Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 587 The Tiger of Mysore

Deng Fei and the others rode horses and elephants for more than 300 kilometers from local governance to Mysore for more than [-] days.The reason for walking so slowly is that the five-month rainy season in the South Asian subcontinent has begun.

The accompanying French major Duroy complained to Deng Fei on the road, saying that there is no autumn in South India, and the dividing line between dry summer and winter is the rainy season.At this time, everything is moldy, and the air is so humid that it is unbearable.

Don't look at the rain, but the weather is still hot and humid, and there are a lot of mosquitoes.Fortunately, the military doctor accompanying the team had prepared long ago, brought a large bag full of cooling oil, and drinking unboiled water was strictly prohibited, and coupled with timely antimalarial drug treatment, malaria infection was avoided.

Frenchmen and native Tamils ​​marvel at the pungent yellow pastes in tiny tin boxes, both for preventing mosquito bites and for relieving itches and pains.So cool and refreshing that the accompanying French doctor dubbed it the "Potion of Seris".

The staff of the accompanying trade department felt that this was a huge business opportunity, so they simply distributed two boxes of cooling oil to every French and Tamil officer, which was regarded as a free advertisement.

Sure enough, less than a year later, under the vigorous promotion of the Ministry of Trade, the refreshing oil and essential balm in Beihai Town became popular throughout Southeast Asia, and became the export products second only to tea, porcelain and silk. All kinds of raw materials are extremely rich, and it has gradually become the largest production and sales base of cool oil.

Although he expected to be welcomed upon his arrival in Mysore City, Deng Fei and his party were still taken aback when they saw the welcoming posture put on by the other party.

Nima!That Tipu Sultan actually used [-] rockets as a salute, blasting blue lights over the drizzled city of Mysore, making it even more lively than New Year's Eve.Deng Feixin said that he was worthy of being a Sudan, he was really arrogant and arrogant, even setting off a salute was so different.

It is said that although the Chinese are the ancestors of using rockets in military affairs, after the fall of the Ming Dynasty in the seventeenth century, there were "swarms of bees", "chariots with fire", "flying crows with divine fire", "fire dragons out of water", and "open flames". "Flying arrows" and other rocket weapons with such names have all withdrawn from the stage of history, and artillery and matchlock guns have become the masters of the battlefield.

But right now, the Sultanate of Mysore is the only one in the world that can use rockets in war on a large scale!And the "Congreve rocket" invented by the British decades later was born out of this!
Since the 1750s, the Mysore army has been equipped with rockets and has established a regular "rocket force", with a number of about 200 people. After Tipu Sultan succeeded to the throne, it expanded to 5000 people. .During the Second Anglo-Myanmar War (1780-1784), Tipu, who was still a prince, and his father, Haider Ali Sultan, put it on the battlefield to fight against the British army.

In the "Battle of Pollil" in 1780, a rocket from the Mysore army hit the ammunition depot of the British army, which led to the defeat of the British army.In the third Anglo-Michael war, the rocket force also achieved considerable results in the "Battle of Seringapatan", which caused the British to have a huge head.

Sounds exciting, right?In fact, it is a super-sized sky-swiping monkey!

China actually had similar rockets in the Ming Dynasty. For example, during the Battle of Korea in the Wanli period, the Ming army used "Poison Fire Flying Arrows" and "Ming Fire Flying Arrows" to attack the city. , the latter being arson.

In the [-]th century, rockets were also used on battlefields in Europe, but like those in the Ming Dynasty, they were all made of paper, and they were also used to siege cities and set fires.The rockets of the Kingdom of Mysore went a step further. People used hand-made metal cylinders to hold propellant powder and explosives.

This kind of rocket uses a 6-9 meter long bamboo pole as a guide rod, and an iron spear point or a steel blade is tied to the front of the iron cylinder to kill the enemy by impact; the average range is one kilometer, and the maximum range can reach two kilometer!

Of course, the flight trajectory of this thing is definitely unstable, and it must be launched in large quantities to reduce the error; however, it is precisely because of the instability that the blade on the top will rotate like a flying sickle, inflicting terrible damage on the enemy troops passing by. Especially effective against cavalry.

In addition, there is another kind of rocket that does not have blades, but kills the enemy by exploding gunpowder.Although the hammered metal cylinder is very rough in workmanship and varies in thickness, it can bring greater internal pressure, which can cause the rocket to generate greater jet thrust, and eventually cause its blasting strength to be greater than that of paper structures, and the bamboo poles are blown together. Flying debris, making the lethality higher.

