Chapter 208: Named "Savior of Suffering"

Chapter 209: Awarded the title of "Savior of Suffering"

Berthier did not even meet Sinanedin who came as an envoy, but sent someone to the Kasir Palace to submit a list of pirates and asked Hamud Ali to hand them over immediately.

Ali, under the advice of Hafsa, decided to show a tough attitude and immediately drove the French who came to negotiate out of Tunisia without compromise.

At the same time, a large-scale mobilization began in Tunisia.

Because a large number of troops were sent to Kairouan to deal with Yunis, there were less than a thousand guards left in Tunisia. However, Sinanedin showed good personal ability and mobilized more than 7,000 guards in just two days.

For those who are not familiar with the situation in Tunisia, this may sound a bit awkward. That's because the word "guard" is not the name of an army in Tunisia, but is closer to a class.

More than a hundred years ago, the Ottoman Empire, in its heyday, sent its elite guards to invade North Africa, including Tunisia, Algiers, Tripoli and other places, and easily defeated the locals, turning these places into Ottoman provinces.

Later, with the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman guards stationed in North Africa began to control these places, and gradually broke away from Ottoman rule and became separatist regimes.

The Ottoman Sultan had no choice but to give them the title of "Pasha", which is similar to the title of governor, recognizing their rule over various parts of North Africa.

In order to prevent being assimilated by the locals, these Ottoman guards strictly implemented internal marriages, maintained Ottoman clothing, customs and other traditions, and became a unique class.

After a long time, the Ottoman guards became very rich by exploiting the locals in North Africa. The new generation of guards has lived a rich life since childhood, and has long lost the bravery of their ancestors.

At the same time, differentiation began to appear among the guards. The lower-level guards continued to undertake the tasks of the army, while the powerful could hire others to serve in their place, and eventually it developed into a system where they could be exempted from military service as long as they paid money.

At this point, the Tunisian Guards were no longer an army, but a synonym for the nobility.

At present, there are nearly 90,000 guards in Tunisia, but less than 20,000 real combat troops.

However, in name, all guards are still soldiers, so after the Tunisian Bey issued a mobilization order, a large number of guards were pulled out and organized into the army.

But most of these people have never even touched a gun, and their military training is almost blank, so their combat effectiveness can be imagined.

At noon the next day, the envoy of the Guards Corps came to the outside of Tunisia, listed the crimes of the pirates, and denounced Hammoud Ali for colluding with and sheltering the pirates.

Then, Berthier ordered an attack.

Tunisia City is close to Tunisia Port and is a city on the sea. Therefore, the main consideration during its construction was to defend against threats from the sea. Even its walls only have three sides - the side facing the hinterland has almost no defense.

However, the Guards Corps happened to attack from land.

Unlike the landing operation in Bizerte, the entire corps can be fully deployed this time. Cannons, war horses and other equipment are all in place. This is a battle that can fully demonstrate the full strength of the Guards Corps!

Berthier can become the chief of staff of the Emperor because he has an extraordinary talent in the deployment of troops.

He had already mapped the nearby terrain clearly the night before and formulated a detailed combat plan.

At this time, he stood on the mound opposite Tunisia City, looking at the Tunisian army in the telescope. Although he was a little nervous, he still strictly followed the planned time and ordered the artillery to start the attack.

The rumbling sound of artillery immediately spread to Tunisia City, and with the news that Tunisia Port was blocked by the European fleet yesterday, the city was in chaos everywhere.

At the side door of Kashir Palace, the guards were surprised to see the Bey's nephew, Lord Haji, coming with more than a dozen followers.

The leading guard hurried forward to salute and asked, "Pasha, what can I do for you?"

"I have an urgent matter to see the Bey." Haji gestured to the tailor behind him, "By the way, make a new robe for him."

"Make a robe? Now?" The guards listened to the sound of artillery in the distance and looked very confused.

At this moment, those "tailors" suddenly rushed into the palace gate and controlled the guards with pistols. Next to the statue at Kashir Palace, forty or fifty people with muskets and scimitars immediately rushed out, gathered around Haji, and continued to rush to the inner hall.

Due to the war with Europeans, a lot of the guards of Kashir Palace were withdrawn. At this time, there were only dozens of guards here, patrolling around the palace.

Prosper personally led more than a dozen agents from the police intelligence department to line up in front. Once they saw a guard rushing over, they immediately gave a command to stop and greet them with a volley of fire, then reloaded their ammunition and continued to move forward.

