From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

Meanwhile, on the island of Malta.

Grand Captain Erwin walked with a heavy heart on the pier of Valletta Port. He leaned over with difficulty and slowness to close his eyes for a knight who was still waiting to die, and softly blessed:

"May your soul rest in peace, brother."

The heavy rain washed away the blood on the wooden boards of the pier, and also took away the lives of these loyal and fearless soldiers.

There are more than fifty knights stationed in Valletta Port, including the dozen or so knights who first warned the whole island. No one chose to escape in front of the red-shirted troops of Great Britain. More than fifty strong knights All the knights fought with swords and died in the port.

Such a loss made Grand Commander Erwin feel a twinge of pain in his chest. These people were the most important and elite fighting force of the Knights. Unexpectedly, they disappeared in this thunderstorm in the blink of an eye. .

In his heart, these knights are as important as his children and grandchildren.

The grand leader wore a slightly loose knight's plate armor, with a rain robe on the outside, and a long-handed half-sword like all knights on his waist.

Such a piece of equipment was obviously too heavy for the dying old man. Captain Erwin could only take a step of two feet, but even so, he still walked slowly in the rain, personally speaking for everyone. Pray and bless the knight who used his life to fulfill his oath.

Following Erwin was Grand Priest Giotto. He also took off his religious robes early and put on the same half-plate armor as Erwin. He held a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right hand, never leaving. The ground guard is beside the grand leader.

His eyes swept over the face of every knight who fell on the ground. Whenever he saw a familiar face, the anger and sorrow in the eyes of the Grand Priest would be a little bit more, and the arms holding the sword and shield would also be here. He could not stop shaking with anger and pain.

As a Grand Priest who climbed from the bottom to his current position step by step, Giotto could almost recognize the faces of all the fallen knights present, and many of them had stood shoulder to shoulder with him under the same battle flag.

Now, seeing these comrades-in-arms sleeping in the thunderstorm, Archbishop Giotto's heart has already been filled with rage, and he can't wait to pierce his sword into the hearts of the British prisoners one by one to comfort them. The spirits of these brothers are in heaven.

The other person following Erwin was his nephew, Guard Captain Franche.

He also followed the leader without saying a word, but when the piles of corpses on the dock came into his sight, there was no other emotion in his eyes except fear.

For this playboy who had never seen blood, Franche was only afraid that he would not become one of the dead bodies on the pier.

Lawrence, Grosso and Major Serulier also breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the report of repelling the British attack. They simply put on an oilskin raincoat and came to the dock with their personal guards, waiting silently for Mr. Erwin. The leader concluded his blessing ceremony.

Grosso looked at the corpses of the knights. As the only warrior among the people present who had personally fought against the knights, his face also had a complicated look.

After he straightened the body of the last knight with his own hands and closed his eyes, Grand Commander Erwin let out a long sigh of regret, looked up at the sky, took off the hood of his raincoat, and let the heavy raindrops hit him. Hit him hard on his old face.

At this moment, Grand Commander Erwin inevitably felt a sense of self-blame in his heart. If he had followed what Lawrence Bonaparte said from the beginning, then this battle would not have happened.

Of course, Erwin knew that even if he could really make a decision again, he would not easily trust the intelligence of a foreign governor. All his decisions were made based on the interests of the Knights. decision.

But looking at the corpses of those brothers of the same faith, the self-blame and guilt in Erwin's heart still lingered for a long time.

"Grand Commander, your health is the most important thing." Giotto quickly stepped forward and raised the round shield in his left hand to protect Erwin from the rain.

Grand Captain Erwin gently pushed Giotto's arm away, shook his head to shake the rainwater from the end of his hair, put his hood back on, sighed and said:

"No need, alas, let's go, Your Excellency Bonaparte will certainly not be able to wait over there."

Seeing Erwin walking towards him, Lawrence quickly stepped forward to greet him and said in a deep voice with a serious expression:

"Your Excellency, Grand Commander, all the British soldiers who invaded Malta have been repelled. Those who had no time to retreat have also laid down their weapons and surrendered. I think these prisoners can be handed over to your knights."

