He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 187

(187) Seizing Four Thousand Years of History

The conquest of Egypt began with a victory that could only be described as perfect.

“Behold, we came, we saw, we conquered!”

The explosions subsided, the gunfire ceased, and only the screams of people echoed through the air.

Amidst it all, Junot rode his horse, excitedly galloping around and shouting.

At first glance, his gleeful appearance on the desolate battlefield might seem cruel.

However, for a soldier, victory is the fruit of overcoming all sorts of hardships, crises, and death.

Therefore, rejoicing in victory can be seen as a universal human emotion.

Of course, Junot’s statement was slightly problematic.

Ippolito, inspecting the pyramid—or rather, the site of the Battle of Alexandria—tilted his head, puzzled.

“That sounds awfully familiar.”

“It’s plagiarism from Caesar.”

“Wow, Junot’s imitating Caesar now, not just Hoche?”

Eugène, watching the balloon unit finally landing on the ground, casually retorted.

“It doesn’t matter since it’s Junot. No one will care, and the situation is actually the same.”

Among the many wars Caesar fought, there was a battle in Egypt.

A battle fought and won against the Kingdom of Pontus, near present-day Turkey.

It was a victory achieved in an instant, and afterward, Caesar supposedly sent only three phrases to the Senate.

Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered).

This phrase was so famous that every soldier recited it by the end of the 18th century, when the Greco-Roman civilization boom occurred.

Even the uncultured Junot knew it.

“A situation where we came and achieved victory in a short period.”

Eugène muttered, looking at the battlefield spread out before the entrance to Alexandria.

It was an even greater achievement than the historical Battle of the Pyramids.

The number of troops clashed was similar, but in the original history, the Mamluk forces lost about 3,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry.

In addition, the 40 cannons brought by the infantry naturally fell into the hands of the French army.

However, the situation was completely different now.

All 6,000 cavalry and more than half of the 60,000 infantry were completely annihilated.

This was due to the firestorm unleashed by the balloon unit’s grenades and the infantry’s linear firing.

The remaining 30,000 infantry were either seriously injured or captured as prisoners.

It was truly a complete victory.

Junot, having excitedly circled the battlefield once, ran up to Eugène and shouted.

“Alright, then. Is today a day for celebration! I should order preparations for a party in Alexandria!”

“No, Junot. You need to run again from now on.”

“What? Wait a minute. Why do we have to?”

Eugène scoffed at Junot.

“Why do you think we brought the cavalry with us in the first place? Secretary Ghawhary!”

Then, Ghawhary, a Coptic Christian from Alexandria and a customs official, rushed over.

He was a Copt who had been a low-ranking official under Mamluk rule.

However, immediately after the French army occupied Alexandria, Ghawhary switched sides.

The fact that France reached out to the Coptic Church as soon as they arrived moved Ghawhary’s heart.

Even though they were given low-ranking positions, the Copts had been discriminated against in Muslim society.

The French, being Catholics even if their church was different, would surely usher in a new world.

Ghawhary stood beside Eugène on his camel with confident eyes.

“Yes, General. Did you call for me?”

“Guide Commander Junot here and show him the most pleasant and fastest route to Cairo.”

“Understood, General!”

Of course, this was like a bolt from the blue for Junot.

“Cairo? Hey, Eugène Freiherr! Is that even a real name! Isn’t that the capital of Egypt?”

Eugène lightly turned his gaze and asked back.

“Junot, do you know what we did today?”

“A one-sided victory?”

“No, it’s a Mamluk massacre.”

Mamluks, a cavalry group that had been called the strongest in Egypt since the Middle Ages.

They learn martial arts from a very young age, master firearms, and train in horsemanship.

Their reputation is known even in Europe, surpassing the modern era.

The key personnel of the foreign rulers who have dominated Egypt until now, the Mamluks, were here.

As corpses.

“The enemies lost the time to flee. Thanks to that, we were able to carry out a one-sided massacre.”

“Now that I think about it, there are many prisoners, but there seem to be more deaths. We might incur the resentment of the Egyptians?”

“It can’t be helped. If we didn’t catch them this time, we would have had to go up the Nile River, crossing the desert.”

At that moment, another Copt, Yakub Hanna, was heard shouting from afar.

“Here, the bodies of Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey have been identified!”

Eugène clenched his fist without realizing it.

The first and second in command of the Mamluks were dead.

In particular, Murad Bey was the one Napoleon missed in the original history.

