The Fall of Egypt
On the 29th of October 1941 a final dawn push by the French succeeded in taking control of the last of Alexandria and its strategically important docks, forcing the thoroughly battered Egyptian army to retreat in the direction of Cairo.
The First Army, under the command of General Juin, D’Esperey’s replacement, barely paused before pursuing the fleeing Egyptian soldiers. They caught up with them in the desert near Giza where, within sight of the Pyramids, an Egyptian reserve division had dug itself in to allow the rest of the Egyptian army to reorganise and attempt to prevent the French from crossing the Nile.
Though initially hopelessly outnumbered, the valiant rearguard action bought much needed time for the Egyptian army, allowing them to rally and throw eight more divisions into the fight.
Facing much stiffer resistance than expected, the French army was forced to bring more divisions to bear, bringing up more divisions from Alexandria to the front with the forces which had just taken a major airstrip at Tanta in the Nile delta recrossing the river to attack the Egyptians from the North.
At the same time, the French launched another offensive into the Sudan. Following the failure of the French offensive at the beginning of the war, the Egyptians had counter attacked, probing into French territory before being forced to halt when they encountered resistance. But this division of Egyptian forces allowed Delestraint, commander of the southern front, to strike at a weak point in the thinly stretched Egyptian lines, spearheading the attack himself with his cavalry and armoured cars.
The attack proved a success, the Egyptian lines were split completely with one division being forced to retreat north while the other found itself in danger of being trapped and encircled.
At the same time, another attack was launched in the north, the French Foreign Legion in its entirety attacking a corps of Egyptian troops defending the western flank of the Egyptian lines.
Finally, on the 17th of November, the French offensive at Giza proved successful, with the core of the Egyptian army being put to rout.
With no troops left to defend the capital, the panicking Egyptian government blew the bridges across the Nile in order to buy time for the relocation of the apparatus of government further south. But with the bridges blown, the disorderly Egyptian retreat from Giza found itself trapped between the Nile and the French.
While some Egyptian soldiers managed to cross the river by boat or by swimming, tens of thousands were forced to lay down their arms and surrender to the soldiers of the French Empire who, amazed at their luck in taking prisoners the soldiers who were meant to be defending Cairo, were then able to enter the defenceless Egyptian capital without a shot being fired.
However, the army was not the only part of France’s military winning battles. On the 16th of November a flotilla of aging First Weltkrieg era destroyers attacked the French fleet in the Nile delta in a brave but futile effort. The engagement lasted less than 60 minutes by which point every Egyptian ship, no match for the pride of the French navy, was sinking rapidly.
With the bulk of the Egyptian navy now at the bottom of the Nile and with Egypt’s two biggest cities in French hands, the Empire’s forces waited less than a week before launching a new offensive, routing the Egyptian army in Bir Nahid and driving toward Port Said.
Both offensives were successful, the outnumbered and depleted Egyptian units unable to stand up to the buoyant French soldiers, and by the beginning of December the final major battles in northern Egypt were underway.
However, while the French made slow but steady advances against the defenders of the last bastion of the Egyptian government in El Faiyum, the attack on Port Said nearly ground to a halt with the sudden arrival of the cream of the Persian army in the city.
This represented the first major contribution by the other Axis nations to the war, as the rapid French advances had occurred before they could mobilise, and the arrival of so many new enemy troops slowly but surely began to grind the French offensive to a halt.
It was only after the direct intervention of the French navy, sailing into the Suez canal and bringing their guns to bear on the Persian’s defensive positions within the city, that the Axis army was forced to retreat across the canal via the German controlled canal zone itself, preventing the French from attacking them during their retreat.
At the same time, news came of the fall of El Faiyum and the capture of most of the Egyptian government.
By the 7th of December everything in northern Egypt west of the Suez Canal was in French hands and, with Delestraint’s encirclement of an Egyptian division in the Sudan, all that remained for the French to do was to seize the city of Khartoum in order to complete their domination of the country.
With the Egyptian army in total disarray, the French pushed forwards easily, forcing the surrender of the Egyptian soldiers trapped in the Sudan and pushing further and further down the Nile at the same time as Delestraint led his cavalry in a lightning dash towards Khartoum.
Finally, on Christmas morning, 1941, Delestraint’s men entered Khartoum unopposed, taking control of the last major Egyptian population centre.
Facing utter defeat the remnants of the Egyptian government, at rifle point by Delestraint, was forced to sign an instrument of unconditional surrender - cementing Delestraint’s reputation from the Liberian Conflict and marking the complete occupation of Egypt by the French Empire just in time for Christmas.
