From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"You bastards of Sardinia! I will definitely push you into the sea and drown you to death!"

"Shut up, Corsican monkey, I will pee on your grave if your body is found tomorrow!"

In the narrow streets of the northern city of Ajaccio, a blood-stained volunteer soldier gasped for air, holding a short sword in his hand and facing the Sardinian soldiers in front of him.

It was already dark, and neither of them could see each other's face clearly. They could only barely stare at each other's body outlines in the dark.

Their feet have been filled with corpses for an unknown period of time. The blood spilled in this city has even gathered into small pools of blood on the streets. Almost every soldier who died fighting on the front line has the soles of their boots. It has been dyed red.

The two soldiers confronting each other seemed a little exhausted, and their teammates had already become part of the forest of corpses in the bloody battle just now.

Under the clear moonlight, one could even vaguely see the tragic scene of the seriously injured undead lying on the ground struggling and squirming.

The two remaining soldiers exchanged harsh words and quarreled with each other, taking the opportunity to gather strength.

Less than a minute later, the volunteer soldier took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and kicked the ground, using all his strength to stab the invader in front of him with the knife that he hated so much.

The Sardinian soldier subconsciously raised his musket and bayonet to block him, but he obviously had not recovered from the battle just now. When the volunteer soldier's short knife sank three inches deep into his chest, his hands were still weak. Hanging on the crotch.

Without any last words, only accompanied by an instinctive whimper, the Sardinian soldier dropped his musket and hit the ground heavily. His body followed him and fell into the pool of blood, and soon there was no movement.

The volunteer soldier gritted his teeth and pulled out his short knife, staring blankly at the enemy who died under his sword. He did not feel the joy of stabbing the enemy to death, nor the joy of surviving the disaster. The smell of blood in the air made him want to vomit.

He wandered in this blood-filled alley for a while with his eyes blankly, and was about to return to the rear to report, but suddenly there was a sound of rapidly approaching footsteps behind him.

Bang, bang bang!

The soldier was about to look back, but several gunshots had already reached his ears.

The soldier's head had just been twisted halfway, and the severe pain all over his body made him fall to the ground. He knew that he had been shot.

Fifteen or sixteen Sardinian soldiers looked at the volunteer soldiers lying in a pool of blood expressionlessly, and immediately began to reload. A non-commissioned officer who looked like a captain loudly commanded his troops to take over the alley immediately.

Within a few minutes of the Sardinian soldiers occupying this street, another team of volunteers rushed here immediately, trying to retake this neighborhood.

Amidst the flashes of swords and bursts of smoke, countless blood was spilled on the land of Ajaccio.

Such battles happen all the time.

The bright, soft, watery moonlight shines on Ajaccio, but the city will definitely not be as peaceful and quiet as it used to be tonight.

As Pasquale Pauli led the temporarily formed Citizen Volunteer Army to join the battle, the Corsican army, which was originally in decline, instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

Under the leadership of General Pauli, this temporarily formed volunteer army also showed amazing cohesion.

With resentment against the invaders, these martial and bloody Corsicans rushed to the frontline battlefield to fight to the death with the Sardinian army. The morale they showed was not at all like a temporarily formed levy army.

At the same time, the combat power of this citizen volunteer army seemed to completely exceed the expectations of the Sardinian army.

At first, the Sardinian commanders were not wary of this newly formed rabble.

They discussed the threat of the civil resistance in Ajaccio in their early offensive plans, and finally concluded that there was no need to worry and no measures needed to be taken.

And when the Citizen Volunteer Army almost broke through the entire Sardinian army's front line from the North City District, the Sardinian commanders immediately reacted in shock and hurriedly redeployed their troops, thus barely maintaining their control over the West City District.

Although it did not cause a major disaster, such a command error also caused the Sardinian army to waste several hours of offensive time, allowing the Corsican army to successfully delay the battle until June 25.

Under the gradually deepening darkness, the Sardinian army's unfamiliarity with the city's terrain also caused them to frequently encounter obstacles in their attacks. Coupled with the fatigue of the soldiers, the Sardinian army's offensive had weakened compared to that in the afternoon. many.

By midnight, although it was still unable to completely push the Sardinian army back into the sea, the Corsican army had built a solid line of defense and successfully blocked the Sardinian army's advance towards the east city.

Of course, for the Sardinian Army, which has come across the sea and has an advantage, maintaining the status quo and engaging in a long-term tug-of-war is definitely the most unlikely strategy to accept.

Ajaccio Port, inside the temporary command post of the Sardinian Army.

"What a gaffe!"

Colonel Bartram stared angrily as the hour and minute hands on the pocket watch coincided with the zero hour mark. In anger, he smashed the valuable solid gold pocket watch to the ground and killed it with his boot. Crushed into the dirt.

All the officers in the command post looked at the documents and maps on the table in silence, not daring to make any move when their superiors were furious.

As the army commander of this landing operation, Colonel Bartland simply could not accept the battle situation at this time.

The Sardinian Army successfully deceived the Corsican Defense Forces strategically and transferred its main force to the south. They also had an absolute firepower advantage, with twice the number of troops, and even surpassed Corsica in terms of equipment and training. Even so, Colonel Butland was not able to completely capture Ajaccio on June 24.

And judging from the current situation, Colonel Bartland can't even guarantee that he can completely capture the capital of Corsica on June 25.

"You are a bunch of trash! You are worse than a pig or a dog!"

Colonel Butland punched the table, and glanced around his staff and adjutants with a cold expression, obviously very angry:

"Before the expedition, I made a promise to the Ministry of War, and even to His Majesty the King. I also boasted to those idiots in the Ministry of Admiralty that I could take Ajaccio in one day, but now what kind of face do you want me to have? Go back to Turin?"

