I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 198

The battle between infantry-centered and cavalry-centered units has been repeated for thousands of years since the dawn of human civilization.

Therefore, the methods, so-called ‘standard’ tactics, have been established for hundreds of years.

Infantry forms a rectangular battle formation, with the empty center used to deploy cavalry and supplies.

The most vulnerable corners are reinforced with cannons.

This standard tactic was used even before the advent of the musket.

Even after the emergence of the arquebus, Spain sometimes mixed pike formations to create a thicker defensive wall.

Murad Bey, leading the Egyptian army, was not foolish enough to be ignorant of this.

Rather, he was a brave, daring, and capable commander who had led many battles to victory.

What he aimed for was simple.

No matter how thick the battle formation, this place is a desert unfamiliar to Europeans.

These fair-haired, blue-eyed invaders were historically weak in hot climates.

By kicking up sand and dust and striking from multiple directions simultaneously, they would inevitably show a gap somewhere.

Even a small crack would be enough for the Mamluk’s brave cavalry to penetrate.

Even if they are armed with guns and cannons, we are also equipped with British cavalry rifles.

“All troops, prepare to fire! As soon as the French are within range, fire and retreat! Don’t be afraid! We will win. Allah is with us!”

“Allahu Akbar! [God is the greatest!]”

“Allahu Akbar! [God is the greatest!]”

The Mamluk cavalry, as always, aimed their cavalry rifles and waited for the distance to close with the French infantry.

But something is strange.

Surely, they should still be far from the effective range of the rifles… but the French soldiers’ hands seem to be slowly reaching for the triggers.

They’re already firing, even though they’re more than twice the effective range of a rifle, whether British or French?

All the better.

That means they are so intimidated by our charge that they are not making rational decisions.

And over the bodies of the Mamluk cavalry, who were gaining momentum and increasing speed,

the world’s first rifled musket bullets rained down like a storm.

“Allah…! [Oh God!]”.

The scene created by the barrage of deadly fire poured upon the cavalry, who had no suspicion or preparation, was utterly devastating.

“Kuaaaak!”

“T, they’re firing! Return fire!”

Could it be that they misjudged the distance?

The Mamluk army aimed their guns and pulled the triggers with instinct rather than reason.

Along with the acrid black smoke, bullets spewed forth, but unfortunately, not a single French soldier fell.

Even considering the difference in accuracy between shooting from horseback and shooting with feet on the ground, this was too much.

“D, d, don’t panic! Even if you get hit by a bullet at this distance, you won’t suffer a fatal injury at this distance…”

Tatatang!

The voice of the commander, who had been enthusiastically talking in the front, disappeared.

Why is it different from training?

Bullets are supposed to not penetrate the human body when fired from a distance.

But why can their guns create such a terrifying and gruesome sight?

“U, uaaaaah…!”

The cavalry, who instinctively slowed down, trembled as they looked at the corpses of their comrades who had died in a miserable state.

Were bullets originally meant to tear and penetrate the human body like that?

The psychological fear of becoming targets for shooting practice.

The visual fear brought about by the horrific sight that can be seen with one’s own eyes.

The moment the cavalry, who had to keep running, were paralyzed by fear, the victory was already decided.

Perhaps it was fortunate that the French paused for a moment after firing.

“Those devilish bastards…”

They must be leisurely watching the carnage they created and laughing at us.

“They are the army of the devil. Shaitan… [Satan] Shaitan! [Satan!]”

“Our sins are too great, and Allah is angry!”

“W, we must repent! Allah, forgive our sins!”

With just one clash since the start of the battle, morale was already broken.

The high spirits were already gone.

Even the people who should be commanding are silent.

But since the battle has already begun, the enemy will not consider such circumstances.

Of course, the reason why the French hesitated for a moment was not because they were bloodthirsty demons who enjoyed the pain of the enemy, as the Mamluks thought.

“…What is this?”

“I, is this real?”

Most of the French legionnaires had participated in the previous war with Prussia.

Those who had fought in the New World, like Davout’s corps, had accumulated enough experience to say that war was the easiest thing to do.

Therefore, they were intuitively aware of the performance of the weapons they had handled so far.

Of course, they knew from training that the new rifle was incomparable to the previous one.

However, mass firing at living opponents is a different matter from training.

