From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

Two days after the Republic of Genoa surrendered to the Corsican Army, October 7

It's approaching midnight, thick clouds close the moon, and night falls on the land of Liguria.

In a remote rural area like Valdolidore, except for a few lights in the center of the town, the rest of the area is completely dark and you can't see your fingers.

Several lightly-armed scouts were seen reaching the edge of the town of Valdolidore under the cover of night. Under their cloaks were the uniforms of the Royal Army of the Kingdom of Sardinia. At this moment, they were looking at the situation in the town with wide eyes.

It has been several days since the Corsican army landed in this coastal town, and Prince Vittorio led the main force of the Sardinian army to a station sixty miles away two days ago.

Following his father's orders, Prince Vittorio began to guard against the impact of the Corsican army after arriving at the station, intending to completely block the Corsicans in Liguria, in order to gain support for the operation to regain Sardinia. Enough time.

However, to Prince Vittorio's surprise, the Corsican army did not rush to attack Turin. Instead, they stationed themselves in Valdolidore in a tug of war while receiving supplies from the sea. While strengthening the defense of this town.

In his opinion, it was very strange that the Corsican army that came across the sea did not choose to take advantage of Colonel Bartland to have a quick battle with the Kingdom of Sardinia after the entire Corsican army was annihilated.

After all, time is on the side of the Kingdom of Sardinia. The longer it takes, the more troops the kingdom can recruit and assemble, and the gap in strength between the Kingdom and the Corsican army will widen.

For this reason, Prince Vittorio, who was suspicious by nature, frequently sent people to inquire about the authenticity of the Corsican army.

"Report, there are four, no, five large ships anchored in the port, all flying Corsican flags."

A scout lay under the cover of the bushes, watching the ships in the port with a long telescope, and reported to the noncommissioned officer next to him:

"There are still many soldiers carrying and unloading goods on the dock. There should be hundreds of them."

The noncommissioned officer took the telescope with a solemn expression, personally observed the situation in the port, and said to himself:

"The five ships, just like yesterday, are all large merchant ships with four decks. It seems that the Corsicans consume a lot of supplies every day."

As an extremely experienced scout, the sergeant could tell at a glance that the five large merchant ships were all carrying supplies for the Corsican army.

During yesterday's reconnaissance, this scout team also witnessed with their own eyes a group of merchant ships coming to Valdolidore to supply the Corsican army.

The same five large merchant ships also unloaded tons of supplies. Even just unloading those heavy wooden boxes took hundreds of soldiers half a day.

Based on the analysis of the quantity and frequency of supplies, the sergeant can almost conclude that there are probably more than five regiments of the Corsican army stationed in Valdolidore at the moment.

"Does that mean the Corsicans have already left in full force? They probably brought the French garrison with them as well. With so many troops stationed in Valdolidore standing still, what on earth are they going to do?"

The sergeant thought silently and turned the camera to the center of the town.

The town center was the same as yesterday, with no trace of the townspeople at all. It was unknown whether they were dead or alive, and it was unknown what the barbaric Corsicans had done to the townspeople.

In fact, not only the residents of the town of Valdolidore disappeared without a trace, but several villages around the town were also found to be empty of people after secret investigations by Sardinian army scouts.

Of course, the sergeant is not in the mood to care about the poor people now. His attention is focused on the hundreds of marching tents erected in the corners of the town:

"Four-five. Six, there are about six hundred military tents. Taking into account the capacity of the houses in the town, the Corsican army here does have more than five regiments."

Based on the number of military tents in the town, the sergeant once again confirmed his conclusion - the main force of the Corsican Army is currently stationed in this seaport town, facing off with the main force of the Sardinian Army sixty miles away. .

Several scouts once again observed every corner of the town of Valdolidore, but found nothing unusual. Then they evacuated the place before the Corsican soldiers became alert and returned to the station sixty miles away.

At dawn, inside the main tent of the Sardinian army station

"Just received a report from the front line, Your Highness."

A staff adjutant walked into the tent and reported to Prince Vittorio who was enjoying breakfast:

"The Corsican army is still not taking any action. Their army size has been determined to be five infantry regiments through front-line assessment. It seems that they have brought the French garrison to Italy."

The breakfast on the table is very rich - smoked sausages, fried eggs, creamed salmon, a cup of fragrant hot coffee and a small bottle of fine brandy from the Poitou manor. In the marching camp, such a breakfast is rare Extremely so, even for a crown prince.

But Prince Vittorio obviously had no appetite. He listened absently, the silver knife and fork put aside, and all his energy was focused on another report in his hand.

