On July 5th, Thomas led reinforcements to Cairo.
During the march, the reconnaissance troops occasionally discovered some broken troops. They abandoned their original duties and focused on looting homes and seriously disrupting the surrounding order.
Thomas didn't want to waste time, so he didn't send troops to clear it out.
Three days later at noon, he received another document from the front line. The staff officer translated Ciphertext on the paper into plain text, and the message he received was:
Sultan led thousands of people to evacuate to the south, and the emperor successfully occupied Cairo. The mission of the reinforcements was changed, and it was necessary to capture the following six towns... and clear a supply channel from Cairo to Damietta.
Thomas took out the map and marked the six targets mentioned in the document.
The intelligence provided by Copts shows that they have one thing in common: weak defenses, no new-style city walls, and some towns even do not have stone walls, making it extremely difficult to attack.
"Alexander. Big cities like Rosetta have new city defenses. There is a high chance that my brother will send people to persuade them to surrender."
Cairo guards the passage between Upper Egypt (Nile River Valley) and lower Egypt (delta plain). It is the most important city in the Egypt area. The enemy's loss of Cairo means that there is no chance of winning the entire war.
Thomas feels that most of the lords will surrender, but there must be a small number of people who offer too high prices, and Siege Warfare will inevitably do so.
"The summer is hot and humid, and soldiers gather to work outside the city. The probability of illness increases, and the non-combat attrition may exceed the combat attrition. My brother asked me to recruit Copts soldiers, do you want them to take on the work of digging trenches?"
July 9, Cairo.
After the initial chaos, order was restored in the city. The accompanying civil servants processed the captured written materials and submitted a report to the emperor.
Before the war broke out, the population of Egypt area was 4.2 million, and the number of residents of Cairo city was 380,000.
The population size of Levant is similar to that of Egypt, about four million.
Successive Sultan positioned Levant as a buffer zone to block the expansion of Ottoman and Timur Empire. The local tax revenue is limited, the governance model is extensive, and the information is not as detailed as the Egypt area.
In the afternoon, Vitus finished processing various documents, came to the west port of the city, and took a boat to Giza on the other side of the Nile River.
Four infantry battalions of the Attica Legion and Artillery were stationed on the west bank. Their mission was to set up artillery on the west bank and cooperate with the artillery on the east bank to block the river and cut off the connection between the upper river valley and the delta.
At the end of the inspection, Vitus rode a white horse and headed to the pyramids along a solid dirt road. There were scattered date palm groves growing on the roadside, and some barefoot children were picking immature dates.
Vitus asked Copts guide, "Why don't they wait for the dates to mature before picking them?"
The guide walked over to inquire about it, and replied to the emperor half a minute later, "This forest belongs to a certain noble, and he escaped a few days ago. The children took advantage of his absence to pick dates from the trees."
Vitus patted the white horse's neck and continued walking forward. The farther west, the pedestrians gradually became sparse, and in the end there were only long stretches of yellow sand, three towering large pyramids and some small pyramids.
The largest one, Great Pyramid of Khufu, is located in the center. The top of the tower pierces into the blue cloudless sky. The stones at the bottom are stacked on top of each other. Each one is taller than a person. The wind passes by the tower, making a low whimpering sound.
Not far away is Sphinx buried in the yellow sand. Vitus walked around in a circle. Only the head of the entire statue was exposed on the ground. The shape of the head is similar to that of Pharaoh Egypt, but unfortunately the nose is missing.
A group of military reporters and scholars came over and excitedly visited these giant buildings. Vitus did not participate in the discussion. He sat alone in the shade to rest, looking at the yellow sand in the distance and lost in thought.
The war was over, and he didn't want to waste too much time in this land.
Two days ago, he released the news to Nile Delta that as long as Mamluk came to see him within half a month, they could maintain their original status as lords. If they did not come within half a month, Rome's army would no longer accept surrender.
In the next half month, dozens of Mamluk nobles arrived at Cairo.
During this time, Vitus was busy summoning all kinds of visitors, including Mamluk nobles, Copts and squires from other ethnic groups.
The proportion of Copts is only 15%, and it is difficult for them to control the entire delta. Allowing them to occupy a dominant position will trigger a series of turmoil, and then Vitus will end up suppressing the rebellion.
Assuming that Eastern Roman Empire supports the Copts lords for a long time at all costs, they may evolve into the next Mamluk class.
Therefore, Vitus only granted part of the lordship quota to the Copts group, and some lordship quotas were given to other groups. The surrendered Mamluk nobles controlled the remaining land.
The essence of Mamluk is a military group that relies on force to subdue the people. Now that they have been defeated, the people are no longer afraid of these outsiders. Even if they want to launch a rebellion, the threat they pose is limited.
