‘I need your attention, gentlemen!’
The protests continued as loudly as ever and Arthur had no wish to seem like some ineffectual schoolteacher. He drew one of his pistols, cocked it, raised it towards the ceiling and fired. In the enclosed hall the detonation of the powder charge was thunderous and silenced the men at once. A moment later a large lump of plaster crashed to the floor, missing Arthur by inches.
He glanced at the shattered fragments on the floor with raised eyebrows, then looked up and drew a deep breath to begin his address before the officers recovered from their shock and began to protest again.
‘Gentlemen! My apologies to you for this rude awakening. The Nizam requires that you are held here for a short time while a small piece of business is attended to. You are quite safe, provided that you sit still and make no attempt to escape or resist my men.’
‘What is going on here?’ a voice demanded. ‘What’s happening?’
‘Your questions will be answered in good time. But for now, I would be obliged if you would keep your mouths shut, or my men will be obliged to do it for you.’
The threat was understood well enough and the sepoys lining the rooms held their weapons ready to reinforce their commander’s words.When he was satisfied that the officers were subdued Arthur beckoned to one of the subadars.
‘I’m taking four of your men. Keep this lot under control. No one is to leave the rooms under any pretext.’
‘Yes, sahib.’
There was a thin grey light in the sky as Arthur trotted away from the headquarters building and made for the arsenal on the far side of the camp. A few early risers were sitting outside their barracks and laying the morning cooking fires. They stood up with vaguely confused expressions as the officer and sepoys passed by, and then returned to their fireplaces.The only shot that had been fired was from Arthur’s pistol and there was no reason for the Nizam’s men to suspect that anything was amiss. As far as they were concerned he was just another European officer up early on some official business, as Arthur had hoped they would think.They reached the squat mass of the camp’s arsenal without being challenged and Arthur was relieved to see that Kirkpatrick had stationed his men inside the building, out of sight, so that only a few figures were visible on the ramparts above the arsenal, and on guard at its entrance. As Arthur and his men approached Kirkpatrick appeared in the doorway to meet them.
‘Any problems?’
‘No, sir.The guards didn’t put up a fight.Went down into one of the storerooms as meek as lambs.’
‘Good work.’ Arthur looked up at the sky and saw that there was now enough light to see clearly across the camp. More men and women were emerging from their barracks, ready to prepare their morning meal. Outside the city the four Company battalions would be beginning their march, as Dalrymple and Malcolm led their men from their barracks towards the camp of the Nizam’s army. ‘Now we just have to wait for the others, and pray that the Nizam’s men don’t guess what is happening right under their noses.’
The sun rose over the camp and soon thousands of men, women and children had emerged from their quarters and gathered round their fires to eat. Arthur watched from the ramparts of the arsenal. Only a handful of his men were visible from outside the building and the two sepoys guarding the entrance wore jackets taken from the men imprisoned in the storeroom.
Kirkpatrick was squatting next to him and chewing the end of his thumb as he kept glancing towards the nearest gateway into the camp. ‘They should be here by now. What’s keeping them, damn it?’
Arthur glanced round and saw that one of the sepoys was looking at them. He turned back to gaze over the camp and muttered, ‘Keep your voice down. What kind of effect do you think your fretting will have on the men?’
Kirkpatrick started guiltily. ‘Sorry, sir.’
‘I understand you are nervous.’ Arthur smiled. ‘So am I. The trick is not to let it show. Think on that and you’ll be fine.’
‘Yes, sir . . . Thank you.’
They were interrupted by a chorus of shouts from over by the barracks. Arthur squinted his tired eyes and saw a group of men running from the direction of the headquarters building, shouting and gesticulating wildly as they ran. The Nizam’s soldiers hurried back into their quarters and began to emerge with their weapons to join the growing crowd.
‘They’re headed this way,’ Arthur said quietly. ‘Damn . . . All right, then, Kirkpatrick. The time for stealth is over. Call those two sentries in and close and barricade the doors and windows of the arsenal. We may have to hold them off for a while before the other columns turn up.’