As a result, he fled to the upper Nile and continued to harass the French army until the end.

However, Eugène succeeded in annihilating the enemy by using the balloon unit and the thunderclap muskets.

“That’s good. Commander Hoche! Please allow the cavalry to march to Cairo!”

Hoche, who was inspecting the troops, received Eugène’s report and immediately granted permission.

“Good. Go with Professor Volney. Junot, this is the price for leading the feint. I’ll give you the first achievement of entering Cairo!”

Junot was about to pout, but he felt a tempting sensation.

In fact, when you think about it, today’s victory was due to Eugène’s tactics, Hoche’s command, and Desaix’s valiant fighting.

Although Junot’s cavalry bravely led the feint, there were no substantial achievements.

However, it would be a different story if they occupied the enemy’s capital, Cairo.

But to achieve this feat, they would have to cross the desert with great difficulty.

Just as Junot hesitated for a moment, Lasalle suddenly stepped forward.

“Hee-ho! If that’s the case, this hussar can’t miss it. Let’s go, General!”

“Are you the commander?”

“So, are you not going? Then, General Eugène, I’ll run ahead!”

At that moment, Junot quickly grabbed the reins.

“What nonsense are you spouting! Cairo’s beauties, wait! Junot is coming!”

Thus, 1,000 of Junot’s cavalrymen began to rush towards Cairo all at once.

***

Cairo, the center of Egypt since the 9th century AD.

“Run away! The Franks [Europeans] are coming! The heathens will massacre us!”

A city at the starting point where the Nile River, which had been flowing as one, splits into dozens of branches.

It is also a place symbolizing that Muslim forces came to dominate Egypt.

Since this city was built, no non-Muslim force had ever invaded Cairo.

But now, the Mamluks who ruled Cairo are screaming and fleeing in all directions.

Even reaching Al-Azhar Mosque, the center of this city and a renowned educational institution in the Muslim world.

Someone ran up to an old man sitting in the center of the Azhar Mosque and shouted.

“Imam al-Sharqawi! You must flee. The Frankish army is coming. Murad Bey’s army has been completely destroyed!”

“Is that the story of the defeated soldiers? Al-Jabarti?”

“Yes, it is. And it seems that only a few dozen, not even hundreds, barely escaped!”

Abdullah al-Sharqawi, a respected Cairo figure as an Imam (a Muslim religious leader).

In particular, he was the one who educated numerous legal scholars (ulama) at Al-Azhar.

Although he does not hold a special position, he is a kind of opinion leader who can move the ulama.

Whenever something happens, disciples flock to him, just like now.

Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, who would later leave his name in history with his writings, was one of them.

However, looking at the flustered young al-Jabarti, al-Sharqawi shook his head.

“Don’t rush, Jabarti. The chief secretary will come to me soon.”

It was the moment Jabarti blinked.

Someone was riding a camel urgently from the Citadel, the palace of Cairo.

Even though almost all officials were leaving Cairo, he had a calm face.

It was Jirjis al-Jahary, the chief secretary of Murad Bey, the governor of Egypt.

Al-Jahary sighed in relief when he saw Sharqawi.

“Imam, thankfully you are still here!”

Sharqawi greeted Jahary and clicked his tongue.

“Al-Jahary, I heard that those who share your faith have come. You seem strangely at ease.”

“The same faith? The Roman Church and our Alexandrian Church are clearly different. Besides, aren’t we all [Misr] people [Egyptians]?”

“The same Misr people. Well, I’m happier to see the chief secretary than the Franks.”

However, Sharqawi soon asked with a strange smile.

“By the way, you are also the head of the government, but you didn’t run away. It seems you heard something in advance? Al-Jahary?”

The chief secretary of Cairo, al-Jahary, is not a Muslim.

He is a Copt.

It sounds strange to appoint a heretic to a high position, but Muslims in this era are surprisingly open-minded.

Even if they are not Muslims, they are often appointed to key positions depending on their abilities.

However, even so, there is a limit to heretics.

The reason why al-Jahary succeeded was because his brother, El Gohary, helped the Mamluk rebellion.

His current position was also obtained as a reward for driving the Turkish forces out of Egypt.

In short, he is a man who knows how to handle himself according to the times.

The chief secretary, al-Jahary, who is skilled in social skills, swallowed hard.

“To be honest, our Patriarch, His Holiness Markos, has joined hands with the Franks, no, the French.”

“Oh dear, doesn’t that justify the persecution of you Copts in the past?”

