Chapter 1078: A Strategy for Chaos
Ney showed not the slightest hint of joy despite the great victory. Instead, he furrowed his brow and asked in a cold voice, "That reckless fool... why did he act without orders?"
The messenger said nervously, "The Algerian army had lost its will to fight. The commander wanted to take advantage of Mitidja being defenseless..."
Ney waved his hand to dismiss him, but then paused and called him back. He quickly scribbled a short order and handed it over to be delivered to Gemile.
Once the messenger had departed, Ney immediately summoned several high-ranking officers and commanded, "The Tunisian Legion has unexpectedly captured Mitidja. This has seriously disrupted our deployment. We must move quickly."
He looked at one of the officers. "Major Arrighi, take one infantry regiment and one artillery battery to Mount Toso in the northeast. Annihilate the Kouloughli remnants there."
In Ney’s eyes, even though there were thirteen thousand Algerian troops near Mount Toso, they could only be considered remnants at this point.
He then turned to a tall officer. "Lieutenant Colonel Suham, take the Seventh Dragoons and the Fourth Hussars. Head to the Teniet el Haad Pass at top speed and set up defenses."
"The rest of the legions will begin a forced march. Prepare to seize control of the upper reaches of the Chelif River."
According to Joseph's original plan, Ney was supposed to march quickly to control the passage between Algiers and Morocco to the west. Then, the forces remaining in the center would suddenly occupy Mitidja to cut off any chance of the Algiers Council or their army escaping to Morocco. This would also prevent Morocco from sending reinforcements to Algiers.
As the mobile Chappe signal vehicles were deployed, signalmen used the towering wooden masts to transmit Ney’s orders to various units using Morse code.
In less than half an hour, an army of nearly twenty thousand men had completed its regrouping and pivoted, beginning their march toward three separate destinations.
Ney then personally wrote a report and sent a messenger to Annaba. From the port of Annaba, a steam paddleboat would take only four and a half days to deliver his report to the Port of Marseille, where it would then be sent to Paris via the Chappe telegraph network.
......
In the fencing hall on the second floor of the Palace of Versailles, Joseph watched as Alexandra suddenly retreated half a step. Her sword was held noticeably low, and he knew his brother was about to fall into a trap.
Sure enough, Charles's eyes lit up. Without hesitation, he lunged with his sword, aiming for that apparent opening.
In the next instant, the Crown Princess pivoted to the side, evading Charles's thrust. She reversed her grip and snapped the hilt of her practice sword upward, striking him squarely in the ribs.
Charles let out a muffled groan, clutched his chest, and doubled over.
Alexandra clearly hadn't used much force, as he was soon able to stand back up. He sheathed his sword and offered a formal bow. "I lost. Though, this time, I was just a hair's breadth away from a completely different result."
Alexandra smiled gently. "Do you know the difference between the man killed on the battlefield and the victor?"
"The latter has more courage?"
"No. It is that the enemy's bullet was just that little bit off, so it missed."
Charles glanced at his older brother, who was watching with a grin. Flushing red with determination, he drew his sword again, ready for another challenge. The eleven-year-old second prince of France had caught up to Alexandra in strength and speed, but he was still lacking in technique. Moreover, the boy was a bit too straightforward and frequently fell for his opponent’s feints.
Just then, Eman hurried over to the two of them and bowed to Joseph. "Your Royal Highness, General Berthier and General Lavalette wish to see you on urgent business."
Joseph nodded and waved to the two "swordsmen" to signal his departure. "Keep practicing hard. Charles, I'm waiting for your challenge."
According to their agreement, once Charles defeated Alexandra, he would be allowed to challenge his brother. In his mind, Joseph was a great hero who commanded thousands of troops; surely his swordsmanship was peerless.
In reality, Joseph had only taken a few dozen fencing lessons at the military academy. His skill was barely at the introductory level, nowhere near as proficient as his brother, who had practiced since childhood. However, it seemed unlikely that Charles would get the chance to face him anytime soon.
In the Crown Prince's receiving room, Berthier handed Ney's report to Joseph. "Your Highness, Colonel Gemile's legion has suddenly charged into Mitidja. It was my oversight for not repeatedly emphasizing the specific orders to him."
Joseph skimmed the report and waved off the apology. "There is no need to blame yourself. The overall operational plan cannot be revealed to him in advance anyway. Have the General Staff issue an order for his temporary suspension and reflection."
"It seems the Tunisian Legion should be assigned Honor Representatives as soon as possible. Such incidents would be much rarer then."
Honor Representatives were directed by a separate system within the General Staff. One of their daily duties was to supervise military discipline, and they held the power to veto a military commander's orders in the event of major incidents. This was the most effective means of correcting the somewhat casual and undisciplined atmosphere common among officers of this era.
"Yes, Your Highness," Berthier nodded, then continued. "The General Staff's current plan is to have Ney's army fan out to control all the provinces of Algiers. Then, Count Uste will establish a Governor’s Office in Mitidja. If those Algiers council members do not come to Mitidja to accept their appointments, they will be declared 'insurgents' and placed on the wanted list."
North Africa was of extreme geostrategic importance to France. Joseph was taking the opportunity provided by the Kabylia tribe's rebellion to seize control of Algiers. It was also a retaliation for Algiers conspiring with the British to harass France several years ago.
Uste was the man he had chosen to be the Governor of Algiers.
Joseph thought for a moment but shook his head slightly. "The members of the Algiers Council have considerable local influence. If we rely solely on our army to hunt them down, we might not catch them for decades."
"If Britain takes the opportunity to intervene, they might even incite the mountain tribes to revolt."
Berthier frowned as well. "That is indeed a problem. Should we perhaps concede some interests to win them over?"
"Certainly not," Joseph replied, shaking his head again. He intended to build Algiers into a core French province; allowing the old Algiers power structures into the bureaucracy would only lead to trouble.
"We must utilize the three existing factions in Algiers. We can simply let them fall into chaos first..."
Once he finished giving his instructions to Berthier, the Director of the Security Bureau, who had been waiting for some time, spoke up. "Your Highness, regarding Algiers again."
"Two weeks ago, the M'zab tribe rejected our proposal for cooperation and announced they are mobilizing their forces to support the Algiers Council."
Joseph looked surprised. "Have they not heard the news of Gemile's entry into Mitidja?"
"They know," Lavalette said. "The M'zab people were likely terrified by the Kouloughli in the past, to the point where they dare not betray them."
Comments