Chapter 342 Indian Swamp
Chapter 343 Indian Quagmire
The spy of the East India Company nodded confidently: "It should be correct. I have heard the same news from multiple channels.
"Shah's gang surrounds Tipu all day long and describes us as a huge threat. In addition, the people of Mysore are against us..."
Although Sheikh Khan, Shah and others have overthrown Jahanzeb, the pro-British faction in Mysore still has considerable power. They are bound to take advantage of this anti-British trend to eliminate the influence of Britain on Mysore.
Half an hour later, the spy left Griffith's office. The senior representative of the East India Company immediately asked the servants to prepare a carriage and go to the Ambawila Palace to test Tipu Sultan's attitude.
Tipu Sultan has been upset by the fact that the British "instructed" Jahanzeb to kill more than 300 people recently, so he naturally would not give him a good face. The Shah also added fuel to the fire, trying to lead the topic to the British "atrocities".
Griffith was scolded almost from beginning to end, and then he was driven out.
Griffith left the Ambawila Palace with a solemn look - according to the spy's report and Tipu Sultan's attitude today, the situation is probably very serious.
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He immediately returned to his residence and wrote a report on the situation in Mysore to the Governor-General of India Cornwallis, and suggested temporarily withdrawing the East India Company employees in Mysore.
He handed the letter to to the messenger, and then began to arrange for the British to evacuate without stopping - Mysore could declare war at any time, and it would be too late to evacuate after the Governor-General replied.
On the other hand, Salah got the news that the British had begun to withdraw from Mysore, and he smiled immediately.
The intelligence obtained by the British East India Company spies was what he asked Shah to sell to his men. In addition, a close attendant of Tipu Sultan also took his money and hinted to the outside world that "the Sultan decided to take the initiative to attack the British."
Coupled with the recent anti-British momentum in Mysore, the British are likely to choose to leave temporarily. A place that is not suitable for the British.
If Griffith still wants to insist, then the French Intelligence Agency will continue to arrange some "surprises" for him, such as the people of Mysore looting British merchants, or even kidnapping British people. I don't believe the British can still hold on.
But Salah didn't expect that Griffith would be so "cooperative" and chose to leave at the first time.
He immediately went to Lafayette to discuss, and went to see Tipu Sultan together the next morning.
In the Ambawila Palace, Lafayette looked at Tipu with an anxious look on his face: "Your Majesty, I have been reminding you that the British will invade Mysore again. Now the situation is very clear. They are evacuating Mysore, obviously preparing for the subsequent military offensive. "
Although he was somewhat disdainful of Salah's methods, the latter had already laid the groundwork, so he would not waste the opportunity.
Tipu Sultan also had a gloomy face. As the ruler of Mysore, he certainly could not be unaware of the news of the British East India Company's withdrawal.
Salah immediately stepped forward and began to talk about the tragic scenes of the first two Mysore wars, especially the huge damage caused to Mysore by the latter war.
In fact, if Joseph did not intervene in the situation in India, the British would provoke the third Mysore War at the beginning of next year. The war was also the biggest blow to Mysore.
That war caused Mysore to lose half of its territory and pay a huge compensation of 3 million pounds, or 75 million livres.
Since then, Tipu, known as the "Tiger of Mysore", became a toothless tiger and was no longer able to deal with the British. He eventually died in the battle to defend Srirangapana in the Fourth Mysore War in 1799.
At this time, the British still had nearly half a year to prepare for the war - the East India Company had to bring in British troops from England, which was tens of thousands of miles away. It takes quite a long time to transport weapons and supplies. If Mysore launches a preemptive attack on Britain before then, it will cause huge losses to the latter.
Although it is difficult for Mysore to completely defeat Britain with its background, the British will inevitably transfer resources from other places, such as the funds used to disgust France in North Africa, to India if they want to keep India, the "most dazzling jewel in the crown".
In this way, France's predicament in North Africa will be immediately alleviated, and it can even increase its aid to Mysore as appropriate to further increase Britain's colonial costs.
Of course, Joseph will definitely not draw his own blood to Mysore like Louis XVI did to support American independence. It is his style to get the greatest benefits at the lowest cost.
Finally, Tipu Sultan could no longer remain calm when he heard Salah talk about his father Haider's death in the war with the British.
He stood up from the large golden chair and clenched his fists and said, "You are right. Instead of waiting for the British to attack Mysore again, it is better for me to take the initiative! "
He turned to look at the palace steward beside him: "Send an order to convene a ministerial meeting immediately."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Mysore's "Ministerial Meeting" also learned from the European cabinet meeting model, with four ministers of finance, military, industry and commerce, and religion, plus the Sultan's secretary - currently on pilgrimage, temporarily absent - and important military generals, as the country's core political power institution.
Tip Sultan looked at Lafayette again: "If possible, I hope you can also attend this meeting. "
The latter immediately bowed slightly: "It is an honor, Your Majesty."
At about 5 pm, Salah, who was anxiously wandering in the outer hall of the Ambavila Palace, finally saw Lafayette and hurriedly greeted him: "My Lord Marquis, what is the result?"
Lafayette adjusted his coat with a relaxed look, showing a rare smile since coming to India, and whispered: "It has been decided to go to war with Britain, and no ministers object."
Salah also nodded excitedly: "That's great!
"This is all I can do. It's up to you next, My Lord Marquis."
Lafayette patted his shoulder confidently: "I won't let you down, my old friend. "
Bringing rookies to fight, especially foreign rookies, is what Lafayette is best at.
Back then, he led the rookies of the American Continental Army and defeated the powerful British Expeditionary Force.
He had visited the Mysore army before, and it was obvious that they had undergone some European training. Although they were slightly inferior to the American militia overall, these people were more obedient - officers could even order them to commit suicide on the spot.
And the bigger advantage was that Mysore had a large number of soldiers. There were more than 58,000 soldiers before mobilization began. According to Tipu Sultan, the maximum number of soldiers that could be mobilized was about 120,000.
