Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1253: WW1: Attack of the western Front (3)

The coast was filled with debris, and somehow it ended up becoming an obstacle for the larger Bharatiya ships to get closer to the shore. Granted, most of the debris, thanks to the tides were dispersing at a very fast speed, but the battleships still could not advance for at least a few hours.

Thankfully, in the end it did not matter, since what separated from the fleet and came forward was not a battle group composed of a battleship, but small and medium-sized full metal frigates and clippers. These ships, powered by a single 3rd generation turbine and a 3-speed transmission power delivery unit, weaved and slid around with dexterity and flexibility that was never seen on ships of their size.

Erik Debrosio, a military commander of the European Union, had a sombre expression as he witnessed the arrival of the Bharatiya warships.

"All hands on the weapons. On my mark, engage the enemy with a crossfire formation," he ordered, the European troops immediately taking up positions and their aim directed straight down the range.

Several hundred metres away, the battle group captain responsible for deploying the Marines ashore squinted his eyes, his gaze turning hostile as he lowered the binoculars.

"As soon as we approach the shore, order all ships to hard starboard and, once we are grounded, unleash both batteries." His tone was emotionless, as if he hadn’t just ordered the ships to be wrecked on purpose.

The two sides got closer with every passing second, and the restlessness was at an all-time high.

Some soldiers put their hands right on the trigger, adrenaline coursing through their bloodstream, ready to pull it the moment the tight strings snapped, while others waited calmly, eyes radiating rationality that was rare amongst recruits.

The battle group captain gazed at the shore and kept counting the distance in his mind. As soon as he felt a slight friction at the bottom of the ship, he knew it was the occasional sand particles, an indicator that the ship was about to hit the ground any second, so he did not hesitate and roared, "Now!!"

The helmsman, without a second thought, threw the wheel hard over to full rudder, causing the vessel to list sharply as it executed the aggressive turn. The manoeuvre was so abrupt that all the Marines had to rush to the opposite side to prevent the ship from capsizing.

But this stunt gave a huge advantage to the Bharatiya Navy, because the guns were all oriented toward the defensive positions at the shore, and the Marines secured a safe disembarkation position right behind the ship.

"Fire!"

One by one, as the frigates came to a halt, the first and second batteries, consisting of naval guns and long-distance cannons, unleashed the strongest force they could muster, bombarding everything in their path.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

With every shot, the ship shook violently, even pushing back the ship that was already entrenched on the shore. Meanwhile, the Marines, taking advantage of the cover, jumped into the water on the other side and swiftly started to build temporary defences for the installation of machine guns.

Erik Debrosio’s eyes were fierce. He could feel the strength of the opponent from the heat emanating from a fire that erupted due to a cannon explosion only a few metres away, but he could not back down. He could not give up Lisbon. The attack of the Bharatiya Empire might be a surprise, and the defence line he was put in charge of was not completely solid yet, but it was, at the end of the day, the first line of defence against the eastern barbarians. He would rather fall here than abandon the position.

"Fire, fire, fire."

He roared repeatedly, bringing the wrath of Europe upon the Bharatiya troops. As the French and Prussian cannons, machines of war that had seen no true opponent throughout the European continent, unleashed attacks fierce enough to put dozens of holes even in the full-metal warships of the Bharatiya Empire, the pulse of the battle momentarily became uncertain.

Unfortunately, they were going up against an opponent who existed on an entirely new dimension. While the Europeans had finally perfected their cannon technology, bringing it to the same level as that of the Bharatiya Empire a few years ago, the Empire had already made significant strides in diversifying both the weapons and their usage.

After continuous bombardment that lasted nearly an hour, the frigates were scrapped and could no longer be used to either sail or serve as a defensive wall, but it did not matter since they had done their job as a temporary defensive position, enough for the Marines to build up their positions to set the new Ashura hantha weapon platform, a platform designed by the Shastra Innovations, combining the portability of a hand cannon, the power and destructive capabilities of a missile, and putting it all on a mount that was very similar to a machine gun platform.

"Light it up." The captain of the Marines, crouching on the ground in a position that looked almost as if he was hugging the sand, bit his teeth, covered his ears, and ordered.

The next moment, a sound not too dissimilar from a firework being shot up was heard, but this sounded much deeper and much more powerful.

