Chapter 273: War And Response
When the Tunisian Government received France’s ultimatum, it was dumbfounded.
First, there was the conflict between two large indigenous tribes on the Tunisian border, and even the Tunisian Government had not yet received the news—how did the French Government know about it?
Second, Europeans in Africa were unequivocally first-class citizens; even large indigenous nations like Morocco and Egypt did not dare to provoke Europeans, let alone Tunisians.
These days, wasn’t it only Europeans killing Africans? So how were French killed by Tunisians?
Although the Tunisian Government had all sorts of questions, it was clear that the French Government would not give them enough time to figure out the details.
The French Government only gave 24 hours; what could 24 hours be used for? Not even notifying Tunisia’s nominal suzerain, the Ottoman Empire, was possible.
Yes, there were no cable connections at all between Tunisia and the Ottoman Empire; even the Ottoman Imperial Government did not extensively use telegrams as a means of communication, let alone Tunisia, which was over 1,600 kilometers from the Ottoman capital.
There were only two ways from Tunisia to Constantinople: either by land through Libya and Egypt, along the Palestine region northward into the Anatolian Peninsula, then across the entire Anatolian Peninsula and across the straits to Constantinople.
By sea, it was less troublesome: departing from Tunisia’s largest city, Tunis, crossing the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea, then crossing the entire straits to reach Constantinople.
Although the journey was not particularly distant, Tunisia’s own naval strength was essentially nonexistent, which made Tunisia relatively isolated compared to other lands controlled by the Ottoman Empire; in this situation, it was nearly impossible to resolve.
Of course, even if the Tunisian Government could contact the Ottoman Imperial Government at this time, the Ottoman Government would only righteously state that Tunisia had no relationship with the Ottoman Empire anymore.
Although the Russian Empire gained little in the Russo-Turkish War, this did not mean the Ottoman Empire’s losses were small.
Besides the loss of land on the Balkan Peninsula, the most important was the complete exposure of the Ottoman Empire’s weakness.
For the Ottoman Empire at this time, the most important thing was to recuperate and seek reform, rather than erupting into conflict with European Powers again over distant lands.
Moreover, the Ottoman Empire at this time no longer had the ability to wage war with European Powers.
France’s comprehensive national strength was even stronger than Russia’s; for the Ottoman Empire, it was naturally best to avoid it if possible.
The good news was that the Tunisian Government no longer needed to consider how to handle France’s ultimatum. Just over ten hours had passed, and the French Army, poised to strike from Algeria, was already advancing eastward in force, splitting into two columns to strike Tunisia from north and south.
The Northern Column consisted of about 40,000 French Army troops, including two hastily formed infantry divisions, one cavalry division, and one artillery regiment.
The Southern Column had only one hastily formed infantry division, with a total of about 10,000 men.
The Northern Column was larger in scale not only because Tunisia’s important cities were almost all in the north, but also because if the Italian Army intervened in the war, they could only attack Tunisia’s north.
The Southern Column’s more important role was to advance southeast from Roudei to occupy the important southern Tunisian city of Gabes, thereby completely cutting off any possibility of Tunisians fleeing southeast to Libya.
As long as the Southern Column could occupy Gabes, the Tunisian Peninsula would be trapped in an encirclement by the French Army. Unless the Tunisians could all swim across the Mediterranean Sea to the Ottoman Empire on their own, escape was impossible.
As the town in northern Tunisia closest to Algeria, Kaf became the first Tunisian city to suffer at the hands of the French Army.
For this town with a population of less than 20,000, the arrival of a full 40,000 troops was absolutely a first-time experience—like a young bride attending her wedding ceremony.
After all, it was a formal town; compared to scattered tribes, Kaf had about 200 men of “regular army,” which was also an important force for maintaining public order in the town.
But in front of France’s 40,000-strong army, what could these 200 men do?
Not to mention resisting the French Army’s attack; the moment they saw the French Army approaching, these so-called defenders had already scattered in all directions.