The officers were all trembling and did not dare to say a word.

However, the officers present could probably understand Colonel Bartland's anger.

After all, Colonel Bartland suffered a major defeat in Corsica a year ago.

At that time, the Kingdom of Sardinia received news of the giant silver mine that had been explored near Ajaccio. King Carlo Emanuele III of Sardinia, who had already coveted Corsica, immediately ordered the army to start from The Sardinian army crossed the sea and invaded Corsica, seizing the Ajaccio silver mines.

At that time, Colonel Bartland led an army of more than 3,000 men across the strait in a mighty manner, trying to capture the Bonifaits in southern Corsica and then directly attack Ajaccio. Come and build your own great achievements.

However, Colonel Bartland's plan failed at the first step.

The more than 3,000 men he led were resisted by the Corsican army of only 1,000 men in Bonifavia, and the Corsican army was commanded by a little-known yellow-haired man named Laurence Bonaparte. Boy, Colonel Bartram has never even heard of this guy.

What happened next is no secret in the Kingdoms of Corsica and Sardinia:

Laurence Bonaparte returned with a great victory at Bonifain, but Colonel Bartram was not only almost wiped out, but he himself was wounded by a stray bullet and fell off his horse. He was barely rescued from the battlefield by his subordinates and Come back with a life.

Since then, Colonel Bartram has been humiliated and neglected at home because of the shameful humiliation of his army being annihilated with three thousand against one thousand. Although Laurence Bonaparte soon proved that he was not an ordinary person, Colonel Bartram's disgrace will not be erased.

His enemies within the army even advocated sending Colonel Bartland to a military court for trial, because they believed that even if a pig was the commander at the time, it was impossible for the entire army to be annihilated in Bonifacio.

And more than a month ago, when the colonel learned that the kingdom was planning to launch a raid on the Kingdom of Corsica, the desperate Colonel Butland was forced to choose to give it a go:

With resentment against Laurence Bonaparte, Colonel Bartram mobilized all his connections and political resources, paid a huge price, and made countless favors and promises, and finally got what he needed at this moment. The opportunity to stand in Ajaccio and command the landing force.

As long as he can perfectly capture Ajaccio, Colonel Bartland will be able to avenge the shame of the Boni French, and even take credit for the subsequent occupation of the entire territory of Corsica. Such a credit Maybe he can be promoted to a general.

But contrary to expectations, the current situation seems to be completely different from the bright future imagined by Colonel Bartland.

"You all talk to me, huh?! What are you doing with your mouths shut!"

Colonel Bartland roared at the officers, his eyes fixed on the east city of Ajaccio on the map. For him, that piece of land contained the ladder to power and status. Hidden is the abyss that will destroy him forever:

"Why on earth has the frontline become like this! Why has the advance stalled! And why haven't even the warships in the port been completely captured yet?!"

The Sardinian Navy made special instructions before the operation, requiring Colonel Bartland to capture the Corsican warships in the port intact when they captured Ajaccio. After all, if all the Corsican naval warships could be integrated into the Kingdom of Sardinia, This is also a great help to the already weak Sardinian Navy.

However, due to the desperate resistance of the Corsican navy sailors, the Sardinian army has only captured a few ketches and light cruisers so far. The two most critical line battleships are also led by Grosso Bruno. Resisted tenaciously.

Under Colonel Bartland's angry questioning, his staff adjutant hesitated for a long time before whispering:

"The resistance we encountered was stronger than expected. Sir, the street terrain of Ajaccio is more complicated than expected. Now our soldiers are exhausted after fighting for several hours, and the visibility at night is so low. , I think the possibility of breaking through Ajaccio tonight is quite limited. It is better to consolidate the front line now and rest for a night."

"Recuperate? Why don't you just go back to your homeland and recuperate!"

Colonel Bartland roared and interrupted the staff officer, waving his hand to the naval fleet vaguely visible on the sea outside the window under the moonlight:

"Do you know that the army officers on the flagship are all gearing up, waiting to take away the command of the landing force from us, and take away the glory and merit that should belong to us! As long as we don't capture Ayak tonight Xiao, I’m sure there will be more than three generals vying to take over the command of this army before dawn tomorrow!”

Faced with this outstanding achievement of capturing Ajaccio and annexing all of Corsica in one fell swoop, even a general from the Kingdom of Sardinia would be jealous. If they found out that Colonel Bartland had done anything wrong during the landing operation If there are any mistakes, the colonel will inevitably be urged to hand over the command of the political troops.

And this is undoubtedly unacceptable to Colonel Bartland, who spent all his money in exchange for command of this battle.

The staff officer's body trembled. Although he couldn't stand his parents' behavior of putting their own interests above everything else, he didn't dare to say anything more, so he had no choice but to propose:

"Okay, if you insist on continuing the attack, we happened to capture a group of Corsicans who were too late to evacuate, as well as some surrendered enemy soldiers. Perhaps we can force them to serve as our army's city guides. In addition, regarding night lighting We must immediately prepare to distribute torches and lanterns to the soldiers."

"No, I don't need the Corsican's help!"

Colonel Bartland's eyes widened even more, and he could even clearly see bloodshot threads as dense as a spider web:

"Execute all the prisoners, take out their intestines, and cut off their heads. I will let all the Corsican rebels know the consequences of disobeying us! There is no need to prepare any torches, Just set a fire in Ajaccio and light up our soldiers with blazing fire! Even if this city turns into a ruin at dawn, I will make sure that the Savoy flag flies on that ruin!"

These almost roaring words made all the officers in the command room shudder. They looked at Colonel Bartland's dazed and crazy look in horror, but they did not dare to raise any objections.

Although the officers present knew very well that when Colonel Bartland's order was fully implemented, this pearl of Corsica would surely become a ghost town before dawn.