NOVEL NEXT Chapter 194 Civil Exams, The Ahom Soldiers Arrival Part: 2
194 Civil Exams, The Ahom Soldiers Arrival Part: 2
After half a day of travel, Neerab and his crew received a warm welcome from the administration of the Military Academy, along with being introduced to their new colleagues whom they met from different parts of the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire. After getting to know each other, they were assigned room numbers and separate squad numbers. The common factor in this division is that each room had an equal number of Ahom and Dakshin Bhartiya Empire soldiers.
5 AM in the morning.
The door was blasted open as a person with a Batton entered the room and started hitting the bunk bed, making a loud noise.
"Wake up, maggots! It's your time to rise and shine. Your names will be called in 3 minutes. If you are not well-dressed and ready to go, you will give me 20 push-ups and two laps on the grounds right now."
Neerab was still in a groggy mood when he was abruptly woken up by this instructor. He was annoyed and thought that they were being tortured because of their foreign identity. But seeing how his Bhartiya friend was also facing the same fate as him, he felt better that everyone was suffering together.
Three minutes were up, and the roll call was initiated. A person who was actually from Ahom did not manage to wear his shoes on time; hence, he was punished with 20 push-ups and two laps on the ground.
The guy who got caught turned towards Neerab for help. This gesture caught the eye of the sergeant, who eyed Neerab up and down as if he would pounce on him for a single word coming out.
Neerab felt pretty intimidated by the sergeant, who looked at him as though his face was saying, "Utter a single word, NO! Even a single letter, I dare you, I dare you, say it." So, although he wanted to help out his fellow countrymen, he did not speak out. Seeing that Neerab did not speak out, the sergeant suddenly had a disappointed expression on his face for a few seconds before he hid it. Neerab, who saw this, had cold sweat on his back as he felt lucky for his choice. Overall, from the looks of it, they were not being specifically punished for their appearance or ethnicity because, on the ground, he could see a lot of Bhartiya soldiers also running along with the Ahom soldiers with lost expressions.
The next order of the day was the manual of arms. It involved theoretical knowledge about how to use the artillery and all the details about artillery. In this class, the artillery crew, which usually is the group of new roommates, would be taught about proper handling, loading, and firing of the artillery pieces, which also involved mastering the various steps required for efficient operation. Since this class was theoretical, it was conducted in a classroom where the instructor took a cross-section of an artillery piece and explained each of the steps carefully.
The physics behind the artillery was kept secret for various reasons, with the main one being that Vijay was not yet ready to disclose the technology of artillery to potential competitors. Another significant reason in this case was that the Ahom soldiers only had a week or two to complete the whole training course, So teaching science would be impossible in such a short time span.
The next day, there were fewer people running in the field after the roll call. The order of the day was crew organization.
This was the day when artillery crews were organized into specialized roles, each with specific duties during the firing process. These roles typically included gunners, loaders, trajectory calculators, and others responsible for handling ammunition and equipment.
Unfortunately, due to arithmetic knowledge not being emphasized in the military of the Ahom Kingdom, there were very few soldiers who had arithmetic knowledge more advanced than what they used in their daily lives.
So, some changes in crews took place where a Bhartiya, familiar with arithmetic knowledge, joined each crew and taught a member of the Ahom how trajectory calculations are made according to a fixed formula. Although this way of teaching didn't delve into actual mathematics but focused on training them as artillery firing operators, certain compromises had to be made due to time constraints.
The next day marked the first time the recruits from Ahom were allowed to inspect the artillery piece. Although it was only an old 15 kg calibre artillery used against the Dutch in the Kochi War, it was their first introduction to more modern artillery.
The instructors, who were veterans, directed the recruits' attention to the artillery piece and demonstrated how the inspection should be carried out. The instructor showed how each artillery part is inspected to ensure they are in proper working condition. This included checking the barrel, wheels, and other components of the cannon for any damage or defects.
The next chapter in the syllabus was ammunition handling, requiring a whole day. They did Training drills focused on handling various types of ammunition of different calibres that they needed to master. They also learned how to handle them safely, along with precautions for transporting gunpowder and other projectiles.
The Ahom Kingdom could produce the iron shots themselves, but not the cartridges which had gunpowder. Therefore, more time for handling gunpowder was given, as every minute movement and detail was drilled into the muscle memory of the soldiers throughout the day, from 8 o'clock in the morning until 8 in the evening.
Neeraj was fully exhausted, his hands feeling like lead as he carried the ammunition throughout the day. Despite everyone being tired and showing pleading looks toward the heartless instructor, he, unfazed, showed no pity. Like a strict drill instructor, he ordered the ammunition to be carried from one place to another, citing reasons such as preparing for potential fires or addressing emergency ammunition needs in different battle scenarios. Although Neerab knew that the instructor was doing it for battle purposes, the amount of suffering he had gone through made him somewhat paranoid.
The next day was an exciting one for the recruits as it marked the beginning of learning firing procedures. Veteran soldiers, retired from the artillery division of the army, demonstrated the step-by-step process of firing—from loading the artillery piece to executing the firing sequence. The procedure involved preparing the powder charge, inserting the projectile, and performing the firing sequence—all in a single, precise action.
Next, it was the recruits' time to perform. Their practice from the past few days took them a long way as they quickly reached a nice efficiency. Although they were still not allowed to fire the cannon, at least in theory, their efficiency in handling the cannon had reached acceptable markers.
The following day still involved working with the cannon piece assigned to them. This time, instead of crew training, it was an individual training model where each member of the crew had to outperform themselves to achieve better timing and precision. By this time, the leaders of each crew had already become clear, as naturally, the crew tended to listen to the person with leadership skills.
Without any doubt, Neerab, the captain of the Ahom soldiers, and Ripun, the vice-captain, became the crew captains of their respective crews.
The next course in their syllabus was Communication and Commands. In this step, the captains of various crews were instructed in a separate class about guidelines for commands, practising giving clear and concise comments to ensure effective communication during the chaos of battle.
While the captains were having their own classes, the rest of the crew were put on target practice where artillery crews would conduct target practice to improve accuracy and proficiency. This involved aiming at designated targets and adjusting the elevation and direction of the artillery pieces. The trajectory calculator came a long way in this operation, as each time a shot was fired, calculations were made quickly for adjustments.
The next day, the captains joined their respective crews again as manoeuvring and positioning drills took place. The crews had to change the position and location of the cannons multiple times during the day. Although the cannons were pulled by horses, the crew members were also tired from running all day long. One more day was given for team coordination, where each and every crew was taught how to coordinate with the other crews in the context of war. The last day of training was dedicated to safety procedures and instructions on the maintenance and cleaning parts of the artillery pieces they handled. All in all, the whole artillery training ended in 10 days. While not perfect, it set up a foundation for the Ahom Kingdom to utilize artillery in a systematic manner against the Mughal Empire. The soldiers went back to their kingdoms with a lot of gifts, a little darker than before, and also a little stronger than before. Also, the Dutch battleship stationed in the western naval base was dispatched along with the merchant ships to deliver the artillery pieces to the Ahom Kingdom.
During all these events, The civil exams of the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire also concluded, that among 1.5 million applicants, only One million sixty-five thousand six hundred fifty-two, managed to clear the exams and became eligible to vote in elections for the next 20 years.
The soldiers sent to the Ahom Kingdom by the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire also returned, but unlike the soldiers who went back, they came back with a lot of animal skins and animal ornaments. When asked, they explained that these were trophies from the tribal people living in the Ahom Kingdom's lands, the ones who actually trained the Bharatiya soldiers. They shared these stories with reverence.