"Hussein Pasha, we don't need to take the initiative to fight the French."

Ilam was trying to dissuade Hussein ibn Talal Pasha from Istanbul, but Hussein, who came from a prominent family and was a close confidant of the current Sultan Selim III, was clearly not something Ilam could dissuade.

Hussein expressed great contempt for Ilam, who had a heavy army but was unable to move forward. As a result, two brigades of reinforcements were brought, and Hussein, who was supposed to be under the command of Ilam, unceremoniously wanted to take away Ilam's military power and overwhelm Ilam in turn.

Ilam was faced with a huge choice, "I don't want to go head-on with Istanbul. "Ilam is not ready for a showdown, he feels that he is still lacking, whether it is the army or the infantry.

But the secretary sent by Chen Han's ambassador to Ottoman felt that what Ilam lacked more was the spirit of rebellion against Istanbul. Of course, from the bottom of his heart, he didn't want to see Ilam go to that last step.

The construction of the Suez Canal is about to begin, and what Egypt needs most now is stability.

But such 'persuasive' words must never come out of his mouth, and such a choice would mean that Elam would have to pay a great price.

"If you can win Istanbul's trust, it's worth the price." Ilam smiled disapprehantly.

He knew that on the issue of the Suez Canal, the Chinese had already reached an agreement with Istanbul, so if he wanted to raise troops against Istanbul at this time, he would not get the full support of the Chinese, at least not the willing support of the Chinese. In this current situation, what the Chinese hope more for is peace and stability in Egypt.

In this case, Eelam simply took a step back. In the Chinese culture he received before, there was an idiom that he remembered vividly: to retreat is to advance.

Retreating is not cowardice, nor is it admitting defeat, but the basis for moving forward.

The retracted fist hits the person more powerfully, and this 'step back' is 'retracting' one's own fist.

"I asked Ibrahim to lead 20,000 men to follow Hussein, and the Mamluk cavalry to send another 5,000 troops, so that with the new army he led himself, he could gather 40,000 troops." Don't you underestimate my Ilam, don't you think that the French are very easy to cut off their heads, then you can go forward and experience it yourself.

The French, Napoleon, Ilam believed that they were definitely not good stubble.

In the Battle of the Pyramids, Ilam really experienced Napoleon's inadversity and the perseverance and tenacity of the French will to fight.

Although I don't want to admit it, the Mamluk cavalry of the brigade is far less than their assault column, the latter is in an offensive state, even with the help of rockets, if the Mamluk cavalry does not rigidly adhere to the ancient traditional tactics, it is impossible for the cavalry of the brigade to not be able to threaten the infantry column. It is really time for this stubborn feudal military group to withdraw from the stage of Egyptian history.

Whether it was a cavalry battle or an attack on the infantry, the Mamluk cavalry was completely defeated.

"Father, why don't you propose to Chinese that they contact the French...... "Hussein's eldest son said to his father Ilam.

Elam shook his head, "There's no need. ”

Hussein ibn Talal would not have been Napoleon's opponent at all, and he could have more troops than Napoleon, but it was useless. So many days have passed since the Battle of the Pyramids, and every time he recalls that battle, Ilam shudders.

Napoleon was really hard to deal with.

Even at that critical moment, if Murad hadn't led two or three thousand cavalry, stubbornly attacked the French reserves at any cost, and delayed the reinforcements of the French with his own life, it is really difficult to say whether Eelam could achieve such great results and force Napoleon to take the initiative to retreat.

But there are only a few loyal generals like Murad around Ilam, and these are his henchmen.

"Besides, do you think that if we don't ask the Chinese to pass on the news to the infidels, they will honestly sit idly by?"

"Napoleon's place in their hearts is even more important than ours. The Chinese will not watch him fold in Egypt. ”

A gleam flashed in Ilam's eyes.

No one is a fool. His weight in the hearts of the Chinese is very heavy, and Elam has a spectrum. Those Chinese attention to Napoleon......

"It's still a long time coming." As long as the British always blocked the mouth of the Nile, the French were cooked ducks. Ielam really wanted to see how China would help Napoleon and save this lone French army.

Now the British are blocked in Alexandria, and the French have cut off their transportation links with the mainland, although Elam cannot guarantee how long the British will continue the blockade, but the French, who have no backup and no way back, are dead or alive......

A new war was decided at the very moment when Ilam 'bowed', and things became more complicated from the moment Ilam 'bowed'.

Five days later, Hussein led a large army, along with a large number of conscripted laborers, who were transporting and pushed back towards Alexandria.

The site of the first engagement between the two sides was in Damanhur.

It was the capital of the province of Buhaira, which was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1302. The castle was rebuilt at the end of the 14th century to stop the Bedouin invasion. In the Middle Ages, it was a key caravan town on the road from Cairo to Alexandria, and it prospered for a while. It is the main economic center of the western part of the delta and an open area for important agricultural products.

"Hurry, hurry, boys!"

