April 28th, 1656
The Mughal Empire, Region of Bengal
With the order of Vijay, the target of the empire shifted to the region of Bengal, the most prosperous and sought-after region by the Mughal Empire and the Europeans.
There are multiple reasons Vijay chose to capture Bengal now instead of later. For one, it is densely populated and continuously provides military support for the Mughal Empire, willingly or unwillingly, which is a disaster for the Bharatiya Empire.
Secondly, Bengal alone accounted for 12% of the world’s GDP in the last century, out of which 50% of the textiles and around 80% of the silk imports by the Dutch from Asia came from Bengal. These silks and textiles spread throughout Europe, Indonesia, Japan, and other Central Asian countries. Textiles produced in Bengal also gained their own reputation, known as Dhaka textiles.
Now, the land with such lavish wealth has been turned into a swamp because of the war. According to Vijay’s calculations, Bengal wouldn’t even account for one per cent of the world’s GDP due to the exports being completely blocked off due to the Sea of Bengal being blockaded by The Bharatiya Navy.
That one per cent is still generous because the only trade going from Bengal is now through China, using occupied Nepal and Bhutan as footholds.
Hence, Vijay doesn’t want this textile powerhouse to die down and lose its skilled labour force due to the war.
As for the third point, Vijay does not want the wealth of Bengal to flow into the Mughal Empire, further keeping the heart of the Mughal Empire alive.
Generally, taking over Bengal was a very hard task because, out of all the regions of the Mughal Empire, the Bengal Sabha was one of the most guarded. Even now when Bengal is at its weakest, there are nearly 200,000 city defence forces between the two main cities of Dhaka and Kolkata alone, excluding the 250,000 soldiers Muhammad Azlan possesses after losing 131,000 troops due to his mishap.
For the fourth and final point, this is the best opportunity Vijay has ever seen to take over Bengal, as two of the northeastern cities, Agartala and Mymensingh, have been occupied by the Bharatiya Army. Vijay could have believed Yogendra Singh managed to occupy Agartala, taking advantage of loosened defences, but he found it hard to believe that Yogendra also took over Mymensingh.
Hence, he had to intently go through the report only to find that the Ahom general Lachit Borphukan participated in the battle and commanded half of the Bharatiya troops.
Although Vijay had requested the Ahom King to employ Lachit Borphukan, Vijay would have never expected that the man actually sent his most important and capable general to fight a war that theoretically has nothing to do with them.
This action by the Ahom King is really something to ponder.
All these conditions considered, Vijay has no better chance to take Bengal than now.
---
Agartala
The newly occupied city is bustling with activity as infrastructure construction goes on at full force. The locals, who were initially skeptical about the new ruler, finally let down their guard as no looting took place, all the taxes imposed by the Mughal Empire were abolished, and the new acts of the Bharatiya Empire were implemented.
Additionally, a two-year tax exemption was provided to the locals.
As a result, ample job opportunities opened up due to the ongoing infrastructure construction, and given that the money would not flow into the pockets of nobles, thousands of young men immediately signed up and proposed to join the city defence forces unit that was recruiting.
In this bustling atmosphere, a burly man who looked to be around 25 years old walked into the barracks carrying a black military-issue travel case. The civilians who saw this man trying to get into the barracks couldn’t help but be taken aback.
"How brazen is this guy? Does he think the barracks are his uncle’s home, coming and going whenever he pleases?"
"Yeah, watch, he will get kicked out very soon."
"Son, this is why I always tell you not only the body should grow but also the brain, or else you will become like that person over there."
This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
"Yes, that’s what I always—"
However, their comments immediately stopped. Not because they shut their mouths, but because their mouths were open too wide for them to utter anything. The guards at the barracks actually saluted the man with the most respect they had ever seen, and they didn’t even check the burly man as they let him inside.
"C-Could it be an I-important figure of the empire?"
"By the way the guards r-reacted, it may be so."
"T-then d-do you think he heard us?"
"Ah! I d-don’t k-know..."
Not minding any comments from the people, the man walked into the barracks as if nothing had happened. As he passed through, the soldiers who recognized him immediately stood at attention and saluted him. He nodded his head in acknowledgement.
