Richard leaned forward and stabbed his finger down on the desk. ‘What I want to know is what our bloody Navy was doing while Bonaparte and his army were swanning around the Mediterranean. That glory-chaser, Nelson, was supposed to intercept and destroy any French fleets that left port. Instead, he’s somehow managed to let the entire enemy battle fleet slip past him. The bloody man must be blind.’
‘Well, now that you mention it . . .’ Henry muttered.
‘In any case, it doesn’t matter,’ Richard interrupted. ‘We can’t do anything about it now.The thing is, we have to be aware that this news will encourage Tipoo. I think that the time is fast approaching when he will move against us, unless we act first. I’m just glad that we have settled the situation in Hyderabad. At least we can count on the Nizam’s support for a while yet.And there’ll be no more Frenchmen drip-feeding their revolutionary bile into his ear.’
‘What happened to the French officers?’ asked Henry. ‘How many did you take prisoner?’
‘Over a hundred of them,’Arthur replied.‘I had them escorted to Bombay and put aboard an Indiaman.They’re on their way to England where I imagine they’ll spend the rest of the war on a prison hulk.’
Richard sniffed. ‘Good riddance to ’em. At least that’s put an end to the French influence in Hyderabad.’
‘For now at least,’ Arthur agreed. ‘But they’ll find other ways to try to exert their influence in India. Mark my words.’
‘I don’t have to. It’s already happening.’ Richard leaned over his desk and tapped a pile of intelligence reports. ‘Tipoo and his army are daily becoming the proxies of the revolutionaries back in Paris. At the moment the French offer encouragement and promises, but it won’t be too long before they back that up with guns, gold and men. Tipoo can hardly wait to have a crack at us. The problem is that we’re not yet ready to fight him. The situation in Madras is a mess. The new Governor General, Lord Clive - the son,’ he added, in response to a raised eyebrow from Arthur, ‘is still learning the ropes and depends too much on his advisers, especially his chief of staff, Josiah Webbe. Webbe has sent me a memorandum demanding that we do nothing to provoke conflict with Tipoo, or indeed any of the other powers in India. According to my sources Webbe plays continually on Clive’s desire to keep the books balanced. He’s fighting every step to prepare the Madras presidency for war on the pretext that the Company cannot afford to fight Tipoo.’
‘How can we afford not to fight him?’ asked Arthur with exasperation.‘If we don’t take the fight to Tipoo then you can be sure that he will take the fight to Madras. And that would be just the start. None of England’s possessions in India would be safe.’
‘Quite.’ Richard nodded. ‘If Tipoo can capture Madras then the natives will have no faith in our iqbal, and my fear is that they will flock to his side. If that happens then our days are numbered in the other presidencies.’
‘What are we to do, then?’ asked Henry. ‘We’re not ready for war, but it seems that we are compelled to fight one.’
‘Indeed,’ Richard mused. He rose from his chair and paced over to the large map of India that adorned one of the walls. He studied the area between Madras and Seringapatam for a moment before he continued. ‘The main difficulty facing us will be one of distance. It defeated Cornwallis last time round. We must ensure that the same fate does not befall us.’ He turned round to face his brothers, then fixed his gaze on Arthur. ‘You’ve been thinking about this matter, I understand.’
‘Yes. I’ve had some ideas about what we can do to give us a decent chance of defeating Tipoo once and for all.’
‘Go on.’
Arthur quickly set his thoughts in order. ‘Tipoo knows that his men stand little chance of defeating a large army of King’s regiments and Company battalions. His cavalry, while numerous, is no match for ours, and his infantry lack training and experience compared to our men. He has a distinct advantage in artillery, but many of his guns are too large for mobile warfare and will have to be left at Seringapatam.
‘It’s my belief that Tipoo will follow the same strategy as last time. He will fight a series of delaying actions, destroying as much food and forage as he can in the path of our men, before he falls back on Seringapatam and holds out there until our supplies are finished, or the monsoon season comes. The rains will make the rivers around Seringapatam unfordable, and afterwards the pestilence will cause our men to drop like flies.’
Henry nodded. ‘And how do you intend to counter his strategy, Arthur?’
‘It won’t be easy,’ Arthur admitted readily enough. ‘But the key to it is to find a new way of supplying our army once the campaign begins.’
‘How do you propose to do that?’
‘The main thing is to make our forces as mobile as possible. What limits the size and depth of our offensive ability at present is the need to build roads wherever we go so that we can bring up our wheeled transport - the supply wagons and artillery. The solution is obvious enough. We don’t bother with lines of communication. And, as far as possible, we don’t bother with roads, or even wheels for that matter.’
Richard looked confused. ‘So, what are you suggesting? That we dispense with feeding our men, and not use artillery to support them?’
Arthur smiled. ‘It’s simple.We’ll use bullocks and elephants to carry and haul our heavy equipment. They can go almost anywhere a man can go, and they can live off the land as they march.They move at about the same speed as draft horses so they will not slow the army down. Of course, we will need thousands of them, and that’s where the second part of the solution comes in. We’ll use the brinjarris to supply our needs.’
‘Brinjarris?’ Henry frowned for an instant. ‘Please refresh my memory.’
‘They’re grain merchants. They buy and sell grain the length and breadth of India and breed vast herds of bullocks to carry their goods. My suggestion is that we subcontract the supply of our army to the brinjarris. We offer them the right to set up a bazaar to supply the soldiers’ needs in return for paying a fair price and offering protection to them and their families. We also hire as many bullocks as we need from their stock, to draw our guns, and if the ground isn’t suitable for wheeled traffic, then we can disassemble the guns and have the components carried forward by bullocks or elephants. If we do all that, then we can invade Mysore quickly, push the Tipoo’s forces back to his capital and then lay siege to it, confident that there will be enough supplies, and time, to carry out the task.’ He looked directly at Richard. ‘Which leaves one question. Who is to command the army when the time comes to tackle Tipoo?’
Richard turned back to the map and scratched his chin for a moment. ‘Well, it’s clearly a general’s command, which rules you out.’
Arthur felt an instant stab of disappointment and then cursed himself for even thinking that there was any chance that he might have such a responsibility placed in his hands, brother of the Governor General or not. He cleared his throat. ‘Of course it does. I wasn’t for a moment suggesting myself for the post.’
Richard turned to him with a quizzical look. ‘Don’t overreact, Arthur. I know your quality, and you proved it well enough with that business in Hyderabad. Your time will come. I promise.’
The conversation was embarrassing Arthur and he waved a hand, as if sweeping it aside. ‘We were discussing which general would be best for the command.’
‘Yes we were. What is your opinion? As the professional soldier in the room.’