The power of destruction

Joseph pondered for a moment, then looked at Brienne and smiled, "We should be almost ready for our military operation in Annaba, right?"

"Yes, Your Highness, Duke of Broglie mentioned to me yesterday that the reinforcements have arrived in Bizerte. Oh, that must have been last week."

According to the Anglo-French Non-Interference Treaty, France will retaliate against Algiers ' previous acts of aggression, with Annaba in northeastern Algiers being both the battlefield and the spoils of war.

Annaba is a small country, and as long as the United Kingdom tacitly approve, other European Continent countries will generally not pay much attention to it. The "Salami Slicing" tactic is always very effective.

Joseph nodded and said, "We will make full use of the impact of this war, so we must fight with great momentum. Of course, we also need to use some other methods, which should be enough to keep those tribes in line..."

Tunisia.

Western suburbs of Tunisia City.

A Berbers, dressed in a white Military Uniform and black leggings, frowned as he looked at the "soldiers" haphazardly gathered in the open space in front of the Military Camp and said to Zhemile beside him:

"General, why should we conscript these men? They're nothing but a drag on the army; they're completely useless."

More than a year has passed since Zhemile led the "Sword of Vengeance" against the Tunisia Guard Corps. By this time, he had been promoted to Major General and was in charge of commanding the Tunisia legion.

Zhemile's French wasn't very good, so he continued in Arabic:

"This is an order from Paris conveyed by Lord Ishaq, and it requires them to go to the front lines in person."

The colonel immediately looked surprised:

"We're only responsible for logistics and clearing the perimeter of the battlefield, and they're sending them to the front lines?!"

Without a doubt, the "Roman Brothers" from mainland France were in charge of the main battle. The people in front of him were recruited from various tribes in the past two weeks, and they were all people of relatively high status in their tribes.

According to the newly announced recruitment rules, large tribes will have 20-40 slots, while small tribes will have 10 slots. Tribal members who participate in the campaign against Algiers will receive bonus points in the next officer examination.

Yes, it's the Tunisia civil service exam. Only those who pass this exam can become officials in Tunisia. That's why all the tribes are fighting tooth and nail for these recruitment slots.

"Who knows what the bigwigs at the General Staff Headquarters are thinking?" Zhemile said, glancing at his subordinate. "Instead of worrying about that, you'd better think about how to train these useless idiots."

Although the Tunisia Legion was practically useless against the regular France army, after more than a year of training, especially with some officers attending military academies in mainland France, their combat effectiveness was firmly among the top in North Africa. Therefore, they absolutely had the right to look down on the "useless" tribesmen who had only undergone traditional combat training.

"Yes, General, I will train them diligently!" The colonel immediately stood at attention and replied.

Meanwhile, in the Susa Province of eastern Tunisia, the Wakruma tribe is holding a farewell ceremony.

Four warriors from the tribe will go to the tribe of Yobari to serve as Sheriff and Police officers, responsible for the safety of the area.

This was an extremely prestigious position—not only did it come with a high government salary, but it also wielded considerable power. Anyone in the Yobari tribe who violated the law could be arrested, fined, or even temporarily imprisoned.

The Yobari tribe has a population of over 2,700. Based on this size, the Sheriff can recruit 12 patrolmen locally, who will also receive a monthly stipend of 8 Livre from the government. The patrolmen will do their own work and train twice a week, but they must be at the Sheriff's command at any time.

Oh, if they're recruiting inspectors of Europe descent, then the number of positions will increase to 20.

With the continuous influx of immigrants from mainland France into Tunisia, recruiting people of Europe descent is not difficult.

The tribal Tribal Chief personally led his people to escort the four warriors for several kilometers. These Sheriff brought considerable revenue to the tribe—every time they discovered a violation of the law in the Yobari tribe, they would add a "Public Safety Contribution" to the Wakruma tribe. This contribution could be used to offset the tribe's taxes.

The Tribal Chief calculated that if the four of them could catch enough illegal activities, the tribe could save Livre in taxes each year!

Three days after the warriors left, the Wakruma tribe received a decree from its province that, in order to reduce inter-tribal conflicts, tribes would no longer be allowed to possess any form of tribal army.

The Tribal Chief panicked and asked the official who had come to deliver the decree: without tribal soldiers, what would they do if bandits attacked the tribe?

The latter smiled and told him that these matters would be handled by the newly appointed Sheriff. The Sheriff of the Wakruma tribe seemed to be from the Aboto tribe, and he would also be recruiting some patrolmen here...

At the Governor's residence in Susa Province, the Policing officer was reporting to Governor Joanne on the appointment of Sheriff from various tribes.

Joanne nodded repeatedly, and finally signed and stamped the thick stack of names.

After the Policing officer left with the documents, the Governor's Assistant hesitated and said to Joanne:

"Governor Excellency, under this model, the province will have to pay a large sum of money to the Sheriff and his men every year. This will put enormous pressure on our Finance."

His implication was clear: previously, the tribe was responsible for maintaining order. Therefore, this money was unnecessary.

Joanne smiled and said, "First of all, this is an order directly signed by His Crown Prince."

"Secondly, you completely misunderstand the significance of this measure. It may increase Finance spending in the short term, but within six months at most, our Finance surplus will increase significantly."

"Why is that?"

"It stems from a favorable trade environment," Joanne simply stated. He believed the Governor's Assistant would understand the connection—currently, a large amount of investment from mainland France was flowing into Tunisia. However, tribes were violating laws, levying trade taxes or tolls privately, and even extorting immigrants, severely impacting commerce and land reclamation. If the Sheriff could be used to restrain the tribes, Tunisia's development would accelerate exponentially.

Prosperity inevitably brings more Finance revenue. Compared to that, the Sheriff's meager salary is nothing.

The Governor's Assistant immediately understood, but then said with some anxiety:

"Governor Excellency, you know that if the interests of those tribes are affected, they will not hesitate to kill Sheriff 'interferes' with their money-making."

"You're absolutely right," Joanne nodded. "So, His Crown Prince sent those high-ranking members of the tribes to Annaba. They will witness the power of destruction there."