Chapter 202 Cooperation and Utilization

Chapter 203 Cooperation and Utilization

“Your Highness, the first two things you said are very reasonable, and I can now make a promise to you on behalf of my father.

Rabia said and put on a troubled look again: "It's just that the matter in Bizerte Port exceeds the authority given to me by my father."

She didn't wait for Joseph to say anything, and immediately added: "But if you can give some financial support, I will be confident to convince my father.

"And your funding will also help us defeat Hamoud Ali faster, don't you think?"

Joseph smiled, nodded and said:

"Well, I will provide another 2 million livres in military expenses to Yunis Pasha. However, since it is military expenses, the money must be paid after I see his army."

2 million? ! Greed and surprise suddenly flashed in Rabia's eyes.

Although she had some objections to the payment time, she thought that this might be due to the French crown prince's lack of confidence in his father's appeal, so she accepted it.

She immediately said loudly:

"You will soon see the army that will satisfy you!"

Afterwards, Joseph agreed with her on some "cooperation" details, and asked Joan to take her to the guest room next to her to rest before returning to Algiers early tomorrow morning.

After Consul Qiao An settled Rabia, he immediately turned back to Joseph's office and saluted anxiously:

"Your Highness, I do not want to question your decision, but my duty requires me to give you appropriate advice. I have been in contact with Younis before. He is definitely a very ambitious and extremely cunning person.

"You have provided him with a lot of support, including weapons and millions of dollars, but it is difficult to ensure that he fulfills his promises or does not collude with other forces.

"Perhaps you should send some troops to keep an eye on him to ensure that we get the benefits we deserve."

Joseph cast an appreciative look at him:

"Thank you very much for your advice. Obviously your concerns are right. However, I have never really trusted that Eunice."

"ah?"

Joseph smiled and motioned for him to sit down:

"You know, Mr. Younes once rebelled against his father and fled to Algiers after being defeated. He can betray even his father, let alone others?"

Qiao An nodded repeatedly.

Joseph continued: "Besides, do you know Eunice's other identity?"

"You mean the biggest smuggler in Algiers?"

Joseph shook his head: "Smuggling is just a cover for his appearance. In fact, he is the major shareholder behind the Algiers pirates."

Previously, the American Charles bought pirate information from Younis's smugglers, which made Joseph suspicious of Younis.

He is just a smuggler, but he also knows the pirates' route to sea. This is obviously wrong.

So Joseph asked the Police Intelligence Department to investigate Younes in detail, and found that he himself was involved in the pirate business.

This is also the reason why he was able to obtain a certain degree of freedom in Algiers - by participating in the pirate forces, influencing the Algiers Parliament, and finally getting the treatment of living in the Dakhla area. Of course, for Younes, this is just cooperation with the Algiers navy.

Qiao An was surprised: "He is actually a pirate?!"

"That's right. Younis's fleet usually smuggles goods from the UK back to Tunisia, but if it encounters a suitable target on the way, the smuggling ship will immediately turn into a pirate ship. In fact, there is no information about him in Dakhla. Hard to find out.

"Oh, that Ms. Rabia just now is a fierce pirate leader. She has sold 'white slaves' in Algiers many times. I even suspect that the 'white slaves' she sent as gifts were her own from Europe. Those who plundered along the coast.”

Qiao An suddenly remembered something and asked:

"But, Your Highness, I heard that the American bought information about pirates from Younis' men. If Younis invested in pirates, then why did he..."

"Pirate factions are competing for power." Joseph smiled. "Younes belongs to a foreign faction and has been fighting openly and secretly with the local factions in Algiers. He is using the combined fleet to attack his opponents."

Joan nodded silently. Based on his knowledge of Younis, the latter can definitely do such a thing.

Joseph looked at him with a smile:

"Look, how can I safely cooperate with such a person who can betray his accomplices at any time?"

Qiao An wondered:

"Then why do you support his return to Tunisia?"

He looked up and saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince smiling and saying nothing. He suddenly realized that he was speechless and hurriedly bowed and said:

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Your Highness, this is not something I should ask."

…

Tunisia.

Cahill Palace.

