"Pasha, are you really going to disregard the traditions of the Imperial Guard?"
Eunice said with a smile, "Nizamuddin, the glorious traditions of the Imperial Guard are not what they used to be. We must use every person we can."
"If Imanzade can really bring back 4,000 n from Kaf, I will have an army of 12,000."
He pointed to the carts constantly transporting munitions: "With these fine weapons, it won’t take long to defeat that guy Ali. Once I beco Bey, I will naturally restore the glory of the Imperial Guard."
Currently, the entire population of Tunisia doesn’t exceed two million. Ali can muster an army of about 25,000 n, and a large part of it has already defected to Eunice.
Moreover, due to the severe corruption within the Imperial Guard, their combat strength has greatly declined, and so local forces are more capable fighters.
Thanks to forr subordinates like Imanzade who had long been networking throughout Tunisia, Eunice had gathered an army of several thousand n within just three or four days of his return to Sfax.
Eunice turned his head to look at the sand table; following the combat deploynt he had previously discussed with his subordinates, as soon as he gathered enough logistical supplies, he could march north and take the Kairouan Fortress, presenting a front against Hamoud Ali.
He was well aware that Ali was competent in civil affairs but no match for himself in war.
In no more than a year or two, he could surround Tunis City with his troops and thereby unify Tunisia!
...
Tunis City, Ksar Hellal Palace.
Hafsa’s slender fingers gently caressed the strings of the harp, the lodious sound drifting through every corner of the palace.
Half-leaning on a cushion, a middle-aged man with slightly narrowed eyes, wearing only a light undershirt, was Hamoud Ali, the current ruler of Tunisia.
He held a chess piece in his hand, looking sowhat impatiently at the official standing with bowed head beside him, and said:
"Speak more slowly, what’s happened to Sfax?"
The official hastily replied, "Great Bey, news has just co from there that local forces have blocked the borders and are not allowing people to leave Sfax."
Hamoud Ali tossed the chess piece to a servant beside him and frowned, "Is it another tariff dispute with the neighboring province?"
Various powers in Tunisia were mixed, and local tribes often prevented people from other areas from entering or exiting their territory because of tax or comrcial issues.
"That, I’m not sure of," the official said, "The Imperial Guard sent to investigate the situation has not returned."
"Oh? Those scoundrels, thinking of rebelling?" Hamoud Ali waved his hand dismissively, "Send more n with my decree, tell them to cause less trouble."
"Yes, Great Bey!"
As the official who brought the news left, the sound of the harp in the palace suddenly stopped.
Hamoud Ali turned to his favorite concubine and said softly:
"Hafsa, why have you stopped playing?"
The young woman in a dark green long dress stood up and ca to his side, her face worried as she said:
"Pasha, I feel I must tell you sothing."
"Oh?" Ali said with a smile, "What’s so serious?"
Hafsa signaled for the servants around them to clear away, and then she said:
"At the gathering I hosted the day before yesterday, I overheard wives of Imperial Guard officers like Rum, Ishakpa, and others saying that their husbands were going south to et a ’major figure’."
"What’s so strange about that?"
"Do you rember, a few days ago, Lord Halil reported to you that soone in the southern provinces was buying up large quantities of grain and oats?"
Ali nodded, "There was such a matter."
Hafsa said with a grave expression:
"Pasha, I think it’s very likely that a rebellion is brewing in the southern provinces! Perhaps even in... Sfax."
"Rebellion?" Ali laughed and waved his hand dismissively, "What are you talking about?"
Hafsa continued, "Do you rember the rebellion in the Gafsa region seven years ago? I rember that the Berber tribes there also began by hoarding food and then prohibited locals from coming and going."
Ali’s smile suddenly froze, and he beca serious.
Hafsa continued:
"Pasha, isn’t it true that Rum and Ishakpa were also involved in a rebellion before, and it was your brother who pardoned them?"
Ali’s face darkened. He was very much aware that these two n had been under Eunice’s command, and the rebellion Hafsa was referring to was the incident over twenty years ago when Eunice led his troops to besiege his father Ibn Hussein.
