Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1220: Naya Samrat

23rd December 1704

Imperial capital Bengaluru, Simhasana Bhavana,

Vijay was pacing around in his office, his expression sombre.

"I knew with that man still alive, the Europeans were truly not without a chance to struggle, but still, to think that they have cracked the locomotive technology so quickly!" he muttered, his face uncertain.

Just to be clear, Vijay was not afraid of the Europeans cracking the locomotive technology, because that was something bound to happen, if it was not today, then tomorrow. Steam technologies were like a ladder; once the first step was reached through effort, the rest would only require resources and investment.

Not to mention, unlike the Bharatiya Empire, whose scientists and engineers had to climb the ladder one step at a time, almost as if throwing a stone to feel the depth of a pond, the Europeans had a clear blueprint of what they wanted to achieve. The only thing holding them back was the completeness of their industrial layout. They could technically build steam engines, but they could not mass-produce them without the vast array of machine tools the Empire had invented and the level of precision the Empire had achieved.

However, now Newton has managed to fill that gap, at least a little, and brought Europe to the level of early industrialisation. This was the same level the Bharatiya Empire was in before the Balwaana Steam engine was invented.

Once again, none of these factors was the main reason for his caution. What truly concerned him was how much more difficult it would now become for the Empire to defeat the Europeans decisively. Having railway tracks spread across the vast landscape of his own empire, Vijay knew better than anyone how formidable such an advantage was. In many ways, he considered it nearly impossible for anyone to invade the empire and win unless there was internal strife. The mobilisation speed and rapid response that railways granted a country were almost like possessing a superpower.

Remembering from his last life, the Germans used this extreme mobilisation capacity and fast response capabilities to fight a war on three fronts for a very long time, until they ran out of ammunition, resources and ordinance. No other power, even on the winning side in Europe, could do this.

What the Europeans’ cracking locomotive technology meant was that, if it became widespread before he took action, the task ahead would grow far more difficult. Once he moved against them, it would be much harder for the Empire to force the Europeans to admit defeat readily. Not to mention, the amount of bloodshed would only increase.

"So I have to act within the next four years?"

’Tch!’

He was annoyed, and rightfully so. He had planned to fully prepare and wage the war with all the might of the Bharatiya Empire to win a decisive victory, but now, with the appearance of the locomotive, he has no choice but to rush all his ideas, or else it might be too late.

His eyes finally regained clarity, and he pressed the bell on his table, prompting the new chief security Prabhudeva to enter the room.

Prabhudeva swallowed his saliva a few times, tightened his grip over the documents, corrected his pagadi, ironed a few wrinkles of his coat with his own hands, put the curls on the dothi in the right place, and finally entered the emperor’s office with a respectful demeanour.

When he was an assistant to His Excellency Ganesh, he did not feel very nervous being around His Majesty. But now that he had taken over his mentor’s position as the Chief Secretary of the Emperor’s office after Ganesh’s retirement, he was experiencing the full weight of being the official and primary secretary to the Emperor.

Although he did not think the job itself was very difficult, since he had gained plenty of experience under His Excellency Ganesh, facing the Emperor directly was still nerve-racking, even after a year.

"Your Majesty!"

Vijay nodded and looked at his new secretary, "How are the designs for the new military transport vehicle coming along?"

Prabhudheva quickly flipped over the documents and immediately pulled out a long list of names.

"These are all the teams, as well as the individual engineers, who are vying for the spot, Your Majesty. Please take a look."

Vijay looked at the list and did not show much surprise. There was not much deviation from his prediction. As he had expected, the engineers from the top manufacturing companies chose to work on their designs independently, while the engineers from smaller companies decided to team up to tackle the challenges together. But when he reached the end of the list, he was pleasantly surprised.

There was actually a team formed by the union of seven chief engineers from 7 major firms.

Arjun Vaidya from the RDA Mobility Corporation, Draupadi Nayar from Vishwakarma Industrial Consortium, Balbir Mengal from Mengal and Brothers Industries, Surya Narayan Pillai from Surya Corporation, Akshay Purohit from Gaur Industries, Iravat Kaul from the Engineers Guild of Indraprastha, and finally Vasudha Tata from the Tata Group.

"Bring me the logbook!" Vijay pointed at the Sapta Abhiyantharaha (7 Engineers) research team and asked.

