Chapter 953 Jerusalem (Second update, please subscribe)

Jerusalem!

It is a city, but it has never been a city, it is a symbol, it is... everything in the world.

At least this is true for Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism. Of course, this is something that the Chinese cannot understand. This may be a cultural difference, but for those people, Jerusalem is truly the most precious thing in the world!

It is also because of this that there have been repeated Crusades in history.

However, since Saladin conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century AD, this Catholic "holy city" has been under the control of "pagans".

Until now…until this moment.

In early January 1877, the Crusaders finally set foot on this land again. This was the first time that a Catholic army had come to this city since Iberian led 15,000 Franks to evacuate Jerusalem on October 9, 1187.

To put it another way, the Crusaders, who had been away from here for hundreds of years, once again arrived at the gates of Jerusalem.

At this time, more than 200,000 Arabs from Syria, Damascus, Mosul, Baghdad, Basra, and Hijaz had gathered near the city of Jerusalem. They gathered here at the call of "jihad" and at the instigation of the British.

The British prepared more than 150,000 rifles, hundreds of cannons and a large amount of ammunition for them in Jerusalem - those weapons were purchased by the Governor of Egypt. Although most of them were single-shot Schneider rifles, for the locals who had been living in poverty and gnawing on the sand in the desert for hundreds of years, this was definitely a replacement for a cannon with a scimitar.

The British not only provided them with weapons, but also provided instructors to help them train their troops. For the British, as long as they could trip up France, they would never miss it.

So, when Emperor Napoleon IV arrived in Jerusalem with an army of 50,000, he was faced with an armed legion that even blocked the attack of the French army.

From January 21st to February 13th, a total of 23 days, the French army had been attacking, but faced with the Arab army, which had an absolute advantage in manpower, it made almost no progress.

The cannons were roaring and the infantry were attacking...unfortunately the progress was very limited.

"When will our airship arrive?"

Again, Emperor Napoleon IV asked aloud.

"Your Majesty, they are on their way, but we don't have that many bombs here for the airship troops to use. All the bombs need to be shipped from France. So..."

Before McMahon could finish his words, Emperor Napoleon IV spoke a little excitedly.

"I don't care what reasons or excuses you have. In three days, three days later, we must use an airship to blow those damned Arabs up into the sky and send them to see their true vision!"

Then Emperor Napoleon IV looked at his marshals and generals and spoke in a questioning tone.

"Why? Why is it so? The Russians easily crushed the Turkish resistance and occupied Constantinople, but what about us? We are frustrated here! We are blocked at the gates of Jerusalem by a group of barbarians who eat sand and ride camels in the desert. Generals, please tell me, why is this?"

This question is indeed very heartbreaking!

The combat effectiveness of the French army...has never been optimistic since Napoleon.

In Algeria, it took them twenty years to truly occupy the land. In Mexico, they never suppressed the local resistance. In Libya, they even sent more than 100,000 people to defeat the Arab cavalry.

In Jerusalem, he originally wanted to eliminate all resistance forces in one battle, but now, he finds that not only can he not solve it, but he might even fall into a new crisis - France is likely to be defeated in Jerusalem.

This was unacceptable to Napoleon IV, who was determined to replicate the glory of Napoleon the Great. He came here to capture Jerusalem and make the whole of France and Europe cheer for his victory. He would become the "liberator of the holy city" and he would achieve a feat no less great than that of Napoleon the Great.

But reality slapped me in the face again.

Others can do it, and so can I, but the problem is...

"Your Majesty, our army here is too limited, with only 100,000 soldiers, and divided into two groups. However, the enemy we are facing... here, even if a child faces us, he will throw stones at our soldiers..."

Without waiting for General Frossard to finish his words, Napoleon IV spoke excitedly.

"Then kill them. Anyone who attacks the French army can be executed without trial. What I want is Jerusalem. Don't talk to me about mercy. I will show mercy when they die, but now, kill them, kill all of them..."

When the words fell, Eugene asked again.

"Do you know what kind of poison gas the Ming Dynasty used? If we have it, we can use it here. We only want Jerusalem..."

The answer is of course no. After all, the Ming Dynasty did not tell others what kind of poison gas it used.

"Your Majesty, there is no official response from the Ming Dynasty yet. However, our military attaché in Rio de Janeiro has determined that the poison gas they used is green through the intelligence analysis obtained from the fleeing Brazilian officers. The chemists in Paris have determined that only chlorine is green, and according to the results of the sheep test, chlorine is indeed lethal..."

For a contemporary power with advanced science and industry like France, they only needed to grasp some details to infer that the Ming Dynasty used chlorine. After all, French scientists were not there to do nothing.

In fact, it only took a few days for countries including Britain, France, Germany and others to start their poison gas experiments. After all, the poison gas warfare in Rio de Janeiro was so terrifying that it was no longer a war at all. Poison gas... could completely kill all resisters!

The poison gas even directly put an end to all land battles. There was no need to fight there. All they had to do was release the poison gas to kill the enemy.

"Chlorine, now that we know it, let's use it!"

Napoleon IV said bluntly.

"Bring us all our chlorine. All of it. All of it! I'm going to poison them all right here!"

There was no so-called sympathy in his words. To Europeans of that generation, using these weapons on barbarians was simply normal.

(End of this chapter)