CHAPTER 41 Coastal Bombardment.

August, 1538.

Machilipatnam, Dharanikota Kingdom.

The fleet appeared early in the morning. From the port, you could only see a blip initially. But as time passed, they grew closer, from the tiny dot on the horizon to the huge ships that they were. 

Only a few sailors in the port recognized the ships, at a glance. They were the ones who had visited Malacca and witnessed the might of those ships. The ships were after all a common sight in that area, regularly patrolling and looting those lands. 

Most of them dismissed the fleet, concluding that they were visiting the Kingdom for trade. The Portuguese were now allowed to trade in the city, after the last round of negotiations with the Kingdom, the arab traders complained loudly enough that most listeners were bound to know. 

On the pier, people started gathering, to inquire about the fleet. The ships of the time were still powered by wind, so the people at the port got a few hours of notice before the ships arrived at firing range. 

The Kingdom's officials were also notified, and the governor of Machilipatnam, Selvappan, traveled to the port personally, to meet with the fleet. When something big like that was happening, it was important to put your best foot forward, so that you make a good impression. 

"Has anyone received a message from the fleet? It is rare for fleets like this to come to our shores," he asked a subordinate. 

"Those are definitely Portuguese, Selva. I have seen similar ships, in the ports of Malacca. You had grown up there yourself, right? Don't tell me you don't recognize them." trade minister Montra said, as she walked up to the pier. 

"Hello to you too, Lady Montra. I didn't know you were here." Selvappan answered back, still focused on the oncoming fleet. " and to answer your question, yes, I did see these types of ships, growing up. That's why I know that they are always bad news." 

"We need to be cautious. No matter how they portray themselves, they come from far away, and their values differ from us. Even though I am a foreigner, his majesty trusted me. But he seemed deeply cautious with these portuguese. Even though the fleet is small, we need to be alert."

The fleet was indeed a rather small one. It consisted of one Galleon, 2 Carracks, 2 caravels, and one Brigantine. The ships had a lot of cannons, with the Galleon having a dedicated gun deck, and every other ship also having either half decks or some sort of swivel cannon or other anti-personnel weaponry from the top deck.

"You are right, Lady Montra. If anything happens to the city, his majesty will hold me accountable. But we don't know why these ships are here. Is it because of the mysterious letter his majesty gave the delegation?" Selvappan replied. He was the governor of the city and had to be the one responsible for it. But that does not stop him from being curious.

"Colonel Venkat is here with his soldiers. We do not need to be worried that it is an invasion fleet. Besides, if they want to invade, we would be seeing a lot more than just a few ships." 

When the fleet first appeared on the horizon, Colonel Venkat was leading his soldiers to practice pike and musket march formations.  He promptly ordered his soldiers to be on guard and was now at the entrance of the port. 

"Looks like we will get our answer soon. There is a landing craft being released from the lead ship." Montra observed. A rowboat was being lowered from the Galleon. 

The two ministers and their entourages, stood there for a few minutes while waiting for the boat to reach the port. The ships needed to be more familiar with the port infrastructure to make a port call and were stopped a few hundred meters from it.

On the approaching boat, Montra recognized a familiar face. Fernão Mendes Pinto was on the boat, leading a new delegation. Montra had previously negotiated with the man and made a deal with him regarding the portuguese presence on the kingdom's lands.

Soon, the boat rowed to the dock, and the passengers began to disembark. Fernão seemed to be in a hurry because he rushed towards them, as they were standing on the same dock, waiting.

"Good afternoon, Lady Montra. Senhor Selvappan. It's a pleasure to meet you, again. I would have come looking for you anyway, but you have done me a favor by being here."  he said, with the help of a translator who followed along, as he gave Selvappan a letter. "I was ordered to deliver this to your king, but situations change, and this one turned for the worse. I sadly could not control the admiral any longer." 

"What are you talking about? Can you please calm down and explain?" Montra asked, but before the translator could convert it, she got to know the answer herself. 

A few hundred feet from the port, all the ships from the fleet had already slowed down and turned so that, their starboard(right side) was facing towards the port. One by one, the gun ports opened, and the cannons stuck out. By the time people on the docks observed anything, it was already too late. 

'BOOM!' 'BOOM!' 'BOOM!'

One day later.

When Rudra received the news that an attack was carried out on the port of Machilipatnam, he immediately left all tasks to focus on it. He was in the middle of a discussion with the linguists, regarding the dictionary for the new language they were creating when he received the news.

It would take too much time to assemble all the soldiers and march to the port city, so he gathered all the cavalry troops he could, and left, with orders for the officer corps to march with the soldiers as they took more time. 

