Hasty Action

The journey from Suez to Cairo took only seven hours.

Cairo's urban area is so crowded that the railway does not enter the city, but instead bypasses the metropolis of 400,000 residents by passing through the northern suburbs.

After Vitus recaptured the Nile Delta, Cairo remained the second-largest city in the empire.

Now, Chersonesus and Thessaloniki are catching up, with populations exceeding 250,000 each. They are expected to surpass Cairo in a few decades.

"Pyramid!"

As soon as he got out of the car, Varro's gaze was drawn to the spectacular sights on the west bank of the Nile River.

The novel * The Chronicle of the Nile River * mentions a related scene, and to this day, he still fondly remembers its contents.

The company employees' shouting drew the attention of the locals, Joseph reminded them to calm down, "What's the rush? Find a hotel tonight, head to the Governor's mansion tomorrow, and you'll be free the day after. Do whatever you want."

Joseph chose a hotel located in the western part of Cairo, one of the Cairo's most upscale establishments. Although he was thrifty, staying in a small hotel would damage the reputation of the canal company, making it a poor trade-off.

In the evening, everyone ate dinner in the hotel's second-floor restaurant.

Located next to the Nile River, this place offers a perfect view of the pyramid complex on the west bank from the window. As the sun slowly sets, the pyramids cast enormous shadows on the ground, creating an eerie and solemn atmosphere.

After observing for a moment, Varro focused his attention on the wide river.

August is the Nile River's high-water season, with its wide expanse of water covered with vegetation washed ashore from upstream.

Because of this annual flooding, no permanent stone bridge has ever been built Nile River. There is no direct railway line from Cairo to Alexander, and passengers must transfer to ferries along the way.

"I recall a paper published in Adrian University journal introducing a steam hammer piling technique that is beneficial for bridge construction."

Varro owns two percent of the Nile River Railway Company, and the company's stock price is bound to rise if it builds a railway bridge.

He thought to himself, "When I have time, I'll write a letter to the railway company and ask management to contact the author of the paper."

After finishing the last piece of fish on his plate, Varro picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth. Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of Joseph in the corner, talking to a middle-aged man with an unfamiliar face.

After Joseph returned to his seat, Varro asked curiously, "Who is he?"

"Oustrati, a hereditary lord. I've spoken with him a few times before when I recruited laborers in his territory."

After defeating the Mamluk, Vitus changed the original system, distributing power among 130 hereditary lords, each governing their own territory.

John XI established the House of Nobles, with thirty House of Nobles in the Egypt region.

However, all of this had little to do with Varro, who was only responsible for repairing the canal and did not get involved in local affairs.

On August 21, after breakfast, the group from the Canal Company went together to the Governor's Mansion in the east of the city.

Upon exiting the inn, a lively and bustling procession came into view. Oustrati rode a white horse, surrounded by more than thirty servants, with drummers and trumpeters playing their instruments, proclaiming his status as a hereditary lord to those around him.

Upon witnessing this scene, Varro couldn't help but marvel at the extravagance and pomp of the local nobles.

The nobles of Constantinople were not so ostentatious, or rather, none of the nobles in the entire direct domain did this.

After following the group for a while, Joseph speculated, "They seem to be heading to the Governor's Palace. That's good; it helps clear the way for us."

Bang!

Several gunshots rang out from a second-floor window not far away, and the drumming stopped abruptly. A group of men dressed in gray robes rushed out of the shop and opened fire on the guards with pistols.

Smoke filled the streets. The guards were stunned by the sudden attack. The lord turned his horse around and charged back, closing the distance to Joseph.

When there were still a dozen or so steps left, the horse collapsed with a thud, and the lord's body rolled several times on the ground, blood gushing from the wound in his waist and abdomen.

"What are you standing there for? Do it!"

Baron reacted the fastest, drawing his saber and striding forward. He cut down the nearest assassin in one fell swoop, then drew his pistol from his waist and shot the second man dead.

In the chaos, Baron didn't stop to reload. He slammed his pistol at the assassin on his right and, as the assassin dodged, kicked him to the ground.

The remaining assassins did not give up their mission, and several more charged forward wielding scimitars. Baron grabbed a handful of spices from a nearby spice stall and threw them at the enemy. Seeing the enemy coughing and covering their mouths and noses, he simply overturned the entire stall, filling the air with a strong, spicy aroma.

