I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1145 The Battle of the Pyramids, Part Three
Murad simply couldn't understand how a mere 1 French troops could completely block a 5-kilometer-wide frontal defense.

Left with no other option, he ordered his cavalry to form ranks and launch an attack on the nearest French infantry.

As soon as the French hussars spotted the approaching enemy, hot air balloons overhead sent a warning to the 14th Infantry Regiment.

The French infantry, which had been in a double-row formation, immediately began to change formation.

A few minutes later, the 2500 soldiers were transformed into two hollow square formations, about 400 meters apart.

Meanwhile, a reinforcement force of over a thousand French cuirassiers and hussars arrived immediately.

Yes, that's how Massena controlled the wide front of the battlefield.

Nine thousand French infantrymen were divided into five lines, each 500 meters apart. Cavalry linked the lines between the lines. The entire column was 5.5 kilometers wide.

In this way, the Mamluk army was completely confined to the area between the Nile River and a small desert.

Of course, the premise for this tactic to work is to keep track of the enemy's movements at all times and then quickly mobilize nearby troops to concentrate and intercept them.

The moment Murad's cavalry saw the hollow square formation, their morale had already plummeted.

Although there seemed to be a large gap between the two formations, they dared not squeeze through it, because that would mean being riddled with bullets from both sides.

If they were only halfway there when the enemy cavalry came up to harass them, there would be a risk of total annihilation.

Murad made a tentative charge, but before the French hussars could appear, he hastily retreated and turned north.

On the west side of the village of Inbaba, tens of thousands of Halega infantrymen watched nervously as the "loose" French army approached, raising their arquebuses.

They were a force composed of free Egyptians and Mamluk descendants without inheritance rights, usually serving as a "second-line" army to assist the cavalry. They never expected to participate in such an important decisive battle today.

Ibrahim rode past them on horseback, shouting things like, "There are less than 3 French soldiers on the other side. God will protect us."

After the French artillery fired dozens of rounds of suppressive fire, the French infantry line advanced from the front.

While the officers of the Halega infantry were still loudly reminding their men not to rush to fire, the French troops, more than 120 paces away, launched a volley of fire.

Blood splattered across the Mamluks' positions, with at least a hundred men falling to the ground after being shot.

Keep in mind that at such a distance, the hit rate of a flintlock musket is less than 1%, not to mention that of a matchlock musket.

How can the French be so accurate?!
The Halega infantrymen instinctively opened fire in return, only to find that the French line formation had "disappeared."

French soldiers used the grass or trees for cover and quickly loaded ammunition, seemingly unconcerned about the problem of their lines becoming scattered.

Upon seeing this, Mamluk commander Abdullah did not hesitate to order a full-scale attack—facing such a disorganized enemy formation, he could rely on his superior numbers to rout them head-on.

However, after the Halega infantry advanced a dozen or so steps, they saw that the French army had reverted to its previous "loose and shaky" formation, followed by a burst of intense fire.

Yes, this was not an infantry line formation at all, but the latest “skirmisher group” offensive model of the French army.

All infantrymen stood scattered, able to find cover at any time, yet maintained an absolutely uniform pace of advance, forming a "loose" line.

During a firefight, the enemy's accuracy against skirmishers who can find cover will be greatly reduced, but the French army can still hit the enemy's "fixed targets".

If the enemy launches a bayonet charge, the skirmisher groups will immediately regroup and defend in a standard line formation. This tactic sounds simple, but it demands extremely high skill from the soldiers; a single mistake can turn the situation into utter chaos.

When Davout, who was in charge of the French front-line command, saw the Mamluks begin to advance, he immediately ordered his soldiers to fire a volley from their positions.

Meanwhile, the French horse artillery had already set up firing positions on the left flank of the infantry.

Under the crossfire of rifled muskets and six twelve-pound cannons, the Halga infantry had not even charged 40 paces before being mowed down and their bodies littered the ground.

No matter how sternly Abdullah ordered, not a single person dared to take another step forward. Hundreds even retreated from the right wing.

Davout, however, personally led the French skirmishers and launched another attack.

Ten minutes later, Abdullah's central army collapsed amidst screams. Thousands of soldiers fled in terror into the village of Inbaba.

At this point, only about 40 minutes had passed since the start of the battle.

By the time Murad returned with the Mamluk cavalry, Ibrahim's main force had been pushed back to the banks of the Nile and was in imminent danger of being annihilated.

In a great panic, he disregarded the fact that his horses were already extremely exhausted and ordered a full-scale attack.

Meanwhile, the French cuirassiers, who had already learned of the Mamluk cavalry's movements via hot air balloons, appeared on their left flank at just the right moment.

Murat, sword raised high, charged into the enemy ranks first...

The battle was over before dusk.

More than 13,000 Mamluk soldiers surrendered, and Ibrahim and more than a dozen of his key generals were captured.

During his final charge, Murad was grazed head-on by a shell and shattered into more than a dozen pieces.

Lieutenant Colonel Marmont, the French artillery commander, arrived at the tent where Ibrahim was being held and gestured to the translator beside him: "Please tell him that I can give the Mamluks a chance."

Actually, this was originally Massena's job, but he wasn't very good at this kind of negotiation, so he handed it over to Marmont.

Just as Davu was storming the village of Inbaba, on the opposite bank of the Nile, Muhammad Ali was also personally leading his army in a fierce attack on the defenses southeast of Cairo.

More than 6 Khalga infantrymen were stationed on the Mamluks' defensive line, using civilian houses on the outskirts of the city as cover, constantly peeking out and firing.

Fortunately, Muhammad Ali possessed three new six-pound cannons, a gift from a friend, which allowed him to slowly advance, but the battle remained extremely stalemate.

One of his Albanian officers looked towards Cairo, which was still quite far away, and decided to remind his commander: "Sir, all our forces are tied up here. If Ibrahim suddenly returns and attacks us, we will be in great danger."

Muhammad Ali glanced at him and said calmly, "He won't come back."

"Huh? How can you be sure?"

Muhammad Ali did not answer, but simply ordered the officer to intensify the offensive.

He paid close attention to everything happening on the European continent, so he was well aware of just how powerful the French army was.

The Mamluks couldn't even defeat the Topišić army at its peak, so how could they possibly be a match for them?

(End of this chapter)