A woman in her twenties, with a slim figure and obvious Greek features, turned sideways in front of the mirror and looked at the French fashion on her body with satisfaction - of course, it was customized according to the Arab style.

She was Hafsa, the favorite concubine of Beyhamud Ali of Tunisia.

"Inam, is this color too dark?" She turned to ask the maid aside, "I remember I ordered a light color."

"That's right, noble madam." Before the maid could answer, the female assistant from the tailor shop waiting on the side came over diligently, "Is this the one you're talking about?"

"Well, help me put it on."

The moment the maid Inam took over the dress and turned around, the female assistant thrust a note into Hafsa's hand.

The latter frowned slightly, glanced at the maids, and saw that they were busy unfolding the cumbersome dress and quickly unfolding the note.

When she saw the special cross-arc mark on the note, she hurriedly crumpled the note into a small ball, stuffed it into her mouth and swallowed it, and then asked the female assistant in a low voice:

"Who gave this to you?"

The latter also replied in a low voice:

"It's your fashion designer. He's just outside the palace."

Hafsa nodded, casually tried on the new dress, and hurried outside the palace, where she saw a young man saluting her respectfully.

"Mr. Zaganos, right? I'm very satisfied with your dress." Hafsa put on a proud look and deliberately walked away from the guards. "I want to customize a few more formal occasion wear with you." skirt."

"Ah! This is my honor!" Zaganos hurriedly lowered his head and followed. If Qiao An were here, he would definitely recognize him at a glance. He is Special Agent Ishaq from the Police Intelligence Department.

Hafsa whispered:

"What's wrong with him?"

Ishaq looked back at the guards and said in an inaudible voice: "There will be a rebellion soon."

"What? Does it have anything to do with him?!"

"Don't worry, he is safe." Ishaq said, "However, he asked me to tell you that you should find a suitable time to tell Bey about this."

"Ah? Why?"

"You will know the specific situation later. Now you just need to remember to let Bey know about the rebellion within seven days. By the way, there are some clues you can use..."

"Yes, the style must be close to the popular style." Ishak passed by several guards and muttered something loudly, then hurriedly whispered, "Madam, the focus is after this. After the war begins, you must convince Bey as soon as possible , want him..."

Hafsa's face looked normal, but her heart was filled with turmoil, and she tried to remember every word of "Zaganos".

After the latter finished speaking, she hurriedly added: "Tell him that I will take care of it. Let him be more careful."

"Okay, ma'am."

…

Algiers.

Northwestern coast of Dakhla.

The sky was dim, and in a three-story palace that was all white, with tall columns and onion-shaped spires, a group of guards in orange robes came to the arched door with gold rims, headed by The officer knocked on the door politely:

"Lord Eunice, do you have any orders?"

It was said to be an order, but it was actually a routine inspection. Such inspections are conducted once in the morning, noon and evening every day.

Although Younes has a close relationship with the Algiers Navy, he is also a "cash cow" for the Algiers Guards.

More than 20 years ago, brothers Muhammad ibn Hassan and Hamoud Ali used the troops of the Algiers Guards to fight back to Tunisia and seize the throne of Bey.

According to the "troop loan fee" agreed in advance, Tunisia will pay an annual tribute of 50,000 rials to the Algiers Guards every year.

As a bargaining chip to blackmail Tunisian Bey into paying on time, Younes was "protected" by the Algiers Guards.

However, Younes was also quite energetic and actually got on the navy's line, so that the Janissaries had to allow him to live freely in Dakhla, but he must not leave this place.

There was no response from the room, and the officer increased his voice again:

"Lord Eunice, are you asleep?"

After asking three times, the officer showed a strange expression, looked at each other and ordered the soldiers to open the gold-inlaid door.

The room was empty.

The officer was frightened and hurriedly blew his wooden whistle. Immediately fifty or sixty Guards soldiers came from all over.

"He's missing! Find him quickly!"

In less than ten minutes, the soldiers sent back news that not only Younis himself, but also his son, two daughters, and personal servants had all disappeared from the palace.

The bodies of four patrolling guards were also found.

The officer turned pale with fright and jumped on his horse to report the news to his superiors.

