The Sultan's Daughter rb-7

by Dennis Wheatley

  Bonaparte worked tirelessly, often for more than eighteen hours a day, dictating hundreds of letters and personally supervising the ordering of the smallest details. Berthier, whom he had recalled from Italy, worked even longer hours. People might laugh behind Berthier's back at his vanity and his assumption that brilliant uniforms could disguise his ugliness, but he had a capacity for work which no other Staff officer could rival. He could carry on at a time of crisis for three or four days without any sleep at all, and his memory for facts and figures concerning the Army was prodigious.

  From the latter part of March, Roger and his fellow aides-decamp had little leisure. As the chosen band who, with a few of Bonaparte's most trusted Generals, were alone in the great secret, they were called on to carry out a thousand errands needing firmness coupled with discretion. By the end of April the General-in-Chief's demands on them had increased to such an extent that they had to forgo all social activities and were lucky if they could drop into their beds by the early hours of the morning.

  On May 1st Roger and several other Staff officers quietly left Paris. On May 9th Bonaparte joined them in Toulon. Everything was now in readiness. The expedition had by then been organized as four sections. The largest, concentrated on Toulon and Marseilles, was under Bonaparte's personal command. Another from Genoa under Baraguay d'Hilliers, a third under General Vaubois, was to sail from Ajaccio, and the fourth under Desaix from Civitavecchia.

  When united, the armada would consist of thirteen ships-of-the-line, fourteen frigates, seventy-four smaller war vessels and between three and four hundred transports. On board there were some forty thousand troops, ten thousand seamen and several hundred civilians whom Bonaparte had decided, for a variety of reasons, to take. The Senior Naval Officer was Admiral Brueys; but he had been placed under the orders of the General-in-Chief, who accepted full responsibility for the direction of the expedition.

  For some weeks rumours had been rife about the destination of this great concentration of troops and shipping. Some people believed that the intention was to seize the Sultan's dominions in Europe and free the Greeks and other Christians from the Mohammedan yoke. Others thought that the armada would sail round the Cape of Good Hope to wrest India from the British. A few rightly guessed that its objective was Egypt. But the majority were of the opinion that it was to be a follow-up, on a far greater scale than had ever before been attempted, of the old plan to land an Army in Ireland.

  On arriving in Toulon, Bonaparte gave added credence to this last belief by a stirring proclamation addressed to his troops in which he termed them the ' Left Wing of the Army of England', the inference being that the right wing had mustered in the Channel ports and that, when the two French Fleets had united to destroy that of Britain, both Armies would descend on the hated English.

  Bad weather delayed the sailing and, during the days of waiting, Josephine, who had accompanied her husband to Toulon, begged him repeatedly to allow her to sail with him. She argued that since she had been brought up in Martinique she would find the heat of Egypt pleasant rather than exhausting. Feeling that her presence would distract his thoughts he refused, but at length relented to the extent of agreeing that she should follow him in a few weeks' time.

  On May 19th the bad weather at last abated, so it was decided to put to sea. Roger, with the rest of Bonaparte's Staff, was in the hundred-and-twenty-gun L'Orient, the largest warship afloat. In the great ship were also most of the senior Generals and a considerable number of distinguished intellectuals whom Bonaparte was taking with him to unravel some of the mysteries of the East. Roger had been allocated a bunk in a fairly spacious cabin, which he shared with three other aides-de-camp, and it was quite near to that which had been given to Bourrienne.

  Shortly before anchor was weighed Roger looked in on the Chef de Cabinet, who had already settled down to work.

  Glancing up at him, as he stood in the narrow doorway, Bourrienne handed him a paper and said, ' What d'you think of this? I received it only as the last crates of chickens were being hoisted aboard.'

  It was an intelligence report and read:

  Government in London still believed to credit Deception Plan and assume armament assembling in Mediterranean ports has as object (1) combination with Brest Squadron and Army of the North for descent on England or (2) possibly invasion of Ireland. Reliable information recently received that on A pril 20th Cabinet decided to send powerful squadron into Mediterranean with object of intercepting French expedition before it can enter Atlantic and combine with Franco-Spanish forces there. Above now confirmed by squadron detached from Lord St. Vincent's fleet passing Straits of Gibraltar under command of Rear Admiral Sir Nelson.

