Due to the lack of information beforehand, the entire army almost collapsed. Napoleon had not identified the grain-rich areas (they had been to Rosetta and Damiata, but bad weather prevented them from landing there); He also did not consider where he could find a mill to grind tons of flour for his army, or an oven to bake bread. Although it was just a problem of baking bread, this problem almost ruined Napoleon's entire expedition plan.
Under normal circumstances, Bertier should have collected this basic information months before the government authorized military operations. However, neither the navy nor the army sent intelligence personnel to Egypt to understand the situation of logistical support. Considering the uniqueness of this invasion, the responsibility for the entire failure should be borne by Napoleon alone. In fact, the only sources of information he had were Charles Magalon and Pussy. He did not request, send, or receive any information from any military intelligence officer.
Just like that, the isolated Napoleonic army had neither bread nor water in the vast desert. Thousands of soldiers died of thirst, hunger, malaria, heatstroke, and fatigue.
Another carelessness of the commander of the expeditionary force was that he did not have the latest map of Egypt. In this country where there were almost no roads for vehicles, Napoleon actually knew nothing about the army's marching route and the situation along the way. The complex canal system covering the entire Nile Delta gave him a particularly headache. The country was shockingly short of bridges. These canals, whether dry or filled with water, had become almost insurmountable obstacles. Wherever Napoleon's team went, they had to cross canals, some of which were 120 feet wide. During his stay in Egypt, his military transport vehicles, artillery vehicles, ammunition vehicles, and infantry had to travel under extremely difficult road conditions.
Because they were using an outdated map, they couldn't deal with the sand dunes well. Once they encountered sand dunes on the way, they could only climb over them. This caused a huge disaster for the army's personnel and goods transportation from the moment they landed to the suburbs of Cairo.
So far, no Egyptian tribes or Bedouins had rebelled against Napoleon. Napoleon believed in his own propaganda: He was a friend of the Muslim and Egyptian Arab farmers, and the Turkish government under the Mamluks was their common enemy. Napoleon, who had originally expected to encounter at most 8,000 to 10,000 armed Mamluks and fight one or two battles, had actually encountered fierce armed resistance on his way from Alexandria to Cairo. It was still the same even after he nominally occupied the area.
If it were another person, and this situation happened closer to Paris, such an incompetent commander might not only be dismissed, but also sent to the military court for trial or shot. However, Napoleon was not summoned by the Paris government (the government there was basically kept in the dark about the war against Egypt). As Nelson said: The devil's child naturally had the devil's good luck!
In the meantime, General Kléber was still able to command, despite his severe brain injury, and could leave the dimly lit ward to work for at least a few hours a day (he still needed a few months to recover from a concussion and skull contusion). Due to the lack of a high-ranking commander, even the severely injured had to remain in the army to perform their duties. Napoleon gave Kléber 6,500 soldiers to guard Alexandria and the provinces that had surrendered until his wounds healed. Kreiber had performed his duties diligently despite his injuries, and was very competent.
Napoleon gave the order to continue the march. General Roger Dedamas was responsible for capturing and defending Abu Kir Bay and the small fortress overlooking the French fleet anchored on the bay. General Diget marched into Rosetta, with Murat's cavalry as the vanguard. After the goal was achieved, another injured officer, Menu, became the governor stationed in Rosetta, and Digai returned to Napoleon's main force. Admiral Bruess was responsible for organizing a small fleet of gunboats and boats to load infantry, and for ammunition and supplies to follow Napoleon's troops up the Nile. His main fleet remained in Abu Kir Bay to protect the forts we were building there.
On July 3 - 4, General Desai and General Rainier, who had finally landed in Alexandria, received orders from Napoleon to be the vanguard of the main force in Cairo. They were ahead of the main force, heading for Damanhur and Ramonia, thirty-seven miles from Alexandria. Although some cannons and ammunition had been sent ashore, the rest would take several weeks to arrive. Before leaving, Napoleon told Desai," You must save the cannons for the next four or five thousand enemy cavalry.
Desai was an optimistic, confident, and sometimes reckless officer. He led the troops to set out according to the order, but the merciless hot sun made the temperature during the day extremely high. The miasma on the moors, canals, and saltwater lakes was steaming, and the sand dunes were hot and stuffy. From the beginning, the strength and fighting spirit of the troops were exhausted. In addition, the small group of Bedouin cavalry that came whistling in and out of nowhere attacked them with Arabian scimitars or fired at them from behind the sand dunes, making the French army a frightened bird. Desai's troops only brought a small amount of food and ammunition, and they did not even have a water bottle. They soon discovered that marching in such conditions was a terrible life and death struggle. After only 20 miles, many people died of thirst.
According to Belial, something strange happened when the pioneers were camping in the swarm of mosquitoes. In the middle of the night, something or someone frightened the horses tied together. A horse broke free from its reins and galloped toward the camp. The campfire was already burned to ashes, and the sentries were dozing off. The exhausted soldiers were suddenly awakened, and in a panic, they raised their muskets and fired randomly. The sudden gunshots and shouts startled the other horses. They all broke free from their reins and rushed through the camp, disappearing into the night. When the lights were turned on and everything returned to normal, they realized that they had killed three or four of their own people and lost more than 100 precious warhorses. I didn't know how such a fright had been caused, Belial admitted. Someone must have deliberately created chaos and spread rumors. The troops were in such chaos and panic that I believe we would have been defeated if only twenty-five or thirty Arabs had attacked us.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]