March 25th, 1656
Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, the region of Gujarat, the Port of Khambhat
The Port of Khambhat had been expanded multiple times and had become one of the major ports of the Bharatiya Empire, mainly because the infrastructure connecting other parts of the empire to Gujarat was not yet completed, and the infrastructure within Gujarat was not yet fully integrated to ensure seamless communication.
Hence, being a state with a large coastline on both its southern and western sides, the ports of Gujarat had become the main method of transportation for the empire, among which the Port of Khambhat could be considered one of the major ones.
The Port of Khambhat was used to smuggle products from Gujarat to South Asia under the previous Mughal noble, but now, instead of smuggling, it has formed its own small industry, exporting the goods legally and earning more than what the Mughal noble earned.
Vijay was standing on the dock, the salty sea breeze blowing in his face. His long, unattended hair flew in the air like a loose kite.
Along with Vijay, Admiral Gangadhar was also present. He stood with his hands tied behind his back, in an attentive posture, looking straight towards the sea as if waiting for something.
The weight only lasted for a few more minutes before a small black dot on the horizon started to become larger as it came closer.
Seeing the arriving ship, all the other ships gave way because this was the biggest ship they had ever seen, comparable to the Bheema-class armed merchant ship and the Gajapati-class merchant ship recently put into production.
As the ship passed by, the crews of the smaller vessels stared in awe and amazement, feeling that the era of battleships for the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire had arrived. They speculated that this ship was about to be put into service in the Bharatiya Navy. In reality, their speculation was correct.
This was the warship built by the Shivaji Shipyard, controlled by the Molin family with a 30% shareholding.
Seeing the ship docked, both Vijay and Gangadhar did not waste any time. They approached the ship and swiftly boarded it with the help of a ladder.
The person who stood to welcome them was the ambassador of the Venetian Republic, the representative of the Molin family, and the controller of the Shivaji Shipyard, Francis Molin.
"Long live your majesty, long live, long live!"
Vijay smiled and had him rise with a gesture.
"It has been a long time, Francis. I must say, judging only from the looks, this warship looks marvellous. The designer did a good job; convey my gratitude to him."
Francis was overjoyed.
"Your words are a great blessing, your majesty. I will convey your praises to Mr. Leonardo da Marcola."
Seeing the person accompanying Vijay, Francis showed the same courtesy, bowed slightly with a namaskara, and greeted:
"Welcome aboard the ship, Your Excellency the Admiral."
"Haha, thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Francis. I am looking forward to knowing more about this beauty," Gangadhar said cheerfully as he tapped on the foremast.
Hearing the eagerness in the admiral’s voice, Francis had an amiable smile as he replied, "Of course, Your Excellency. That is what I should do. Also, thank you for the Navy’s continuous support of our shipyard. We were able to expand multiple times, and now we have orders filled until the coming year. It would have been impossible without your support."
Hearing this, Vijay laughed and Gangadhar smiled, "You don’t have to thank me for that, Your Excellency. We only look for good shipbuilders who can fulfil our requirements, and Shivaji Shipyard, being one of the five large shipyards in the empire, is bound to get some recognition. You do not have to worry about this issue, especially since you have produced a beauty like this."
*tap*
*tap*
"The support from the empire will only increase, not decrease."
Vijay wholeheartedly agreed with Gangadhar’s statement. He understood the Molin family’s concern: what if the empire funded another shipyard and overlooked Shivaji Shipyard due to its foreign shareholding? Francis’s statement made it clear how invested the Molin family was in the shipyard.
Vijay didn’t want to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs; he wanted to learn everything he could about the advanced shipbuilding technology of the Venetians, who were among the top shipbuilders in Europe. After acquiring this knowledge, they could operate independently, Hence there was no partiality shown when giving orders for warships .
Francis, hearing Gangadhar’s statement and noticing the agreeable look on Vijay’s face, felt relieved. He had indeed been worried about what would happen if the empire suddenly cut off support to their shipyard. He was sure that his family would no longer support either him or the shipyard if that were the case. Fortunately, from the looks of it, his worry was for not.
"Let me show you around, Your Excellency and Your Majesty. Please, this way."
"The ship is designed with compartmentalization in mind to make it harder to sink. Additionally, we have included dedicated areas for specific personnel. For example, the sterncastle here is the captain’s cabin."
Vijay looked at the design on the wall as well as the view from the sterncastle, while Gangadhar examined its functionalities, such as hidden slots for rifle storage, a room for important ammunition, and other features. Inspecting all this, both of them were very pleased and nodded their heads.
Francis continued as he showed the guests the dedicated bathrooms and kitchen, which were absent in the previous ship and had to be modified by the Navy itself.
"As requested, we also added these lifeboats, Your Majesty, each capable of carrying 12 average men. To make this happen, these lifeboats have their weight drastically reduced. Although their functionality is not high, they could sail in the sea for at least a week, which would be enough for rescue operations."
Gangadhar nodded his head and agreed with the statement, noting that within a week, they could indeed conduct rescue efforts if a shipwreck happened in close proximity to the empire or any of its bases.