Later, after his father was defeated and killed in battle, Eunice turned to attack his own father, Karamanli Ali, which gave himself and his brother the opportunity to retake Tunisia.
Now, the forr subordinates of Eunice had suddenly left Tunis City, heading South, and a series of unusual events had occurred in the South...
His gaze hardened; perhaps, as Hafsa speculated, soone was plotting a rebellion!
Given the speed of information dissemination at the ti, the news of Eunice’s escape from Algiers had not yet reached Tunis City. In fact, the Algiers Council was still debating whether to inform the Bey of Tunisia about the matter.
After a mont of thought, Hamoud Ali ordered soone to summon the Aga of the Imperial Guard, who was also the Commander Koja, and asked him to prepare the troops to head to Sfax to investigate whether there was a rebellion. He also ordered the Imperial Guard to strictly investigate military officers such as Rum and Ishakpa.
Soon, those investigating Rum and Ishakpa returned to report that they had left Tunis City yesterday, taking their sons with them.
Koja acted quickly; the next day, he led two thousand elite Imperial Guard soldiers southward and also ordered his deputy to summon more troops to join them.
He was in luck, for three days after leaving Tunis City, his army encountered a troop moving from Kaf to Sfax.
The latter seed very uneasy and launched an abrupt attack on the Imperial Guard without even waiting for Koja’s interrogation.
Koja’s forces were prepared and imdiately annihilated the Berber ard group of over eight hundred n.
According to these n’s confession, it was an officer nad Imanzade who had enticed them to go to Sfax to join "the true Bey," the honorable Eunice.
When the news reached back to Tunis City, Hamoud Ali was shocked and imdiately ordered a full mobilization of the Imperial Guard. Within a week, tens of thousands of troops had converged at the border of Kairouan and Sfax.
...
"Pasha, the French people have sent a reply," a military officer with a solemn face ran into Eunice’s tent, bowed his head in salute, "They said they encountered a storm in the Western diterranean, and the remaining weapons can only be delivered in 10 days at the earliest."
"Ah—Almighty God, why must You punish like this?"
Eunice spread his hands wide, looking up at the sky with a long sigh.
Ever since the first batch of two thousand flintlock guns and three cannons had arrived at the Port of Sfax, no other weapons had been delivered.
The n he gathered only had very rudintary weapons, after all, the most sophisticated equipnt in Tunisia was in the hands of the Imperial Guard.
What was worse, Imanzade had reported earlier that the major tribes from Kaf had decided to support him, but for so unknown reason, Hamoud Ali had suddenly sent troops southward, intercepting the tribal forces midway.
Now, he had only less than seven thousand n under his command, while Koja had already led tens of thousands of Imperial Guards to garrison the Kairouan Fortress, and the strategy to launch a surprise attack on Kairouan was evidently dood.
Eunice turned to look at the sand table and suddenly clenched his fist, grunting fiercely:
"Rum, you imdiately take fifteen hundred n to Chukri Valley."
"Ah?" Rum obviously hadn’t understood, "Pasha, but there’s already an outpost of Koja there."
"Did you not hear my order?"
"Yes, Pasha!"
Eunice then pointed to the man with the goatee:
"Nizamuddin, you are to arrange the cannons in the dense forest on the eastern side of the valley."
"Understood!" Nizamuddin asked carefully again, "Pasha, who will cover ?"
Cannons were indeed the kings of the battlefield, but in the era of muzzle-loading, due to the limited range and slow movent of the cannons, they could easily be overrun by cavalry without infantry cover and left with no ability to defend themselves.
"Don’t talk too much."
Eunice raised his voice, turned around to point at the middle of the sand table, and spoke through gritted teeth: "Ishakpa will lead the cavalry following .
"The people of Labia will be positioned west of the valley...
"Before dawn tomorrow, we must break through Koja’s defensive line! Take advantage of the limited forces in the Kairouan Fortress, bypass the fortress, and seize Sousse!"
"Yes, Pasha!" Inside the tent, everyone echoed in unison, their faces grim.
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