Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

While the Bharatiya Army is raising Hellfire at the borders of the Ottoman Empire, back home, everything was exceptionally peaceful and quiet. If someone were to simply roam around the streets of the major cities, they would not even realise that they were at war with one of the largest and most powerful countries in Europe.

Nagpur Carrage stop...

After fitting the Balwaan engine onto the locomotive he had designed, Vijay did not rush to test it. Even though the engine had already been invented, he still preferred to keep it as secret as possible.

Who knew his caution might be useful one day?

The British kept their ability to crack the Enigma machine a secret even after World War II ended. This was a difficult decision, as it meant that Alan Turing, the main contributor to the machine that cracked the code, could not be publicly recognised for his work. Turing suffered greatly and eventually died, but from a national perspective, the exchange was considered worthwhile. Because the British did not publicise their achievement, other nations, including the Soviets, did not know that the Enigma was vulnerable. This secrecy was valuable for decades, as it allowed the British to maintain an intelligence advantage and continue to intercept and analyse communications from other countries long into the Cold War.

Vijay currently had a similar idea. If somehow the information about where the Balwaan engine was built leaked out then he would be disappointed, but it was not the end of the world, but if he managed to maintain the secrecy about where the Balwaan engine was researched, then he could throw in more feints and confuse the foreign spies, making them unable to guess where the actual research institute is.

" The carriages have arrived, your majesty," Kattappa said as he saluted and informed.

Vijay woke out of his stupor and nodded, " Secretly move it to the railway station."

" Yes, sire, as you wish! "

Vijay went to the railway station first and met up with Heyram, his son Vedanth, and other important researchers who had participated in the research.

" So, have you noticed any problem stopping us from conducting the trial? " Vijay enquired as he folded his hands and looked at the tracks. In fact, he only enquired out of formality, because as soon as he decided where the test would be conducted, he had already ordered for the track to be evacuated.

" No, your majesty, " Hey Ram shook his head, " Everything is prepared, we can start the test as soon as the locomotive is assembled "

" That's good. "

Soon, carriages of different sizes and colours began to show up at the rail station one by one. Without Vijay having to say anything, Kattappa had the subordinates bring down the wooden containers within the carriages onto the platform.

" Alright, quickly begin the assembly of the engine." Vijay walked away, leaving the researchers to their own devices while he went to instruct the workers on how to remove all the attachments from the frame of the locomotive.

Since the frame of the locomotive was the one part that could not be disassembled into a smaller form, Vijay had to come up with a way to transport it, and that way was to make the frame of the locomotive the frame of a carriage. So, the wheels of the locomotive were removed and carriage wheels were added, along with a body on top of it and wooden plates to cover its body, and in order to transport it, it had to be pulled by elephants.

The disassembly took quite a while, but everything worked out well since the assembly took quite a while as well, and by the end, the only thing that was left to do was to attach the engine to the frame.

The sounds of metal clanging and banging echoed through the hollow, empty rail station. In building or repairing anything, one universal truth always holds: nothing ever goes exactly according to plan, and there is always something that can go wrong.

In the end, with some physical persuasion by the researchers wielding 15-kilogramme hammers, the Balwaan engine and the steam locomotive were finally assembled.

Vijay, without hesitation, climbed onto the steam engine and asked the researchers to spin the flywheel.

" Your majesty, you..." Heyram was startled by the action of the emperor, but before he could persuade his majesty that it was dangerous, he was abruptly cut off by a gesture from his majesty, which told him to stop.

Worry began to grow in his heart, but what could he do? Knowing his majesty for such a long time, he knew that if he decided on something, there was nothing that could change his mind.

Vedant grew worried as well, but his worry was a little less than Heiram's because he knew his father, just like his brother and his sister, was not a normal person. Since his father dared to be the first one to drive the locomotive, he must have some confidence.

If Vijay had understood the thoughts of his younger son, he would be amused as to how his son actually thought of him as a magician and his family as a family of magicians, but truth be told he was not too far off either, because the reason why he dared to ride and operate the locomotive was because he did not feel any sort of threat when he got on it. Witnessing several examples in the past where his instincts saved his life multiple times, he had no reason to doubt it.

Vedant personally did the honour of turning the flywheel, after which Vijay pulled the lever.

" Chug chug "

Slowly but surely, the rotations of the flywheel began to pick up, and the iconic sound of a steam train began to be heard, but when the sound resonated within the closed quarters of the railway station, the feeling was completely different. The sound, resonating with the surrounding acoustics, created a magical atmosphere. It was as if he had jumped into the future.

