The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1808 Pretending

The remaining princely states were utterly powerless to stop the British, and even if they were willing to wage guerrilla warfare, the amount of British attention they could draw would be very limited.

Even if the princes of Jhansi and other princely states set aside past grievances and wanted to unite again, their defenses were no longer so impenetrable.

Britain captured Delhi with minimal effort, Bahadur Shah II was captured and exiled, and the fate of the rebels was essentially sealed.

Fortunately, Franz had a backup plan. The Sikhs of this generation did not completely submit to Britain, nor did they join the British camp because of their hatred for the Mughal dynasty.

Sikhs have always been considered excellent soldiers and have a strong military force. Even after three defeats in wars, they were still able to organize an army of hundreds of thousands.

In Franz's initial plan, he hoped that the Sikh Empire could join forces with the Mughal Empire so that they could quickly spread the fire across the Indian subcontinent.

However, after conducting actual research, Franz discovered that this idea was simply impossible. The Sikhs harbored even stronger hatred for the Mughal dynasty than the British, and even a hint of contempt for it.

However, the Sikhs could not fight the British alone; the three previous Sikh wars are the best examples.

So Franz found them a powerful ally—Akbar Khan.

As the greatest contributor to the restoration of the Kingdom of Afghanistan, he enjoys extremely high prestige throughout Afghanistan.

The imprisonment of his biological father did not damage Akbar Khan's reputation; on the contrary, it made people even more awe of him.

After all, Akbar Khan's father, Dost, could hardly be described as a beloved monarch; such a cruel, ruthless, and ungrateful person was hard to sympathize with.

Akbar Khan was one of the few wise rulers in Afghanistan, so he was well aware of the importance of Punjab and knew that uniting with the Sikhs was the key to fighting the British.

That's why Akbar Khan was able to tolerate the Sikhs' arrogance, and the two sides quickly formed an alliance, launching a surprise attack just when the British were about to finish the job.

The invasions by Afghans and Sikhs quickly disrupted the British army's plans, and Charles Canning wanted to repeat his old trick of instigating internal strife between the Afghans and Sikhs.

However, he underestimated the hatred both countries harbored towards Britain, resulting not only in the loss of envoys and gifts but also in the complete loss of any opportunity for negotiations.

After all, the British have their pride, and they cannot accept such repeated deception and humiliation.

Because the British had previously wanted to eliminate the Mughal rebels in one fell swoop by encircling them from all sides, they were now in a position of being attacked from both sides.

Thus, the balance of war tilted once again.
In fact, Akbar Khan has tried to carry out reforms in Afghanistan over the years, and his reforms are comprehensive.

Historically, Akbar Khan attempted to forcibly assimilate the various ethnic groups within Afghanistan into the Afghan ethnic group, and to this end, he abolished the "Jizya tax" levied on non-Muslims despite opposition.

Akbar Khan's original intention was to bridge ethnic and religious conflicts and establish a unified country.

However, in reality, his actions not only failed to bring any returns, but also caused public resentment and a sharp reduction in tax revenue.

Muslims felt slighted, while non-Muslims felt they were not being valued enough, and both directed their anger at the national government.

Akbar Khan wanted to eliminate corruption and local warlords. Unfortunately, however, those corrupt officials and local tyrants were his core supporters, and overthrowing them would be tantamount to suicide.

The more Akbar Khan tried to address these problems, the more unstable his rule became.

Akbar Khan then turned his attention to the economy, but unfortunately, there were not many economically valuable goods in Afghanistan.

Moreover, Afghanistan is really poor, and even with a state monopoly, it wouldn't make much money.

Akbar Khan looked around at his neighbors and found that Afghanistan itself was so poorly endowed that it lacked even the most basic roads.

Moreover, the surrounding countries were either as poor as Afghanistan or far too powerful. Left with no other option, Akbar Khan turned his attention to India, as India was the only possible breakthrough.

If we can march south and occupy Indian territory, that would be ideal; if not, even a plundering expedition would be a bonus.

As for the potential cost, Akbar Khan, being a shrewd ruler, could not possibly be unaware of it.

However, human life is far too cheap in Afghanistan. In fact, the more people die, the less pressure there is to survive, and the less likely there is to be local insurgency.

So when someone extended this olive branch, Akbar Khan immediately agreed. Or perhaps he simply wanted another excuse to move south, and Franz just happened to provide that excuse.

Of course, Franz did not think that the addition of Sikhs and Afghans to the war would defeat the British. In fact, the only chance for the Indian subcontinent to defeat the British was to take advantage of the Mughal uprising and defeat the British in one fell swoop.

However, Franz didn't really have the ability to get the Mughal Empire and the Sikh Empire, these two sworn enemies, to cooperate. He could only settle for second best and drag things out for as long as possible.

Before the Suez Canal opened, intervening in matters concerning the Indian subcontinent was far too difficult.

Jhansi Palace.

"Your Majesty, are you really going to refuse His Majesty the Emperor's kind offer?"

Lakshmi Pai ignored the Austrian envoy.

"Please thank him for me. I have received his kindness. At least my country still has a chance to continue fighting."

But I will not leave; my motherland and my people are here.

"Forgive my bluntness, Your Majesty, but your forces are far too few, and your allies are a bunch of selfish fools."

Lakshmi was even more annoyed.

"Then when will His Majesty the wise and mighty Emperor Joseph I come to our rescue?"

This left the Austrian Empire's secret envoy speechless for a moment.

"He just wants to use us to weaken the British. And he does it in such a high-sounding way."

There was no doubt that Lakshmi Pai harbored great resentment, but the Austrian envoy still spoke.

“Your Majesty, you have taken in far too many vagrants and artisans. Even if the British do not attack Jhansi, do you think you have enough food to last until next winter?”

The Austrian envoy was telling the truth: Lakshmi had been obedient and recruiting soldiers everywhere, and with the weapons given to him by Franz, his strength at this time was far greater than at the same period in history.

However, the outcome of a war is never solely determined by the army and equipment; the importance of logistics becomes especially evident when a quick victory is not possible.

Lakshmi Pai was a proud person, and she didn't want to be exposed, so she stubbornly continued.

"I don't need his help. I have money; I can even rob someone else!"

Obviously, no one would believe such a thing.

"Your Majesty, if you don't think of yourself, you should at least think of your children."

These words immediately crossed Lakshmi Pai's bottom line.

"Get out! Get out of here right now! I don't need that irresponsible man pretending to be kind now!"