The Business of War
Year 1962, Rurdradev Khurd Company Headquarter Barracks
Prince Viraja was sitting under the shed in the army barrack, in-front of him the soldier where performing the row and column line formation with swift and efficient coordination, this was marked improvement from the last time when he came to see the drilling outcome, that time the coordination was so poor that he was appalled by it, as a result he has to give a good dress down to the officers and colonel Virendra for their failure to instill discipline including some pointer to improve the drill outcome. It also seems that the compact repeating crossbow, 4 shot repeated matchlock musket which by the way is quite expensive so he had to opt for also the single shot matchlock musket has also started being delivered to his soldiers along with paper cartridge and ring bayonet. The volley firing capability has also improved then last time, for now only a single company has been provided with 4-shot matchlock this will give a marked advantage to him in any battle. The biggest weakness of matchlock is its usability dropping to zero in rainy climate. This disadvantage for now could be offset by the pikemen and the repeating crossbow.This is also one of the reason he has decided he move toward his fiefdom during the month when the season is dry and cold.
Next comes the pikeman initially he opted for the phalanx formation but then he decided to move towards the square formation which is more versatile to be drilled in the soldiers. In square the troops is drilled to be able to point their pikes in any direction while stationary, with the men in the front of the formation kneeling to allow the men in the center or back to point their pikes over their heads. While stationary, the staff of each pike could be butted against the ground, giving it resistance against attack.
As prince Viraja was watching the drill, 2 carts were brought in by people who were accompanying supervisor Hariharan. Once the carts stop in-front of the prince Viraja, supervisor Hariharan proudly proclaimed to the prince that he has succeeded in making the new artillery weapons Vajrastra and Varshastra. As he said this he removed the cover which show the two weapons which was yet to be loaded.Prince Viraja signaled to the colonel to stop the drill and bring the artillery company which he previously ordered to be created by choosing men from the existing companies under the command of newly appointed captain Devendra to come forward and watch the demonstration as they will be the one who will be handling the weapons. Soon Hariharan started demonstrating the loading of the weapons and explaining its range capability to the gunners in the artillery company. Once the weapons were fired it effect on the dummies put at a distance was devastating, this result really satisfied Prince as he congratulated Supervisor Hariharan for a job well done.
After sometime the prince was sitting in his office with colonel Virendra, supervisor hariharan and his personal attendant Bhimrao. First he looked at colonel Virendra and said that "I will be journeying towards my fiefdom Badrak to see the condition of the same at the start of the next year. I will be taking all the soldiers and you will accompany me to command the same except a company of musketeer who will be left behind to guard the company Headquarters here and ensure that there is no security breach. So colonel make sure the army is prepared and ready by then".
Next he looked at supervisor Hariharan and said "You will be travelling with me to Badrak I intend to build a branch of the company there with upgraded foundries and also I will need your expertise to work on new weapons designs.Appoint someone loyal to the crown and trustworthy to take your place as supervisor here".Initially hearing about moving Hariharan wanted to protest but when he heard about new designs of weapons he will get to develop he immediately shut his mouth and agreed with the prince.
Finally he looked at his personal attendant Bhimrao and said "I want you to gather the required material I have given a list of to you and recruit the men which we require to build the initial structure of the company branch for rest we can acquire in the fiefdom.You will be travelling with me there too so I want you appoint a manager from other royal attendants whose loyalty to the crown is unquestionable, who will be in charge of the revenue earned from the soap business and metal workshop business which is earning revenue selling single shot matchlock, single shot crossbow, cartridge, swords and metal headed arrows to the royal army as ordered by my father in return for the financial support he is providing to build my company headquarters"..
Once prince Viraja has completed giving them instruction he dismissed them so that they can get back to work. Once they left the office, a few moments later Suryasen entered and saluted the prince with a tap to his heart, seeing this the prince signaled him to sit down and give him his report. Suryasen said "Your highness I have planted a agent in the close proximity of noble Durani, it turns out they are planning something though not completely clear but it has something to do with you and the timeline when you will be marching to Badrak".Hearing this the prince had a smile on his face and said "They are probably trying to setup a ambush for me when I reach there, either way it will be a good opportunity to test the mettle of my troops and effectiveness of my new weapons". Hearing this Suryasen was surprised and just nodded and waited for any further instruction. The prince again said "i want you to place a agent in the headquarters who will act as liaison officer but his main job would be keep eye on any leaks within the company and plugging them either by elimination or by any other means and also make sure to keep me updated on any information even when I am in Badrak". With this he dismissed Suryasen.