With such an orderly advance, it took them only more than ten minutes to cover Haji and reach the back hall of the Kasir Palace.

Finally, in a bedroom on the second floor, Haji saw Hamud Ali in casual clothes and Hafsa standing beside him.

There was only endless coldness in his eyes.

Prosper commanded his men to search the house carefully, and after confirming that there were no guards, he led the agents out, leaving only Haji's people in the house.

Haji's guards immediately stepped forward and surrounded Ali. The latter shouted with anger: "Haji, what are you going to do?!"

Haji did not answer, but took out the scimitar from the guard's waist and strode towards him.

Ali panicked a little, staggered back, and his voice began to tremble: "You, why are you?"

"Seventeen years ago, when I was young, you forged my father's will and took away my position as Bey. I can bear it!" Haji looked at Hafsa aside and said excitedly, "Three years ago, You even wanted to take away my hafsa! I knelt down to pray to you, but you had me kicked out.”

Haji took a few steps forward, held Hafsa with one hand, and raised the machete with the other hand: "Do you understand? Without her, my life will be gone!"

"Ah, you can take her away, I...I..."

Ali's words were interrupted by a cold light, and the scimitar pierced under his left rib. The tip of the knife came out through the back.

Haji gritted his teeth and said word by word: "You don't need to agree! I swore three years ago that I would take her back with my own hands!"

As he spoke, he whipped out his machete, and scarlet blood spurted all over him and the woman.

"I did it! Look, I really did it!" Haji threw the machete aside, turned around and hugged Hafsa hard, burying his head in the crook of her neck, "We can finally be together. !”

"Yes!" Hafsa nodded vigorously, "I saw it! From now on, we will never be separated!"

The two hugged each other tightly, both with tears in their eyes.

After a long time, Ishaq's voice came from outside the house: "Haji Pasha, although I shouldn't disturb you, but time is urgent. Are you okay over there?"

Haji quickly wiped away his tears, took a deep breath, and said loudly: "Yes, Mr. Ishaq, you can come in."

Immediately, Hafsa came forward and announced to the guards in the palace that Hamoud Ali had just been killed by a traitor in the navy. Before her death, she left a will that her nephew Haji would take over as Bey.

Outside the city of Tunisia, an infantry battalion on the left wing of the Guards Corps had broken through the Tunisian Guards' defense line, quickly triggering the collapse of the Tunisian army.

In fact, after more than ten rounds of bombardment by the Guards Corps artillery battalion, the Tunisian Guards were already in chaos. Until this time, the latter's only two cannons had not arrived at the position.

Subsequently, the Guards Corps made a feint attack on the right wing, and the left wing easily completed the breakthrough.

The Tunisian army, which was twice as many in number, was completely unable to fight back and was always running around and being beaten.

Just when Berthier was about to order the left wing to turn around and encircle, the palace steward of the Cahill Palace hurried from the Tunisian city and conveyed the order of the new Bey to the Tunisian Guards: "Stop resistance immediately, Let the French army enter the city."

When the Tunisian officers received the order, they all breathed a sigh of relief - the army on the opposite side was really terrifying, with neat formations, fierce firepower, and skillful tactical coordination. They had been worried about when they would take bullets, but now it was better, at least their lives were saved.

Berthier left some people to guard the prisoners, while he quickly rushed to the Cahir Palace with three battalions of troops to provide support to Haji.

You know, although Hamoud Ali is dead, there must still be a large number of Tunisian senior officials loyal to him. However, after years of deliberate suppression by Ali, Haji has almost no political power, and it is difficult to suppress these people.

Just a dozen people from the Police Intelligence Department are simply not enough to ensure Haji's safety.

As the Guards quickly took control of all the main roads in the Tunisian city, officials in the city began to rush to the Kahir Palace, either on their own initiative or in coercion, to meet with the new Bey, Haji.

As for Hamoud Ali's death, no one cared - officials knew he too had come to power through a conspiracy. As for whether he died at the hands of the Tunisian navy, that's not what Haji said.

The first thing Haji did after taking office was to announce the ban on the Tunisian navy involved in the murder of the former Bey, and to hand over the naval officers who participated in the robbery to France for piracy.

Later, he ordered the Praetorian Guards in Kairouan to continue to clear out the Yunis rebels and not to leave the fortress without permission.

