I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 344 War and Military Expenditure

In addition to its military advantage, Mysore was also a very wealthy country.

Thanks to trade with Britain, Mysore exported large quantities of cotton, tea, spices, indigo and sugar, bringing a lot of wealth to the nobles, which provided sufficient material guarantees for the country's wars.

To paraphrase a line from later generations, Lafayette had never fought such a prosperous battle.

Of course, the opponents he faced were even stronger, not to mention Britain, the most powerful country in the world. The East India Company had a standing army of more than 3000 in India, which could be mobilized to about 6000 when necessary. If troops were transferred from the British mainland, it would have 1 troops in three to four months.

In addition, the princely states under British control and the British Indian allies could also provide a large number of troops, with the maximum number reaching more than 20. Although the combat effectiveness of these Indian soldiers was far inferior to that of Mysore, they were definitely a big problem, especially since these princely states could provide logistical support to the British army, which was an important factor affecting the direction of the war.

Therefore, the most important order Joseph gave to Lafayette was to let him unite the local Indian states as much as possible, or at least to persuade them not to surrender to Britain.

At the end of the 18th century, Britain's control over India was far less strong than in the 19th century. The Indian princely states under its complete control did not exceed one-fifth of India's total area, and most of them cooperated in the form of alliances.

The princes of these states were extremely greedy and could easily be bribed by profit.

Lafayette and Salah talked about the ministerial meeting just now and got on the carriage one after another.

Lafayette suddenly remembered something, took out a colorful ribbon from his pocket and showed it to Salah: "Oh, Tipu Sultan also named me 'Umda'. There seems to be a ceremony for the canonization at noon the day after tomorrow. I wonder if you are free to attend it?"

Umda was the highest-ranking military title in Mysore, which shows how much Tipu Sultan valued Lafayette.

Salah smiled and nodded: "Congratulations, Lord Marquis, I will definitely not be absent from such an event."

……

Southern Netherlands.

Eastern suburbs of Brussels.

There were tens of thousands of soldiers in red uniforms and white tights, forming a long and narrow marching column, winding their way across the lush green grass to the beat of drums.

The red queue stretched all the way to the hills in the distance and disappeared into the light mist.

Not far from a twelve-pound cannon pulled by eight horses, two officers were riding slowly side by side, surrounded by guards.

The handsome man walking on the left, wearing a gold double-breasted red military uniform, two dark blue ribbons on his chest, with thick black eyebrows, a high nose and a very handsome appearance, is none other than the current Governor of Hanover, Karl II.

He was muttering very quickly: "The guys in the Southern Netherlands Parliament are a bunch of idiots.

"Now that the Austrian army has not been completely driven out, the French have come in again, and what are they doing? They are concentrating on fighting for control of the parliament...

"It even affected the deployment of the army. More than 8 Dutch soldiers were just sitting there in Ghent, watching us fight the French. "Especially the guy called Onck. Those soldiers have been resting for more than a month, but he actually asked them to rest until the end of the year... They might as well just let them retire in Ghent."

General Karel van Bronckhorst, the commander of the Dutch Volunteer Army in blue uniform, nodded helplessly and said, "Who says it's not true? But Unter's prestige in the Southern Netherlands Army is very high right now, and since the last defeat at the hands of the French, their army has been very happy to rest. Unter's order just meets their wishes."

Karl II glanced at the army beside him and snorted coldly: "After defeating the Austrians, I will definitely suggest to His Majesty the King to merge the Southern Netherlands Parliament with the Dutch Parliament."

Bronckhorst was immediately delighted when he heard this. Although Britain had always secretly promised to promote the unification of the Netherlands and the Southern Netherlands, now that the Hanoverian commander who was leading the troops on the front line - who actually represented the will of Britain - had said it himself, he felt more hopeful.

He flattered Charles II and then said hesitantly, "Marshal, do you think that after you have defeated the French and Austrian armies, will the French continue to send more troops to the Low Countries?"

As a Dutchman, he would naturally worry about his giant neighbor France. After all, Louis XIV almost destroyed the Netherlands decades ago.

Charles II smiled disdainfully: "I remember that you are a shareholder of the Bank of Amsterdam? Then you should be very clear about the current financial situation of France."

As a long-established financial empire in Europe, the Netherlands has its own banking operations throughout Europe, especially in France. More than 40% of France's foreign debt is owed to Dutch banks.

General Bronckhorst nodded. "Yes, I do know something. France's debt is still over 20 billion livres."

He naturally didn't know that although the total amount of France's debt had not changed much, Joseph had already replaced a large part of it with low-interest debt through his operations during the previous banking tsunami, and the financial pressure had been greatly reduced compared to before.

Charles II looked at him and said, “You know, France maintains an army of more than 2 in North Africa to guard against possible attacks from Algiers and Tripoli.

"At the same time, they have 3 troops in Silesia and 2 in Luxembourg. These troops stationed overseas are very expensive. France can no longer afford to send more troops. Otherwise, the national finances will collapse before they can decide the outcome on the battlefield."

Bronckhorst nodded in agreement. Karl II continued, "France has less than 12 standing troops, and they currently have more than 7 troops stationed in various places. Unless they recruit soldiers on a large scale, they will not even have enough troops to maintain order in the country."

He pointed southeast: "So, if we defeat the French in Luxembourg, the battle in the lowlands will be over.

"And our superior forces will soon be able to accomplish this task."

While the commanders of the Hanoverian and Dutch armies were talking, at the border between Luxembourg and Liege, Leo was looking at Lefebvre with a bitter face: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, my friend, perhaps it would be better to rest for a while."

After the last pursuit battle where he defeated the larger force with a smaller one, Lefebvre had been promoted to lieutenant colonel.

"General, look, your reinforcements have all arrived." Lefebvre smiled and gestured to the Austrian camp in the distance, "You can't let down the Emperor's trust, right?"

In order to divert the attention of Prussia and Hanover to the Southern Netherlands, Joseph II sent an additional 8 soldiers to Leo, who now had nearly 1 troops under his command.

(End of this chapter)