In late May, the troops to conquer the Tripoli coast were assembled.
The total number of the Army is 8,000, including a border brigade and 4,000 soldiers temporarily transferred from the field force.
According to the intelligence detected by the navy, there are more than a dozen pirate gangs entrenched on that coast, and there are many nomadic tribes in the interior. The governance structure of the area is loose, and the overall combat effectiveness is not as good as Cyrenaica.
However, the local city defense facilities are better than Cyrenaica.
The core of North Africa Tripoli is the old city Oea, which continues the city defense system of the classical period. There is a castle built in the northeast with higher terrain to defend against threats from land and sea.
Vitus picked up the city defense sketch drawn by the naval staff and sighed:
"The castle looks good, but it's a pity that if the local lord refuses to surrender, this castle will be bombed into ruins by Battleship."
After reading the entire combat plan, Vitus sent an edict to Privy Council, Army Department, and Admiralty, formally issuing the combat order.
Then, he took out the next document, which recorded the business report of Minister Trade to Western Mediterranean.
After Cotton Act was passed, the price of Western Mediterranean cotton increased by 20% to 40%, and Sicily Island and Iberia set off a wave of switching to cotton in the south.
However, the arable land in these two areas is limited, and if the cotton planting area is expanded, it will easily lead to food problems.
According to reports in newspapers such as "Arno River Citizen Gazette" and "Liguria Monthly Gazette", some businessmen called for an attack on Tunisia (Hafsid Dynasty) to seize a cotton-producing area with more sunlight.
Vitus was so happy that he choked on his coffee and coughed repeatedly, "Ahem, cotton Crusaders? Italy businessman is really creative."
However, this idea remains at the discussion stage. Hafsid Dynasty has certain self-protection capabilities. The attacker needs to dispatch more than 20,000 troops, making the attack difficult.
In 1270, the target of the eighth Crusaders was Tunisia. French Army could not capture it for a long time. King Louis IX and a large number of soldiers died of illness. After several months of delay, Hafsid Dynasty paid an indemnity and sent away this group of Crusaders whose enthusiasm had faded...
"France is busy interfering with Wars of the Roses, Castile is in internal chaos, and this Crusaders operation cannot be carried out."
Before the development of the Americas, the cotton of the Mediterranean Sea mainly came from Egypt and Levant. Vitus controlled these two production areas. The trend was established. Small fights in other areas could not reverse the situation.
On May 29th, nothing happened.
On the morning of May 30th, the expeditionary force left the port by boat.
Leo stood on the deck, looking at the farewell ceremony on the pier, and felt that leaving Constantinople this time was different from the past.
Once, Leo went to live in Chersonesus and went to fight in the east. I always felt in my heart that I would come back after a while. Constantinople has always been my home.
Now Leo is appointed as Borderland Region Governor, which is different in nature from the ordinary Governor, and is a lifelong appointment. From now on, Leo will settle down in North Africa, and even if he returns to Constantinople, he will only stay for a short time, and there will be no more time like his teenage years.
On June 17, the fleet rested at Hesperides (Benghazi) in Cyrenaica.
"Leo boy, I've finally waited for you."
Thomas came to the dock enthusiastically and embraced this young man who was about the same size as himself.
He winked behind him and asked the guards to carry out a copper box with dozens of pieces of gold piled inside.
"Leo boy, when you mentioned insect eradication and incense in Jerusalem, my uncle made some money in this business, and this is yours. How about it? If you are a scum like Demetrius, I will definitely not give you any money."
After chatting for a while, Thomas took his nephew to visit the city. Now, Hesperides's new city wall is completed, with 18-pound coastal defense guns and a small number of 24-pound heavy guns placed on it to effectively resist threats from the sea.
Thomas stroked the hot bricks on the surface of the city wall and warned Leo:
"The situation of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica is similar. The north is Mediterranean Sea, and the east, south and west sides are deserts that are difficult to pass. Although it is in Africa, it is essentially equivalent to an isolated island.
If we go to war with France, Portugal and other countries, the enemy will not be able to threaten the homeland and will most likely attack our overseas territories. Therefore, after you seize the local area, remember to recruit civilians to build fortresses, dig more Reservoir, and be prepared to be blocked for more than a year."
Leo smiled and nodded, "What I studied at the Military Academy is Artillery and engineering. It happens to use my professional knowledge, so there is no big problem in this aspect."
