On the open plains with a dry canal, Desai's division formed a square formation, forming the central army of the French army. The left and right wing divisions were on one side, and between the two wings were small mobile field artillery. There were a total of five divisions, each forming a square formation facing the enemy. A total of about 24,000 people formed an impassable city wall. Following the sound of the drums and bugle, Desai's division slowly moved forward, followed by the other divisions.
In an instant, sand flew up and the sound of hooves rang out. Tens of thousands of Mamluk cavalry let out wild shouts and charged at the French phalanx with overwhelming momentum. The battlefield was instantly filled with gunfire, shouting and neighing. The Mamluk army encountered a fatal blow from the carefully arranged French muskets and howitzers, sweeping away a large number of cavalry. The cavalry charged forward bravely, trying to break through the French lines from different directions, but the French phalanx could repel attacks from all directions. A few Mamluk cavalry who charged into the phalanx also died in the midst of the bayonet, and the French phalanx remained unmoved. The remaining Mamluk cavalry had no choice but to retreat, and the Desai Division in the center cut off their retreat. The Mamluk cavalry suffered about 3,000 casualties. The left wing French army broke into the enemy infantry legion's position, crossed the earth wall, and seized more than 60 heavy cannons. The French army on the right defeated the tribal soldiers of Murad Beyi's army. The panicked tribal soldiers jumped into the Nile River in groups, and about 1,500 people drowned. Those who could not jump into the river in time were killed by the French army. Just as Bertier said, this was a terrible massacre.
On the right bank, the army of Abraham Beyi crossed the river by boat to rescue the army of Murad Beyi, but the situation was hopeless. They were bombarded by Peret's gunboats. At the same time, a strong wind blew, and the muddy waves on the river churned. The yellow sand filled the sky, and Abraham Bey's army could not see anything. They had to retreat to the right bank. The cannons on both sides of the river were firing non-stop. " Our ears were deafened by the sound of the cannons," Alaman reported." The earth is shaking, and the sky seems to be falling on our heads... The yellow sand has brought darkness to the world."
In less than an hour, the battle was over. Murad Beyi led the remaining cavalry to flee south towards the Pyramid of Giza, while the army of Abraham Beyi fled east into the desert, disappearing from sight like magic. The few French cavalrymen chased Murad Beyy's army in the direction of the Pyramid of Giza until 9 o'clock that night.
At this moment, the nearby Cairo was in a state of panic. The refugees were like a tide. They took whatever they could and fled toward the east gate of the city. Once they escaped from the city, they would face poor Egyptians in remote villages. The unfortunate refugees were attacked by these Arabs, and their belongings were looted... Their women were raped. Alamein lamented. At the same time, in Cairo and on the other side of the Nile River, the victorious French army was cleaning up the battlefield, searching for valuable spoils of war from the corpses of the Mamluks. The Egyptians who stayed in Cairo looted the palaces of Murad Beyy and Abraham Beyy, as well as the palaces of other nobles, and set them on fire. The strong wind in the desert spread the fire throughout the city and even affected the boats on the river. Cairo had never seen such a night in its history, Alamein sighed. No one had ever seen such a tragic scene.
Just like that, on July 21, 1798, the Great Pyramid War ended. According to General Belial's statistics, the Egyptian casualties were 1,000, while the French casualties were only 30. However, a more realistic estimate was that 2,500 Egyptians had died or drowned, while the French army had suffered more than 100 casualties.
That night, Napoleon ordered the construction of a pontoon bridge connecting Cairo and Giza. At around three o'clock in the morning, the Muslim religious leaders, accompanied by important European businessmen who had survived the massacre and the frightened Turkish ambassador, arrived at Napoleon's headquarters in Giza under the burning capital.
After accepting Cairo's surrender, the victorious and exhausted Napoleon signed a letter to the people of Cairo. He told the people of Cairo that he was their savior, to destroy the Mamluks and protect the Egyptians and their trade. Don't worry about your families, your houses, and your possessions, especially your faith in the Prophet, which I will respect. He insisted that the French were here to save the Egyptians, not to destroy them. At the same time, Napoleon ordered General Bon to garrison Cairo. In the evening, Cairo was under the effective control of the French army. The French had overcome all obstacles and logistical difficulties to achieve their goal-to the amazement of everyone except Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Abyss
On August 1, 1798, on the Franklin, which was docked outside Alexandria Port and loaded with 80 cannons, Captain Saya wrote in the logbook: The wind was blowing from the northwest to the north. A gentle breeze blew across his face, and the waves on the sea were calm. About half of the sailors went ashore today to dig wells to find water. Everything was the same as before. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the Lucky sent a signal that 12 ships had been spotted in the northwest. It was very clear, and it did not take long for them to confirm that they were 12 warships. The flagship immediately raised the emergency assembly signal. Opposite the Abu Kir Fortress, on the small island at the entrance of the harbor, there were two mortars immediately ready to defend against the enemy. At three o'clock, Bruise ordered the fleet to get into position and prepare for battle. At the same time, he sent two brigands out to sea to scout.
The enemy fleet sailed towards the French fleet. Four, two more-they were indeed the British fleet. The brig Sentinel approached the enemy ship and tried to lead the enemy ship to the reefs of the bay outside the range of the artillery. However, the British fleet knew the usual methods of naval warfare like the back of their hands. Captain Shariya recorded,"
At 5 o'clock, the enemy fleet turned right to Abu Kirk and headed straight for it. This confrontational action convinced me that the enemy fleet intended to attack our fleet that night. Our navy commander Brues had ordered everyone to gather on board and prepare to go out to sea to fight, but soon found that we were too few people to go out to sea, so he revoked this order. As a matter of fact, we are short of twenty of our best sailors on each ship. He could only send out the signal to stop and fight.
There was a reason why Bruise's fleet was still anchored in this open bay that was vulnerable to attack. The reason why Brenner and Bertier could cooperate with Napoleon was that they could observe Napoleon's expression and ponder his changeable thoughts to a certain extent. Bruise was different. He did not know the Commander-in-Chief well and was not good at dealing with complicated and volatile situations. As a professional military officer who lacked imagination, he only knew how to execute precise orders and specific goals. He was an honest, hardworking, and thorough man. He had seen with his own eyes how his aristocratic class had collapsed and been massacred in the terror of the revolutions of 1793 and 1794. At the same time, they also saw how the French Royal Navy, which was carefully created by Louis Sixteen, had become a force with only a few senior generals to command. The military discipline was lax, the command was weak, and the management was chaotic. These few high-ranking generals who had survived the iron fist of the Republic, although they had witnessed their family and friends being executed because of their noble blood, were still willing to serve the Republic. The French navy was now under their command, and they-including Bruyes, the admiral of the fleet-lived in fear and trepidation all day long, afraid of unexpected disaster and reprimand. Brues would never forget that in 1793 he had been regarded as a suspect by the revolutionary government because of his noble blood; He was only reinstated in 1795, and in November of the following year, he was promoted to rear admiral, commanding the Ionian Islands and Corfu Strait. The chaos caused by the revolution confused him. Now, in Egypt, under the hands of a young man he respected but did not know and would never understand, he was even more confused. Napoleon had a knack for controlling the people around him. He made Bruise into a man who was at his mercy and flattered him, a man who was shocked by the revolution, and a servant in a uniform who he could command at will. Bruise was completely different from the difficult Minister of the Navy Brux. The latter had a sharp tongue, extreme self-esteem, and did not bow to anyone.
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