From under the sand of the beach, a flaming rocket shot out, coming straight towards the defence line. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Erik Debrosio’s expression changed because this rocket was actually coming straight towards him. He quickly fell down, relying entirely on instinct, and roared with all his might, "Brace, brace! Quickly, everyone brace for impact!"

"BOOOM!"

After the explosion, he somehow got back onto his feet, blood in his mouth. His eyes were bloodshot, but it did not show any signs of surrendering. "Fallback a hundred metres." However, not surrendering does not mean getting unilaterally slaughtered.

Noticing the actions of the Europeans, the captain enquired , "Should we advance forward, sir?"

The senior officer did not respond, he did not let the joy get to his head. "Throw a few grenades," he ordered with his gestures alone, and the captains working with him did not ask a second question and simply carried out the order.

"Throwing grenades, brace!"

The grenades exploded with sand flying up everywhere. Nothing dramatic happened, but neither the senior officer nor the captains were letting down their defences. They continued to throw the grenades, and finally, something odd happened. Along with the explosion of the grenade, another loud explosion was heard; it was a mine.

Erik Debrosio looked grim. He had hoped that the opponent would fall into that trap and step on a mine, but unfortunately, it did not happen.

"They should be coming up now. This is our chance. Unit three, flank the enemy from the other side, see if you can get another angle on the opponent."

The senior officer of the Marines, making sure that there were no more mines on their path, got up, sat in a crouched position, and gestured for his troops to move forward one step at a time.

"Let’s occupy this perimeter and make way for the landing party," he signalled in the military’s own sign language.

The captains of the Marines signalled ’OK’ and moved forward.

"Captain, 9:00 o’clock, enemy troops approaching!"

The senior officer of the Marines was annoyed, but he was not caught off guard or surprised either, he did not think the operation was going to be easy. As the enemy began to fire from both sides and the pressure intensified, he realised that there was also a chance of an attack from three o’clock, so he immediately halted the advance and had the Marines put up a basic defensive wall using bags of sand. "Quickly dig the trenches and notify command that we have secured the landing spot, also inform them that we are under heavy fire."

The order was soon sent through the firework, and Rear Admiral Pulkesh Roy, personally taking responsibility for conquering Lisbon, acted immediately.

The debris had cleared out to a large extent, allowing him to move the entire fleet forward along with the battleships. Without hesitation, he began bombarding the shore, targeting every position except those where he was certain his own troops were present, using his group of Maharaja Ramachandra class battleships as the main damage dealer.

Erik Debrosio thought of many things, but he simply could not think of a solution. In the end, defending a city that was on a coast without the presence of any navy was simply too difficult. He was left with no choice but to order the remaining troops who were still unaffected, to pull back to the main force and stop flanking the Marines.

With the Marines no longer under pressure, they quickly set up a perimeter and sent a signal to bring out the army.

The next moment, hundreds of military transportation ships steadily approached the shore and, one by one, began to open their custom-built hangars, revealing what lay within. From inside, the latest war weapon of the Bharatiya Army, the Agni Ratha tank, the first moving vehicle with an artillery built into it, was slowly let out into the open, like releasing a beast into its hunting grounds.

The Agni Ratha tanks started up with a deep, heavy growl, the sound reverberating across the battlefield, and began to roll off from the ships at a low yet steady pace, each movement deliberate and controlled.

"What are those!!!" Erik Debrosio exclaimed, his voice filled with disbelief as his eyes locked onto the advancing machines. This was the first time anyone had ever seen the Agni Ratha tank, and the sight alone was enough to shake him. Its metallic build and the muzzle, the long, dark cylindrical structure, looked like a path to the abyss itself, and even looking into it made the body shiver unconsciously.

"Is this an artillery that can move? God!"

"What sort of monstrosity have they come up with this time?" he couldn’t help but exclaim, a hint of dread creeping into his tone. Even the thought of artillery pieces that could move on their own and reposition after every attack, while being as defensible as a bastion, made his arms and legs numb, almost as if he were locked inside an ice cellar deep underground in the Arctic.

And the dread only increased as even more rolling artillery pieces landed on the beach and advanced forward, as if to make way for more of these monsters to arrive.

"Holy mother of Christ!!"