However, no matter how good the Rocket Force is, Mysore still can't beat the coalition forces formed by the British, Maratha, and Hyderabad.You must know that when the rainy season comes, the lethality of the rocket will be severely weakened, and it will be useless to have fighting spirit.

Before Deng Fei and the others arrived, Sudan had already received a letter from Governor Leclerc, and he couldn't help being very excited after reading it.For this 41-year-old ruler, as long as he is on the opposite side of the British East India Company, no matter who he is, he is a friend!
After Deng Fei and his party entered the city, they rested in the post house for a day, and then they met the famous "Tiger of Mysore" - Fateh Ali Tipu under the guidance of Major Duroy.

The sultan is said to have been hunting in the forest with a French friend in his 20s when he came across a tiger.The tiger first fell on the Frenchman and killed him, and when he turned to Tip, he killed the tiger with only a dagger without using a musket.Since then, he has won the title of "Tiger of Mysore".

Because he hated the British, he even asked French engineers to build him a mechanical organ with the appearance of "a tiger biting an Englishman". The puppet's hands can still move when playing.In another time and space, this thing later became a trophy of the British and was placed in the V&A Museum in London.

Oh, yes, in the works of Jules Verne, the famous Captain Nemo is the nephew of Tipu Sultan.

Tipu Sultan, who had just experienced a defeat and had to cede land and pay compensation, looked a little haggard. He was slightly shorter than Deng Fei, at 1.76 meters by visual inspection.Perhaps it was because of the cap full of gold and diamonds that was pressed on his head for many years, which made his neck very short, but his shoulders were very broad.

Although Sultan is fluent in French, the two sides still had a conversation through the accompanying interpreter.After the two sides greeted each other, Sultan immediately asked his most urgent question: "General Deng, what can Beihai Town bring me?"

The sultan had actually met the Chinese.About 12 years ago, a certain businessman from Guangdong visited him. The man was dressed in official robes, and he said that he was an ambassador of the Qing Dynasty, and gave him a bolt of silk.Tipu Sultan, who didn't know anything about Dai Qing, was fascinated by the gorgeous and exquisite silk, so he treated him graciously and gave him many gifts in return.

"Your Majesty the Sultan, the British will not allow your country to breathe. They will soon join forces with the Marathas and Hyderabad to attack you."

Tipu Sultan couldn't help being surprised, and his tone was a little hasty: "Oh? Did you hear something from the British?"

Deng Fei said lightly: "Your Majesty, this is obvious. Now you are the only prince in India who dares to resist the British. If the British want to control the whole of India, they must destroy Mysore. It is precisely because of this , My colleagues and I admire your defiance and are willing to help you."

"The Marathas and Hyderabad are a bunch of fools! The Kingdom of Mysore is not their enemy at all, but the British are. They think that they have taken advantage of the alliance with the British, but they don't know that the Kingdom of Mysore is gone, so they will It's worthless!"

"Yes, in the words of our Chinese, it means that the cunning rabbit dies and the running dog cooks."

Tipu Sultan's eyes lit up, he laughed and said, "Very interesting description! Excuse me, how can you help me?"

"Different army training methods, advanced weapons far superior to those of the British, and supporting tactics. If you trust us, Beihai Town will train you an invincible army in just two years!"

Tipu Sultan was not excited by Deng Fei's words, but became serious.As the ruler of a kingdom, he knows that there will be no pies in the sky, and there are no benefits in vain.

After pondering for a moment, Sudan said lightly: "So, what do you want from me?"

Deng Fei smiled and said: "You may not believe me, but we have no special requirements for your country, especially the territory."

"Oh?"

Deng Fei turned his head to look at Jiao Xun who was sitting on his left. He understood, so he took out a map from his purse and opened it with the help of two waiters.

Although there was a globe sent by the French in Tipu Sultan's court, he didn't know the sphere of influence east of Malacca. He only knew that in the north and east was the huge Qing Empire.However, he couldn't help being shocked when he saw that the red color representing Beihai Town's sphere of influence spread throughout East Asia, from the cold Arctic Ocean to the scorching Batavia, and even part of the Qing Empire.

In fact, not only the Sudan, but the French Major Duroy was also extremely shocked. He scanned the huge area on the map with straight eyes, and realized the strength of Beihai Town for the first time.

"Actually, we have been confronting the Qing Empire for many years. If the Russians hadn't suddenly invaded the Heilongjiang River Basin and forced us to launch a counterattack, the Northern Navy would have reached the Himalayas by now."

Pointing to the land in East Siberia, Duroy said in astonishment, "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, is this the result of your counterattack?"

