I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 394 Talleyrand’s Travels Around Europe

Cornwallis looked at the simple fortress in the distance with a dark face. After half a minute, he finally raised his hand to signal to the staff officer on the side:

"Send the order, leave one battalion to continue the siege, and the other troops will bypass this damn thing!"

Regrouping and taking a detour might delay you for a day or two, but it's better than being disgusted by that crappy "barn."

However, just an hour and a half later, several teams of hussars sent back news that two more similar buildings were discovered less than three miles south of the "barn".

And further away, there seems to be more...

These fortifications densely guarded almost all traffic arteries, and even three of them were built across each other at important strategic node locations!

If it's a strategy game, you might be able to micro-manage the army to squeeze between the two forts. After all, the artillery above cannot cover a range of two or three miles. But in actual combat, this is completely impossible.

When tens of thousands of troops are marching, the queue may be more than ten kilometers long. The enemy will rush out of the fortress from time to time to surprise you. The queue in the marching state is defenseless.

The enemy attack may not be able to kill a few of your people, but the stampede caused by the confusion of the queue can cause serious casualties and severely damage morale.

Therefore, at least a few defensive points must be removed, a road at least seven or eight miles wide must be cleared, and part of the troops must be arrayed along both sides to defend, so that others dare to pass through the middle.

In fact, even this cannot guarantee safety. After all, the marching queue is too long and there may be defensive loopholes.

Cornwallis looked at the red circle marked by the staff on the map, tried his best to suppress the anger in his chest, gritted his teeth and shouted:

"Bring me all the cannons! Blast that 'barn' to pieces!"

The staff officer was stunned: "Barn?"

"It's that thing on the high ground! Damn it, call it whatever you want! Capture it at all costs!"

"Yes, General!"

The Maratha and Hyderabad servant armies were pulled up and began to rush towards the "Pa" on the mound in waves, but they were pushed back again and again.

After nine days of anxious waiting, a British 12-pounder gun accurately hit the defensive artillery on top of the "Pa" - this probability in the era of smoothbore guns was basically the same as winning the lottery. The jackpot is almost the same.

Then Cornwallis's elite grenadiers, regardless of casualties, finally broke through the last wall and poured into the high tower in the middle of "Pa".

Cornwallis felt refreshed all over, as if he had finally passed out constipation after nine days. He pointed at the "Pa" with his cane and said to the staff:

"Bring the commanders of the garrison. Their tenacity deserves my praise."

Before the staff officer left, he saw the tower on the "Pa" shake, a large amount of black smoke spewing out, and then there was a loud "boom".

Soon, the courier sent news from the front. The Mysore people buried gunpowder in the fort, killing more than 30 grenadiers, and only captured 5 wounded prisoners.

Cornwallis looked at the ruins on the mound with a livid face, and then looked south, knowing that there were several such "barns" waiting for him there. He suddenly felt a cramp in his stomach and almost vomited. Come out...

In fact, Magnus and his Mysore serfs have built more than 70 "pas" throughout Mangalore, and construction is still ongoing. Each "Pa" only stores food and drinking water for 25 days - this is the length of time required for their defense, after which the defenders can retreat.

The British had to remove at least a quarter of them to successfully pass through the Mangalore area.

Even if they are lucky enough to hit the defenders' artillery directly every time, it will still take 9 days, so it will take 160 days to defeat Mangalore...

And this is just a small province in the northwest of Mysore. The areas of Selingabadan and Mysore City behind are even wider. It is basically impossible to penetrate Mysore within two or three years.

This was Joseph’s defensive strategy tailor-made for Mysore.

Things like "Pa" have almost no value in Europe where human resources are relatively precious and construction technology is advanced. It is more cost-effective to invest some money in building a bastion. But in India, where a large number of serfs can be recruited for free labor, "Pa" seems extremely suitable.

Although it is not like the "zero cost" mentioned by Fernan - the construction does not cost much, but cannons, gunpowder, grain storage and transportation still cost some money - a "Pa" only cost Tipu Sultan about 400 pounds. That is 10,000 livres, a large part of which was shared by the local nobles. For Mysore, there is almost no limit to what can be built.

At the same time, this thing requires very little construction skills. Primitive tribes on small Pacific islands can handle it, and mature feudal countries will have no problem.

The most important thing is that if it is placed in other places, the attackers can slowly gnaw away, and sooner or later the "pa" of the civil structure can be worn away. However, the cost of the British expedition is extremely high, and it will take a few years to make them lose money. to vomiting blood.

Moreover, the "Tiger of Mysore" is not a casual person who will sit back and wait for the British to attack.

Just as Cornwallis launched an attack on the second "Pa", Tipu Sultan had led an army of 17,000 to invade Travancore.

Travancore was no match at all and had to hurriedly ask for help from the British.

Cornwallis hurriedly mobilized 3,000 British troops and more than 10,000 servants, which were carried by the Royal Navy to Travancore. Just three days after the ship left the port, news came of the surrender of the Maharaja of Travancore to Mysore.

So far, there is no hostile force in the south of Mysore.

Tipu Sultan, at Lafayette's suggestion, immediately led his main force to the east of Carnatic. Lafayette commanded 20,000 Mysore troops in the northwest battlefield, relying on the "Pa" defense, so he didn't need to be distracted at all.

If Carnatic was captured, the entire southern part of the Indian peninsula would fall into the hands of Mysore, and the strategic situation of Britain would become extremely ugly.

At the same time, Salah, the French consul in Mysore, and Shah, a senior official of Mysore, were quietly rushing to Hyderabad. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that Indians love to take advantage and have no credibility.

If Hyderabad can be tempted to turn against it with benefits - they had joined forces with Mysore to deal with Britain decades ago - that would be the best of course. Even if it can't be done, it can make Britain pay more costs to stabilize Hyderabad.

...

Western suburbs of Munich.

Talleyrand straightened his clothes, stepped out of the carriage, and turned back to signal the accompanying guards:

"Please keep an eye on that guy. Follow me."

Three soldiers escorted a middle-aged man who was tied up like a dumpling, followed the French Foreign Minister, and walked towards the Munich Palace.

Music sounded all around. Bavaria's Grand Duke Karl Ottoor stood at the palace gate across the honor guard, smiling at the visiting French.