Finally, he reached the headquarters of the barracks and was directly welcomed by Yogendra Singh.
"Ohh, Your Excellency, I did not expect you to arrive so soon. Please come in, please come in."
" You know, We are of the same rank; you don’t have to call me so formally, Mr. Yogendra."
Yogendra Singh was embarrassed but said, "There are differences between people of the same rank, Sir. and your achievements are like a towering peak compared to mine, so forgive me for not being able to speak to you less formally, Your Excellency Sarvesh Ranavikrama."
The man with the imposing aura is naturally none other than Commander Sarvesh, Sarvesh Ranavikrama, known as the Headhunter and Demon Sword of the empire. Hearing the last name spoken by Yogendra Singh, Sarvesh felt a little proud. Unlike Vijay, he enjoyed everything he did, including slaughtering enemies and fighting stronger opponents.
So when he got the nickname Ranavikrama from the military and received a letter from His Majesty stating that he would officialize the name, he couldn’t help but be overjoyed.
"Alright then, Your Excellency Yogendra, please brief me about the mission."
Sarvesh requested, not willing to further comment on the name situation.
Yogendra also did not continue further in the discussion and took Sarvesh into the war room and clearly explained the main objective for Sarvesh and his marines.
After that, Yogendra brought Sarvesh to the logistics department and stated, "I have received an order from His Majesty to equip you with this new weapon that is not yet in mass production."
Sarvesh was curious about what it could be, so he did not talk further. He eagerly waited, standing still.
Yogendra took out a wooden box, painted all black with "Confidential" written on its top. Yogendra had to use a hammer to pry out the nails attached to the wooden box.
Opening the box, Sarvesh was surprised to find some sort of weapon in the middle of a bunch of hay.
"This is..."
---
The Mughal Empire, Dhaka
Fazil Azlan, the younger brother of the Murshidabad Nawab family patriarch and the uncle of Muhammad Azlan, is currently stationed in Dhaka since his nephew decided to guard Kolkata. Fazil still remembers when Muhammad predicted that enemy troops would attack Kolkata, prompting him to evacuate and return to the safer city of Dhaka.
Not trained as a military leader or even as a noble from a young age due to his brother’s outstanding reputation, Fazil does not know much about the war situation. The only thing he knows is that the enemy is very cunning, and he should guard against them carefully.
Unfortunately, since his brother passed away a year ago due to illness, he and his nephew are now practically in charge of the Murshidabad Nawab Dynasty. This responsibility also scares him a little because he lacks experience and understanding in dealing with such situations.
He still remembers how he was forced to flee Kolkata by its own inhabitants. Initially, he thought it was the work of clever rebels, but he later learned it was orchestrated by the enemy Bharatiya Empire. Upon learning this information, he couldn’t help but be stunned and speechless. He had never imagined a war could be waged like this, without deploying a single soldier.
Remembering it now, if he hadn’t been careful enough, he could have been killed that night. Wouldn’t that mean the Bharatiya Empire could have successfully eliminated an enemy leader without deploying any troops? Too scary.
Hence, Azlan, who no longer dares to be too confident, constantly monitors the city’s news. If any unusual news spreads, he would even send the defence forces to suppress it immediately.
Despite not knowing much about governance and war tactics, with his limited knowledge and long memory, Azlan effectively sealed off all pieces of information that came into and out of the city.
Surprisingly enough, he even reversed the strategy and started to do propaganda on his own, using the same methods the enemy used but with stories flipped, portraying the Murshidabad family as saviours and the Bharatiya Empire as villains.
People who lacked knowledge and had not seen much of the world were easily fooled. Hence, even though most of what Azlan propagated was utter nonsense, no one could prove otherwise, and the people believed it.
Fortunately, Azlan did not have a steady supply of high-quality paper for mass printing; otherwise, the Bharatiya Empire would have had to worry about the rise of this unexpected figure who understood the importance of propaganda and controlled it in his own hands.
Unfortunately, that day would never come, as a man who loves challenges and revels in battle has already set off to end the rule of the Murshidabad family.