Over time, the influence of the Mamluk group has become less and less, and it has become a local class dependent on Constantinople.
"Let the lords check and balance each other and the situation will be more stable."
The situation in the delta is complicated. Vitus does not want to promote Administrative System and Roman Law in this area, nor does it intend to charge high taxes like those in the classical period.
Constantinople's Central Administration couldn't afford the additional millions of pagan people, so they let the lords govern themselves and digest the conflicts internally.
From now on, the focus of the administrative system will still be Anatolia, making this land once again the core area of the Eastern Roman Empire.
In this war, what Vitus cares about is Sinai Peninsula. The local population is sparsely populated and the management cost is extremely low. In the future, Rome will control this peninsula and exclusively use it to develop the east Trade.
On July 22nd, Vitus held a meeting in the Saladin Citadel hall.
The aristocratic election system is the tradition of the Burji Dynasty. After the death of Sultan, the Mamluk nobles elected a new Sultan.
Vitus reminds Poland of the king-selection system, or the selection of Jiedu envoys by tooth soldiers in the late Tang Dynasty.
He continued this tradition and asked the one hundred and thirty lords to elect five lifelong Tribune to assist Governor in handling internal affairs.
Faced with such loose conditions, the lords were in disbelief.
Athanasius asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, do you have any other requests?"
"No more." Vitus wrote an edict in person, stamped the seal at the end, and then stored the edict in the castle hall.
Compared with the Burji Dynasty, the new power structure is more decentralized and inefficient, and its military strength is greatly weakened. The advantage is that it is stable enough.
For Vitus, this is enough. He does not expect the lords to go out to fight or provide high taxes. There is only one requirement - not to spread the trouble to other areas.
The meeting ended and the lords left one after another. Vitus spread out the map on the table and thought about the future defense of the Egypt area.
The upper reaches of the Nile River south of Cairo are called Upper Egypt. The terrain is mainly desert, and only the river valley area through which Nile River flows is suitable for habitation.
Eastern Roman Empire controls Egypt (Nile Delta), and Upper Egypt is still under the rule of the remnants of Mamluk. Assuming that Eastern Roman Empire launches an attack, it needs to advance southward along the river valley, which is time-consuming and laborious.
However, allowing the remaining forces to continue to exist is ultimately a threat.
He marked several locations on the map and asked his staff to explore the terrain and build Trace Italienne according to local conditions.
Subsequently, Eastern Roman Empire maintained a medium-sized standing army in Cairo, allowing Copts to serve regularly, forming a garrison of ten thousand people to resist threats from the direction of Upper Egypt.
After some time, the turmoil in Nile Delta subsided, and Vitus handed over the work to the newly appointed Governor and Tribune, and then left Saladin Citadel.
August 3rd, noon.
The scorching sun scorched the earth mercilessly, and heat waves steamed over the desert and seawater, distorting the scenery in the distance. Enduring the exposure, Vitus rode to a high ground to observe the seaport town two miles away.
"Red Sea, Suez."
As an important stronghold along the coast of the Red Sea, Suez has a stone city wall with Palaiologos Flag flying above the tower. The appearance of the buildings in the city is an earthy yellow color common in the desert.
Compared with the towns downstream of the Nile River, the suburbs of Suez are particularly deserted, with almost no green plants visible.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, Vitus led the guards into the city. The hot wind blew through and the whole street was shrouded in dry dust. Now is the hottest time. The shops and docks in the town suspended operations and reopened from 4 p. m. to early evening.
He first visited the water wells in the city. The water quality here was very poor and had a salty taste. Every few days, the town organized a transportation team to fetch water from Moses' Wells several miles away to meet the residents' drinking water needs.
The pier is the second place to visit.
Egypt was deeply involved in the war, and the trade routes between the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea were interrupted. The warehouses near the dock were filled with Eastern goods, and more than thirty Arab merchant ships were parked in the port.
This type of ship is small in size, has 1 to 2 masts, hangs a triangular sail, and has excellent upwind sailing capabilities. Vitus took a closer look and found that there are no iron nails at the joints of some merchant ships, but coconut palm ropes are used to sew the ship boards together.
From a military perspective, this type of ship is inferior to the three-masted warship Europe.
The smaller the ship, the fewer the number of guns it carries. The future trend is for naval guns to fire at each other, and the side with the larger ship has the advantage.
In my impression, the Portugal fleet entered Indian Ocean in the early 16th century, and a fierce conflict broke out with Arab merchants, triggering a decisive naval battle between the two sides.
In this battle (Battle of Diu), Portugal dispatched eighteen ships and two thousand sailors, and the Mamluk and Gujarat coalition dispatched hundreds of ships and more than 20,000 men. As a result, the Portugal fleet won a complete victory and used its firepower advantage to severely damage the enemy fleet.
