The Fox of France

Chapter 399: Occupation

Indeed, the terror of the London Fire of that year could not compare to this. While the Great Fire of London in 1666 might have covered a larger area, its point of origin was singular. Though the flames couldn't be controlled, their spread wasn't swift. As a result, most people had time to flee. The entire London Fire, despite destroying tens of thousands of structures, supposedly claimed only five lives (I personally doubt this number, as the statistical accuracy of that era is questionable. However, the absence of massive casualties is likely certain).

The French, on the other hand, set a different kind of fire. The initial bombardment strategically targeted escape routes, aiming to quickly block them. Subsequent bombardments focused on igniting a massive fire as swiftly as possible. In such a scenario, casualties naturally increased. Those close to the coast had the option to jump into the sea for escape, though even there, they risked being targeted by Turkish collaborators. Nevertheless, it offered a slim chance of survival. Besides, being shot seemed preferable to burning alive.

As for those unable to jump into the sea, there was only one path in this massive fire – death. Despite the scale of the Tripoli fire being smaller than the London Fire, the casualties numbered in the thousands. The destruction of governmental structures in Tripoli resulted in the loss of all records. Therefore, determining the city's population at that time became a confusing task, beyond anyone's clear estimation.

Thus, the number of casualties in this fire is nothing but speculation, with the lowest estimates surpassing ten thousand.

Following this fire, Tripoli's defenses collapsed completely. The Turks couldn't immediately land, as the fire raged on. It took a whole day and night for the fire to gradually extinguish, and the Turks waited another two hours before sending soldiers ashore with small boats.

These soldiers encountered no resistance. They swiftly occupied strategic points along the city's ruins. Subsequently, more Turkish soldiers landed at the harbor, organized their forces, and under the command of a general, advanced towards the palace of the Pasha of Tripoli.

The Pasha's palace was relatively distant from the harbor area and remained untouched by the flames. However, after the harbor fire, Yusuf Pasha, observing the conflagration from his palace, knew that most of his army had likely perished in the fire. His own forces were no longer a match against the invading Turks and the French.

Yusuf Pasha, pragmatic in nature, immediately gathered his personal guard, took movable wealth, set fire to the palace, and, with the remaining forces, headed towards Tunisia.

Since the harbor was still in ruins and the various dock facilities were destroyed, the Turkish fleet couldn't dock but had to send soldiers ashore with small boats, claiming their stake in the debris.

However, Tayyip Pasha cared little about this level of destruction. According to the agreement between the two parties, this port was originally meant to be handed over to the French. If it burned down, so be it; there was nothing to lament.

Turkish and French warships couldn't dock, but French soldiers were still brought ashore with small boats. These soldiers had two tasks: to coordinate with the Turks and quickly control nearby areas and to rescue Christian slaves in the vicinity.

Even without considering the harbor conditions, Tripoli was a favorable place - with a mild climate and excellent conditions as an oasis. Thus, there were many farms near the city. Numerous Christian and black slaves worked on these farms.

Napoleon attached great importance to liberating these Christian slaves, as it would provide more legitimacy to the operation. Since the start of the industrial revolution, the production of various goods had seen tremendous growth, and European markets now had a sense of oversupply. Opening up new markets for goods was deemed urgent by Joseph. Africa and the Middle East were the markets that the French had their eyes on.

Due to the haste in retreat, Yusuf Pasha had little time to deal with the affairs of the farms outside the city. The local farm owners were unlikely to follow Yusuf Pasha in fleeing – after all, their livelihoods were tied to the land here. Moreover, based on their understanding of the situation, the newcomers were not heathens; they were a group carrying the banner of the crescent moon, believers in the true God. Furthermore, this group was under the leadership and protection of religious leaders, so why should they run away? At most, they would bribe the soldiers a bit and continue paying taxes as before.

However, to their surprise, a group of pagan soldiers appeared before them, alongside a squad of foreign soldiers. Then, they were informed that their Christian slaves were now free. This meant that the farm owners lost their slaves, a significant part of their property, and, most likely, these slaves would soon appear in the market in Istanbul.

Of course, there weren't many farm owners bold enough to resist the invading army. So, for now, they had only lost their slaves and money – the things that couldn't be moved. Their land and houses were still in their possession. However, worse news awaited them: Turkish officials soon landed.

As the saying goes, "Thieves come like a comb, soldiers come like a rake, officials come like a razor." One of the crucial tasks of these officials landing was to secure enough land for the meritorious warriors in this war. Of course, this could be said more elegantly - to inspect and punish supporters and sympathizers of the rebellion.

Before landing, these officials had been informed: "If those farm owners have escaped, without a doubt, they are openly and unashamedly accomplices of the rebellion. All their wealth – including land, houses, and everything else – should be confiscated. If they are still on their farms, you should be even more vigilant. Because this means they are secret supporters, hiding and supporting the rebels. For such vipers, we must strike even more harshly; they should be sent to prison, undergo a judge's trial – of course, we won't wrong a good person, but we cannot let a rebel escape..."

Therefore, the farm owners near Tripoli, except those who had already escaped or had their heads chopped off earlier, were almost all arrested and sent to the temporary prison set up by the Turks. Subsequently, the officials began to process these cases at an astonishing speed, beheading the farm owners similar to the revolutionary courts of Robespierre back in the day. Their wives and children were handed over to a slave trader named Eldo who had come with them.

Now, the most valuable land near Tripoli became precious unclaimed land, a delightful situation. With these valuable lands, Sultan Selim III should be able to harvest plenty of loyalty.

Of course, all this land couldn't be entirely rewarded to Sultan Selim III's loyal subjects, as a portion had to go to the Christian slaves as compensation for being kidnapped to this place.

In reality, most of these Christian slaves were descendants of Christians truly plundered in the past. In the last hundred years, the Barbary pirates rarely ventured onto the shores of the northern Mediterranean (excluding France), raiding coastal residents. There were, of course, new Christian slaves, mostly captured at sea.

Those who had recently become slaves were indeed few. They could, of course, return to Europe after receiving some compensation. But for most Christian slaves, their connection to Europe had been completely severed. Even their way of life and habits, except for their Catholic faith, had become more like those of North African heathens.

So, they had no choice but to stay in North Africa, and France needed them to stay in North Africa because they were natural supporters of France. To ensure they could continue living in North Africa, France had to fight for a piece of land sufficient to support their entire families.