  Roger had been wondering when he would manage to get back from Egypt. As he returned the intelligence report to Bourrienne, he began to wonder if he would even get there.

  9

  'Who wouldn't be a Soldier, ah! It's a shame to take the pay'

  The activities in the Mediterranean ports during the past two months had been so exceptional that Roger had felt certain that news of them could not have failed to reach the British Government. But it came as a surprise to him to learn that, after having been compelled to withdraw from the Mediterranean eighteen months before, the British should again have taken the initiative.

  He promptly reasoned that the assumption in the intelligence report—that the British Government still credited the Deception Plan—was wrong and that, although he had been unable to send home information of the expedition's destination, they had learned from some other source that Bonaparte intended to invade Egypt. Otherwise, surely St. Vincent would have waited until the French armada was well out into the Atlantic and so far more vulnerable to attack.

  In any case, it was incapable of defending itself against a strong British Squadron; and Admiral Brueys had made no secret of it to Bonaparte's Staff that, should he be attacked, he was far from happy about his chances of convoying the Army safely to its objective. The French Navy was still suffering seriously from the effects of the Revolution. During that time nine-tenths of its experienced officers had either been sent to the guillotine or gone into exile and all offences still had to be tried by jury, which meant

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  that discipline was almost non-existent. Three of the battleships were old and rotten, many of the transports were barely seaworthy, cables and sails were of poor quality, much of the equipment was badly worn and there were very few spares of any kind. In consequence, if an Admiral with the dash and determination of Nelson came up with the armada the result must be a massacre.

  As an Englishman, Roger was naturally pleased to learn that there was now a good prgspect of his country gaining a resounding victory and destroying the flower of the French Army at one blow. However, as he was at present with that Army and in a ship from which there was no possible means of escape, he had to face the unnerving fact that he might well be destroyed himself.

  Actually his fears were, for the time being, groundless; for Nelson had entered the Mediterranean a few days earlier, with only three ships-of-the-line and five smaller craft, his instructions being to reconnoitre the French coast and, if possible, find out the intended destination of Bonaparte's armada. This latter fact was not, as Roger supposed, known to the British. It was not until some days later that Earl St. Vincent received orders from London to send a strong Squadron into the Mediterranean and despatched, to come under Nelson's command, a further fourteen ships-of-the-line, whose Captains were some of the ablest officers in the British Navy.

  Moreover, when the armada had been only one day at sea a tempest sprang up and, while the French Fleet escaped with a severe tossing, Nelson's ships were caught in the centre of the storm. His own ship was dismasted and he had to take refuge under the lee of Sardinia to refit, thus losing his first chance of intercepting the French expedition.

  Roger was seasick, as he usually was in bad weather; but even his miserable condition did not prevent his constantly coming up on dec
k to gaze anxiously in all directions, fearing at any time that Nelson's ships would appear on the horizon, heralding for him the horrible possibility of being killed or drowned within the next few hours.

  When, after some days, the weather improved he was able to distract his mind from his fears somewhat by mingling with his fellow-passengers, and rarely can such a galaxy of brains, talent and gallantry have been assembled for a long voyage in one ship. Bonaparte was taking to Egypt Kleber, Desaix, Bon, Menou and Reynier as his Divisional Commanders; Alexandre Dumas to command the cavalry, Dommartin the artillery and Caffarelli the engineers; Lannes as Quartermaster-General, Berthier as Chief-of-Staff and fourteen other Generals, including Marmont and Pauline's husband Leclerc. Murat, Junot, Davoust, Bessieres, Rapp, Savary, Duroc and Eugene de Beauharnais were also included. All of them were to win glory and ten of them were destined to become Princes, Dukes and Marshals of the Empire.

