Russia.
Saint Petersburg.
Crown Prince Paul Petrovich stepped out from Catherine's bedchamber, looking back reluctantly twice before finally striding towards the other end of the corridor.
He didn't want closeness with his mother, on the contrary, he was filled with disgust towards Catherine, just as his mother was with him.
He was loath to leave his little angel, Alexandra.
Catherine never cared for his feelings. Ever since she noticed the growing resemblance between her and Alexandra, she had kept the little one by her side.𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
Paul could barely see his daughter once a month.
Before, he had taken his little angel to attend the King of France's birthday, and he had finally spent a good two months with his daughter. But now, returning to Saint Petersburg, they were to be separated again.
As he walked up the staircase with a heavy heart, suddenly a figure darted out, firmly embracing his shoulders, and a familiar voice came:
"When did you get back? My dear brother, how were the ladies of Paris? Did they make you want to stay forever?"
Paul immediately broke into a smile and forcefully pushed his brother away, then pretended to scold:
"I don't have as much money as you to spend on women, especially Frenchwomen—they're even more beyond my reach."
"Ha-ha, otherwise, what would we use the money for?" Alexei came close again, "Are you going to drill the troops today? How about we go fishing instead? I've got all the gear and liquor ready."
Paul continued walking with his chest puffed out and head held high:
"Spare me, I don't want to end up drunk as a lord and swept away by the river."
He was referring to a winter a few years ago, when Alexei, while fishing, had insisted on betting who could finish a whole bottle of vodka first. In the end, Alexei fell into the icy river drunk. If it hadn't been for the guards' desperate rescue, he might have been swept away.
"Don't worry, I'm setting out to sea tomorrow, I won't drink too much."
Paul looked at his brother, who had obviously matured a lot, and slapped him hard on the back:
"Let's go! To fish!"
Inside the Winter Palace, Catherine looked at her granddaughter with tenderness, devoid of the stern demeanor of a ruler, and softly said:
"Little one, did you enjoy Paris?"
Alexandra sat upright and showed a happy smile upon hearing this:
"Yes, it was very interesting. Everyone wore beautiful clothes, and I even rode on a carousel. Do you know? Those wooden horses can really run!"
"Good, good." Catherine nodded with a smile and then asked, "Did you manage to accomplish the task I gave you?"
"Yes, Grandma."
"Then tell me, what kind of person is the Crown Prince of France?"
The little girl tilted her head and thought for a moment, then replied:
"Hmm, he has a pair of very pretty blue eyes and is handsome, especially when wearing that dark blue long coat. But he seems to be very busy; I only saw him two or three times. Oh, and he is very popular. In the Palace of Versailles, you can hear people mentioning his name everywhere. It seems he did some very impressive things...
but I didn't quite understand them, something about establishing a bank..."
Catherine stroked the little girl's hair, listening to her sporadic storytelling for quite a while before suddenly asking:
"So, you have a good impression of him?"
Alexandra nodded earnestly.
Catherine also nodded and continued:
"Darling, would you like to live in Paris? I mean for a very long time."
Thinking of playing on the carousel every day, the little girl's eyes lit up with joy:
"Really? That would be wonderful!" she exclaimed, then seemed to remember something, looked down at the Tsar, "Will you come too? I would miss you a lot if you didn't."
...
North Africa.
Port of Sfax in southeastern Tunisia.
In a tall beige building, Eunice, dressed in a long red robe with a white turban adorned with a dark grey feather and a curved sword at his waist and European-style tight trousers on his legs, stood energetic, pointing to a sandbox in front of him, talking to his subordinates about something.
Whatever the topic, it elicited a burst of laughter from the group. Eunice's gaze went through the arched window, glancing at the pier in the distance where a crowd of laborers was unloading cargo from a large ship.
He knew that the ship was carrying flintlock guns newly imported from France, as well as accompanying gunpowder and lead bullets.
The guards standing outside had already shouldered their Charleville muskets, looking formidable.
A sedan chair stopped below, and a man in his fifties stepped out, adorned with a sumptuous waist sword, he signaled to the guards, then hurriedly climbed the stairs and with excitement saluted Eunice, exclaiming:
"Pasha, I've persuaded that old De Olle; he's brought 600 soldiers to join you!"
No sooner had he spoken than a middle-aged man beside him with a goatee frowned and objected:
"Imanzade, De Olle's men are not the Imperial Guard; why would you allow them to join us?"
Eunice raised his hand to stop him, turning to Imanzade with a nod and a smile:
"As long as they are loyal to me, I can bestow them with high positions and generous rewards, regardless of their origin."
Overjoyed, Imanzade saluted again, adding:
"Thank you, Pasha! I am confident I can persuade a few more forces in the Kaf district; they can provide at least 4,000 troops."
Eunice spread his arms graciously: "Go ahead, I will remember your contribution."
"Yes, my most venerated Pasha."
After Imanzade left, the middle-aged man with the goatee immediately saluted Eunice respectfully:
"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 men 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 become 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 men, 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 some local forces are more capable fighters.
Thanks to former subordinates like Imanzade who had long been networking throughout Tunisia, Eunice had gathered an army of several thousand men within just three or four days of his return to Sfax.
Eunice turned his head to look at the sand table; following the combat deployment 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 melodious 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 somewhat 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 come 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 commercial 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 men 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 came to his side, her face worried as she said:
"Pasha, I feel I must tell you something."
"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 meet a 'major figure'."
"What's so strange about that?"
"Do you remember, a few days ago, Lord Halil reported to you that someone 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 remember the rebellion in the Gafsa region seven years ago? I remember 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 became 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 men 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 former 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, someone was plotting a rebellion!
Given the speed of information dissemination at the time, 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 moment of thought, Hamoud Ali ordered someone 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 seemed very uneasy and launched an abrupt attack on the Imperial Guard without even waiting for Koja's interrogation.
Koja's forces were prepared and immediately annihilated the Berber armed group of over eight hundred men.
According to these men's confession, it was an officer named 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 immediately 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 Mediterranean, and the remaining weapons can only be delivered in 10 days at the earliest."
"Ah—Almighty God, why must You punish me 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 men he gathered only had very rudimentary weapons, after all, the most sophisticated equipment 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 some unknown reason, Hamoud Ali had suddenly sent troops southward, intercepting the tribal forces midway.
Now, he had only less than seven thousand men 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 doomed.
Eunice turned to look at the sand table and suddenly clenched his fist, grunting fiercely:
"Rum, you immediately take fifteen hundred men 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?"𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
"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 me?"
Cannons were indeed the kings of the battlefield, but in the era of muzzle-loading, due to the limited range and slow movement 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 me.
"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.