Kolkata City has become the largest trading center in the Bay of Bengal and the largest concession. The 30-mile radius of the castle was rented. In order to trade with the outside world, many Indian merchants chose to build draft sheds and wooden sheds outside the castle to live in. Some small vendors, handicraftsmen and farmers who provide services to foreign merchants will also live nearby in order to make money, resulting in the number of people near Kolkata City exceeding 20,000, and from three small villages to real towns.

There are 800 East India Expeditionary Army here and 200 soldiers stationed in Madras. In addition to the regular soldiers, there are about 7,000 Indian mercenaries, who were recruited in large quantities, even causing panic among the Bengal princes. When they were told that the mercenaries were trained to provide other places, the princes were a little at ease, but this did not mean that the princes were satisfied.

Recruiting young laborers in Bangladesh as mercenaries under the name of East India Company has reduced the agricultural labor force, which is undoubtedly a concern for the Bengal princes who have made their living by relying on land rent collection.

A huge fleet came to Kolkata, with more than 20 large sailing ships, and in addition to several large troop transport ships.

"Is this the Tumen mercenaries you trained? They generally have poor physical fitness. Are they really reliable?" The officers in charge of leading the team to the West inspected 4,000 Tumen mercenaries who were about to accompany them.

"They are all poor people in Bangladesh, and their physical fitness is certainly not as good as the ordinary soldiers we recruited. After receiving the order, I hurriedly organized training, mainly to grasp discipline, let them learn to line up and advance with the sound of artillery and muskets. As for shooting training, because the number of muskets is insufficient, all of them have only had the experience of firing a few bullets on average, so when you go to the Western side, you may need to do additional shooting training for them." Qin Zuoming said to the arrival of the Far West Expeditionary Army officer.

Both of their troops are overseas garrisons, but one is in the West and the other is in India. The Western dispatched troops are farther away, but the East India Company is also difficult to bear, and the climate they are in is even hotter.

"None of these people have passed the ocean voyage, and they will probably suffer a considerable loss on the sea. I wonder how many people can reach the West alive."

"However, the cost of hiring them is very low. The cost of 4,000 people is only equivalent to our regular soldiers of 400 people. Even if there is any loss on the way to the West, you can quickly re-enlist and replenish."

The two of them talked while walking, while Tuban mercenaries who didn't know where they would be transported to looked curiously at the sailing boat docked by the river.

They can't even understand where the West is, they only know that they can eat their stomachs and get a little change every month after becoming a mercenary. This is enough for people like them who have no land and are underestimated in the local area.

"How was the Mughal Empire going? I heard that you defeated the Mughal Emperor's army in the Battle of Plassi and forced Bengal to split from the Mughal Empire."

"Hey, the people from the Intelligence Department brought back news from the Mughal Emperor Agra. Mughal Emperor Shajahan suffered serious illness due to being wet from rain and frightened during the battle. Now most of the government affairs of the Mughal Empire are handled by the eldest prince. We believe that the Mughal Emperor's condition should be difficult to cure and it is very likely that he will not be able to survive this winter. The second prince was locked up in Bengal by us. The fourth prince was young, and the only one who could fight against the eldest prince was the third prince Aurangzeb. This Aurangzeb led the army at a very young age and served as the deputy king on the Deccan Plateau. He is very likely to raise an army to compete with the eldest prince for the throne."

"Isn't it true that the eldest prince and the third prince fight to the death? A split Mughal can give us greater benefits."

"The split Mughal Empire can certainly bring us greater benefits, that is, we are afraid that whether the eldest prince or the third prince will win the throne, it may consolidate the Mughal Empire more firmly. We are recently considering how we should interfere in their Mughal Empire affairs if the third prince of Mughal really raises troops to seize the throne on the Deccan Plateau to get more benefits... If possible, we will even use the captured second prince to achieve our goals..."

Qin Zuoming revealed something about the East India Expeditionary Army to the arrival.

In order to split the Mughal Empire, they naturally had to interfere in the Mughal Empire.

The Western Expeditionary Forces only knew a little about what was happening here, and their fleets were here to replenish supplies for a series of voyages in the Arabian Sea, the Western Indian Ocean, and the Eastern Atlantic Ocean.

For Tuban mercenaries who have no experience in navigation, such strong ocean navigation is enough to cause them to suffer from navigation diseases. Maybe a group of people will not be able to support them and sacrifice themselves on the sea.

"Young men, it's time to get on the boat and go to the West to fight for food and military pay!"

Qin Zuoming shouted that Tubang mercenaries would board the troop transport ship. A large sailboat would be equipped with nearly 700 to 1,000 Tubang mercenaries. The sailboat was crowded with people everywhere.

"In order to save costs, we can only accumulate more mercenaries with few ships as much as possible. It can be imagined that the sanitary conditions should be very poor. But there is no way to do this." Qin Zuoming could only hope that these hired mercenaries could arrive in Britain and return alive in the future.

Many mercenaries with pale faces and thin skin do not know their future fate. Some of them have a sense of novelty in front of the ocean, while others have a sadness of leaving their hometown.

What the poor in this era had to face as backward countries. They needed to accept employment from powerful countries at extremely low prices for their sake and for their survival.

"Set off!"

Several large sailing ships loaded with 4,000 Tumen mercenaries followed the Western company's fleet and continued to sail to the west.

The princes of Bangladesh heard that the mercenaries in Kolkata fell from 7,000 to 3,000. It was good that Bangladesh had indeed become independent from the Mughal Empire, but the East India Company had more and more troops in Kolkata, which made them feel the pressure from the East India Company. The King of Bangladesh, Kasim, spoke in this place as good as the governor of the East India Company.

The ships carrying Indian mercenaries to Europe are likely to catch up with the ongoing British Civil War.
Chapter completed!