Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 273 War and Response

When the Tunisian government received the French ultimatum, it was stunned.

First, there is the conflict between two large indigenous tribes on the Tunisian border. Even the Tunisian government has not received any news about it yet. How did the French government know about it?
Secondly, Europeans are first-class citizens in Africa. Even large indigenous countries like Morocco and Egypt do not dare to provoke Europeans, let alone Tunisians.

Aren't Europeans the only ones killing Africans these days? How did the French get killed by the Tunisians?

Although the Tunisian government has many questions, it is clear that the French government will not give them enough time to think through the details.

The French government only gave 24 hours. What could they do in 24 hours? They couldn't even notify the Ottoman Empire, Tunisia's nominal suzerain.

Yes, there was no cable connection between Tunisia and the Ottoman Empire. Even the Ottoman government did not use telegraph as a means of communication extensively, not to mention that Tunisia was more than 1600 kilometers away from the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

There are only two ways to get to Constantinople from Tunisia: either take the land route through Libya and Egypt, go north along the Palestinian region into the Asia Minor Peninsula, and then cross the entire Asia Minor Peninsula and cross the strait to reach Constantinople.

The sea route is not that troublesome. Starting from Tunis, the largest city in Tunisia, you can cross the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea, and then cross the entire strait to reach Constantinople.

Although the journey was not far, Tunisia had no naval power of its own, which made it relatively isolated compared to other lands controlled by the Ottoman Empire. In this situation, there was almost no solution.

Of course, I believe that even if the Tunisian government could contact the Ottoman government at this time, the Ottoman government would only righteously state that Tunisia no longer has any relationship with the Ottoman Empire.

Although Tsarist Russia gained little in the Russo-Turkish War, it does not mean that the Ottoman Empire suffered little losses.

In addition to the loss of land in the Balkans, the most important thing was that it completely exposed the weakness of the Ottoman Empire.

The most important thing for the Ottoman Empire at this time was to recuperate and seek reforms, rather than to once again conflict with European powers over remote lands.

Furthermore, the Ottoman Empire no longer had the ability to wage war against the European powers at this time.

France's comprehensive national strength is even stronger than Russia's, so it would naturally try to avoid the Ottoman Empire if possible.

The good news is that the Tunisian government no longer has to think about how to deal with the French ultimatum. Just over ten hours later, the French army in Algeria, which had been ready to go, marched eastward in a mighty force, attacking Tunisia from the north and south in two directions.

The Army of the North consisted of approximately 40,000 French troops, including two improvised infantry divisions, a cavalry division and an artillery regiment.

The Southern Corps had only one temporarily formed infantry division with a total strength of about 10,000 people.

The reason why the Northern Army is so large is that in addition to the fact that almost all of Tunisia's important cities are in the north, if the Italian army interferes in the war, they can only attack the north of Tunisia.

The more important role of the Southern Army is to occupy Gabes, an important city in southern Tunisia, from Rudayf to the southeast, thereby completely eliminating the possibility of Tunisia escaping to Libya in the southeast.

As long as the Southern Army could capture Gabes, the Tunisian Peninsula would be surrounded by the French army. Unless the Tunisians could swim and swim across the Mediterranean to the Ottoman Empire, there would be no possibility for them to escape.

As the town closest to Algeria in northern Tunisia, Kaf became the first Tunisian city to fall to the French army.

For this town with a population of less than 20,000 people, an army of 40,000 soldiers approaching was definitely the first time for a young lady to bow to heaven and earth.

After all, it is a formal town. Compared with scattered tribes, Kafu has a "regular army" of about two hundred people, which is also an important force in maintaining town security.

But what can these two hundred soldiers do in the face of the French army of 40,000?

Not to mention resisting the attack of the French army, these so-called defenders had already scattered as soon as they saw the French army approaching.

Yes, it is a real collapse.

The natives of Africa did not build any walls or fortresses. There were countless dirt roads connecting the forests and rivers outside the towns, and these native soldiers also escaped from these roads.

As for the residents in the town, it is not something these soldiers should consider.

The natives who care more about their families may rush back home in a hurry and escape with their families.

Those who cared more about their lives ran to the forest outside the town without caring about anything else. The forest was their hunting ground for generations, and as long as they could run into the forest, the French would most likely not be able to find them.

If these defenders could escape at the first opportunity, then the natives in the city of Kaf could only hide timidly outside their own "houses", nervously observing the approaching French army through the cracks in the wooden doors.

The good news is that the French did not stay in this small town for too long. After making sure that there was no resistance in the entire town, the French army left about a battalion of troops to temporarily maintain order, waiting for officials and police from Algeria to be sent to maintain law and order.

The remaining large force continued to advance eastward in a mighty manner. About a few dozen kilometers east of Kafu was a small town called Bouaradai.

The French army's destination was less than 100 kilometers northeast of Bouaradeh.

In order to occupy the entire Tunisia before the Italian government could react, the French army issued orders from top to bottom, requiring that the operation must be fast and save more time at all costs.

Precisely because the army department had issued a death order, the French general in charge of commanding this army did not dare to waste any time.

Except for the short time spent on occupying the towns along the way, the French army was advancing rapidly and majestically, appearing neat and orderly.

Starting from the small town of Caffè, the 40,000-strong French army chose to split into two routes.

The army will march northwards, occupying small towns such as Badje, Martel and Camp Bourguiba, and will reach their destination, Bizerte.

They will build a defensive line in Bizerte to guard against possible sneak attacks by the Italians.

The remaining main force will continue eastward and encircle Tunisia at a faster speed.

As long as Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, was captured, the war would basically be declared a victory. France did encounter resistance in Tunisia.

