Reincarnated as Napoleon II-Chapter 112: The French Are Near

The first naval shell hit the outer fields west of the city.

The second landed closer.

By the third, dust was rising along the lower walls.

Inside the palace chamber overlooking the harbor, Hussein Dey did not move from the window. He kept his hands behind his back while stone fragments rattled somewhere below.

Behind him stood Agha Ibrahim, commander of the regular infantry, and Mustapha ben Youssef, who had led cavalry at Staouéli. Both still wore the same uniforms from the field. Neither had bothered to change.

Another boom rolled in from the sea.

Mustapha exhaled through his nose. "They did not waste time."

Hussein Dey turned slightly. "Tell me again what you saw."

Mustapha stepped closer to the table where the plain of Staouéli was marked in charcoal.

"Their weapons are terrifying! It’s unlike the weapons they used during the time when they invaded Egypt. It was not a musket anymore. And its range are superior compared to ours."

"You already said that," Ibrahim muttered.

"I’m saying it again," Mustapha replied. "Because that is why we lost."

A silence followed.

Hussein Dey nodded once. "Continue."

"There is also this gun machine that could fire hails of bullets...It...It wiped out the cavalry..."

Ibrahim leaned forward over the table. "How far?"

"Too far," Mustapha answered. "We began taking fire before our muskets could answer properly. By the time our men tried to fire, half of the front line was already down."

Another explosion shook the chamber. Dust drifted from the ceiling beams and settled across the map.

Hussein Dey did not look away from Mustapha.

"And the infantry behind the cavalry?"

"They tried to push forward," Mustapha said. "But those rifles... they fire, work a bolt, and fire again. No ramming. No delay. They keep their heads down and shoot in measured rhythm."

Ibrahim’s jaw tightened. "Five rounds before reloading?"

"At least," Mustapha replied. "And they reload faster than we can prime and fire twice."

A guard hurried in, breath short.

"My lord, more ships have shifted position. They are fully turned toward the harbor. All guns open."

Hussein Dey stepped to the window.

Out beyond the breakwater, the French ships lay in rows, hulls angled, smoke beginning to roll from their broadsides. The sea around them churned from recoil and wave.

"They mean to break the fortress first," Ibrahim said quietly.

"Bordj Moulay Hassan," Mustapha added. "If that falls, they control the harbor."

Another naval salvo thundered. A plume of debris rose from the outer defenses.

Hussein Dey turned back toward his commanders.

"How many men can we still field?"

Ibrahim answered without hesitation. "In the city, several thousand. More scattered in the countryside. But not all are trained. Many are irregulars."

"And cavalry?" Hussein Dey asked.

Mustapha shook his head once. "Not in open ground against those rifles. We would be sending them to die."

Before Hussein Dey could answer, a different sound reached the chamber.

A rapid sequence of cracks rolled in from inland, not from the sea. Not the heavy thud of ship artillery, but a hard, snapping rhythm that did not pause between shots.

Ibrahim froze.

"That is not the fleet."

Mustapha moved to the opposite window facing the hills beyond Staouéli.

On the ridgeline west of the city, smoke bloomed in short, repeating bursts.

"Their field guns," Mustapha said quietly.

A second later, the first inland shell struck the outer quarter of the city.

Stone shattered outward. Roof tiles lifted and fell. A section of low wall near a market square collapsed into dust.

Then another shell hit.

And another.

The sound did not follow the pattern of the naval broadside. It did not come in heavy waves separated by silence.

It came in a stream.

Another impact struck near the base of Bordj Moulay Hassan. The stone held, but fragments burst from the outer parapet.

The air inside the palace chamber began to vibrate constantly. The rhythm from inland did not stop. It overlapped. Fifty guns firing in staggered cycles meant no clean interval between impacts.

Shells began landing across multiple sectors at once.

One burst near the harbor warehouses. Another struck a defensive position along the southern wall. A third detonated behind a line of infantry assembling near the gate.

Observers on the hills adjusted range. Shells shifted steadily from outer fields to defensive positions, then deeper into fortified points.

A tower near the lower wall took three hits in quick succession. The fourth broke it open. Stone blocks tumbled outward into the street below.

Inside the fortress, artillery crews attempted to answer. Two Algerian cannons fired toward the ridgeline.

Before they could reload, three French shells landed near their position. One exploded close enough to overturn the carriage. The second burst scattered the crew. The third struck the parapet and sent debris down onto the courtyard.

Ibrahim turned to Hussein Dey.

"They are targeting our guns first."

Hussein Dey did not reply.

From the window, he could see smoke now rising from multiple districts. The bombardment from sea continued in heavy intervals, but the inland artillery never ceased.

The 75mm guns fired in relentless rotation. Crews swapped shells, rammed, aimed, fired, corrected. Fifty positions working together meant hundreds of rounds in mere minutes.

The city began to shake as if under a constant storm.

Another shell struck near the western gate. The wooden doors splintered. A section of wall cracked along its seam.

A runner stumbled into the chamber, face pale.

"My lord, the outer defensive lines are breaking. The men cannot hold positions under this fire."

Another impact tore into a fortified building used as a reserve command post. The roof collapsed inward in a plume of dust.

Hussein Dey stepped away from the window at last.

"We underestimated the French too much," he said.

***

Meanwhile, on Davout’s point of view. He observed the destruction from his field glass.

"If we only had this fifteen years ago, we would have conquered the whole of Europe," he said. "Once that fortress is out of commission, we will send in the infantry."