13th March 1657
San Marco District, National Capital, Venice
San Marco, the heart of Venice, is filled with people preparing to welcome the fleet that has returned from Bharat. The Venetians are excited about these new battleships their empire has bought. Previously, there was a sense of unease in the nation, as the Ottoman Empire steadily gained an advantage in the war.
With the help of a large quantity of artillery from Bharat, they were able to persist in land warfare, but due to heavy resource constraints, they could not build many warships to contend with the Ottoman Navy, even though they had the technology and means. For this reason, they had to rent warships from the English, the French, the Dutch, the Portuguese, and the Spanish.
Although these ships came at a fraction of the cost it takes to construct a warship, it is also true that these ships were not theirs. Moreover, these ships were bought for the purpose of war, hence the destruction rate was quite high, which forced Venice to pay extra money for their replacement.
Now, the people were happy that the military has bought a new ship from the Bharatiya Empire for a fraction of the cost it would take to build the ship themselves. The Venetians are excited and hopeful that their navy will once again stand on an equal footing with or even surpass every other European country.
This was just a pipe dream before for the Venetians, as unlike other countries, Venice was not a colonial superpower. In fact, it was not even a real country, but more like an economic alliance between different states banded together for economic interests.
"Look, the warships are here!"
The lookout on top of the viewing platform cried out in joy.
This immediately caused a commotion within the crowd.
"Hey, the heroes are finally back!"
"I heard that they were ambushed by the hateful Ottomans on their way home, but Captain Ferruccio cleverly used a tactic and destroyed two of their battleships. Isn’t it amazing?"
"I also heard that two of our warships were heavily damaged by the Ottomans, but they miraculously refused to sink."
"It must be the Holy Mary blessing the ships."
Looking at the fleet that was getting closer and closer, the admiral of the Venetian Republic, the old man Antonio Erizzo, was getting very excited. He felt like his heart, which had not been active for a long time, started to pump once again.
He heard the details of the battle and also learned about the design alterations the Bharatiya Empire had made to the warships, making them harder to sink. For any other European country, this could be a disadvantage because building ships like this was more costly, would require more skilled labor, and would make the space within the ship congested.
But for Venice, which naturally did not have to go through all this mess and was actually able to buy the ships for a fraction of the cost of the new man-of-war battleships of the English, it is a great advantage.
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Antonio was almost ready to mobilize another battle group of his own and immediately sail to Greek waters to engage with the Ottomans for a small game of tag.
Fortunately, he had not lost his mind yet. He controlled his impulse and went to meet with the Doge to arrange things.
*Shhhh*
The warships finally docked at the port, and cheers erupted from the crowd as they started to clap non-stop.
Ferruccio Da Romano, dressed in his official naval clothes, proudly walked out of the warship and bowed before the crowd.
"Thank you, thank you, gentlemen. Thank you, ladies."
"I am very grateful for your presence. Thank you, everyone."
"Now, if you excuse me, I have important matters to attend to."
Saying that, he immediately went over to report to the Navy Command.
The merchant ships following behind quickly docked at an empty location, and their crews immediately ran over to inspect the warships and merchant ships built in the Bharatiya Empire up close.
Felix, looking at the warship in front of him, which did not even tilt a little after taking damage to the hull, was amazed once again. He wanted to go into the ship and check it out for himself, but unfortunately, his entry was denied. Even though he tried to bribe the guard, he wouldn’t let him in.
For this reason, he could only watch from outside, trying to guess the principle behind the ship’s survivability.
Sadly though, in the end, he was disappointed because the hole was blocked from the inside very soon, and he could not see anything after that. The only thing he saw was water being pumped out by the sailors on board. "Is that it?" he thought to himself, as the process looked a little too simple.
Similar to him, other merchants also came to inspect, but unfortunately, when they tried to get into the ship, they received the same treatment as Felix. However, all hope was not lost; when Felix and his colleagues went to inspect the armed merchant ship, surprisingly, they were allowed to enter.
Upon entering the armed merchant ship, Felix discovered the secret: the entire ship was divided into separate isolated compartments, so even if part of the ship took damage and water started to seep in, the isolation of the compartments would minimize the overall damage to the ship.
Although Felix noticed some drawbacks in the design, he also recognized its strong points, and his interest in buying these ships increased.
