As the general explained at a briefing to his senior officers, ‘This is the first time that a British army has been able to operate independently in India, thanks to the arrangements that Colonel Wellesley was able to make with the brinjarri merchants. The difficulty is that, in addition to the soldiers, we will have over a hundred thousand camp followers. If we marched in one formation the vanguard would have made camp and turned in for the night long before the rearguard even struck their tents.’

It was no exaggeration, but even so a number of the officers smiled at the image and Harris indulged them before reluctantly moving on to the unavoidable implication of marching in two columns. He coughed, then looked around the tent before his gaze fixed on the slight figure of Mear Allum, neatly dressed in flowing white robes. ‘Even though the Nizam places great faith in Mear Allum, as do I, we have agreed that the Nizam’s army would benefit from having a King’s regiment assigned to it, and a British officer to act as adviser to its commander, Mear Allum.’

The Nizam’s senior minister nodded politely. ‘I thank you for your most courteous and generous description of my role, but I will be commander in name only.The day to day running of the Nizam’s army, and the command of it in battle, will be the job of the British officer.’

‘As you say.’ General Harris bowed his head and smiled at Mear Allum. ‘And I thank you, and the Nizam, for your forbearance in this matter. While I have every confidence in the men and officers of the Nizam’s army, it is essential that they are commanded by someone familiar with the operational practices of the British army. My original intention was to appoint Colonel Ashton to the post, and since - tragically - he is no longer with us, the logical choice for the position is Colonel Wellesley.’

Arthur had been honest enough with himself to admit that he craved the appointment, but since there were several officers senior to him in the army, he had thought that his aspiration was futile. Now he was genuinely surprised and started in his seat.

‘Me, sir?’

General Harris smiled. ‘Yes, Colonel. Of course, I am aware that there are officers here with more experience, and seniority, than you, but in my view such men will be most needed in the main column, under my command. Since they are in charge of more than one regiment, to detach any one of these officers would disrupt the order of battle, whereas you are a regimental commander, and therefore both you and the 33rd can be detached without undue restructuring of the chain of command.’

It was a carefully worked response and Arthur quicky realised that the explanation was designed to appease those officers who held higher rank than he did.