I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 431: North Africa Preliminary Settlement (Two-in-One Chapter)

Southeast of Tunisia.

The province of Tataouine faces the sea on one side and the desert on the other.

Ney stood on a high ground, looking at the town of Remada through the telescope, and said in a deep voice:
"The scout's report was correct, the terrain is indeed very suitable for the army to deploy.

"If we launch an attack tomorrow morning, we can probably retake the town by noon."

"You are always so courageous and energetic." Moro smiled and said, "But my advice is that it is best not to attack there yet."

Ney looked at him in confusion. "Why not? There are only 2 Ottomans in the town, and we have 5 soldiers. The battle will be over soon."

Moreau nodded. "Yes, yes. An easy victory. We took back an insignificant town. Perhaps we should send someone to Tripoli to politely inform the Ottomans, 'Hey, your French friends are here.'"

Ney paused when he heard this. It was indeed as he said. If we launched an attack on the enemy in Remada, it would inevitably alert Tripoli, where nearly 1 Ottoman troops were stationed.

His mission this time was to completely wipe out Benjiur. If he stormed the city of Tripoli, which had already made defensive preparations, it would probably be a very difficult battle.

Moreau patted him, then pulled the reins to turn his horse around:
"We've finished looking at the battlefield, let's go back first."

Ney glanced at this hateful nobleman, urged his horse to catch up, and had to ask again:
"So what are your plans?"

Moro did not hide it from his honest partner:
"You see, although we have 4 people, half of them are recruits who have never been on the battlefield. Some of your soldiers even lack the necessary training."

They won an unexpected victory in the town of Tamira last time and were granted a fief. Afterwards, the nobles, stimulated by the news, rushed to Tunisia to "seek glory". As for the civilians, the General Staff opened a "quick training camp" to provide 5 months of simple training to those who had no experience but were interested in joining the army, and then they could go to serve in areas where the fighting was not fierce. For those who had participated in the night patrol and the rural security team, the training time could be shortened to 2 months. [Note 1]

These "fresh blood" arrived in Tunisia on the naval transport ship. Joseph directly handed them over to Moreau and Ney for command, and let them take charge of the battle against Tripoli. However, Berthier was still not at ease, so he sent an experienced staff officer to assist the two young commanders.

Moreau continued: "It is difficult to predict what will happen if we use such a force to attack Tripoli."

Ney muttered quietly: "Once our cannons arrive, everything will be fine."

Yes, Moro had more than a dozen noble young men who could operate cannons. They came directly from the military academy. At present, this young army not only had artillery, but also 1 cavalry, a ridiculously high ratio. Most of them were noble classmates brought by Moro from school, but the Tunisian local government, which was responsible for their logistics, suffered.

Moro nodded and said, "Cannons can solve some problems, but if we can get Benjiul's main force to leave Tripoli, things will be much simpler."

Ney's eyes flashed with surprise: "You must have thought of a way!"

Although he didn't like this cunning noble, he still recognized his intelligence.

"I'm not absolutely sure, but I can give it a try."

Moreau said, looking eastward: "Ah, my lovely fiefdom, I wonder how much it produces every year."

Ney glanced at him with disdain and muttered quietly: "Are all nobles so greedy?"

At noon the next day, Moreau "requisitioned" a large number of supplies from the nearest town of Med, but these things had nothing to do with the war, including expensive clothes, jewelry, handicrafts, spices, etc. Under his mandatory order, Med was almost completely emptied.

If he had not sent soldiers to block the city hall, Med's officials would have gone to the governor to complain.

The old staff officer sent by the General Staff was so frightened that he kept persuading Moreau to return the items immediately, otherwise he would be brought to the military court. Ney was already accustomed to his partner's illegal operations, but this time he repeatedly stated to local officials that the incident had nothing to do with him and was all done by an officer named Moreau.

Back in the camp of the "Guide of God" Cavalry Regiment, Moreau called on the noble soldiers to donate all their belongings, promising to return them immediately after the battle of Tripoli was over, and adding an additional 40% interest.

After some preparations were completed, a luxurious caravan consisting of seventeen or eighteen carriages left Med and headed towards the Ghadamis tribe in the oasis in the south.