Thud! Thud!

In the half-minute he bought, the company guards gradually reacted, and some loaded their pistols and fired at the enemy.

Some drew their swords and charged forward, fighting the enemy amidst the pale red smoke of spices.

"Tell the Governor," the lord lying on the ground looked at Joseph and Varro and said weakly, "They're going to rebel..."

Oustrati's injuries were too severe; he managed to utter eight names intermittently before dying before he could finish.

"Chairman, retreat immediately!"

There were too many assassins, and the company's guards couldn't hold them off. They covered Joseph and Varro's escape from the scene, leaving Oustrati's body to the other side.

During the escape, Varro could never understand the lord's intentions.

He reported the rebels to the Governor, which was a good act in itself, but why did he have to ride around so ostentatiously? Couldn't he have been more discreet?

Suddenly, explosions and gunshots rang out from the east of the city, as if the rebels had realized their operation had been discovered and had acted ahead of schedule.

"Stop, don't run."

Joseph was old and couldn't run as fast as these young men. He bent over and coughed heavily, "The city is in chaos, the inns are not safe, go to the Governor's mansion for refuge."

Varro objected to his superior's decision. "We can't go to the Governor's mansion!"

Looking back at history, in most rebellions, the primary target of the rebels was the Governor's office or City Hall, aiming to eliminate the highest local administrative official and plunge the garrison and administrative system into chaos.

Then came the armory, barracks, and Police Station.

The rebels acted hastily this time, with limited forces, and their priority was to attack the Governor's mansion, leaving them no time to attend to other areas.

Varro chose the north of the city, where the garrison was stationed. There was a train station in the northern suburbs, so if things went wrong in Cairo, he could take the train back to Pelusium.

Joseph had never fought a war, let alone had any experience with fleeing, so he accepted his subordinates' advice.

Cairo has a long history, and the long passage of time has made its layout complex and chaotic. The streets are narrow, the shadows cast by the buildings cover the streets, and the doors and windows on both sides of the road are tightly closed, for fear of being affected by the war.

After running for a few minutes, another explosion was heard from the east side of the city.

In Varro's memory, the Egypt Governor's residence was located in Saladin Citadel for a long time, with sturdy walls that were difficult to blow open with gunpowder in a hurry.

"The best solution is to dig a tunnel and use tunnel blasting."

He minored in engineering at the Military Academy, learning how to build bridges, houses, and roads, and also how to destroy them. At times, he felt he was better suited to be an engineering officer.

At an intersection, squads of flintlock musketeers marched along the street in perfect unison, their bayonets gleaming white in the sunlight.

Joseph abandoned the idea of "going over to join the fun" and fled to the north gate with trepidation.

Ahead lay the garrison brigade's camp. Roadblocks had been set up on the nearby streets, and a dozen soldiers stood guard behind them, ready to open fire at any moment.

Joseph gestured for everyone to put away their weapons, then called out from a distance, "I am Joseph from the Canal Company. I had dinner with your brigade commander last month. This is Varro Palaiologos, Court attendant sent by the Emperor!"

He repeated the call twice, then nervously approached the Barricade. After some negotiation, the deputy brigade commander who remained in the camp accepted the group of refugees.

"We're finally safe."

The moment Varro stepped through the camp gate, all his worries vanished.

The fighting in the east of the city continued, with the Governor's mansion occasionally releasing fireworks into the sky to request reinforcements from various departments.

Joseph reported the lord's last words to the deputy brigadier, while the rest sat in the shade, panting and eating Canned Food brought by the kitchen.

Baron scooped up a piece of lamb liver with a spoon, savoring its slightly sweet and gamey flavor.

"It's exactly the same as the canned Canned Food we ate when I was in the army."

Although he now earns more, with an annual salary of 120 Hyperpyron, which is 2.5 times the salary of a non-commissioned officer, he still misses his former military career.

Varro's favorite food is Canned Food seafood, which, when heated, is best enjoyed with dark bread.

After lunch, everyone leaned against the wall and slept for a while.

Around one o'clock in the afternoon, a group of infantrymen ran back, looking utterly dejected, and told everyone, "The rebels have captured the Governor's mansion, killing the Governor and his family. After the army recaptured Governor mansion, only twenty-three people survived."

Impossible!

Built during the reign of Saladin and reinforced by successive Sultan, this castle became the largest castle in Egypt.

