The Academy of Sciences held its founding ceremony on August 23rd under the leadership of President Monge, but the actual president was undoubtedly Vice President Napoleon. The first task that Napoleon gave the Academy of Sciences was to immediately improve the bread oven for the French army to increase efficiency and production. research on possible substitutes for hop in order to supply beer to the army; Purify the drinking water from the Nile in the best way possible, and the windmill and watermill suitable for Egypt; Foundry and saltpeter factories were built to produce machines, tools, and gunpowder. In addition, the Academy of Sciences also studied the civil and criminal justice systems and education systems applicable to Egypt. Napoleon visited the Academy of Sciences several times a week, and he was always happy to be able to get away from headquarters.
The establishment of the Academy of Sciences played an immeasurable role in helping Napoleon solve the various technical problems faced by the army. At the same time, it established the irrefutable position of Monge in his mind. As a senior member of the Political Administrative Committee, Monge controlled most of the local administrative means in Egypt. Now, he was in charge of all the scientific research in this country.
Looking back, shortly after the defeat of the Abu Kir naval battle, on August 15th, there was little festive atmosphere at Napoleon's 29th birthday party. Even his nine adjutants, as well as his adopted son, Eugène Boarney, and his brother-in-law, Louis Bonaparte, only gave him a perfunctory birthday wish. The shadow of the navy's defeat seemed to have shrouded everything. The situation of Napoleon's expeditionary force in the Middle East changed drastically. Egypt was blocked by the powerful British navy in the Mediterranean Sea, forcing Napoleon to give up his original plan to attack India.
Napoleon had once thought of overthrowing the Directorate-General as a contemporary hero in France after he had captured Egypt and Maltese. This seemed impossible at the moment. The defeat of the French fleet had offset all the victories he had achieved before. What other conquest could have been more influential than the conquest of the Holy Land (Israel), Damascene, and Constantinople?
When Napoleon entered the newly conquered Cairo, he was worried. It was not the appearance of a conquering hero at all. Only Meng Ri and Brenner knew the reason. Napoleon found that the problems facing Egypt were much larger and more complicated than he had originally estimated, including the miscalculation of the resistance of the Egyptian people. When the lovesick Bertier was allowed to return to Europe to throw himself into the arms of his Italian mistress, Visconti, Napoleon was also eager to return to France to see Joseph.
Napoleon's young adjutant, Juneau, once reported to him: The affair between Joseph and Ciel continued. This was a heavy blow to Napoleon, who had thought that his nightmare was over. Both Bertier and Julian admitted to Napoleon: During the Italian war, he often saw Joseph and Charles hanging out. Everything was clear. Napoleon wrote to his brother that it was a sad thing to have such complicated feelings for a sweetheart. Adding this to the news of the destruction of the naval fleet was undoubtedly adding insult to injury to Napoleon. However, bad luck was yet to come.
Napoleon had cut off his political path in Paris and had no friends in the Directorate-General. At least they would not rush to rescue the trapped hero. Napoleon lamented,"They hated me and wished that I would die here. Even if they planned to form a new Mediterranean fleet to rescue him, building and repairing warships would not be a success overnight. Even if the Governor-General had the ability to send troops and ships to Egypt for rescue, did the French coast not need protection? In fact, Napoleon should have admitted that he had lost the battle in Egypt because of his arrogance and (like the Egyptian politicians he had always hated) his self-boasting. He had not been able to plan the expedition to Egypt like a mature professional soldier.
Napoleon believed that the Mamluk army, which had been annihilated in the battle of Egypt, was only temporarily retreating. The army of Abraham Beyi in the northeast and the army of Murad Beyi in the south could come back at any time. Napoleon was surrounded by about 20,000 Beyots all over Egypt. Desai had been sent to the upper reaches of the Nile River, while Klébel was on the coast. At the easternmost part of the Delta, Digai and Zayoonsek led a total of more than 4,000 troops to pacify the Menouf region. Rainier in the area around Salheyeh in the northeast strived to coordinate with Digai to eliminate the powerful Bedouin army in that area while ensuring the safety of the Nile. All these actions were to prepare for the march into Syria. The large area of the Delta between Damiata and Rosetta also needed to be pacified. Dima's cavalry was now only 1,677 people (including camels and infantry), and they were fighting north and south in this vast wilderness. In the desert of Egypt, cavalry was far more important than the battlefield in Europe. This was another major miscalculation by Napoleon.
As a result, disobedience, failure, grumbling, and despair arose in the troops on the battlefield. They refused to carry out the impossible tasks assigned to them. Their forces were too scattered to fight effectively against the enemy. There was a lack of ammunition and almost no logistical support. The supplies and reinforcements could not be sent because of the lack of an accurate map.
Who could deny that the army was filled with a weariness of war, and that the greatest wish of the officers and soldiers was to return home, and that the pleas to leave the army were frightening. Brenner, who had witnessed all of this, sighed. Dissatisfaction continued to grow. Bertier was the first to be dissatisfied. Cavalry officer Dima publicly confronted Napoleon, which was a bit excessive. It was not clear how many soldiers were against the war. According to Brenner, they were generally dissatisfied, so the number should be quite large. This naturally spread to the lower-ranking officers and soldiers. As a result, military discipline was broken and they refused to carry out orders. It was chaos. Apart from Napoleon, the army had no higher leader to plead with. Only because the soldiers had nowhere to go in the desert did they not openly rebel. The long and difficult years, the endless military missions; Horrifying living conditions…
The soldiers were not used to eating rice. Bread was served a few weeks later, but there was no wine. There was coffee and sugar, but there was no cheese that the French could not live without. Of course, the water the soldiers drank from the Nile was not as good as French wine, and the number of people suffering from malaria was increasing. It was also terrible that there was a lack of European entertainment here. There were only a few unmarried European women among the tens of thousands of soldiers. Therefore, when the soldiers had nothing to do, they had nothing to do except to gamble and complain in the cafe. The soldiers knew that reinforcements would not arrive for months, perhaps years, and an ominous atmosphere enveloped the entire army. Anxious, melancholic, and homesick almost attacked everyone. The glorious future of the expedition army had almost vanished from the very beginning, and there was only the cruel reality in front of them. It was really sad. Brenner lamented. The army was full of resentment and complaints, but there was nothing they could do, which made Napoleon very annoyed.
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