Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

16th June 1659

Baghdad, Safavid Empire

The military camp in Baghdad is located right in the ruins of the Baghdad fortress. After the fortress was breached in order to defeat the general from the Zangana family, it was immediately rebuilt and reused since it is located at a higher elevation, giving it some strategic advantage and more importantly, it is in a terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The only reason why the Atashban family was able to breach this fortress which inherently had a strategic advantage in the first place was because of the continuous bombardment of high-caliber cannons for weeks on end and the inexperience of the Zangana soldiers.

Currently, in the Baghdad military barracks, the flags of both the Zoroastrian religion, symbolized by the picture of Omnipotent god Ahura Mazda, and even the flag of the Achaemenid Empire aka the Persian Empire, symbolized by an eagle with its wings stretched, could be seen.

Under the flag, instructors from the Bharatiya Empire, identified as officers wearing saffron badges, could be seen growling at the new recruits of the Atashban family.

After the Atashban family took over the city of Baghdad, it immediately started recruiting more people into the army, and given that the Atashban family had spent a long time before their actions spreading its ideology and propaganda throughout the Safavid Empire, there were actually a lot of recruits.

In this situation, a special carriage arrived near the barracks, and a man dressed in a Bharatiya military uniform got out of it. He was a messenger from the forward base in Makran. The messenger from the Bharatiya Empire went into the military barracks with a stern expression on his face.

All the recruits and the veteran soldiers of the Atashban family looked at the messenger with curious expressions.

"What are you all looking at? Give me 10 more push-ups, all of you!"

Sadly, the instructor noticed their distraction and immediately yelled at the top of his lungs. The instructor's voice was already parched from all the screaming, so when he shouted, his voice was hoarse, but this further added strength to his authority.

---

Inside the military barracks of Bhagdad, the three most powerful people of the Atashban family after the elders, the heir Roxana Atashban, the military leader Kaveh Atashban, and the intelligence leader Fariba Atashban—all gathered together for a discussion about what to do next.

Although right now the Atashban family looks like it is in an advantageous position since it has occupied the city of Baghdad, the truth could not be further from it.

Unlike the noble families directly controlling large regions of land and a large population, the Atashban family, despite using propaganda to turn the lower class—whose population is the highest—against the traditional nobles of the Safavid Empire, found it not enough. These people, scattered all over the empire, could only be used when the Atashban family has direct influence over their region. Otherwise, these people could only be used as intelligence gatherers and for small-scale operations, nothing too large like overthrowing a noble family in a region.

Despite the Atashban family's constant increase in influence within the Safavid Empire, and surprisingly a lot of people reverting back to Zoroastrianism, they cannot be used immediately for the Atashban family to expand.

In the end, the Atashban family only has direct influence over the regions of Hamadan and Baghdad, nothing beyond that, and its army, despite the family's best efforts, has only amounted to around 20,000 soldiers in total. Even though recruits are coming in at a fast speed, these recruits are not being converted into battle-ready soldiers quickly enough. Even with the best efforts of the officers from the Bharatiya Empire, these recruits would need at least two months to be battle-ready.

*Tsk*

"No matter which way we march, we run the risk of making our army too widespread and too thin, leaving it ineffective in battle," Kaveh Atashban sighed with an annoyed expression on his face.

Roxana and Fariba stayed silent, but their faces had a dignified expression. Even without understanding military knowledge, they understood that the current situation of their family was very critical. One wrong step, and not to mention going back to square one, it is doubtful whether they can continue to exist.

"Fariba, let's say we initiate an attack. Is the Afshar family likely to intervene?" Roxana asked with a wary expression.

Fariba thought for a while and shook her head. "No, it is very unlikely. Currently, the Afshar family's territory is the area most exposed to the actions of the Bharatiya Empire."

"To its east, it is neighbouring the Bharat-occupied Makran, and to its south, it's the Persian Gulf. To be honest, the Afshar family's navy, which could be used as a form of deterrence against the Zangana family, is of no use against the Bharatiya Empire whose naval might is among the top in the world."

"According to my sources, the Afshar family had already suspected the involvement of the Bharatiya Empire in the civil war, so even if we make a move, I think they should not act hastily and focus tightly on defence. In the last war, which led the Qizilbash alliance spearheaded by the Ustajulu family and Shamlu family to defeat the Takalu family, they took over a large part of the Takalu family's territory, leaving the Afshar family with only a little land in the form of two cities, Nain and Yazd, despite being part of the Qizilbash alliance."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"So currently, there is a disagreement among the three families of the Qizilbash alliance. I am sure that once we launch an attack, the Afshar family will wait it out and see how the Shamlu family and Ustajulu family respond."

Roxana's eyes lit up as she realised. "That is to say, we have a very good opportunity to launch a surprise attack. If we can take over one more stronghold in the fastest time before the Shamlu family and Ustajulu family, who are in the Far East, respond, then it is possible to expand our territory without too much trouble." Kaveh and Fariba nodded their heads in agreement.

