Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Realistically speaking, Basrah is not really a port city on the coast of the Persian Gulf, but it could be considered as such because Basrah is a city where the river Shatt al-Arab flows through and joins the Persian Gulf.

The Shatt al-Arab is a river formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. So even though it only flows for 200 km, which is not too impressive among other long rivers, the fact that it is a union of two of the longest rivers in the world—the Euphrates, flowing for 2,780 km, and the Tigris, flowing 1,900 km—makes the volume of water contained in the Shatt al-Arab River absolutely massive, making it very wide. In the future, even oil tankers of tens of thousands of tonnes could travel on such a river, much less the 2,000-tonne battleship of the Bharatiya Empire.

So, despite not actually being on the coast of the Gulf of Arabia, it doesn't make much of a difference due to the existence of the Shatt al-Arab and one of its tributaries, which actually splits near the city of Basrah and flows into the Persian Gulf, making it even more convenient for the navy of the Bharatiya Empire to reach the city of Basrah.

---

Sayyid Khalid ibn Mustafa al-Mashhadani, a military general under the payroll of the Zangana family, is currently pacing around the room with a panicked expression on his face. Mashhadani had received the information about the arrival of the Atashban family almost six hours ago. However, he is worried whether it is too late.

Currently, Mashhadani only has around 5,000 soldiers under his command. Given that he was in charge of a coastal city far from the influence of the Atashban family, i.e., Baghdad, he hadn't thought that the war would reach him next, so he hadn't prepared his soldiers beforehand. Now, even though he realizes he has made a big mistake, he doesn't even have the chance to regret it.

Mashhadani was a little relieved after Patriarch Salman Zangana ordered all the troops commanded by other generals to reinforce him in the city of Basrah. But the excitement did not last long as he began to consider practical possibilities. Being a general for so long, he already realised that the patriarch's plan looked a little too ideological. This might not have been a problem against any other noble family in the Safavid Empire, as everyone was on an equal level, but against the Atashban family, backed by the Bharatiya Empire, which is world-renowned for its logistical capabilities, Mashhadani simply could not believe in miracles.

The news about the Atashban family's march toward Zangana was discovered around six hours ago, which was already at a point when the enemy had moved halfway through their march. What's more, it took another hour for the message to return from the patriarch.

Mashhadani is very well aware of the condition of all the troops and generals in the area of Arabistan. He is certain it will take at least one hour for all the armies to mobilize under the different generals, and for someone like himself, it might even take two. That gives him a limited time of one or two hours to prepare and also to defend until reinforcements arrive.

Maybe the armies from the nearby cities of Ahvaz and Shushtar would reach him in a few hours, but he absolutely has no confidence in the armies from Hillah, Kufa, and Samawah reaching him in the next three hours or so.

Syed Khalid Mashhadani immediately understood that the first contact with the Atashban family would have to be made by himself alone, using his army of 5,000 troops who were still only equipped with cold weapons and old-age cannons against an army of 20,000 fully armed, well-trained soldiers with cannons of higher caliber, lesser weight, more maneuverability, and, most importantly, more ammunition.

Even a fool could tell who would win unless the weaker party had a general who was a once-in-a-lifetime tactician capable of utilizing everything at his grasp to defeat the enemy. Syed Khalid Mashhadani might be respected among his peers in Arabistan due to his higher military abilities, and he might have become a little arrogant because of it, but he has self-awareness and knows he is not really a once-in-a-lifetime military tactician.

The only reason he was fairly successful compared to his peers was that his ego was not too big, and he was willing to listen to good opinions and suggestions, though his judgment on which opinion was good or bad was not always on point. Like that one time a few months ago when he ignored the suggestion of his subordinate to train the troops every day as soon as the rebellion of the Atashban family began, thinking the suggestion was ridiculous and too resource-intensive.

Getting back to the point, he did listen to suggestions enough times for it to be recognized as one of his quirks.

After discussing with some of his best soldiers who had intelligence, the best course of action he decided upon was to completely barricade the fortress he was in, ready the supplies for the next 12 hours, and, most importantly, build up the defenses as much as possible.

"General, we got news from the scout. The army of the Atashban family is only 30 minutes away," a lean man dressed in Arabic clothes carrying a sword informed.

Syed Khalid Mashhadani immediately tightened his fist and straightened his back. 'What is supposed to come has still come.' Even though he knew that the battle would be inevitable, maybe in his mind he was hoping for a miracle. Unfortunately, miracles don't happen very often.

"Have the defences been constructed?" Syed Khalid Mashhadani asked.

"As you ordered, we've filled bags with sand and placed them on top of the fortress and over the exposed locations, Your Excellency. We just finished the work a few minutes ago."

Mashhadani, who was relieved, thought, ' At least they should buy us some time.' Filling the bags with sand as a defense measure against firearms was circulated among the generals by the Patriarch. Rumour had it that the Patriarch had obtained this information from the merchants of the Ottoman Empire.

Mashhadani had never seen it in action, but considering that it cost almost nothing, he ordered his men to do it just in case.

---

Kaveh Atashban looked at the fortress of Basrah with an excited expression on his face.

