The entire battle might appear prolonged, but in reality, it lasted only half a day from the mont the Italians arrived. From their arrival to the capture of the port with French assistance, it took rely six to eight hours. By that asure, the Bharatiya fleet’s response was remarkably swift.
But was it swift enough?
Commander Rajendra Singh Rathod sat in the conference room with his first, second, and third in command around him, thinking that it was still not enough, especially after learning about the situation faced by the Bharatiya Navy in Crete.
He was extrely distressed, and he took the sha upon himself. Ultimately, however, he was helpless in many aspects. For one, unlike the European fleets, which only had three or four battle groups, or at most five, the Bharatiya diterranean Fleet, being defence-centred, had to be stationed across various locations in three different kingdoms. As a result, it was split into twelve different battle groups. So while the two Crete battle groups were fighting against the Italians, he was occupied with gathering every bit of available strength.
Ever since the war started, fireworks lit up the European sky, and these fireworks were not for simple amusent but were forms of communication. So Commander Rajendra Singh, understanding everything that was happening in Crete, could have sent a few battle groups to imdiately reinforce the battle beforehand, but he had to look at the overall picture.
If it were only the Italians, he would not have hesitated. But he received intelligence that the French were on their way, and they were not too far either. If he had sent the battle groups regardless, they would have co into contact with the French, and a battle would have broken out.
Although he was confident that his boys would teach the frogs a good lesson, in the end, the French still had an entire fleet, and he had only sent a couple of battle groups. Not to ntion, the contact would have happened in the open sea, where the Bharatiya Navy would have been far more disadvantaged against a larger enemy.
And the second aspect in which he was left helpless was that, despite the losses and despite being at the doorstep of the enemy, he could not avenge the loss of two whole battle groups. You have to understand, for the Bharatiya Defence Fleet, which only had 262 warships in total, the loss of over 40 ships was not a small number. It was as painful as losing a hand or a leg. He was so angry that he wanted to sink both the Italian and the French fleets right this mont and bury them to send off his n, but unfortunately, reality once again stopped him.
When he made his decision public, the group of people sitting across from him imdiately showed displeasure.
"Admiral, with all due respect, although the French and the Italians hold a superior geographic advantage, the Italian Navy has almost been crippled by our boys."
Vice Admiral Vikram Das Chauhan said as he clenched his fist. "Although on paper we look weaker with a smaller number of ships, in reality, we can easily tear apart those bastards. Not to ntion their ships are shitty and the weapons even shittier."
His words were crude, but they imdiately resonated with the others in the room, as they nodded in agreent.
Looking at the excited, red-faced officers, Rajendra let out a deep, turbulent breath. "I understand your emotions. I feel the sa, but we are simply too disadvantaged in this situation."
Vikram Das was about to speak, but Rajendra raised a hand and silenced him. "The naval strength of the Italian–French coalition is not my main concern." He looked visibly irritated as he pulled out a bundle of papers. "My real concern is whether we can defeat the Italian and French coalition navy, now entrenched in Souda Bay, before these assholes arrive." With that, he threw the bundle onto the table in front of his officers.
Vikram Das Chauhan and the others hesitantly picked up the docunts, clearly intelligence reports, and began to read. Their initial confusion quickly turned to shock, and by the ti they finished, all the colour had drained from their faces.
Rajendra looked at everyone’s distressed expressions and shook his head, "So you guys understand." He pointed at the papers, "I just got this intelligence from the Bharatiya External Pragya and the Sainik Pragya a few hours ago. Although, as Vikram said, we can definitely defeat the French and the Italian coalition, but since they have a geographic advantage, it will take so ti, and in this ti it is extrely likely that the British and the Dutch fleets would be on our tail, flanking us from behind."
The entire room was silent. Apart from the sound of breathing, the chatter of the sailors, and the waves, no other sound could be heard.
Rajendra finally spoke, his voice heavy with frustration. "So, we are going to take a step back." Although he sounded unwilling, his eyes showed determination.
This ti, no one in the room questioned him.
"Do we have all the battle groups retreat back to their bases, sir?" Commodore Arjun Prathap Singh asked.
"NO!" Rajendra imdiately shook his head without hesitation, "Once the fleet of all the four nations gathers, they would pick out our battle groups one by one, and we will be left helpless."
"We will retreat as a fleet and station in the Dakshina Mukhi Port."
No one in the room was a fool. As soon as the order was given, they quickly understood the deeper aning: "Do you suspect the Europeans are aiming for the Suez Canal, sir?"
