Gangadhar stroked his chin and nodded. "It is possible, Your Majesty. We currently have built 25 Delhi-class battleships, 7 military-grade Guwahati-class ard rchant ships, 30 Pune-class battleships, 150 Colombo-class frigates, 50 Chennai-class Clippers, 300 Amaravathi-class frigates, and 150 Kolkata-class Clippers. all built with the budget allocated from the naval expansion bill, this force is enough to compete with the joint European Navy within the Indian Ocean."
"However, if the alliance between the Europeans really happened, then we would have to pay a very high price, maybe even losing half of the currently built Navy could be considered normal." There was a pin-drop silence in the conference room. Then, thinking about sothing, Gangadhar added, "The death toll might be even more staggering, especially since the new recruits of the Navy are not experienced enough to handle this sort of war."
Jagannath Mohan imdiately frowned. He did not like the idea of nearly 200,000 tons worth of cutting-edge naval tech and nearly 1.5% of the empire's GDP Along with thousands of sailors going down the drain. He, along with other ministers looked towards Vijay with a worried expression.
Vijay noticed the tense atmosphere in the room, so he went on to calm everyone down by stating the most realistic situation.
"No need to worry. Even within a country, there are differences in opinion, not to ntion almost a dozen countries working together to deal with us. I don't even think the British and the French will go all out since they don't have much investnt in Asia now that Bencoolen of the English is pretty much gone and the French had nothing to begin with. According to , our only real enemy is the Dutch. Even if the French and the English consider us a threat to their future dominance, they will not go all out. Instead, they will try their best diplomatically to convince other nations to join them."
"The danger is indeed quite high, but so are the rewards. Once the naval net operation is completed successfully, then the Europeans could permanently bid farewell to colonizing any Southeast Asian country. We can slowly choke the Dutch within Indonesia and eradicate them without too much resistance."
"Most importantly, if these plans really succeed, the Indian Ocean would beco our impenetrable fortress. Even if all the European navies unite, they will not be able to penetrate into the Indian Ocean unless their naval power is 10 tis that of the Bharatiya Navy."
Vijay got up. "The stakes are high, and the rewards are very tempting. So we will do our best to reduce the stakes and increase the chances of success."
He looked at the Minister of Internal Affairs. "Arjun, the Coast Guard is under your control. The command over the old battleships and warships has already been transferred to you. Make sure to utilize these war machines to safeguard our coastline, no matter the cost."
Arjun stood up with a serious expression on his face. "Leave it to , Your Majesty. If even a single European sailor illegally steps on Bharatiya land, then I will resign my post, This is my vow to you."
"Jaishankar," Vijay called.
"Your Majesty," the Minister of External Affairs imdiately got up.
"Your job is to interfere with the efforts of the English and the French to pull in neutral countries into this battle. Do your best to convince these nations to stay as neutral as possible and create contradictions among the French, English, and Dutch diplomats as much as possible. I don't want to see an alliance of more than five countries happening," Vijay ordered.
"Leave it to , Your Majesty. I will personally negotiate with the diplomats when the ti cos."
Vijay looked at Roshan. "Interference diplomatically is Jaishankar's duty on the bright side, but you are not constrained by these rules of diplomacy. Use any thod possible to make the diplomats follow our necessity, be it by a beauty trick, a bribe, a political favour, or any thod necessary. Just make it happen."
Roshan got up and solemnly saluted.
"Commander Gautam, Commander Akhil, and Commander Prasanna Nair, all three of you would be leading in this operation."
"Yes, Your Majesty," three shouts were imdiately heard.
"The operation would have to be done simultaneously so as to not give the enemy an opportunity to act."
"Commander Akhil, you will be responsible for taking over Socotra Island."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Akhil imdiately shouted. He was a little disappointed since he did not get to the main battlefield of Mauritius, but he was rational and knew that Gautam was more suitable for the mission.
"Commander Prasanna Nair, you will act as a second line of offence and defence for the whole operation. You will be stationed in Chagos."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Prasanna Nair shouted, but he was a little depressed inside because he knew that the reason he got this backup position was because he was still the youngest among the commanders and had the least experience. He clenched his fist with determination to do his best to rank up and be a person capable of fighting the most critical battles for the empire.
In fact, he did not even have the illusion that either Commander Gautam or Akhil would fail, hence his disappointnt.
