I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 392: Secret Weapon from New Zealand
Led by their leader Fernand Dufresne, a group of Maori people boarded the dock and then took sedan chairs carried by the locals to the city of Mangalore.

a few days later.

To the north of Mangalore is the vanguard camp of the Mysore Corps, where more than 5000 Mysore soldiers are stationed, as well as 100 Tunisian elites brought by Lafayette - the Tunisian soldiers here are definitely of superior quality - and less than 15 kilometers to their north is the British defense line set up in southern North Kannada.

After Lafayette inspected the camp as usual, he looked at the British stronghold with some annoyance.

After his recent repeated reconnaissance, he has basically confirmed that there are only 1200 British troops and 3 to 5 Maratha soldiers, who are Britain's allies in India.

According to the previous battle situation, as long as the 1 troops concentrated here are fully launched into the attack, it is possible to break through North Kannada within a month.

However, in a letter sent from Paris just last week, the Crown Prince asked him to make full preparations for defense and not to launch a large-scale attack, and at most to harass the British supply lines.

This made him feel as uncomfortable as watching his beloved mistress, naked and winking at him, while he was tied up hand and foot and unable to move at all.

At this moment, his Tunisian staff officer came quickly, raised his hat and saluted him, saying: "General, those Pacific natives are here."

Lafayette nodded and left the camp with more than a dozen officers to greet the Maori people. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince seemed to attach great importance to these natives, so he had to treat them with caution and courtesy.

In the northernmost town of Mangalore, Lafayette and Fernand Dufresne greeted each other and said politely, "I have heard about your uncle's deeds. He only led a colonization group of a few hundred people and obtained a colony for His Majesty the King that was almost the same size as Britain."

This Fernando is the nephew of New Zealand development team captain Dufresne.

Mr. Maori leader said hurriedly: "If Uncle knew that the hero who defeated the British in the Far East praised him so much, he would drink happily until he fell to the ground drunk."

Lafayette said as he looked at the group of Maori people with dark skin and strange hairstyles behind Fernando, and subconsciously frowned slightly. The black lines tattooed on the faces of those natives made him unconsciously think of ferocious beasts.

"Ahem," he coughed dryly to cover up his inappropriate expression, and said to Fernando, "What exactly are they going to do? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wrote to me saying that they have excellent military skills, but to be honest, I don't think they can be integrated into my army..."

Magnus, who was standing in the back row, suddenly waved his hand and interrupted, "You are the powerful general..."

He looked at Fernando and asked quietly, "Is it the word 'General'?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, he shouted to Lafayette: "Mr. Fernan often talked about you on the ship.

"Oh, by the way, we are here to help you build 'Pa'."

He gestured to the thirty or so Maori strongmen behind him: "We are all experts in repairing 'Pa' in the tribe."

Lafayette was obviously a little surprised that these natives could speak French, but he soon noticed a word the Maori had just mentioned: "Pa? What's that?"

Fernando hurriedly explained to him: "It is a simple fortress built by the Maori people. Although they look a bit crude, they can indeed provide very good defense."

Nikawu gestured excitedly, "We need to first select a high ground, flatten the top, and then cut down some thick tree trunks to surround the area. Then we can build a tall tower in the middle..."

When the commander of the engineering battalion behind Lafayette heard "three circles of wooden fences to protect the tower", he finally laughed disdainfully and said to Lafayette: "General, I think this primitive...ah, let's call it a fortress, it can't defend against the British army at all. You know, the British don't use spears and bows and arrows, they have cannons, and heavy cannons. "I think if we need to build a defense system, we should also choose a bastion."

He was an old subordinate of Lafayette brought from France, a regular officer who graduated from the engineering department of the Valois Military Academy, and was very familiar with building bastions.

Lafayette nodded and looked at Fernando. "You see, as Major Gaston said, a bastion is more suitable when dealing with the British. Perhaps your people can help him build it."

"Yes, General, the bastion is very effective." Fernando considered his words, but in the end his adventurer character made him choose to be straightforward. "But 'Pa' is more suitable for the situation in Mysore. This is what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince meant."

"How is that possible?" Major Gaston waved his hand in disdain. "You must have misunderstood His Highness..."

Fernan turned his gaze and said, "Mr. Major, how long will it take you to build a bastion?"

"It depends on the scale." Gaston said, "In an emergency, a temporary bastion on the front line can be built in just three months."

Fernando nodded and then gestured to the Maori behind him.

Magnus immediately said: "If there are enough people, it will take one month to build a 'Pa'."

Fernando continued, "Major, apart from the speed of construction, building 'Pa' would require almost no investment, if we don't need to pay the Indian laborers."

Once Gaston was stagnant, Tipu Sultan conscripted serfs to work, and the serfs had to provide their own food, not to mention wages. It would cost at least 30,000 to 40,000 livres to build a bastion, and this was the simplest bastion. If you want it to be strong and durable, the cost will increase tenfold.

"As for the defensive effect," Fernando looked at the major, "Although 'Pa' is far inferior to the bastion, it can greatly delay the British offensive.

"As long as there are enough of them, this thing will become a nightmare for the British!"

"But……"

Gaston wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by Lafayette: "Okay, let the local officials of Mangalore fully assist Mr. Dufresne. But we also need to build some bastions at important nodes."

He had previously received instructions from the French General Staff to cooperate with the Mauryas to strengthen the defense of Mysore.

Although he didn't really trust the natives' "fortress", seeing that Fernando was very persistent, he didn't want to stop him by force.

In the days that followed, both Ying and Mai were busy with their own things, and time passed quickly in this boring silence.

Half a month later.

When Lafayette saw the first "Pa" built in northwest Mangalore, his eyes widened in surprise.

As an experienced officer, he realized the first time he saw this thing that it would definitely be useful!

(End of this chapter)