Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

Chapter 174: Portuguese movements

The Portuguese ships were heading toward the port of Surat. There were two second-rate ships. They were carracks, which had a tonnage of 300 tons to 600 tons. They carried a good amount of Armaments along with them. They typically had 20 to 40 swivel guns.

The two Carracks were accompanied by some Fusta ships, as they were used in the Arabian Sea for patrolling by the Portuguese. They used Fusta to control their managed area within the Qutb sultanate.

These were light-weight ships with a much smaller tonnage capacity and fewer cannons were mounted atop the ship.

The navy was being led by Fernando Gouveia's mercenary group. He was a seasoned mercernary who participated in many missions for the Portuguese company.

He was well-versed in naval battles. He took the ships to the Surat Port, as Diogo Barbosa would be leading the mercenary group through land and accompanying a small army of the Qutb Sultanate to take out the soldiers of the Surat port from behind.

General Barnabas had ordered Fernando to take the port as quickly as possible. They didn't want to wait for anyone to interfere. The port should be under their control within a day.

Fernando understood the gravity of the issue. He knew the port city of Surat was a rich hub of commerce.

He planned to take the port within a few hours. The defenses of the port wouldn't stand a chance against the Carracks.

The traditional port weapons were catapults and trebuchets.

Fernando knew that their weapons wouldn't be enough to take down the carrack, as they had cannons that would instantly take out the catapults from the distance.

"We shall finally take the step to establish the company in full swing once we take the Surat port." He smirked as he looked over in the distance.

'We lost Goa. That mistake cost us a lot. We can't fail this one as well.' He thought inwardly.

The Portuguese suffered a defeat at Goa, which led to a major decline in their influence in the Empire. Despite the former Emperor marrying the daughter of the Castro family,. They were never allowed to take control of the port again.

They couldn't take the port by force as well. The Empire would turn to the Dutch for help and they would have to spend even more resources to take over the Port. That was a lose-lose situation, so the company didn't pursue it.

So now they had a chance for Surat port. They pounced on it as it would make the Portuguese a lot of money. It would also save a lot of money in supplies as they would have to sail less to reach the markets in the Subcontinent.

Fernando stood on the deck and watched as the ship rocked and sailed towards Surat.

His face was etched with a wry smirk as he saw the port come into view.

He glanced back.

"The port is finally in view." Stay updated with m-v l|-NovelBin.net

He took a deep breath and yelled.

"Soldiers, prepare for battle. We will be taking the port soon."

"Por Portugal!"

"Por Portugal!"

"Por Portugal!"

"Por Portugal!"

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of a small town called Bardoli.

The mercenary group led by Diogo Barbosa marched alongside the Qutb Sultanates small army to cut the port off from Land reinforcements.

The Portuguese wanted to establish full control over the port both on sea and land. The army that tagged along was under the direct orders of Diogo, as the Qutb had lent them the army to fight against the Marathas.

Diogo looked at the Qutb soldiers and clicked his tongue in disgust.

Most of them were not that physically fit to become soldiers. This was evident with some potbellied soldiers mixed in the army. The commander was incompetent, as he looked like a big balloon and could barely run for a few minutes.

'How do they select these bastards into the army. Damn it!!'

Although it didn't matter as they were merely filling the numbers to take on the Marathas. He didn't give a damn about their lives, as he would use them as bait.

He turned to the vice commander in his group.

"When will Fernando reach the port?"

"He said that they would be sailing out today, so we can expect them to reach the port by tomorrow morning." The vice commander responded with a thoughtful look.

The vice commander glanced at the Qutb army commander.

"Can these bastards do as we say?" He added with a disgusted look.

Diogo sighed deeply.

"We have to make do with these scum for now. I would have informed the company for a third mercenary group if this was the case."

"I guess then we have to make do with these bastards."

Diogo and the vice commander spoke in Portuguese, as they knew the commander couldn't understand them.

"Any information on the commander stationed at the port?"

"No idea. The spies have failed to dig up any information. Some of the spies were brutally killed as well."

Diogo clicked his tongue. "So they might have a plan in place."

"What about Luis? He also failed."

The vice commander looked nervously at Diogo. "He was also killed during the spy work."

"WHAT??" gasped Diogo. "How did that happen?"

Luis was their best spy; it didn't make sense for him to die that easily during information gathering.

The vice commander shook his head in disappointment. "We just found his body along with a dagger belonging to the Marathas."

"Damn it!! They even got Luis. The general was right. We are dealing with an extremely difficult enemy this time."

"The general said that???" The vice commander asked with a surprised face.

"Yes, He told me to retreat if we faced the king or the prince."

"Hooo.."

Meanwhile, a man chuckled, listening to their conversation.

It was a Qutb army soldier.

A strong breeze startled the marching army and the man disappeared like a fading shadow.

The soldiers that stood beside him didn't notice anything.

He waded his way into the forest and tore off his face mask.

The man changed his clothes and wore a mask. It was a member of the Yamaduts that successfully assassinated Luis and also ensured that the information wouldn't be backtracked to them.

He stretched his body and mumbled.

"The leader will like this."