“Sigh…” Returning to the old city of Cairo, Governor Adolphe felt like a lifetime had passed. All the emotions swirling in his heart condensed into a single sigh. At this moment, Egypt was already in utter chaos. No one wanted to take responsibility for such a mess, so Adolphe had no choice but to continue performing his duties as governor. Though he held the title of governor, in reality, his orders no longer left the city of Cairo. ALl that was beyond the city walls was already under the control of rebel forces, and all external communication had long been cut off. Ever since news of the defeat arrived, the once-bustling governor’s residence had fallen into silence. Even those reporting on official matters came and went in a rush, as if staying an extra moment would expose them to the plague. Seeing a familiar figure, Adolphe asked in confusion, “Fidos, what are you doing here? This place is far from safe now. If you get caught up in things, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” That was the honest truth. Though everyone loves to kick a man when he’s down, as governor, Adolphe still had a few loyal subordinates who never abandoned him. It was only in times of loss that their value became clear. To avoid dragging all of these relationships down with him, Adolphe had taken the initiative to draw a clear line between himself and his staff. Whether it would work was uncertain, but his thinking was simple—saving even one would be worth it. As long as someone he saved was willing to remember his kindness, it wouldn’t be in vain. Fidos shook his head with a bitter smile. “Governor, given the current situation, do you really think I can stay out of this?” This war was lost in an utterly disgraceful manner. Even though Adolphe had taken the initiative to assume responsibility for the failure, the other military officers involved in the suppression campaign couldn’t escape accountability either. The best outcome they could hope for would be retirement and going home. A clean exit was simply impossible. Since there was no avoiding it, Fidos didn’t bother trying. If he was going to be held responsible either way, he might as well face it head-on. In the end, it would still be retirement, just with more embarrassment attached. Even Governor Adolphe, who bore the greatest responsibility for the defeat, would likely walk out of the military tribunal with nothing more than forced retirement. In essence, the defeat had been unexpected. From a logical standpoint, there hadn’t been any major errors in their command decisions. Adolphe nodded helplessly. “Alright then. I can only wish you luck. May God bless you. Now tell me, why have you come here today? And don’t tell me it’s just a friendly visit or to check on me. You should know my mood is absolutely terrible right now.” Fidos said, “Governor, the situation is already completely hopeless. Are you willing to take one more gamble?” Adolphe gave a wry smile. “At this point, what is there left for me to be afraid of? Egypt is already in complete chaos. How much worse could it get? Go on. What’s your plan?” Fidos said, “The rebel forces outside the city are nothing more than a disorderly mob. One regiment would be enough to defeat them. I’ve done the calculations. Inside Cairo, we still have over three thousand regular troops, two thousand colonial forces, and four thousand able-bodied men who were just recruited. We can send out one regiment of regular troops to launch a surprise attack. Even if it fails, the remaining forces are more than enough to hold Cairo.” No one is willing to accept failure, and Fidos was no exception. Redeeming oneself through military merit was a valid path in France as well. If they could defeat the rebels outside the city and lift the siege of Cairo, even if it couldn’t make up for the major defeat at Aswan, it would at least allow everyone to walk away with some dignity. After a moment’s hesitation, Adolphe slowly said, “Based on the timing, the reinforcements should have just arrived in Egypt. If you want to earn some military merit and wash away your disgrace, it would be best to wait three to five more days before launching the operation.” Adolphe’s quick agreement caught Fidos off guard. In the eyes of the French government, defeating the rebels was expected and wouldn’t count as a major accomplishment. At most, it would allow commanders like Fidos to retreat from this situation unharmed. But for Governor Adolphe, this small merit wasn’t enough to atone for even a tenth of his failures. Unless he could crush the rebellion before reinforcements arrived, his fate would likely remain unchanged. There were no benefits to winning, but if the gamble failed, Governor Adolphe would bear the greatest responsibility. This spirit of self-sacrifice truly moved Fidos. The speech he had prepared was no longer necessary. For the first time, he realized that Governor Adolphe was actually... After sending off the unexpected visitor, Governor Adolphe fell back into loneliness. He had no choice but to agree to Fidos’s risky plan. Before the rebellion was suppressed, many French nobles had come to Egypt seeking military credentials to