The stars of Paris

"But..."

The India officer was about to say something more when Marquess Wellesley raised his hand to interrupt him, "If you don't want to lose soldiers, conscript some commoners. Anyone will do, as long as they can lure the enemy into firing."

The officer immediately shut his mouth, saluted, and left. In the Indian Peninsula, the lives of the lower castes are the least valuable; it doesn't matter how many die.

Wellesley continued to Cornwallis, "That means Tipu will have to score to defend Mangalore."

Mangalore lies south of Mysore, the capital and second-largest Mysore City of Mysore. Tipu Sultan naturally cannot easily give up this place.

Wellesley continued, "Once the Mysore troops begin to move, I will lead the Marines by boat around Cape Comorin and launch a surprise attack on Tiruchirappalli."

Cape Comorin is the South sea area of Indian Peninsula. Tiruchirappalli, on the other hand, is an important city in Carnatic, the Southeast India, which Tipu Sultan had conquered.

If they can recapture Tiruchirappalli, Mysore's offensive in the east will be thwarted.

"Continue to dismantle these troublesome fortresses in Mangalore according to my tactics. Once I have achieved some success, you should be able to reach the vicinity of Mysore City."

Wellesley waved his cane. "Then we can attack Tipu from both sides. I think he should be coming to us begging for Ceasefire Agreement before autumn."

A city east of Mysore.

Salem.

Tipu Sultan watched as Carriage drove into the city, and his expression finally relaxed somewhat.

The trucks carried Flintlock Gun and Gunpowder recently transported from the Ottoman, along with some medicine and Military Uniform. With these supplies, his army should have no shortage of Ammunition before the rainy season arrives.

However, he also knew that after losing control of the South coast, it would be difficult to transport aid supplies into Mysore, and the battles to come would become increasingly difficult.

At first, he was somewhat dismissive of Lafayette's words, but after several months of fighting, he finally realized that the United Kingdom were far more powerful than he had imagined.

Those red-coated soldiers were highly trained and disciplined; they usually had to mobilize tens of thousands of troops to barely deal with two or three thousand English Army.

At the same time, the United Kingdom commanders were also very cunning, and their battles were almost flawless.

He was ambushed by the United Kingdom at Tiruchirappalli. In less than three days, his 30,000-strong army was defeated by fewer than 4,000 United Kingdom and more than 10,000 Hyderabad troops. Tiruchirappalli he had just captured, fell.

He was then forced to retreat to Salem.

If they cannot hold Mysore's third-largest city, the United Kingdom will advance directly to Seringapatam, its administrative center.

He carefully recalled Lafayette's words before his departure, first sending his trusted officers to take stock of the grain reserves, and then summoning his senior minister Shah, instructing him to secretly travel to Hyderabad to conduct some clandestine transactions.

On the other side, the Marquess Wellesley, full of pride, rode his horse up a low hill and looked down at Salem in the distance, feeling much more relaxed.

Although this was the first time this United Kingdom God of War had commanded a large army in battle, he was invincible in a series of battles thanks to his extraordinary military talent. In just a few months, he completely reversed the decline of the English Army and launched a full-scale counter-offensive.

The order, which arrived yesterday from London, has promoted him to Major General and given him full authority over the war effort in India.

Wellesley had been holding his breath, waiting for the situation in India to stabilize so he could go back and settle accounts with those France!

He spurred his horse and galloped towards Salem at the foot of the mountain, shouting to the officer beside him, "All troops, prepare for the general offensive on Salem at noon the day after tomorrow!"

Paris.

On the main street south of the Louvre Palace, Schmidt tucked his neck into his collar, glanced at the already dim sky, and said to his valet, "Damn this cold wind, I want to go back to the hotel."

Why do the France hold the opening ceremony of the exposition at night?

The servant glanced at the children not far away and whispered, "Master, would you like me to rent a hand warmer for you?"

"Oh, okay. I'm freezing."

Just as the male servant left, light, Light Express music suddenly filled the air.

Schmidt looked up and saw a group of Court Guards separating the crowd. Then, Her Majesty the Queen of France, dressed in a white gown and adorned with flowing colorful feathers, stepped down from her Carriage across the street and, surrounded by officials, descended onto the raised platform that had been erected.

After a burst of rapid drumming, a court official gestured for everyone to bow. Then, Queen Mary raised her arms and, without any opening remarks, proclaimed loudly, "I invite all my friends who have come to Paris to join me in witnessing this magnificent spectacle!"

Before Schmidt could react, he heard several cannon salutes booming all around, followed by a series of dazzling "starlight" bursts of light that quickly began to shine from both ends of the street.

The "starlight" kept shining in the night, and just a few minutes later, the whole street became as bright as day, as if by magic!

Like everyone else, Schmidt shielded his eyes from the blinding white light and looked up in surprise, only to discover that it was a series of peculiar streetlights.

Unlike the Kerosene streetlights he had seen before, this lamp was extremely bright, allowing him to clearly see the embroidery patterns on the woman's dress next to him.

People immediately started excitedly discussing, "What kind of light is that? It's incredibly bright!"

"I heard they're called Gas Lamp; a dozen or so appeared in the Saint-Germain District a few months ago."

"Oh God, there's practically no night here..."

A moment later, the band resumed playing, and Queen Mary announced with a smile, "This is France's first exhibit at this Industrial Exposition. Oh, forgive us for not placing it in the Royal Palace, as it takes up too much space."

"Its name is Gas Streetlight. It will illuminate all of Paris! While other places fall into darkness, this will remain a vibrant and bustling Dadu!"

"Now, the World Industrial Exposition will officially begin."

"I will be joining you in this global event. Please enjoy the wonders and conveniences brought by industrial technology!"

While the Queen of France was still giving her enthusiastic speech, Schmidt had already eagerly slipped out of the crowd and looked into the distance. He saw that the entire Paris street was filled with "starlight," with "bands of light" stretching all the way to the horizon, which reminded him of the futuristic world in the novels he had read before.

He instantly felt all his weariness disappear. He took the hand warmer handed to him by Servant and casually walked down the street with the bustling crowd.

The shops along the street were still brightly lit, and vendors on both sides of the road were enthusiastically hawking their wares. The flow of people on the street was even greater than during the day, while the surrounding night added a touch of mystery and fashion to the place.