Soon, more guards arrived and blocked all nearby roads. At the same time, cavalry chased towards the port - as long as Younis did not leave the port, there was still hope.

In the darkness, more than twenty horses ran like crazy towards the Dakhla port. Due to the low response efficiency of the Algiers Guards, only so many cavalry could be dispatched in a short period of time. More officers and soldiers were still at home at this time, not even dressed.

Twenty minutes later, the cavalrymen finally saw the light of torches in the distance.

The officer leading the team whipped the horse vigorously, then drew out his saber and shouted loudly: "Get ready to intercept! Attention, except Younis, anyone else who dares to resist will be killed immediately!"

"yes!"

Seeing that the seven or eight horses in front were getting closer and closer, suddenly, a dense row of firelight flashed in the night, followed by a series of loud "bangs".

The three Algiers Guards fell off their horses immediately, and the others all raised their reins in fear and hid on both sides:

"It's a musket. There's an ambush, be careful!"

"What should I do? There seem to be quite a few of them..."

"Eunice ran away!"

"I know! Xikeli, go back and call someone! Pili, go over and check the situation!"

"I...yes, my lord!"

On the other side, after firing once, Prusspur from the Police Intelligence Department immediately called on his men to mount their horses and rushed towards the port in the dark.

There were only 14 of them in total—almost the entire police force in Algiers.

They didn't know how many pursuers there would be, and they just hoped to use the darkness of night to frighten the enemy by firing two guns per person at the same time.

By the time the Algiers Guards discovered that all the people in ambush had left, it was already more than ten minutes later.

By this time Younis had arrived at the port.

The pursuers in Algiers split up and rushed directly to the fort in the port, while others notified the navy to send a ship to intercept.

Not long after, a naval galley spotted a small boat moving. At this time, usually no one goes to sea.

They immediately issued a warning, but the small boat accelerated and headed towards the deep sea.

On board the galley, the Algiers naval officer ordered the guns to be loaded and gave a final warning to the boat. At the same time, the fort not far away that received the signal was also ready to destroy the small boat at any time.

At this moment, an extremely huge figure suddenly appeared in the night, like a prehistoric beast lying on the sea.

Before the Algerian galley could react, a series of flames erupted from the huge black shadow, and then several water columns several meters high shot up in front of the galley, and the waves stirred up made it violent. Shake.

"Yes, it's a battleship!" the commander of the galley exclaimed, and then hurriedly ordered his men, "Back off! Back off immediately!"

He could clearly feel that those shells were at least 24 pounds. If it had been hit by one just now, my light patrol boat would probably have been torn into two pieces.

The "behemoth" on the sea is the French Navy's fourth-level battleship "Advance"!

Seeing the galley retreating rapidly, the "Forward" also turned slightly, so that the port side faced the fort on the shore, and soon a volley burst out.

In fact, it is difficult for naval guns to cause substantial damage to the fort, especially since the British had just strengthened the fort in Algiers and added many large-caliber heavy guns to the fort. In terms of direct bombardment, let alone a fourth-level ship, even a first-level ship is definitely no match for this fort.

However, the tremors caused by the shells hitting the fort, as well as the dazzling artillery fire and terrifying roars in the night, scared the Algiers gunners to tremble, and they ignited the ignition powder indiscriminately without taking serious aim.

Most of the British cannon shells landed half a mile away from the "Forward". At this time, the small boat Younis was riding in had arrived next to the French frigate.

Several ropes were thrown from the frigate. Eunice immediately jumped up, grabbed the knot and climbed up.

French sailors dragged Younis's family and people from the police intelligence department onto the boat and immediately set sail towards the deep sea.

Behind them, the Algiers navy finally reacted. The oarsmen on seven or eight battleships rowed desperately, and at the same time, the sails slowly raised.

However, the "Forward"'s artillery fire soon caused them to scatter and avoid - these light warships with only 18 guns at most were no match for the 60-gun "Forward". Even the frigates responsible for picking up people in shallow waters are no match.

The two French warships sailed straight towards the north. After entering the deep sea, they immediately implemented a light control, and the two ships suddenly disappeared on the dark sea.