NOVPUBHamedam, Kingdom of Persia
Lachit Borphukan had a very bad feeling as he took over the intelligence report from the agent of the Alliance Intelligence Bureau working directly under Fariba Atashban.
Perusing the letter in a few seconds, his eyes widened and, reflexively, he stood up, pushing the table several inches forward.
"Damn!!"
Lachit Borphukan was previously warned that the three generals of the Ottoman Empire who were guarding the Far East, which used to be the territory of the Shamlu and Ustajlu families, were up to something, as they were receiving several orders from Constantinople in a short span of time. For this reason, the Western Command of the Bharatiya Empire, currently under the command of Ramayya Senapathi, is on full alert, waiting to meet the enemy. But he never expected that the orders they received were to retreat and give up, leaving the regions of Isfahan, Dasht-e-Kavir, Korasan, Merv, and Golestan undefended.
If it were any other time, he would be overjoyed since they would not have to fight with the Ottomans to reclaim one-third of the land which was previously possessed by the Safavid Empire. With its occupation, the alliance and its participating countries could gain an upper hand and become the dominant powers in the Middle East and Arabia. But now the problem arises because two different special force companies and over three battalions of soldiers had gone on the mission to fulfil Operation Qom.
Operation Qom was very important to the alliance army because Qom was situated at the crossroads connecting the Far East Ottoman Empire to the central region of the Ottoman Empire. Not only that, it also connected Isfahan, the previous capital of the Safavid Empire, with the strategic naval port in the Caspian Sea, Amol, the rising city built as a new transportation hub by the Ottomans. Disrupting Qom by eliminating all the top officials would give the alliance army a chance to take advantage of the chaos and further weaken the Ottoman control over Isfahan, Dasht-e-Kavir, Korasan, Merv, and Golestan. But now these soldiers are in the direct line of retreat. He could not even imagine what the three Ottoman generals would do to these soldiers when they were retreating in shame. Even thinking about it made him extremely furious.
"Inform the Western Command of the Bharatiya Empire about this and immediately mobilise all the soldiers, each and every one of them," he ordered, fists clenched, blood boiling, but in the depth of his eyes, a hint of worry could be seen. As his heart began to feel unsettled for some reason, his instincts told him that things were more serious than what he could perceive.
Kaveh Atashban and Ezidi Serwan, along with other lieutenant generals, were all taken aback when the commander of the alliance army suddenly mobilised all of the army out of nowhere. You have to know that the alliance army is composed of nearly 800,000 to a million troops; mobilising them all was no joke. But all the lieutenant generals knew that the commander was not a person to make decisions out of Impulsiveness, so all of them obeyed their command, mobilised the troops under them, and stood on standby, waiting for the orders.
Both Lieutenant General Kaveh Atashban and Ezidi Serwan were stationed in the Vajra Gharbha Base of Kirkuk, so when they received the orders, it only took a few hours for them to arrive at Hamedam.
As Kaveh Atashban and Ezidi Serwan walked next to each other, they had sombre looks on their faces. They did not know what had happened, but they knew that it was something big.
"Sir!!"
Both the lieutenant generals saluted in unison, stomping on the ground with a resolute step.
Lachit Borphukan nodded in acceptance as he started to explain what had happened.
Kaveh Atashban and Ezidi Serwan looked at each other; their eyes widened, and their hearts were racing. Although they felt sorry for the soldiers who set off on the Qom mission, in the depths of their hearts, they were very happy that they could soon take over what was left by the Ottomans without too many casualties.
If it was only 3,000 casualties to take over one-third of the previous Safavid Empire's lands, then it was worth it. But this thought stayed deep in their hearts. Both Atashban and Serwan knew this; Lachit Borphukan knew this as well. But such thoughts could never be made public, as that would make the soldiers lose all faith in the command, disintegrating the army and, consequently, the country from within.
What sort of army ceases to sacrifice some of the best men for profit? Evidently, throughout history, it was all of them, but the truth cannot be leaked. So, even though there was no need to cause such a commotion by mobilising all the troops of the alliance army, Lachit Borphukan did it anyway, as that would signify the command's determination not to give up on anyone, no matter how dire the circumstances.
"Holy SHIT!!!!"
