I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 406: The Passage to Egypt
As for the other major European countries, they should not react too much to France's sending troops to Tripoli.

Austria was badly beaten in Silesia and was begging France for reinforcements.

Spain is a relative of ours, and has a secret agreement with France to jointly retake Gibraltar and unify the Iberian Peninsula. If you give him some benefits at most, he will definitely stay out of it.

Russia was even more eager for France to send troops to Tripoli, after all, the 1 soldiers stationed there were all Ottoman guards. If Russia wanted to control the Black Sea, it had to completely defeat the Ottomans. The more Ottoman troops France could destroy in North Africa, the fewer enemies they would have on the battlefield in the future.

Moreover, the most popular route for the Gemini Trading Company is the Mediterranean route. France can control one more trading port in the Mediterranean, and Russia can also gain more profits as a result.

There is a national awakening going on in Poland. The elites are taking to the streets to give speeches and organize mass demonstrations all day long. It is such a grand event that they have no time to care about other people's affairs.

The only major country that would oppose France's attack on Tripoli is Prussia. But the Prussian navy... never mind, they basically don't have a navy, so what can they do even if they have an opinion? Anyway, Prussia and France have already started a war in the Southern Netherlands, so at worst, we can just send more troops and see if my uncle will blow your ass in Silesia!

How could other small countries, such as Sardinia, Denmark, Bavaria and the like, dare to meddle in France's affairs?

So this time, Joseph of Tripoli is determined!

In fact, we have to thank the British. If they hadn't been manipulating behind the scenes and letting Benjiul attack Tunisia, he really wouldn't have found such a solid reason to send troops.

In fact, in the eyes of European countries at that time, Tripoli was basically a desolate place with a population of less than 70. Although its land area was only slightly smaller than that of Tunisia [Note 1], its output and port location were very average. Only a few livable cities such as Tripoli and Zawiya, as well as the Port of Tripoli, were of some value.

However, Joseph knew that Tripoli would be an important passage to Egypt. Without Tripoli, it would be an unrealistic fantasy to want to dig the Suez Canal in Egypt. After the opening of the Suez Canal, the sea trade route between the Far East and Europe could be shortened by half. It can be said that whoever gets the Suez Canal will control the economic lifeline of Europe.

In this case, the British would definitely risk their lives to prevent France from obtaining the canal. Before Britain's maritime supremacy could be shaken, it could only gain a foothold in Egypt through land supplies from Tripoli.

Joseph must take advantage of the favorable international situation and take control of Tripoli as soon as possible. By the time other countries react and want to intervene, it will be too late.

Berthier looked at the Dauphin in surprise, and after a while he spoke:

"Your Highness, a large number of our troops are tied up in the Southern Netherlands and Silesia. If we rashly attack Tripoli, the Ottomans might react violently."

In any case, Tripoli was still nominally a province of the Ottoman Empire, so his concerns were not unreasonable.

Joseph said calmly: "Selim III focuses his main energy on promoting domestic reforms and will not waste his strength for distant Tripoli. As long as the Ottomans send a large number of local troops, the Russians will immediately rush in and swallow up all their territories along the Black Sea coast.

"And even if the Ottomans really want to attack, we have sufficient troops."

Berthier was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly said, "Your Highness, with all due respect, I'm afraid our military strength..."

Joseph smiled and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the war in the Southern Netherlands and Algiers will be over by the end of the year, and we can deploy more than 6 troops to Tripoli."

1789 10 Month 25 Day.

Paris.

The rain was very heavy, and there were a few quick flashes of lightning from time to time, making the whole sky look gloomy.

Several inconspicuous black carriages were parked in the Square of Versailles. The door of the first carriage was pushed open, and a butler got out of the carriage with his neck hunched, put the steps in front of the door, and then hurriedly opened an umbrella.

British Foreign Secretary, the Marquis of Wellesley, bent down and got out of the car, looking towards the gate of the Palace of Versailles. He did not see anyone coming to greet him, only a few guards standing at the door staring at him coldly.

Wellesley's face was darker than the clouds in the sky. Just this morning, he received a secret letter from Cornwallis, the Governor-General of India.

The letter stated that the Maratha League required Britain to provide 25 pounds of military funds, as well as 20 cannons and 1 flintlock rifles, in order to continue sending troops to reinforce Carnatic.

Hyderabad even demanded an exorbitant price, proposing that Britain return the Kondavidu area and obtain the Carnatic Nelu House after repelling Mysore.

Cornwallis had already agreed to the Maratha's request on behalf of the East India Company. As for Hyderabad, he could only say that he would wait for the board of directors to make a decision in order to delay the time as much as possible.

Wellesley took a deep breath of the cold air. He didn't understand. Hyderabad had formed an alliance with Mysore decades ago, so it was understandable that it suddenly hindered it. But the Marathas had already surrendered to Britain, so why did they suddenly make things difficult for them?
Little did he know that the French Consul in Mysore, Salah, had secretly contacted the Marathas a few months ago.

Salah remembered that the Crown Prince had said that Indians would feel that they had suffered a loss if they did not gain an advantage in everything. So he and the Mysore representative Shah made a lot of promises to the Marathas, even saying that they would give North Kannada to the Marathas and provide them with benefits of 20 pounds in exchange for their support for Mysore.

The Marathas turned around and used this as a price standard to put forward conditions to the British.

As for Hyderabad, it increased the price it asked for from the UK by 30% based on the benefits given by Salah.

Wellesley knew that the East India Company could only agree to their demands - without the assistance of the Indian princely states, the British army would be exhausted sooner or later if it had to travel thousands of miles to fight Mysore.

He gritted his teeth, stepped on the puddles on the ground, and led several diplomatic officials towards the gate of the Palace of Versailles.

Perhaps it was because the rain was too heavy or the servant did not open the umbrella properly, but when Wellesley finally saw Talleyrand's face that made him angry, half of his clothes were soaked by the rain, and water was dripping from his cuffs, making him look extremely embarrassed.

【Note 1】At the end of the 18th century, Tripoli was populated only in the narrow strip along the coast, and the inland part to the south was almost uninhabited. In addition, Benghazi and areas further east do not currently belong to Tripoli. So it is far from being as large as Libya in the 21st century.

(End of this chapter)