September 21, 1801.
The alluvial plains of north-central India, between the Ganges River and the Yamuna River.
This place was known as the Doab, the only route from Oudh, a British dependency, to the Gwalior region controlled by Scindia.
Outside Kanpur, a city in southern Oudh, Gerard Lake, Commander-in-Chief of the English Army, watched the Aligarh Fortress of rammed earth through a Telescope, along with the English soldiers milling about aimlessly before it. He turned to his staff officer and said:
"You have put too much pressure on the Gwalior men. Have Major Bernard fall back one mile."
"Yes, General."
The staff officer departed. At his side, Sir Fokner, an inspector from the India Board of Control, also assumed a pose of gazing into the distance at the fortress. "I had thought I would see you descend here like the God of War and swiftly crush these natives."
The India Board of Control had been established under Pitt the Younger to oversee all East India Company affairs on the Indian Peninsula, including its military. Yet despite the British Government's efforts over many years, the core power in India still remained in the hands of the East India Company.
Lake sat back down on his small chair and smiled. "Have you ever seen Scindia's army?"
"No," Fokner answered truthfully. "But I have often dealt with soldiers from other Indian Princely States."
Lake nodded. "Gwalior's army is entirely different. More than a decade ago, they hired a Frenchman named Boigne, and later replaced him with General Perron, who is now standing inside that fortress.
"They trained over twenty thousand native soldiers under a complete French drill system, equipped them all with Flintlock Guns, adopted Infantry Line tactics, and even acquired dozens of Cannons smuggled in from Europe."
Fokner frowned. "It seems the