As the gauge in the metre hit the critical point, Vijay didn't hesitate anymore and pulled the lever that sent the power from the crankshaft to the wheels of the locomotive.

" Klick! "

With a slight jerk, the locomotive slowly began to move.

" Ah, it's moving "

" HAHA, it's really moving!! "

The researchers clapped their hands in excitement and immediately started to celebrate, while Heyram clenched his fists until they turned white and punched the air in excitement. Although no words came out of his mouth, his face, flushed like a ripe peach, told everyone how he was feeling like a billboard.

Vedant was even more direct. He swiftly ran out of the railway station, went to the stables, jumped on his horse, and rode it into the railway station.

" Heiya! "

He yelled, pulling its reins, catching up with the train with a smile that covered his whole face.

Vijay was no exception. Feeling the hot steam mixed with the cool air hitting his face, he felt more alive than ever before. The vibrations he felt in his bones and the smell of sulphur and ash gave him a new kind of enjoyment and thrill.

" Father! "

Vijay heard a shout from behind, which surprised him, but when he looked back, he couldn't help but be taken aback. His son, riding the horse, was catching up with him, running on the elephant tracks.

If it were any other time, he would reprimand him, since the elephant tracks, the pavement which is next to the rails used for elephants to walk, is not made for horses to run. But thinking about the current situation, he shook his head and simply let go, ' Well, forget it,' and enjoyed the moment.

The thrill of Vijay lasted for over 10 kilometres until the coal in the storage eventually ran dry and he had to turn off the heat, exhaust the steam, and let the engine rest.

" Pfff! "

The moment he got down from the locomotive, he saw his son fighting for his life, covering his mouth. He could not immediately understand why his son was laughing so hard, but as he inadvertently glanced at his hands and clothes, he was stunned, as his whole body was covered with coal and dust.

' This brat! '

He cursed in his heart and went forward with a livid expression. He originally didn't want to hold Vedant accountable for following him from behind on a horse, but now that this brat did not know what was good for him, it was only natural that he should introduce the majesty of his father.

" Ah, father, no!! "

" Father, I'm sorry, please no!! "

The sound of pigs being slaughtered was heard until Vijay eventually went into the bathroom of the station, washed himself, wore a fresh set of clothes that were brought over by Kattappa, and waited for Heyram and the other researchers to come back.

However, while he waited, he was not idle either. He wrote down his thoughts on the locomotive, stating what should be improved and his vague ideas about how to do it, and at the same time, he also inquired with Kattapa if the test run had been leaked.

" It is highly unlikely, your majesty. The track had been fully cleared out, and I had the brothers from the special forces form a perimeter 100 metres off the railway track, and since this track is in the middle of trees, no one should have noticed it. "

Vijay paused his writing for a split moment and continued, " That's good, but still keep your eyes and ears open and monitor all the intelligence assets we have in the government, society, and outside to see if the news about the locomotive comes out. "

" As you order, your majesty. "

A few minutes later, just when he was about to give a full stop to his report, Heyram and the others showed up.

Vijay didn't wet the appetite of the researchers and directly declared the project a success, which led to a second round of cheers, but he still gave the problems he had encountered.

"The speed does reach the theoretical 50 RPM, but it's extremely unstable, and I can feel the vibrations as if the engine is about to come off the locomotive."

" I highly suspect this is because all the vibrations the locomotive is feeling are transferred throughout the body, with there being nothing to absorb them. "

" So I suggest using the plate absorbers for the wheels to dampen the vibrations. "

" Another problem is that the range of this locomotive is too small. It can only travel 10 kilometres at full speed and maybe fifteen to sixteen at economy rate. "

" But this is too little. I want this locomotive to be able to reach Indore with only a few refills. "

" The solution to this problem is simple enough; we can just attach a carriage on its back filled with coal enough to last a long time, but the problem is the heat. Figure out a way to properly cool the engine and test at what speed and at what load it reaches the most economical movement rate. "

" Moving on, in the next iteration, I need the engine to be bigger and more powerful; the load it can carry is not enough. "

" Reload the fuel and test it again, this time with the load, but I suspect it should be anywhere from 5 tonnes to 10 tonnes. This is far from enough, so a bigger model should be built. I need at least the pulling capacity of 20 tonnes. "

" Meet all these conditions, and we can revolutionise travel in the empire. "

Heyram and the other researchers quickly noted down everything and promised to get the job done, since everything his majesty demanded was simple enough, apart from building a bigger engine, that is, but even that is only an iterative development. It shouldn't take long, at most a year, or even less than that.

" Chug chug! "

With a refill of coal and carrying a load of iron ore, the locomotive chugged into the distance.