Harry Potter’s Morning Light

   Chapter 2346 The Great Illusionist (1)

On June 18, 1798, the French expedition to Egypt set sail from Marseille and arrived at Alexandria on July 1. They were lucky. They did not encounter windless weather like the Mycenaeans who conquered Troy. It was quite large, which allowed the fleet to set sail as fast as possible, and on the 22nd and 23rd of June, heavy fog caused it to pass by Nelson's fleet and nearly come into contact.

   But it was the wind that made the sea like boiling water in a pot, and Napoleon got seasick in this situation.

   He was not alone, but when they reached Alexandria with the tide of the sea, nothing improved, though they easily captured the city. The scorching sun, lack of water, and scalding sand made them feel unfamiliar and intimidating.

   But this is not the worst, rations are collected locally, Egypt is a desert, not the fertile Po River plain. Feeding food is the first problem an army needs to solve. A qualified commander regards this as common sense in commanding an army. However, war is cruel and changeable, and seemingly simple things often cannot be satisfied because of many variables. Compared with the detachment led by Dugao that landed in Rosetta, which had sufficient water and food, Desai's detachment only found abandoned villages and wells filled with stones. The lack of water made many people look at it. At the mirage, the Bedouin harassed the soldiers who were left behind. Even Dogo's army did not have enough bread. The locals would use fruit to supplement the food shortage, which made many people unaccustomed to it and caused the soldiers to suffer from diarrhea. Ordering to march through the desert to Cairo at this time was undoubtedly a **** trip. Some people fell to the ground with heat stroke, some people were overwhelmed by the heat and lack of water, and the woolen military uniforms on their bodies made everyone miserable.

It can be seen on the sculptures and portraits of ancient Egypt that both pharaohs and slaves applied thick eyeliner. It is not only for beauty, but also to drive away some small insects and protect the eyes from suffering from flies. eye disease. These unfamiliar French people do not know all of this. Many people are infected with eye diseases and fall ill. In the face of this situation, the military doctors are at a loss.

   All felt extremely depressed and some ended up committing suicide until July 20th.

As Homer wrote, the sky is red, the sky is red, the pyramids of Giza stand on the west bank of the Nile, and to the east is Cairo, a city of more than 250,000 people, larger than most cities in Europe, except Paris, London, but the outskirts of Paris and London do not have the Pyramids of Giza.

   There are also the minarets of more than 300 mosques in the city, as well as the Mamluk hussars who are in formation to wait for work. They play drums to boost morale, and they don't care about the outsiders who are on the verge of collapse due to heat and exhaustion.

   They wear a full set of golden armor, a tradition since ancient times, that they can use the armor to pay the ransom when they are defeated. In addition, there are gorgeous harnesses with muskets hanging on them. When they ride their horses in front of the phalanx, they make a very pleasant sound. At this time, the main French army formed several huge phalanxes, which the Mamluks did not have. Forms seen.

Compared with the numerous Mamluks, the square array has only a few lines in each direction. It seems that only one team of cavalry can penetrate and then 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 difficult-to-enter southern countryside.

   In fact, the square array also has weaknesses, because it moves slowly and is densely populated, making it very suitable for artillery bombardment, but the accuracy and rate of fire of the Mamluks are very poor, and there is no standard tractor for French artillery, making it difficult to quickly adjust the deployment and project firepower. In this case the Mamluks lacked an effective solution to the opposing formation, although these nobles outnumbered the French in numbers and musket possessions.

Cairo was powerless to resist at this time, and at the same time there were French people in bad condition. Bonaparte lived in the governor's palace on the west bank of the Nile. The palace was covered with granite floors, stood with marble pillars, and there was a balcony in front of the main entrance. He could see it all from the balcony facing the splendid Plaza Espegia, which turns into a lake when the Nile overflows.

However, there is another Cairo. There are nearly 60,000 unemployed people in the total population of Cairo. Their lives often need to rely on the relief of mosques. Long before the arrival of the French army, this class often launched riots and then hid in ordinary residential areas. Those crowded and chaotic, labyrinth-like streets.

  The people here use camel dung as fuel, and when they burn, they produce a nasty brown smoke that wafts over the city whenever they dine.

  Egypt had experienced 25 years of social turmoil before the French landed, with its economy chaotic and disordered, its rulers reckless, and the plague swept the scarred country in 1791. There are two reasons for Egypt's political turmoil. The first is the increasing disintegration of the Mamluk class in a struggle for power and profit, splitting into numerous rival factions, and the second is the futile attempts of the Turks to restore their rule over Egypt. Eventually this division spread from top to bottom throughout Egyptian society, and the ensuing social unrest disrupted Egyptian trade.

The victory was short-lived, Nelson learned that Napoleon had reached the port of Abu Kil on August 1st after landing in Egypt. The French suffered heavy losses in this battle, including Napoleon's flagship "Oriental", which was laden with treasure, that It was originally used to buy Egyptian elites, and others were used to mint new currency, but they all sank to the bottom of the sea with the Vostok.

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

If it’s just once or twice, the key is to keep repeating. The sand dunes in the desert are also undulating like waves by the wind, but the person who steps on them can decide whether they want to climb to the top of the dunes, or in what way. Walking down the sand dunes can be relatively gentle, not as straight up and down as the waves, and can't be controlled by humans at all.

   In 1799, when Bonaparte sailed back to France again, he chose the small port of Fréjus. Compared with the last time he led a huge fleet "smoothly", this time he returned home was not smooth. He had brought a gorilla with him, but died on the boat, and bandits robbed him of his luggage in Provence, revealing the reality of how chaotic France was, even though he was greeted like a hero on the way down the road .

  Religion tells you not to hate those who hurt you, but to be kind and use your patience to fight the hurt.

   But not everyone believes this.

  Although not completely smooth, Napoleon did not need to live a humble life of "first public servant" in Egypt, he could do whatever he wanted. He still maintained a certain loyalty to Josephine, and did not meddle with the Mamluks' daughters, so his eyes turned to money, so that Bee's wife had to exchange a precious ring for half of her property.

   It was a seemingly bad deal, but Bonaparte recognized it immediately, and it would bring him more than those Arabian horses.

"There's nothing wrong with being a nun. You can cultivate your body." Bonaparte sat on the sofa, with his left arm around Georgiana's shoulder, his right hand pinching her hand, and playing with the fire opal ring on her hand. "But if a child is allowed to Living in a monastery since childhood is cruel."

   She didn't dare to move.

   She glanced at his eyes, like a fortune fan, both eyes glowing.

The desire to survive is an instinct of animals. It is not only possessed by humans, but unlike animals, humans want to live only when they have desires. It is desire that allows some people to find a reason to live after experiencing too much misfortune. Don't just feel the pain of asceticism, and feel that death is as easy as taking off your shoes and sleeping.

   After about three or five minutes, he let go of her hand, she hesitantly took it back, and when she touched the ring, it was as hot as it was on fire.

"Did you have meal?"

"not yet."

"What to eat?"

   "I'll figure it out 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 others?"

   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 into his ear and whispered, "I'll tell you a secret, those assassins are not robbers, their identities were forged by me."

  Georgianna nodded understandingly, she always felt that the British Bow Street scout was too efficient.

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

   "The Legion of the Rhine, formerly Osh's subordinates." Bonaparte said with a smile, "They thought that killing me would prevent me from continuing to send troops to Santo Domingo."

   Her eyes widened in shock.

   He put his finger on her lips.

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

  Georgianna nodded, then he grabbed her hand, hooking her little finger to her little finger, as if the "contract" had been reached.

   (end of this chapter)