Prabhudheva nodded, went back to the office, perused through the log books and brought over a thick notebook.

Vijay flipped over the notes with curiosity, and he was once again surprised. Not because of anything else, but because the design had actually reached the later stages and the way they did it was both ingenious and unexpected.

It was ingenious because they had chosen to do the right thing and work as a real team. At the same time, it was unexpected, because engineers of their level usually have very strong individual ideas. They are people at the very top of the engineering world, and most of them carry the mindset that they are no worse than anyone else. Even those who may not be very social rarely compromise on their ideas when it comes to their own field of expertise.

So seeing them come together, divide the work clearly among themselves, and trust each other to handle their respective responsibilities was quite remarkable.

According to the logbook, Arjun Vaidya was responsible for researching how to integrate the drivetrain with the powertrain. Draupadi Nair was in charge of studying the suspension and chassis architecture. Balbir Mengal was assigned to research frame construction and structural materials. Subramanyam Pillai took responsibility for designing the body, crew ergonomics, and door systems. Thage was tasked with designing the wheels, tyres, and ground interface. Iravat Kaul was responsible for making sure all the parts used in the vehicle were standardised and easy to service. As for Vasudha Tata, he was in charge of the fuel systems, fuel delivery, operational safety, and failure analysis.

Naturally, Vijay had not yet seen the blueprint of the design they had created, but some of the ideas they had proposed, along with the sections marked as completed research, made him hopeful about this team.

"Naya Samrat, Ha? Interesting." Thinking about the name they decided to give for the vehicle, he stroked his chin and smiled.

Roughly at the same time,

Bharatiya Academy of Military Sciences HQ Warehouse Facility, Military Capital of the Empire, Nagpur.

The large warehouse is filled with the noise of engines revving from dawn to dusk. The thin walls between each workstation were doing very little to isolate the sound to one place. A lot of engineers were irritated by having to work in such an environment, but unfortunately, the importance of the Dvidhara Engine was too high; letting it go out is a little too risky for the military logistics department.

A variety of vehicles were being built throughout the warehouse. In one booth, an engineer stood directing the helpers as they installed track wheels onto the vehicle he had conceived. In another, an engineer observed his rectangular-shaped armoured vehicle with a faint smirk of satisfaction. In yet another booth, an engineer was supervising as his workers fitted a massive set of tyres, each one nearly half the height of the vehicle itself.

And finally, in one of the last booths, seven different engineers worked together, each directing their own team as they tackled the various problems that arose during construction.

The booth of this team was special. As there wasnt much clanging or banging in this team, instead each group within the team worked on their own things without coordination and without orders, not bothering the other teams. Right at the centre of the team, there was a chassis of the car within which the Dvidhara engine was already installed. Although it was still very rudimentary, the shapes and lines of a sleek jaguar were already visible.

Right behind this setup, hanging prominently on the wall, was a large statement, almost like a manifesto, a declaration of design philosophy and a vow that guided the entire project.

"The New Samrat we aim to build will serve the soldier who has no mechanical training, no specialist tools, and no one to call for help. If such a soldier cannot repair it in the field, it is not ready. If such a soldier cannot trust it for its reliability, it is not an asset but a liability."

"The New Samrat will not imprison its own components. No part will be permanently fixed where a removable one can perform the same task. A component that cannot be separated cannot be replaced, and a component that cannot be replaced will one day doom the machine that carries it."

"The New Samrat will speak a single mechanical language. Every fastener, fitting, and joint will follow one standard. A vehicle with fifty bolt sizes carries fifty different ways to abandon a soldier on the battlefield."

"The New Samrat will be designed with failure already assumed. Every mechanism must be judged under the belief that the vehicle has broken down at night, in poor weather, far from any support. If a repair demands something not already carried on the vehicle, then it is not a repair at all."

"The New Samrat will never trap the men it protects. Any door, hatch, or mechanism that holds a soldier inside must release him faster than the danger that forces him to escape. A door that slows a man’s exit is a door that kills."

"The New Samrat will not betray its crew through noise, shape, or needless complexity. A vehicle that announces its presence through sound, silhouette, or difficulty of operation endangers not only its crew, but every soldier fighting beside it."

"The New Samrat will be understandable to any soldier, engineer, or mechanic who encounters it for the first time. Every system must be clear in purpose and simple in form. The machine must explain itself."