Everything was ready but the east wind; Lakshmi Bai had no idea when the opportunity Franz spoke of would arrive, much less what that opportunity actually was.
But before long, a piece of news spread among the sepoys.
"The paper cartridges for the new rifles issued by The British are coated in beef tallow and pork lard."
This rumor perfectly enraged the two largest groups on the Indian Subcontinent. To devout followers of Hinduism, cows were sacred creatures in Indian mythology, even Shiva's mount.
To them, touching cartridge casings soaked in beef tallow was an extremely grave act of desecration.
Furthermore, the five treasures of the cow in Hinduism referred to milk, ghee—also often translated as butter—yogurt, cow urine, and cow dung. The ghee among them was a fat refined from milk, not something squeezed from a cow's body.
To India's Muslims, pigs were unclean creatures. Directly touching something unclean with one's mouth was even more unacceptable to them than Hindus eating cow dung and cow urine.
One rumor had perfectly intensified the conflict between the two groups, and Lakshmi Bai knew that the moment Franz had spoken of had arrived.
By then, Lakshmi Bai had already established secret alliances with the major princely states through messengers. Should The British attack any one of them, the rest of the alliance was to spare no effort in coming to its aid.
But having followed Franz, Lakshmi Bai knew all too well that empty oaths had no binding force. Only tangible benefits could unite everyone against The British.
To strengthen the alliance, Lakshmi Bai and the princes of the various states established a complete system of rewards and punishments, setting forth their respective responsibilities and the principles for dividing postwar gains.
Those who acted in accordance with the alliance would receive more