“O, oooo…”

“So this is how it is…”

When rifled bullets rain down like concentrated fire, the bodies of people and horses are easily torn apart.

It would be strange if the enemies kept running, but since they were also stunned, a strange silence hung between the two armies for a moment.

At that moment, Davout’s stern order echoed in the soldiers’ ears, as if not allowing even a moment of hesitation.

“What are you doing! Keep firing!”

“F, fire!”

“For freedom and equality!”

The wave of bullets began to surge again at the command of the officers.

That’s right. This is war.

It is natural for people to die spouting blood, and it is common for arms and legs to fly off.

Whether moths drunk on outdated tactics make suicide attacks or not, what they have to do does not change.

They were momentarily surprised by the shocking lethality they possessed.

Napoleon looked around at his soldiers, who had returned to being cold war machines, with satisfaction.

The corps commanders’ control of their troops is close to perfect.

If things continue like this, he was certain that this battle would end without him having to issue any additional orders.

“It seems like it’s time for your cavalry to put the finishing touches on this battle.”

“I have already finished preparing to go out.”

In just a few tens of minutes since the start of the war, this battle had already entered the realm of massacre, not fighting.

Ending it when you can is a more merciful end for the enemies.

“The enemy’s cavalry has already collapsed, so attack the enemy forces entrenched on the river.”

“Understood. I have already finished preparing, so I can sortie at any time.”

“Ah, by the way, did you know that the name of the enemy commander, Murad Bey, is pronounced ‘Murat’ in our style? Isn’t that a wonderful coincidence?”

Murat frowned at Napoleon’s words.

“You mean my name is the same as his?”

“Murat of Egypt and Murat of France. Both are commanders who skillfully handle cavalry…”

“Don’t lump me together with him! What kind of skilled cavalry commander is that!”

“Well, that’s true. Then how about going and showing that Murat of France is a general of a different class than Murat of Egypt?”

“Of course. I will go and show those outdated spirits how to operate cavalry properly! All troops! Forward!”

Napoleon chuckled as he watched Murat, who rushed out as soon as he finished speaking.

Was it that humiliating to be associated with them?

Since victory was already decided, there was no trace of hesitation on the faces of everyone who rushed out.

However, Napoleon’s face was not so bright as he watched his allies push back the enemy coolly.

The meeting he had with Christian when he demonstrated the new gun naturally came to his mind.

“Napoleon. Do you remember what you said after the war with Prussia ended?”

“Yes. I said that all of Europe would be watching and analyzing this fight, so we need to hone our strategies further.”

“But you know that there’s no need to do that anymore, right? The great powers that are analyzing and studying the last battle are completely wasting their time.”

The innovation of transportation and logistics due to railroads.

And the supply of rifles and artillery with performance that is on a different level than before.

Both were major changes that would throw the existing war norms into the trash.

Since they were facing both at the same time, it was natural that the concept of war would change.

“Still, fortunately, we are leading this change, so it will be easy to keep up.”

“And there’s your existence too. There’s a reason why I’ve had you accumulate so much diverse experience and knowledge.”

“Ah…”

“Nowhere else in the world can you find a general who has commanded troops in such diverse environments as you have. You will be able to devise the best way to handle this new civilization. Think carefully while conducting the next war.”

“The burden is heavy. Aren’t you overestimating me too much?”

Even a genius strategist who will leave his name in history cannot easily create a completely new framework.

Of course, it wasn’t that he wasn’t confident.

Christian chuckled and shook his head at Napoleon’s jesting question.

“I trust you with the most solid evidence of all.”

“If you don’t mind, may I ask what that evidence is?”

Christian finished the conversation with a short word, without erasing the smile from his face.

“Because you’re Napoleon.”

※※※

“Allahu Akbar! [God is the greatest!]”

“Allahu Akbar! [God is the greatest!]”

Kwakwakwang Pow Pow Pow

“Kuaaaak!”

“They are the fleet of the devil. Shaitan… [Satan] Shaitan! [Satan!]”

“Our sins are too great, and Allah is angry!”

“Let’s repent. Repent!”

Nelson, the pride of England, leading the Royal Navy, relentlessly crushed the insignificant Egyptian fleet and completely occupied the ports.

“What are the results?”

“We have sunk a total of 21 warships. Our casualties to date are 12 dead and 73 wounded. There is no damage to our ships.”

