ALL NOVEL Chapter 184: The Empire's Plans
Near the border of the Empire and the Qutb sultanate. The Royal Army camp was set up, waiting to march into the Qutb Sultanate. The main army of the Sultanate was busy fighting with the Marathas.
The ones stationed on the borders were just inexperienced soldiers filling in the numbers according to their spy reports. They were quickly able to understand that they could just walk into the Qutb sultanate and take over many regions.
It seemed like the Sultan didn't think that the Empire would be involved itself without notice since they just finished a civil war. He underestimated the wealth of the Empire. It was vast. They had enough wealth to wage another war and still survive through losses.
The commander was having the final battle meeting with his senior commanders and the division commanders.
Harsha's military structuring was implemented swiftly within the army. There was minimal opposition to the reform as the minority who opposed the reform suddenly went missing.
The royal army had complete trust in the leadership of Rajagopala.
Rajagopala cleverly left out that even lower castes were allowed to join higher positions of armies. He left it out because this could cause upheaval in the army.
After the purge of the physically unfit soldiers. The bulk of the soldiers were procured under the recommendation of the Emperor. They were all lower castes but had abilities that rivaled some high-ranking soldiers in the army.
This did create a fuss in the army but Rajagopala insisted on showing their might in a duel rather than complain and make a fuss. The ones that complained were obviously people who couldn't see the strength of the recruited people.
They lost badly and the commotion was quelled.
Upon witnessing such a sight, some soldiers let go of their prejudices and began to see them in a positive light.
"Is everyone gathered?" asked Rajagopala, scanning the tent.
"Commander Raghu will be late. We can start the meeting," said Commander Venkata.
He took up the role of senior commander, tasked with managing the Vajra sena. It was one of the 3 corps that made up the Royal Army.
"So everyone here knows why we are here. We are going to annex the Sultanate. It should be done quickly."
Everyone in the room nodded. Stay connected with m-v l|e'm,p| y- r
Rajagopala unfurled a map of the Sultanate compiled by their spies. They marked the key locations along with the region names and major cities on the way to the capital of the Sultanate.
"Vajra Sena will be in charge of taking care of the regions bordering the Yadava Kingdom."
"Yes, but can we travel through the Yadava territory?" asked Venkata with a concerned look.
"You can. His Majesty has already struck a deal with the Queen. They will be in charge of supplies so you don't have to worry about the supplies."
Rajagopala continued.
"The Division One of Vajra Sena will be focusing itself on the northernmost regions of the Sultanate. Those are the rebel-infested regions. The garrisons will be down by now."
"We have to use the 4 brigades to take over Handia, Illichpur, Mahadeo, and Mandu, right?" asked Bhaskara Shetty, Division One commander.
"Yes,"
"What about the other two divisions?" asked Commander Venkata.
"The regions of Washim, Paithre, Daulatabad, and Nander. There will be soldiers in this area."
"Understood, Commander." Venkata nodded.
A man rushed into the tent at the moment with his disheveled appearance. It was Commander Raghu. He was leading Division Three of the Agni Sena.
"Sorry, I was late." He said as he sat down on an empty chair.
Rajagopala sighed and waved him off.
The last corps, the Prithvi Sena, was positioned on the borders of Gajapathis and Kasim Sultanate for possible incursions during this mission.
"The Agni Sena will be taking care of the regions bordering the Empire."
Commander Dhruv was the one leading the Agni Sena corps. He was recently promoted to the position due to his exceptional ability. He was in fact one of the ten regional leaders selected by Karna for the Emperor.
He was a lower caste but he forged his identity as a Kshatriya to get into the ranks of the army under the order of the Emperor. Even Rajagopala didn't know about this.
"What about Daman? It is controlled by Qutb on paper but it is really under the Portuguese. There is even a military base situated in Daman." asked Dhruv.
"Don't touch Daman. I have already sent a message to the Emperor about that."
"I see. So we will capture the area till the Baglana region."
"So that's done. It seems like the Qutbs will be losing to the Marathas. If the Marathas decided to annex the parts of Qutb Sultanate, don't interfere and secretly lend support to conquer some regions."
"Why is that?" asked Commander Hariharan, the division One commander of the Agni Sena.
"We want the Marathas to focus on flushing out the Europeans. It would be better for us to have them focus on Daman."
"Can they even do that?" asked Dhruv.
"We can only hope. The Portuguese would try their best to preserve their base in Daman."
"What about the rebels?" Commander Venkata inquired.
"Rebels! Let them be. Don't fight them unless they attack us. Our goal is to control the regions. If any rebels are in our way, don't hesitate to cut them down," said Rajagopala coldly.
"Understood, Commander."
Everyone agreed and nodded.
Dhruv spoke up, glancing back at Raghu, adjusting his dress. "You will be leading Division 2 of Agni Sena."
"Huh? Why is that? I don't want to lead those lower caste men." He said it outright.
Everyone looked at Raghu with a disgusted expression at his blatant discriminatory behavior.
"The order is final. There will be no further questions. I expect good results." Dhruv said coldly. His commanding voice and cold stare made Raghu go silent.
Rajagopala sighed.
"Now that everything is in place, we must not disappoint His Majesty with our poor performance."
"Yes, Commander," everyone said in unison.
He took a look at everyone's faces. They were filled with confidence and determination to do their part.
"The meeting is adjourned. Prepare for battle."