However, Kaveh Atashban was not confident. "Well, what you said is true in theory, but this plan is almost impossible to succeed because even though we have taken over Baghdad, the Zangana family still has nearly 50,000 troops in its control—nearly 30,000 in the Arabistan region and 20,000 in the Kurdistan region. We currently have only the strength to deal with one region."

Kaveh went on to point out

"Following sister Roxana's plan, our best bet is to directly attack the command centre of the Zangana family located in Mosul and completely eliminate the leader."

Roxana and Fariba nodded their heads as this plan indeed made sense. They were momentarily happy with small smiles on their faces, but their happiness was short-lived and their smiles shrank back since Kaveh did not look too excited. "Didn't you already think about the solution, why are you still so downtrodden?" Roxana asked doubtfully.

Kaveh had a self-deprecating smile. "If we did indeed do that and use all our strength to attack Mosul, then Baghdad would be left defenceless. The enemy army located in Arabistan would either directly reinforce the Zangana family's strength in Kurdistan or directly attack our rear, Baghdad, and completely box us in with nowhere to escape," he looked a little helpless.

Roxana's brows immediately wrinkled, as such a situation was disastrous for their family since their family only had one military general, Kaveh, and if he were lost, the fate of their family could not be imagined. Even thinking about such a situation sent chills down Roxana's spine.

Just then, a guard stepped into the meeting room.

"Leaders, there is a messenger from the Bharatiya Empire. Would you like me to invite him in?"

"Bring him in," Roxana said without hesitation, as she realized that without the intervention of the Bharatiya Empire, she could not think of any solution for the current troubles of their family.

Kaveh and Fariba looked at the man who entered with expectation on their faces.

The messenger did not understand why the three leaders of the Atashban family were staring at him so intently, as if he were some kind of a saviour. 'What is happening?' he thought to himself, but not daring to ask it out loud. He suppressed his anxiety. "Your Excellencies, I bring a letter from His Excellency, Commander Ramayya Senapati himself."

As soon as he delivered the letter, the messenger quickly left the room without looking back.

Roxana Atashban took the letter into her hands and opened it without hesitation. It had a word ' confidential ', written on it in Bharati text.

Reading the document, Roxana was greatly surprised, and then a smile appeared on her face.

"The commander from the Bharatiya Empire requested us to attack the coastal city of Basra with all our force and to occupy it as soon as possible."

"He further mentioned that the Bharatiya Empire will directly help us in this battle by using their navy."

Hearing this, a smile appeared on Kaveh's face. ' So the Bharatiya Empire is finally willing to directly participate in the battle, huh?' he said to himself, excited.

"What arrangements have been made in order to deal with the army of the Zangana family in the Kurdistan region? I am sure even they are aware of the situation we are in," Kaveh asked with expectation.

Roxana, reading the final part of the letter, furrowed her brows.

"The Bharatiya Empire did indeed consider this issue, but I am not too sure what they are doing."

"It has been mentioned that by the time we conquer Basra and return, the city of Baghdad would indeed be attacked, but we wouldn't see any enemies in it."

"Later, commander Senapati asked us to march from Baghdad into Kurdistan and handle the army, which would be leaderless."

Kaveh and Fariba were both taken aback. "Is the Bharatiya Empire sending someone to assassinate Salman Zangana, the patriarch of the Zangana family? But how is it possible? Mosul is not Basra; it is the most inland region of the Safavid Empire. How could it be so easy to assassinate him now that the Zangana family is aware of the involvement of the Bharatiya Empire?" Fariba Atashban asked doubtfully.

However, unfortunately, Roxana shook her head in disappointment. "Nothing else is mentioned in the letter, only this much." She put down the letter and took a deep breath, "So, now that we know the order of the Bharatiya Empire, what do you two think? Should we follow it?" she asked.

Kaveh did not hesitate. "Of course, we should. Assassination might not be the plan of the Bharatiya Empire; they must have some other cards in their hand. So it is best that we trust them, since without acting immediately, we are bound to get eliminated anyway in this civil war."

Fariba was a little hesitant, but even she nodded her head in determination. "We have no other choice, cousin. We have to follow their lead. At least if we target Basra, even though there are more troops there than in Mosul, utilizing the advanced weapons in our hands, it should be no problem defeating this army. And if, in any case, the Bharatiya Empire cannot hold the army in Kurdistan and we get boxed in Arabistan, we can actually rely on the Bharatiya Empire to get us out of this situation through the Persian Gulf. If things go wrong, even if Baghdad is once again captured by Zangana, we still have another chance to fight back if we occupy some cities in Arabistan, like Shushtar and Ahvaz."

Roxana nodded her head and she made a quick decision. "Then it is decided. General Kaveh Atashban, in four days, you will lead all our forces in Baghdad to attack the coastal city of Basra. Intelligence leader Fariba Atashban, you will constantly provide intelligence support for the battle."

"Meanwhile, I will have all the usable resources in Baghdad packed up and shipped to Hamadan as soon as possible, as well as lay a trap in the fortress in case we really have to lose Baghdad."

P.S. I have 2 more chaps I wrote with this, but I'm too tired to edit it now I'll publish it tomorrow