boost their reputations. In order to accommodate them, Adolphe had done many favors and called in numerous connections. But after the defeat, those favors turned into resentment. The nobles who survived had lost their futures, and those who died left behind families who would surely hold grudges. Adolphe himself was not alone in the world. He had a family to worry about, and if he couldn’t resolve these hostilities, then misery would begin for his entire household once they returned home. Agreeing to Fidos’s plan was, in reality, a way to create an opportunity for those politically connected individuals to escape unscathed. ... Others trying to escape the situation included Hutier and his group. At this point, they were nearly unable to control their own forces. What had started as a force of fewer than ten thousand had swelled to two hundred thousand in just over a month. The command structure had completely fallen apart. To call this force a ragtag army would already be far too generous. “Soldiers don’t know their generals, and generals don’t know their soldiers” was the norm. Often, when officers gathered troops, they simply pulled in whoever happened to be closest to them. They were all rebels anyway, so there was no point in being too particular. People ran away every day, and new recruits arrived just as often. Hutier couldn’t even keep track of the exact number. To be honest, this massive rabble was even worse than a band of roaming bandits. At least those had experienced core units that could actually fight. This force, inside and out, was complete garbage. Potiorek said, “The French reinforcements have already landed along the coast, and they’re less than 150 kilometers from us. Since our objective is complete, there’s no reason to stay any longer.” A hard fight was out of the question. This time, the French government was serious, they had gathered 150,000 troops. With the pitiful strength of the rebel army, the French wouldn’t even have to try. Falkenhayn nodded. “The enemy is bearing down hard. It’s true that we should be thinking about an exit plan now. It’s just a pity we’re missing a proper chance to fight the French head-on. If I had the chance, I’d really want to go toe-to-toe with them on the battlefield.” He might’ve wanted it, but they still had to retreat. If they were caught, they—the very instigators of Egypt’s chaos—wouldn’t have a good ending. Hutier made the decision. “Let’s rework our escape plan. The original one can’t be executed anymore.” No one had expected the main rebel force to stage a comeback, let alone disrupt Egypt so easily. Now, rebels were everywhere. Disguising themselves as an expedition team to sneak into cities was a joke! If they were mistakenly taken out by rebel forces mid-route, they’d be a laughingstock. Straussenburg objected, “It looks like we don’t need to run just yet. We can fight the French first, and if we lose, we’ll retreat. The telegraph lines have long been cut, and the French army holed up in the cities won’t dare come out unless they’re sure it’s safe. As long as we’re not too unlucky, we can fight while retreating. Worst case, we go back the way we came into Austrian Africa.” Hutier, who had fallen into a mental trap, suddenly came to his senses. This was no longer the same situation as before. The original 8th Division had less than 10,000 men, so of course they had to retreat. But now there were 200,000 troops. Even if they lost the battle, with so many chaotic troops running around, the French wouldn’t be able to capture all the prisoners right away. As long as they reacted quickly and fled with tens of thousands of defeated soldiers, their safety could still be ensured. Hutier immediately made a decision: “Then let’s make use of the remaining time and keep doing something meaningful.” That “something meaningful” naturally referred to sabotaging the Nile. If it weren’t for concerns about the Egyptians’ reaction, Hutier would have ordered the river to be blocked long ago. Now it didn’t matter, since they couldn’t stay in Egypt anymore anyway. Blasting the mountains on both sides of the Nile to artificially create barrier lakes and block navigation routes held immense strategic significance. Flooding was only a minor issue. The prime areas of the Delta had already been mostly destroyed by the rebels. The key was the military operations to follow. Without the Nile for transporting logistical supplies, the French army would lose its ability to deploy troops quickly. Marching from Egypt all the way to Sudan covered thousands of kilometers, relying entirely on manpower and animal power for transportation. Just handling logistics alone would be a massive burden for the French. And it wasn’t just the river. The railways, roads, and bridges along the way were also targets for destruction. As long as the guerrilla forces put in a bit of effort, the French might end up in a miserable situation where it took five or six soldiers in the rear just to support one soldier at the front. *** https://postimg.cc/gallery/PwXsBkC (Maps of the current territories of the countries in this novel made by ScH)
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