On July 5th, General Rainier's team caught up with Desai's team. Navy Colonel Perret led dozens of ships to Rosetta. On the 6th of July, Digai's team (Kreiber's team) set off immediately after. On the same day, General Villard temporarily commanded Menu's team to set off for Cairo. The next afternoon, Napoleon and his entourage set off on the dry canal leading to Lamania.
The problems encountered by Desai's vanguard also fell on the follow-up troops, including Digai's troops.
Less than three hours after leaving Alexandria Port and heading for Rosetta, the order of the army's march was in chaos. We were only 1.5 miles from Alexandria when we entered the desert. At 10 o'clock in the morning, the weather was unbearably hot. We were walking in the sand dunes, thirsty and without water. With every step we took, people fell down... Later, we learned that three people had died of thirst.
It was the same all the way to Rosetta. Due to the lack of water, it was extremely difficult for the army to advance. The wells along the way were either poisoned or destroyed, and the springs were also covered up.
Even so, Murat and Damas 'cavalry had finally reached Rosetta. Like everyone else, Officer Logil's spirits were lifted. We entered the city at noon. He noted in his diary that this city seemed to be quite good. All the inhabitants were standing in front of their houses, all the shops were open... The Nile and the many boats on it excited us. It was the first time we had been truly happy since we had set foot on Egyptian soil. It was also proven to be the last time. Rosetta was one of the few cities in Egypt with peaceful gardens and fields, and the people and shops were open to welcome the French.
General Menu, who had not recovered from his injuries, arrived in Rosetta. He would become the military governor here. General Digai continued to march south, going upstream along the Nile River by water and land. He met up with Napoleon's main force at Lamania, 33 miles away, and advanced into Cairo.
Napoleon's team set off on July 7th and arrived in Damanhur at eight o'clock on the eighth day. Along the way, many tragic stories happened. One of them was the death of Brigadier Mireal. Miril had not undergone much training and had been in the army for less than nine years, but he was quickly promoted to brigade commander. He had recently had an argument with Desai. He thought that the entire expeditionary army's plan was very stupid and insisted that they should withdraw and return home. That night, he wandered around Damanhur's camp, and his body was later found in the sand. Colonel Savary thought he had been killed by the Arabs; However, his weapons, money, and clothes were all intact, and Arabs usually had to cut off the limbs and strip the clothes of the corpse. In fact, the despairing Mireal had committed suicide by pointing a pistol at his own head in the desert. This matter could not be made public. Napoleon did not express sympathy or understanding for his death, but was furious at his betrayal of himself and the army.
In many people's eyes, Damanhur, the first stop after leaving Alexandria Port, did not seem to be a lucky place, but a place that bred danger. First, the horses were frightened, then Miril's tragic suicide, and then what happened to Napoleon's adjutant. After they set up camp in Damanhur, the Arab cavalry killed the sentries and headed straight for Napoleon's camp. Napoleon immediately ordered his adjutant, Crouse, to gather his men and drive them away. The young Crusader jumped onto his horse and immediately summoned 15 guards to charge at the Arab cavalry. When the two sides exchanged fire, Crusader was at a disadvantage. Napoleon shouted," Catch them, damn it! Charge! But Crusader was obviously too cautious, allowing the Arabs to escape unhurriedly. The general was furious, Brenner recalled. When Cruset returned, Napoleon accused him of being disloyal and gave him a good scolding. In front of the officers, Napoleon called Crusader a coward. Crusader couldn't help but burst into tears and feel ashamed. Later, he revealed to Brenner, I can't live like this anymore. I want to die on the battlefield. I can't be a person who has to endure humiliation and live in vain in his eyes. Despite participating in all the battles in the following months, the Grim Reaper never visited him. It was not until the following year that he fell at the gates of Acre City.
Fear of Arab attacks grew, especially when their snipers and cavalry made the stragglers of the French army pay a heavy price for dragging out the army for too long. They cut the throats of the stragglers and robbed them of what little they had. But what made the French most creeped out was the story told by a few people who had survived being gang-raped by the Arabs. The Arabs had sodomized the French before killing them. For the French soldiers who were used to raping women in the towns conquered by Europe, this news made them laugh and cry. When a soldier reported this new thing, Napoleon just waved his hand and laughed. Wasn't he still alive? So what? The sodomy and beheading of French soldiers who had fallen behind continued until the troops arrived in Cairo. If there was any benefit to this, it was that the French soldiers no longer dared to fall behind.
On July 10th, Desai and Rainier's troops arrived at Ramonia, completing the arduous 57-mile trek from Alexandria to the Nile River and completing the first stage of their march into Cairo.
When the Egyptian fleet arrived at Rosetta from the Nile River to help the French army with urgently needed food and ammunition, the French army encountered the first organized resistance of the Mamluks. About 300 Mamluks, who were mistaken by the French for Bedouins, exhausted the French army in Lamaniya. Despite the possibility of a sudden attack by the enemy cavalry, the French army, who had seen the Nile River for the first time, was still excited and completely forgot the danger around them. Brigadier Berial described it as a happy shout…Everyone was cheering. Ignoring the commander's warning, they rushed out of the team, threw down their muskets and heavy backpacks, and jumped into the muddy river excitedly. The soldiers jumped into the water and gulped down the water like livestock. In the blink of an eye, the entire division had arrived at the river bank, and the watermelon field on the river bank had been eaten clean…I completely believed that our greatest enemy in Egypt was hunger and thirst.
The four vanguard divisions were given forty-eight hours of precious rest at La Mania, but it was found that while there was no problem with the supply of wheat, there was nowhere to bake bread. When there was still no bread to eat, there was a lot of grumbling. At four o'clock in the afternoon on July 12, Desai continued to lead his troops forward. At the same time, General Andreosi received orders to load hundreds of artillery and equipment onto the small fleet that was sailing upstream along the Nile River. As soon as they set off, Napoleon received a report. Egypt's most powerful Mamluk military commander, Murad Beyy, led an army outside Cairo to block the passage to the south and was approaching them. A fleet on the Nile River followed them.
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