Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

As for other officers and soldiers who had performed meritoriously in battle, Joseph didn’t hesitate to confer upon them their due rewards.

After handing over the documents to the official responsible for transmitting confidential letters, Joseph had Eman summon Denico, the general manager of the Paris Commercial News.

The great victory achieved at Tamire was significant not only for stabilizing the situation in northwestern Tunisia and acquiring two extraordinarily capable officers but also for its importance in propaganda.

Only two months had passed since Joseph last called upon the nobility at the Palace of Versailles to “fight on the battlefield for His Majesty the King, for France like warriors,” and Moro had led a thousand young nobles to remarkable military achievements, earning generous ennoblement. This must be widely publicized to attract more nobles to join the army.

As for Ney, being a commoner from a barrel-maker’s family and entitled to land and corresponding peerage after owning the land, this would greatly inspire the common people as well.

It was foreseeable that, from then on, France’s ability to mobilize troops would far exceed that of other European powers, and morale could be boosted to an exceptionally high level.

Of course, given France’s current financial state, it could at most afford an army of around 150,000 men, which included many outdated units.

However, with the situation in India turning favorable for Mysore, the deadlock in Tunisia should soon break.

Additionally, the coal and iron industries of Southern Netherlands and Luxembourg were also gradually beginning to produce.

Only then would the benefits of his long-planned strategies in Tunisia and the Low Countries truly manifest, bringing considerable revenues to France’s finances.

At the same time, the troops stationed in North Africa and Southern Netherlands could return home, eliminating the need for huge military expenses.

With the increase in revenue and reduction of expenditure, the fiscal difficulties were bound to significantly improve. In just a few years, France would be able to attain the state of “abundant martial virtue,” capable of recruiting soldiers and waging wars!

An hour later, the slightly overweight Denico was led into the office of the Tuileries Palace by Eman. Upon seeing Joseph, he quickly bowed:

“Your Highness, the Crown Prince, it has been quite some time since Your Highness summoned me; I am extremely excited! May God bless You.”

Joseph returned the smile and gesture, indicating him to sit down. Then he relayed the triumphant news of Tamire, concluding:

“I need you to personally oversee the widespread publicity of this event throughout the country.”

“Of course, that’s no problem, Your Highness,” Denico said, bowing eagerly, and then adroitly suggested, “I propose we first dispatch a few reporters to North Africa to interview Commander Moro, and…”

“Ney, Michel Ney.”

“Right, right, and Commander Ney as well – oh, and their soldiers. The front page of the newspaper should feature related news within a week.

“We could also conduct a ‘My North African Hero’ essay contest, inviting citizens to submit essays praising the heroes who won honours in battle. And offer some prize money for the more well-written submissions.”

“Then we find a few prominent writers to turn the battles at Tamire into a serialized novel. By the way, Your Highness, do either of the commanders have a wife or a sweetheart? As you know, people enjoy reading those romantic tales.”

Joseph looked at the newspaper manager with some surprise, finding that the man had learned his own methods of propaganda so thoroughly that there was nothing to add.

“They seem to be unmarried…”

As he mentioned this, he suddenly remembered that “disaster” Milly Ollow who Moro had married in history.

This woman had great ambition and a strong desire for power. After marrying Moro, she used his reputation to flirt with foreign forces and even participated in the Royalist Party’s coup.

After the coup failed, she ran to seek the protection of the Tsar of Russia—by then Russia had already joined the Anti-French Coalition—and colluded with the infamous French renegade Bernadotte. Together, they lured Moro to Russia, turning him into an enemy of Napoleon.

It was because of this woman that Moro never fully earned Napoleon’s trust and ultimately had to go into exile in the United States, missing many opportunities to achieve recognition on the battlefield.

Joseph reflected on Moro’s life; it seemed he was in his thirties when he got married. That meant he, himself, had ample time to change the fate that led Moro to that disastrous woman. For instance, by arranging a good marriage for him ahead of time…

After organizing the promotion of the war heroes and sending Denico away, Joseph prepared to go to the Palace of Versailles for drama rehearsal—fulfilling a promise to his mother was still something he ought to do…

Just as he was about to leave, he saw Bertier hurrying over, greeting him with a salute and then presenting the documents praising Moro, Ney, and others:

“Your Highness, regarding the commendations for the North African Legion, the promotions and decorations are all fine, but this grant of land… It seems you have written the wrong name for the place?”

“Written wrong?” Joseph picked up the document he had signed and looked at it, “No mistake here.”

Bertier replied somewhat awkwardly, “Your Highness, Tripoli is not French territory…” Enjoy new stories from My Virtual Library Empire

Joseph flipped to the page where Sherelle reported on the Tunisian situation and pushed it in front of him:

“Tripoli has repeatedly invaded the southeastern provinces of Tunisia, plundering six tribes and over twenty towns and villages.

“At the end of last month, Ben Guerir’s 2,000 troops occupied the Town of Remada in the south of Tetouan, resulting in the death or injury of over 300 people! According to intelligence, they’re assembling even more troops, ready to launch a larger-scale attack.

“Furthermore, Tripoli pirates have begun to plunder our merchant ships, forcing our Combined Fleet to rush to the Gabes Bay area for escort duties.”

He looked at Bertier with a cold tone:

“Provoked in such a manner, we will declare war on Tripoli. As for their lands, Moro and his men will merely need to claim them for themselves.”

After the failure of the surprise attack by the powerful Moroccan Imperial Guard, the situation in Tunisia had become fairly clear.

Sherelle’s main force would be responsible for the defense of the northwest of Tunisia.

Though this legion was an old-fashioned army, with sufficient preparation, leaving 15,000 men together with local Tunisian 5,000 troops would be enough to defend against the less than 30,000 soldiers of the Moroccan and Algerian Allied Forces, especially when the latter had just been defeated and their morale was low.

The 5,000 soldiers detached from Sherelle’s Legion, along with the new force led by Moro and Ney, would go southeast to deal with Tripoli.

Now, they only needed to wait for the British to cut off their support to countries like Algiers, and France could immediately counterattack against Tripoli.

Afterward, Joseph was even prepared to give a lesson to Algiers.

And the British, this time preoccupied with easing the situation in India, could only watch helplessly as their “little brother” in North Africa got beaten up.