The Fox of France

The delegation from the French Academy, led by Joseph Bonaparte, received a warm welcome at various universities in Italy. Joseph's lectures, in particular, were always packed. In this era, scientists seemed to have gained a celebrity-like following. Everyone, including Joseph himself, had a bit of vanity. Despite Joseph constantly telling himself not to be vain, with thoughts like, "You're just being used by Napoleon and the troublemakers at the Parisian High School, what's there to be proud of?" But the admiration and praise from the crowd were undeniably sweet, especially when his little daughter clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Daddy is amazing!"

Additionally, through his connections, Joseph obtained the paper written by Napoleon, recognized as having "extreme importance" and being "highly promotable."

Joseph carefully read it several times, confirming that it was undoubtedly ghostwritten by those folks at the Parisian High School. The structure was rigorous, the arguments were tight and comprehensive, with almost no loopholes. Of course, it wasn't flawless; some derivations were overly intricate, making it cumbersome and lacking aesthetic appeal. However, these weren't exactly errors. Overall, the paper indeed deserved those two adjectives.

Setting aside Joseph enjoying his all-expenses-paid trip in Italy and reveling in his newfound fame, since Napoleon had become a member of the Academy, he naturally had to fulfill his promise. He had to choose an empress from the relatives of those Parisian troublemakers.

However, Napoleon immediately realized, "Laplace's niece is really ugly, Moncey's granddaughter isn't attractive, Lagrange's niece is okay, but her waist is too thick, almost as wide as my sister's... there's still no one that compares to..."

Regardless, Napoleon, on the whole, was a very trustworthy person. And now, he was selecting an empress, not a mistress; a dignified demeanor was sufficient. After all, it was just about the waist not being slender enough. Strictly speaking, this was Roman heritage. Look at the goddesses in the sculptures left from the Roman era; who among them met the current standards of a slender waist? As the Emperor of Rome, how could he not appreciate Roman-style women and instead be influenced by barbarians, liking waists as thin as bees?

Thinking this way, Napoleon found that Lagrange's niece was actually quite lovely. Although she didn't match a certain mistress in terms of appearance and grace, she was still above average, and the fact that the young girl admired Napoleon a lot made him feel good. So, Napoleon started frequenting dates with this girl named Lora.

Joseph continued his tour of Italy, and when he reached the final stop, Naples, he received news that the French army had achieved a decisive victory in Morocco, capturing the port of Darbida. (Correction from previous text: the city did not have the alias Casablanca at this time.)

Capturing Darbida meant the war was essentially coming to an end. France suffered minimal losses in this war, especially in terms of casualties. Most of the deaths were on the enemy side, primarily Turks. French losses were comparatively few.

However, this wasn't French treachery towards their allies, at least Turks couldn't claim that. For instance, at the beginning of the attack, Turks realized that Morocco was better prepared for the landing compared to the previous two locations. Learning from previous experiences, they upgraded the defenses of the port comprehensively.

Barriers and mines were placed in the port and nearby waters suitable for landing. If not for the French minesweepers recently deployed, these mines alone would have caused significant losses to the joint fleet, most of which would have been borne by the Turks.

French minesweepers were quite simple—a flat-bottomed boat. While their seaworthiness wasn't excellent, they had a much shallower draft, making it less likely to hit mines, especially during high tide.

These boats also carried a special device—a somewhat primitive magnetic anomaly detector. If there were metallic objects underwater within a certain distance, the device would emit a warning.

Next came the mechanical minesweeper on these boats. They could lower something similar to a trawl net used in later times. Instead of a net, two cables pulled a large blade resembling a sickle.

This device dragged along the depths close to the seabed. If there were anchor mines below, this large sickle would cut the cables under the anchor mines, causing them to float to the surface. Once a mine surfaced, dealing with it became easier.

Of course, even with repeated sweeps, it couldn't guarantee no fish escaped the net. For instance, in this attack, several Turkish ships still hit mines and sank. But considering the French cleared more mines, the Turks understood that without the support of their French allies, their losses would be much greater.

In the attack action after landing near the port, the French Marines helped the Turks open a safe passage in the minefield. When the Turkish attacking force was defeated, and the enemy counterattacked, the French Marines stopped the enemy's counterstrike, causing significant casualties.

Finally, the artillery of the French Navy played a crucial role. Using expensive high-explosive shells, they destroyed a vital fortress on the hills near Darbida, making a breakthrough in the attack. Subsequently, the French, utilizing a makeshift port, brought some cannons ashore and moved them into the fortress. They continuously bombarded the city, breaking down the defense, playing a decisive role in the Turks ultimately capturing the city.

With these real achievements, the Turks couldn't accuse the French of abandoning their allies. Moreover, according to the newly signed terms, they had to cede more benefits to the French. After gaining these footholds in Barbary, although French control over the Mediterranean couldn't compare to the heyday of the Roman Empire, it was much stronger than the peak periods of Athens or Carthage.

Easily achieving such a significant victory, liberating so many Christians, even the Vatican was considering canonizing Napoleon. However, an unexpected event interrupted this process.

After news of the joint fleet capturing Morocco came, the old Pope, Pius VI, was summoned by the Lord. It was said that in his final moments, he uttered, "Now it's good; I don't have to worry about the existence of God anymore."