"Moving on to the detailed specifications, Your Excellency and Your Majesty."
"This ship, named BNV-Pune-class battleship, is a full sail warship developed for Bharatiya Navy operations."
"It has a displacement of 1,000 tons and a speed of 8 knots."
"Its length is 70 meters, its beam is 18 meters, and its draft is 5 meters."
"It is primarily constructed from seasoned teak wood imported from the Himalayas, with oak used for internal structures."
"We have used wooden pegs as fasteners in order to keep the weight down and to avoid rusting in the majority of areas, while bronze bolts are used for critical areas."
"The hull is designed with the carvel construction method, which is done using overlapping planks. This design allows for a smooth hull surface, high strength and durability, ease of maintenance, greater flexibility, better load distribution, improved sailing performance, and, most importantly, an appealing appearance."
Vijay and Gangadhar had no way to refute this, as the hull indeed looked very beautiful.
Taking the ship to the dry dock and draining out the water, Francis continued to explain:
"Your Excellency and Your Majesty, as you can see, this warship has a single large rudder positioned at the stern of the hull. It is built with a reinforced hull, and carvel frames and diagonal braces are used for rough sea areas."
This content is taken from freёwebnovel.com.
Getting on the ship
"As you already noticed, this warship has four masts. It uses lateen sails on the mainmast and mizzenmast and square sails on the foremast."
"The material used for the sails is flax fibres."
Going near to the artillery decks
"This ship is designed to carry multiple artillery armaments of different sizes and calibres. It can carry heavy cannons up to 30 kilograms in calibre, medium cannons up to 25 kilograms in calibre, and smaller cannons ranging from 15 kilograms in calibre. It can also equip Puckle guns, culverins and other weapons. These weapons can be mixed and matched depending on the requirements of the battle."
"There are three different isolated storage rooms dedicated to ammunition. These rooms are in close proximity to the artillery positions to make access easier."
"The total crew required to run the ship is 300 people, including sailors for operating sails, navigation, and maintenance; gunners for handling cannons, ammunition, and firing; soldiers for defending the ship and maintaining order; navigators for using the compass and navigation; carpenters for repairing the hull, masts, and rigging; medical personnel for medical care on the ship; as well as cooks and stewards responsible for cooking and cleaning."
Completing the explanation of the ship and taking a sip of water, Francis finally asked, "So, Your Majesty and Your Excellency, what do you think?"
Vijay was in deep thought for a moment before he replied, "Well, from what we can see on paper and what you’ve informed us, it seems like an appealing and battle-capable warship. But things can only be confirmed after testing it out in the waters a few times."
"So the Navy will buy three battleships, and after testing is completed, we will consider ordering more. What do you say, Admiral?"
"It is as you say, Your Majesty," replied Gangadhar.
Francis was also happy, as he had not initially expected to receive bulk orders. He had only anticipated that the Navy would purchase the current warship. The order for three warships was a pleasant surprise for him, so he was not greedy for more.
---
Vijay, after completing the inspection of the Pune-class battleship, quickly returned to Karnavati. He was informed about the completion of the ciphertext encoding.
*Flip*
Reviewing the rules and structure of the new ciphertext, he was quite surprised because the grammar and rules resembled the Playfair cypher, Afni cypher, and Caesar cypher quite a lot. Vijay pondered if he had any influence in this.
"Well, I might have. It’s good anyway," he said to himself as he approved the finalized text and ordered for its immediate Utilization in the military.
*Knock* *knock* *knock* *knock*
A hurried knock on the door startled Vijay because it was very abrupt.
He went over and opened the door; surprisingly, it was Roshan, and he had a panicked expression on his face.
Vijay had a bad feeling.
"Your Majesty, Nashik, Ujjain, Amaravathi, and Bhubaneswar have been attacked with explosives. The casualties are unknown, and the main targets were the temples."
*Ding!*
Vijay immediately dropped the pen he was carrying, and ink spilt all over the floor. He was shocked; it felt like he was in an ice cellar, the news sending shivers down his spine.
"W-What did you say?" he asked, his emotions erratic.
"It is true, Your Majesty. Additionally, millions of troops are currently marching towards the northern frontier, and contact is expected within 24 hours."
Vijay quickly regained his composure, though he felt increasingly nervous. "So, this is a premeditated attack, targeting both our spiritual strength and our military might. I must say, Mohammed is very ruthless," his voice radiating a cold chill.
"Y-Your Majesty..."
"What is it? Spit it out."
"We have also been informed that a large group of ships has broken into Puri. Nearly 60,000 European soldiers, all equipped with advanced flintlocks, are marching towards the capital."
*Boom!*
"Good, good, good!" Vijay’s eyes were bloodshot.
"All bastards are gathering together to bring down the empire I built. So, this is how they play now. Alright, I was thinking not to use these hidden cards of mine, but these guys forced me. Now, we will play. It should be either Bharat or Mughal; one should not exist if there is another."