The plan set, Joseph immediately had Eman summon all the Crown Prince's exclusive attendants.
Before long, looking at the painters, sculptors, pharmacists, acrobats, and other attendants standing in two rows before him, Joseph once again marveled, how wise his mother was to have him bring them all to Tunisia!
Without these people, his plan would indeed be a bit difficult to implement—even if one could find such masterful experts in Tunisia, keeping things confidential would be a big issue.
As for how to operate specifically, he didn't rack his brains much. There were already mature plans from predecessors; he just had to copy directly.
First, he gave some simple instructions to the pharmacist and the ventriloquist, then arranged for the Police Affairs Department and the French-descended merchant Agadon to coordinate with them, before turning his attention to Mr. Brigette, the dedicated sculptor, who bore the brunt of this mission.
"It's just over ten days until the traditional Islamic festival of Ashura," Joseph said to the sculptor. "I need you to help me create a stone sculpture before then.
"Oh, considering transportation will take time, you actually only have about 8 days."
Mr. Brigette bowed earnestly and asked:
"Your Highness, may I know what kind of artwork you require?"
"A stone figure dressed in common Arab attire," Joseph pointed to the ceiling, "at least this tall, but of course, the taller the better."
Mr. Brigette was taken aback; this luxurious hall was nearly 4 meters high!
He immediately displayed a look of difficulty. "Your Highness, if I may speak frankly, it would be quite difficult to complete such a large sculpture in 8 days."
"It doesn't need to be too exquisite. Just refine the facial features a bit, and as for other parts, as long as it resembles a person, that'll be enough."
"Even so, it's still quite unlikely..."
Joseph smiled faintly and played his trump card:
"If you finish a day early, you'll receive a bonus of 1000 livres. Two days early, 2000 livres. Three days early, 4000 livres. And so on, with the reward doubling for each additional day early."
Filled with the clinking sound of silver coins, Mr. Brigette promptly nodded without hesitation:
"Rest assured, Your Highness, you will definitely see the stone figure you want within 8 days!"
He paused then cautiously added, "Your Highness, if you could allow me to borrow some engineers, that would make meeting the deadline even more certain."
"No problem. You can go and choose some from the legion later."
Joseph further instructed him on some detailed requirements, then cautioned:
"Oh, and by the way, make sure the stone figure is one-eyed, please do not forget that."
Eager to waste no time, Mr. Brigette left the Crown Prince's presence and immediately went to Bertier to request a few sappers responsible for blasting, then headed straight for the vicinity of the Oued Medjerda—that was the Crown Prince's instruction for ease of transportation.
He quickly chose a large block of limestone, had the sappers drill holes in it, install gunpowder, and blast it.
Each of these sappers received 30 livres from the sculptor as a hardship fee; hence, they all brought out their best skills. They spent the better part of a day with very precise explosions to create a human outline from that massive stone...
Days later, a prophecy from Elder Aly began to spread throughout Tunisia: a divine oracle would soon descend on Tunisia, conveying the message through water or woods to the people...
Initially, people didn't pay much attention to it until one day, a resident of Mejazba found a stone with white marks that vaguely resembled writing in a fish's belly he had bought.
The letters were not carved, appearing very miraculous.
He immediately took the fish and stone to the local mosque, asking the clergy to decipher it.
Soon enough, the whole town was abuzz because the Imam recognized the inscription, which read "The descendants of Rome shall drive out the Ottoman Imperial Guard"!
In the days that followed, people along cities on the banks of the Oued Medjerda kept finding mysterious stoned with the same writing in fish bellies.
There was even a fisherman who scooped out an "Oracle Stone" right from the belly of a freshly caught fish, so astonished that he immediately knelt and prayed on the boat.
And in places further from the Oued Medjerda, such as the northeastern mountains, some people vaguely heard fox-like cries at night that sounded very much like "Drive out the Ottomans."
Clearly, Elder Aly's prophecy had come true! Tunisia was boiling with excitement once more. People started to gather openly, discussing how to drive out the Imperial Guard.
This was a divine oracle!
With the Lord backing them, what was there to fear from the fearsome Imperial Guard?
Of course, all of the oracles were actually the handiwork of the Crown Prince's exclusive attendants.