"Yes." Deng Fei took a sip of the coffee offered by the waiter and explained: "After two wars, we defeated tens of thousands of Russian troops and captured Suvorov. Even their Marshal Rumyantsev Almost became a prisoner, and pushed the border to the Yenisei River. And this is the price the invaders must pay!"

"My God!" Duroy gasped.If he hadn't witnessed Beihai No. [-]'s artillery test firing scene with his own eyes, he would definitely think that Deng Fei was telling a story.

Deng Fei turned his head to look at the moved Sultan Tipu, smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I heard from Major Duroy that opium is strictly prohibited under your rule, is that true?"

"Yes! Opium and marijuana will poison my people, weaken their fighting spirit, and make people unproductive. Only the devil can cultivate these things. In my territory, as long as anyone is found planting and smoking them, they will all be executed! "

"You are very good! But now the British are smuggling the opium produced in Mawa, Bangladesh, into Guangzhou, and the increase is increasing year by year, poisoning our people. As the regime that is about to take over this land, we will never allow it! So We have to teach the British a lesson."

Tipu Sultan nodded his head slightly, expressing his understanding.

Deng Fei continued: "You and I both know that the British's greed for land cannot be satisfied. Their goal is to occupy the whole of India and enslave the people here. Although the French government has a good long-term cooperation with you, but There is currently turmoil in their country, and they are unable to provide strong support to your country. As for the Ottoman Empire, their war with the Russians is far from over."

Tipu Sultan talked with Deng Fei for three days in a row. Through in-depth exchanges with each other, he felt that Beihai Town would be a powerful helper for Mysore to resist the British.Later, after he visited the Beihai Special War Battalion and watched the firepower demonstration of the percussion rifle and the 12-pound gun, he became more determined about this idea.

Although the relationship between the French and Mysore has always been close, the French military assistance is actually fragmented; a small number of volunteers and engineers are not enough to improve the combat effectiveness of the Mysore army, and the emergence of Beihai Town just filled this vacancy.

The most important thing is that apart from the British, only Beihai Town can form a fleet in the Indian Ocean right now.

After two days of repeated negotiations between Tipu Sultan and his ministers, Deng Fei and others, they finally reached a package of military cooperation plans and formally signed the agreement.

The two parties agreed that Beihai Town would send a training camp consisting of 1792 people before mid-August 8, and select 300 people from the army of the Kingdom of Mysore as a standing army to undergo rigorous training for a period of two years.The number of people trained in the first phase is not less than 5000, and the number of people trained in the second phase is expanded to 2000.

In addition, Beihai Town will provide the Kingdom of Mysore with a series of military supplies including 1793 percussion rifles, 12 12-pound guns and related ammunition in four batches before the end of December 300; In the future, the indemnity after the victory against the British, the Marathas and the Hyderabad League will be paid in three installments, with a total of not less than [-] million pounds.

In fact, although Tipu Sultan has just paid a huge amount of war reparations, the kingdom of Mysore is still strong; under the rule of this sultan, Mysore has become India's main economic power with its high-yield agriculture and textile manufacturing. .According to British statistics, the average income of ordinary people in Mysore is five times that of other parts of India.

In addition, Deng Fei faintly revealed in the communication with the Sultan that Beihai Town can support Tipu Sultan to become the emperor of South India and fight against the Mughal Empire.When Tipu Sultan heard this, his heart skipped a beat.

You must know that whether it is Tipu Sultan or other princes in India, they are nominally loyal to the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II.Immediately after being crowned king, Tipu Sultan sought the investiture of the Mughal Emperor.He earned the title of "Nasir ud Daula", the ruler of Hyderabad, out of devotion to Shah Alam II.

This incident thus aroused the hostility of Nizam Ali Khan, the actual ruler of Hyderabad, and finally prompted Hyderabad to unite with the British.The Marathas used to be the Mughals' greatest force against foreign enemies, but since the disastrous defeat in the war with the Afghans in 1748, the Marathas have become disobedient.

At this time, the Mughal Empire had fallen into decline, and its rule over princes everywhere was in vain.The actual territory controlled by Shah Alam II, except for the Delhi area, has been reduced to Pakistan and Afghanistan in later generations. This also gave the British an opportunity to break through and divide and rule.

The "sweet date" given by Deng Fei was actually decided after a long discussion with Zhao Xin, and after many deduction.The French were overwhelmed and unreliable, and the kingdom of Mysore was too small.If you want to fight against the continuous expansion of the British in the South Asian subcontinent and cause trouble for them, it is best for Tipu Sultan to unify South India.

(End of this chapter)