidabad Nawabs and the rest of the noble families.
Muhammad did not mind the heated atmosphere and stated his own strength. Being the current patriarch of the Timurid dynasty, controlling the rich lands of Uttar Pradesh, he declared, "The royal family commands 800,000 troops, along with 10,000 artillery pieces and 180,000 flintlock rifles."
Though the number was shocking, the nobles felt it was not too exaggerated. The Timurid dynasty controlled very rich and populous lands, making it feasible to muster 800,000 troops.
With the strength determined, the allocation of positions took place, most of which were filled by descendants of prominent noble families.
Later that evening, a banquet was held, and the nobles, being very happy, enjoyed themselves and fell asleep.
At that moment, a silhouette wearing a long black coat that covered the entire body left the palace and headed towards an alleyway.
However, unfortunately, this silhouette was grabbed by a hand.
The silhouette immediately tried to swing a knife at the person who grabbed their hand. But upon turning around, the silhouette was surprised, their eyes widening in shock.
"Your... your... your Majesty?"
Mohammed, looking at Moeen Ali, had a complicated expression on his face. He could have never expected that one of the biggest moles for the Bharatiya Empire was already so close in his court. Had it not been for Rahim, Muhammad would have never known the truth of the matter. As for the reason why Moeen Ali betrayed him, he had an idea.
*Sigh!*
"Since when did you know?"
Moeen Ali caught, did not struggle anymore and dropped the knife held in his hand. But upon hearing the question, his face filled with fury as he answered,
"I became suspicious after the way you dealt with the spy who defected from the Bharatiya Empire. The way you yourself assassinated his parents and put the blame on the Bharatiya Secret Service — that’s when I started to have doubts."
"I began investigating my background from then on. Unfortunately, I ended up discovering the whereabouts of my birthplace."
"I have to ask, Mohammed, how could you be so careless as to allow the assassins to carry knives with the seal of the House Timurid? Were you so confident that no one would inquire?"
Mohammad "..."
"Well, you’re partly right. If not for what you did to the defector, I would never have considered investigating."
"Knowing that truth, I am Moeen Ali no more. I am Ramesh Dev, son of Jaydev and Parvathamma, a proud Hindu."
"Don’t think that if I don’t inform the Bharatiya Empire, they won’t find out. You would be greatly mistaken. The roots of Bharat in the Mughal empire run so deep and immeasurable that you can’t even fathom."
"So peacefully wait for your death, you half-breed born from two hundred Moth...."
*Slash!*
Before he could complete the sentence, his head fell to the ground. The last thing he saw was the cold and ruthless eyes of Muhammad V.
"Tsk, I should have suspected earlier. It was this bastard who helped those kafirs. He must have been the one who mysteriously blew up the shipyard during the enemy strike in Gujarat, and he likely gave clear instructions to the enemy to completely cripple the naval industry in Bengal."
"What a waste of resources."
*Bang!*
In his anger, Muhammad even drew a musket and shot at the headless body. Fortunately, he didn’t have the patience to reload the gun, so he stopped.
"Rahim, did the guests agree to our plan?"
"They did, Your Majesty, after hearing your flawless plan, they had no other choice but to agree."
"And what about the order of divine soldiers? Are they ready?"
"They are, Your Majesty. I must say that His Excellency Fakir Ali Pasha has exceptional talent in this area. In just over a year, he had trained so many divine soldiers; it is simply unbelievable."
"Well, you may be right about that. My cousin indeed had such talents. It’s just that I never knew it. Perhaps appointing him as Minister of War from the beginning was a mistake. However, now that I think about it, it might have been a good thing too, as it made him mature faster."
"Indeed, Your Majesty. I am looking forward to his excellent performance."
"Good. Also, good job uncovering this leech."
"That is my job, Your Majesty."