Chapter 112: Reclaiming Paradip Port
While Vijay is planning for his next attack, things are going very well for Narasimha Naik as he is on his way with a brigade, moving towards Puri.
First, let's talk about the events that happened a few days ago.
Narasimha Nayak departed from the Visakhapatnam Port simultaneously with Vijay's departure from the Mangalore Port. He was leading four brigades aboard the man-of-war battleship seized from the Dutch, with the remaining soldiers transported on temporarily acquired merchant boats, courtesy of the wartime requisition. Additionally, the fleet included 10 Dutch Whisperer frigates, enhancing their naval capabilities for the upcoming endeavours.
Much like Vijay's fleet, Narasimha Nayak's capital ship was also equipped with a formidable 20 kg calibre cannon. With a wealth of experience in various battles, Narasimha exuded a calm and composed demeanour as he stood firmly on the deck, savouring the refreshing sea breeze. The journey swiftly progressed, and within a few hours, they arrived at the estuary of Lake Chilika. Situated in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, Lake Chilika is renowned as the largest saltwater lake in Bharat, spanning the cities of Puri, Khurda, and Ganjam. This expansive lake, a major regional attraction, is formed by the confluence of water from 52 rivers and tributaries. Its water levels fluctuate between 900 to 1165 square feet, covering a vast area totalling 1165 square kilometres.
Narasimha Nayak swiftly deployed a compact scouting vessel to assess the presence of any Mughal naval forces in the vicinity. The scouting report confirmed the existence of 30 Mughal frigates, with a few ships among them displaying signs of inferior quality. Determined to eliminate this potential threat, Narasimha promptly initiated a naval confrontation. However, being primarily an army general, he faced challenges in effectively commanding the battleships. Unlike Vijay, who navigated a comparable situation with the advantage of extensive future knowledge and the wealth of information stored in his mental knowledge bank, Narasimha grappled with the intricacies of naval strategy.
Fortunately, the captain of the ship assigned to Narasimha was an experienced fisherman and a fast learner in the Naval Academy. He was even praised by Dutch sailors as a born Navy commander. Before Vijay left for battle, he sent his knowledge through telepathy to this talented individual. Unfortunately, with the limited time, Vijayanagara couldn't produce more talents like him.
Gangadhar, the captain of the second Vijayanagara battleship, came up with the strategy, seeing how the general was embarrassed to arrange it. As the Mughal fleet had still not discovered the larger fleet in the Bay of Bengal, a frigate trio was sent, escorting a mid to large-sized merchant ship flying the Vijayanagara flag. The capital ship was behind the opening of the estuary, making it undetectable to the Mughal ships.
The Mughals who saw the merchant ship had their eyes light up, as this large ship was being escorted by some military vessels, a sight they had never seen before. They had, on numerous occasions, observed small merchant ships flowing in and out of the kingdoms in the northeast part of the Mughal Empire. Most of the time, these ships carried some silk or spices, commodities the Mughals had an abundance of. However, the use of military vessels to escort a merchant ship was a new and intriguing sight. They took the Bait, The Mughal ships sailed towards it like a wolf spotting a flock of sheep.
The bait had worked as the Mughals entered the mouth of the estuary towards the Bay of Bengal. Pair after pair of ships left the estuary as they advanced towards the merchant ships, but this is where their doom awaited. The frigates that were used to escort the merchant ship suddenly made a hard manoeuvre and started firing at them. The Mughals found it ridiculous as they had 30 frigates compared to the three of the enemy.
However, the slowest Mughal ship, slightly damaged and experiencing reduced speed, sent a distress signal in horror. This prompted all personnel on the remaining ships to turn back, only to witness a full battle group led by a large thousand-ton behemoth slowly appearing behind a curve. As expected, the fireworks began. More than 20 frigates were immediately destroyed, and the rest, realizing they had no chance of victory, surrendered. The ten frigates came under the control of General Narasimha Nayak and Captain Gangadhar.
Considering the estuary as a good place for defence, three Dutch frigates along with the captured ten Mughal frigates, along with two battalions, were arranged to guard the lake.
After the small skirmish, the battle group set sail again for the actual location, the Paradip port. Half an hour later, the battleship made its way to a small fishing town called Paradip. Paradip was not yet a port as Vijay made it out to be; the Paradip port of modern-day India was established in 1966 for the convenience of iron ore and industrial raw material transportation into and outside of Odisha, as the area around the Paradip port was rich in iron ore resources.
Vijay decided to capture here for various reasons. Personally, it held sentimental value as this was the place where he interned during his previous life while studying metallurgy. Geographically, Paradip seemed ideal for a port due to the presence of a small estuary in Paradip town that could be easily developed for larger ship docking. From a strategic standpoint, the port served as a crucial point for countering the Mughal Kolkata Navy, acting as a strategic spearhead. This decision also aimed to foster improved trade relations with the northeastern Hindu countries of Bharat.
As the Mughals did not attach great importance to the town of Paradip, there were only a few surveying officers around who were easily brought into custody. The battleship couldn't dock at the Paradip town, so it stayed in the Bay of Bengal sea. The rest of the small and medium-sized merchant ships of 150 tons and below were being unloaded batch by batch.
Soon, the three brigades of infantry and three battalion artillery men, along with the rest of the auxiliary soldiers consisting of the engineering corps, scouting corps, and the rangers, had disembarked.
To be continued...
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