The caravan arrived at the southernmost town of Remada in Tunisia. Seeing that it was getting late, they camped there to rest.

Not surprisingly, the Ottoman cavalry that occupied the town of Remada soon discovered this "fat sheep" while patrolling, and then immediately returned to the town to report.

A few hours later, nearly a thousand Ottoman soldiers swarmed in, quickly defeated the caravan's guards, and stole the carriages.

The leading officer was overjoyed when he heard the soldiers' report on the looting - a rough estimate showed that the value of the goods was close to 100,000 riyals!

Soon, he learned from the captured merchants that this was only the first batch of goods from an Italian caravan, and nearly seven times more goods would arrive at the port of Tataouine in half a month.

However, the value of the goods was high, so the number of escorts was greater. According to the merchant, the Italian caravan hired French regular troops to escort it, and the number of people might be more than a regiment, that is, nearly 2 people.

The officer immediately transported the loot back to the town and sent someone to send the news back to Tripoli.

In the white palace of Tripoli, Benjiul's eyes lit up when he heard that goods worth 70 riyals would be landed in Tataouine.

70 rials, that is more than 1 million rivas! This is a huge sum of money that any warlord cannot help but be tempted by.

Especially after the British only paid a small half of the 10 pounds of "benefits" they had promised and suddenly stopped paying, it almost cost him his life.

The troops in his hands were sent from Istanbul. If they could not be provided with enough benefits, they would not mind replacing one of their own as the Pasha of Tripoli - this was a tradition in the Ottoman Guards, and they even replaced the Ottoman Sultan many times.

After a brief hesitation, Benjiul made a decision to lead 6 soldiers himself, plus 2 people from the town of Remada, to rob the port of Tataouine.

He had recently received news that the main force of the French army was fighting the Algiers in Annaba, more than 400 miles away, which meant that Taitaouine only had less than 2 troops.

The port of Tataouine is only about 70 miles away from the city of Tripoli, and if you walk fast, you can get there in a week.

If I lead 8 troops to launch a surprise attack, I should be sure of victory.

After robbing the 70 rials of goods, he used part of it to bribe the high-ranking officials in Istanbul, and took the rest to retreat to Tripoli. If the situation was not right in the future, he would leave the task of defending the city to his subordinates, and escape back to Istanbul to enjoy his life.

Four days later.

Benjiul looked back at the wasteland behind him, unable to suppress his excitement. This was already in Tunisia, and his scout cavalry reported that they had not found any trace of the army until Med.

According to the news from the Tripoli Navy, a large caravan had indeed recently departed from Genoa and headed south.

Moreau didn't even bother to lie about the fleet - the Mediterranean trade was prosperous, and countless merchant ships traveled between Italy and North Africa every day. Benjiul would naturally "claim" one of the fleets as his target. When Benjiul's troops reached a hilly area near Med, they suddenly heard chaotic shouting from the front.

He frowned and looked at the officer beside him: "What happened?"

The marching line was too long, and he was in the middle and rear of the troops, nearly two kilometers away from the vanguard.

Before the officer sent cavalry to investigate the situation, Benjiul vaguely heard a burst of dense gunfire.

He also had some battlefield experience and immediately determined that there were at least thousands of enemy troops firing at the same time.

Where did this enemy come from? He hurriedly ordered his troops to deploy a defensive formation on the spot, and personally organized the cavalry to line up and prepare for battle.

However, before his cavalry could gather together, the ground began to tremble slightly, followed by the sound of horse hooves like heavy rain hitting the roof.

All the Ottoman soldiers froze in their places and looked in the direction of the sound. Soon, a large group of cavalrymen in white uniforms emerged from the hills in the distance, waving sabers and rushing towards them.

In front of the Ottoman army, Ney commanded an infantry line of more than 2,000 soldiers, approaching the enemy step by step in an orderly manner.

Thanks to the ample preparation time this time, he was finally able to line up these brand new soldiers in an orderly manner.

In the age of flintlock rifles, it was impossible for a marching column to defeat a neat infantry line. Even if Frederick the Great were reborn, he would not be able to do it.