‘Yes, sir.’ Kirkpatrick hurried away to carry out his orders and a moment later Arthur heard the heavy timber door thud home below him. The sepoys who had been hidden below came padding up on to the ramparts and took up position, muskets loaded and ready at half-cock. There was a roar from the crowd as they saw the arsenal being closed up, and then scores of heads appearing at the battlements. The mob surged forward and started battering at the door with their muskets, to no effect. One of Arthur’s men rose up and took aim with his weapon.
‘Lower your gun!’ Arthur bellowed at him in Hindoostani. ‘Now!’
When the man had dropped down again Arthur stood up so that all his men could see him and drew a deep breath so that he would be heard over the din of the crowd.‘We’re safe enough here.They have no powder or shot for their weapons.They can’t hurt us, so hold your fire.’
That was not entirely true, he reflected. That mob would do more than hurt Arthur and his men if they found a way into the arsenal. But it was a solid enough building and would keep the Nizam’s men at bay for a while yet. Long enough for the other columns to arrive.
Then he saw some of the men at the rear of the crowd take up a solid-looking water trough. They emptied the water out of it, then lifted it up and bore it through the crowd towards the arsenal. A makeshift battering ram, he realised with a sick feeling. He must not let them have a chance to use it against the doors.
‘Stand up!’ Arthur shouted to his men. ‘Present!’
The muskets swung up and levelled as the sepoys took aim on the mob. At once there were cries of terror and men flinched and fell back. Arthur leaned over the ramparts and stretched his arms open.
‘Hear me! Hear me, I say!’
It took a while for the frightened protesters to grow silent, and still scores of them were slipping back into the heart of the crowd.
‘I am Colonel Wellesley. I am here on the authority of the Nizam. He has given orders for the disbandment of the French-officered battalions.You will lay down your weapons and return to barracks now!’
This provoked a fresh outburst of rage from the crowd and the makeshift battering ram surged forward again. Arthur turned to the section of men covering the rampart over the entrance. ‘Take aim on those men carrying the water trough!’
The muskets went up to their cheeks as the men squinted down the barrels towards the approaching crowd.
‘Cock your weapons, but do not fire unless I give the order!’
The sepoys thumbed back the cocks, ready to fire a volley of heavy lead balls into the crowd in front of the arsenal. The ram came on, and there was a jarring thud as it struck home against the wall.
‘Shoot over their heads!’ Arthur called to the nearest men and they raised their barrels.‘Fire!’The volley roared out with a series of stabs of fire and a small rolling bank of gunpowder smoke.The crowd paused for only an instant before they realised the shots had been fired wide deliberately. Then they came forward again and there was another thud from below. Arthur swallowed. The time had almost come when he would have to open fire on the crowd in order to survive.
‘Reload, and prepare volley fire!’
As his men bit off the ends of the tallow paper cartridges and spat the ball down the muzzles of their muskets a sudden movement drew Arthur’s eye to the main gateway into the camp. A column of men was emerging through it, the colours of the E
ast India Company at their head. At once he was giddy with relief.‘They’re coming!’ He thrust his arm out in the direction of the new arrivals. ‘They’re here!’
His men raised a cheer now, and down below as word of the relief column flew through the crowd they turned away from the arsenal and clutched their unloaded weapons restlessly, making little sound as they faced the new threat.
There was another shout from the men on the ramparts and Arthur saw a sepoy excitedly pointing to another column emerging between the barracks of the Nizam’s army. Arthur indulged the sepoys for a moment before he ordered them to still their tongues. A silence hung over the camp as Arthur turned to the crowd.
‘Lay down your weapons and return to your quarters.’
‘What? And let you slaughter us like dogs!’A voice cried back.
‘No! There will be no killing. Lay down your arms and get back to your quarters, now. If not, you will be fired on.’
One of the men tried to defy him, standing on an upturned washing tub to harangue his comrades. It was clear from the crowd’s reaction that they would be easily stirred into action by their speaker and Arthur realised that now was the time for ruthlessness.
‘Take aim. Prepare to fire . . . on my word . . .’ He leaned forward to address the crowd again.‘This is your last warning. Lay down your weapons and return to the barracks or you will be shot down!’