Yes, truly scattered in all directions.
African indigenous people did not build city walls or fortresses; there were countless dirt roads connecting the town to the forests and rivers outside, and these native soldiers fled along these roads.
As for the residents inside the town, they were not something these soldiers needed to consider.
Indigenous people who cared more about their families might hurriedly rush home to bring their families along to escape.
Those who cared more about their own lives just ran toward the forests outside the town without a care. The forests were places they had hunted in for generations; as long as they could run into the forest, the French probably would not find them.
If the defenders could still flee at the first moment, then the indigenous people inside Kaf could only cower outside their “homes,” peering nervously through the cracks in their wooden doors at the French Army gradually approaching.
The good news was that the French did not linger long in this small town. After confirming that the entire town had no remaining resistance forces, the French Army left about one battalion’s worth of troops to temporarily maintain order, awaiting officials and police from Algeria to take over security.
The main body of the troops continued to advance eastward in force; about dozens of kilometers east of Kaf, there was a small town named Bou Arada.
And the destination of the French Army was less than 100 kilometers northeast of Bou Arada.
To occupy all of Tunisia before the Italian Government could react, the French Army issued orders from top to bottom, requiring this operation to be fast and to save more time at all costs.
Because the Army department had issued a death order, the French general commanding this force did not dare waste any time.
Along the way, aside from the time spent occupying towns, the French Army spent the rest of the time advancing rapidly in orderly formation.
Starting from the small town of Kaf, the 40,000 French Army troops split into two routes.
One route headed north, occupying small towns like Bizerte, Mateur, and others after reaching Bajer, Mateur, and Bourguiba Camp, before arriving at their destination, Bizerte.
They would build a defense line at Bizerte to guard against possible Italian sneak attacks.
The remaining main force would continue eastward and, at a relatively fast speed, encircle Tunis.
As long as they captured the capital of the Tunisian region, Tunis, this war could basically be declared a victory.
The French in the Tunisian region did not go entirely unresisted.
As a subordinate kingdom under Ottoman Empire rule, Tunisia also had its own ruler and government.
Like the Ottoman Empire, Tunisia’s Bey Muhammad III al-Sadiq had once attempted Westernization and implemented a series of reforms including improving infrastructure, building railways and roads, enhancing education, and focusing on economic development.
But if the Ottoman Empire’s reforms had not succeeded, Tunisia was even less able to do so.
It was already a small country with a population of less than a million, and with indigenous tribes abounding internally and a relatively corrupt political system, the tax revenue that could be handed over to the Tunisian Government each year was pitifully small.
Most tax revenue was controlled by those tribal chiefs; only taxes from cities controlled by Tunisia could be collected.
This made Tunisia’s reforms almost entirely ineffective; aside from the ruler establishing an army of just over 2,000 men, post-reform Tunisia was no different from pre-reform Tunisia.
The only obstacle the French Army encountered was precisely this New Army personally established by Tunisia’s ruler.
Although it numbered just over 2,000 men, because it was an army personally built by Muhammad III al-Sadiq, and this war was to protect their own country, this New Army faced the French Army, which outnumbered them dozens of times, without being scared into breaking; instead, they bravely launched wave after wave of attacks.
But reality soon shattered their dreams.
Besides having greater numbers, the French Army also had more cavalry and cannons; rifles went without saying.
In such a situation, the Tunisian Army of just over 2,000 men had no way to resist at all.
The first charge alone caused the Tunisian Army to lose more than a third of its numbers; after two consecutive charges, the Tunisian Army was almost completely without combat effectiveness.
After the French Army dealt with the Tunisian New Army, several days had already passed since France had formally provoked the war.
Even if European Countries were slow on the uptake, they had long since received the relevant news by now.
When the news of Tunisia being invaded by France reached Italy, it immediately aroused great concern from the Italian Government.
