Pasha, one of the largest leaders of the Barbary Pirate Kingdom, limped back to his fortress, Tunisia, with his remaining defeated generals.

He was also called by the Empire to participate in the naval battle in the Tunisian Strait, but the Empire fleet was blown up in the sea and he also injured his leg.

But what made him even more depressed was that the United Fleet immediately surrounded Tunisia after defeating the Imperial Navy.

Now Tunisia, the pirate nest, has become the second target to be targeted by the Joint Fleet. No pirate can enter and exit Tunisia during blockade.

Because of the fall of Algiers and the failure of the Imperial fleet, all the pirates in Tunisia were at their own risk.

"When I went to negotiate with them, the abominable Europeans and Chinese made two requests! First, we were asked to hand over a treasure worth 1 million taels of silver in Tunisia, and second, we asked to sign a treaty with us, agreeing that in the future, the pirates in Tunisia would not rob their merchant ships and capture their merchants, and their merchant ships would have to ensure their safety unconditionally when entering Tunisia! If we accept these two requests at the same time, they would be willing to withdraw troops from our Tunisia waters!"

An envoy sent out for peace talks in Tunisia brought back news that was unfavorable to the pirates.

"1 million taels of silver?" Many pirates looked at each other.

"Why did we defeat the Imperial fleet but we were asked to compensate Tunisia? Although we pay taxes to the Empire every year and are usually summoned by the Empire, we do not want to pay for this defeat!" A pirate leader expressed the voice of other pirates.

The imperial fleet had just been defeated on the front line, and the enemy was at the city, and the consequence of the defeat was that they in Tunisia would bear the cost of the defeat.

"Because even if they defeated the fleet of the empire, they could not threaten Constantinople. Tunisia is located in North Africa and is regarded as pirates by Europeans. No matter how they deal with it, we can do it. Algiers had already compromised with the other side before the battle of the sea and compensated 1.1 million taels of treasure as protection fee, and we could still pay 100,000 taels of silver less than them." Pasha of Tunisia saw clearly the purpose of the joint fleet, but he didn't know what to do about this matter.

"Mr. Pasha, what do you mean is that we obediently pay them a protection fee of 1 million taels of silver? We are pirates! We have always collected protection fees from the surrounding countries, so how can we pay protection fees to them?!" The pirate leaders who stayed in Tunisia shouted.

Only Pasha of Tunisia and the pirate leaders who enlisted in the battle of the sea knew the terribleness of each other.

"If we don't hand over the protection fee that satisfies them, if we Tunisia is captured like Algiers, then we will lose more than 1 million taels! The cannons of the fortress, the fortress we finally built, and the treasures we in the city will be looted and empty, and we will even lose our lives. We have no reinforcements anymore. The Empire fleet was defeated and a large number of sailboats were destroyed. The Empire would need at least a winter to recover. Even if it recovers, it would take time to regroup the fleet from Constantinople. Moreover, the combat effectiveness of the newly formed fleet will definitely be greatly reduced than the current fleet. Can we really repel the fleet that blocked our Tunisia? Will there be no other reinforcements in the enemy fleet?" Pasha of Tunisia analyzed his own concern.

Injured in the naval battle, he realized the terribleness of the United Fleet. The strong ships and sharp guns had surpassed the powerful Ottoman Empire, especially when he was on the right wing of the Ottoman fleet, and he fought with the ironclad ships that looked like black sea monsters.

The inability to cause any effective damage to the Iron Craft left a huge psychological shadow on him and his Tunisian pirates.

Under the fear brought by the defeat of the Imperial fleet, the surrender of Algiers, and the black sea monster ironclad ships, they did not believe that Tunisia's castles and fortresses could be blocked.

There are two coastal defense turrets loaded with a large number of artillery in Algiers and a fortress, but have they been broken?

Unless the Joint Fleet really wants to kill them, as long as the "protection fee" collected is within the psychological endurance of the pirates, they will be worried about whether to compromise with the Joint Fleet like Algiers.

Tunisian pirates were struggling, and the ships of the United Fleet were peeping at Tunisia outside the sea.

Originally, the combined fleet lost more than 10 ships in the naval battle and captured more than 20 Ottoman ships, the size of the combined fleet increased instead of decreasing, which gave the pirates in Tunisia an illusion that the enemy had almost no losses after the naval battle.

In fact, for the joint fleet, casualties are the worst losses. The Fourth Fleet, Royal Fleet, and the Knights of the Hospital are not many. If they continue to sacrifice a group of people to conquer the fortress and fortress, they will also consider it.

"This is a psychological contest, it depends on whether they will actively compromise under the threat of our military power." Sun Xu and other officers from the Fourth Fleet called the Royal Navy and the senior leaders of the Knights of the Hospital came to the ironclad ship to have tea together. They were waiting for the reply from the Tunisian pirates.

"If the Tunisian pirates do not intend to hand over 1 million taels of silver, then we can only attack Tunisia. Tunisia's defense is similar to Algiers. If you want to defeat there, you will probably have to sacrifice a lot." said Castella, the chief of the Knights of the Hospital.

"In order to deter the surrounding pirates and Ottoman towns, once they refuse, we must forcibly capture Tunisia and burn the pirate nest in Tunisia. Otherwise, if everyone resists like this, how should we charge protection fees? Most of them will understand the truth and see if they have the fighting spirit to resist." Sun Chuanting said.

"Attacking the turret can drive the captives we capture as forwards to reduce our losses," said Sir Pennington.

The British, with a population of only a few million, is equally scarce.

"We have the same idea." The others nodded.

"The fate of Tunisian pirates fell into their hands. After Tunisia extorted a sum, we asked for protection fees from the pirates in Tripoli. Next is Egypt, Livante, Cyprus, Rhodes..." Sun Xu pointed to about one-third of the coastal areas of the Mediterranean on the map, and had already figured out the looting location in advance.

"When winter comes, the large fleet will not be able to move. We can only send a small fleet to blackmail," said Castella.

"In winter, our large fleet will rest on Malta Island, and at the same time we will send a small fleet to collect protection fees along the coast. If Pasha in any area does not pay us protection fees, then wait for our joint fleet to come to the door to attack in the spring next year." Sun Xu said.
Chapter completed!