Alexandria.

The members of the Austrian Marines never expected that the defense of Egypt's most important port city would be so lax.

In just an hour, they took control of the harbor and the surrounding batteries.

According to Neiying, the newly appointed governor of Alexandria extorted money in the city, and except for a few powerful people and wealthy merchants who had fled, more than half of the wealth in the city was in the treasury.

According to the new governor, it was the war on the front that was tight, and if he refused to pay, he would be collaborating with the enemy, so no one dared not pay. In fact, this money is that Al Said, who is going to make another sum of money before running away, so that he can retire in the United States.

In fact, most of the Egyptian magnates and wealthy businessmen who negotiated extradition with the United States chose the port of Matruh because it had been sacked by the Austrian navy before, and theoretically there would be no second raid.

And even the Austrian Navy will not attack American ships, which are also part of the Western camp.

The reason why Alexandria's guards were so lax was not the fault of the Karamanli family, but the fault of Al Said.

Al Saeed has collected too much wealth for it to be impossible to take it away without being discovered. So he decided to let the Americans come directly to Alexandria, so that he could transport all the treasure in the shortest possible time.

What Al Said had to do was to weaken Alexandria's defenses as much as possible. When the Americans' warships enter the harbor, even if others find out that he has betrayed the country, there is nothing they can do about him.

While Al Said was discussing his life with the side room, one of his soldiers knocked on the door.

"Your Excellency the Governor, Your Excellency the Governor, something is wrong!"

"You'd better have something to do or I'll cut off your head." Being disturbed made Al very unhappy.

"Enemy ships! Enemy ships are coming! The enemy army has landed, and none of the eight Aga can be found now, what should we do? "The soldiers didn't know about Al Said's plan.

Because Al knew that the less people knew about his call for the fleet, the safer it would be, not that he was afraid that his own soldiers would betray him, but he was afraid of causing trouble, after all, now Muhammad Ali was suspicious, and if he heard the news and killed himself, wouldn't it be all in vain?

As for the disappearance of all eight Agha, it was a godson for Al Said.

Aga was an official position in the Arab world, almost equivalent to a regimental commander, and in Alexandria he was the head of eight barracks.

The disappearance of these people naturally caused a series of assassinations, kidnappings, ambushes, and other means to kill or injure these people. And the Egyptian soldiers, who had no commander, did not want to rush into the city to fight the enemy army whose numbers and origins were unknown.

Compared to the well-defended Providence Bay (where the Egyptian Navy hid its warships), the defense of Alexandria was almost like papier-mâché.

"Hurry to the treasury, we are leaving here, and you can go with me to enjoy the blessings in the future." Al Said thought that an American warship had come to pick him up, so he excitedly instructed his men to go to the treasury and bring things to the port.

"Where are we going, Lord Doge?" The pro-soldier asked.

"United States." Al Saeed replied triumphantly.

The size of the Austrian navy is no longer what it used to be, but it is still dispatched with small and medium-sized steam warships and troop carriers.

There is no other reason, because of the speed of the steam ships, and the large warships captured from Egypt, although they have strong firepower and strong defense, they lack sufficient maneuverability for sneak attack operations.

In the dockyards of Venice and Trieste, the renovation of the Egyptian warships was being carried out overtime, and they were Friedrich's treasure bumps and important pawns of Franz.

Friedrich brought 2000 army and 2000 professional sailors this time, in addition to the 3000 marines he brought.

Stealing is addictive, and Friedrich wants not only the treasury and arsenal of Alexandria, but also all the ships in the harbor.

The Egyptian defenders, who were tasked with guarding the arsenal, gave up with only a symbolic resistance, and the city's most important garrison fell.

The Egyptian soldiers, who were still asleep, were even worse as Congreve rockets flew in through the doorway. The choking smell of sulfur filled the room, and the flames from the explosion ignited the barracks where they were.

The fire soon engulfed the camp, and the camp was in a panic, with some people being awakened in their sleep and others being burned alive. The few Egyptian soldiers who desperately escaped were ambushed by Marines hiding in the shadows.

Those who ran in the firelight were almost all knocked to the ground by them. Soon the air was filled with the smell of burnt corpses, and the warriors did not rush to kill them, but left the Egyptians with a way to live, and as long as they ran into the mountains or the desert, the warriors did not pursue.

In the city, bloody and fierce street battles did not take place. In addition to a large amount of goods, Alexandria's treasury also contained copper, iron, and more than 100,000 tons of grain.

By this time the inhabitants of the city had already arrived, and of course it was Franz's handiwork, who hoped that the Karamanli family would make the Egyptians think that the Austrians had come to save them from the tyrant, so that they would not set fire to the city, but would open a warehouse to release grain.

Franz did this not only for the sake of his family's reputation, but also because he believed that Friedrich would not be able to move everything.

As a matter of fact, those copper and iron ingots could not be moved at all, and apart from gold and silver, Friedrich aimed mainly at cotton, indigo, and ships.

As for the weapons in the Egyptian arsenal, except for the artillery, they were also distributed to the Egyptian civilians on the spot.

Friedrich felt that even if civilians were armed, they were powerless against the regular Egyptian army.

But what Franz wanted was not for civilians to defeat the regular army, but for strengthening the population. This was a very good choice, whether it was to force Egypt to surrender, or to shed more blood when the British conquered Egypt.

Since ancient times, colonists have been most afraid of law and order warfare, and as long as the cost of maintaining an area outweighs the benefits, the colonists can lose interest in it.

Al Said had heard that the enemy was moving things in the treasury, and he thought that the service of the Americans was really considerate. But when he saw the countless Egyptians looting their property in the treasury, he couldn't help but feel angry and turned evil in his heart.

"Damn untouchables, why are they in my treasury, what are they doing, call those Americans over to me!" Al Said roared.

Several pro-soldiers picked up sticks and rushed into the crowd, and suddenly they were like tigers entering a flock. When the Egyptians saw that it was the governor who came, they were so frightened that they craned their necks.

Soon the soldiers reported to the Governor of El that all the gold, silver and jewels in the treasury had been taken by the "Americans".

When Governor El saw that the "Americans" were about to abandon him, he immediately ordered his soldiers to clear the way and take him to the docks, and he had to leave here today no matter what.

It was only when gunshots suddenly rang out in the crowd that the Egyptian people realized that now that they had weapons, they no longer had to fear the Egyptian officials who had been bullying them.

The Egyptian people grabbed their hands and opened fire on the usually powerful governors and their own soldiers, and the battle was about to break out.

The Austrian Navy, on the other hand, had completed the second interception and was loading the ship to flee the scene.

(End of chapter)