Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

209  Aftermath...

Dakshin Bhartiya Empire, Vijayanagar State, capital city Hampi.

In the royal palace, Vijay is reviewing the documents he received from the Bhartiya External Pragya and Bhartiya Sainik Pragya. These reports detail the casualties incurred by the various parties involved in the war. It has been a week since the war of the Ahom Kingdom ended, and the soldiers sent by the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire are also returning. They performed exceptionally well in this battle. The biggest highlight of the Bhartiya soldiers was how Yogendra Singh single-handedly commanded the troops and defended the city of Shillong. Vijay read a detailed transcript of the intelligence report submitted, particularly regarding the attempt made by the king of Ahom.

One week ago, In the royal palace of the Ahom Kingdom

"Thank you for your service, General Yogendra Singh. I, Jayadhwaj Singha, the king of the Ahom Kingdom, hereby award you the honorary title of an Earl, and you will be granted 5 acres of land in the capital of the kingdom."

Upon receiving the rewards, Yogendra Singh was very happy with it, and he went on to salute his Highness, Jayadhwaj Singha.

Noticing that he did not kneel down, caused some eyebrows to rise in the imperial courtroom, but Jayadhwaj Singha did not mind as he was aware of some of the eccentricities of the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire, where the soldiers are not required to kneel down in front of anyone. But still, he couldn't resist the impulse to recruit such a talented individual under his command, so he stated, "If you kneel before me, I can make your honorary title a permanent one and also increase the area of the land you will be receiving."

Hearing this, everyone in the courtroom was surprised because the land price in the capital was very expensive. Usually, these land transactions in the capital are only done if one wants to repay some favours. Even money cannot buy this land. Hence, among the surprised people, also included General Lachit Borphukan, who himself was awarded handsomely with a promotion in the military as well as being granted more land.

Yogendra Singh's eyebrows also raised at the offer, which was too generous, but he did not even consider the proposal for a moment before rejecting His Highness Jayadhwaj Singha.

"Why?" Jayadhwaj Singha was not angered by the rejection but was just curious about why Yogendra would reject such an amazing offer.

Yogendra Singh smiled as he responded, "Hehe, my family suffered a lot at the hands of the Mughal Empire until their eventual death. I was no different until I reached the Vijayanagara Empire. So, I am eternally grateful to His Majesty Vijay Devaraya, and I would never betray his trust in me."

"Is that so? Alright then. It is a pity I could not recruit such a young and talented general like you, but honestly, is that the only reason?" Jayadhwaj asked as he was not fully convinced.

Yogendra replied, "Honestly, Your Highness, there is another reason. But when I say this, please don't take any offence."

"Tell me."

"Well, Your Highness, it is because the Ahom Kingdom is too weak for the goal I want to achieve."

This comment from Yogendra elicited angry reactions from the crowd of onlookers. The courtiers had stood up, feeling offended, and the guards went on alert. But Jayadhwaj Singha did not respond. Instead, he raised his hand as if to calm everyone down. "Go on ", he said, in a calm but strong tone.

Yogendra let out a sigh of relief after his highness Jayadhwaj Singha let him explain himself.

"Your Highness, Although the Ahom Kingdom is a strong regional power in the east, it does not have the strength to contend with the Mughal Empire. My aim is to wipe out the Mughal Empire from this subcontinent, and the only way I could see this happening is through the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire, as it has both the potential and will to make this happen."

Listening to his reasoning, everyone was shocked again. "Wiping out the Mughal Empire?" None of them thought that it was possible, and now, hearing that the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire is actively planning to do just that, they did not know how to react.

"Trying to unify the subcontinent, eh?" Jayadhwaj Singha muttered to himself as he quickly figured out the goal of the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire just from the clues given by Yogendra. But he did not comment any further because unifying the subcontinent is not so easy, and it is still a very distant matter.

Unknown to Jayadhwaj Singha, the unification battle of Bharat is right around the corner. Vijay read about this conversation in the report, and alarm bells rang in his head. "Looks like the granting of titles should be advanced." He couldn't have someone else poaching his talents.

