Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

The gunpowder requested by Harsha was brought to the mansion swiftly by the regional leader, Santosh. He had brought the gunpowder from a European merchant in bulk. He had bought them with the intent of helping out.

Santosh had previously seen the destruction caused by the ship cannons in Goa. So he always believed gunpowder would be a powerful weapon if he learned to harness it.

Although the Empire had cannons and gunpowder, their use and maintenance were handled by the Royal Family and Emperor personally. The cannons in the Empire's arsenal were very old compared to the ones that Europeans have been utilizing for their endeavors.

Lack of innovation in weapons was not helping the Empire as others began investing in the technology. If the empire falls behind in the arms race, it would prove to be fatal for the future.

Viswa was following the prince as he was inspecting the gunpowder and looking around to make something.

"Your Highness, what's this?"

"I am making a trump card."

"A weapon with gunpowder?"

"Your Highness, what are you doing?"

Harsha assembled something and added gunpowder to it. A wry grin was plastered on his face as he was making it.

"This is my Trump card."

"This is -"

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Raj and his son were watching intently from afar as the prince was searching for goods to make his "trump" card.

Akash, Raj Patwardhan's son, glanced up at his father.

"Father, was siding with the prince the right decision to make?"

"It definitely was. He has changed, just as Lord Bhima told us. Meeting him in person helped me understand why Lord Bhima said that."

"Father-"

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A large explosion took place, the shockwave reaching Raj and his son. The debris mixed with the stone marble of the training arena, and the mud flew up into the sky. Everyone present in the area froze at the explosion.

As the dust settled, one side of the training arena was blown to pieces by the explosion that took place. Raj and his son came running to the perpetrator of the explosion. The prince stood at a distance, smiling with amusement, seeing the destruction caused by the explosion.

The disheveled hair of the prince was askew to the side due to the shockwave from the explosion.

"What happened here?" Raj's eyes widened in horror seeing the broken training arena.

Harsha looked at Raj, his voice filled with fake surprise.

"I was just testing something, Lord Raj. It seems to work. AHAHAHA"

"What did his highness test for it to explode like this?"

"A grenade." He declared

It was the first time Raj had seen an explosion like that. The name said by the prince also didn't ring any bells in his head. He was very confused and looked at the prince for answers.

"What's that?"

"It's like a weapon that you light with fire and throw at enemies to explode."

He began elaborating on the pros of the weapon for Raj to further his understanding of it and its use on the enemy. Fuse grenades were a good addition and were easy to make as they don't require much effort. The effects of it were also pretty devastating for the enemy.

The only downside was that it wasn't much safer compared to the regular percussion grenades, and the rain got to it even after waterproofing it. But in the current weather of the Empire, it was pretty usable, and the waterproofing wouldn't let the fuse dampen.

"We are going to make this for our armies."

Raj pondered after looking at the shell of the exploding material.

"How do you even make this?" he inquired.

"The main ingredient is the gunpowder. Thanks to Santosh. We seem to have plenty to make a lot of these tools for us."

Harsha began explaining the method in the presence of Viswa, Raj, and Raj's son Akash on how to create a fuse grenade. The process was relatively simple. A hollowed-out iron or ceramic shell is taken and filled with the gunpowder to the brim.

A long fuse is added, and the opening is closed. The fuse length shouldn't be too long or too short. If it's short, the risk of exploding in hand increases, and if it's the former, it increases the chance of the enemy throwing it back at them.

"What if there is moisture? Won't that dampen the fuse and render it useless?"

"For waterproofing, we have to use a wax coating on the fuse or soak the fuse in oil."

"Isn't it risky and hard to make in a short time?"

"The process is simple; we just need a lot of hollowed-out iron shells."

They could just make a mold for the shell and ask a blacksmith to produce hundreds of shells for the army. It was easy to mass produce, and they didn't require much either for causing chaos in the enemy ranks. One grenade produced enough force to pack a solid punch on the enemy lines.

Harsha picked up an iron shell he had picked up from the warehouse, filled it with sand, put in a makeshift cord fuse soaked in oil, lit it up, and threw it. The shell didn't explode as the flame hissed to a stop as it made contact with the sand.

"We need soldiers who can throw grenades at the enemy like that." He pointed at the smoke billowing from the hissing fuse.

"So, in a week, a couple hundred soldiers should be trained in this way to chuck this apparatus at the enemy?"

"Precisely, Lord Raj."

Viswa slightly bowed and inquired.

"Your Highness, let me take on this task. I will make sure the soldiers are trained for this at all costs."

"That's great. I shall leave it to you then, Viswa."

Viswa's chest puffed up with determination as he left swiftly to finish his task. Raj Patwardhan watched in dismay as the butler, who was cold and scary to everyone, was very meek and obedient to the prince.

"Lord Raj, I hope you can find some blacksmiths to fulfill my request also."

"Well, it should be easy to do it. I will inform the family blacksmith to make some molds, and we will hire all the blacksmiths in town to ensure it's done. Don't you worry, Your Highness."