He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 213

Became Napoleon’s Genius Son – Episode 213

(213) How Eugene Became a Naval Admiral

Felippo had never imagined he would resent the clear blue sky so much.

-Thump!

Floating in the sky was a fish-shaped contraption.

Felippo had seen flying machines in the skies of Paris during his ‘good old days’.

However, balloons moved unpredictably depending on the weather and air currents.

Especially if a strong wind blew, they often drifted to completely unexpected places.

Nevertheless, Acre, being a coastal area in a desert climate, had consistent winds.

The weather was so favorable that skilled balloonists could easily control the balloon’s direction.

A very simple attack consisting only of throwing grenades from the balloon.

That’s why the attack effectively struck the walls of Acre.

“Damn it, shoot it down!”

Felippo shouted desperately, trying to avoid the grenades.

In fact, it was not flying very high, so it could be shot down.

However, the soldiers with muskets were trembling.

“C, Colonel. T, there’s a monster in the sky!”

“Stop talking nonsense! That’s not a monster. It’s just a simple balloon!”

“Wh, what’s a balloon? Ugh, ‘bombs’ are falling from the sky!”

Felippo scolded and struck his adjutant, who was screaming in surprise.

“That’s just a grenade, you sons of bitches!”

The troops currently under Felippo’s command were the [Nizam-i Jedid], the Ottoman’s new army.

Previously, in the Damietta expedition in Egypt, most of the Nizam-i Jedid were annihilated.

However, a small number of troops who remained as the Grand Vizier’s escort escaped by ship and survived.

Immediately after the expedition ended in failure, Grand Vizier Ziyauddin was summoned to the capital.

However, the Nizam-i Jedid troops were deployed to Acre like this.

Under the command of Felippo, who received the rank of Colonel from the Ottoman Empire, to fight against the French army.

Unfortunately, Felippo taught the Nizam-i Jedid artillery, but he failed to teach them one thing.

The latest French technology represented by balloons.

At that moment, gunshots were heard.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bullets grazed Felippo, causing him to stumble and duck.

“A, are you alright, Colonel!”

“What, which side is attacking now!”

“It’s from the land. The attack is coming from the gate, no!”

The adjutant, ‘Muhammad,’ shouted.

“Someone opened the gate!”

Acre is a fortress at the end of a peninsula, making it very difficult to attack from the land.

However, conversely, if the land gate is opened, it is an isolated place with no escape.

Seeing the Bedouin cavalry and the blue French uniforms rushing in, Felippo gritted his teeth.

“That foolish Cezzar has lost the public’s trust.”

Most of the defenders of Acre are still under Cezzar’s command.

Immediately after Eugene occupied Jaffa, he sent Abdallah Bey and said.

If they hand over the Franks [Europeans or Westerners], he would not attack.

Of course, Cezzar did not hand over the ‘Franks,’ Felippo and Sidney.

However, at the same time, he drew a line so as not to hand over his direct troops.

But seeing the gate opened, it seems that there is a traitor among the soldiers who escaped from Jaffa.

Or perhaps, the Maronite Christians living inside Acre harbored resentment.

In the distance, Cezzar is seen wielding his Kilij sword [a type of Turkish saber] in anger.

“Fight! Or I will kill you all! Where are you running to!”

Originally, in the original history, when the walls were breached, Cezzar killed his soldiers as a motivator to stop the French army.

Even at this moment, Cezzar’s sword was desperately killing his subordinates.

However, if the soldiers are terrified by the balloons as they are now, the cruelty backfires.

Suddenly, the adjutant, Muhammad, asked Felippo.

“Will you escape?”

Felippo looked at Muhammad and burst into a hollow laugh.

“Ha, where to?”

“Our Nizam-i Jedid are loyal to the Sultan. We cannot die here.”

“Heh heh heh! Muhammad Ali, didn’t you lose your uncle to the French? Don’t you want revenge?”

Muhammad Ali is a survivor of the Damietta expedition.