They wrote on the stones with strong acid and then stuffed them into the bellies of live fish. To be efficient, they directly took them to sell at the market; to make them more believable, they managed to place them into fishermen's nets.
Mass-produced "Oracle Stones," ensuring that almost every large town got a piece.
The ventriloquist had it hard, though, traveling to several places each day to mimic the cry of foxes, only able to work at night, and lost no less than six or seven pounds after half a month of exhaustion.
However, the final catalyst for the natives of Tunisia to erupt was the astounding divine oracle that appeared on the day of Ashura.
Ashura is the day of repentance for Adam and Eve recorded in the scriptures, for their transgression of eating the forbidden fruit—yes, the records of these two human progenitors are the same in Islam and Christianity.
On that day, tens of thousands gathered in Utica City to celebrate the festival, when the oar of a huge ferry boat that had come here struck something in the center of the river.
The captain felt very puzzled, so he ordered his sailors to dive into the Oued Medjerda to take a look, and to their surprise, they discovered a huge stone man!
Of course, this captain had been arranged in advance by the Police Affairs Department.
Consequently, Utica City organized a large number of boats and hands, using ropes to tie up the stone man and dragged it ashore from the river.
Upon seeing the one-eyed Stone Giant, people immediately recalled the strange prophecy left by a mysterious ascetic: "Stone Giant with one eye, purify the corrupt Ottoman."
The prophecy came true, and the oracle appeared once more!
The clergy of Utica immediately declared that a mosque would be built on top of the stone statue, to facilitate worship. Outside the city of Utica, nearly ten thousand people lay prostrate long around the cyclopean Stone Giant, loudly praising the Lord's might and swearing in unison to follow the content of the oracle.
Mr. Brigette spent 5 days to complete this enormous work, earning a reward of 4000 livres, and, at the same time, sent the Tunisian Guard on their last journey.
...
As the astonishing oracle event spread from Utica across Tunisia, people finally overcame the fear in their hearts and launched the first attack on the Guard.
Zemir led the "Sword of Vengeance" members, along with the warriors from the Fawaz Tribe, comprising nearly 600 in total, and stormed into the Andalusian Town—a town with hardly any substantial defenses—swiftly driving 200 members of the Guard into the town's mosque.
Zemir and his warriors first knelt before the brought "Oracle Stone," then, rising, they drew their scimitars and pointed towards the enemy's final stronghold, shouting loudly:
"No more oppression by the Ottoman, follow the oracle! Warriors, attack!"
This force of 600 was quite well equipped, possessing 100 flintlock guns and nearly every one of them carried a scimitar and a spear. They immediately charged toward the Guard inside the mosque, shouting as they went.
On the Guard's side, though frightened by this show of force, they were after all composed of regular troops, and under the officers' orders, the soldiers took up their muskets and began firing outside.
With the disordered gunfire, several of the "Sword of Vengeance" members at the forefront were hit and fell to the ground. Those behind, seeing the ripped bodies and the dark blood spilled on the ground, hesitated in their steps.
The Guard officer, seeing this, shouted fiercely:
"You wretched lot dare to rebel? You and your families will all be hanged outside the city! No one will escape!"
The force led by Zemir, hearing this familiar terrorizing shout, lost most of their courage in an instant and hastily retreated beyond the range of the Guard.
Zemir was so frustrated, he personally led a charge once more; however, after a few were shot, the charging troops immediately pulled back.
Left with no other choice, Zemir ordered to exchange fire with the Guard. So, both sides fired shots at each other until nightfall, with around a dozen casualties in total.
The Police Affairs Department agent Isaac, who was watching the battle from a distance, just wanted to curse loudly. Even a few hundred sheep armed with flintlocks might be braver than these people.
He knew well that this was the Tunisian's first attempt to attack the Guard, and that all the Tunisian natives were watching; victory needed to be achieved quickly, otherwise the barely raised morale of the natives would soon dissipate.
The situation would be even worse if reinforcements from other Guards arrived.
With that thought, he immediately rushed back to Tunis City by night.
The next day, the battle at Andalusian Town continued, with the Guard even attempting a breakout—but fortunately, Zemir led his brave men to block them, otherwise the effort might have failed.
As dusk approached and Zemir was in a state of vexation, a thunderous boom suddenly erupted from around the corner of a distant road. Soon after, bricks and stones flew around the spot where the Guard had taken shelter, and a hole large enough for half a man appeared in the rear wall.