Without Siege Cannon, how could the rebels possibly breach the city walls?

Varro asked the officer in charge, "How did they do it? Did they blast open the city gates with gunpowder and climb the walls with grappling hooks?"

Officer: "No, not at all. A servant secretly opened a side door, and the rebels poured into the castle through it. By the time the Governor discovered it, it was too late."

With the Governor and Finance killed and the rest of the high-ranking officials missing, the garrison and administrative institutions inevitably descended into chaos.

Varro found the deputy brigade commander who had stayed behind, "Your Excellency, there are two most important things: seal the city gates and control the railway. "Suez

There are troops stationed there; we can take the train there to ask for help.

The suggestion sounded reasonable, and the deputy brigade commander assigned an infantry company to escort the group to the train station.

The station is located in the northern suburbs, two kilometers from the city gate.

When the group arrived at the ticket hall, a large number of residents had gathered there. They were terrified by the commotion in the city and their first reaction was to escape by train.

Varro ordered his soldiers to search the station, where they found four employees in the supervisor's office.

The four men were busy prying open the safe when they were discovered by the soldiers. They stammered for a long time, unable to come up with a suitable explanation.

"This isn't the time to deal with petty theft," Varro demanded sharply. "Where's the supervisor?"

Employee: "At 10 a. m., when gunshots were heard in the east of the city, he took his confidants and fled by train to Alexander, saying he was going to report to his superiors."

Varro was amused and annoyed by his supervisor's excuse. This guy didn't even know what was happening in the city; what was there to report?

He went to the garage, where two steam locomotives were stored.

Upon seeing the vehicle model, Varro cheered. "Haha, this is a product from our machine factory. I personally operated it during the factory testing."

Let me think... Before a train starts moving, the first step is to check its condition...

Amidst the anxious gazes of the crowd, Varro paced around the locomotive. Even his closest subordinates, Baron and Angelo, felt a sense of unease.

"Hey you, bring over a can of lubricating oil. There's so much dust in the furnace. Clean it up quickly."

After saying a few words, Varro suddenly slapped his forehead, opened the "Train Operation Manual," and muttered to himself like a priest making a quiet prayer.

Meanwhile, Joseph paced anxiously back and forth on the platform, a train timetable in his right hand.

Logically, there should be a train coming from Suez at 3 PM.

As long as they arrive on time, they can take this train back to Suez instead of the train controlled by Varro.

Under the scorching sun, he held binoculars and observed the distance. Two railway tracks stretched from the desert to the horizon, and sand and dust swirled in the wind.

Every now and then, Varro's shouts could be heard coming from inside the platform.

"Ignition!"

Add water!

"Keep an eye on this area and notify me once the boiler pressure reaches the target level."

As time passed, a train billowing black smoke came into Joseph's view.

He worried that he was hallucinating, so he rubbed his eyes frantically and then asked other people for help.

Finally, the train slowly pulled into the station, and the passengers disembarked, only to find the platform filled with a large number of flintlock musketeers.

"Get off the bus now, don't dawdle here!"

The soldiers found the train crew, briefly explained the situation, and asked them to steer the train back to Suez.

Varro looked slightly disappointed.

He has been busy for so long, and all preparations are in place. As long as the boiler pressure reaches the required level, the train can start normally.

"Stop dawdling, the rebels could arrive at any moment." Joseph urged the people to get in the car, looking sternly at Varro, "Are you coming with us, or are you driving your own train behind us?"

Ultimately, Varro gave up the idea of driving a train.

At 3:40, amidst the curses of the crowd, Joseph and his entourage drove away from the train station.

The train made one stop on its journey from Cairo to Suez, otherwise traveling at full speed, and returned to the port of Suez that evening.

As the train came to a complete stop, Varro still felt a sense of unreality. "The rebels didn't even sabotage the railway, and just let us go like that? Their plan was merely to seize the Governor's mansion, and then what?"

Suez faces the Red Sea and has two Army, a Marine Battalion, and 1,500 crew members in the Red Sea Fleet. Varro doesn't care how many reinforcements he sends; that's not his responsibility.

The next day, he took the train back to Pelusium, then returned to his mansion, where he sat alone in the living room, lost in thought.

"What happened?" Anastasia asked, looking bewildered.

My husband only went to Cairo for two days, is it really necessary to react like this? Was he frightened by the ancient ghosts of the pyramids?