The same thought was running through the mind of Aaron Hartthorne. He was very excited while inspecting the armed merchant ship and was certain that his brother-in-law would definitely consider buying it.
Being more experienced than Felix, he noticed more disadvantages in this design, but he also observed more advantages, such as damage containment, improved stability, improved buoyancy, fire containment, operational efficiency, and reduced redundancy.
The ship has both critical disadvantages and critical advantages. The only question is which aspect of the ship is more important. For Aaron, the ship is clearly advantageous since his brother-in-law’s shipping company runs from Europe to America. On such a long voyage, the ship’s survivability is paramount, even if the cargo capacity is a little less, at around 650 tons.
The drawback is completely worth it considering the 10%–15% destruction rate of ships traveling to the Americas. Aaron guessed that its survivability is more than 30% higher compared to other shipbuilders in Europe.
Also, the congestion is not a big problem, since his brother-in-law deals with valuable products that take up less space. Additionally, Aaron asked around and found out that this ship does not require too many sailors to operate. Many operations are organized and automated, requiring only a few highly skilled individuals to control the entire ship.
Aaron, without waiting for anyone, quickly wrote a letter to his brother-in-law, Matthew La Grande, and immediately informed him about the ship.
----
While Giovanni Morosini was laughing with delight after hearing about the victory against the Ottomans, the rest of the European leaders were informed of the news one by one.
France, being closer to the Venetian Republic, was the first to receive the information.
In a luxurious opera hall:
"Your Majesty, the Venetians really bought 10 warships from the Indian subcontinent, and on their way back, these warships defeated the Ottoman warships at the entrance of the Adriatic Sea," a man in a black cloak informed.
Louis XIV and Cardinal Mazarin were surprised by the news. "Well, this is unexpected," Louis said.
"Indeed, considering that Bharat did not have a proper marine industry a few years ago, the progress is astounding, to say the least," Mazarin commented. But then he added, "Your Majesty, I think we need to reconsider our relationship with the Bharatiya Empire."
Louis was deep in thought. He had indeed underestimated the situation. By the time he could stabilize his power in France and find a chance to act, the subcontinent had unified, leaving him with no opportunity.
Now, even if he had the chance and power to do so, he doubted that the French would be able to go head-to-head against the Bharatiya Empire. The very thought of it sent shivers down his spine.
"Cardinal, you are right. We should put aside the thought of biting off a piece of the fertile and rich Bharat. Instead, we will have to further our relationship. What do you think about ordering more warships from Bharat?"
"Sounds good, Your Majesty. Fortunately, our actions during the Bharatiya Unification War have not been exposed."
---
The new Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, upon receiving the news, was looking forward to the warship he had purchased.
The Spanish Emperor, Baltasar Charles, wore a complicated expression, torn between love and hate for Bharat. He was almost certain that the unrest in the southeastern colony was caused by Bharat, fueling his hatred. However, he also had affection for the nation because Bharat had sold Spain two battleships at nearly the cost of manufacturing them, offering much faster vessels.
Additionally, the economic benefits from trading with the Bharatiya Empire had further deepened his appreciation.
"If this had happened a few decades ago, I’m afraid we would be lifelong enemies. But fortunately, Spain no longer places strategic importance on the Southeast. As long as this Bharatiya Empire does not interfere in the Americas, everything else can be discussed," Charles spoke to himself.
Meanwhile, the countries participating in the little northern war, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Brandenburg-Prussia, Denmark, Norway, the Swedish Empire, and the Tzarist Russian Empire—were all very excited that the warships they had bought to maintain a good relationship with this new strong power would not go to waste.
They were fortunate to have bought truly advanced warships at a very low cost.
Alexis I, the Emperor of Russia, did not show much reaction. He believed that the benefits brought by the Bharatiya Empire were more significant than the cheap naval vessels, so he was looking forward to the meeting his son had mentioned.
As promised, he mobilized the intelligence network of the Russian Empire to find out who had secretly funded the mercenaries into the Indian subcontinent.
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In the coming weeks, all of Europe will be active due to the novel goods brought from the Bharatiya subcontinent. This will lead European society to question the backwardness of the East, a notion they had always considered true after witnessing the changes in China.