As a member of the Nizam-i Jedid, he was also the nephew of the commander, Mustafa.

At that time, he was almost the only soldier who swam to the ship and survived.

The man who should have become the conqueror of Egypt in the original history, Muhammad shook his head.

“I remember him being captured. Even if he died, living and dying in war is always the case. Colonel, what will you do?”

Although he was flustered by the balloons, Muhammad is basically a cold-blooded person.

Now, Acre is no longer able to stop the enemy.

Therefore, retreating and aiming for the next opportunity is the best option.

However, Felippo laughed and shook off Muhammad’s hand.

“I will die here. I will drag even one more of those cursed revolutionaries to hell!”

Muhammad stared at Felippo, then gave a salute with his turbaned head.

“I understand. Thank you for your many teachings.”

Immediately, Muhammad jumped down from the wall.

Felippo clicked his tongue at the sight of him not looking back and looked around.

There are still huge coastal guns left, but no gunners to operate them.

Dragging his injured leg, Felippo gritted his teeth and grabbed the cannon.

He had to drag even one more to hell.

“Napoleone Buonaparte.”

Rolling the cannonball in and lighting the fuse, Felippo shouted.

“I will go to hell and watch you fail. The revolution will fail, and you will die miserably!”

The moment the cannonball was about to be fired, a [Eugene Grenade] fell from the balloon in the sky.

-Bang!

A man who once aimed to be a French general.

An excellent student at the military academy.

A cadet who was Napoleon’s rival.

Felippo was caught in an explosion at the end of the Eastern Mediterranean, in Acre, and fell into the sea.

***

Off the coast of Acre, ten ships of the line were fiercely rushing in from both directions.

-Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

In fact, ships of the line are slow due to their heavy size.

Only Nelson and his subordinate captains who fought with mobility were special, and usually even the British Navy did not engage in assault battles with ships of the line.

However, at this moment, the Eugene Fleet was surging in from both directions.

Towards the thirty frigate fleet off the coast of Acre.

“The enemy’s ships of the line are approaching!”

Sidney, who was watching the situation from the Theseus, asked his adjutant, Wright.

“What about the coastal guns? Do they show any signs of firing anymore?”

“It seems like a siege is already underway. They don’t seem to be able to pay attention to the batteries.”

“But from both sides, ships of the line are pushing in?”

Three ships of the line to the north, seven ships of the line to the south.

Ten frigates are also pushing in with them.

In terms of numbers alone, the British fleet seems to have far more with thirty ships.

However, Sidney knows.

That there is an overwhelming difference in firepower that cannot be compared.

“Let’s run.”

“Yes? Admiral? What do you mean?”

“Then, are we going to fight head-on with the ships of the line as they are? Without the help of the coastal guns? Even Captain Drake wouldn’t do that, Wright!”

Sidney Smith shouted, mentioning the famous commander of the Armada battle.

“We need to run here to plan for the future! I’m not Nelson! I’d rather live and be criticized than die and become a hero!”

Fighting to the death here?

It is a worthless fight from the British point of view.

Will defeating some of the French fleet in Acre change the course of the war?

From a rational point of view, Sidney’s judgment is correct.

However, war does not always proceed with rationality alone.

Sidney blocked Acre in the original history, so Napoleon returned to France.

If Eugene also suffers great damage in this naval battle, it will disrupt the operation.

But Sidney chose a rational retreat.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

Amid the exploding shells, the Sidney Fleet began to flee in a line.

The rear of the escort fleet was caught in the fire and began to explode.

Only when he barely escaped out of range did Sidney sit down on the deck and wipe away his cold sweat.

“Whew, did they say the enemy commander is a kid? Today, a junior naval officer’s victory record will be added. I should get a treat later!”

“If we don’t leave quickly, even our flagship will sink! Where are we going!”

“First, Rhodes! From there, we go back at full speed! To the capital of the Empire!”

Suddenly, Sidney twisted his lips as he looked at Acre moving away.

“Surely, those guys are coming to Constantinople!”