Next, Vijay went on to see the statistics on the casualties in the war.

Yogendra Singh left with 25,000 people, and to his surprise, only 19,000 people made it back. He frowned reading this number because, from the intelligence report he had read during the battle, the casualties of the Bharatiya soldiers were not so many, so what happened? Reading further, Vijay was enlightened as he got to know the reason. Out of the 6,000 missing soldiers, 2,000 of them were killed during the battles, and the remaining 6,000 soldiers had disappeared for various reasons. According to intelligence, 75% of them were lost in the forests, while for the rest, there have been instances of these soldiers being poached by the Ahom Kingdom. Vijay felt it was natural since much of the northeast of India is in a green zone, where dense forests cover the whole landscape. Now Vijay was comforted, knowing that the soldiers who came back were very experienced in forest and hilly warfare.

"Maybe I should make a special unit for them," he thought.

Next, he went over the data pertaining to the Guwahati battle. 20,000 Mughal soldiers participated in this battle, in which 2,000 were killed outside the city walls, 4,000 in bombardments inside the city, and a thousand soldiers while advancing towards the centre of the city. A total of 8,000 casualties occurred during the frontal massacre and another thousand casualties during the retreat, bringing the casualty number to a staggering 16,000 Mughals.

The remaining 4,000, in which the majority of them were injured, were taken as prisoners. Among these 4,000 prisoners, 2,000 were transferred to the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire for its help in the war.

In the naval battle near Saraighat town, initially, 14,000 Ahom sailors in 70 warships engaged in the conflict. Under the command of Commander Pradyut, the Ahoms suffered 6,000 casualties, and 12 ships were sunk before Lachit Borphukan's arrival. When Lachit Borphukan arrived later, he brought in reinforcements of 8 more battleships along with 3,200 soldiers. Despite sacrificing an additional 18 ships and 3,600 personnel, totalling 30 lost vessels and 9,600 dead, the Ahom Kingdom successfully destroyed the Mughal fleet.

Hence overall:

- Total sailors: 14,000 + 3,200 = 17,200

- Total ships: 70 + 8 = 78

- Remaining sailors: 17,200 - 3,600 - 6,000 = 7,600

- Remaining ships: 78 - 12 - 18 = 48

In the Mughal Empire, in Agra, Mohammed was furious upon learning about the results of the war. *Crack* The antique pottery on his table bore the brunt. Out of the 50,000 soldiers he had sent, almost all of them were slaughtered, and he had to send emergency troops to hold on. The losses not only impacted the military strength but also had severe consequences for the empire's reputation and control over the region. Frustrated and angered, Mohammed was on a rampage, his hands were also bleeding.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. This battle was not a total loss as we have successfully expanded our Empire by another 30,000 square kilometres," Muizzu, the Prime Minister of the Mughal Empire, said trying to calm down the emperor's rage.

"Idiot! Who wants 30,000 square kilometres? I need all of the Ahom Kingdom and that bloody Kingdom to be wiped out!"

Iqbal, who was standing in the room with his head down, decided to speak out, "Your Majesty, we had never expected that the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire would intervene in this war. If we knew about this news, we would have prepared a lot more before starting the war."

"Idiot! What's the use of saying this now? We have already lost this war, and the only thing that we have to show is a land of 30,000 square kilometres. What a huge disgrace!"

"Your Majesty, maybe this new land we have acquired is more valuable than we think."

"How do you say that?" Mohammed asked, as the prospect of profit momentarily calmed him down.

"Your Majesty, with this land, we have completely blocked off the path of the Kingdoms of Bhutan and Sikkim. We have landlocked them. We can easily conquer these two small kingdoms now that we occupy a part of the Meghalaya region."

Mohammed thought about it for a moment and felt that what the minister of war said was right. The population of the small kingdoms was not even a few million, and maybe a force of a few thousand well-trained soldiers could conquer these kingdoms relatively easily.

"Okay, let us do that, but not yet. We have yet to recover from this war. Collect more taxes and replenish our army as soon as possible," he ordered, a decision with which both Muizzu, the prime minister, and Iqbal, the minister of war agreed, and they left his palace.

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