The treaty signed on the deck of the Vostok stated: The Knights of St. John of Jerusha unconditionally handed over all the sovereignty and property of the island of Malta to the French Republic. The French, on the other hand, promised to rely on their influence in Rushtato to secure for the leader of the Order a suitable duchy somewhere in Germany (which was later not fulfilled) and an annual pension of 300,000 Francs. The other knights of the Order received an annual income of 700 Francs each, and 200 French knights were allowed to return to France. In the end, the promise was made, but the pension was never given.
Before the surrender document was signed, on June 13, Napoleon announced to the army the news of the French army's victory: Our army has announced that the enemy has surrendered! The Malta were free. The twenty-eight-year-old general who had signed the Campo Formio treaty and the Hapsburgs 'surrender treaty last year had now achieved his second extraordinary feat in eight months. Napoleon had every reason to be happy for himself. Everything was going according to his plan.
The French army began to take over the administrative, judicial, and religious affairs of the island quickly and without bloodshed. At the same time, on the grounds of spreading French freedom, they confiscated the public and private property of the Knights of Malta and others, and even the property of the church.
On June 13th, before the ink on the treaty had dried, Napoleon appointed citizen Berthollet as inspector of the French army and ordered him to confiscate the gold, silver, and precious stones that the Knights of Malta had accumulated in the cellar of St. John's Church since the 12th century. Before nightfall, the first vehicle loaded with treasure drove to Valletta and loaded onto the Vostok-another slap in the face for the French Republic.
Napoleon officially informed the Directorate-General that the spoils of war obtained from the church amounted to more than one million Francs of gold and silver, and more than 120,000 Francs of items were taken from the knight's palace and St. Anthony's Church. Napoleon claimed that he had left behind a million Francs worth of treasure to pay for the garrison. In fact, the total value of the gold and silver treasures plundered from private lands and public buildings amounted to 7 million Francs, of which gold accounted for 5 million Francs and silver utensils accounted for 1 million Francs. Napoleon and his generals had greatly discounted their reports. As for how much Napoleon got, the loyal Brenner kept his mouth shut.
In theory, conquering the Malta Empire was enough for Napoleon to triumph in Paris and enjoy the glory of victory once again. However, his main target was Egypt. To him, Malta was just a matter of stealing from the Maltese. During his stay in Malta, Napoleon was busy drafting decrees, orders, decisions, and appointments. At night, he still slept on the Vostok and only boarded the ship when there were urgent matters to deal with.
The reason why Napoleon was in such a hurry to act in Malta was that he was afraid of encountering the Mediterranean fleet of the British General Nelson here or on the way to Egypt. He informed the French expeditionary force to be on standby. The expeditionary army had changed into new thin cloth military uniforms. The fleet and transport ships were restocked with fresh water, vegetables, food, firewood, fodder, and horses. At the same time, they made room for about 400 Malta sheep. On the evening of June 18th, the Knights of Malta left the island except for a few who were selected for the expedition. About 350 Maltese joined the expedition.
After declaring that the Malta Republic would follow the principles of the French Revolution, Napoleon promised freedom of religion, including the practice of islam, and liberated about 2,000 North African and Turkish slaves. After appointing General Warbion as the new commander of the Malta, he finally had time to write to his brother Joseph, informing him of his latest achievements and good health. Napoleon also asked Joseph to send Joseph to Egypt to meet him. After sending this last letter to Paris, Napoleon instructed Bruise to prepare to set sail early in the morning. So far, everything was going smoothly.
Dongfang was now a priceless treasure ship. On the tenth day after arriving in Malta, on June 19, 1798, Bruise sent a signal to the fleet to weigh anchor and sail southeast. If everything went well, they would be able to see their secret destination in two weeks.
Pharaoh's Territory
I cannot stop thinking... how important the victory of Nelson's Fleet is to free us from the ravages of French power, and thus to bring about a new system of European affairs, and how absolutely necessary a certain risk must be taken at this moment. In April 1798, the British Navy Secretary Spencer wrote to Vice Admiral Vincent.
In May, Nelson's three warships and four three-masted frigates sailed for the Gulf of Leon. When they were seventy-five miles away from Yell Island, on the night of May 20 - 21, Nelson's fleet was hit by a typhoon. The horizontal sail of the flagship Pioneer, which carried seventy-four cannons, was almost capsized by the wind. The main mast and top mast were broken by the hurricane, and the flagship was almost completely destroyed. By the time Vincent's fleet met up with Nelson on June 7th, it was already too late. The French fleet had already left.
Nelson was very young and had his right arm amputated during the Battle of Canarsie. The senior British admiral had opposed him leading the fleet to pursue the French, but the naval command and Vice-Admiral Vincent still believed that the 39-year-old Nelson was the only right person to pursue the French in the Mediterranean.
It was on June 7th that Nelson received Vincent's order to correct his mistake. Although Vincent himself was not clear about Napoleon's goal (he estimated that the destination of Napoleon's expedition might be Napoli, Sicily, Portugal, Spain, and Iceland), he ordered Nelson to search for and attack the enemy fleet preparing for war in Toulon and Genaya. At that time, the British War Secretary, Dundas, had a different view. He wrote to the Navy Secretary Spencer on June 2: Did Vincent's instructions mention that the goal of Napoleon's expedition might be Egypt? Perhaps it was because my thoughts were too strange, but I couldn't help myself from having such thoughts on this issue.
It was not until May 28 that Nelson learned that the French fleet had left Toulon and realized that he had lost a great fighter. Nelson had to search the vast sea for ten days, but he still knew nothing about the French fleet's destination or where they were. Even so, Vincent's order to Nelson was to search for the enemy in the Mediterranean Sea, the Adelaide Sea, the Moria Islands, and even anywhere in the Black Sea. Once they were found, they were to sink, burn, or destroy them immediately. Now, Nelson was working hard for this.
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