A total of twenty-one escort ships escaped from the coast of Acre.

By sacrificing their burning fellow escort ships.

***

The shouts seemed to tear Acre apart.

-Allahu Akbar! Viva Frank!

Eugene set foot on the Acre fortress.

Unlike when he defeated Nelson’s complete fleet in the past, this was an overwhelming victory.

This is because the difference in power was so great.

However, that does not diminish the significance of this [Naval Battle of Acre].

While listening to the shouts, Ipolite whistled from the side.

“Wow, anyone who hears this would think we’re waging an Islamic holy war.”

“If you know, Cezzar Pasha is a convert.”

“I heard he’s a cruel person. Was he captured?”

At that moment, Desaix smiled and arrived in front of Eugene.

-Clang.

An old man bound in chains was dragged out by French soldiers.

Desaix, who launched a blitzkrieg, captured the enemy commander as soon as Acre fell.

Cezzar, the governor of Sidon, was the ruler who virtually controlled the entire area of Syria.

Suddenly, Cezzar squinted his blue eyes and sneered.

“Huh, is that brat the one who beat me?”

In an instant, a saber touched Cezzar’s neck.

-Sreung!

Eugene glanced at Junot, who had drawn his saber, and stopped him.

“Junot, stop.”

“Our commander may be young, but there’s no reason for him to be treated lightly by someone like you!”

“I think it’s better not to know Arabic in times like this. When did you learn it?”

Junot shouted back with a fierce expression.

“Desaix wasn’t the only one who set up a harem? Anyway, let’s kill him! I heard this guy skins the losers!”

This is quite a famous story in Europe.

This is because it is included in the book introducing the Near East published by the French military scholar, Volney.

However, storytellers tend to exaggerate cruel anecdotes.

Is that really a true story?

Eugene felt a brief curiosity as he looked at Cezzar (the butcher) in front of him.

Cezzar burst into laughter and shouted.

“Killing me means fighting all the Muslims in this entire region! Ha, do it if you have the courage! Brat!”

At that moment, Eugene took out a Boarner-style pistol.

-Click.

Touching the percussion trigger of the percussion gun, Eugene smiled brightly.

“You’re talking nonsense, Bey.”

“What. Are you really going to fight? With the residents of this entire region?”

“We came here to fight the Ottoman Empire anyway. Besides.”

Suddenly, Eugene’s eyes flashed.

“If I kill you, everyone will be happy that they’re free from oppression, right?”

Before he could even argue, the trigger was pulled.

-Bang!

Cezzar sprayed blood and fell to the ground.

It is the sword of Islam that originally stood in the way of Napoleon in the original history.

Therefore, he would have become the most famous Muslim warrior in Europe.

But he was no match for the Eugene Expeditionary Force, which brought the fleet of ships of the line.

Conversely, Napoleon might have won if he had only had the fleet.

Lost in thought, Eugene, who was holding the gun, turned around.

“Now, make a proclamation. That we killed Cezzar, the butcher who oppressed Syria!”

Junot, who was blankly watching the scene, hurriedly nodded and stepped forward.

“Let’s do that! Let’s go make a proclamation! Desaix!”

Desaix also swallowed dryly and hurriedly went down the fortress with Junot.

He must have been surprised by Eugene’s resolute disposal.

But for Eugene, it was a very natural attitude.

Because by occupying Acre today, Eugene has achieved an amazing feat.

A feat that Napoleon himself did not achieve in the original history.

The triumph of conquering Syria.

At that time, Ipolite, the adjutant who still did not know the meaning of the achievement, tilted his head casually.

“By the way, where did your father’s rival go?”

“He died.”

“Huh?”

Looking down at the sea, Eugene threw a hat.

“With a bomb from the balloon unit that my father disbanded.”

In the original history, Comte’s balloon unit, which Napoleon had disbanded, killed Napoleon’s rival.

It was the day Eugene conquered Acre with the navy.

Furthermore, the entire Syria ruled by the governor of Acre.