Once Napoleon reached Egypt, the route onward to India remained more aspiration than workable campaign plan. One possibility was to fight through Asia Minor and the Middle East across Ottoman territory. Another was to move south towards the Somali coast and somehow assemble transport across the Indian Ocean. Either approach would ask an isolated army to cross hostile states or improvise an ocean-going lift with vessels ill-suited to the task. A small French squadron might be present farther east, but the expedition lacked the frigates and ships of the line needed to escort transports against the Royal Navy. The coordination problem resembled an armada whose army and transport fleet approached from different directions and had to meet at the right place and time. Landing in Egypt did not solve the geography, logistics, and sea-control problems between Napoleon and India.
Chapter · 22:00-25:50
Why Egypt was a poor route to India
The proposed advance from Egypt towards India depended on hazardous overland conquest or an improvised ocean crossing that French naval power could not reliably support.