After the war, the Portugal people took control of the seas of Indian Ocean, and then controlled the sea Trade of the east and west, weakening the forces of Mamluk, Ottoman, and Venice that relied on traditional trade routes.
"Prince Henry is building settlements along the coast of Africa. In a few years, it will enter Indian Ocean and impact the original Red Sea Trade."
As of now, Eastern Roman Empire has not made much profit from the Red Sea Trade. Domestic tax revenue mainly comes from Agricultural Tax and handicraft industry taxes (textile, iron smelting, shipbuilding, leather, glass).
Portugal's opening of new routes will not affect the existing "stock" of the Eastern Roman Empire's economy, but will affect the "increment" of the Eastern Roman Empire's reliance on the Red Sea to make money.
The sun was scorching hot, and Vitus sat in the shade to rest and read the surveying and mapping report of the engineering unit on "Pharaoh's Canal".
In ancient times, there was a canal connecting Nile River and Red Sea in Egypt, which can be traced back to Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt in 1850 BC, named "Pharaoh's Canal".
This canal has been opened many times, and the construction parties include the local regime of Egypt, as well as foreign rulers such as Persia, Rome, and Arabs.
However, Pharaoh's Canal has a fatal flaw. During the annual flooding period, the large amount of sediment brought by the Nile River will quickly cause canal siltation, requiring re-dredging, and maintenance costs are extremely high.
"However, there is also a canal between Alexander City and Nile River. Why has this canal been dredged for many years, but Pharaoh's Canal has been abandoned?"
Vitus took out another surveying and mapping report, compared it with each other, and discovered the differences between the two canals.
Converted into later units, the width of Alexander Canal is 10 meters, the depth is 2 meters, and the main canal is about 70 kilometers long. Its goal is to transport water to Alexander city and irrigate the coastal land, which can be done by small boats.
Pharaoh's Canal has a width of 60 meters, a depth of 3 meters, and a length of 150 kilometers. Its volume is much larger than Alexander Canal.
"A larger scale means higher construction and maintenance costs. Dredging the river once a year is a huge burden on the people, so Pharaoh's Canal was abandoned."
Vitus Turning to the second half of the report, the engineering team proposed another plan:
Abandon the connection Nile River and directly dig the canal from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, effectively reducing the frequency of dredging the river channel.
Not only that, the Navy requested to increase the depth of the new canal for a simple reason:
If you want to pass a Cruiser, the water depth must reach at least three steps (4.5 meters). If you want to pass a heavy Battleship, the water depth must reach five steps (7.5 meters).
He turned to the last two pages, which listed the construction period, manpower and budget of this project. There is no doubt that this exceeds the limit of the Eastern Roman Empire's capabilities.
Vitus sighed, "In the 19th century, the France people built Suez Canal, using steam excavators and steam dredgers. Even so, the construction period was extended to eleven years. Now there is no large-scale steam machinery, and it will not be completed in decades."
(Note: France's expenses for mining Suez Canal are converted into gold, which is as much as 130 tons, equivalent to more than 30 million Florin.)
The northern node is located at the northeastern end of the delta, adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea.
In ancient times, there was a city called Pelusium nearby, which was later abandoned.
Vitus plans to build a new port on the coast, also called Pelusium, Suez and Pelusium are both Free City, with loose rules to attract businessmen to settle in.
A road is laid between the two Free City to facilitate the transportation of goods between the Red Sea port and the Mediterranean Sea port.
The advantage of this is that the cost is lower. The disadvantage is that the merchant ships of the Mediterranean Sea cannot go to Indian Ocean and can only passively accept goods sold by Arab merchants.
In the long run, this route is not as profitable as Portugal's South Africa route.
If you want to get involved in Indian Ocean Trade, you can only build ships in Suez.
However, the city's fatal flaw is the lack of water, which limits the population size and limits the development of the shipyards.
In the future, assuming that Eastern Roman Empire goes to war with colonial empires such as Portugal, Britain, and the Netherlands, Eastern Roman Empire's weak Red Sea Fleet will definitely not be able to defeat the enemy's Indian Ocean fleet.
There is another less feasible method: transfer Mediterranean Fleet of the Eastern Roman Empire to Indian Ocean.
Portugal has built many strongholds along the coast of Africa. Their fleet is replenished midway and the attrition rate is low.
However, the Eastern Roman Empire fleet lacked coastal strongholds. After arriving at Indian Ocean, its combat effectiveness was severely damaged, and more than half of it was lost before the war even started.
"To solve this problem, we can only wait until after the industrial revolution and use large machinery to excavate Suez Canal. Before that, it will be difficult for the Eastern Roman Empire's navy to project to Indian Ocean."