Compared to France, Italy had invested more and larger in colonial efforts in Tunisia; if France occupied Tunisia, it would mean all of Italy’s colonial investments over these years would be wasted.
This was something Italy absolutely could not accept, so on the day the news was received, Italian Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli convened an emergency cabinet meeting and invited Italy’s current king, Umberto I, to attend.
At the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli explained to Umberto I the reason for convening the emergency cabinet meeting and stated that the current French Army was not far from Tunis.
“Your Majesty, gentlemen. It is time to make the final decision. If Tunisia abandons resistance, our decades of efforts in Tunisia will be completely wasted.” Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli said with a solemn expression.
As great powers, Italy and Germany were rather special. Neither country had colonies, and their comprehensive national strength relied entirely on accumulation from the homeland.
Germany was slightly better off, thanks to its impressive record in the Franco-Prussian War, plus Germany’s active participation in colonizing Africa and other regions, yielding more results than Italy.
Italy currently had no colonies; the Tunis and Libyan regions on which Italy had designs were also part of the French colonial plan.
If they gave up Tunisia now, not only would Italy’s previous colonial investments in Tunisia be completely wasted, but Italy’s colonialism would also completely lose its goal, making it the only great power without colonies.
“Damn it, when did the French invade Tunisia.” Umberto I was full of surprise and astonishment at this time; no one in Italy, from top to bottom, had expected France to invade Tunisia so suddenly.
“They were clearly prepared well in advance, Your Majesty.” Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli shook his head helplessly and sighed: “If we do not respond promptly, Tunisia may really drift away from us.”
“What about the attitudes of the United Kingdom and Germany? Surely the British and Germans are not willing to let France occupy Tunisia?” Umberto I continued to ask.
“It has been several days since France provoked the war, and up to now, the United Kingdom and Germany have expressed no opposition at all.
We can speculate that even if the United Kingdom and Germany do not support France’s war, they are highly likely to remain neutral in this war and not strongly intervene in France’s war actions.” Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli shook his head again.
“Damn it, have they not even considered Italy’s opinion? We have invested so much in Tunisia; we absolutely will not allow France to occupy Tunisia just like that!” Umberto I stood up angrily; having only recently become king, he had great ambitions and could not accept the reality that his plan to make Italy a great power had not yet been implemented, only for Italy to lose its only promising colonial land.
“Prime Minister, first make Italy’s attitude clear to France; we absolutely cannot accept France occupying Tunisia just like that.” Umberto I was silent for a few seconds, then instructed Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli.
After seeing Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli nod, Umberto I turned his gaze to the Minister of War and continued instructing: “The army needs to mobilize; until this matter is completely resolved, the military needs to prepare for war with France.”
The Minister of War also nodded. Regardless of whether the Italian Army could defeat the French Army, this matter concerned honor; if he dared to refuse, he would face dismissal and accountability.
“Your Majesty, perhaps we still have some hope.” Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli stood up to encourage: “Although the United Kingdom and Germany are likely to remain neutral, we still have hope of gaining Spain’s support.
After Spain exchanges colonies with the United Kingdom, they will engage in even fiercer colonial competition with France in West Africa.
I believe Spain absolutely does not want to see France occupy Tunisia; once France occupies all of North Africa, the French will certainly not give up their designs on Morocco.
As long as we can gain Spain’s support, our two countries united will have no need to fear French threats.
Even, if the situation becomes deadlocked, the Germans may change their attitude. Even if they remain neutral in this war due to certain factors, I believe they would absolutely be willing to see France suffer losses in the war.”
Umberto I nodded and turned his gaze to the Foreign Secretary, instructing: “The task of contacting the Spanish Government is handed to the diplomatic department; I hope you will do your utmost to persuade the Spanish Government.
I will contact Carlo in the name of the royal family to seek the Spanish Royal Family’s support. Tunisia is extremely important to Italy; the cabinet must make full preparations. If the French are unwilling to back down, we will need more means to make the French shrink back.”
