Chapter 406: The Channel Connecting Egypt
As for the other big countries in Europe, they probably won’t have much reaction to France sending troops to Tripoli.
Austria was badly beaten in Silesia and was begging France to send troops for reinforcements.
Spain is a relative of its own, and has a secret agreement with France to jointly recover Gibraltar and then unify the Iberian Peninsula. At most give him some benefits and he will definitely stay out of it.
Russia is even more looking forward to France sending troops to Tripoli. After all, the 12,000 soldiers stationed there are all Ottoman Guards. If Russia wants to control the Black Sea, it must completely defeat the Ottomans. The more France can destroy the Ottoman army in North Africa, the fewer enemies they will have on the battlefield in the future.
Moreover, the Mediterranean route that Gemini Trading Company runs the most is France. France can control one more trading port in the Mediterranean, and Russia can also gain more benefits.
There is a national awakening in Poland. The elites go to the streets all day long to give speeches and organize mass demonstrations. They are causing a great deal of noise and have no time to care about other people's affairs.
The only major power that would oppose France's attack on Tripoli was Prussia. But the Prussian Navy...forget it, his family basically doesn't have a navy, so what if he has any objections? Anyway, the French campaign has already started in the Southern Netherlands. At worst, we can continue to increase the number of troops and try to see if my uncle will explode your anus in Silesia!
How can other small countries, such as Sardinia, Denmark, and Bavaria, dare to interfere in France's business?
So this time Joseph of Tripoli is determined!
Speaking of which, I have to thank the British. If they hadn't been behind the scenes and allowed Benjiour to attack Tunisia, he really wouldn't have found such a solid reason to send troops.
In fact, in the eyes of European countries, Tripoli at this time was basically a desolate land with a population of less than 700,000. Although the land area is only slightly smaller than Tunisia [Note 1], both its output and port location are average. There are only a few livable cities such as Tripoli City and Zawiya City, and the Port of Tripoli is of slight value.
However, Joseph knew very well that Tripoli would be an important passage to Egypt. Without Tripoli, it would be an unrealistic fantasy to build the Suez Canal in Egypt. After the Suez Canal is opened, it can shorten the maritime trade route between the Far East and Europe by half. It can be said that whoever gets the Suez Canal can control the economic lifeline of Europe.
In this case, the British would definitely risk their lives to prevent France from getting the canal. Before the British maritime supremacy could not be shaken, the only way to gain a foothold in Egypt was through land supplies in Tripoli.
Joseph must take advantage of the good international situation currently created to take control of Tripoli as soon as possible. By the time other countries reacted and tried to intervene, it was already too late.
Berthier looked at the Crown Prince in surprise, and after a while he said:
"Your Highness, a large number of our troops are contained in the Southern Netherlands and Silesia. If we attack Tripoli rashly, the Ottomans may react violently."
In any case, Tripoli is still a province of the Ottoman Empire in name only, and his worries are not unreasonable.
Joseph said calmly: "Selim III's main energy is focused on promoting domestic reforms and will not waste his strength on distant Tripoli. As long as the Ottomans send a large number of local troops, the Russians will immediately take advantage of the opportunity and swallow them up." Lose all their territory on the Black Sea coast.
"And even if the Ottomans really come to fight, we still have enough troops."
Berthier was stunned and said hesitantly: "Your Highness, with all due respect, our military strength may be..."
Joseph smiled: "If I guess correctly, the war in the Southern Netherlands and Algiers will end by the end of the year, and we can deploy more than 60,000 troops to Tripoli."
…October 25, 1789.
Paris.
The rain was falling very hard, and from time to time there were a few rapid flashes of lightning, making the whole sky look gloomy.
Several inconspicuous black carriages were parked in the square of the Palace of Versailles. The door of the front car was pushed open, and a valet got out of the car with his neck hunched, placed the steps in front of the door, and then hurriedly held up an umbrella.
The British Foreign Secretary, the Marquis Wellesley, bent down and got out of the car and looked towards the gate of the Palace of Versailles. He didn't see anyone coming to greet him, only a few guards stared coldly at the door.
Wellesley's face was darker than the clouds in the sky. Just this morning he received a secret message from Cornwallis, the Governor-General of India.
The letter stated that the Maratha League required Britain to provide 250,000 pounds in military expenditure, as well as 20 cannons and 15,000 flintlocks, before it could continue to send troops to reinforce the Carnatic.
Hyderabad, on the other hand, demanded a sky-high price, proposing to let the British return the Kondavidu area, and after repelling Mysore, they got the Neru House in the Carnatic.
Cornwallis had already agreed to the Maratha's request on behalf of the East India Company. As for Hyderabad, he could only say that he would wait for the board of directors to make a decision in order to delay as much time as possible.
Wellesley took a deep breath of cool air. He didn't understand. Hyderabad had formed an alliance with Mysore decades ago. The sudden restriction at this time was justified. The Maratha had already surrendered to the British, so why did it suddenly create difficulties?
How did he know that Salah, the French consul in Mysore, had secretly contacted Maratha a few months ago.
Salah remembered that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that Indians will feel that they have suffered a loss if they do not take advantage of everything. Therefore, he and Shah, the representative of Mysore, made promises to the Marathas, and even said that they would allocate North Kannada to the Marathas and provide benefits of 200,000 pounds in exchange for their support for Mysore.
The Marathas turned around and used this as their asking price and made conditions to the British.
As for Hyderabad, on the basis of the benefits given by Salah, they increased the price to the UK by 30%.
Wellesley knew that the East India Company could only agree to their request - without the assistance of the Indian princes, the British army would be exhausted sooner or later by traveling tens of thousands of sea miles to fight Mysore.
He gritted his teeth, stepped on the water on the ground, and led several diplomatic officials towards the gate of Versailles Palace.
I don't know whether it was because of the heavy rain or because the servant didn't hold the umbrella properly. When Wellesley finally saw Talleyrand's face that made him furious, half of his clothes were soaked by the rain, and his sleeve cuffs were " Drops of water were dripping on the ground, looking extremely embarrassed.
[Note 1] In Tripoli at the end of the 18th century, only the narrow strip along the coast had a large population, and the inland part to the south was almost deserted. In addition, Benghazi and areas further east currently do not belong to Tripoli. So it is nowhere near as big as Libya in the 21st century.
(End of chapter)