Toulon (7)
Unlike their departure, Lucien and his crew encountered some trouble on their return. Generally speaking, the Mediterranean Sea is as calm as a large pond most of the time, and anything that can float on its surface can be used for the Mediterranean Sea.
As early as ancient Egypt were already able to navigate the coastal waters of the Mediterranean Sea in boats made of straw. Later, the sailing ships of ancient Greece could roam freely throughout the entire Mediterranean Sea. However, the Mediterranean Sea is, after all, a vast ocean, and it is not without its storms. At least, there are some sea storms recorded in historical documents or legends.
The oldest example is, of course, the Odyssey. When the Greece successfully plundered Troy and returned to Greece with their money and slaves, they encountered an unusual storm and nearly perished. In the Bible, the Apostle Paul's ship also encountered a storm in the Mediterranean Sea on its way to Rome. And Byron's Don Juan met Haidee because of a storm in the Mediterranean Sea. So, even in the Mediterranean Sea, if you're unlucky, well, you might just encounter Poseidon's wrath.
When the two ships left Corsica, everything was normal; the sky was full of stars, and there was no sign of any change in the weather. But at sunrise, the situation changed.
The sunrise that day was exceptionally red, turning half the sky and half the sea a fiery red. While Lucien and Pauline were still rejoicing over the beautiful sunrise, Ravanelli said worriedly, "Perhaps, perhaps we should turn back. Seeing such a sunrise at sea is a sign that the weather is about to change!"
Lucien listened, thought for a moment, and then asked Ravanelli, "How likely do you think bad weather is?"
"It's about 50/50," Ravanelli said uncertainly.
"We don't need to take unnecessary risks. Let's move closer and have Chrysler and the others follow us back to Corsica to hide for a while."
Ravanelli then maneuvered his fishing boat closer to the other boat, shouting his assessment to Ravanelli on the other Chrysler.
Chrysler then said to Letizia, who was on his ship, "Madam, the weather may change, so we should turn back temporarily to avoid any possible storms."
Letizia naturally did not object, so the two boats turned around again and prepared to return to Corsica to seek shelter from the storm.
Around noon, they saw the Corsica coastline again, but just then, a gust of wind blew from the east and grabbed both boats. The boats immediately lost control and were blown westward by the wind.
The weather changed suddenly; in the blink of an eye, dark clouds appeared out of nowhere, and the rain began to pelt down.
Lucien, Pauline, and Elise were on one ship, while Letizia, Jerome, and Caroline were on another. Blown by the storm, both ships lost control and quickly disappeared from each other's sight.
In reality, if this storm were to occur in the Atlantic Ocean, it would be considered merely a "slight breeze." However, for a fishing boat operating in coastal waters, it was a full-blown storm. The storm persisted until dawn the following day.
When the sun rose again the next day, Lucien counted the number of people on board. Everyone was there, but the awning and some other items had been blown out to sea. Most importantly, they had lost contact with the other ship. And now, they had no idea where they were.
"Lucien, what do we do? Mom and the others are missing, they wouldn't..." Elise cried.
"Mom will be alright, just like us. They will be alright," Pauline said.
"Can we be sure of our current location?" Lucien asked Ravanelli.
"No, I don't know where we are either," Ravanelli replied.
Lucien recalled his geographical knowledge and said, "Is the ship still controllable? If so, then we can just head north."
The Mediterranean Sea is only so big; whether you look south or north, it shouldn't be long before you can see land.
"The masts and sails are all fine," Ravanelli checked the ship's equipment and replied. "We'll keep heading north; we'll definitely reach France."
Unsure of its exact location, the small boat turned north.
The ship sailed for another three days. In the latter half of the third night, Pauline, who had drifted off to sleep, heard Lucien's excited shout, "Land! There's land over there!"
At dawn, a thick fog rose from the sea and drifted over, soon obscuring the land as well.
"General, a thick fog has rolled in. Should we still attack?" Augereau asked.
