Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1337 Asking for protection money from pirates
Tunisian Pasha, one of the biggest leaders of the Barbary pirate kingdom, limped and fled back to his fortress, Tunisia, with his defeated soldiers.

He was also called by the empire to participate in the sea battle in the Tunis Strait. As a result, the imperial fleet was blown up in the sea, and he also broke his leg.

But what made him even more depressed was that the United Fleet immediately surrounded Tunisia after defeating the Imperial Navy.

Now the pirate lair in Tunisia has become the second target of the United Fleet, and no pirates can enter and exit Tunisia during the blockade.

With the fall of Algiers and the defeat of the Imperial fleet, the pirates in Tunisia are in danger.

"When I went to negotiate with them, the hateful Europeans and Chinese made two demands! First, we asked Tunisia to hand over a treasure worth 100 million taels of silver, and second, we asked to sign a treaty with us, agreeing that Tunisia's future Pirates are not allowed to rob their merchant ships and capture their merchants, and their merchant ships must unconditionally guarantee their safety when they enter Tunisia! If we accept these two requirements at the same time, they will be willing to withdraw from our Tunisian waters!"

An envoy sent by a Tunisian pasha for peace talks brought back bad news for the pirates.

"One million taels of silver?!" Many pirates looked at each other in blank dismay.

"Why did Tunisia pay for the defeat of the imperial fleet? Although we pay taxes to the empire every year and are usually recruited by the empire, we don't want to pay for this defeat!" A pirate leader said other things The voice of pirates.

As soon as the imperial fleet was defeated on the front line, the enemy was approaching the city, and the consequences of the defeat turned out to be that they in Tunisia had to bear the price of the defeated.

"Because they can't threaten Constantinople even if they defeat the empire's fleet, and we Tunisia is located in North Africa, and we are regarded as pirates by the Europeans, so we can deal with us no matter what. Algiers has already compromised with the other side before the sea battle , compensated 110 million taels of treasure as protection fees, and we can pay 10 taels less silver than them." The Tunisian Pasha clearly saw the purpose of the joint fleet, but he didn't know how to deal with this matter. .

"Master Pasha, do you mean that we obediently pay them a protection fee of 100 million taels of silver? We are pirates! We have always collected protection fees from surrounding countries, how can we pay them protection fees?! "The pirate leaders who stayed in Tunisia yelled.

Only the Tunisian Pasha and the pirate leaders who were enlisted to participate in the sea battle knew the horror of each other.

"If we don't pay them a protection fee that satisfies them, if our Tunisia is captured like Algiers, then we will lose more than 100 million taels! Those cannons on the fort, the fortress we built with great difficulty, and our city All the treasures will be plundered, and even our lives will be lost. We have no reinforcements. The imperial fleet was defeated and a large number of sailing ships were destroyed. It will take at least one winter for the empire to recover. It will take time for Constantinople to reassemble the fleet, not to mention that the combat effectiveness of the newly formed fleet will definitely be greatly reduced compared to the current fleet. Can it really repel the fleet that blocked us in Tunisia? The enemy fleet will not have other reinforcements? ’ The Tunisian Pasha worriedly analyzed himself.

Injured in the sea battle, he saw the horror of the United Fleet. The strong ships and guns have surpassed the powerful Ottoman Empire in the past, especially when he was on the right wing of the Ottoman Empire Fleet, fighting against the iron-clad ships that looked like black sea monsters. .

The inability to do any effective damage to the ironclad left a huge psychological shadow on him and his fellow Tunisian pirates.

Frightened by the defeat of the imperial fleet, the surrender of Algiers, and the ironclads of the black sea monster, they had little faith that the castles and fortresses of Tunisia could stand in the way.

Algiers has two coastal defense forts loaded with a large number of artillery and a fortress, hasn't it been breached?
Unless the United Fleet really wants to drive them all to extinction, as long as the "protection fee" charged is within the psychological tolerance of the pirates, they will be entangled in whether to compromise with the United Fleet like Algiers.

While the pirates in Tunisia were struggling, the ships of the United Fleet were spying on Tunisia from the open sea.

Originally, the United Fleet lost more than 10 ships in the sea battle and captured more than 20 ships of the Ottoman Empire. .

In fact, casualties are the most serious loss for the United Fleet. The Fourth Fleet, the Royal Fleet, and the Knights Hospitaller have few core members. If they really want to continue sacrificing a group of people to conquer forts and fortresses, they will also weigh it. .

"This is a psychological contest. It depends on whether they will take the initiative to compromise under the threat of our military power." Sun Xu and other officers of the Fourth Fleet called the senior officials of the Royal Navy and the Knights of the Hospital to drink tea together on the ironclad ship. , they were waiting for a reply from the Tunisian pirates.

"If the pirates in Tunisia don't intend to hand over 100 million taels of silver, then we can only attack Tunisia by force. Tunisia's defense level is similar to that of Algiers. If we want to take it there, it is estimated that we will have to sacrifice a lot." The large group of Hospital Knights Long Castella said.

"In order to deter the surrounding pirates and the towns of the Ottoman Empire, if they refuse, we must forcibly capture Tunisia and burn the pirate dens in Tunisia. Otherwise, if everyone continues to resist like this, how should we collect protection fees? Most of them will not They will understand the reason and see if they have the fighting spirit to resist." Sun Chuanting said.

"Attacking the fort will drive the prisoners we have captured as a forward, so as to reduce our losses." Sir Pennington said.

Britain, with a population of only a few million, is equally deficient in human resources.

"We think the same way." The others nodded as well.

"The fate of the Tunisian pirates is in their hands. After extorting a fortune in Tunisia, we will ask for protection money from the pirates in Tripoli. Next will be Egypt, the Levant, Cyprus, Rhode Island..." Sun Xu pointed to about one-third of the coastal area of ​​the Mediterranean Sea on the map, and had already planned the looting location in advance.

"It's difficult for the big fleet to act when winter comes, so we can only send a small fleet to blackmail them," Castella said.

"During the winter, our large fleet recuperates in the island of Malta, and at the same time sends a small fleet along the coast to collect protection fees. If the Pasha in any place does not pay us protection fees, then in the spring of next year, we will wait for our joint fleet to come and attack. .” Sun Xu said.

(End of this chapter)