I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 501 Lightning Coal Company (Please give me a monthly ticket on my birthday)

In the early morning, Tipu Sultan, covered in blood and mud, returned to Seringapatna with eight or nine hundred soldiers.

Yes, hundreds of people got lost on the way back. This was a very rare loss rate in the 18th century when there were no navigation and night vision equipment. This shows how brave and good the Tiger of Mysore was.

However, his crazy adventure was worth it - he destroyed most of the British heavy artillery, and then the Mysore army could hide behind the defense line and use artillery to delay the British army.

Before the British arrived at Srirangapatna, Mysore had purchased large quantities of gunpowder and shells through the Moroccan-Ottoman transport line, enough to last their artillery until the winter.

According to the Marquis de Lafayette, the British would surely withdraw by the end of the rainy season.

It was because Tipu Sultan firmly believed in his prophecy that he tried his best to stop the British army at the gate of Seringapatam.

Because of the fall of South Kannada on the west coast, Mysore has found it difficult to obtain supplies from Morocco in the Gulf of Oman. If the British can hold out until the end of the year, Mysore will have no choice but to abandon Seringapatam.

In the following month, the British army launched a series of extremely fierce attacks, but Tipu Sultan repeatedly repelled the enemy by relying on the defense line arranged by Lafayette before his departure and his own bravery. Although he suffered huge casualties of tens of thousands of people, the seemingly shaky Seringapatam was never breached.

Tipu Sultan frowned as he looked at the bodies of soldiers brought back from the front lines every day, and his fear and hatred of the British grew day by day.

Little did he know that at this time in history, the food supply in the city of Srirangapatna had been exhausted, and the Mysore soldiers were in a panic and were about to be defeated soon.

At this time, he had sufficient food and grass, and only lost a few border provinces such as Vijayanagar and South Kannada. The core areas of the kingdom were basically intact, and the national strength had not suffered much damage.

Compared to the historical situation in the Third Mysore War, in which the administrative center of Srirangapatna and all the territories east of Mysore were lost, this is already a far better deal.

At the very least, if the British now asked him to pay 3 million pounds in compensation in exchange for withdrawal, he would only say one word: Get out!

It’s approaching September.

The British offensive weakened significantly.

The Marquis of Wellesley had malaria and was so feverish that he could hardly get out of bed. Many of his soldiers also fell ill. In addition to malaria, dysentery was rampant in the army, and more than 20% of the soldiers lost their combat effectiveness due to illness.

There were also some unnamed severe diseases appearing in the army - the sick people would sometimes bleed to death in just three or four days.

The military doctor advised Wellesley not to let the soldiers eat rice, which he believed was the main cause of dysentery. But Wellesley could not do so because this was the only food currently in the British army's warehouses.

Although there was no widespread disease among the vassal armies of the Indian princely states, their fighting capacity was not enough to threaten the Mysoreans.

The British Expeditionary Force ultimately failed to survive the rainy season.

The commendation order signed by His Majesty the King himself and the commission for promotion to major general were placed on the table beside him. Wellesley sat up straight on the bed with difficulty and looked at Cornwallis who came to visit him in silence.

Gunpowder was running out, new cannons were unlikely to arrive, and the Mysoreans were constantly attacking them. Both men knew that the war could only end here.

"The Manatas can't even produce qualified gunpowder, otherwise they might be able to defeat Tipu with a few more attacks." Cornwallis sighed.

"Let Sir Seely go to Seringapatam." Wellesley waved his hand. "At least we can keep Vijayanagara and Kannada."

Sir Seely was the East India Company's peace negotiator. "And the north of Chitradurga," Cornwallis added, "but the Mysores also occupied Tiruchirappalli."

The two looked at each other again, both with helplessness in their eyes. The East India Company invested 320 million pounds and dispatched thousands of expeditionary troops, but only got such a result.

……

London.

In Mrs. Mordaunt's salon, a man with ordinary appearance but wearing the most popular loose long coat came to Mayor Mordaunt with a glass of wine in his hand and smiled politely: "Dear Mayor, I didn't expect to see you here. It's so lucky."

Mordaunt turned around, was slightly startled, and then nodded: "Mr. Styler? Oh, we met at the City Hall last time."

"I'm very honored that you still remember me."

Stellar smiled even more brightly, and exchanged pleasantries again. After everyone around the mayor left, he took a few steps closer and said, "Lord Braverman should have mentioned our company's sincerity to you. You see, regarding the gas lamp project..."

Lord Braverman was a relationship that DuPont had found. He was mainly responsible for helping to bribe British officials, and the commission was very low, only 2%, which was considered a great favor to DuPont.

Mordaunt just smiled and said without comment: "You know, the parliament takes the installation of gas lamps in London very seriously. My report must be convincing enough for the parliamentarians to decide who will undertake this project."

Styler immediately said, "Please rest assured, Councillor Mordaunt is very familiar with the strength of our company, and he will definitely support us."

Mordaunt was the main force in Parliament behind the London gaslight project.

Mayor Mordaunt was quite surprised. He didn't expect that this unknown "Lightning Coal Company" could not only find Lord Braverman as a lobbyist, but also establish a relationship with Congressman Mordaunt.

If he wasn't exaggerating, I might consider accepting his kindness.

"There is also Mr. Coffey's technical opinion letter. Your company must obtain his approval before..."

Styler smiled and said, "His opinion should be submitted to you tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I promise you."

Of course he could guarantee it, because the technical director of the London gaslight project had already accepted a bribe of 2500 pounds from him and even handed over the pipeline layout plan for London to him.

"Oh?" Mordaunt raised his eyebrows. "I am really surprised by the efficiency of your company."

"Our company has invested a lot in the gas lamp project. You see, if we can't undertake this project, our shareholders will suffer heavy losses." Styler lowered his voice, "In fact, the 8 pounds can still be negotiated."

8 pounds was the bribe amount he had promised to Mordaunt, which was 20 francs, which was still quite a distance from the authority given to him by the Crown Prince.

The Lightning Coal Company was founded in the UK with the help of DuPont. After completing all the company records and injecting tens of thousands of pounds, it was specially used to undertake the London gas street lamp project.

At present, the company's official boss is a Scottish friend of DuPont, and the company's manager, Styler, was recommended by the French Minister of Commerce.

(End of this chapter)