Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

" Come on, move it, move it, you lazy bums, move it "

" I want to get to the frontline before twilight, otherwise none of you will be getting any bloody food "

A Russian general with a loud Slavic voice roared at his soldiers using a wooden cone to amplify his already ginormous voice.

As soon as the soldiers heard the voice of the general, they visibly shivered as if they were doused in ice-cold water.

The pace picked up visibly, which satisfied Dracovich extremely well.

Among the marching soldiers at the end of the first group, Sergiovich couldn't help but mumble, " Will he really give the food?" His voice was filled with blatant mockery and sarcasm.

Yuri, a son of a farmer who had to pick up arms and march into the battlefield due to conscription in order to make sure that his mother could live well with the salary provided by the emperor, hearing the mumbling of his buddy, scoffed.

"Tsk, how do you expect these tyrannical vampires to give us even a bite to eat? You know, near my village, so many villages turned into graveyards overnight, yet these high and mighty nobles did nothing to help. Now, how could they? I would rather believe the sun rose from the West."

Anger and rage were evident in his tone. "If it wasn't for my father's passing that left my mother alone, I would have already gone to the Far East. At least there, I've heard, people can find a bite to eat."

As his words got more and more outrageous, the colour on Sergiovich's face changed. Without a moment's thought, he covered the mouth of his friend and growled in his ear,

" Shut up, you mother******, do you want to get us killed? "

" Why? Did I say anything wrong?"

" Damn, Bas****, if you want to die, go somewhere and hang yourself, why are you dragging me with you? "

" Pff, don't act dumb, Sargi, didn't we all come to die? So what's the matter with dying now and dying later? "

" Goddamn it! "

Sergiovich was now feeling panicked. The other soldiers next to him were now looking at them quarrelling. If the voice of what they thought reached the ear of muscle-brained Dracovich, then with his temperament, they should be skinned alive for their gall to badmouth the nobility.

Suddenly, he had an idea, " Listen, Dic*****, if you get caught, not only will you be killed, your mother back home won't get any reparations either, so shut your trap and simply walk "

This time it really worked. Yuri became extremely silent.

In fact, what Yuri and Sergiovich didn't know was that most of the troops in the army had similar thoughts to them, and not only that, even the general himself did not want to be in the place he currently was. He only accepted the task because his majesty promised his family a large batch of concoctions, and he, as the illegitimate child, was the scapegoat used by his family.

It is for this reason that he was extremely irritable during the march, completely different from his calm and collected self in the past. But it is understandable, who would love to have a gun pointed at their loved ones and be blackmailed into acting like submissive guard dogs, ready to be put down whenever the owner pleases?

The march went on for several hours, until eventually they were allowed to simply drop to the ground and die, or at least act like it, because in the army they were currently in, even to die, they had to take permission from their tyrannical general.

" Eat dinner, maggots "

This instruction came to many as a surprise, and that included Sergiovich and Yuri.

They looked at each other in disbelief.

Throughout their journey, they had picked whatever wild vegetables, edible roots, leaves and stems they could find, fully convinced that they would not be fed with anything substantial and they would have to make do with simple broth or black bread as hard as a brick, but now they were really being fed?

This news for them was like a light from the lighthouse in a storm, or the sound of distant rain coming closer during a drought.

While they were still in shock, two metal containers were dropped in front of them.

Looking at the container, both their faces were clouded with confusion.

" What the fuck is this? " Yuri could not help but exclaim, but fortunately, he was not the only one; several people had the same reaction as him.

Sergiovich picked up the metal container and turned it over and over. He realised that the food might be inside the container and intuitively that the container could be opened by pulling up the tab, but he was not hasty and waited for the instructions to be given.

" Listen here, you bums, these are the tins produced in the Bharatiya Empire; they have been imported by the emperor at a high cost, apparently, they cost over a bazillion rubles or however many they are, but the point is they are very costly "

" So I don't want to see anyone miss even a single drop of food, or else I will gut you alive and use your body parts as bait "

The general was not helpful, the guy was as irritable as ever, but just when Sergiovich wanted to pull out the tab and see what was inside, he suddenly realised,

' Wait, this is the food imported from the Bharatiya Empire, does that mean it had been produced several months ago? ' His heart dropped to his stomach, he clenched his fist in indignation, ' if there was no food, couldn't they just say it? Why did the general have to go to such lengths only to have all of them die by poisoning? '

Just when he was about to throw away his tin can in rage, he saw Yuri gulp down whatever was inside as if he were a demon from hell devouring human souls.

Sergiovich's eyes widened, " What are you doing? "

Yuri was confused, " What? "

" Why did you eat it? "

" What do you mean? "

" It's poisonous. Why did you eat it? "

" Huh? How can that be? It's tasty "

Sergiovich's expression froze, " Asshat, quickly vomit it out, maybe you can still live "

He wanted to go forward and directly stick his fist into Yuri's mouth to induce vomiting, but suddenly it dawned on him, ' Wait, how can spoiled food taste delicious? '

He looked at Yuri with doubt, ' This guy didn't lose his mind due to hunger, did he? '

Cautiously, he opened the tab and the aroma of spices and...oh god...meat hit his face.

His mouth started to unconsciously water, but he reined in his urges and only dipped his pinky finger into it and did a taste test.

' Hopefully I won't die from only this much, ' was his thought, but the next moment his eyes widened, the food was really not spoiled, it felt much fresher than the actual food they had eaten for the last few years.

" Are you not feeling hungry? Then give it to me," Yuri stared at him like a hungry wolf.

" Fuck Off "

Sergiovich immediately became furious like a mother bear protecting his cub and directly put his mouth on the container and started to gulp the food down as if he was inhaling air.

Neither Yuri nor Sergiovich were full, but after eating such delicious food after such a long time, they were feeling contented and happy.

" Maybe this campaign is not that bad after all ", Yuri muttered with a relaxed voice.

" True, I don't mind if I die in the next moment," Sergiovich agreed.

" Maybe we can survive; there are no enemies to fight against this time "

" That may be so, but there is still the Moroi's fiend "

" Yes, still, it is better than fighting against those Ottomans, I heard their soldiers are pretty well trained, whereas I, I only know how to wield an axe "

" Come to think of it, you're right, " Sergiovich looked at Yuri with rare approval. It was not easy for this guy to say something that made some sense.

" Maybe it's not all that bad after all."

---

While the Russian army had reached the Empire's frontier and was about to enter the Balkan region for the first time since the plague broke out, things had begun to settle down in the Levant region.

Important cities like Jerusalem, Amman, Damascus, Beirut, Homs and Aleppo no longer flew the flags of the Ottoman Empire, but the proud Ashoka Chakra of the Bharatiya Empire.

Three men stood at the port of Tel Aviv.

"So this is the Mediterranean Sea," one of them remarked.

"I suppose it is. Just imagine, on the other side of this water lies Europe."

"So close, yet still so far."

That very day, a message was sent back to the mainland, " The Empire has arrived at the Mediterranean, mission complete "

P.S. Thank you to the readers for your continuous support, and a special thanks to gift-giving readers