On the 29th of October 1941 a final dawn push by the French succeeded in taking control of the last of Alexandria and its strategically important docks, forcing the thoroughly battered Egyptian army to retreat in the direction of Cairo.
The First Army, under the command of General Juin, D’Esperey’s replacement, barely paused before pursuing the fleeing Egyptian soldiers. They caught up with them in the desert near Giza where, within sight of the Pyramids, an Egyptian reserve division had dug itself in to allow the rest of the Egyptian army to reorganise and attempt to prevent the French from crossing the Nile.
Though initially hopelessly outnumbered, the valiant rearguard action bought much needed time for the Egyptian army, allowing them to rally and throw eight more divisions into the fight.
Facing much stiffer resistance than expected, the French army was forced to bring more divisions to bear, bringing up more divisions from Alexandria to the front with the forces which had just taken a major airstrip at Tanta in the Nile delta recrossing the river to attack the Egyptians from the North.
At the same time, the French launched another offensive into the Sudan. Following the failure of the French offensive at the beginning of the war, the Egyptians had counter attacked, probing into French territory before being forced to halt when they encountered resistance. But this division of Egyptian forces allowed Delestraint, commander of the southern front, to strike at a weak point in the thinly stretched Egyptian lines, spearheading the attack himself with his cavalry and armoured cars.
The attack proved a success, the Egyptian lines were split completely with one division being forced to retreat north while the other found itself in danger of being trapped and encircled.
At the same time, another attack was launched in the north, the French Foreign Legion in its entirety attacking a corps of Egyptian troops defending the western flank of the Egyptian lines.
Finally, on the 17th of November, the French offensive at Giza proved successful, with the core of the Egyptian army being put to rout.
With no troops left to defend the capital, the panicking Egyptian government blew the bridges across the Nile in order to buy time for the relocation of the apparatus of government further south. But with the bridges blown, the disorderly Egyptian retreat from Giza found itself trapped between the Nile and the French.
While some Egyptian soldiers managed to cross the river by boat or by swimming, tens of thousands were forced to lay down their arms and surrender to the soldiers of the French Empire who, amazed at their luck in taking prisoners the soldiers who were meant to be defending Cairo, were then able to enter the defenceless Egyptian capital without a shot being fired.
However, the army was not the only part of France’s military winning battles. On the 16th of November a flotilla of aging First Weltkrieg era destroyers attacked the French fleet in the Nile delta in a brave but futile effort. The engagement lasted less than 60 minutes by which point every Egyptian ship, no match for the pride of the French navy, was sinking rapidly.
With the bulk of the Egyptian navy now at the bottom of the Nile and with Egypt’s two biggest cities in French hands, the Empire’s forces waited less than a week before launching a new offensive, routing the Egyptian army in Bir Nahid and driving toward Port Said.
Both offensives were successful, the outnumbered and depleted Egyptian units unable to stand up to the buoyant French soldiers, and by the beginning of December the final major battles in northern Egypt were underway.
However, while the French made slow but steady advances against the defenders of the last bastion of the Egyptian government in El Faiyum, the attack on Port Said nearly ground to a halt with the sudden arrival of the cream of the Persian army in the city.
This represented the first major contribution by the other Axis nations to the war, as the rapid French advances had occurred before they could mobilise, and the arrival of so many new enemy troops slowly but surely began to grind the French offensive to a halt.
It was only after the direct intervention of the French navy, sailing into the Suez canal and bringing their guns to bear on the Persian’s defensive positions within the city, that the Axis army was forced to retreat across the canal via the German controlled canal zone itself, preventing the French from attacking them during their retreat.
At the same time, news came of the fall of El Faiyum and the capture of most of the Egyptian government.
By the 7th of December everything in northern Egypt west of the Suez Canal was in French hands and, with Delestraint’s encirclement of an Egyptian division in the Sudan, all that remained for the French to do was to seize the city of Khartoum in order to complete their domination of the country.
With the Egyptian army in total disarray, the French pushed forwards easily, forcing the surrender of the Egyptian soldiers trapped in the Sudan and pushing further and further down the Nile at the same time as Delestraint led his cavalry in a lightning dash towards Khartoum.
Finally, on Christmas morning, 1941, Delestraint’s men entered Khartoum unopposed, taking control of the last major Egyptian population centre.
Facing utter defeat the remnants of the Egyptian government, at rifle point by Delestraint, was forced to sign an instrument of unconditional surrender - cementing Delestraint’s reputation from the Liberian Conflict and marking the complete occupation of Egypt by the French Empire just in time for Christmas.
