From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

The next day, the early morning of June 11th

Although the morning fog has still lingered and the dew has emerged, the Champs Elysées is already crowded with people and bustling with people. Everyone knows that today is the day when Laurence Bonaparte leaves Paris and sets off for Italy.

A large number of citizens, journalists, nobles and bureaucrats spontaneously gathered in the streets at dawn, wanting to see the grand occasion of Bonaparte's expedition.

Even among the ministers of the entire cabinet, nearly half of them came to Paris from Versailles specifically for this purpose.

The core area of ​​​​the entire street had been blocked by royal guards before dawn, because His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also personally came to the Champs Elysées to see off His Excellency Bonaparte as always, and even Crown Princess Mary came with him this time. Come.

The crown prince, his wife, and several cabinet ministers arrived at the Corsican Embassy very early and had breakfast with Laurence Bonaparte in the mansion.

And when they walked out of the Corsican Embassy, ​​the guards, reporters outside the door, and the nobles and Privy Knights who also came to see them off could clearly see the obvious loss and sadness on the face of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

The sentimental Crown Prince knew very well that until this war, which no one knew when it would end, was completely over, his best friend would no longer be able to stay by his side.

However, Crown Prince Louis restrained his sadness, took out his prepared speech, and gave a brief public speech in the open space outside the Corsican Embassy.

On behalf of the entire royal family, he once again emphasized the legality and justice of the Kingdom of Corsica's participation in the Naples Civil War, and in his speech for the first time disclosed the existence of the Privy Knights, an officer organization directly affiliated with him.

Most of the audience were surprised by this sudden establishment of an officer organization, especially the cabinet ministers present. They immediately realized that such an officer organization that was directly loyal to the king would most likely replace the Choiseul faction in the future. , becoming the largest force in the French army.

Of course, the ministers did not believe that the immature Crown Prince would have such ambitions and means, and when people saw Laurence Bonaparte standing silently behind His Royal Highness, people could understand this. Whose instruction did this handwriting come from?

After the public speech, Prince Louis and Lawrence also followed the scheduled procedure and came to the Privy Knights who were waiting in formation under the gaze of everyone.

Crown Prince Louis took a red silk tray filled with sterling silver medals from the courtesy officer beside him and handed it to Lawrence himself.

As the grand master of the Privy Knights, Lawrence solemnly took the tray, then came to the surprised knights and personally placed the silver medals on each of their chests.

After all the members of the Order of Knights wore the medals, Crown Prince Louis immediately announced to the public that in the name of the current King Louis XV, he hereby conferred the title of Honorary Chevalier to all members of the Privy Knights.

Hearing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's decision, not only the audience present were extremely surprised, but even the members of the Knights were in disbelief. They all looked down at the shining silver medals on their chests. Many people had extremely horrified expressions. Excited, even tearful.

Being personally awarded by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Excellency Bonaparte on the Champs Elysées in the warm morning breeze, even though they were only the lowest lords, this was already a great honor for the military academy cadets who were mostly civilians.

Chief of Staff Berthier also immediately led all the knights to curtsey to Lawrence and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and once again swore loyalty to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in public.

Lawrence looked at the excited knights and nodded with satisfaction.

The idea of ​​conferring honors on the Knights was not proposed by Lawrence and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Louis XV, after learning of the establishment of the Privy Knights late last night, immediately ordered that these officers be collectively conferred on the eve of the expedition in order to This will solidify their loyalty.

Naturally, Lawrence could also see the hint of Louis XV's move. His Majesty the King was showing his support for Lawrence's move to establish a direct officer corps for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

After conferring honors on the knights, Lawrence and his party were about to officially set off from Paris.

Crown Prince Louis reluctantly held Lawrence's hand. The introverted Crown Prince also became talkative today, but almost every word he said was telling Lawrence to take care of himself.

Finally, Crown Prince Louis took a simple and luxurious golden scabbard sword and handed it to Lawrence, saying that this was the command sword worn by the Sun King Louis XIV himself when he conquered the Dutch lowlands. It is said that this was the late king's favorite sword. A sword with the inscription "Sword of the Sun King" specially engraved on the blade by Louis XIV.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince gave this sword to Lawrence, hoping that this sword could bring the courage and martial arts of the late King Louis XIV to his closest friend. Lawrence did not refuse and accepted the gift from Crown Prince Louis with a solemn expression. He tied the sword directly to his belt.

