Chapter 208 Scored twice
Alexander port.
The members of the Austrian Marine Corps 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 port and surrounding forts.
According to Nei Ying, the newly appointed Governor Alexander had expropriated money in the city. Except for a few powerful people and wealthy businessmen who had escaped, more than half of the wealth in the entire city was in the treasury.
According to the new governor, the war on the front line was tight, and refusing to pay was tantamount to collaborating with the enemy, so no one dared not to pay. In fact, the money belonged to Al Said, who was planning to make another fortune before running away so that he could retire in the United States.
In fact, most of the Egyptian dignitaries and wealthy businessmen who have negotiated extradition with the United States have chosen Matruh Port, because it has been looted by the Austrian navy before, and theoretically there will be no second robbery.
And even the Austrian navy will not attack American ships that also belong to the Western camp.
The reason why Alexandria's guards were so lax was not the fault of the Karamanli family, but Al Said's fault.
Al Said collected so much wealth that it was 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 treasures away in the shortest time.
What Al Said has to do is to weaken Alexandria's defenses as much as possible. When the American warships enter the harbor, even if others discover that he is traitorous, there will be nothing they can do against him.
Just when Al Said was discussing life with the side room, one of his soldiers knocked on the door.
"Your Majesty the Governor, Your Majesty the Governor, something bad has happened!"
"You'd better be okay, otherwise I'll chop off your head." Al was very unhappy to be disturbed.
"Enemy ship! Enemy ship is attacking! The enemy has landed. None of the eight Aga can be found now. What should we do?" The soldiers did not know Al Said's plan.
Because Al knew that the less people knew about his call for the fleet, the safer he would be. He was not afraid that his soldiers would betray him, but he was afraid of causing trouble. After all, Muhammad Ali was suspicious now, and if he heard the news, he would be betrayed. If you kill him, won't all your efforts be wasted?
As for the disappearance of all eight Agha, it was a blessing from Al Said.
Aga is an official position in the Arab world, almost equivalent to the head of a regiment. In Alexandria, it was the head of eight military camps.
The disappearance of these people was naturally caused by a series of assassinations, kidnappings, ambushes and other means carried out by insiders, which resulted in the death or injury of these people. The Egyptian soldiers without a commander simply did not want to rush into the city to fight the enemy troops whose numbers and origins were unknown.
Compared with the well-defended Tianci Bay (where the Egyptian Navy hides warships), Alexandria's defense is simply like paper.
"Hurry up and go to the treasury. We are leaving here. You can come with me to enjoy the happiness in the future." Al Said thought it was an American warship coming to pick him up, so he excitedly asked his men to go to the treasury. Move things to the port.
"Mr. Governor, where are we going?" the soldier asked.
"America," Al Said replied proudly.
The size of the Austrian Navy is now different from what it used to be, but it still dispatches small and medium-sized steam warships and troop carriers.
There is no other reason, because steam ships are fast. Although the large battleships captured from Egypt have strong firepower and strong defense, they lack sufficient maneuverability for sneak attacks.
In the Venice and Trieste shipyards, the modification work of those Egyptian warships is being carried out overtime. They are Friedrich's treasures and important chess pieces of Franz.
In addition to the 3,000 Marines, Friedrich also brought 2,000 Army and 2,000 professional sailors this time.
Stealing is addictive. Friedrich not only wanted the treasury and weapons depot in Alexandria, he also wanted to take away all the ships in the port.
The Egyptian garrison responsible for guarding the weapons depot only made symbolic resistance before giving up, and the city's most important garrison force fell.
The Egyptian soldiers who were still sleeping were even worse, as Congreve rockets flew in from the door. The choking smell of sulfur filled the entire room, and the flames from the explosion ignited the barracks where they were located.
The fire quickly engulfed the camp, and there was a panic in the military camp. Some people were woken up by the fire in their sleep, and some were burned to death. The few Egyptian soldiers who managed to escape were ambushed by Marines hiding in the dark.
Almost all those who ran in the fire were knocked to the ground. Soon the air was filled with the smell of burning corpses. The soldiers did not kill them all, but left a way for the Egyptians to survive. As long as they ran into the mountains or the desert, the soldiers stopped pursuing them.
In the city, bloody and fierce street fighting did not occur. In addition to a large amount of property, Alexandria's treasury also contained copper, iron, and hundreds of thousands of tons of grain.
At this time, the residents of the city had already rushed over. This was of course the work of Franz. He hoped that the Karamanli family could make the Egyptians think that the Austrians were here to save them and defeat the tyrant, so they would not set fire to the city but would instead open fire. Store grain in the warehouse.
The reason why Franz did this was not only for the family's reputation, but also because he believed that Friedrich would not be able to move everything away.
The fact is that those copper and iron ingots cannot be moved at all. In addition to gold and silver, Friedrich mainly targeted cotton, indigo and ships.
As for the weapons in the Egyptian arsenal, except for the cannons, they were all distributed to the Egyptian civilians on the spot.
Friedrich felt that even if civilians took weapons, they would not be able to fight against the Egyptian regular army.
But what Franz wanted was not for civilians to defeat the regular army, but to strengthen the people. Whether this is to force Egypt to surrender or to make the British shed more blood when they conquer Egypt, it is a very good choice.
Since ancient times, the colonists have been most afraid of security wars. As long as the cost of maintaining an area is greater than the benefits, the colonists will lose interest in it.
Al Said had heard that the enemy troops were moving things from the treasury, which made him feel that the Americans were really considerate in their service. But when he saw countless Egyptian people robbing property in the treasury, he couldn't help but feel angry and evil in his heart.
"Why are the damn untouchables in my treasury? What are they doing? Call those Americans over here!" Al Said roared.
Several soldiers picked up sticks and rushed into the crowd, suddenly like tigers rushing into a flock of sheep. When the Egyptian people saw that the governor was coming, they shrank their necks in fear.
Soon the soldiers reported to Governor Al that all the gold, silver and jewelry in the treasury had been taken away by those "Americans".
When Governor Al saw that the "American" was actually abandoning him, he immediately ordered his soldiers to clear the way and take him to the dock. No matter what, he had to leave here today.
However, gunshots suddenly rang out from the crowd, and then the Egyptian people realized that now that they had weapons, they no longer had to be afraid of the Egyptian officials who had been bullying them.
The Egyptian people picked up the weapons in their hands and opened fire on the usually domineering governor and his soldiers, and the battle was about to break out.
The Austrian Navy, at this time, had completed its second interception and was loading ships to prepare to flee the scene.