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After some reconnaissance, Bonaparte conceived a plan which envisaged the capture of the forts of {{ill|Fort de l'Éguillette|fr|Fort de l'Éguillette|lt=l'Éguillette}} and {{ill|Fort de Balaguier|fr|Fort de Balaguier|lt=Balaguier}} on the hill of Cairo ({{lang-fr|colline du Caire}}), which would then prevent passage between the small and large harbours of the port, so cutting maritime resupply, necessary for those under siege. Carteaux, reluctant, sent only a weak detachment under Major General [[Henri François Delaborde]], which failed in its attempted conquest on 22 September. The allies, now alerted, built Fort Mulgrave, named in honour of the British commander, [[Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave]], on the summit of the hill. It was supported by three smaller ones, called Saint-Phillipe, Saint-Côme, and Saint-Charles. The apparently impregnable assemblage was nicknamed by the French "Little Gibraltar".
Bonaparte was dissatisfied by the sole battery—called the "Mountain", positioned on the height of Saint-Laurent since 19 September. He established another, on the shore of Brégallion, called the "''[[sans-culottes]]''". Hood attempted to silence it, without success, but the British fleet was obliged to harden its resolve along the coast anew, because of the high seabed of [[Le Mourillon|Mourillon]] and la {{ill|Tour Royale|fr|Tour royale}}. On the first of October, after the failure of General La Poype against the "Eastern Fort" of Faron, Bonaparte was asked to bombard the large fort of Malbousquet, whose fall would be required to enable the capture of the city. He therefore requisitioned artillery from all of the surrounding countryside, holding the power of fifty batteries of six cannon apiece. Promoted to Chief of Battalion on 19 October, he organised a grand battery, said to be "of the Convention", on the hill of Arènes and facing the fort, supported by those of the "Camp of the Republicans" on the hill of Dumonceau, by those of the "Farinière" on the hill of Gaux, and those of the "Poudrière" at Lagoubran.
On 11 November, Carteaux was dismissed and replaced by [[François Amédée Doppet]], formerly a doctor, whose panic upon witnessing the death of his [[aide-de-camp]] beside him would cause an attempted attack against Fort Mulgrave on the 15th to fail.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fox |first=Charles |title=Napoleon Bonaparte and the siege of Toulon |year=1902 |pages=35–36}}</ref> He was succeeded by a career soldier, [[Jacques François Dugommier|Dugommier]], who immediately recognised the virtue of Bonaparte's plan, and prepared for the capture of Little Gibraltar. On the 20th, as soon as he arrived, the battery "[[Jacobin]]" was established, on the ridge of l'Evescat. Then, on the left, on 28 November, the battery of the "Men Without Fear", and then on 14 December, the "Chasse Coquins" were constructed between the two. Two other batteries were organised to repel the eventual intervention of the allied ships, they were called "The Great Harbour" and the "Four Windmills".
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