“That’s not true. I didn’t know until yesterday.”

Al-Jahary shouted, shaking his head.

“Today, only after the Franks arrived near Cairo did I finally find out. Also, the fact that the entire Mamluk army was virtually annihilated!”

The reason why al-Jahary and his brother participated in the Mamluk rebellion was because.

In the past, there was persecution of Copts during the Turkish rule.

But the Mamluk forces that protected the Copts were wiped out at once.

Only two weeks, in Jahary’s view, it happened in a day.

Of course, it was shocking news that Sharqawi had just heard.

Sharqawi asked in surprise.

“Annihilation, are you saying it’s not just a simple defeat?”

“It’s annihilation. Of course, there may still be scattered Mamluk forces in each region, but the large army that had gathered in Cairo has disappeared.”

“Great Allah, what is this!”

Jahary grabbed Sharqawi’s hand.

“It can’t be stopped now. The French are replacing the Mamluks.”

Sharqawi is not just a scholar.

The Ulama, or legal scholars, play a role similar to that of a priestly group in a Muslim society without priests.

They are a kind of politician who moves the public sentiment of ordinary people.

So, he roughly understood what Jahary was saying.

The Copts are connected to France.

Jahary will be the bridge, so Sharqawi should stabilize the Muslim commoners.

Nevertheless, Sharqawi cocked his head.

“Constantinople will never sit idly by.”

“What power does that place have? This is an opportunity, Imam.”

“What do you mean?”

Ignoring the Ottoman Empire, Jahary exclaimed passionately.

“A country ruled by us Misr people instead of the Turks and Mamluks. France is far away after all. No matter how hard they try, into whose hands will the real power here fall?”

It is a huge thing that 60,000 troops were wiped out overnight.

It clearly shows that the French have strong power.

But it is also true that they are a country far away in the Mediterranean.

No matter how hard the French try, the real power here is likely to return to the hands of the Egyptians.

Especially to the forces that are cooperating with France now.

“You’re saying to cooperate with the surrender operation, Chief Secretary Jahary.”

“It’s enough if we have the Imam’s help.”

“Alright, but if.”

Al-Sharqawi replied, engraving his last pride.

“If they are infidels, I will be the first to fight against them.”

The one who leads the 9-Sheikh Divan, the Egyptian ruling system created by Napoleon in the original history.

Furthermore, the one who instigates the Cairo rebellion on the grounds that the French are [infidels].

The one who is called the originator of the [Grand Imam], the leader of Sunni Islam in later generations.

It was the moment when Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam Sharqawi indirectly took France’s hand.

***

On the way from Alexandria to Cairo, the pyramids greeted the French army.

“Wow, pyramids!”

The pyramids widely known in later history are actually one.

The so-called Great Pyramid of [Giza], the pyramid of Pharaoh Khufu.

It was originally covered with white limestone, but after the fall of Rome and the Islamic religion dominated this land, only the massive body of rock remained.

However, the huge structure, located on the west side of the Nile River along with the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure, overwhelms the viewer.

Suddenly, at Ippolito’s shout, Hoche seemed to remember and turned to Eugène.

“Eugène, you have to say something?”

“Yes?”

“This victory is virtually your victory. If you hadn’t deployed the balloon unit, we couldn’t have achieved such a complete victory.”

Hoche winked at Eugène.

“Say a word to the entire army before entering Cairo.”

Kléber, Desaix, and Marceau nodded with a smile.

Although Hoche is nominally the commander, everyone knows that Eugène is in charge of this expedition.

So, they are saying that he should give a victory speech.

Of course, it is a sudden speech from Eugène’s point of view.

After hesitating for a moment, Eugène opened his eyes wide and spurred his horse forward in front of the soldiers.

“All troops, look at those pyramids! They are structures that have witnessed all the conquerors of the land we have conquered!”

So, this is plagiarism.

Because it’s originally a speech that Napoleon makes.

But Napoleon didn’t come anyway, and someone needs to say something while looking at the pyramids.

If this war ends in victory, all of this will remain in history.

As 50,000 French soldiers looked on, Eugène shouted.

“Now, we will plant the spirit of the revolution here and win against England!”

“Oooooh!”

“Remember that 4,000 years of history is watching us! Forward!”

Suddenly, Eugène announced his own idea, the Cairo Islamic Countermeasures.

“Now, in the name of [God]! Egypt will belong to us, the French Expeditionary Force!”

So, [Theism] is the real weapon Eugène is taking.