Rajendra got up and nodded as he walked to the map, "The intelligence does suggest that. We can now be completely certain that the Suez Canal is the trigger for their revolt." He drew a few lines where the Suez Canal existed. "Besides, it makes sense to aim for the Suez Canal as well; it’s a large canal that can support a lot of warships passing through at a ti, and it leads directly to the Bharatiya Mahasamudra, our doorstep. If those Europeans control this strategic point, it will be like controlling our entry to Europe, and it also ans that they could enter the premises of the Bharatiya Mahasamudra whenever they wish."
"Not to ntion, now is the best ti, especially since the water flow runs from the diterranean to the Red Sea. The journey will be extrely quick. If they are not hindered, it is entirely possible they could reach the Bharatiya Mahasamudra within a month and threaten our own backyard."
He put down the pen and looked at his officers with a grave expression. "I understand."
"The loss of two battle groups is indeed distressing."
"But—"
"We need to look at the bigger picture. We cannot let the Europeans have their way. To prevent that, we will defend the Suez Canal to the very end, whether it is a coalition navy ford by four nations or even more."
"Jai Hind!"
He clenched his fist and punched the air.
His officers, faces set with determination, shouted back in unison.
"Jai Hind." The sound reverberated throughout the battleship.
Unknown to anyone, Vikram Das Chauhan had a hint of worry in the depths of his heart. He did not know if he was the only one who picked it up or whether the admiral misspoke, but when the admiral said whether it was the coalition navy ford by four nations or more, did he an that other countries are also declaring war against the Bharatiya Empire? He knew that the admiral had direct access to the Bharatiya External Pragya and the Sainik Pragya at the top levels, so he couldn’t help but doubt whether the Intelligence Departnt had discovered sothing.
Souda City.
Brigadier General Aditya Malhotra was waiting with bated breath for the enemy’s arrival, but hours passed. Neither the Italians nor the French set foot into the city, which left him confused. Even though the supplies in the port had not been destroyed since the war started so suddenly and ended too quickly, they are not much. Aditya assud that they would be entering a city any mont, but apparently, he was wrong.
Just then, he saw a series of fireworks in the distance. Aditya’s eyes lit up. He had his communications officer decrypt the ssage.
The officer had a look of hope on his face as he noted down the sequence of Kumar code, but as he decrypted one word at a ti, blood left his face, turning it white like paper, "Initiate Protocol Burrowing Rat."
"Whaat!" Aditya was startled, "Are you sure you have decrypted it properly?" When he saw the fireworks in the sky, he felt as happy as he was seeing Diwali celebrations, because that signal ant that the Bharatiya reinforcents were here, but now the navy was actually initiating the burrowing rat protocol?
The communications officer looked extrely troubled. He threw away the sheet on which he had recorded the information and took the information recorded by a couple of other soldiers. He checked, and everyone recorded the sa ssage. He decrypted them one by one, and he got the sa ssage, Initiate Protocol Burrowing Rat.
Aditya Malhotra leaned back against the wall, needing a mont to collect his thoughts. "Sothing has gone terribly wrong," he muttered under his breath.
The Burrowing Rat protocol was activated when Bharatiya troops found themselves in enemy-occupied territory. It directed them to assu defensive positions at every advance of the enemy, with the primary goal of preserving the empire’s strength for a future coback.
Since such a protocol is initiated, what could it be if not sothing going wrong? Thankfully, even though he was a little shaken, he was a competent general. He quickly regained his rationale and made arrangents for retreat.
Souda Port.
All the berths were occupied by Italian ships that were undergoing repairs. Parts were being salvaged from the sea and were being added to the Italian ships. The Bharatiya weapon systems were the main aim of the salvaging operation.
Supre Commander Marco Antonio Giustiniani had a look of satisfaction as he saw the ships being repaired at a fast speed. He couldn’t help but be proud of how appropriate his choice of making ship maintenance a compulsory course for all the sailors, no matter the rank, was. Thanks to his decision, even though not everyone in his navy is proficient in repairing a ship, they are competent in providing help and accepting orders from those who are.
Just then, his senior naval captain responsible for command over light warships, Capitano di Vascello Alessandro Farnese, ca close to him and whispered sothing in his ear.
Marco’s expression imdiately changed, and a hint of excitent could be seen in his eyes, but he quickly reined in his emotions and put on a casual expression.
"Send it back to the Federation on a ssenger vessel," he said, his tone as casual as if he were ordering a slice of pizza. "And don’t keep the thing on the ship itself, I don’t want the French getting suspicious."
He paused briefly, then added, "Tie it beneath the hull until the vessel leaves the bay, and once it’s clear, load it onto the ship and transport it to the Federation imdiately. Since it already blew up three ships, it’s likely touch-sensitive. Make sure everyone knows not to handle it. It might even be better to orient the weapon so that water pressure alone doesn’t set it off."
Alessandro took the orders and left.
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