Berthier immediately began to form a police force in Tunisia City, all of which were composed of Tunisia's indigenous Berbers. There are many instructors from the Paris Police Academy in the legion, and all training work is handed over to them. At the same time, they will also "temporarily" assume all middle and high-level positions in the Tunisian police force.

The Guards in Tunisia City have all been disarmed, and the current security work in the city is temporarily handled by the Guards Corps and these Berber policemen.

At the same time, Tunisian officials received orders to begin counting the number of white slaves in the country and the number of Europeans living in Tunisia.

…

Paris France.

In the past two days, the front pages of almost all newspapers were filled with news from North Africa.

His Majesty the King sent an expeditionary force, and with the cooperation of the naval fleet, it took only a few months to annihilate the Barbary pirates entrenched in Tunisia. The expeditionary force rescued more than 33,000 European citizens kidnapped by pirates and protected more than 100,000 Christians in Tunisia from the threat of pirates.

On the streets of Paris, people everywhere were excitedly discussing things about Tunisia: "A distant cousin of mine suddenly disappeared five years ago. We didn't know until he was rescued by the expeditionary force a while ago that he was kidnapped by pirates." gone!"

"This group of cursed pirates! Fortunately, His Majesty's army wiped them all out!"

"I heard that nearly a thousand pirates were captured this time, and a large number of pirate ships were seized. It's great!"

"Long live His Majesty the King! He is really the greatest king!"

"Hey, did you see what was said in the newspaper? The Pope has declared His Majesty the King the "Savior of Suffering" and thanked him for bringing good news to countless Catholics!"

This title was naturally obtained after Joseph sent someone to communicate with Pope Pius VI. The Pope also wanted to use this incident to enhance the prestige of the Holy See and to please France. Why not?

In the circle of wealthy nobles and factory owners, the focus was on the news that "after sincere exchanges between His Majesty's diplomats and the new Bey of Tunisia, the two sides have signed a series of agreements."

In a salon in the Louvre area, a group of nobles were discussing enthusiastically: "I heard that you can buy land in Tunisia now?"

"Yes, I saw it too. It was published in the Paris Business Daily, and the land price is very cheap."

"I have a relative who is engaged in North African trade. He told me that the land in Tunisia is very fertile and can grow three crops of wheat a year!"

"France has been suffering from drought and hail in the past two years. Maybe buying a piece of land in Tunisia would be a good choice."

"Are you just thinking about farming? Now, Tunisia's tariff on France has almost dropped to zero. Just shipping some wine or clothing can make a lot of money!"

"That's right! Viscount Hoyen is raising funds and preparing to buy two ships to do business in North Africa. Who of you is interested in investing?"

In the Palace of Versailles, Mirabeau and several industrial system officials walked out of the office a little tiredly. They had just discussed how to use Tunisia's agreement to allow the French to build factories there to expand the scale of the industry, and were about to attend the ball held by Her Majesty the Queen to celebrate the successful elimination of pirates.

The Hall of Mirrors was filled with lively music and was already crowded with nobles who came to attend the ball. This kind of ball celebrating happy events was the most popular because the king and queen would definitely be in a very good mood and would often reward everyone with a lot of gold coins.

Queen Marie, with an exaggerated bun on her head, took Louis XVI's arm and walked to the wooden steps at the front of the Hall of Mirrors.

The ladies talked about the queen's trendy hairstyle. It was a huge sailing ship that almost occupied her entire head and was even higher than her face.

"Oh, your Majesty is always the trendsetter! This hairstyle is so beautiful!"

"Oh, God, that's a warship!"

"Mrs. Cisneros, do you know what ship that is?"

As a naval officer's family, Mrs. Cisneros has some knowledge in this area, and immediately said: "If I'm not mistaken, it should be the flagship of the joint fleet, the Fram."

"It is said that the hair ornament was made by His Majesty the King himself."

"Oh, it's so romantic! If a man makes such a ship for me, I will definitely marry him immediately!"

The queen's maid clapped her hands for everyone to be quiet, and then bowed and stepped back two steps.

Queen Marie smiled and raised her hands flat, then looked at her husband beside her with admiration, and said loudly: "Let us pay high tribute to the great 'Savior of Suffering'!"

The nobles immediately shouted: "Long live the Savior of Suffering!"

"Long live His Majesty the King!"

Louis XVI was being watched by so many people, and he rubbed his forehead uncomfortably, thinking that he didn't seem to have done anything, why was the Pope so polite?