The Royal Guard Legion's first battle
Tunisia City. 💋♩ 💣👍
Inside Cahill Palace, Beihamud Ali listened to the battle reports sent back from the front lines, beaming with delight.
At first, he was quite worried when he learned that Younis had really returned to Tunisia. Fortunately, his beloved wife Hafsa was exceptionally intelligent and anticipated that Younis would risk a surprise attack on Kairouan.
As expected, Koja won a great victory under his orders, capturing and killing thousands of rebel soldiers.
Several officials in the main hall immediately offered a torrent of flattery:
"Isn't it a piece of cake for the great Bey to deal with these rebels?"
"May the Lord protect Bey, and may his army be invincible!"
"Once Younis is gone, the Algerians will no longer be able to extort our Annual Tribute!"
When Ali returned to the palace in high spirits, he couldn't wait to tell Hafsa about the great victory.
Contrary to his expectations, Hafsa seemed somewhat worried upon hearing this:
"Bey, bison become ten times more ferocious than usual after being bitten by a lion, and may even turn the tables and injure the lion. Although you defeated Younis once, you must not let your guard down. I think that the more critical the situation, the more we need to increase our forces and strive to eliminate the rebels as quickly as possible."
Ali admired her for correctly predicting the rebels' situation on the previous two occasions, but this time he was somewhat skeptical. According to the battle report that Koja had just sent back, Younis should now only have a little over 4,000 men left, and they had suffered a crushing defeat immediately after the rebellion, so they shouldn't be able to cause any more trouble.
He gave his beloved concubine a few perfunctory replies, then resumed playing music and dancing.
However, as if possessed by Hafsa, just five days later, bad news came from the front lines.
Koja assembled an army of 13,000 to besiege Younis, but was unexpectedly met with a devastating artillery barrage from the latter.
The battle report stated that the cannons had an extremely long range and incredible power; more than ten salvos inflicted heavy casualties on Koja's vanguard.
Moreover, Younis somehow acquired a large number of very sophisticated Musket, whose firepower was extremely fierce. Under the cover of cannons, he broke through Koja's encirclement in just a few hours and chased him all the way out of the Choukri Valley.
After this battle, Koja's royal Guard Corps dared not confront Younis again. Currently, Koja can only use the Kairouan Fortress to confront Younis.
When Hamud Ali looked at Hafsa again, he was filled with admiration. He immediately did as she suggested, sending 3,000 garrison troops from Tunisia City to Kairouan and allocating 20,000 Riyal to Koja for military expenses.
At the Kairouan Fortress, Younis had just won a battle, also had a solemn expression.
Just as the France advisor had predicted, a France transport ship arrived at Sfax port a week ago, bringing 2,000 Charleville Flintlock Musket and four 6-pound Cannon, as well as 15,000 Ducat Gold Coin.
He used these weapons and money to quickly reorganize his army, then swiftly and decisively crushed Koja's siege and drove Koja all the way into Kairouan Fortress.
However, he was also very troubled by the fortified fortress and the tens of thousands of Tunisia Guard Corps stationed there.
If he had more Gunpowder and cannonballs, he was fully confident that he could have stormed the fortress, or at least forced the defenders to stay out of the way, thus allowing him to bypass the fortress and head straight for Susa.
But he now only has four Carriage ' worth of Ammunition left, which is far from enough to bombard the fortress, and it's uncertain when the next France supply will arrive.
A few days later, Hamud Ali's reinforcements arrived in Kairouan. Koja immediately led his army to launch another fierce attack on Younis's forces...
Just as Koja and Younis were locked in a tug-of-war, more than a dozen transport ships carrying the France Crown Prince Guard Legion, escorted by the anti-piracy Combined Fleet, appeared outside the Port of Bizerte in Tunisia.
This is the northernmost port in Tunisia, and also an important stronghold for Barbary Pirates, or rather, a base for the Tunisia Navy.
A Sloop descended from the flagship of the Combined Fleet, the "Forward," and carried the negotiating officials to the Port of Bizerte.
He submitted a list of several hundred pirates to the local officials in Bizerte, demanding that they be handed over to the Combined Fleet within 24 hours. Furthermore, the Pirate Ship they used for plundering must also be taken away by the Combined Fleet.
Twenty-four hours later, the Combined Fleet took matters into its own hands to arrest the pirates who had not yet surrendered.