At this time, Crown Princess Mary also stepped forward and handed a beautiful gilded envelope to Lawrence:

"It's such a pity that a good man like you has to leave Paris again, Mr. Bonaparte. I heard that you are going to fight in the Kingdom of Naples this time. My sister is now the Queen of Naples. I have had a good relationship with her since we were young. If she knew you My friend should be able to give you more care, so this letter of introduction may be of some use to you."

Lawrence took the envelope solemnly, and after thinking for a moment, he remembered the Queen of Naples:

"Is your sister Maria Carolina? I'm sorry to trouble you, Your Highness."

Carolina and Crown Princess Marie are biological sisters. They are both daughters of Maria Theresa and princesses of the Habsburg family. The two had a close and intimate relationship when they were at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna.

Three years ago, in 1768, the sixteen-year-old Carolina left Austria, married the current King of Naples, Ferdinando IV, and became the Queen of Naples.

Austria has always had a tradition of intervening in the courts of various countries through marriage diplomacy, whether it is France or Naples.

Compared to Crown Princess Mary, who has not yet taken control of the French court, Carolina, who is already the Queen of Naples, is only nineteen years old at this time, but she already has considerable influence within the Kingdom of Naples.

Moreover, Austria had an agreement when it entered into a marriage alliance with the Kingdom of Naples. As long as Carolina gave birth to an heir for Ferdinando IV, she would be eligible to enter the king's private council. Such a treaty also allowed Carolina to The queen's political status is even more prominent.

In addition, King Ferdinando IV of Naples seemed to have the same hen-controlling traits as Louis XVI, and had little ability to resist this princess from the Habsburg family. Therefore, the king was willing to hand over some government affairs to Handled by Queen Carolina.

From this, Queen Carolina can definitely be regarded as a political figure in the Kingdom of Naples who is no less influential than the king. She can even influence the appointments of some ministers and support her confidants and favorites to the top. .

Historically, Queen Carolina, as the actual ruler of the late Kingdom of Naples, was a loyal supporter of enlightened autocracy and implemented a large number of progressive reform policies, turning Naples into the cultural and artistic center of Italy.

However, after the French Revolution broke out and Louis XVI and her sister Queen Mary were executed, Queen Carolina completely transformed into an ultraconservative and firmly stood in the anti-French alliance.

Lawrence thoughtfully collected Princess Mary's letter of introduction and thanked Crown Princess Mary again. If we really need to communicate with Queen Carolina, this letter of introduction should still be sent. Some uses.

Finally, Duke Charles also stepped forward to say goodbye to Lawrence. His expression was also mixed with emotions, mixed with obvious disappointment. There were not many young talents in Paris and Versailles who could be appreciated and recognized by him, not to mention Lawrence was also a fan of Rousseau.

And although he was also a member of the Privy Knights, as the heir of the Orleans family, not to mention Lawrence's disapproval, even Duke Charles himself knew that he could not go to the dangerous Italian battlefield with everyone.

However, Lawrence did intend to keep Duke Charles in Paris. The Duke could only maximize his value by staying in Île-de-France.

Today, the two of them can be regarded as close friends, and there are many coincidences in their political views. Therefore, Duke Charles also gave Lawrence considerable trust.

With this relationship, as long as Duke Charles was in Ile-de-France, Lawrence was sure that he would be able to win the support of the Duke of Orleans, the regent, on various political matters during the war.

This is undoubtedly very important to Lawrence, after all, war is a continuation of politics.

The Civil War in Naples was not only the flash of swords on the Italian battlefield, but also the treacherous situation in the Isle of France. Naturally, Lawrence would not focus all his attention on Italy.

Finally, after chatting briefly with several dignitaries who came to see him off, Lawrence got into the embassy carriage and drove south quickly in the warm summer wind under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

More than ten days later, June 24

The capital of Corsica, Ajaccio

Messengers and merchants from France brought recent developments in Paris to Ajaccio yesterday, and the Corsicans soon learned that they had been involved in an Italian war.

Although Corsica is far away from Sicily, the core battlefield of this war, because Corsica has entered a state of war with the neighboring Kingdom of Sardinia, the citizens of Ajaccio are also mentally prepared for the war to burn to the mainland. .