"You are interested." Grand Captain Erwin covered his mouth and coughed twice, then nodded weakly and tiredly:

"Your Excellency Bonaparte, on behalf of the entire Knights, I would like to express my highest gratitude to you. If it were not for your assistance, the Knights would probably be in trouble today."

Archimandrite Giotto also looked at Lawrence, his eyes completely losing their previous hostility and distrust.

He knew that if there was no assistance from Lawrence's army and only the Knights' own military strength, and they were suddenly attacked by the British army in such rainy and foggy weather, then the knights on the island would definitely be in for a fierce and unusually bloody battle.

If that is the case, let alone whether the Knights can defend the island of Malta, the more than fifty knights who died in the battle are definitely not the only ones lying sleeping in the thunderstorm.

Lawrence nodded slightly, accepting Erwin's thanks, and then said:

"Let's not talk about this for now. Your Excellency, Grand Commander, what are your plans next?"

"after."

Grand Captain Erwin closed his eyes and sighed again. Of course he knew the implication of Lawrence raising this question at this time, and he also knew how he should answer it at this time, but for a moment, the feeling on the edge of his throat was already there. The words could not come out for a long time.

Seeing this, Major Serurier on the side also took advantage of the situation and said insinuatingly:

"Your Excellency, Grand Commander, the repelled British knew that the French troops were stationed on the island, so they must not dare to act rashly in a short period of time, but after all, we cannot be stationed here for a long time. Once we leave, the British will definitely return. If they make a comeback, the Knights will once again be plunged into a dangerous whirlpool.”

Lawrence told Grandmaster Erwin about this when he first arrived on the island of Malta.

Erwin also knew that if he wanted to get the protection of the French army, he had to make concessions to France both nominally and actually, and bow his head to them.

Archimandrite Giotto, who had always been the leader of the battle, also fell silent at this time. After witnessing the corpses of more than fifty brothers, he was a little reluctant for a while to let more comrades and brothers waste their lives needlessly on this land. .

Guard Captain Franche looked at his uncle with great anticipation, wishing he could answer Lawrence's question for Erwin.

"I understand what you mean, Monsignor Bonaparte"

Grand Commander Erwin exhaled a breath and simply adjusted his poncho and armor. He turned to look at Giotto and Franche. In their eyes, Erwin didn't see anything. objection.

The knights, soldiers, and even the British prisoners present subconsciously stopped talking and looked at Captain Erwin in the middle of the crowd.

He stood up straight, raised his head slightly to look at the sky, then closed his eyes and solemnly announced:

"I, Erwin de' Medici, Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, hereby declare that in order to carry out the will of our Lord, in order to practice the teachings of our Lord, in order to 'defend the faith and relieve the suffering' With the oath, I will resign as Grand Master of the Knights and replace myself with France."

Boom! !

Before he finished speaking, a roar from the sea swept over.

Hundreds of black shadows shot out from the sea fog and flew towards several fortresses on the island of Malta at lightning speed.

Bang! Boom boom boom! !

The heights of the fortresses on both sides of the port were instantly submerged in a burst of gray-white smoke, followed closely by countless gravel and gravel rolling down the heights like raindrops all over the sky.

"damn it!"

Grosso's pupils trembled, and he quickly looked around in a circle. Then with quick eyes and quick hands, he grabbed Lawrence by the collar and dragged Lawrence directly to a stone staircase twenty steps away.

Lawrence immediately recovered from his panic after being dragged by Grosso for two steps, and followed Grosso with complete trust and crouched under the cover of the stone building.

"What's going on?" Lawrence asked breathlessly.

"Ship gun." Grosso spoke briefly and looked serious. He stood up and observed the situation at sea, then spat and cursed:

"Definitely a fucking British naval gun."

A trace of surprise appeared on Lawrence's face, but it disappeared immediately and said to himself:

"It seems that Colonel Mohan is quite courageous."

The port pier immediately became a mess. The moment he heard the roar of the naval gun, Archbishop Giotto's reaction was not much slower than Grosso. He immediately used his body to protect Erwin to seek cover, and at the same time raised his The buckler in his left hand prevented falling gravel from hitting the two of them.