In front of the Egyptian city of Damanhur, several French artillery officers were constantly checking the preparations in front of the position, shouting loudly to cheer up the soldiers. Locally requisitioned laborers transferred boxes of shells and gunpowder from the rear to the positions.

The high-spirited French artillery did not prepare bunkers on a large scale at all, and only bulldozed the area around the gun emplacements and put wicker baskets on the ramparts. But it's not that they're lazy, it's that in the current situation, the French artillery doesn't have to worry about the few of its kind on the other side.

According to the Chinese, Napoleon now quite 'regrets' his previous hurt on China. With his current face, it still feels a little hot. But Napoleon could not have broken the good intentions of the Chinese.

The Ottoman army had a total of 40,000 cavalry, and their number of light and heavy artillery would not exceed 100, and there was absolutely no new type of artillery such as hexagonal cannons.

And the French, through their own channels, also confirmed this fact.

During Napoleon's stay in Alexandria, he sent a proclamation in Celestial to the inhabitants of Alexandria, which read: "The time has come for the Beys, who ruled Egypt, to insult France and harm its merchants for a long time, and their punishment has come."

This mob of slaves, bought from Georgia and the Caucasus, has long exercised tyranny in this most beautiful land of the world; But the true god of this world, the true god to whom everything is subordinate, has decreed: their reign should end.

You will be told, people of Egypt, that I have come to destroy your faith, and do not believe such nonsense! The truth is: I am here to restore your rights and punish the usurpers, and I have more respect for the true God than the Mamluks, for His prophets and the Book of Allah. ”

At that time, Napoleon did not know that he would encounter setbacks in the near future, but out of the perception of 'revolution', although the French also did a lot of burning, killing and looting in Alexandria, they had to do face work.

And under the pressure of the French army's sword and gun threat, there were indeed some locals who offered their knees to Napoleon.

Half of the artillery of the Elam regiment was pulled in by Hussein, and the rest of the artillery was to be left behind in Cairo.

And the total number of enemy vitality was only about a hundred guns, and the exact number was not even half of the French expeditionary force.

- Damanhur is not close to the Nile, it is an inland city, and the reason for its development is more because of Alexandria. The transportation along the way is all land transportation that relies on manpower and animal power, which is very costly, not to mention the speed. With Egypt's capabilities, it really can't afford to carry too much artillery and rationed ammunition. Not to mention the hexagonal gun, an advanced artillery that France itself has very few inadequate.

The cannon's coat was uncovered, and the muzzle of the cannon began to rise little by little, so that the cannonballs could hit farther with angles. And the dark muzzle of the cannon refracted a touch of icy cold light in the morning sun of Egypt.

The sun rose from the left side of the French position, the morning air made it easy to breathe, and the golden sunlight cast the dark shadows of the slanting sun and the cannons on the ground in the distance of the coconut groves, like a carved emerald, and a thin black rope could be faintly seen on the horizon.

The Egyptian highway passed through the woods, and there was a small village.

Now the village is deserted, and the avenues are full of French troops. The harvested fields and groves sparkle up close. Rear, left, right, everywhere there were troops.

The French soldiers' Gallic rooster-like costumes and their heads held high made the army look so majestic and magnificent.

Damanhur was not close to the Nile, a place where it was difficult to see even a river on the scale, and Hussein led an army of 40,000 men to press over in black, and the rising sand and dust obscured the sun in the sky.

The smoke of the guns mingled with the sand, and in the hazy blur, there was a clear light everywhere - sometimes in the Ottoman-Egyptian army, sometimes in the ranks of the French army, the swords and guns of the Mamluk cavalry, the bayonets of the French army.

Through the smoke of gunfire, Hussein could even see the yellow-colored walls of Damanhor, with French soldiers, muskets, and cannons on them.

But if he wants to step into it, he must deal with the French soldiers in front of him.

The scorching sun shone on the earth, and the heat of the fire baked the air to a boil.

Looking into the distance, all of this seems to be floating, floating in the fog.

The entire space in this area is filled with smoke and fog. In particular, on the left front of the front, at the top of the woods, fields, depressions, and mounds, clouds of smoke from the explosion of rockets continued to rise out of nothing, sometimes in groups, sometimes in groups; Sometimes sparse, sometimes dense.

The terrain there was more complicated, and it was not only a key defensive area for the French army, but also a key offensive area for Hussein.

"Go, my dear major, and may the Lord be with you." Rana said to the major standing beside him, his eyes not taking his eyes off the battlefield.

The artillery group in the distance had stopped firing. French soldiers with bayonets marched forward, and more and more French soldiers were concentrated behind a hill.

Hussein, who did not have a hot air balloon in his hand, did not know that a battalion of French soldiers was concentrated above the flanks of one of his attacking troops. This is also one of the advantages of the defense forces. Relying on the topography, they can easily design one trap after another. And if the attacking force wants to defeat its opponent, it must use its bravery and life to defeat everything.