  Many of these beaux sabreurs sailed with Bonaparte in the mighty L'Orient. Also on board were Monge, Berthollet, Denon and a number of other distinguished intellectuals. Even Bonaparte's triumphs in Italy had given him scarcely more pleasure than having been elected to the Institute on his return to Paris. So proud was he of the honour that he even signed his letters, ' Member of the Institute and General-in-Chief'. His interest in science was hardly less than that in military affairs, and his intention was that, while he conquered Egypt, these civilian members of his entourage should delve into the secrets of the past and bring France honour by revealing to the world much that was still unknown about the ancient civilizations of the East.

  To assist them in their labours and for employment with the Army, Bonaparte had enrolled a considerable number of interpreters who spoke Arabic, Turkish or Greek; and in the hold of L'Orient there lay several printing presses, with founts of type in these languages, so that declarations and propaganda could be printed without delay.

  Roger had a flair for languages and on his long voyage to India in '96 he had learned Persian—the diplomatic language of the East—from one of the India Company's officials. Then, on his return to Europe, via the Red Sea, he had mastered colloquial Arabic. Now he took the opportunity to brush up his Arabic by spending an hour or two each day with one of the interpreters, and also learned from him a few phrases of Turkish.

  The main convoy from Toulon and Marseilles sailed first to Genoa then to Corsica, to pick up its other contingents, but it failed to make contact with the fourth flotilla which had assembled at Civitavecchia. It was not until they were off Malta that Desaix succeeded in reporting with it.

  Owing partly to contrary winds, and partly to the difficulty of keeping together such a great number of ships, the speed of the armada averaged only fifty miles a day; so it was nearly three weeks later, and June 9th, before they sighted the island stronghold that had for centuries been held by the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem.

  Bonaparte had declared when he was in Italy that any Power holding Corfu and Malta could control the Mediterranean. Already nurturing secret designs against the East, he had robbed Venice of the Ionian Isles, after installing a French garrison in Corfu by a shabby trick. For Malta then being beyond his military orbit, he had resorted to other methods. A certain M. Poussielgue, who w2s Secretary of the French Legation in Genoa, had relatives living in Malta. Learning this, Bonaparte sent for him and despatched him on a mission to the island, ostensibly to increase its trade with France, but secretly to undermine the discipline of the Knights and bribe a number of them.

  The Knights' original function had been to protect pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land; but with the ending of the Crusades this duty fell into abeyance, so the Knights had undertaken that of protecting Christian shipping in the Mediterranean from the Barbary pirates who infested the coast of North Africa. However, for more than a century past they had become decadent, leading a life of luxurious ease and licentiousness. The only vessels they now possessed were a few half-rotten warships that never put to sea and some gaily painted galleys that they used for water festivals.

  On arriving before Valetta, Bonaparte asked permission for his Feet to enter the great harbour to take on water. The Grand Master replied that by custom only two warships of any nation were allowed into the harbour at one time. Bonaparte then summoned the island to surrender and ordered Admiral Brueys to begin bombarding the forts.

  These were immensely strong and Valetta had long been regarded as impregnable. It could certainly have withstood a siege for many weeks. But Poussielgue had done his work well. Only a few cannon were fired in reply. The French Knights betrayed their Order and led the native Maltese, who were little better than their slaves, in a revolt which put an end to further resistance. So in a single day the Conqueror of Italy became the master of one of the greatest strongholds in Europe.

  Yet he and France were soon to pay dearly for this cheaply bought victory. Fearing an aggression that they were too supine to resist on their own, the Knights had recently offered the Grand Mastership of their Order to Paul I of Russia. The Czar, in due course, joyfully accepted, as he saw in Malta a naval base which would be invaluable to him in his ambition to dismember the Empire of Russia's hereditary enemies, the Turks. With childish vanity he began preening himself in the colourful robes of a Grand Master as the champion of Christendom. When he learned that Bonaparte had robbed him of the romantic role which he had expected to play his anger knew no bounds and from that moment he became one of France's most deadly enemies.