Soon, while everyone was still reacting, another salvo of naval guns followed, targeting several conspicuous large fortresses on the island of Malta.

"It's unmistakable. It's definitely the British fleet. They surrounded the island of Malta."

Although the British fleet had not yet been seen on the sea, Grosso judged that the two salvos did not come from the same warship based on the time interval between the bombardments and the difference in the directions of the two sounds.

"Your Excellency Bonaparte!"

Grand Priest Giotto escorted Grand Commander Erwin towards Lawrence, followed closely by Franche and Major Serurier.

Several core commanders were hidden under the cover of this stone building, and everyone's face was as serious as ever.

Lawrence looked around at the situation in the port. There were many buildings here, and the target of the British naval guns was not here. Therefore, these rounds of shelling did not have much impact on the soldiers and knights in the port. Unfortunately, a few soldiers were injured by flying gravel.

Major Serurier gritted his teeth tightly, looked at the artillery fire that kept flashing in the thick fog on the sea, and said with hatred:

"Are these lemon guys crazy! It's impossible for them not to know that there are French troops stationed on the island."

"Probably he wants to do one thing without stopping." Lawrence's expression did not reveal too many personal emotions, but he couldn't help but hold his hand on the saber at his waist at this moment, knowing that there might be more to come on the island of Malta. There was a bloody battle.

Archimandrite Giotto stared at the sea and calmly analyzed for everyone:

"The British must want to forcefully land on the island again under cover of fire, and the most suitable location for landing on Malta is the Port of Valletta in front of us. We must concentrate our forces around the port to deal with the British impact."

Laurence looked at Giotto with approval and cast admiring glances at him. He did not expect that the Grand Priest could calm down so quickly and use his familiarity with the terrain of Malta to quickly formulate a defensive plan.

Major Serurier also agreed to this arrangement after a short and quick thought. Now it is unrealistic to use the Malta fortress group to defend against the British attack. Under the gunfire of the entire British squadron, those The fortress complex built two to three hundred years ago or even earlier must not be able to sustain it for long.

It would be better to concentrate the troops around the port and push the British troops into the sea before they can land on the beach and establish a temporary stronghold.

After receiving the approval of Lawrence and Major Serurier, Archbishop Giotto's decision immediately became an order and began to be conveyed to the soldiers and knights.

Soon, two thousand French soldiers were dispersed in company units on the docks of Valletta Port to resist the direct impact of British sailors trying to seize the beach. One thousand Corsican Defense Force soldiers served as reserves, ready to attack at any time. Prepare to maneuver and move to the key attack areas of the British army for supplementary defense.

Since the knights had excellent individual combat capabilities and were very familiar with the city's geographical environment, Archimandrite Giotto ordered some knights to be added as skirmishers to the frontline French army to assist in the defense. Also as a reserve unit, prepare to use it in urban street fighting after the port is breached.

Just when the military deployment on the island of Malta was basically completed, the British also began their operations.

Nearly twenty battleships flying the Union Jack were seen neatly sailing out of the sea fog. The leader was the flagship of the Griffin Squadron, the Saint-Denis. They were like ghost ships from the world of death, acting unscrupulously. The ground was close to the island of Malta, pouring all the cannonballs like raindrops on this tiny island.

The British also expected that the island of Malta did not have enough coastal defense firepower, so they boldly approached and surrounded the island of Malta to improve the accuracy and efficiency of their bombing of the fortress group.

Grosso pulled out the sailor's dagger from his waist, looked at the behemoth-like British ships emerging from the fog on the sea, and laughed against the wind, rain and gunfire:

"Damn it, when I became a sailor, I didn't expect to have a fight with the British Royal Navy."

Archimandrite Giotto, who was also a sailor, couldn't help but laugh twice and patted Grosso heavily on the shoulder:

"Brother, you should be lucky that you didn't have sex with them at sea."

"Those sons of bitches can't wait to run to land and fight us." Grosso glanced at Giotto and grinned.

"Then push them back into the sea!"

Archbishop Giotto roared, pointed his sword at the sea, and shouted angrily at all the knights and soldiers:

"All Catholic brothers, tooth for tooth, blood for blood!"