"Yes, Your Highness."
Talleyrand first bowed in assent, then hesitated and said, "Your Highness, but if the British respond poorly and the Russian army actually enters the Khyber Pass..."
His concern was hardly surprising.
According to the strategy just outlined by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, France would strongly support Russia's expansion into the Middle East.
At present, Afghanistan was in a state of extreme weakness, with its king Tamerlane having died without clearly designating an heir, leaving more than twenty sons fighting each other.
As long as Russia controlled the region east of the Caspian Sea, after subduing Persia, it could easily seize Afghanistan and thus enter the Khyber Pass.
The Khyber Pass is the only land route from the Middle East into the Indian Peninsula.
The Indian Princely States' military strength was by no means enough to withstand the Russian army pouring in like a tide.