"Of course, the fog is a good thing," Napoleon replied. "Under the cover of the fog, we can get closer."
The dense fog also made the Britain and Spain extremely nervous. They were equally worried that the France would take advantage of the fog to launch an attack. Therefore, the fog actually made Davout's task simpler. He simply ordered the war drums to be beaten and then fired two cannons haphazardly. The Britain and Spain then fired indiscriminately into the thick fog. As a result, the frontal defenses became chaotic.
Under the cover of thick fog, while the attention of the Britain and Spain was drawn to the front lines, Napoleon and Augereau, with over three thousand men, quietly approached Fort Mulgrave. Thanks to the fog, they closed in until they were less than a hundred meters from the fortress, without the Spain guards noticing them.
As the sun rose higher, the fog began to dissipate slowly. Fort Mulgrave gradually emerged from the fog.
"Charge!" Napoleon gave the order. Augereau immediately led his soldiers toward the fortress that was now within reach...
At dawn, Lucien and his men's boat docked. Fog had begun to rise, and the group disembarked. The fog wasn't too thick yet; they could vaguely see lights in the distance and headed towards them to ask someone where they were. However, after walking for a while, the fog thickened, and visibility rapidly dropped to about ten meters. Lucien knew they couldn't go any further; they might get lost, and some might even lose their way. So he told everyone to stop, rest, and wait for the sun to rise so the fog would dissipate. The group sat down beside a large rock, leaning against it to rest.
The past few days adrift at sea had left everyone quite tense, and now that they were finally ashore, many couldn't stay awake any longer once they sat down. Pauline leaned against a rock, tilted her head and rested it on Elise's shoulder, and fell asleep in the blink of an eye. The others weren't much better off; several of them quickly drifted off to sleep.
Lucien had a series of dreams, all in a daze. One moment he dreamt that Napoleon came to tell him that his mother's ship had sank and everyone was dead. The next he dreamt that his mother and the others were alright, that they had all arrived in Paris, and that, led by Joseph, the whole family went to Carnot's house for a meal... Just as the foie gras bread was served, he suddenly heard a loud bang, and then Lucien woke up.
"What's wrong?" Lucien opened his eyes. He saw that the fog had cleared considerably, and the people around him had also woken up. The rumbling sound continued to come from that direction. Having witnessed many cannon firings with his two older brothers, Lucien immediately recognized it as cannon fire!
"This isn't right, it's the sound of cannons, very close to us, we've stumbled into the battlefield!" Ravanelli said in a low voice.
"What do we do?" Pauline asked, having just woken up.
"The gunfire is coming from that side," Lucien said. "Let's move this way and get as far away from the battlefield as possible."
Pauline looked in that direction as well, though the fog hadn't completely lifted, and the rumble of cannons was still coming from there. Pauline's eyes lit up, and she wanted to take a few steps in that direction, but she had only taken one step when Lucien grabbed her wrist. "Pauline, come this way with me."
Lucien pulled Pauline along and started jogging in the opposite direction. Pauline kept turning back to look in that direction.
The fog had lifted considerably by then, Lucien suddenly heard a lot of footsteps around him. He stopped and looked around. Through the thin mist, he saw some people in blue military uniforms, rifles with bayonets fixed, marching forward. He couldn't make out how many there were in the morning fog, but there were definitely a lot of them—they seemed to be charging into battle.
"What the hell! What's going on?" Lucien cursed.
At this moment, the Spain on Fort Mulgrave finally noticed the France approaching, and they opened fire indiscriminately. A cannonball slammed into Pauline's side. Both Pauline and Lucien were startled. Pauline struggled to pull her hand away from Lucien's and screamed as she ran to the side.
Just then, the bugle call to charge sounded, and the soldiers began to rush forward. Lucien tried to grab Pauline, but was bumped by a charging soldier and fell to the ground with a thud. When he got up, he found that Pauline had disappeared into the mist.