15th August 1656
A young adult around the age of 24 was sleeping inside the barracks located in Agra.
From the looks of it, it seemed that the young man had been in a very dangerous situation before because his body emanated the smell of herbs and medicines, as gauze was wrapped around various parts of his body, demonstrating how hurt the man was.
This was naturally Vijay, who had fallen unconscious after his battle against the Mughal Emperor Mohammed V. It had already been three hours since the battle, and the cleanup of the battlefield had yet to start.
Suddenly, there was a little movement in Vijay’s eyelid. Noticing this, the nurse who was standing beside the bed immediately ran out of the room and informed others of his awakening.
Vijay felt pain all over his body as soon as he woke up. He also felt extreme hunger, so he did not hesitate to grab the food that was left next to him and proceeded to eat.
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After eating food equivalent to that of three people, he was finally 70% full. His head became clearer and his thoughts more crisp.
Vijay wanted to go out and find out how the battle turned out after the morning’s events, but before he could do so, all the military commanders, including Ramayya Sennapathi, Narasimha Nayak, and Yogendra Singh, had arrived at the barracks, making it momentarily crowded.
Witnessing their arrival, Vijay asked with a hint of concern in his tone, "So, did the Mughal generals give up? Did we win?"
When he ended the life of Mohammed, Vijay recalled that the Mughal generals were still alive and controlled the army of the Mughal Empire. This posed a significant threat if these generals took advantage of the chaos and escaped.
If these generals established a foothold elsewhere and fought a war of attrition, the Bharatiya Empire, which had now expanded multiple folds, would lack the capacity and capabilities to defend against these hidden enemies continuously. Hence, Vijay’s worry was warranted.
The commandos, hearing the question, Instead of quickly answering it, let out a sigh of relief. They had all heard how intensly he had fought against Muhammad and were worried about the sanity of His Majesty since they all knew he was very kind-hearted at his core.
Seeing so many people willingly or unwillingly die because of him, they thought it would leave a huge shadow within the heart of His Majesty, and they feared he would become someone else completely.
Fortunately, though, looking at the clear complexion of his face and the strong sense of clarity emanating from his black eyes, they realized they had worried too much. His Majesty seemed to be in a very good state of mind.
Since the immediate worries were resolved, Narasimha Naik didn’t hesitate and reported, "No Mughal general escaped, Your Majesty. Our special forces were able to snipe them down even if they tried. The majority of Mughal elites surrendered, while some, like Feroze Jung, chose to take their own lives."
Vijay smiled upon hearing the news. This was obviously a very good result, and he was happy. However, soon his eyes turned cold as he asked, "Are all the Mughal nobles caught? No one escaped, right?"
He knew how deranged these lowlifes were and was not planning to let even a single one of them go. Also, he could use these people to establish his authority within the hearts of the citizens in the newly conquered regions as quickly as possible.
Sadly, though, he was bound to be disappointed.
"Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a hold of even a single one, Your Majesty. I deeply apologize for this mistake of mine," Narasimha Nayak quickly replied as he lowered his head with embarrassment on his face. Ramayya and Yogendra soon followed as it was their duty too.
Vijay was now confused. How come not even a single Mughal noble was captured? This is simply unreasonable.
"What happened, Narasimha? Tell me in detail," he asked, his face with a serious expression.
"Ah!" Narasimha was startled by that gaze, which looked more threatening than before, but he quickly explained, "Your Majesty, it’s like this: after you defeated the Mughal Emperor Muhammad, the Mughal soldiers, who were mostly civilians forcibly conscripted into the army, quickly rushed back into the city, trying their best to find their loved ones.
However, seeing how their families were used as slaves to boost the morale of the Mughal elites, these people became very angry and immediately launched an attack on the surviving Mughal nobles."
"The information about how their families were treated quickly reached the ears of all the Mughal soldiers who were still on the battlefield, and before we could even react, they immediately turned around and started attacking the nobles behind them. In this way, we couldn’t get a chance to capture even a single noble; all of them are dead."
Vijay was taken aback but soon calmed down. ’It is ok if they are all dead,’ he thought, not planning to blame anyone.
He quickly pushed the curtains aside and went out. The commanders followed behind like his guards.
Vijay, as soon as he left the barracks, saw the scene of the setting sun casting a bloody hue over the city of Agra.
Bloody bodies, broken limbs, and destroyed buildings were everywhere. The crater formed by the blast of the earth cannon had become a lake filled with blood.
Vijay had already seen the scene and accepted it for what it was. However, his heart still felt heavy looking at it.
He went to take off his crown, feeling that it was too heavy on his head, but he realized that he wasn’t wearing a crown.
’This is the weight one has to bear, huh,’ he said to himself, realizing that the weight he was feeling atop his head was the weight of his responsibility as an emperor who united the Bharatiya subcontinent with the blood of millions of people, It was the weight of the bloody crown that permanently adorned his head.
*Phew!*
He let out a breath of turbulent air, calming his restless heart, and proceeded to move forward, inspecting the ground cannon.
He was curious about how the Mughal Empire achieved such a large explosive force without the use of reinforcements like cement.
When he got near the edge of where the ground cannon was used, he soon got his answer. The hole was ridiculously deep; it was so deep that it could even be considered a well.
Looking at its walls, he quickly got the answer he was looking for. Even though there were no reinforcements used in order not to disperse the blast, the soil itself was tightly packed and not easy to crumble. Additionally, it looked like the enemy had used obscene amounts of gunpowder to achieve the firepower that was shown.
Knowing the answer, he quickly diverted his attention to the next matter.
He had to get rid of the remnants that had formed due to the disintegration and destruction of the Mughal Empire.
He had to do it immediately since the army still had combat effectiveness and morale was at an all-time high. If he delayed these matters, it would cost him more to recruit this many troops again some other day, so he could not wait longer.
"Summon Sarvesh for me," he ordered one of the military personnel beside him.
Sarvesh soon arrived.
"Narasimha, how many troops do we have remaining?" Vijay asked
Narasimha immediately replied, "We had 580,000 troops remaining after the battle, but with the addition of the 80,000 troops that arrived later, we currently have 660,000 troops, Your Majesty."
Vijay fell into deep thought, and after a few minutes, he made some arrangements in his mind.
"Ramayya, take 160,000 troops and capture Lahore and Sindh for me. Can you do it?"
Ramayya Senapati immediately nodded his head and promised to fulfil the task.
"Yogendra Singh, equip yourself with 150,000 troops and attack the region of Punjab. I need the head of Abdullah Rahman, the Nawab of Malerkotla," Vijay said, eyeing him. "This is the chance to get back your homeland. This is also a chance for revenge. Can you do it?"
Yogendra immediately knelt down with gratitude and resolutely promised to complete the mission.
"Narasimha, I will lend you 150,000 troops. Conquer Rajasthan for me. We do not need traitors among our ranks."
Narasimha immediately saluted, declaring that he would complete the task.
"Sarvesh, the remaining 200,000 troops, along with the special forces, are left under your command. It is time for you to fulfil the promise you made to Miss Mahalakshmi. Get me Nepal and Bhutan."
Sarvesh immediately became very happy and declared that he would leave right away.
After giving various tasks, Vijay stared at each one of them and ordered, "You all have your own duties and respective armies, and you can leave for your missions now. However, my condition is that all these regions should fall within four months, as I have decided to hold an establishment ceremony for the new empire and a coronation ceremony for myself and the new nobles."
"So I expect the subcontinent to be united by then. Have I made myself clear?"
The commandos immediately became happy and resolutely stated, "We’ll get it done at any cost, Your Majesty."
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