P.S.(Chagos to A&N Islands - 3 days)
A few hundred kilometres off the Chagos Archipelago,
The third fleet of the Bharatiya Navy, commanded by Prasanna Nair, was sailing towards the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Prasanna Nair, with the help of his researchers, analysts, and tacticians of the Research and Analysis Wing, was preparing a battle plan to defend against the Batavia Navy of the Dutch, which was currently on its route to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
"Commander, once the Dutch are able to gain a foothold in any of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, they can use this as a springboard to completely capture the island chain," a theoretical researcher pointed out on the map.
A lot of people nodded their heads in agreement. However, there were still many members of the RAW who disagreed with him. An analyst was quick to refute his words, "That is not true. Did you forget that a whole fleet of the Bharatiya Navy, composed of older warships, is still stationed in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands? Even though they cannot dominate the enemy, it is still no problem defending against them. More importantly, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands may be critical for the Bharatiya Empire in any other situation, but in the current operation, the deciding factor of whether we have won the war or not is whether we have successfully captured the island of Mauritius."
"Capturing this gateway to the Indian Ocean will give us the power to completely cut off the logistic channels of the Dutch. So even if the Dutch occupy part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, it wouldn't change anything, as we can simply take it right back after our hands have been freed up. So, in my opinion, Henry Casimir II will not target the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a whole but will instead target small islands that could be used as a springboard to reinforce their allies near Mauritius," the analyst said.
this statement was agreed upon by most people,
' So although the Navy stationed in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands cannot win against the Dutch, it is still possible for them to stick to the coast and defend until reinforcements arrive? ', Prasanna Nair quickly understood the situation. "What is the strength of the current Batavia Navy?" he asked as he got up and stared at the large map hung up on the wall.
Everyone remained silent as they did not have the exact data, but a person who had not participated much in the discussion from the beginning suddenly stood up. "According to our sources from Bharatiya External Pragya, they possess 30 1,000-ton warships called the East Indiamen, 60 sloops weighing 200 tons, 45 medium-scale frigates weighing 500 tons, and 10 1,500-ton galleons," he said. He was an intelligence agent from Bharatiya Sainik Pragya, dealing with intelligence matters concerning the war.
Prasanna Nair frowned. He took his eyes away from the map and turned his head towards an old man sitting in the corner of the room. "What do you think, sir?" he asked with some respect in his tone.
The old man stroked his chin in contemplation. "If we are only considering strength on paper, I'd say we are pretty even. We may have a large advantage in the quantity of ships since the old battleships, frigates and sloops will be joining the battle, but they have a considerable advantage in the large battleships.
"They have 10 galleons while we only have 6 Delhi-class battleships."
"They have 30 1,000-ton warships, while we only have around 20, of which only seven are newly built, and the rest are old models."
"Although their largest ships are a little smaller than ours, the advantage is not much since they have a lot more medium-class 1,000-ton ships than us. So, when counting the number of large guns, they make up for their disadvantage through numbers."
"That is unless you want to use the new weapon against them," he said as he looked at the commander. Prasanna Nair did not show any emotion on his face, hence the old man continued.
"Ultimately, it is possible to defend against the Dutch with relative ease, but it will be extremely hard and time-consuming to defeat them."
Prasanna Nair nodded his head in understanding. Then he looked at the map once again to see if there were any alternative solutions. In fact, the current situation was already the result that the admiral and the Empire expected, but he still wanted to make larger contributions.
His eyes turned into cameras as he swept across the map from one corner to another. He constructed multiple scenarios in his mind, looking for an idea or inspiration to defeat the Dutch.
Then suddenly something hit him—he got an idea. He realized he did not have to travel with all of his forces to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The islands were inherently very difficult to attack and easy to defend, so it did not really matter if a little of his power had been reduced.
'Then why not kill two birds with one stone?' His eyes lit up.
"Sir, what if we split off a small battle group from our fleet and task them to conquer the Keeling and Christmas Islands?
"These are uninhabited islands that were only revisited by our Navy a few months ago, aren't they? How about we use these islands as a springboard to go into the backyard of the Dutch? This should disrupt their plans, shouldn't it?" Prasanna's face was brimming with excitement because, even as he said it, he found that various advantageous possibilities had opened up.
The old man, who was the senior tactician of the research and analysis wing of the Navy, thought for a while, and his eyes lit up. "It's a great idea, Commander."
"If the Dutch do not realize that our Navy is in their backyard, then we can go further inland and not only destroy their infrastructure when their Navy is absent but also flank the Navy that is currently en route to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands."
"In this way, if we are lucky, using this advantage, we can definitely cripple the Dutch Navy in Indonesia."
However, thinking about something, his excitement dropped a few levels.
"But realistically, in my opinion, Henry Casimir II should notice our Navy as soon as we enter the Java Sea," the old man said, drawing a line on Sumatra Island. "You see, travelling directly through the land, the distance is only around 1,500 kilometres. But for our Navy to circle Sumatra Island, go through the Java Sea, and come out of the Strait of Malacca, it would take almost 2,300 kilometres. By the time our Navy arrives, Henry Casimir would have already taken precautions."
"But it is not a problem since our Navy entering the Java Sea is enough distraction for Henry Casimir to immediately retreat back to Batavia or at least send half of his forces back."
"This is enough for our main fleet heading to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to severely damage the fleet that is left behind, or, in case the whole Navy retreats, we can once again place a blockade on the Strait of Malacca, completely choking the Dutch within Indonesia."
"Once the Dutch Navy is split up or has retreated, our fleet, which had gone to Keeling and Christmas Islands, could easily use the islands as a safe haven since the Dutch do not know of the existence of these islands." "Once Henry Casimir advances, we will retreat. When he retreats, we will advance. We can use guerrilla tactics commonly used by the Rangers."
"Haha, nice!" Prasanna Nair happily exclaimed, realizing the advantages stated by the old man were actually more than what he had discovered.
"Sanjeev," he called out.
The Executive Officer of the fleet immediately arrived at the war room. "Commander," he saluted promptly.
"Form a battle group with two Delhi-class battleships, one Guwahati-class armed merchant ship, three Pune-class battleships, ten Colombo-class frigates, four Chennai-class clippers, twenty-five Amaravathi-class frigates, and ten Kolkata class clippers," Prasanna ordered. Then he quickly wrote down everything that was discussed in the meeting just now. "These are the objectives and the targets."
"Order the captains to prepare, and you personally work with the research and analysis wing to come up with the protocols for this machine."
"Yes, sir!" Sanjeev exclaimed.
A few hours passed by, and a battle group separated from the fleet commanded by Prasanna Nair and set their course to the Keeling Islands.
"Regroup," Henry Casimir II ordered, knowing that the strategy that had worked until now would not work against the reinforcements of the Bharatiya Empire.
Henry looked at the 2,000-ton battleships of the Bharatiya Empire with a dignified expression on his face. The cannon shot just now had actually managed to completely blow up the front deck of a galleon whose build was no different from the one he was in.
However, Henry was not scared. Instead, he looked defiant and unafraid. "You may be strong, but at the end of the day, you still have to die," he said with an evil smile on the corner of his lips.
"Pincer formation, full force ahead," he ordered.
The Dutch fleet, which was almost regrouped, immediately formed an arrow-like formation and went full speed ahead.
Prasanna Nair was surprised by this action. ' What is this guy doing? Does he want to fight by ramming the ships? Who still does this? ' he muttered, not understanding the tactic of the Dutch.