Chapter 74: Weapons Test, Grenades Part:1
Vijayanagara Empire:
Vijay was unaware of what was happening in Lanka, but he was excitedly anticipating the event happening today. He had just received the news from Hey Ram in the morning, stating that the prototype of the cannon was completed and ready for testing. But that was not all the good news; he had also received a pleasant surprise from Manoj Reddy. Manoj had just informed him that he and his assistant Sai had been successful in developing a frag grenade, albeit in a primitive form. Getting this information, Vijay was pleasantly surprised. From what Vijay knew, this was a modern-age weapon of mass destruction, and he was very excited to see it in action. He quickly arranged for a weapons test to be conducted and invited all the generals to watch the new weapons' performances.
Vijay himself also quickly got on a carriage and left to inspect the new weapons that were painstakingly developed after expending a lot of resources.
Without any delay, all the generals and the Marshall of Vijayanagara had been notified of the weapons testing that would be taking place today. It was a surprise to them because they had all been anticipating his majesty to reveal his secret weapon since the last meeting held a month ago. They felt slightly relieved as they received the news because they had been feeling restless recently, with only three months remaining until the war. It was finally their turn to see this legendary secret weapon of His Highness.
Vijay quickly made his way into the Academy of Military Sciences building. "Welcome, Your Majesty, please come in," he was warmly received by the group of researchers headed by Hey Ram and Manoj Reddy as soon as he stepped in the door.
"Enough of the formalities, let's go see the cannon," Vijay said with a hint of eagerness, which he rarely showed. The researchers were stunned by the king's behaviour, but sensing his mood, they understood Vijay's reaction and quickly showed the way to a storeroom where the cannon was placed.
When Vijay entered the storeroom, he saw a cloth covering a cylindrical structure that was placed right in the centre of the room. He was sure this was the thing he was looking for based on its sheer size alone. As he lifted the dust cover, he saw what he had been anticipating: a cannon. It was a beautiful dark metallic cannon, its stance resembling a tiger waiting to launch and tear apart its prey. By the looks of it, it seemed to weigh around 2 tons, slightly above the weight limit Vijay had requested. However, due to its use of heavier gauge metal and tight casting methods, the gun was more durable and could fire for a longer distance than what he had envisioned. He knew that this one cannon signified Vijayanagara slightly catching up with Western technology and brought hope for the unification of Bharat.
Vijay gently caressed the iron monster as he contemplated the defence capabilities of Vijayanagara after successfully developing this cannon.
"You both did very well. Keep up the good work. Maybe there will be a surprise for you both after this war," Vijay complimented, satisfied by their efforts, as he patted Hey Ram's and Manoj Reddy's backs.
Suddenly, his assistant entered the storeroom and informed Vijay, "Your Highness, the generals and the Marshall have arrived."
"Oh, I'll be there right away," Vijay responded.
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Outside the warehouse, near the weapon testing grounds, Ramaiya Senapati asked his father, Logananda, Marshall of Vijayanagara, A question quietly in his ear, "Father, what do you think this secret weapon of his majesty will be?"
Logananda, listening to his son's question, shook his head and answered in a disapproving tone, "I do not have this information. This weapon is kept very secret, and even if I knew, I would never disclose this information to you without the permission of his majesty."
"Che, alright, old man, suit yourself," Ramaiya clicked his tongue as he stopped pestering his father and went to discuss training and battle formations with the other generals.
Shortly, within a few minutes, Vijay also arrived at the open ground.
"Long live your highness, long live Vijayanagara!" Everyone was greeted with a standard military salute when they saw Vijay arriving. Vijay nodded his head as a greeting and set his sights on the testing grounds.
This ground contained various human dummies built with wood and various obstacles to test the weapons on their performance. The base was located in a secret place near Bengaluru, known only to the upper levels of the army and the Academy of Military Sciences. Even the government had no information about this place. Seeing that everyone had gathered, Vijay sent a signal to start the weapons testing.
"Welcome, generals and His Majesty. Let me start the demonstration with the first weapon we have recently developed, which is called a grenade. This weapon is made from gunpowder packed in a small container with high compactness. When it is ignited, the grenade will burst into flames as a massive explosion is caused," Manoj introduced as he took out a grenade next to him and showed it to all the generals. The generals were skeptical about the description as they saw an object the size of a Potato. When the researchers claimed that this could cause an explosion, they were very skeptical.
But their doubts turned into shock as the research assistant responsible for the conduct of the test , took the grenade into his hand and lit the thread coming out of the potato-shaped object. It could be seen that the researcher was very nervous, but his calm attitude suggested that he had done this thing many times. When the thread was lit, he quickly threw the grenade towards a carriage placed on the test field.
**BOOM!**
A deafening explosion rang out as the grenade was blasted prematurely. The researcher wiped his face, his head full of sweat. He had just had a close encounter with death, and the consequences could have been dire, with his limbs being blown off. However, the generals didn't pay any attention to the researcher. Their jaws dropped when they saw that the prematurely blasted grenade was able to blow the roof off the wooden carriage with just a slight contact with the blast wave. Being military veterans, they knew what this meant. With this weapon, they would be able to inflict mass casualties without engaging in close-range battles, ensuring that lives could be saved. They were very excited and eager to ask the scientists questions.
Before they could regain their composure, Manoj introduced another groundbreaking weapon that left even the experienced Marshall dumbfounded. "While the grenade that you saw earlier has high lethality, it is a short-radius weapon, not so effective against a spread-out army due to its limited blast area. But thanks to the Lord's blessing, we were able to produce a new type of grenade which we call the frag grenade. This grenade is similar to the first one, but the key difference is that it contains hundreds of small spherical iron balls inside it. When the explosion takes place, these balls will be propelled in every direction, significantly increasing the kill radius of the grenade."
Much of Manoj's explanation went over the generals' heads, but they still understood the meaning, which was that a regular grenade had a short radius of effect, while a frag grenade had a larger kill radius.
The same researcher who had tried the normal grenade came out again with a tense expression, carrying the new frag grenade. Unlike the previous one, it had a longer fuse and was twice as large. He seemed to be sweating even more than before because if he messed up this time, he would be filled with blood holes from the debris. "Shiva, bless me," he prayed to God as he lit the fuse of the grenade and quickly threw it toward a dozen wooden dummies placed on the test field. The researcher then quickly ran away as fast as he could.
**BOOM!**
**SLRRRRR!**
A deafening explosion followed by the shrill breaking of wood sounds occurred back to back due to the explosion of the frag grenade. Even Vijay, who had seen all kinds of advanced weapons from the future, was shocked by this explosion. He watched as the blast point turned into a shallow pit with the surrounding wooden dummies pierced by small projectiles from various directions. He could imagine that if this frag grenade were thrown into a group of soldiers without proper armour, no one within the kill radius would have a chance to escape without potential serious injury or death.
"Haa, haa, great!" Narasimha yelled as he witnessed the effectiveness of the grenade.
To be continued...
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