  Bonaparte stayed only seven days in Malta, but during that time he carried out as many reforms as would have taken most administrators a long term of office. He abolished the Order, compensated the French Knights, gave the people a Constitution, revised the taxes, customs and octroi dues, ordered certain streets to be broadened and public fountains to be installed, decreed a new curriculum for the university and reorganized the hospitals and the post-office. In addition, he naturally suppressed the religious houses, stole their funds and made off with all the bullion, jewelled chalices, crucifixes and other treasure he could lay his hands on. Only the solid silver gates at the Church of St. John escaped him because they happened to have been painted over.

  With a Republican Government installed under a French military dictator, and the pillaging of Valetta completed, the armada sailed again, this time for Egypt. Life in LOrient was resumed on the lines it had taken soon after the departure from Toulon. On Bonaparte's instructions Bourrienne had selected a considerable library of books for him to read on the voyage. Knowing his master's tastes, the Chef de Cabinet had included a hundred and twenty-five volumes of history both ancient and modern, the best of the Roman poets, the masterpieces of the French theatre, a few books of travel and some forty novels, most of which were translations from the English. To complete this comprehensive assortment he had added a Bible, a Koran, the Vedas and several other books dealing with Eastern customs and religions.

  Bonaparte showed particular interest in these last, as he was anxious to familiarize himself with the ways of the people in the countries he intended to conquer. For the greater part of each day he lay on the bed in his big cabin engrossed in these books or in accounts of the campaigns of Caesar, Hannibal, Marlborough and Louis XIV. But every evening he summoned to his cabin a selected company with whom he carried on animated discussions far into the night. In his insatiable thirst for knowledge he bombarded the savants with an endless stream of questions on an immense variety of subjects, and often propounded some debatable philosophical or religious belief for the pleasure of seeing them argue hotly about it.

  Off Crete, those aboard the armada remained blissfully ignorant that it had been missed by Nelson by only a matter of hours; but when approaching Egypt the frigate Junon was sent on ahead to Alexandria, and returned with the alarming news that the British Squadron had put in there the previous day. Roger again began to scan the horizon with acute anxiety, but the General-in-Chief showed no trace of dismay. He ordered Admiral Brueys to continue on cours
e, and his lucky star was in the ascendant. Nelson, having revictualled his Fleet at Naples, had guessed that Bonaparte's probable destination was Egypt, so he had made all sail there. Not finding the enemy he had turned north, now believing that the French had made their landing in Syria. On July 1st, the topmasts of his ships disappeared below one horizon only as those of the French armada began to appear over the other.

  The French Consul at Alexandria, who had been taken on board the Junon, declared that any attempt to enter the harbour would certainly be opposed, so Bonaparte ordered sail to be set again for Marabout, some nine miles along the coast. It was nightfall when they arrived there, the hundreds of transports were scattered over many square miles of sea, and a gale had arisen driving them on to a lee shore. Nevertheless, the General-in-Chief gave orders for an immediate landing. Brueys protested that such an attempt would be suicidal; but Bonaparte, now harassed by the thought that at any hour Nelson might return and catch him at a terrible disadvantage, overruled his Admiral and was the first to step into a boat.

  A night ensued of desperate effort, terror, and death for many. The shore of the creek was lined with reefs upon which the sea broke furiously. The howling wind frequently drove the boats from their course or piled them up on rocks. Bonaparte had brought only a limited number of horses, counting on mounting the bulk of his cavalry on animals procured in Egypt, but it was important to land a few dozen for scouts and despatch riders. The poor brutes were lowered by slings into the heaving sea, and men in the boats then grabbed their bridles to tow them ashore.

  Terrified and, except for their heads, totally submerged, many of the horses dragged the men from the boats so that they drowned with them, but others swam gamely and survived the ordeal. In the darkness on the beach there was hopeless confusion. The night was cold and everyone was drenched to the skin, yet Bonaparte would not allow any attempt to form a camp. By dawn he had some five thousand troops ashore and ordered an immediate advance on Alexandria.