Chapter 279: Opening up the South Asian Battlefield

Chapter 280 Opening up the South Asian battlefield

When Joseph saw the baggage list below and the cost of sending troops, he suddenly felt a headache.

The cost of the first batch of 10,000 troops alone exceeded 500,000 livres. This is just the cost of getting the troops from France to Tunisia. After they go there, they will have to continue to supply food and various consumables, which will cost at least 400,000 livres per month.

If a battle breaks out, the cost will be incalculable, and 1 million livres per month may not be enough.

Joseph frowned. If the second batch of 10,000 soldiers and the Mulan Corps are added, these troops will consume more than 10 million livres per year just to stay in Tunisia!

He slammed the document on the small table. The British method is so disgusting!

He took great pains to take over Tunisia, but he still had to pay for stability maintenance.

He could rely on steady operation and hand over the defense work to them after cultivating the local Tunisian Corps, but that would be at least three to five years later.

Not to mention, during this period, the French will be worried about the possibility of war in Tunisia, thus reducing their willingness to go there for reclamation.

This will greatly slow down the speed of developing Tunisia.

So, is there any way to break the deadlock? Joseph frowned and thought hard.

Transfer benefits to Morocco and let them withdraw their troops?

He immediately shook his head. This will only fatten Morocco's appetite, and the British are likely to increase the stakes. Will France follow suit at that time?

Encourage Russia to put pressure on the Ottoman Empire to force the latter to give up Tripoli?

I'm afraid it's not very realistic...

Russia is currently fighting the seventh Russo-Swedish War with Sweden, and the two sides will not have a result until the middle of next year. Before that, Russia, which had just signed an armistice agreement with the Ottoman Empire and had gained enough benefits, would definitely not want to start a war with the Ottoman Empire again.

Unable to come up with any effective countermeasures, Joseph couldn't help but rub his forehead and sighed:

"Why does the world have such a troublemaker as Britain?"

"Troublemaker?" Eman, who was sitting opposite, was stunned for a moment, and then smiled knowingly, "Your metaphor is very appropriate, Your Highness. This is indeed what the British are best at.

"So, all the ambitious French kings in history would want to beat them up."

Joseph thought to himself, I really want to beat the British now...

Beat the British? He suddenly thought of something.

Yes! He was always thinking about how to guard against Tunisia just now, which was a blind spot. He should take the initiative to attack and beat the British!

The great strategist once said: "You fight yours, I fight mine. "

We should not fight them on the battlefield set by the British, but find their weak spots and hit them hard.

As long as the British are hurt and have no time to care about Algiers and Tripoli, it will be easy to deal with these two small countries.

After finding the way out, Joseph immediately took out the map, spread it on the small table, and then lay on it to search.

North America?

There is nothing to do. The United States is small and weak, and it has been flirting with the British. It can't be relied on at all.

Caribbean Sea?

Forget it, as long as it is a naval battle, the British are still unshakable for the time being.

Australia?

The British have no investment there yet Even if he takes it all out, he won't lose much money.

India?

When Joseph saw this inverted triangle peninsula, his eyes suddenly lit up.

The biggest jewel on the British crown, right?

I'll break it for you!

If I remember correctly, the third Mysore War will break out at the end of this year.

Historically, Tipu Sultan fought alone and was eventually defeated by the British and the Indian princely states.

And now, he will get the support of his French friends!

The Mysore Kingdom in southwestern India is the most powerful force on the subcontinent and has always been at odds with the British. In fact, any Indian prince with a little blood will be dissatisfied with the British policy of encroaching on India. Dissatisfied.

Of course, the majority of Indian princes were bloodless.

In 1789, the Dutch East India Company was about to withdraw from India, so it sold two forts to the Prince of Travancore in southern India, and these two forts were on the territory of Mysore.

Sultan Tipu of the Kingdom of Mysore was furious when he heard the news - the Prince of Travancore had always been at odds with him.

After negotiations failed, Tipu Sultan led his army to attack the Travancore State and soon occupied part of the adjacent territory of the two countries. Interestingly, Travancore still had a good relationship with France at this time, and France also lost a lot of soldiers in this battle.

Seeing that he could not defeat Mysore, the Prince of Travancore ran away. Go to the British for help.

Cornwallis, the Governor-General of the East India Company, declared that the Indian princely states were protected by Britain. Mysore's declaration of war on Travancore was a declaration of war on the East India Company.

Immediately, Cornwallis entangled with the Indian princely states of Maratha, Matras, Nizam, etc., and jointly encircled and suppressed the Mysore Kingdom.

Tipu Sultan led the Mysore army to fight the British for two and a half years, and won some battles during this period, but eventually fell in front of the powerful offensive of Britain and its servants.

Since then, the entire subcontinent has no more forces that can threaten Britain, and it has completely become the back garden of Britain.

In fact, Tipu Sultan still had some chances in this battle.

His father, Haider, had started training new troops thirty years ago, hired European officers, and cultivated a European-style army, with everything from cavalry to artillery.

If it weren't for the British, other Indian princely states would be far from his opponents.

However, Tipu Sultan had a very serious problem, that is, he was not tolerant enough towards Hindus, which attracted the hostility of other Hindu princely states.

At the same time, Tipu Sultan always wanted to defeat the British in one fell swoop, which made his use of troops too radical, but he forgot his biggest advantage - fighting on the home ground, being able to fight and drag.

This led to his failure to stabilize the situation after a series of victories in the early stage, and he was attacked by the British and suffered a disastrous defeat.

If France could give some support to Mysore and send some officers to help him avoid these mistakes, there is still hope to teach the British a lesson!

Joseph wrote while thinking, and when the carriage arrived southeast of Montpellier, he had basically sorted out his thoughts.

He put down his pen, smiled and sighed, wondering if the British would still be interested in coming to Tunisia to stir up trouble after India "caught fire"

Then, he picked up the report of the General Staff and continued to read it.

After the content of sending troops to Tunisia, Berthier reported on the construction of the General Staff.

In general, this department has been initially put into operation. Recruiting new soldiers and training are the first tasks to be carried out, and the other is to expand the Paris Police Academy and integrate other military academies.