As a vassal kingdom under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Tunisia also has its own rulers and government.

Like the Ottoman Empire, Tunisia's Bey Mohammed III al-Sadiq once attempted Westernization and implemented a series of reforms including improving infrastructure, building railways and roads, improving education, and focusing on economic development.

But the Ottoman Empire did not have successful reforms, and Tunisia was even less likely to do so.

Tunisia is a small country with a population of less than one million. In addition, there are many tribes within Tunisia and the political system is relatively corrupt. Therefore, the amount of tax revenue paid to the Tunisian government each year is pitifully small.

Most of the taxes are controlled by tribal leaders, and only cities controlled by Tunisia can collect taxes.

This resulted in Tunisia's reforms having almost no results. Apart from the fact that the rulers of Tunisia established an army of about 2000 people, there was no difference between Tunisia after the reform and Tunisia before the reform.

The only obstacle the French army faced was this new army established by the Tunisian rulers.

Although there were only a little over 2000 people, because it was an army built by Mohammed III Al-Sadiq, and this war was a war to protect their own country, this new army was not frightened by the French army which was dozens of times larger in number. Instead, it bravely launched round after round of attacks.

But reality soon shattered their dreams.

The French army, besides being larger in numbers, had more cavalry and artillery, not to mention rifles.

Under such circumstances, the Tunisian army, which numbered only over 2000 people, had no way to resist.

The first round of charge caused the Tunisian army to lose more than one-third of its troops. After two consecutive rounds of charge, the Tunisian army had almost lost its combat effectiveness.

After the French army dealt with the Tunisian New Army, several days had passed before France officially provoked the war.

No matter how slow European countries were, they had already received the relevant news by now.

When the news of Tunisia's invasion by France reached Italy, it immediately attracted the attention of the Italian government.

Compared with France, Italy has made more and larger colonial investments in Tunisia. If Tunisia is occupied by France, it means that all Italy’s colonial investments over the years will be invalidated.

This is absolutely unacceptable to Italy, so on the day the news was received, Italian Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli convened an emergency cabinet meeting and invited the current King of Italy, Umberto I, to attend.

At the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli briefed Umberto I on the reasons for convening an emergency cabinet meeting and stated that the French army was not far from Tunis.

"Your Majesty, everyone. It's time to make a final decision. If Tunisia gives up resistance, all our efforts in Tunisia over the past few decades will be completely in vain." Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli said solemnly.

As great powers, Italy and Germany are relatively special. Both countries have no colonies, and their comprehensive strength depends entirely on the accumulation of their own land.

Germany was better off because of its impressive record in the Franco-Prussian War. In addition, Germany was also actively participating in colonizing Africa and other regions, and achieved more than Italy.

Italy has not yet acquired any colonies, and the Tunisia and Libya regions on Italian soil are also included in the French colonial plan.

If Italy gave up Tunisia, not only would all its previous colonial investments in Tunisia be wasted, but it would also mean that Italy's colonization would completely lose its goal and it would become the only country among the great powers without colonies.

"Damn, when did the French invade Tunisia?" At this time, Umberto I looked surprised and astonished. No one in Italy from top to bottom had expected that France would invade Tunisia so suddenly.

"They are obviously well prepared, Your Majesty." Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli shook his head helplessly and sighed: "If we don't respond in time, perhaps Tunisia will really be far away from us."

"What is the attitude of Britain and Germany? Are Britain and Germans willing to let France occupy Tunisia?" Umberto I continued to ask.

“It has been several days since France started the war, and so far Britain and Germany have not expressed any opposition.

Perhaps we can speculate that even if Britain and Germany will not support France's war, they are very likely to remain neutral in this war and will not interfere with France's war behavior. "Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli continued to shake his head.

"Damn it, haven't they considered Italy's opinion? We have invested so much in Tunisia, and we will never allow France to occupy Tunisia like this!" Umberto I stood up angrily. He had just become king and had great ambitions. How could he accept the reality that Italy was going to lose the only land it had hope of colonizing before his plan to become a powerful country was implemented?

"Prime Minister, first make Italy's attitude clear to France. We will never accept France occupying Tunisia like this." Umberto I was silent for a few seconds, then instructed Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli.

After seeing Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli nod, Umberto I turned his gaze to the Italian Army Minister and continued to instruct: "The army needs to be mobilized. Before this matter is completely resolved, the military needs to be prepared to go to war with France."

The Minister of War also nodded. Regardless of whether the Italian army could defeat the French army, this matter was a matter of honor and disgrace. If he dared to refuse, he would face dismissal and punishment.

"Your Majesty, perhaps we still have some hope." Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli stepped forward to encourage us: "Although Britain and Germany are likely to remain neutral, we still have hope of gaining the support of Spain.

After Spain and Britain exchange colonies, they will engage in more intense colonial competition with France in West Africa.

I believe that Spain would never want to see France occupy Tunisia. After France occupies all of North Africa, the French will never give up their covetousness for Morocco.

As long as we can get the support of Spain and our two countries unite, we won't have to worry about the threat from France.

Even if the situation becomes tense, the Germans may change their attitude. Even if they remain neutral in this war for some reasons, I believe they are definitely willing to see France suffer in the war. "

Umberto I nodded, looked at the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and instructed: "The task of contacting the Spanish government is handed over to the diplomatic department. I hope you can do your best to impress the Spanish government.

I will contact Carlo in the name of the royal family and seek the support of the Spanish royal family. Tunisia is very important to Italy, and the cabinet must be fully prepared. If the French are not willing to give in, we will need more means to make the French back down. "

(End of this chapter)