Novels online

Chapter 279: Opening the South Asian Front

When Joseph saw the supply manifest and the cost of deploying troops, a wave of exasperation washed over him.

Just this first batch of 10,000 men would cost over 500,000 livres to deploy. This was only the expense of moving the troops from France to Tunisia; once there, they would require constant supplies of provisions and various consumables, costing at least another 400,000 livres each month.

If a battle broke out, the expenses would be incalculable; 1 million livres a month might not even be enough.

Joseph frowned. If he added the second batch of 10,000 soldiers and the Moulins Legion, these troops would consume over 10 million livres annually just by staying in Tunisia!

He slammed the document onto the small table. The British tactics were utterly infuriating!

He had painstakingly secured Tunisia, only to find himself pouring money into maintaining stability there.

He could, of course, rely on steady development, eventually cultivating local Tunisian forces and entrusting defense to them, but that would be at least three to five years away.

Not to mention, during this period, the French would be less willing to invest in cultivation there, fearing potential war in Tunisia.

This would significantly slow down his progress in developing Tunisia.

'Should I offer Morocco concessions to make them withdraw their troops?'

He immediately shook his head. That would only whet Morocco's appetite, and the British would likely raise their stakes. Then, would France follow suit or not?

'Incite Russia to pressure the Ottoman Empire, forcing the latter to abandon Tripoli?'

That was probably not realistic either...

Russia was currently engaged in the Seventh Russo-Swedish War, which wouldn't conclude until mid-next year. Before then, Russia, having just signed a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire and gained significant advantages, would certainly be unwilling to lightly spark another conflict with them.

Still unable to devise an effective countermeasure, Joseph rubbed his forehead and let out a long sigh.

"Why does a meddlesome troublemaker like Britain even exist?"

"Meddlesome troublemaker?" Eman, sitting opposite him, paused, then offered a knowing smile. "Your analogy is quite apt, Your Highness. That is indeed what the British are best at.

"That's why ambitious French kings throughout history have always wanted to give them a good thrashing."

'I really want to thrash the British now,' Joseph thought to himself.

'Thrash the British?' He suddenly felt a realization strike him.

That's right! He had been so focused on how to defend Tunisia, which was a blind spot. He should take the initiative and hit the British instead!

As the great strategist once said: "You fight your way, I'll fight mine."

He shouldn't duel the British on a battlefield of their choosing, but rather seek out their weaknesses and strike hard.

As long as he inflicted enough pain on the British to keep them preoccupied with Algiers and Tripoli, dealing with those two smaller nations would be as easy as pie, wouldn't it?

Having found a way forward, Joseph immediately retrieved a map, spread it out on the small table, and leaned over it to search.

'North America?'

There wasn't much room for leverage there. The United States was small and weak, and it was secretly colluding with the British anyway; there was no relying on them.

'Caribbean Sea?'

Forget it. Anywhere naval power was key, the British were, for now, unshakeable.

'Australia?'

The British hadn't invested much there yet; even if he ruined everything, they wouldn't lose much money.

'India?'

When he saw the inverted triangular peninsula, Joseph's eyes suddenly lit up.

'The biggest jewel in the British crown, right?'

'I'll shatter it!'

If he remembered correctly, the Third Anglo-Mysore War was set to erupt at the end of this year.

Historically, Tipu Sultan had fought alone and was ultimately defeated by the British in alliance with other Indian states.

But now, he would receive support from his French friends!

The Kingdom of Mysore in southwestern India was the most powerful entity on the subcontinent and had always been at odds with the British. In truth, any Indian prince with a bit of backbone would be unhappy with the British policy of gradually encroaching on India.

Of course, the majority of Indian princes lacked such resolve.

In 1789, the Dutch East India Company, preparing to withdraw from India, sold two fortresses to the ruler of Travancore in southern India. However, these fortresses were located within Mysore territory.

Tipu, the Sultan of the Kingdom of Mysore, was furious upon hearing the news—the Travancore ruler had always been his adversary.

After negotiations proved fruitless, Tipu Sultan led his army to attack the principality of Travancore, quickly occupying parts of the neighboring territory. Interestingly, Travancore at this time also had good relations with France, and France lost many soldiers in this conflict.

Seeing that he couldn't defeat Mysore, the ruler of Travancore sought help from the British.

Lord Cornwallis, the Governor-General of India for the East India Company, declared that Indian states were under British protection, and Mysore's declaration of war on Travancore was a declaration of war on the East India Company.

Immediately, Cornwallis assembled the Indian states of Maratha, Madras, and Nizam, forming an alliance to encircle and suppress the Kingdom of Mysore.

Tipu Sultan led the Mysore army in a two-and-a-half-year struggle against the British, achieving some battlefield victories along the way, but ultimately succumbed to the powerful offensive of Britain and its allies.

From then on, no force on the entire subcontinent could threaten Britain, and it completely became Britain's backyard.

In fact, Tipu Sultan still had some opportunities in this war.

His father, Hyder, had begun training a new army thirty years prior, employing European officers and developing a European-style military, complete with cavalry and artillery.

Without the British, other Indian states were no match for him.

However, Tipu Sultan had a very serious problem: he was not tolerant enough of Hindus, thus incurring the animosity of other Hindu principalities.

At the same time, Tipu Sultan always wanted to defeat the British in one decisive stroke, which made his military tactics overly aggressive. He forgot his greatest advantage—fighting on home ground, capable of both engaging and delaying.

This led to him failing to stabilize the situation after a series of early victories, allowing the British to launch a successful sneak attack and inflict a crushing defeat.

If France could provide some support to Mysore and send some officers to help him avoid these errors, there was still a very good chance of teaching the British a lesson!

Joseph pondered and wrote, and by the time his carriage reached southeast Montpellier, his thoughts were largely organized.

He put down his pen and let out a soft sigh, smiling. He wondered if the British would still have the inclination to stir up trouble in Tunisia once India "caught fire."

Then, he picked up the General Staff Headquarters report and continued to flip through it.

Following the section on troop reinforcements for Tunisia was Berthier's report on the development of the General Staff Headquarters.

In essence, the department was already up and running. Recruitment and training of new soldiers were the first tasks undertaken, along with expanding the Paris Police Academy and integrating other military schools.