Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Apart from its military advantage, Mysore was also an extremely wealthy nation.

Thanks to trade with England, Mysore's cotton, tea, spices, indigo, and sugar were exported in large quantities, bringing a vast amount of wealth to the nobles, providing ample material assurance for national warfare.

Using a phrase from future generations, Lafayette had never fought such a wealthy war before.

Of course, his opponents were even stronger—England, currently the most powerful country in the world, need not be mentioned. The East India Company had more than 3,000 regular troops in India and could mobilize around 6,000 when necessary. If reinforcements were called from England, they could have a force of 10,000 within three to four months.

In addition, Indian princely states under British control and British Indian allies could provide a large number of troops, amounting to over two hundred thousand at the most. Although the combat effectiveness of these Indian troops was far inferior to that of Mysore, the sheer numbers could overwhelm like ants consuming an elephant, which was definitely a big trouble, especially since these princely states could also provide logistical support to the British forces, a crucial factor influencing the war's direction.

So the most important command Joseph gave to Lafayette was to ally with the Indian princely states as much as possible, or at the very least, to persuade them not to side with England.

At the end of the 18th century, England's control over India was not nearly as strong as it would be in the 19th century; the completely controlled Indian princely states amounted to less than one-fifth of India's total area, and most collaboration was in the form of alliances.

The kings of these princely states were very greedy and easily bribed by interests.

Lafayette and Salah were talking about the situation at the recent ministerial meeting as they got into the carriage one after the other.

Suddenly remembering something, Lafayette took out a colorful ribbon from his pocket and showed it to Salah, "Oh, Sultan Tipu has also conferred on me the title of 'Ummda.' There seems to be a titling ceremony the day after tomorrow at noon. I wonder if you're free to attend?"

Ummda was the highest military rank in Mysore, which showed the esteem in which Sultan Tipu held Lafayette.

Salah smiled and nodded, "Congratulations, my lord Marquis, I definitely won't miss such an occasion."

…

Southern Netherlands.

East of Brussels.

There were over ten thousand soldiers dressed in red uniforms and white breeches, forming a long marching column, winding forward on the lush green grass with the beat of drums.

The red column stretched all the way to the distant hills, disappearing into the faint mist.

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

The man on the left, dressed in a red uniform with golden double-breasted buttons and two dark blue sashes across his chest, with thick eyebrows and a high nose, was rather handsome; he was none other than Charles II, the current Governor of Hanover.

He was muttering rapidly, "The States-General of the Netherlands are all idiots.

"Now the Austrian Army hasn't been completely driven out, the French have rolled in, and what are they doing? Completely preoccupied with seizing control of Congress..."

"Even this has affected the deployment of our troops. A full eight thousand plus soldiers from the Netherlands are just idling in Ghent, watching us fight the French to the death.

"Especially that Weng Ke. His soldiers have been resting for over a month, and he still wants them to recuperate until the end of the year... Might as well let them retire in Ghent."

Karel van Bronckhorst, the General of the Dutch Volunteer Army, dressed in blue uniform, nodded helplessly and said, "Indeed. But right now, Wente's prestige in the South Netherlands Army is exceedingly high, and ever since their last defeat at the hands of the French, their troops have been very keen on resting. Wente's orders just happen to match their wishes."

Charles II glanced at the large army beside him and snorted coldly, "After defeating the Austrians, I will definitely suggest to His Majesty the King that the States-General of the Netherlands be merged with the Dutch Parliament."

Upon hearing this, Bronckhorst's heart soared with joy. Although England had always promised to help unite the Netherlands and Southern Netherlands secretly, hearing it from the mouth of the Hanoverian commander who was actually representing the will of England at the front lines gave him renewed hope.

He quickly flattered Charles II and then voiced his hesitation, "Marshal, do you think, after you crush the French and Austrian armies, will the French continue to send more troops to the Low Countries?"
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As a Dutchman, he was naturally concerned about France, the formidable neighbor, given that a few decades earlier, Louis XIV had almost annihilated the Netherlands.

Charles II scoffed disdainfully, "I remember you're a shareholder of the Amsterdam Bank, aren't you? Then you must be well aware of France's current financial situation."

The Netherlands, as an old financial empire in Europe, had banking operations all over the continent, especially in France. Over forty percent of France's foreign debt was owed to Dutch banks.

General Bronckhorst nodded, "Yes, I am somewhat aware. The scale of France's debt still exceeds two billion livres."

What he did not know was that, although the total amount of France's debt hadn't changed much, Joseph had managed to convert a large portion of it into low-interest debt through the operations during the previous banking crisis, greatly reducing the financial pressure compared to before.

Charles II looked at him and said, "You know, France maintains over 20,000 troops in North Africa to guard against potential attacks from Algiers and Tripoli.

"At the same time, they have 30,000 troops in Silesia and 20,000 in Luxembourg. The expenses for these troops stationed overseas are extremely high. France can no longer afford to support more troops; otherwise, the nation's finances will collapse before they can decide the outcome of the war on the battlefield."

Bronckhorst nodded in agreement. Charles II continued, "France's standing army is less than 120,000. They currently have over 70,000 deployed everywhere. Unless there is a large-scale recruitment, they will not even have enough forces to maintain order domestically."

He gestured towards the southeast, "Therefore, as long as we crush the French forces in Luxembourg, the fight in the Low Countries will be completely over.

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

As the commanders of the Hanoverian and Dutch armies were having a grand discussion, at the border between Luxembourg and Liege, Leao was frowning while speaking to Lefevre, "Lieutenant Colonel, my friend, it might be better to rest for a while longer."

After the last victorious pursuit battle with fewer troops, Lefevre had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.

"General, look, all your reinforcements have arrived," Lefevre said with a smile, gesturing towards the distant Austrian Army camp. "You cannot disappoint the trust His Majesty the Emperor has in you, can you?"

Joseph II, in order to attract the attention of Prussia and Hanover to the region of Southern Netherlands, had sent 8,000 additional soldiers to Leao. Now he commanded an army nearly 10,000 strong.