Since the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica received news of the war almost at the same time, the armies of both sides immediately mobilized at the same time.

The Kingdom of Sardinia seemed to have anticipated the participation of the Kingdom of Corsica in advance and had deployed a large number of troops on Sardinia. After officially receiving the declaration of war, these troops immediately began to mobilize.

According to preliminary information from the Corsican army, the total number of troops gathered by the Kingdom of Sardinia on Sardinia is likely to be close to 10,000. This exaggerated number also proves that the Kingdom of Sardinia has the ambition to completely annex Corsica. participated in this war.

After all, in the War of Austrian Succession in 1744, the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was invaded by a 60,000-strong coalition of France and Spain, could only mobilize a regular army of more than 20,000 people with the strength of the whole country.

Although King Carlo Emanuele III of Sardinia has been expanding his army and preparing for war, the nearly 10,000 troops deployed on Sardinia are probably one-third of the standing army of the entire Kingdom of Sardinia. This This force is undoubtedly the absolute main force of the Sardinian Army.

After discussion, the senior officials of the Corsican army also agreed to dispatch the main force of the National Defense Force to Bonifa in the south to prevent the Sardinian army from crossing the strait and invading Corsica northward, because there was already intelligence showing that an uncertain number of Sardinian troops are gathering in northern Sardinia.

However, Major Serulier, the commander of the French garrison in Corsica, expressed strong opposition to this deployment plan.

He believed that the enemy's concentration of troops in northern Sardinia was probably just a feint, intended to attract the main force of the Corsican army.

In this way, the capital Ajaccio will inevitably have empty defenses. The only people left in Ajaccio will be his garrison and the Central Gendarmerie Regiment used to maintain urban order. Once the Sardinian army attacks Ajaccio directly from the sea, Launching a landing offensive, it would be difficult to stop it with this force alone.

As for the consequences of the fall of the capital Ajaccio, it was undoubtedly catastrophic.

Since the main force of the National Defense Force is all stationed in Bonifacas in the south, the fall of Ajaccio will mean the direct fall of the entire central and northern Corsica. The Corsican army that clings to Bonifa will not have any strategic depth to rely on. Word.

This is only for strategic considerations. If you consider the political significance of Ajaccio as the capital of Corsica, the importance of this seaport city is undoubtedly self-evident.

However, senior officers of the National Defense Forces still believed that the French general's concerns were completely unnecessary.

According to their past experience, when the Sardinian army invaded Corsica, they would basically try to cross the strait to seize the important town of Bonifacia, and they had never launched a naval offensive.

After all, in the view of the top brass of the National Defense Forces, the naval strength of the Kingdom of Sardinia is not much better than that of Corsica.

Although their legal capital is Cagliari in Sardinia, the Kingdom of Sardinia, whose actual capital is located in Turin, is essentially a landlocked country. They also forcibly claimed a small and narrow exit from the Republic of Genoa for trade needs. Haikou, this small section of coastline is naturally not enough to support the Kingdom of Sardinia to build a huge fleet.

As for Sardinia, it has only been 40 years since the Kingdom of Sardinia acquired this island. The kingdom only regards Sardinia as a relatively close overseas colony and trading base, and does not rely on Sardinia to strengthen itself. The strength of the navy means.

Moreover, King Carlo Emanuele III of Sardinia did not pay much attention to the navy. His military focus was still on strengthening the army's strength to resist France's ambition to seize Savoy on his homeland.

In response to the analysis of senior defense officials on the naval strength of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Major Serurier also repeatedly emphasized that the Kingdom of Sardinia is very likely to receive assistance from Great Britain in this war, and perhaps Britain will secretly lease some warships to Sardinia. Kingdom use.

However, the top brass of the National Defense Forces did not agree with Major Serulier's opinion.

They believed that since Britain had reached a two-way agreement with France not to interfere in Italy, it would certainly not support the Kingdom of Sardinia's naval invasion of Corsica. This war was purely an internal fight between several Italian states. There will be participation from other major countries.

In their view, Major Serulier's worries were simply due to the French's natural hatred of the British.

As a guest general, Major Serurier naturally had no right to interfere with the dispatch of the Corsican army. He had no choice but to accept the main force of the Corsican army sent to Bonifa.

The only thing the major could do was to order his garrison to strengthen vigilance and maintain communication with the Corsican Navy at all times. (End of chapter)