Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Marquess Wellesley sat down on the chair opposite and recalled the news he had heard in Congress:

"According to Fox, nearly two months ago, Mysore sent out 6,000 troops to invade Cannanore. The defending soldiers of the East India Company resisted for only three days before they were completely defeated."

Cannanore is an important stronghold for the East India Company in the southwest of the Indian peninsula; losing it would greatly affect trade in the southwest of India.

Although the East India Company is, in name, a company, it is in fact the administrative arm of England in India—from the government to members of Congress, from officials to businessmen, nearly everyone owns shares of the East India Company. One could say that the damage to this company’s interests could even have a greater impact on England than a significant financial loss to the government.

William Pitt Junior frowned deeply:

"Are you saying that those native Indians put in only 5,000 men and..."

The East India Company’s garrison in Cannanore, though less than 600 strong, was mostly composed of individuals with regular army service experience, and their combat capability was absolutely superior to that of the native Indians. Additionally, there were several thousand servant-soldiers recruited locally who, according to past experience, should have been able to withstand an intense assault by a force of tens of thousands from Mysore for at least a month or two.

But this time, it fell after just three days.

Marquess Wellesley said gravely:

"Yes. It’s said that these Mysore troops were extremely formidable in combat, all equipped with European-manufactured flintlock guns, along with more than ten pieces of fine artillery. The bastions of the East India Company were breached by their cannon fire."

These fine weapons were naturally brought to Mysore by Lafayette.

Moreover, the Princess of Tunis, Amira, had already arrived in Mysore and had secretly held an engagement ceremony with Sultan Tipu’s son Nawaz—although they had not yet officially married, her dowry had already been shipped to India in advance.

That was an entire set of cannon production equipment, as well as 30 cannon-casting technicians, and enough materials to produce 50 cannons. This meant that Sultan Tipu would have an unending supply of cannons.

Although the Royal Navy controlled Indian Ocean shipping, they couldn’t do much about the smuggling ships. The cannon-casting technicians could land safely by taking French merchant ships. France still retained a small colony in Puducherry, maintaining a negligible trade presence.

Most important, Mysore had gained a general in Lafayette who excelled at commanding novices in battle.

For a country like India, still in the mid-stages of feudalism, the factors limiting the combat effectiveness of its army came only in part from its weapons and equipment. The larger issues were the various backward systems and the quality of its soldiers.

Lafayette, under the guise of protector of Princess Amira and with the rank of Ummda, spearheaded military reforms in Mysore. From military pay distribution to the appointment and removal of officers, from military discipline to coordinating soldiers of different faiths, and even meticulous regulations on how tents should be arranged when encamping or which direction and for how many rounds patrols should walk, he established strict rules.

After nearly three months of rigorous training with whip and cudgel, this Indian army, which already had some foundation in European military drills, was almost completely transformed. Although their fighting strength still fell far short of the British Army, they would at least not be easily defeated ten to one as before.

Of course, with Lafayette’s energy, he could only train 4,000 new Mysore troops on five hours of sleep a day, and he had to leave the training of the others to the Tunisian officers he had brought with him.

This time, during the surprise attack on Cannanore, he personally led 3,000 of the new troops, supplemented by 3,000 ordinary Indian soldiers, and easily took down the camp of the East India Company.

However, there were factors the British hadn’t anticipated. At the time, only half of the soldiers—around 300—were on duty in the bastion, while the rest were doing business in nearby cities or seeking pleasure. And the servant-soldiers had not been formally gathered.

After Lafayette launched the attack, those utterly disloyal British servant-soldiers, seeing the seemingly ferocious Mysoreans—and the impressive reputation of Tipu’s "Tiger of Mysore" also played a significant role—defected one after another. These people were very familiar with the defenses of Cannanore and further accelerated the collapse of the British defenders.

Marquess Wellesley continued:

"The last news from India is that over 10,000 Mysore troops have approached North Karnataka."

William Pitt Junior’s face darkened like still water. North Karnataka was the East India Company’s important stronghold in the western part of India. The Port of Malabar was located there. If this place were to fall into Mysore’s hands, England would no longer have any trading posts available on the entire west coast of India.

And with India being such a long distance from England, this information must be at least a month and a half old.

He contemplated and turned to Marquess Wellesley:

"It seems, the Royal Navy should now fully support India."

"And an expeditionary force of thousands of men as well," nodded the Marquess of Wellesley before he suddenly remembered something and added, "Prime Minister, Governor Cornwallis mentioned that lately, a bunch of French people have been active in Mysore.

"Mysore recently started a trend of antagonism towards England, and it’s likely that the French people are behind it. And the weapons in the Indians’ hands are probably supplied by them too."

William Pitt Junior was surprised—France’s financial situation should have been extremely dire, and yet they could still squeeze out funds to assist the Indians!

Little did he know, France had actually only sent Lafayette and the Princess of Tunis, and the rest of the investment had long been recouped by Sultan Tipu’s dowry, even turning a small profit.

William Pitt Junior sighed silently. He had previously invested substantial funds in North Africa, and yet the French people still had not exited Tunisia. After that, the Hanoverian Army faced a tragic defeat in the Southern Netherlands. And now India needed a substantial investment too.

Moreover, Britain’s textile exports in Europe had recently declined, and the French people were attacking the British markets in Germany and Spain with cheap fabrics. If he could not reverse the unfavorable situation everywhere, the Whig Party would surely seize the opportunity to cause trouble, and His Majesty the King might also start to doubt his capabilities.

He calculated the cost of aiding India and the complex situation that would arise from waging war with Mysore, and eventually gestured wearily to the Marquess of Wellesley:

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"Please, make your way to Paris as soon as you can. We can’t afford any greater losses in India."

...

Southern Netherlands.

Brussels.

Charles II looked angrily at the several officers in front of him and rebuked loudly:

"What on earth are you doing? The French people only have 3,000 men in the Town of Lully! You, with nearly triple their numbers, couldn’t even capture it!"

The Hanoverian officers all hung their heads in silence, inwardly complaining.

The French Army was truly terrifying. Before their forces even came close to the Town of Lully, the outnumbered French forces actually took the initiative to launch an attack, splitting their formation in two.

If they hadn’t reacted quickly and retreated in time, the losses wouldn’t have just been 300 soldiers.

In fact, it was Joseph who had strictly ordered not to annihilate the enemy forces on a large scale, otherwise how could they have escaped the clutches of the Guard Corps?

The front lines south of Brussels had been at a standoff for over a month. Charles II had called up more than 7,000 troops from Hanover, but he couldn’t shake the French Army in the slightest; instead, it was he who kept suffering losses.

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