For a moment none of them reacted and Arthur was aware that the other columns had entered the camp and were already forming a firing line.Then one of the Nizam’s men on the fringe of the crowd lowered his weapon to the ground and hurried away. Another man followed his lead, then another, until the edges of the crowd were melting away and then those at the heart of mob also began to surrender their weapons, leaving their provocatory leader alone on his tub, still imploring them to come back and take the arsenal. Eventually, he too gave up, shoulders slumping as he climbed down from the upended tub and beat a retreat back to the barracks. Arthur watched him go, and saw that the others were gathering up their comrades, the women and the children and disappearing into the barrack blocks. Soon there was little sign of life around the camp and wisps of steam and smoke from the fires lifted lazily into the morning air. Arthur felt the tension of the last few moments drain from his body to be replaced by a blessed sense of relief that the crisis had passed and he had won the day, without any bloodshed. He idly hoped that all his victories could be as bloodless as this, then cursed himself for being such a naïve fool.
The plan had been good, and carried out to the letter. All that remained was to carry out the terms of the treaty the Nizam had signed.
The column that had entered by the main gate was led by Colonel Malcolm, who doffed his hat to Arthur as he approached the arsenal and called out, ‘Good day to you, sir!’
Arthur nodded. ‘And to you.’
‘Bloody fine piece of work.’ Malcolm laughed as he surveyed the abandoned muskets carpeting the ground in front of the arsenal. ‘We’ve done it! Just wait till word of this gets back to Calcutta! Fine work, sir! Fine work.’
Arthur stretched his back and smiled to himself. He could already imagine Richard’s delight at hearing that the plan had gone so smoothly. The French officers would be ousted, the Nizam would be in the debt of England and, best of all, not one life had been lost in achieving this result. For that, Arthur felt his heart swell with pride as he gazed out across the camp and let the warm rays of the rising sun wash over his face.
Chapter 36
‘Egypt?’ Arthur’s eyebrows rose in astonishment. ‘When did they invade?’
‘At the start of July,’ Henry replied. ‘A large army, well over twenty thousand men according to our agents’ reports. The commander is one of their rising stars, a General Bonaparte.’
‘Bonaparte,’ Arthur mused wryly. Once again the young French general was making his mark. ‘What do we know of his intentions?’
Henry smiled.‘Not a great deal. It seems the French are set on turning Egypt into a province.This man Bonaparte is busy setting up a new government in Egypt, levying taxes, building roads and so on. It’s not difficult to see what the longer term goal might be. With Egypt in their pocket the French will have a base from which to seize the whole of the Levant. Of course, our fear is that such a move would ultimately constitute a threat to us here in India. They will be in a far better position to send men and supplies to the aid of our enemies, like Tipoo.’
Richard leaned forward and stabbed his finger down on the desk. ‘What I want to know is what our bloody Navy was doing while Bonaparte and his army were swanning around the Mediterranean. That glory-chaser, Nelson, was supposed to intercept and destroy any French fleets that left port. Instead, he’s somehow managed to let the entire enemy battle fleet slip past him. The bloody man must be blind.’
‘Well, now that you mention it . . .’ Henry muttered.
‘In any case, it doesn’t matter,’ Richard interrupted. ‘We can’t do anything about it now.The thing is, we have to be aware that this news will encourage Tipoo. I think that the time is fast approaching when he will move against us, unless we act first. I’m just glad that we have settled the situation in Hyderabad. At least we can count on the Nizam’s support for a while yet.And there’ll be no more Frenchmen drip-feeding their revolutionary bile into his ear.’
‘What happened to the French officers?’ asked Henry. ‘How many did you take prisoner?’
‘Over a hundred of them,’Arthur replied.‘I had them escorted to Bombay and put aboard an Indiaman.They’re on their way to England where I imagine they’ll spend the rest of the war on a prison hulk.’
Richard sniffed. ‘Good riddance to ’em. At least that’s put an end to the French influence in Hyderabad.’
‘For now at least,’ Arthur agreed. ‘But they’ll find other ways to try to exert their influence in India. Mark my words.’
‘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.
‘It’s my belief that Tipoo will follow the same strategy as last time. He will fight a series of delaying actions, destroying as much food and forage as he can in the path of our men, before he falls back on Seringapatam and holds out there until our supplies are finished, or the monsoon season comes. The rains will make the rivers around Seringapatam unfordable, and afterwards the pestilence will cause our men to drop like flies.’
THE GENERALS Page 33