Then, a second loud noise followed...
Isaac, with no other choice left, had to ask the cadet artillerymen to "cheat." They used a four-pound cannon to blast an opening for Zemir.
Zemir, quick to grasp the situation, guessed someone had helped with artillery, but stood up and shouted:
"Divine punishment! This is the divine punishment sent by the Lord! The Guard is finished!"
```
Hearing "divine punishment," the indigenous Tunisians were instantly emboldened—since the gods were on their side, what was there to fear? They howled immediately and followed Zemir in a fierce charge.
The dim twilight made it hard for them to see how many of their comrades had been shot; fueled by sheer momentum, they surged through the gap in the mosque and, with the advantage of numbers, slashed wildly at the Guards inside.
They had been oppressed by the Ottoman people for too long; their pent-up rage was unleashed, utterly beyond control.
It wasn't until Zemir had exhausted his strength and sheathed his scimitar that he turned around to discover there were hardly any standing Guards left.
By daybreak the next day, Zemir had led his men to loot the homes of all the Guards in the town, collecting a hefty sum of 30,000 livres on the same day.
The news of the great victory in the Andalusian town quickly spread throughout Tunisia. The natives realized that the seemingly invincible Guards were not unbeatable after all.
The Oracle had spoken the truth; the degenerate Ottoman people were destined to be cleansed!
More importantly, it was said that the Rebel Army in the Andalusian town had extracted fifty to sixty thousand livres from the Guards in just three days!
All were immediately dominated by greed.
The natives, no longer timid and dreaming of sudden wealth, began attacking the Guards more and more frequently, and soon a sweeping movement took hold.
Meanwhile, not a single attack on the French people occurred in Tunisia—the Guards were too busy being plundered by the natives to remember their dealings with the British.
As for the natives, they now all claimed to be "Roman Descendants," and naturally they wouldn't trouble their French brothers who shared the same ancestry. Besides, they were counting on their French brothers to supply them with weapons and equipment for their pillaging.
Then there was Zemir, who after clearing out all the Guards in the Andalusian town, began leading his troops to support nearby natives.
They, being the victorious army with high morale and now some experience, quickly helped five or six towns overcome the Guards' defenses.
Within just half a month, Zemir had gathered a force of nearly 4,000 native warriors.
He had cherry-picked brave and skilled fighters; the cowards had been sent back home.
Then, under the guidance of a military advisor brought by Isaac, this strongest native army successfully repelled the Guards dispatched from Tunis City to suppress them and also captured Sousse, the second-largest city in Tunisia, creating immense resonance.
Half a month later, Zemir's army of 5,000 had reached Tunis City.
Other native rebel forces also converged from various directions, accumulating an army of about 20,000 individuals.
The natives elected Zaganos Bey, supported by Isaac and who had backed all the rebel forces, as their leader, with Zemir as the General, commanding all the native armies to surround Tunis City.
And a week earlier, Joseph had ordered the Guard Corps to retreat to Bizerte, while Murat's Corps took control of Kairouan Fortress, not getting involved in the looming storm.
...
When the Ottoman Sultan's envoy Said arrived in Tunisia, he saw nothing but smoke of war everywhere, with large numbers of the Tunisian Guard killed or expelled, and he even narrowly escaped being robbed by a group of fleeing Guards.
After learning the situation in Tunisia, he, being a pure-blooded Ottoman, dared not stay long and fled back to his ship as quickly as possible.
Luckily, the Tunisian Navy had been annihilated by the Europeans, so he did not have to worry about natives capturing him at sea.
However, this meant that his mission from the Sultan, to persuade the Bey of Tunisia to request the Pasha title from the Ottoman, was now impossible to complete.
And failing to complete the mission could likely lead to execution by the Sultan.
Reluctant to return to the Ottoman Empire, Said agonized for a long time before realizing that he must find a way to fulfill his task.
To complete the task, he first needed to help stabilize the situation for the Tunisian Guard.
He immediately turned his attention to Algiers, which still wielded influence over the Ottoman Empire. The Guards there were also a branch of the Ottoman Imperial Guard, and they had a tradition of meddling in Tunisian politics. He needed to persuade them to send troops; only then would there be hope for saving his own life.