After entering the official residence, Leo gave the gifts he brought to his cousins, including Manga book and various new toys.
"It's the latest issue of "Adventures of Shieldmaiden Lagertha"!" Zoe hugged Manga book and screamed, and Andrei next to him started to argue. As a result, he woke up Alexios who was sleeping soundly. The latter cried loudly, making the scene even more chaotic.
On June 25, the fleet arrived at the sea off Tripoli.
It was summer, and the sun shone unobstructed on the sea. The defenders discovered this huge fleet and quickly closed the northern city gate facing the sea.
The houses in the city are mainly light yellow. These Arab-style houses are close together, and their flat roofs are continuous in the sun.
The most conspicuous landmark building is the fortress in the north of the city. The surface is covered with a layer of red paint, so it is called Red Fort. According to prior investigation, the city's defense focus and administrative center are that castle.
Fleet Admiral Cohen issued an order, "According to the original plan, Battleship bombarded the port."
Later, he lamented to the painters and reporters accompanying the army. "When we were at war with the Venice, there was a Red Fort in the southeast of the Euboea. I didn't expect it to be here too. Hurry up and paint. In a few hours, this magnificent building will no longer exist."
After hearing the admiral's words, Leo complained silently in his heart:
"The navy is quite happy. It doesn't matter if they destroy the whole city. They are not responsible for the reconstruction work anyway. I am the one who really suffers. It is really a headache to rebuild the houses and plan the city defense, water storage and drainage facilities."
But he could not change the generals' decision and could only stay on the deck and act as a spectator.
After a short period of maneuvering, twelve Battleships lined up in a column, with their sides pointed at the port.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The artillery fired one after another, and Leo felt that the deck beneath his feet was shaking, and the surroundings were filled with acrid smoke. As a graduate of Artillery and the former deputy company commander of Artillery, he had already adapted to this environment and did not make any rude behavior.
Soon, the first round of shooting ended, and more than 350 shells hit the port, the stone wall, and the city behind the stone wall, triggering horrified shouts from the people. The soldiers stationed on the city wall were heartbroken, and most of them lay down behind the battlements, no longer daring to show their heads to observe the sea.
After a moment of tranquility, continuous roars were heard from the sea again, and more than 300 shells rushed out of the barrel. This time, their targets were concentrated on ten towering towers, and the same was true for subsequent rounds of shooting.
In just a few minutes, all the towers were destroyed, and a large cloud of dust filled the sky above the city wall. The defenders lay in the dust mist and coughed crazily. Some people raised their heads and looked around, using the cover of the dust mist to escape from the city wall.
The shelling continued, and more and more soldiers escaped. At one o'clock in the afternoon, when Marine Battalion launched the landing, there were almost no people visible above the city wall.
During the street fighting, the streets in the city were narrow, which slowed down Army's advancement. At two o'clock in the afternoon, Army took control of the city walls and gates, with only a few soldiers hiding in Red Fort to defend it.
Red Fort was damaged in the previous shelling phase, however, the southern area slightly further from the coast was well preserved. The defenders blocked the door with barriers, then occupied the high-rise building, hiding behind the windows and shooting Rome soldiers.
The news reached the dock, and the naval transport ship began to unload the heavy artillery. Leo still did not speak. He came to a relatively intact city wall and overlooked the entire city from a high position.
According to historical records, the previous name of this city was Oea. Together with Leptis and Sabratha, it was called the "Three Cities" (Tripoli means three cities).
After the seventh century, Leptis and Sabratha were seriously damaged, and the surviving citizens gradually moved to the better-preserved Oea.
Even so, the population size of Oea is still in a long-term downward trend, and there are large areas of open land in the city that are used to grow olive trees, date palms, and vegetables.
After observing for a long time, Leo is very dissatisfied with the layout of the city, or in other words, the city has no layout at all.
Although there are large areas of open space, the streets in the city are very narrow and houses are crowded together in a mess, which has an impact on transportation, sanitation, and fire prevention.
Leo found that there was a mansion on higher ground in the east of the city, surrounded by olive groves and grassland, which was suitable for his residence and office.
"Nine Fingers, take a team of soldiers over to have a look. If there is nothing wrong with the mansion, come back and let me know as soon as possible."
