Dominate the Country

Outside the tent, the roar of the steam engine sounded all night long, and the huge construction site was running non-stop day and night.

After more than a month in Tianfang, Huang Dingyou has now become accustomed to this huge noise. It was also in this boiling noise that in a short period of time, in the Tiehame area on the Red Sea of ​​the Tianfang Peninsula, a super-large farm with the Chinese name "Xingxing" rose from the ground little by little in this place with the most rainfall on the Tianfang Peninsula.

The sound of the steam engine now is the water diversion canal that has just been dug for about ten days and is draining water outward.

It is strange to say that although the rainfall in the Tiehame area is not small, it is mostly concentrated in the summer of the year, and the rainfall here becomes scarce in autumn. But not long ago, the land of Xinxing Farm suddenly rained heavily.

Because the ground within the farm has been leveled, the lowest part of the terrain is the water diversion canal that is crisscrossed, so the water diversion canal that has just been dug was suddenly filled with rainwater. So that the rainwater, which is extremely precious to many residents of the Tianfang Peninsula, has become waste at this moment.

Fortunately, the construction of the reservoir was also underway while the diversion canal was being excavated, so the rainwater would not be completely wasted.

The steam pumps on the farm were ringing all night outside.

Although steam engines are increasingly appearing in various factories in China, in agricultural development and production, the role of steam engines is really not much except for water lifting.

Tonight is the second night. Since thousands of Chinese came to this place a month and a half ago, they have been cutting down trees, clearing weeds, leveling the land, and digging ditches. Huang Dingyou has been here for half a month, and he is no longer interested in the Xinxing Farm, which is defined as a place that provides food security for the canal project. He thinks the Egyptian battlefield in the south is more interesting.

The reason why Huang Dingyou, who was very quiet, was willing to come to Tianfang to "wander" this time was because the Yangtze River Publishing House under the Yangtze River Group was preparing to open a new magazine. The latter is a new thing in China, but it has a history of more than a hundred years in Europe. The publishing house to which Zhongyuan Newspaper belongs published "China" four years ago, which can be said to be the first magazine publication in China. In four years, it has been published biweekly, and now the circulation has exceeded two million copies.

Not only has it benefited a lot, but its influence is also extraordinary.

The follow-up speed of Yangtze River Group is not even as fast as the second batch of teams. However, the development of Yangtze River Publishing House has been very smooth in recent years. With a big tree to lean on, this new magazine will not be bad. Huang Dingyou has been appointed as the president and editor-in-chief of the magazine. This will not come out in the future. Taking advantage of the last opportunity, he personally led the team to Tianfang to observe the impact of the war in Egypt on the Tianfang world, and also listened closely to the opinions of the local natives on the Suez Canal.

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Since the Ottoman army failed to counterattack Alexandria and suffered a great loss in Damanhur, and was killed and captured by Napoleon, nearly 10,000 people were annihilated. Hussein was like a defeated rooster, and his arrogance was no longer seen. The remaining troops in his hands were taken over by Ilam. At least before the end of the French invasion, these soldiers were controlled by Ilam. Therefore, the latter's strength, in fact, not only did not decline due to this tragic defeat, but increased instead.

Of course, the morale of the army has declined to a certain extent.

The British blockade of Alexandria lasted for two months. Although Brueys was not a famous naval general, he was really brave. He took advantage of the French fleet's backing to Alexandria, which was conducive to the French army's faster and better repair of warships, and the fleet's sailors' better rest. On the tenth day after fleeing back to Alexandria, he led the fleet out of the port again to confront Nelson's fleet.

The French fleet naturally did not get anything good, but Brueys was able to ensure that the main battleships of the French army were injured but not dead. After returning to Alexandria, the French army began to repair them again and again. The first thing the French navy did after each battle was to go home to replenish blood.

In order to repair the warships conveniently and quickly, Brueys even directly dismantled the French transport ships.

Although the French fleet was generally at a disadvantage, they had both "losses" and "replenishments" compared to the British who blocked the mouth of the Nile. Unlike their enemy, Nelson's fleet, there were only losses and no major replenishments.

Repairs to warships can of course be carried out at sea. However, many things cannot be completed with the little materials stored in the warship itself, just like a merchant ship will not put a mast in its cabin, and there is no material in the belly of the warship to repair the entire hull, otherwise there is no need for a special repair shop.

Nelson persisted outside for less than two months, and he could no longer hold on.

In the eastern Mediterranean, a fleet that suffered heavy losses is too insecure. Who knows whether the French and Spanish will dispatch their joint navy.

So Nelson patted his buttocks and left Alexandria, but after the news reached London, Dong Gao, Lu Zhiqiang, Chen Zhan and others felt that Nelson must have received some news, otherwise, the Spanish Mediterranean Fleet escorted a group of transport ships to Alexandria just three days after the British left.

I don’t know what Barras and others think, it should be that they are reluctant to leave Napoleon, but reluctant to leave the French Mediterranean Fleet. But anyway, the siege of Alexandria was lifted.

The materials brought by the transport fleet also helped Napoleon to a certain extent, but only two months had passed before, which was far from enough time to empty out Napoleon's family fortune.

When the French Expeditionary Force went to Egypt, they brought more than a hundred transport ships with them.

After Napoleon defeated the Ottoman-Egyptian army led by Hussein at Damanhur, he did not continue his march towards Cairo.

