Empire Rising: Spain

When they received the French ultimatum, the Tunisian Government was caught off guard.

First, there was the conflict between two large native tribes on the Tunisian border, which the Tunisian government hadn’t even heard about yet, so how did the French Government know?

Furthermore, Europeans in Africa are undoubtedly first-class citizens, and even large native nations like Morocco and Egypt don’t dare provoke Europeans, let alone the Tunisians.

Isn’t it only Africans being killed by Europeans in this era? How did the French even get killed by the Tunisians?

Although the Tunisian Government had many questions, it was clear that the French Government wouldn’t give them enough time to figure out the details.

The French Government only gave 24 hours, and what can be done in 24 hours? Not even enough time to notify Tunisia’s nominal suzerain, the Ottoman Empire.

Yes, there were no telegraph cables between Tunisia and the Ottoman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire Government didn’t even use telegraphs extensively for communication, not to mention Tunisia, which is more than 1600 kilometers away from the Ottoman capital.

There are only two ways to travel from Tunisia to Constantinople, either by land through Libya and Egypt, going north through the Palestine region into the Asia Minor Peninsula, then crossing the entire Asia Minor Peninsula and crossing the strait to reach Constantinople.

The sea route is less complicated, starting from Tunisia’s largest city, Tunis, crossing the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea, and then spanning the entire strait to arrive at Constantinople.

Although the distance isn’t particularly far, Tunisia’s own naval power is negligible, leading to a relatively isolated situation compared to other lands controlled by the Ottoman Empire, nearly unsolvable in such circumstances.

Of course, even if the Tunisian Government could contact the Ottoman Empire Government at this time, the Ottoman Government would only righteously state that Tunisia no longer had any connection to the Ottoman Empire.

Although Tsarist Russia gained little from the Russo-Turkish War, this doesn’t mean the Ottoman Empire’s losses were minor.

Apart from the territorial losses on the Balkan Peninsula, the most important aspect was the complete exposure of the Ottoman Empire’s decline.

For the Ottoman Empire at this time, the most essential thing was to rest, seek reform, rather than enter into conflicts over remote lands with the European Powers again.

Furthermore, the Ottomans were not capable of waging war with the European Powers at this time.

France’s overall national strength was even stronger than Russia’s, and for the Ottoman Empire, it was natural to avoid conflict where possible.

The good news is, the Tunisian Government didn’t have to worry about handling the French ultimatum. In just over ten hours, the French Army already poised from Algeria was marching east, advancing towards Tunisia from both the north and the south.

The northern corps was composed of about forty thousand French troops, including two temporarily formed infantry divisions, one cavalry division, and an artillery regiment.

The southern corps only had a temporary infantry division, totaling about ten thousand men.

The northern corps was larger because most of Tunisia’s important cities were in the north, and if the Italian army were to interfere in the war, they would only possibly attack the northern part of Tunisia.

The southern corps’s more critical role was to occupy the important southern Tunisian city of Ghabs, moving from Rudeyif to the southeast, thus cutting off any escape route towards eastern Libya.

As long as the southern corps could capture Ghabs, the Tunis Peninsula would be encircled by the French Army. Unless the Tunisians can swim across the Mediterranean themselves to the Ottoman Empire, escape was impossible.

As the town closest to Algeria in the northern region of Tunisia, Kaf became the first Tunisian city to fall victim to the French troops.

For this town of less than twenty thousand people, a full force of forty thousand troops was absolute overkill, like a young girl being wedded – the first time ever.

After all, it was a formal town, and compared to scattered tribes, Kaf had about two hundred ”regular troops,” which were the main force maintaining the town’s security.

But what could this two hundred-strong army do in the face of the French’s forty thousand troops?

They couldn’t even resist the French Army’s attack. Upon seeing the large French force approach, the so-called garrison immediately scattered in all directions.

Indeed, they genuinely scattered in all directions.

Being native Africans, they didn’t build any city walls or fortresses, and countless dirt roads connected the town to the forests and rivers beyond, which is how these indigenous soldiers made their escape.

As for the town’s residents, they weren’t the concern of these soldiers.

More family-oriented natives might anxiously hurry home to escape with their families.

Those more concerned about their own lives would run into the forest outside the town without looking back. The forest was their ancestral hunting ground, and if they could reach the forest, it was highly probable the French wouldn’t find them.

The garrison might have fled at the first opportunity, but the natives in Kaf, could only crouch timidly outside their ”houses,” nervously observing the approaching French Army through cracks in their wooden doors.

The good news is that the French didn’t linger in this small town for long. After confirming that the town had no resistance forces left, the French Army left about a battalion to temporarily maintain order, awaiting officials and police from Algeria to oversee security.