Chapter 499: A Different Third Mysore War

Chapter 500 A Different Third Mysore War

Not far away on the north side, an Indian-style sedan slowly moved towards the British military station - now there is water and silt everywhere in Salingabadan, making it difficult for even horses to walk, so you can only rely on human-powered sedans to go anywhere. .

Then, Wellesley saw Cornwallis, the Governor-General of India whom he was about to chatter about, step on the back of a bearer and jump down from the sedan. Although the servants had spread straw mats on the ground, a large amount of muddy water still splashed up, covering his legs.

"I was about to send someone to inquire about the remaining supplies over there, and you just happened to be here." Wellesley took off his gloves and stepped forward to hug the Governor. "I hope you brought good news."

"One good news and one bad news."

Cornwallis shook off the mud from his boots in disgust and glanced at the chairs outside the command post:

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

"Of course not. This is for you." Wellesley motioned to the attendant to bring another chair from the tent and sat opposite the governor. "Then, please tell me the bad news first."

Cornwallis raised his legs and asked the servant to wipe the mud spots on his pants, pointing to the teapot on the table: "Please give me a cup, this damn weather... Oh, I want to tell you the good news first, after all. That’s all.”

"Then it's up to you. Actually, this is bad news."

"Savanur has shipped dried meat and rice. Yes, it's still damn rice. There is almost no wheat, and there is no bread." Cornwallis said, "However, this food is enough for the army to consume until October."

Savanur is a southern Maratha province bordering Mysore. Currently, the British army's logistical supplies are blocked at Malabar Port, and they can only get supplies from Maratha. However, all the Indian princes could provide was food, and weapons, medicines, wine, military horses and even tents had to be shipped from Europe by the British themselves.

Cornwallis picked up the teacup and his expression darkened:

“The bad news is that the four transport ships that arrived at Malabar Port last month will be the last batch.

"The board of directors of the East India Company has decided not to invest more money in the Far East battlefield. In fact, the company's negotiators should be arriving in North Kannada soon."

Wellesley didn't seem very surprised. He looked at the Governor and said:

"In other words, there are not many opportunities left for us to organize an attack?"

He had learned before that this time the East India Company had invested 3.2 million pounds in military expenditure in Mysore, which had exceeded the annual domestic tax paid by the company to the British government.

This has resulted in the company having almost no profit this year and will be greatly affected next year. It is said that the company's stock price has fallen rapidly as a result.

Therefore, it is expected that the board of directors decided to stop losses.

Cornwallis nodded: "The expeditionary force will have to return home by the end of this year at the latest, otherwise they will lose their military pay."

"I understand. Then let's wait for the heavy artillery to arrive and then have the final decisive battle."

A month and a half later.

Tipu Sultan looked at the misty rain, turned his head and said to the guard captain:

"Is the location determined?"

"Yes, great Sultan, there are British cannons two miles ahead."

Tipu Sultan nodded, turned around, drew out his saber, and shouted to the 1,700 Guards soldiers around him:

"Those infidels killed our relatives and friends, and threw innocent children into the pot for cooking!

“Now they are trying to invade Selingabatan, we must not let this happen!

"If you want to save your families and your children from becoming food for the British, then follow me and send them back to hell with your knives!"

Through the propaganda of Salah, the former consul in Mysore, the devilish image of the British has now become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in Mysore. It is generally accepted that every British soldier must eat a child every week to maintain his bravery.

This rumor has even spread to Hyderabad, Carnatic and other British-controlled princely states. Three months ago, there was an incident where the Udaya garis killed two passing British soldiers because they were afraid that their children would be captured and eaten.

Therefore, the people of Mysore now share the same enemy and risk their lives to fight against the British army.

The rain stopped.

The Marquis of Wellesley waited until the ground became slightly drier, and immediately ordered the 5,000 British troops as the core to supervise the 30,000 Maratha troops approaching Selingabadan.

At the same time, the 4,000 British troops of Cornwallis's regiment on the north side also launched an attack with more than 30,000 soldiers from the Indian princely states, forming an encirclement of Selinga Badan.

The British 12-pounder guns began to roar. The seven guns used their highest rate of fire to suppress the Mysore cannon 1 kilometer away with fierce barrages. The latter only had 10 8-pound cannons, which had to be dispersed for defense outside the city. The others were all 4-pound cannons, and their range was far shorter than the British heavy artillery.

At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Tipu Sultan and nearly 2,000 Mysore soldiers suddenly emerged from the rear of the British artillery position and pounced on the cannons that were firing wildly.

The British infantry responsible for covering obviously did not expect an enemy attack, and hurriedly beat drums and began to organize their formation.

Tipu Sultan had taken advantage of the rain and slipped here through the gap between the British and Maratha troops. Because they were extremely familiar with the terrain and couldn't use telescopes under heavy rain, no one found their traces at all.

Tipu Sultan took the lead and charged into the British infantry line with a machete without using a musket.

These 1,700 people were his most elite guards, all of them were extremely brave. They took three volleys of fire from more than 400 British infantrymen in front of them and finally got close to them from the right wing. Fortunately, their attack was very sudden, and the British formation was not neat, resulting in a very unsatisfactory volley effect.

After paying nearly 300 casualties, the Mysores broke up the British infantry line, and then separated more than a thousand people to block the reinforcements of the Maratha vassal army, while others took out iron nails to nail the cannon's fire port.

At the same time, Tipu Sultan's eldest son Nawaz was leading 50,000 Mysore main forces to fight the British army head-on.

These soldiers had been trained by Lafayette before, and they were much better than the armies of other Indian states in terms of formation and discipline.

So as long as they were not directly facing the British "lobster soldiers", Mysore's defense line was as solid as a rock, and they could even launch a counterattack locally.

After the British troops came up, they exchanged a few rounds of fire, then quickly moved away and used the rear troops to continue delaying - the area outside Seringapatam was more than ten miles wide, and there were many mountains that could be used for defense.

On Tipu Sultan's side, after destroying 6 12-pound cannons and a large number of other artillery, the British reinforcements sent by Wellesley finally arrived.

Tipu Sultan glanced at the already dark sky and immediately ordered a retreat.

His fighting style was like this, he liked extreme adventures and sneak attacks without regard for his life. Historically, he relied on this style of play to deal with the world hegemon Britain in southern India for several years.