Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Algiers' central and western regions, Akelm Tribe.

Tribal chief Lazaz loudly urged the tribe members to load bags of valuables onto the camels' backs. Not far behind him, a procession of over a hundred camels was slowly moving toward the western mountains.

At this moment, Lazaz's son rushed over on horseback, pointing north in panic, "Father, they, they are coming!"

Lazaz's body stiffened immediately, knowing that his son was referring to Hadiid's men.

He looked at the chaotic tribe, with at least half the people still not evacuated, and couldn't help but feel extremely anxious.

Indeed, although the messenger he sent had arrived two days ago, in this era of poor organizational and mobilization capacity, it was impossible for over 8,000 tribespeople to completely evacuate within two days.

Especially when quite a few people were still holding onto the hope that they wouldn't have to abandon their household belongings.

It wasn't until Lazaz himself returned to the tribe that the evacuation speeded up.

But it had only been half a day when the damned naval bandits arrived.

Lazaz was well aware that these guys were all pirates by nature and that even during the rule of the Dey, they dared to rob small tribes.

And now, with the French governor ignoring them, they would undoubtedly become even more brazen, likely enslaving and selling the Akelm Tribe people after looting them.

Lazaz hurriedly shouted to several elders beside him, "Let everyone flee immediately, leave everything behind!"

He then instructed his son to gather the tribe's warriors and head north to defend against the enemy.

One hour later, the flag of the Algiers Navy appeared in Lazaz's sight.

When he vaguely saw the dark cannons and heard reports from the scouts saying there were over 400 enemies, despair instantly enveloped him.

The Akelm Tribe had only 160 warriors, with some still in the mountains protecting the tribe.

The most lethal threat was the enemy's cannons.

Soon, the Navy sent people over, demanding the Akelm Tribe hand over "private hidden Imperial Guard assets" of 120,000 riyals and 500 camels.

Lazaz naturally couldn't come up with that much money. During the seizure of the Imperial Guard assets, he only managed to gather 20,000 to 30,000 riyals, and even if the entire tribe was searched, it might not be enough.

The Navy didn't give him the chance to stall; after just half an hour, they launched an attack.

The Navy didn't fire the cannons, they just shot a few rounds, and over a hundred Akelm warriors were already retreating in fear.

Lazaz shut his eyes in pain. If looted by these pirates, the tribe would certainly suffer heavy losses, and many tribe members might starve to death in the winter.

His hands trembled as he was about to tell his son to inform the pirates that the tribe was willing to offer the 120,000 riyals and camels, when suddenly, from the nearby eastern hills, he seemed to hear the sound of steady drumming.

The pirates, who had been charging menacingly toward the tribe, were also startled and, in a panic, stopped and turned around, raising their guns defensively.

Soon, Lazaz saw a group of soldiers dressed in white uniforms forming a straight line, drumming as they approached the pirates.

There were only about 200 soldiers, but their imposing aura made it seem as if the Navy was nothing more than a flock of sheep.

Lazaz's son, having been to Mitidja, immediately recognized the uniforms and exclaimed, "It's the French Army!"

Lazaz smacked him on the head, scolding, "Those are our Roman Compatriots!"

"Yes, Roman Compatriots," the young man excitedly shouted to the nearby tribal warriors, "It's our Roman Compatriots coming to our rescue!"

A naval officer approached the French Army and, after some conversation, was tied up by several soldiers.

The Navy's side immediately turned pale, hesitating about whether to shoot, yet the French Army initiated a volley first.

Soon after, dozens of French cavalry appeared on the Navy's left flank, scattering their formation in an instant.

The battle lasted less than 20 minutes.

Most of Hadiid's people were a ragtag group who stood no chance against trained French regulars. At this point, all 400 or so were kneeling on the ground with caplock guns pointed at them.

Lazaz, along with the tribe's elders, was led by soldiers to a French Army captain.

After they respectfully saluted, the captain gestured to the interpreter, "Tell them that Governor Uster sent me to quell the naval rebellion. You are now safe."

Indeed, although the main force of the Ney Corps seemed to have retreated to Tunisia, over 5,000 soldiers had scattered throughout Algiers, poised to act during the "naval rebellion".

A few hours later, all the people of the Akelm Tribe came out, loudly cursing the captured pirates, with some bold ones even picking up stones to hurl at them.

Lazaz's son joined the tribespeople, leading them in shouting, "May the Almighty bless our Roman Compatriots!"

The surrounding crowd immediately joined in, yelling, "May the Almighty bless the Roman Compatriots!"

Seeing that the French soldiers didn't seem to understand, Lazaz hurriedly shouted in broken French he had recently learned, "Long live the King!"

The tribespeople followed suit and, after a few iterations, also cheered in their poor French, "Long live the King!"

Similar scenes played out across Algiers, with over a dozen large tribes being protected from naval pillage under the French Army's protection.

For a time, the prestige of the Roman Compatriots soared among the Berbers.

Afterward, each major town and tribe in Algiers received orders to "assist the army in eliminating the naval rebellion," targeting all naval personnel.

The "Navy" in Algiers was not merely an army.

It was centered around the subordinates of the once formidable Mediterranean pirate Hayreddin, mainly composed of Ottoman people, but also including a large number of Arabs, Greeks, and even Spaniards. Over hundreds of years, it had evolved into a social class, with a total population of about 100,000.

Soon, major Berber tribes began fierce reprisals.

Just like before against the Imperial Guard, they started systematically raiding each household of the Navy.

Just one week later, Shafik was shot dead with arrows by warriors from a group of Berber tribes. Until his death, he was still trying to contact his patron, Governor Uster.

The desperate Algiers Navy started fleeing everywhere, and soon, they were reminded of the Imperial Guard's previous hideout—the Mzab Tribe.

The soldiers of the French Tunisian Legion diligently maintained the passage from all over Algiers to the Mzab area.

In the end, once the Berbers caught naval rebels, they proactively sent them south.

By early October, with the concerted efforts of over one and a half million Berber-Arab descendants, the Ottomans and Greeks in the Algiers region were mostly driven into the southern desert.

While Berber nobles and tribal chiefs celebrated this great victory, Governor Uster, along with his administrative officials and officers like Zemir, started advancing the most crucial step of the Algiers Unified Governance Plan.