After only three very uncoordinated volleys, the Ottomans began to flee in all directions.

At the same time, more than a thousand cavalrymen on Moreau's side had already broken through Benjiul's rear guard and were turning their horses around to reorganize their formation.

Benjiul looked at the soldiers beside him who were already in chaos, closed his eyes in despair, and then drew a pistol from his waist...

Outside Tripoli.

Moreau put down the telescope, pointed to a large piece of farmland on the southeast side of the ancient city, and said happily to Ney:
"Look, that's my fiefdom."

He turned a little further to the south and said, "Ah, that should be your fief. It seems that we will be neighbors for a long time in the future."

Ney frowned and interrupted him: "Cannons! Can't you care about when those damn cannons will be delivered?"

Although Benjiul was dead, the Ottoman troops in Tripoli were not his direct subordinates, and they soon introduced a new commander to continue defending the ancient city.

It would be really difficult to attack without the help of cannons.

"Celestine!" Moreau shouted, turning around. "Go see where that damned cannon is!"

While he was turning his head, Ney took the telescope and took a quick look towards the southeast. He was immediately excited: Oh my God! That is really a good piece of land. It looks much more fertile than the land in my hometown!

More than an hour later, the long-awaited cannons finally appeared outside the city of Tripoli.

As the cannons sounded, the soldiers of the legion rubbed their hands together, their eyes glowing green - as long as they could capture Tripoli, they would most likely also gain a piece of land nearby.

As soon as a small gap appeared in the formation of the Ottoman defenders, several companies of soldiers rushed forward enthusiastically accompanied by the rumbling of artillery...

Indian Peninsula.

Salem, a city east of Mysore.

In a luxurious sedan chair carried by more than 20 people, Tipu Sultan sighed again, looked at the vaguely visible river in the distance, and said in a melancholy tone:

"I wish you had stayed here. You helped Mysore to a great victory."

Lafayette also sighed:
"I don't want to leave beautiful Mysore either, but you know, the British are instigating their minions to invade our Tunisia, and I have to go back to fight them."

Of course, this was just an excuse. In fact, the battles in Annaba and Tripoli had already ended, and he should have gone straight to the Palace of Versailles to attend the promotion ceremony after returning.

His commission as "Provisional Assistant to the Secretary of State for War" had been signed by His Majesty the King. His performance in India this time was satisfactory, causing great losses to the British, but he did not complete the task of "defeating the British", so the word "provisional" was added before his position.

But he was already an important official in a very high position, and he could imagine the fawning looks of those nobles who had looked down on him in the past when they saw him.

"Damn the British!" Tipu Sultan slapped his armrest angrily, then shook his head and said, "From now on, I have to deal with these demons alone."

Lafayette remembered the instructions of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and whispered hurriedly:

"Don't worry, there will definitely be other friends to help you."

Tipu Sultan's eyes suddenly lit up:
"You mean?"

Lafayette moved closer:
"All weapons, raw materials for casting cannons, medicines, gunpowder, military uniforms, etc. will be shipped from the Ottoman direction. But the price will be slightly higher than before."

Ottoman Empire was a traditional trading partner of Mysore, and there were a large number of fleets between the two countries. These offshore merchant ships traveled close to the coastline, were flexible and hidden, and it was difficult to stop them even if the British fleet filled the Indian Ocean.

"Great!" Tipu Sultan was delighted, "The price is not important."

Mysore has a population of 1 million and has been doing business with Europe for a long time, so its treasury is very abundant.

Lafayette continued: "There are two more things you must remember."

"Please go ahead." Tipu Sultan immediately sat up straight.

"First, you must stockpile large quantities of food in major cities such as Mysore, Srirangapatna, and Salem, and preferably also ammunition."

[Note 1] The nobles of this era generally had to learn skills such as horse riding, swordsmanship, hunting, etc. from a young age. After adulthood, they would at most be trained in formations and commands, and then they would have basic combat capabilities. Of course, there were always lazy or unconventional guys who were unwilling to learn these, but they would also be looked down upon by other nobles.

(End of this chapter)