The list was provided by Haji Hamud Ali's nephew, and every person on it had committed acts of murder and plunder against European —a record that was easily found by the Tunisia Navy.
Unsurprisingly, the Combined Fleet's request was rejected.
The pirates on the list Dadu local officers in Bizerte, and many of them held considerable influence throughout Tunisia. How could they possibly be willing to "surrender"?
On the fortified gun emplacement of Port of Bizerte, a Tunisia Navy officer, gazing nervously at the distant, faintly visible Warship of the Combined Fleet, said:
Why are the Catholicism countries making such a big fuss this time? What exactly do they want?
The other person nodded. "Yes, there's absolutely no intention to discuss it."
Based on their past experience, even if they accidentally damaged merchant ships from France, Spain, or other countries, they could simply pay some compensation and get by.
Never before have we encountered a situation like today, with Warship pressing in and immediately issuing an ultimatum demanding the immediate handover of our people.
The officer next to him stroked his mustache and said:
"I think it was the United States who orchestrated this. A few months ago, Pargale hijacked two of their ships and killed about ten people."
"This time they seem to be serious." An officer, holding up Telescope and looking very worried, said, "I see a heavy Warship with 60mm guns."
The man with the mustache sneered disdainfully.
"Hmph, what's there to be afraid of? So what if it's First-rate Ship? At most, it'll just patrol outside the harbor. We have our gun emplacements."
Another officer nodded and said:
"That's right. With commercial activity at the port halted, they'll suffer significant losses. I think in the end they'll just lose money, maybe even more."
However, regardless of what the pirates thought, the Port of Bizerte remained tense and fraught with impending doom. Unrelated merchant ships, especially Europe ones, weighed anchor and left the area without hesitation.
On the sea, in the officers' quarters of the "Forward," Berthier looked at the officer in charge of negotiations and said calmly:
"As expected, it seems we'll have to capture those pirates ourselves."
Major General Admiral Cisneros, commander of the Combined Fleet, let out a soft sigh and said:
"Lieutenant Colonel, although I still don't quite agree with a direct assault on the port, I will still try my best to provide fire support for your troops."
Although he received orders from the navy to "strike hard against the Barbary Pirates," no one had told him beforehand that he was to attack a heavily fortified port.
He always thought that he would just take the funding, travel around the Mediterranean Sea a few times, catch some pirates to deal with the United States.
After meeting up with Berthier, the latter produced an order from the Minister of the Navy, telling him that the objective was to seize the pirate base of Port of Bizerte.
This order was naturally obtained by Joseph from the Marquis de Castries. For the latter, the fight against pirates was something the Queen had approved at Cabinet Meeting, and the attack on the harbor was orchestrated by the Berthier Legion —it had nothing to do with him. The navy was merely transporting troops and providing support with artillery fire from the perimeter. Why not use this opportunity to curry favor with the Crown Prince?
Major General Cisneros continued:
"As you know, we can't get too close to the emplacements... so your legion may have to face those heavy cannons alone."
"Rest assured, General." Berthier nodded. "I have confidence in my men."
The landing tactics had been planned long ago. Berthier chatted with several naval officers for a while before getting up and returning to the transport ship. Tomorrow, he would lead the legion's soldiers from there to storm the pirates' lair.
The following morning, ten transport ships lined up outside the Port of Bizerte. Soldiers of the Crown Prince Guard Legion stood in formation on the deck, silently watching the Sailor lower landing Sloop into the water one after another.
On the transport ship "Stallion," Berthier walked past the crowd, nodding earnestly to each soldier. Then, he went to the front of the column, pointed sharply to the coastline in the distance, and shouted:
"That is where we will obtain supreme glory!"
"Soldiers, I will stand with you, with unwavering Courage and faith, to crush those cowardly pirates and send them to face God's punishment!"
"Now, let the world witness the Dreadnought and bravery of the France warriors! To win your victory, all you need to do is charge forward and crush everything in your path!"
He took a deep breath, raised his arm, and shouted:
"For the King! For the Crown Prince! For glory!"
The soldiers immediately erupted in a deafening roar:
"For the King! For the Crown Prince! For glory!"
The sound reached the other transport ships, where the soldiers also joined in the shouting:
"For the King! For the Crown Prince..."
At 10 a. m., the Crown Prince Guard Legion officially began its debut since its formation.