“Good. At this point, we can say that the Egyptian Mamluks are completely finished.”

The staff also smiled brightly at Nelson’s satisfied smile.

They were honestly surprised when they heard the news that France had quickly annihilated the Mamluk main force and occupied Cairo.

Of course, they thought they would win, but the results they heard were so unbelievable that they doubted their ears.

French army: 5 dead, 82 wounded.

Mamluk allied forces: approximately 20,000 or more casualties.

35 cannons lost.

No, how incompetent are the Mamluks that they could only kill 5 enemy soldiers in a 60,000 vs. 60,000 battle?

Even if they had gone with stones instead of guns and just thrown them once, they would have killed more than 5 people.

The British commanders who heard this news were secretly anxious.

This war was already at a level where victory was certain, so how to win was the more important fight.

Therefore, the home country had given Nelson a major order.

To achieve more results than France and stand out.

This was a more important goal than the victory that the British Royal Navy had to achieve in this war.

Nelson, who had become impatient, moved the navy and unconditionally beat up the Mamluk navy as he saw it.

He did not distinguish between ships docked in the port or ships out at sea.

He just relentlessly chased after and destroyed all warships of a certain size or larger and paralyzed the function of the port.

Fortunately, in the process, he was able to smash 3 more Ottoman battleships that had come out to support the Mamluk army.

This made it possible to avoid the accusation that the French army was just standing by and watching while the Mamluks were being beaten up.

“If we’ve beaten them up this much, we’ve roughly matched the color, right?”

“Of course. Although there is a perception that the Mamluks have a poor navy and are biased towards the army, the importance of the sea can never be overlooked.”

“And it seems that the army’s strength was also being overestimated by a lot.”

Even if they fought against the African savages in the south or the American Indians, there would be more than 5 deaths.

The fact that the exchange ratio was so low meant that a proper fight was not even established in the first place.

“By the way, what are the French doing? If they have accepted the surrender in Cairo, they should immediately join us and go to the Balkans.”

The purpose of this fight was to liberate Greece, so there was still room to make up for it.

If they turned the entire Ottoman navy into fish food, the country that would have made the greatest contribution in this war would be England, not France.

In that sense, they had to launch the ship and leave Egypt as soon as possible, but the French seemed to be strangely delaying.

“France is currently near the Beheira Governorate in the Nile Delta. They are setting up a base there and doing some research for a day or two.”

“…Research?”

“Yes. I recently learned that the French army accompanied a large-scale academic research team on this expedition. In my opinion, I think they are trying to study and take valuable cultural assets from Egypt.”

“…Oh no, we overlooked that point.”

They were so focused on achieving more noticeable achievements than France that they had completely forgotten about it.

Egypt is the best ancient civilization with more than 4,000 years of accumulated history.

In other words, it is an ownerless treasure trove where cultural assets come out just by digging the ground.

“Cunning bastards. Was that their intention from the beginning?”

What? Respect for civilized countries?

He wondered why they had proposed to defeat the Mamluks first, but it must have been because these guys were planning to plunder cultural assets from the beginning.

The large-scale academic research team is just an excuse, and it is clear that they are an appraisal team to distinguish which treasures are more valuable.

“Ha! I can’t let that happen.”

If they delay here, all of Egypt’s historical treasures may end up sleeping in French museums.

That is absolutely unacceptable.

The tide of freedom? We have the white man’s burden [the belief that Europeans have a duty to civilize other races].

It is our duty to preserve all the world’s valuable heritage in the British Museum with our white hands.

“Tell the entire army right now. All cultural assets that look valuable in coastal cities, including Alexandria, should be plun… no, explored and preserved.”

“Yes!”

“If you dawdle, it will all become French property. Load it onto the transport ships and send it to the home country as quickly as possible!”

Of course, they would not be able to beat the French army, which was accompanied by an academic research team, in terms of quality, but they could win with quantity.

Egypt, which was about to have its cultural assets stolen due to an unexpected misunderstanding, was about to shed tears of blood, but Nelson did not care about that.

Whatever it is, he can’t stand being behind France.

He was concerned that the museum to store the items was not that big, but he soon came to the conclusion that it would not be a problem.

If there is not enough space, they can just expand the museum.

“Okay, okay, the break is over, so move! Got it? We will eat… preserve all the items that look even a little old!”

End