‘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.