"Hayaah!"

The speed of his horse increased as he galloped forward to the front of the formation. He used the telescope provided by the Bharatiya Empire to observe the enemy's situation.

When he saw piles of bags placed on top of the fortress with only a few holes, most likely for the archers and cannons, his brows furrowed. He had never encountered this situation before. In fact, Kaveh knew what those bags were filled with and what they were used for, as he had already received basic general knowledge of firearm warfare from the Bharatiya Empire, but he was still a little caught off guard, having never experienced it personally.

"Deploy tents," he ordered.

The army suddenly came to a halt, and the personnel responsible for logistics immediately got to work. Simultaneously, the scouts scattered, making sure no enemy was approaching from the rear. Kaveh gave such an order just before the battle, not to wait for the Bharatiya Empire's arrival with its navy, but out of long-term consideration. He knew the itinerary of his army.

Once the battle started, even if the city of Basrah was conquered within a few hours, he, along with his army, would have to march back to the city of Baghdad as fast as possible to avoid losing it to the Zangana family. This situation however was still only a hypothetical best-case scenario, and even this would require the army's 100% effort for at least half a day. Except for a couple of hours of rest during the march and a 10-minute break for food, there wouldn't be another chance.

"Eat well. After this meal, none of us will get a chance to eat for at least the next 12 hours," Kaveh yelled out, which made the soldiers, who had been eating nonchalantly, become very serious. They wolfed down their food like they were in an eating competition. Even the jovial remarks that would occasionally pop up completely disappeared; only the sound of chewing and swallowing was heard in the temporary tents. If anyone had mistakenly wandered into the place, they would have been scared away, thinking barbarians were feasting on meat.

'Blare!' 'Blare!'

Time quickly passed, and the horns of war sounded. The army of 20,000 soldiers immediately stood, excited. They lined up neatly as they had been taught and marched forward with their weapons ready to fire at any time.

Sayyid Khalid, looking at the approaching enemy, had a dignified expression on his face. 'Allah bless me,' he prayed, then shouted, "The enemy is here! Defend with your life!"

"Woahhh!" the soldiers shouted, their morale high due to the fortress they were on.

The army came closer and closer until finally, the fireworks started.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

The Atashban Army fired volley after volley of gunshots like a well-oiled machine. Meanwhile, Syed Khalid's army tried their best to fight back, utilizing bows and arrows, but it was futile. Not only was the power of the arrows not strong enough, but the enemy also wore high defensive equipment, which made it harder to kill them with one shot.

Even though they had firearms like muskets, their range was not long enough to be useful in the current battle. They were so ineffective that even the bows and arrows proved more useful. As for the cannons they had, although still effective, they could not compare to the cannons of the Bharatiya Empire in terms of accuracy. While the cannons of the Bharatiya Empire hit the sandbags most of the time with high accuracy, their own cannons missed many of the shots and hit only a couple of times.

'Thuffff'

'Thuffff'

The only thing Syed Khalid was happy about was that the bullets really couldn't pass through the sandbags he had prepared at the last minute. He saw how a bullet was stopped by the sandbag right in front of him. If it weren't for the sandbag, he was sure he would be dead.

Syed let out a sigh of relief, but suddenly, when he saw the sandbag, chills ran down his spine.

'Gulp!'

He noticed that the hole made by the bullet had allowed the sand to flow out. Eventually, the entire sandbag emptied, and it fell down.

Syed Khalid immediately ducked down and sprawled on the ground as the bullets continued flying in his direction. He looked at the sandbags all around him, then at the barricade that had been made with them. His eyes widened because the number of sandbags was decreasing at a very high speed. What's more, unknowingly, the top of the fortress was filled with screams and shouts from his soldiers—either injured or, worse, letting out their last cries before permanently closing their eyes.

"What's wrong? What is happening?" he thought to himself. He did not understand how the sandbags could just empty themselves with a single hole.

'Thud!'

Just then, a sandbag fell next to him. Looking at it, his eyes immediately widened, and he was immediately fuming with rage. ' Didn't I ask for the sand to be filled in jute bags? Why are they using this trash? ' He fully understood the problem. Jute bags were recommended for the sand to be filled in because, even if they took a few bullet holes, they still had enough structural integrity to keep everything together. But whatever material was used in these bags was utter trash. One single poke and the whole thing fell apart like a Jenga block with its core support removed.

"Bang!" "Bang!"

Syed Khalid's eyes were red with fury, but at the same time, he knew he was in a life-or-death moment. So, he tried his best to crawl toward the stairs. Many dead bodies of his subordinates lay on the floor, but he gritted his teeth, pushed them aside, and continued to crawl.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The soldiers who were still alive and wounded were recovering near the stairs. When they saw the general crawling toward them, the ones who were least injured crawled toward him and pulled him back.

'Pant!' 'Pant!'

Syed Khalid was relieved to be standing on his two feet once again. He looked at his body to see if he was injured in any way. Thankfully, he was not. The only thing that felt wrong was a tightness in his chest, and he was breathing heavily. Apart from that, everything seemed normal.

P.S. Had clg till 5pm today