The soldiers skillfully descended the ropes onto the Sloop —a maneuver they had practiced hundreds of times before arriving—and then, they grabbed their oars and began to row with all their might.
Dozens of Sloop shot toward the shore like arrows released from a bow.
On the port's gun emplacements, the lookout quickly spotted the movement on the sea and promptly reported it to the officers.
More than a dozen Tunisia officers gathered together and began to discuss the matter nervously—they had no idea that the fleet outside the harbor was actually planning a landing operation.
"What do we do now? Should we open fire on them?"
"Where is Ayaspasha? Without his orders, firing on the French rashly could have dire consequences!"
Ayas was the highest-ranking officer in charge of port security.
"He seems to be at his..." The officer almost blurted out "those female slaves," then hurriedly corrected himself, "I've already sent someone to report to him."
It wasn't that Ayas was careless; after receiving the ultimatum yesterday, he was still somewhat nervous. However, the traditional style of the Ottoman Army [Note 1] made him return to his Villa in town to spend the night, which was several miles away from here.
The Tunisia officers' laxity reduced the casualties of the Royal Guard Legion. During what was originally a very dangerous beach landing, the port's fortifications did not fire a single shot, and the first wave of landing Sloop had already rushed onto the beach.
Hundreds of paces away, one could already see the pirates setting up obstacles: wooden stakes, one end sharpened and the other driven into the ground, arranged in four or five rows, almost covering the entire beach.
Behind the obstacles, hundreds of Tunisia Navy soldiers, holding various types of Musket, nervously gazed at the coastline.
Davout, as one of the first assault troops, leaped from the Sloop, turned back to wave to the soldiers of his company, and shouted:
"Hurry up! Get off the ship and line up! What are you dawdling for? Have you forgotten how to run?"
As his Flag Bearer planted the flag on the beach, dozens of soldiers from several nearby Sloop quickly gathered around him. The strict training of the Royal Guard Legion was on full display at this moment; in just over ten minutes, they had formed three neat Horizontal Formation and began loading Ammunition.
Several other soldiers carried a small cannon, no taller than their knees, and placed it on the left side of the formation. Those behind them pried open Wooden Box filled with cannonballs and placed them in front of the cannon.
Only then did the order from Tunisia commander Ayas reach the artillery position. Upon receiving the order to "fire at the enemy," the Tunisia soldiers hurriedly adjusted the angle of their cannons, aiming them at the landing troops on the beachhead.
However, before they could even fire, the "Forward" on the distant sea launched the first attack.
The 32-pound and 24-pound cannons spewed out flames and thick smoke in succession, and with a huge roar, the black iron balls whistled as they crashed into the gun emplacements on the west side of the harbor.
Although the French Navy's training level cannot compare with that of the United Kingdom, it is still among the top tier in Europe.
At almost its maximum firing range, three out of twenty shells hit the walls of the fortress directly. The violent impact sent up large amounts of rubble that splashed into the Mediterranean Sea.
The cannon shook violently from the bombardment, and the pirates on it panicked. Two of them hastily lit the cannons, while the rest cowered in the corner, terrified.
One cannonball fired from the turret landed directly in the water, while the other struck more than two hundred paces away from the Royal Guard Legion, kicking up a cloud of sand.
On the Combined Fleet's side, more Warship joined the bombardment of the fortifications, and the sound of cannon fire suddenly became even more intense.
Their efforts drew most of the pirates' attention. More than 70% of the cannons on the fortresses were turned to the sea in an attempt to drive the fleet away.
On the side of the Royal Guard Legion, the first wave of landing troops, consisting of eight companies and nearly 800 soldiers, have all completed their formation.
Under the officer's order to "begin the attack," the gunners loaded Gunpowder and shells into the Mortar, those small cannons that were only knee-high, and then lit the ignition Gunpowder.
With a loud bang, five sparking cannonballs flew in arcs toward the pirate formation opposite them.
Despite its small size, this cannon has a very large caliber and fires in a parabolic trajectory, giving it a considerable range.
The shells landed one after another three or four hundred paces away, and as the fuses burned out, they exploded with a loud bang.
[Note 1] Most of the officers in Tunisia came from the Ottoman the Conqueror more than a hundred years ago. In order to maintain the purity of their bloodline, they tried not to intermarry with the local North Africa and have always preserved Ottoman life and military customs.
(End of this chapter)