Lachit Borphukan was startled when Kaveh Atashban and Ezidi Serwan screamed in unison. The sense of unease in his heart continued to increase. He turned around, his senses telling him that something had gone extremely wrong, and it was right.
Seeing the purple-colored firework rising on the horizon, all blood left his face. He felt like a person who had been left to die in an Arctic ice cave.
"Oh Buddha! How can this be?"
He muttered, with dread seeping into his soul.
But time was of the essence. He forced himself to calm down and gave orders rapidly.
"It is code POTUS. Send the message to the Western Command immediately."
His veins bulged as he roared,
"I want every available horse in the city, be it military or civilian, under the crotch of my soldiers, NOW!"
"All the troops that are in Hamedam, Baghdad, Arabestan, Fars, and Kerman, all set out immediately, with the only destination being Qom, and with the only aim being bringing back the Prince of the Bharatiya Empire safe and sound."
"All the frontier cities in Lalishstan, mobilise the troops and attack the borders at full force. If anything were to happen to His Royal Highness, I want all the Ottomans to be BURIED with him!" His eyes were completely red, like a demon from Hell, startling both Kaveh Atashban and Ezidi Serwan, who had never seen the respectable and capable general like this. But they could understand the stakes. Without hesitation, they ran out, completely throwing etiquette out the window.
As if it were the day of Deepavali, fireworks were set off in Hamedam in all directions and in several different colours.
A few hours ago, Lachit Borphukan had already sent a message about what the Ottomans were doing to the Western Command, and Ramayya Senapati was just getting to know about the information. It was sent through the firework communication system built by the Sri Manjunatha Research Firm of Commander Akhil, which uses three different combinations of fireworks to send coded messages across large distances at the fastest speed.
Ramayya Senapati, the commander of the Western Command, had received the news after it had travelled for a few hours through the Middle East. He was surprised by the news, but he was happy since battles would no longer be waged at the western border. But when he was almost done relaying back the message to the capital, he saw the light which he did not want to see even in his nightmare — the light of fireworks that signified that a member of the royal family was in danger.
The whole atmosphere of the command turned desperate. More people in the command understood what the light signified.
"We set off immediately. Pick up all the logistics that can be picked up, and different logistical teams will supply us with the necessary materials on the way. It does not matter if the logistical lines stretch too far. We have to safeguard the prince at any cost."
"If there is any mistake in my ranks, I promise heads will roll even if I have to resign."
Ramayya Senapati was like a cornered beast, ready to tear apart anything that came in sight.
Nearly 1000 kilometres away, Lachit Borphukan was in a similar condition. Due to his strict orders, nearly 20,000 horses had been gathered from the city of Hamedam. No reason was given to the civilians whose horses were snatched away, since the situation was so dire. This raised a lot of concerns among the civil servants of the Kingdom of Persia, even alerting the Atashban royal family, causing the queen, Roxana Atashban, to immediately summon the representative of the alliance army to figure out what was going on. But once she knew what was happening, she was horrified, because until now the Bharatiya Empire had not shown any tendencies to annexe the Persian region.
However, now, if the prince is in danger, the Bharatiya Empire's army will act, and since they are acting, will they claim more territory in Persia as their own? No, this cannot happen, she thought to herself, and used her own connections and power to gather all the capable horses so as to make sure that there are enough soldiers from the alliance army participating in the rescue operation, so as to have some leverage over the future claims of the Bharatiya Empire, if they were to claim, that is. Not receiving any opposition from the government, the people of the Kingdom of Persia realised that something had gone extremely wrong, as they further felt that the aura of the military had completely changed.
"Please be alright, Your Highness," Lachit Borphukan prayed in his heart. He knew how dangerous the situation was. The distress signal he received was an hour ago, meaning the signal should have been set off an hour earlier.
Given that the distance between Hamedan and Qom was around 220 kilometres, there is a very high chance that the Ottoman retreating army had already made contact with the city of Qom.
If His Highness had retreated beforehand, then it is all right. But if he is still in the city, he took a big gulp, as he did not even want to imagine what would happen.
It would take him two to three hours at the least to reach Qom. He could only hope that His Highness had already retreated.
To Be continued...
