Chapter 2346 The Great Illusionist (Part 1)

The French army on the expedition to Egypt set sail from Marseille on June 18, 1798, and arrived at Alexandria on July 1. They were lucky and did not encounter windless weather like the Mycenaeans who conquered Troy. On the contrary, the wind was still strong.

It was quite big, which allowed the fleet to set sail as quickly as possible, and there was heavy fog on June 22 and 23, which caused it to pass Nelson's fleet and almost hit it head-on.

But it was this strong wind that caused the sea to stir up big waves like boiling water in a pot. In this case, Napoleon became seasick.

He was not alone, but nothing improved after they followed the tide of the sea to Alexandria, even though they easily captured the city. The scorching sun, lack of water, and hot sand all made them feel strange.

And intimidated.

But this is not the worst. The military rations are collected locally. Egypt is a desert, not the fertile Po River plain. Having enough food is the first problem an army must solve. A qualified commander regards this as commanding the army.

Common sense, but war is cruel and changeable, and seemingly simple things are often unsatisfactory because of many variables. Compared with the detachment led by Du Gao that landed in Rosetta, which had sufficient water and food.

, Desai's team only found abandoned villages and wells filled with stones. The lack of water caused many people to see mirages, and the Bedouins harassed the stragglers. Even Dugo's army

, there was not enough bread, and the locals would use fruits to supplement the food shortage, which many people were not used to, causing the soldiers to generally suffer from diarrhea. At this time, ordering the march through the desert to Cairo was undoubtedly a hellish journey, and some people suffered from heat stroke during the march.

Falling to the ground, some were overwhelmed by the heat and lack of water, and the woolen military uniforms they wore made everyone miserable.

It can be seen in the sculptures and portraits of ancient Egypt that both pharaohs and slaves wore thick eyeliner. It was not only for appearance, but also to repel some bugs and protect the eyes from diseases caused by flies.

Eye diseases. These unfamiliar French people did not know all this. Many people were infected with eye diseases and fell ill. Faced with this situation, military doctors were helpless.

Everyone felt extremely depressed, and some finally chose to commit suicide. This happened until July 20.

Just like Homer wrote, the sky is rose-red. The Giza pyramids stand on the west bank of the Nile, and to the east is Cairo. It is a city with a population of more than 250,000, larger than most cities in Europe, except

Paris, London, but there are no Giza Pyramids on the outskirts of Paris and London.

In addition, there are more than 300 minarets of mosques in the city, as well as Mamluk light cavalry in formation, waiting for work. They play drums to boost morale. They do not put these formations in disarray and collapse due to heat and exhaustion.

Outsiders on the margins are looked down upon.

They wore a full set of gold armor, which was a tradition from ancient times. When they were defeated, they could use the armor to pay ransom. In addition, they also had gorgeous horse harness with muskets hung on them. When they rode their horses in front of the phalanx, they made a loud sound.

With a pleasant sound, the main force of the French army formed several huge square formations. This was a formation that the Mamluks had never seen before.

Compared with the Mamluks, who had a large number of people, the square formation only had a few thin lines in each direction. It seemed that only one team of cavalry could penetrate it and completely collapse. However, the battle lasted for two hours, and it was not the French who collapsed first.

, instead, the main force of the Mamluk cavalry fled the Nile Valley and fled to the southern countryside, which was not easily accessible.

In fact, the square formation also has weaknesses. Because it moves slowly and has dense personnel, it is very suitable for artillery bombardment. However, the Mamluk's accuracy and rate of fire are very poor, and it does not have the standard tractor for French artillery, making it difficult to quickly adjust its deployment and project firepower.

In this situation, the Mamluks lacked an effective solution to the opposing formation, although these nobles outnumbered the French in terms of numbers and musket holdings.

Cairo was unable to resist at this time, and the French were in a bad state. Bonaparte moved into the Governor's Palace on the west bank of the Nile. The palace was paved with granite floors, marble pillars stood, and there was a balcony in front of the main entrance.

The balcony faced the spectacular Espikia Square, which turned into a lake when the Nile flooded, and he could see it all from the balcony.

However, there is another Cairo. There are nearly 60,000 unemployed people in the total population of Cairo. Their lives often depend on the relief of mosques. Long before the arrival of the French army, this class frequently launched riots and then hid in ordinary residential areas.