 The group even had to stop in a military camp, midway, to exchange the horses, so they could keep moving. After nearly a day, they reached the location by the next evening.

The port was in bad shape compared to the last time he visited, just a few months ago. The main building that managed the port affairs was in ruins, with one side of it collapsing onto itself, and gaping holes visible on some walls. 

There was also some damage done to the floor, where cracks and holes appeared, presumably from a cannonball's direct impact. In some areas, there were blood stains, which were improperly cleaned up. 

The fleet had already left the waters after its surprise attack, leaving destruction in its wake. 

The entire area was cordoned off by his soldiers, and any civilians were refused entry. This also meant that all the goods in the port, which were for transportation, were left out in the open. 

On the docks, ships were moored, some of them were galleys and others were Dhows, both large and small. One of the larger Dhows seemed to have taken a hit, and now, only its mast remained above water. 

Colonel Venkata Pemmisani was standing on one of the docks, which was hit by a cannonball, as the wooden structure had partially collapsed. He was staring off into the sea, a solemn expression on his face. 

"You seem to have something very important on your mind colonel," Rudra asked the man, who was still lost in thought. 

"They were beautiful. Those ships. I've never seen something so … intrinsically beautiful, yet deadly as them." The colonel muttered, before he realized who he was talking to, and snapped to attention, with an arm to his chest. " Your Majesty! You have arrived. I am sorry I did not immediately notice you!" 

"At ease colonel. Just be careful, who you are speaking to, the next time you are lost in thought. I am a lenient person, but someone else might question your loyalty," Rudra instructed the colonel. "But I do agree. Ships are beautiful, and I deeply regret that such pieces of engineering brilliance were used against our people. Now, if you can take me to our 'esteemed guest' please." 

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Venkat saluted and began leading Rudra to a tent that was set up in the middle of the port. "The man surrendered immediately and is now saying that all of this was a mistake, or at least that is what Lady Montra translated, with the limited portuguese language she learned. The translator they brought had died, from a wooden splinter to his neck."

Lady Montra had started picking up the language from the Portuguese merchants who were stationed in the city, but it was still too soon for her to pick up the whole language. At least this confirmed that she was alive.

"What is the casualty report, Venkat? How many people lost their lives from this? Are the council members ok? Are your soldiers ok?" Rudra finally questioned, as they reached in front of the tent. It was guarded by the soldiers and would have been difficult for anyone to sneak in. 

"A total of forty people died, Your Majesty. The number may still rise, as many people are injured. We are lucky most of the cannons on those ships are not equipped for bombardment, but the attacks that did land caused a lot of damage. The port was operating when the attack happened, and most of the affected are dockworkers and sailors." 

From the reports, it seemed that not all ships were carrying suitable armament for coastal bombardment. The cannons on the galleons would have sufficed but, it could only fire one broadside at a time. The top deck cannons and firearms equipped on other ships were useful for anti-personnel operations and supporting boarding action but did not have the range or accuracy to hit targets during coastal bombardment. 

It seemed that the fleet was not willing to sustain a prolonged bombardment, as if during a war, but escaped after a broadside fire from each of the ships. It almost seemed like a sucker punch from a escaping enemy, as the fleet fled the location.

"The Council members are also fine. Governor Selvappan was hit by a wooden plank to the head and lost consciousness during the attack, but the doctors say he is recovering well. As for Council member Montra, she was relatively uninjured, besides a few cuts from wood splinters."

"Where is she then?" Rudra asked as he peeked into the tent, and confirmed that she was not inside. 

"The ship owners, dock workers, and some sailors, well, they were angry. They almost died and wanted to vent that anger. When the news spread that it was foreigners who attacked them, a riot fell upon the market street. We tried to intervene, but it was too late. Many foreign-origin merchants got attacked." Venkat answered. 

"Don't tell me my people killed her! What were you doing? You had armed men under you, couldn't you control them?!" 

"She is fine, Your Majesty! She is fine! The mob mainly attacked merchants from the West. The arab traders and stores were burnt, and all the portuguese who were left to oversee the construction of their factory were all killed. Lady Montra is there now, reassuring the merchants who are still here that, the mob will be punished." 

'A mob? A damn mob! What is this rotten luck?' Rudra thought to himself as he exhaled deeply. If the merchants are not reassured, Trade will be affected, and if the mob is punished, discontent will grow among the people. 

"Next start with that. Now let us meet the one responsible for this." Rudra said, repressed anger, apparent in his voice.