"As ordered." The guard behind him responded loudly, leading twenty soldiers into a trot and disappearing into the complicated streets.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, the remaining defenders of Red Fort were wiped out, and Siege Warfare was calmed down.
Following the soldiers' guidance, the reporter and the painter came to a small square, where an ancient single arch Triumphal Arch stood.
This is the ruins of Rome from the classical period. Reporters and civil servants observed the style of the building and compared it with historical records and concluded that Triumphal Arch was built in the period of Marcus Aurelius and has a history of 1390 years.
Leo came after hearing the news and walked around Triumphal Arch, but found nothing special. Triumphal Arch only had an outline of stones, and most of the decorations had disappeared.
"I guess the locals have forgotten the origin of this thing."
Leo came to the mansion in the east of the city, which belonged to a local noble. It has complete facilities, including bedrooms, Garden, water wells, and Reservoir.
"From now on, this is my Governor house."
After receiving the order, the housekeeper arranged for the guards, scribes, and servants to move in. Their first job was to clean the room, followed by hanging a mosquito net on the door and lighting insect-killing incense.
Mosquito nets and incense are standard equipment for military operations in summer.
When camping, soldiers need to hang gauze curtains at the entrance or bed, and light incense before going to bed at night to reduce the number of mosquito bites and the incidence of malaria.
In the Latin world, the means to prevent malaria are to burn herbs to purify the air, or to avoid sitting on the ground to prevent the source of the disease from entering the body. These measures are basically ineffective in preventing mosquitoes, or in other words, they do not realize that malaria comes from mosquitoes.
As a promoter of anti-insect incense, Leo is very concerned about its effect.
According to feedback from soldiers and statistics from the medical school, anti-insect incense is indeed effective. Vitus recognized this contribution and rewarded Leo with many good things.
However, Leo heard his father mention a drug for treating malaria - Cinchona Bark. Leo privately inquired with a scholar and found that this drug had never appeared in books. He might have misremembered it.
The next day, Leo went out to fight with the army.
In fact, this was more like an armed parade. Leptis was reduced to ruins. Sabratha was home to 200 households. Many sections of the city wall collapsed, and the defense effect was very poor.
The remaining villages and towns have weak defenses and no stone walls. The residents have heard about the Roman Legion's achievements, and most of the villages and towns have surrendered.
The attitude of the nomads became more vigilant. They fled to inland oases one after another, planning to wait and see for a while. Rome army spared these tribes and targeted the pirate strongholds along the coast.
Pirates are used to burning, killing, and plundering. If they choose to appease them, they will rebel again after a while. For this kind of group, the attitude of the Rome army has always been to resolutely exterminate them.
Lasting more than half a month, Roman Legion swept the entire coast, captured a thousand pirate prisoners of war, and rescued 300 slaves.
"Seven hundred people were captured during the siege. Including pirate prisoners of war, the total labor force is 1,700. The number is too small."
Leo plans to recruit a small number of civilians to build a new type of city wall after the situation stabilizes, imitating Uncle Qi's city defense construction in Hesperides.
At this time, the civilian officials compiled the information of Red Fort, and based on what they saw during the army's outing, they estimated that the entire coast had a settled population of 70,000 and 30,000 to 50,000 herdsmen.
The natural environment here is drier than Cyrenaica. Cyrenaica has a mountain range stretching for hundreds of miles, which effectively intercepts water vapor and produces more rainfall. Tripoli's coast is flat, with insufficient rainfall and lower crop yields.
However, there is an ancient trade route in Tripoli, connecting Kingdom of Bornu south of Sahara Desert.
The Berber camel team operates this trade route, selling textiles and other handicrafts, and obtaining gold, ostrich feathers and spices.
In recent years, the most popular ones in the South are Matchlock and Leo. They were shocked by the numbers recorded in the books, "The price has increased twelve times? Is it so profitable?"
After careful consideration, he felt that Central Administration would not agree to expand arms Trade, but would instead limit the export volume of firearms.
If the Berber tribe did not sell their firearms to Bornu, but hoarded them on their own, or sold them to the Hafsid Dynasty in the west, it might threaten the rule of Tripoli and Cyrenaica.
Leo After reading the entire briefing, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. This coast is arid and barren, with no minerals.
In terms of business, a whole camel team working hard for a year is not as good as a large sailing ship sailing to West Africa. The profit of this route is too little.
If nothing else happens, I will spend time on this hot and barren coast until the end of my life.