I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 436: Stars of Paris

"But……"

The Indian officer was about to say something else, but the Marquis of Wellesley raised his hand to interrupt him: "If you don't want to lose soldiers, go and recruit some untouchables. Anyone can be used as long as they can lure the enemy to shoot."

The officer immediately shut up, touched his chest and saluted before leaving. In the Indian peninsula, the least valuable thing is the lives of low-caste people, and it doesn't matter how many people die.

Wellesley continued to Cornwallis: "This will require Tipu to divide his forces to defend Mangalore."

To the south of Mangalore is Mysore City, the capital of Mysore and the second largest city of Mysore. Tipu Sultan naturally could not give up this place easily.

Wellesley continued, “When the Mysore Army begins to mobilize, I will take the Marines by boat around Cape Comorin and raid Tiruchirappalli.”

Cape Comorin is the southernmost sea of ​​the Indian peninsula. Tiruchirapalli is an important Carnatic city in southeastern India that Tipu Sultan had conquered.

If Tiruchirappalli could be recaptured, the Mysore offensive in the east would be hindered.

"You continue to follow my tactics in Mangalore to take down these annoying fortresses. Once I have achieved success, you will be able to reach the vicinity of Mysore City."

Wellesley waved his cane. "Then we can attack Tipu from both sides. I think he will come to us to ask for an armistice before the fall."

……

Mysore is a city in the east.

Salem.

Tipu Sultan looked at the carriages driving into the city, and his expression finally relaxed a little.

On those carts were flintlocks and gunpowder that had just been shipped from the Ottoman Empire, as well as some medicines and military uniforms. With this batch of supplies, his army should not be short of ammunition before the rainy season arrives.

However, he also knew that after losing control of the southern coast, it would be difficult to transport aid supplies into Mysore, and future battles would become increasingly difficult.

At first, he was a little skeptical of Lafayette's words, but after several months of fighting, he finally realized that the British were much stronger than he had imagined.

Those red soldiers were highly trained and disciplined, and they usually had to mobilize tens of thousands of troops to barely deal with two or three thousand British troops.

At the same time, the British commander was also very cunning and the battle he led had almost no flaws.

He was ambushed by the British in Tiruchirappalli. In less than three days, his 3-strong army was defeated by less than 4 British and more than Hyderabadi troops, and Tiruchirappalli, which had just been captured, fell.

He then had to retreat to Salem.

If the British could not hold this third largest city in Mysore, they would go straight to Srirangapatna, its administrative center.

He carefully recalled Lafayette's words before he left, and first sent his trusted officers to count the food reserves. Then he summoned the important minister Shah and ordered him to go secretly to Hyderabad to conduct some secret transactions.

On the other side, Marquis Wellesley rode his horse up a low hill in high spirits, overlooking the city of Salem in the distance, and felt much more relaxed.

Although it was the first time for this British god of war to command a large army, he relied on his extraordinary military talent to be invincible in a series of battles. In just a few months, he completely reversed the British army's decline and launched an all-out counterattack.

An order was sent from London yesterday, and he has been promoted to major general, fully responsible for the war in India. Wellesley has been holding his breath, just waiting to stabilize the situation in India, and then go back to settle accounts with those French guys!
He pushed his horse hard and galloped towards Salem at the foot of the mountain, while loudly ordering the officers beside him: "The whole army should be prepared to launch a general attack on Salem at noon the day after tomorrow."

……

Paris.

On the main street south of the Louvre, Schmidt tucked his neck into his collar, glanced at the already dark sky, and said to the butler, "Damn the cold wind, I want to go back to the hotel.

“Why did the French hold the opening ceremony of the Expo at night?”

The servant looked at the children not far away and whispered, "Master, do you want me to rent a hand warmer for you?"

"Oh, okay. I'm freezing."

As soon as the servant left, cheerful music suddenly sounded all around.

Schmidt looked up and saw a team of palace guards separating the crowd. Then, Her Majesty the Queen of France, dressed in a white dress and wearing flowing colorful feathers on her head, got off the carriage across the street and came to the high platform that had been set up, surrounded by officials.

After a burst of intensive drumbeats, a court official signaled everyone to salute, and then Queen Marie raised her arms high, without any preface, and said loudly: "All friends who have come to Paris, please join me in witnessing this magnificent spectacle!"

Before Schmidt could react, he heard several salutes from all around, and then a series of shining "starlights" quickly began to shine from both ends of the street.

The "starlight" continued to light up in the night, and after just a few minutes, the entire street became as bright as day as if it was cast by magic!

Like everyone else, Schmidt shielded his eyes from the dazzling white light with his hands and looked up in surprise, only to find that it was a series of strange street lights.

Unlike the kerosene street lamps he had seen before, the light from this lamp was very strong, allowing him to clearly see the embroidery patterns on the dress of the lady next to him.

People immediately started talking excitedly: "What kind of light is this? It's so bright!"

"I heard it's called gas lamps. A few months ago, there were more than a dozen of them in the Saint-Germain district."

"Oh, God, there's no night here..."

A moment later, the band started playing again, and Queen Marie announced with a smile: "This is France's first exhibit at this industrial exhibition. Oh, forgive us for not putting it in the Royal Palace because it takes up too much space.

"Its name is the gas street lamp. It will light up the whole of Paris! When other places fall into darkness, this place will still be a prosperous and bustling metropolis!

“Then, next, the World Industrial Expo will officially begin.

"I will participate in this global event with you. Please enjoy the magic and convenience brought by industrial technology!"

While the Queen of France was still giving a passionate speech, Schmidt could no longer wait to get out of the crowd. Looking into the distance, he saw that the entire Paris neighborhood was full of "starlight". "Light belts" composed of strips of lights extended all the way to the sky, which reminded him of the future world in the novels he had read before.

All his tiredness disappeared immediately. He took the hand warmer handed to him by the servant and walked casually along the street with the bustling crowd.

The shops along the street are still brightly lit, vendors on both sides of the road are hawking their wares enthusiastically, the flow of people on the street is even greater than during the day, and the night sky around here adds a sense of mystery and fashion.

(End of this chapter)