He has taken China's warning seriously, and Elam will leave a large area of ​​open space for the French army to 'occupy'. Although Lower Egypt is not big, the number of French troops is not too large.

That is Egypt's main grain-producing area - Lower Egypt is the Nile Delta. As long as the French army's food problem and ammunition replenishment are ensured, Napoleon does not need to worry about it within three to five months. Napoleon's primary goal now was to capture the fortress of Mansoura. It was the key point of land transportation between the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. If the French captured it, the connection between the Ottoman Empire and Egypt would be interrupted.

In other words, China allowed Napoleon to march north without 'harassing' Cairo.

The Mansoura women of later generations were the whitest and most beautiful women in Egypt. The girls in Mansoura all have high noses and deep eyes, with clear and handsome facial contours, completely European style. It is said that the original French injected their own flesh and blood into the blood of the local people.

When Chen Ming didn't know these things at all, Napoleon was guided by the Chinese and followed a path that was similar to history. Perhaps two hundred years from now, Egyptians will also be deeply envied by people around them because they have a girlfriend in Mansoura.

The current war situation in Egypt is so strange. Elam is stationed in Cairo, and it cannot be said that Napoleon is allowed to invade most of the Nile Delta little by little. But even if the French do not have the arrival of backup materials, their days will be long before the large amount of reserve ammunition is used up. You will live a comfortable life.

Although when there are no outsiders, he will yell at the people closest to him: "The Directory is full of bastards! They hate me and wish I died here to be happy. Moreover, you see how dissatisfied the whole army is, No one wants to stay.”

But for the outside world, and for the entire French Expeditionary Force, what Napoleon had to do was to boost the spirit of the troops and dispel pessimism. He encouraged his men

Said: "In this way, we are isolated on the land of Egypt. This is good. We must survive on the stormy sea, and the sea will calm down. Perhaps fate has destined us to change the face of the sky. We must stay in Here, great deeds are accomplished here as the ancients did.”

"Egypt was once a powerful empire. How well-positioned it was to attack Britain!"

"We will have to create a great empire. ... The ocean separates us from our motherland, but no ocean can separate us from Africa, nor can it separate us from Asia. Our numbers are many, and we will not lack supplements. We will not be short of ammunition for our team’s manpower.”

While using his words to preach encouragement to his soldiers, Napoleon also clearly realized that he must organize Egypt quickly and effectively, and must establish a foothold in Egypt, because the French army will stay here for a long time. .

Napoleon's flexible, speculative mind seemed to have endless sources of inspiration. War, defence, taxation, government, court institutions, trade, the arts and sciences all called to other attentions.

The 'reform' that Elam had been unable to complete in Egypt for so many years was easily accomplished by Napoleon with the swords and guns in his own hands. He issued orders and instructions without hesitation in order to prevent failure and imminent danger. Napoleon even established the Egyptian Academy of Sciences on the model of the French Academy of Sciences, with mathematician Gaspar Monge as its president and Napoleon as its vice president. The mission of the Academy of Sciences is "to promote the progress and spread of culture in Egypt."

Archaeologists, geologists and historians examine the remains of ancient kingdoms from the Nile to the Aswan Falls.

Scientists and engineers study the prevention and control of infectious diseases and design irrigation projects. Under the leadership of chief engineer and architect Le Pere, they are conducting leveling surveys of the Isthmus of Suez and digging projects for canals connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

The news that China wanted to build a canal in Egypt connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea could no longer be hidden from Napoleon. This news will also cause a great sensation in Europe.

Many of the machinery and equipment shipped to Egypt by the transport fleet were prepared for this purpose. It is not clear whether the French have heard about the Suez Canal a long time ago. They are too prepared for many things.

Napoleon even asked the Egyptians in the areas under his control to expand the cultivation area of ​​grains and build large ovens and bakeries to solve the problem of food supply; they started to build breweries to brew beer to meet the needs of the troops; foundries and gunpowder factories Of course it is also essential...

All this is so that the French army can survive without relying on the European rear.

On the afternoon of the next day, Huang Dingyou took his team to say goodbye to Xinxing Farm, and then continued westward, walking up the Red Sea, towards the next destination, which was also a Chinese farm on the coast of the Red Sea.

China has deployed a total of six very large farms in the Tihamai area, which is the Red Sea coast of the Tianfang Peninsula. Each has 50,000 acres of fertile land. The grain harvested and livestock raised here are enough to feed 50,000 people for a year. rations.

How many workers will be needed for the Suez Canal project is still unknown. It is very likely that this number will exceed 50,000, so a large part of the food and supplies needed for the entire project will still have to be taken locally. The importance of whether Egypt's political situation is stable can be seen.

Although China supports Napoleon's "abandoning" Cairo, turning north to Mansoura, and then entering Syria.

But this is China pretending to be generous. The Chinese side [Tianfang and the European Office] does not believe that the army led by Napoleon will be able to do much. If Napoleon really enters Syria, how many troops will he need to leave behind to guard the Nile Delta first?

Fort El-Arish, Gaza, Jaffa, Aker Castle in Palestine, these checkpoints, no one believes that Napoleon can get through!

Huang Dingyou now hopes to enter Egypt as soon as possible and take a good look at the impact of the French invasion on Egypt.