General Rainier's report from Marseille was not encouraging either. The report said that his 13 transport ships had encountered various problems, which might mean a delay in departure. Not only did the ships lack sailors, but they also lacked the most common food utensils, water bottles, brooms, and so on. The soldiers who faced long-term drifting at sea and months of fighting did not even have the money to buy personal necessities such as tobacco. The army lacked uniforms and bedding, and the thousands of barrels of fresh water stored on the transport ship had begun to deteriorate. What was more, Rainier's artillery officer and the driver of the cannon car disappeared from the port. The naval officer of Marseille reported that nine of their ships (including the two medical ships of the escort team) were not qualified to go out to sea. The reason was still that, as he said, they had no money. At the same time, an important senior officer, Digai, who was highly valued by Napoleon, suddenly asked for permission to resign from his command in Marseille so that he could return to Paris to serve in the 500-man regiment. This was sternly rejected by Napoleon. Was politics more important than the military?! On the contrary, he ordered Duguet to levy five large civilian ships from Marseille and send them to Toulon. Now, not only were transport ships, food, and supplies missing, but hundreds of soldiers were also missing. The first thing that Napoleon did on the afternoon of his arrival was to order all officers and soldiers who had left the regiment, regardless of the reason for their departure, to return to their unit immediately.
Although there were so many headaches, at least Napoleon was free from the shackles and interference of the Directorate-General. Everything was up to him. He would succeed and then turn back to deal with Paris. In this dark moment, he unexpectedly received the most shocking comfort: The hot-tempered General Kléber mysteriously told him that he fully understood Napoleon's personal political ambitions and appreciated the general's great talents. Kléber himself would do everything he could to help him achieve his grand ambitions.
At this time, the French government was trying their best to make sure that the British did not find any clues. In order to explain the sudden disappearance of the highly regarded minister, who had been fully appointed by the Minister, from Paris and Rushtato, as well as the apparent military movements along the Mediterranean coast, they published a diversion in the May 8 edition of the Monitor:
It was reported that General Napoleon had left Toulon. The fleet of Toulon Port, together with a naval squadron of the former Venice naval fleet, planned to break the British blockade in Cadiz, rescue the Spanish fleet there, and then attack Brest together. Together with the naval squadron there, they would participate in the landing operation against the United Kingdom.
On the 10th of May, Nayak, who was responsible for loading the ships in Toulon, had only loaded 12,000 troops and 5,000 warhorses. Meanwhile, Rainier's entire team had already loaded the ships and was ready to set off from Marseille. Although the Military Council tried to create the illusion of order, the constant scolding of the extremely strict Napoleon led to tension and chaos. The Eastern Army, which was ready to set off from Marseille, suddenly encountered an unexpected gale of magnitude 8. Not only did it cancel the plan to set off on May 10th, but the ship also suffered considerable damage. Despite this, Rainier, who did not dare to disobey, set off on the 11th and arrived in Toulon that night. Napoleon was a man who did not accept any excuses.
At 5:00 a.m. on the 12th, before dawn broke in Toulon Harbor, the stern Napoleon boarded the Arthas to listen to Rainier's report. The damaged ships in Marseille Harbor would be repaired as soon as possible and immediately rushed over. At the same time, Bertier ordered the cavalry to board the last four transport ships at four in the morning the next day.
However, Nayak brought more bad news to his commander. Although my wish is to fulfill my duty and carry out your orders and requests, my personal good will alone cannot solve the huge needs of 30,000 troops. He needed an additional 530,000 Francs to settle the various port charges, 1.2 million Francs to settle the arrears of naval wages, and 1.45 million Francs to settle food reserves, naval artillery, and repair costs-a total of 3.18 million Francs. If he wanted to sail on time, he would have to raise the money overnight. Napoleon hesitated.
If he wasn't worried about money, he couldn't just sit back and watch the thousands of sailors and sailors who went on their own. The army was in even worse shape. As Bertier had reported to Napoleon, the army had lost 25 percent of its personnel due to desertion.
To make matters worse, Bruise informed Napoleon that due to the storm at sea and the change in wind direction, the original sailing time of May 13 - 14 might be delayed by five or six days. These problems of disharmony were hardly good omens.
On the other hand, it also gave Napoleon, who was deeply in love, a few more days to stay with Joseph at the port. At the same time, he gave Brenner, who worked seven days a week from dawn to 11 p. m., a chance to ask Napoleon, How long would they stay in Egypt? Napoleon's answer to the confidential secretary was disturbing: He would be separated from his young wife and family, perhaps in a few months, perhaps in six years, depending on how the situation there developed. First, I want to colonize that country. Besides, even if I had to stay that long, I would be 28 years old now and 35 years old in six years. And in these six years, if God helps me, I will have a chance to fight to India.
Although the Egyptian Expeditionary Force was not fully equipped, it was finally ready, and most of the funds were already in place. Now that everything was ready, all they needed to do was wait for the wind to blow. At this moment, the secret intelligence report of the navy was sent to the Toulon Commander-in-Chief. A British fleet of twenty-seven warships had been spotted in Mahon and Minorca, and for the past few months, intelligence reports had claimed that no traces of the British navy had been found in the Mediterranean. Another spy reported that Vice-Admiral Vincent and his entire fleet were still in Cadiz. The third intelligence report stated that fourteen ships and three-masted frigates had been spotted in the waters between Tunis and Sardinia. On the 17th, Bruise sent a ship to scout in the direction of Malta, but was pursued by three British ships and three-masted frigates. This was puzzling. How did Napoleon deal with such complicated numbers and discoveries? There were also some contradictory and inaccurate news from the Italian waters about the discovery of the British navy. The French had to be prepared. But what about the opponent? Where were they? There was another report that Admiral Nelson had returned to the Mediterranean on May 9, but with only three ships and four escorting three-masted frigates. Regardless of the exact number of enemy fleets, Napoleon knew that the sooner he set off, the better. On May 17th, the wind finally changed. Napoleon ordered Bruise to prepare to set sail.
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