Among those crowded, messy, maze-like streets.

The people here use camel dung as fuel. When they burn, they produce a very unpleasant brown smoke. The thick smoke will float over the city every time they eat.

Before the French landed, Egypt had experienced 25 years of social turmoil, economic chaos, disorder, and excessive taxation by the rulers. In 1791, the plague swept through this scarred country. There are two reasons for Egypt's political turmoil. The first is Mamru.

The Croat class increasingly disintegrated in the struggle for power and split into many mutually hostile factions. Secondly, the Turks tried in vain to restore their rule over Egypt. Eventually, this division spread from top to bottom to the entire Egyptian society, and subsequently

The social unrest disrupted Egyptian trade.

The victory was short-lived. Nelson learned that Napoleon chased the port of Aboukir on August 1 after landing in Egypt. The French army suffered heavy losses in this battle, including Napoleon's flagship "Orient", which was full of treasures.

They were originally used to bribe the Egyptian elite, and others were used to mint new currencies, but they all sank to the bottom of the sea with the Vostok.

Rather than being disappointed in the future, it is better not to have any hope at the beginning, so that the gap will not be so huge when you are disappointed, just like falling from the top of the wave to the bottom of the wave in a "boiling" ocean, which will produce a strong sense of weightlessness.

.

It doesn't matter if it's just once or twice, the key is to keep repeating it. The sand dunes in the desert are also blown by the wind like waves, but the people who step on them can decide whether they want to climb to the top of the dunes, or in what way.

Walking down the sand dunes is relatively gentle, unlike the waves that go straight up and down, and are completely uncontrollable by humans.

When Bonaparte returned to France by ship again in 1799, he chose the small port of Fréjus. Compared with the last time he led a huge fleet and had a "smooth sailing", this time his return was not smooth. He originally brought

A gorilla who died on board a ship and whose luggage was robbed by bandits in Provence revealed the reality of the chaos France was in, even though he was later welcomed as a hero on the road.

Religion tells you not to hate those who hurt you, but to remain kind and use your tolerance to fight against harm.

But not everyone believes this.

Although it was not completely smooth, Napoleon did not need to live a humble life as a "first public servant" in Egypt. He could do whatever he wanted. He still maintained a certain degree of loyalty to Josephine and did not get involved with those Mamluks.

As a result, his sight turned to money, so that Bey's wife had to exchange half of her property with a precious ring.

This seemed like a very loss-making business, but Bonaparte recognized it at a glance. It would bring him more than those Arabian horses.

"There is nothing wrong with being a nun. It can cultivate one's character." Bonaparte sat on the sofa, his left hand around Georgiana's shoulders, his right hand squeezing her hand, and playing with the fire opal ring on her hand. "But if a child

It would be cruel to live in a monastery since childhood."

She didn't dare to move.

She glanced at his eyes, both of which were shining like a money addict.

The desire to survive is an animal instinct that is not only possessed by humans. But unlike animals, humans only want to live when they have desires. It is desires that allow some people to find some reasons to live after experiencing too much misfortune.

You will not only feel the pain of asceticism, but feel that death is as easy as taking off your shoes to sleep.

After about three to five minutes, he let go of her hand, and she took it back hesitantly. When she touched the ring, it was as hot as if she had placed it on a fire.

"Did you have meal?"

"not yet."

"What to eat?"

"I will solve it myself." She said softly, "Don't delay your afternoon for me."

"Why didn't you tell others that I sent someone to Hamburg?"

"Why should I tell anyone?"

He looked at her.

"Isn't this a military secret?" she asked again.

"Are you really that good at keeping secrets?"

She looked at him inexplicably.

Then he leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Let me tell you a secret. Those assassins are not robbers. Their identities were forged by me."

Georgiana nodded in understanding. She had always felt that the British Bow Street detective was too efficient.

"Who are they?" she asked casually, just out of curiosity.

"The Army of the Rhine, former subordinates of Auch." Bonaparte said with a smile, "They thought that killing me would stop me from sending troops to Saint-Domingue."

She opened her eyes wide in shock.

He put his finger on her lips.

"Shh, don't tell anyone." He said softly, "Keep it a secret for me, okay?"

Georgiana nodded, and then he took her hand and hooked her little finger with her little finger, as if the "contract" was reached.
Chapter completed!