"Commander Gautam, you will command the Battle for Mauritius."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Gautam shouted, his eyes blazing with confidence and anticipation. Explore hidden tales at empire
"Raja Sarvesh Ranavikrama, this will be your first overseas mission. Lead the special forces of Marines, Rangers, and Commando on the mission to completely take control of Madagascar and Reunion once an opening is secured."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Sarvesh declared loudly.
"Gangadhar, you'll be completely responsible for the logistics of the whole naval net operation, and you will decide on major decisions concerning the whole plan."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Gangadhar declared.
"Jagannath Mohan, make sure the funds for the war are provided without hindrance, and Vinod, you are responsible for increasing the support of the citizens of the empire for this operation. This will help the morale of the soldiers and sailors fighting on the front lines imnsely."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Vinod and Jagannath Mohan simultaneously got up and agreed.
Vijay finally took out a docunt from his table, signed his na on it, put the imperial seal, and declared, "The naval net operation will officially start one week from now. Gentlen, make the final preparations."
----
15th August 1659
"We are at war!!"
To the surprise of absolutely everyone in the empire, such a statent was declared on the front page of *Bharatham Daily*. The front page, along with such a statent, was wonderfully covered with an image of ten Delhi-class battleships, absolute monsters in their own right, docked in the Kochi Shipyard like beasts waiting to devour their prey.
On the next page, the article went on to explain the naval net operation, its significance, and why the war was being fought. "Bharatiya Maha Samudra is the Maha Samudra of the Bharatiya Empire." Using such a statent that was easy to stimulate the emotions of the patriots, the chief editor of *Bharatham Daily*, era, did an excellent job.
The director of Bharatiya Internal Pragya, Selvan, used his agents to hoist flags with the words "Bharatiya Maha Samudra is the Maha Samudra of the Bharatiya Empire" written on them in front of their houses.
The design of the flag was very cool and contagious. People began to copy the flag and started to show their support openly.
In certain areas, it even beca an obligation to do so, while in others, it beca a fashion statent.
"Wow, your flag is so big, it's cool!"
"I know, right? My dad had it custom-made in a garnt factory."
Such words were common among the nouveau riche of the empire. Second-generation rich kids would be embarrassed to go to school without bragging about the flag their family had put up. Showing their ideological and political support so openly, this had never been done before, so the craze among the people was not overstated.
In fact, it beca so popular that Bakshi Textiles capitalized on it and produced a few sets of clothes with such designs.
So rich businessn even ca forward to donate a little money to the naval efforts of the empire, not only because of their pride as Bharatiya citizens and general patriotism among all the rich people who had co up from nothing but also because they understood that if such a mission fully succeeded, they would no longer have to worry about pirates anywhere in the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, or the Indian Ocean. They wouldn't even have to worry about pirates on the eastern coast of Africa, and more importantly, they could penetrate further markets present in Arabia, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
The European diplomats had a completely different reaction. Sion Brezhnev had a normal expression since the move of the Bharatiya Empire had nothing to do with him. If anything, if the plan succeeded, he knew that the naval dominance of the Bharatiya Empire within the Indian Ocean would be solidified, and no one could shake it. Maximilian V of the Holy Roman Empire was a little worried. Pedro Santiago from Spain had a gloating expression on his face since, although Spain had sold the Philippine colony to the Bharatiya Empire, everyone knew the truth—that they had lost it to the Bharatiya Empire. Now, with this move by the Bharatiya Empire, the Dutch were about to suffer. Given the current contradictions between the Dutch and the Spanish in the Aricas, Pedro Santiago had a very comfortable expression.
French ambassador Henri was imdiately furious and barged into the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs, formally putting forward his complaint against the Bharatiya Empire's tyranny. Oscar Anderson of Sweden, Jan Kowlowski of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Heinrich Mueller of Russia, and Leonardo Bellini of Venice all stayed silent and neutral to the news—it didn't matter to them either way the outco achieved by the Bharatiya Empire.
The Portuguese ambassador, Pedro Santos, had a complicated expression because with this move, if the Portuguese Empire wasn't willing to oppose the Bharatiya Empire, then it could really bid goodbye to its colony, Timor, in Southeast Asia.
A week-long diplomatic struggle imdiately kicked off.
P.S. Thankyou Harinder_Singh_5773 Paaji for the Ice cola
P.S. Image in comnt
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