I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 343 Indian Quagmire
The spy from 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, describing us as a great threat. Besides, the people of Mysore are ..."

Although Sheikh Khan, Shah and others had overthrown Jahanzeb, the pro-British faction in Mysore still had considerable power. They were determined to take advantage of this anti-British trend to eliminate Britain's influence on Mysore.

Half an hour later, the spy left Griffith's office. The senior representative of the East India Company immediately asked the servant to prepare a carriage and went to Ambawila Palace to test Tipu Sultan's attitude.

Tipu Sultan was upset recently because the British had "instructed" Jahanzeb to kill more than 300 people, so he naturally didn't treat him well. The Shah also added fuel to the fire and tried hard to lead the topic to the British "atrocities".

Griffith was scolded almost from beginning to end and was then kicked out.

Griffith had a serious look on his face after leaving the Ambawila Palace - according to the spy's report and Tipu Sultan's attitude today, the situation was probably very serious.

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 the messenger, and then immediately began to arrange the British evacuation - Mysore could declare war at any time, and it would be too late to evacuate by the Governor-General's reply.

On the other side, Salah received the news that the British had begun to withdraw from Mysore, and he immediately smiled.

It was he who asked the Shah to order his men to sell the intelligence obtained by the British East India Company spies. In addition, a close attendant of Tipu Sultan also accepted his money and hinted to the outside world that "the Sultan has decided to take the initiative to attack the British."

Coupled with the recent anti-British sentiment in Mysore, the British may choose to temporarily leave this troubled place.

If Griffith still wanted to persist, the French intelligence agency would 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 hold on any longer.

But Salah didn't expect Griffiths to be so cooperative and chose to leave at the first opportunity.

He immediately went to Lafayette to discuss the matter, and together they went to meet Tipu Sultan the next morning.

In the Ambawila Palace, Lafayette looked at Tipu anxiously: "Your Majesty, I have been reminding you that the British will invade Mysore again. Now it is clear that they are evacuating Mysore, obviously preparing for a subsequent military offensive."

Although he was somewhat disdainful of Salah's methods, the latter had already laid the groundwork for the situation, so he naturally would not waste the opportunity.

Tipu Sultan also had a gloomy expression. As the ruler of Mysore, it was certainly possible that he was unaware of the news of the British East India Company's withdrawal.

Salah then stepped forward and began to narrate in a moving voice the tragic scenes of the first two Mysore wars, especially the great damage caused to Mysore by the latter war.

In fact, if Joseph had not intervened in the Indian situation, the British would have provoked the Third Mysore War early next year, which would have been the heaviest blow to Mysore.

That war caused Mysore to lose half of its territory and pay a huge compensation of 300 million pounds, or 7500 million livres.

From then on, Tipu, known as the "Tiger of Mysore", became a toothless tiger, no longer able to deal with the British. He eventually died in the battle defending Srirangapana in the Fourth Mysore War in 1799.

At this time, the British still had nearly half a year to prepare for war. It would take a long time for the East India Company to transport weapons and supplies from the British mainland, which was tens of thousands of miles away. If Mysore launched a preemptive attack on Britain before then, it would cause huge losses to the latter. Although it was difficult for Mysore to completely defeat Britain with its background, if the British wanted to keep India, the "most dazzling jewel in the crown", they would have to transfer resources from other places, such as the funds used to disgust France in North Africa, to India.

In this way, France's predicament in North Africa would be immediately alleviated, and it could even increase aid to Mysore depending on the situation, further increasing Britain's colonial costs.

Of course, Joseph would not have done what Louis XVI did when he supported American independence, and would have donated his own blood to Mysore. His style was to achieve the greatest benefit 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, clenched his fists and said, "You are right. Instead of waiting for the British to attack Mysore again, I will take the initiative to attack!"

He turned to look at the palace steward beside him: "Send an order to convene a ministerial meeting immediately."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Mysore's "Council of Ministers" was also modeled after the European cabinet meetings, with four ministers of finance, military, industry and commerce, and religion, plus the Sultan's secretary - currently on pilgrimage and temporarily unavailable - and important military generals, serving as the country's core political power body.

Tipu Sultan looked at Lafayette again and said, "If possible, I hope you can also attend this meeting."

The latter immediately bowed slightly: "It is an honor, Your Majesty."

At around 5 p.m., Salah, who was anxiously wandering in the outer hall of the Ambavila Palace, finally saw Lafayette and hurriedly went up to him: "Mr. Marquis, what's the result?"

Lafayette straightened 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!

"That's all I can do. Now it's up to you, Your Excellency."

Lafayette patted him on the shoulder confidently: "I won't let you down, my old friend."

Leading rookies to fight, especially foreign rookies, is what Lafayette is best at.

Back then, he was a rookie who led the U.S. 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 as a whole, these people were more obedient - officers could even order them to commit suicide on the spot.

The greater advantage is that Mysore has a large number of soldiers. There are more than 5 soldiers before mobilization. According to Tipu Sultan, the maximum number of soldiers that can be mobilized is about 8.

(End of this chapter)