From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"Ah, I heard you were looking for me, Major Bonaparte."

General Nathan was having breakfast, two pieces of soft and delicious wheat bread, and three fried egg pancakes on both sides. He didn't even look up when Lawrence came in, and just greeted him casually.

Lawrence smiled, pulled out a chair, sat down, and said:

"We meet again, General Nathan."

"I hope we won't meet again, Major Bonaparte. According to the schedule, you should be training the Fourth Infantry Battalion."

General Nathan said, took out a handkerchief, rubbed the corners of his mouth, and kept his eyes on his dining table.

"Of course, but you also know the situation of the fourth battalion and need some extra supplies." Lawrence said unhurriedly.

After hearing this, General Nathan sneered inaudibly, raised his head, almost looked at Lawrence through his nostrils, and said:

"I'm sorry, Major, but all troops are in short supply."

Publicly or privately, Lawrence did not expect General Nathan to directly agree to his request. Fortunately, this was within Lawrence's expectation.

To force Nathan to accept his request, Lawrence had no choice but to use his trump card, Governor Pauly.

"I understand your difficulties, General, but you should also know why I went to Bastia from Ajaccio, with all the trouble and on the orders of General Paoli."

Lawrence said mysteriously. He knew that Pauli would not reveal the troop withdrawal plan to Nathan, otherwise there would be no need to carry out the task himself and he could just let Nathan carry it out personally.

After hearing this, Nathan frowned. As a confidant of Pauli, although he was not informed of the content of the plan, he did know that an extremely important plan was brewing in the Governor's Palace in Ajaccio.

The young man in front of him is one of the few, maybe even the only one who knows about this plan.

Seeing that Nathan didn't answer, Lawrence pretended to be exaggerated and said:

"Oh my god, don't you know? Please forgive me for being abrupt."

"That's enough, Major Bonaparte, what do you want to say?"

Nathan looked at Lawrence with cold eyes, and there was a hint of anger in his tone. In his view, Lawrence was making a mockery of him as a close associate of Pauley who had not been informed of the plan.

"In order to carry out the plan, I need a batch of supplies and equipment." Lawrence said directly, and then added in a higher tone:

"Of course, you can refuse, but if all the efforts of this plan are in vain by then, I will be happy for General Nathan to take on this responsibility for me."

"You" Nathan stared at Lawrence closely, took a deep breath, tried not to have an attack, and said:

"I need to ask General Paulie for instructions."

Lawrence shrugged indifferently and said:

"Okay, okay, but it takes four days to get back to Ajaccio from Bastia. I hope your messenger can come back before my plan with General Paoli fails."

If these words were spoken to ordinary people, General Nathan would have taken off his belt and started beating him. However, Nathan did not dare to do anything to the major appointed by Paulie himself.

Moreover, Lawrence's words did make Nathan a little afraid. If this god-knows-what plan really failed, Nathan would not be able to figure out whether he would be responsible for it.

"Major, what do you need?" These words were almost squeezed out by Nathan through his teeth.

Lawrence sneered in his heart and couldn't help but sigh that his guess was indeed correct: such a general who was in a high position relying on Pauli's trust could not risk offending Pauli to be tough on him to the end.

"Guns, gunpowder, bullets, new military uniforms, boots, marching tents, engineer shovels, and more"

Lawrence mentioned a list of supplies, but they were all very ordinary supplies, and Nathan simply agreed to them all without hesitation.

Only for muskets, as there was indeed a shortage of stocks, Nathan gave Lawrence only one hundred old-fashioned muskets.

With a gloomy look on his face, General Nathan stamped his seal on the list of supplies he had just approved for Lawrence, and said with great reluctance:

"Major, take the list to the quartermaster. If you have nothing else to do, please leave."

"Oh, I almost forgot, there is one more thing."

Lawrence patted his thigh and said quickly:

"It seems that a batch of counterfeit coins were seized recently? I need two boxes of that one too."

"Don't push yourself too far, these counterfeit coins can't be leaked out!" Nathan slapped the table angrily and yelled.

"This is just a prop for a drama. I will pay it back a lot."

Lawrence's expression remained unchanged, and he responded with a smile:

"Plus, it's part of the plan."

"you!"

Nathan blushed and clenched his fists, but could not say anything. He knew almost nothing about this plan, but he could not refuse Lawrence at the risk of offending Paulie.

As long as Lawrence didn't make excessive demands, Nathan would have to consider his possible responsibilities before refusing.

After emerging from the longhouse, Lawrence took the list to the quartermaster in Bastia. The other party's expression was very strange when he received the list. He didn't know how General Nathan could approve a large amount of supplies for the Fourth Battalion.

After confirming the seal above, the quartermaster had no choice but to execute the order, saying that he would prepare all the supplies within tomorrow and transport them to the fourth battalion's camp.

However, for those boxes of counterfeit coins, Lawrence said that he needed them now, so the quartermaster had to send a few orderlies to carry two boxes with Lawrence.

When Lawrence led several orderlies to the place agreed upon with Trifali, the other party had obviously been waiting for a long time.

The six cuirassiers also wore a full set of armor and weapons and waited patiently on the spot. The sabers on their waists were particularly dazzling in the noon sun.

"Major Bonaparte."

Seeing Lawrence approaching, a cavalry leader drove his horse towards him in small steps, and said with a somewhat unkind expression:

"Although Major Trifari invited us in a personal capacity, please know that General Pauli will be furious if he knows that you are dispatching the cuirassiers without authorization."

Lawrence smoothed the mane of his horse under his crotch with his hand, shook his head and said:

"No, no, this is not me dispatching you without permission."

"What do you mean?" The cavalryman was stunned, not knowing what Lawrence was talking about.

"Major Cui Farley is your good friend. If he is in danger, you won't just die without saving him, right?"

"Danger? What's the danger in staying in Bastia?" the cavalryman said, still frowning.

Lawrence smiled and patted the short knife on his waist, looked in the direction of the fourth battalion and said:

"If he and I go on a killing spree in the Fourth Battalion, it will inevitably trigger a mutiny. At that time, Major Cui Fali will be in danger."

The cavalryman took a breath of air and couldn't help but said:

"A mass killing? Those are all soldiers of the National Defense Force. Why kill them? How many do you want to kill?!"

Lawrence took the reins from Trifari, got on his horse and rode slowly towards the camp of the fourth battalion, while saying in a cold voice:

"Kill them until they obey."