In central northern India, the historic city of Ujain in the Gwalior State.
The ruler of Gwalior, Dorat Rao Sindia, coldly stared at the white man standing to his right, suppressing his anger: "I don't quite understand what you mean by 'seeking assistance from the Emperor'."
If it had been any other Gwalior official who had said those words to him earlier, they would likely have been executed by now.
But at present, with the British army encroaching and having lost his chief commander, Peron, this French adventurer named Louis Bourquin was his last resort.
Indeed, Sindia never imagined that 7,000 British troops would capture the Aigar Fort defended by over 13,000 Gwalior soldiers trained in European style in less than a day.
Peron fled the fort early that morning. However, he was later caught up by British Cavalry and directly surrendered.