Including the other officers in the tent, they all had almost the same expression. Everyone looked gloomy and remained silent for a long time, and they did not dare to touch the knives and forks at hand.

It wasn't until the adjutant who reported the report coughed twice in embarrassment that Prince Vittorio came back to his senses and suddenly said:

"You just said that all five regiments of the Corsican Army are deployed in Valdolidore?"

"That's what the report sent back from the front said."

The staff adjutant was stunned for a moment and quickly added:

"They determined this from the supply situation of the Corsican Army and the size of the military camp. At noon yesterday, they even witnessed the Corsican Army in Valdolidore conducting a large-scale drill. The number of soldiers participating in the drill alone exceeded Three thousand people must be the main force of the Corsican army stationed in Valdolidore."

"waste."

"Your Highness, what did you say?" The staff adjutant was stunned for a moment and did not react for a moment.

"A bunch of trash, how can the main force of the Corsican army still be stationed in Valdolidore!"

Prince Vittorio's expression was extremely angry:

"This is also the report I just received. It is news from Genoa."

Prince Vittorio frowned and looked gloomy. He pointed at the report on the table and said in a deep voice:

"Lawrence Bonaparte personally led his army into Genoa City on October 5 and forced the Republic of Genoa to sign a treaty. The content of the treaty is not yet known, but what is certain is that the Republican Guard in Genoa has been completely wiped out. "

The Republican Guard was completely wiped out and the Republic of Genoa was forced to sign an alliance under the city. Naturally, it was impossible for such major news not to leak out, especially in Genoa City, which was connected in all directions and where businessmen from all over the world gathered.

Therefore, Prince Vittorio quickly got the report in hand.

"What?! How is this possible!"

The staff adjutant was even more shocked when he heard this, and his mouth never closed:

"But the main force of the Corsican army is clearly stationed in Valdolidore. This is what the frontline soldiers saw with their own eyes."

The sentries deployed by the Sardinian Army around Valdolidore all made a unanimous judgment that at least five infantry regiments of the Corsican Army were deployed here, and this was also recognized as the entire Corsican Army Kingdom. The troops are strong.

But it is also an indisputable fact that the Republic of Genoa was attacked, especially since the army there was confirmed to be led by Lawrence Bonaparte himself.

How could an army be in two places at the same time? ! This conflicting news immediately caused the staff adjutant's brain to shut down for a while, and he was unable to say anything for a long time.

The other officers in the tent also lowered their heads tightly, no one dared to offend the future King at this time.

The anger on Prince Vittorio's face became even stronger. Like his father, when the prince heard about the defeat of Colonel Bartland and Lieutenant General Ethel, he also expressed his displeasure with the corrupt and incompetent officers of the Royal Army. Feeling increasingly distrustful:

"You idiots, isn't the fact obvious now?! One of the two Corsican armies of Valdore Dore and Genoa must be used to feign attacks to attract our army's attention!"

In fact, the officers present can also understand this truth, but there is only one question before them now, which army is the main force of the Corsican army.

The report of Valdore Dore's scout force must be true, but the report sent from Genoa is equally credible. The two equally true and credible reports indicate that the main force of the Corsican army is in different positions. The decision-making of the officers suddenly became extremely difficult.

Seeing that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was furious, the staff adjutant who had just received the news carefully asked:

"Didn't the report from Genoa mention the size of the Corsican army?"

"There is no certainty in the report. It is all second-hand information from hearsay."

An officer shook his head and said:

"Some say five hundred, some say one thousand, and some even say ten thousand or fifty thousand. We can't send people to Genoa to investigate with great fanfare."

Due to territorial disputes, the relationship between the Republic of Genoa and the Kingdom of Sardinia was already extremely tense. Therefore, the Kingdom of Sardinia did not have a reliable intelligence network in Genoa, and the way they got the news was just hearsay.

Everyone in the main tent was silent again. Everyone knew that they would not have time to carefully investigate where the main force of the Corsican army was located, and they had to make a decision immediately.

According to the judgment of His Majesty King Carlo Emanuele III, the Corsican Army’s only goal is Turin, so this trick they played must also be to avoid the Sardinian Army led by Prince Vittorio Main force.

In other words, if the enemy army in Genoa is indeed the main force of the Corsican army, then they are already crossing Liguria and beginning to enter the Po River Valley towards Turin. Prince Vittorio must It's time to lead the army to intercept.

But once the enemy army in the direction of Genoa was a feint attack, Prince Vittorio fell into the trap of diverting the tiger away from the mountain, and the main force of the Corsican army stationed in Valdolidore could swagger across Liguria and attack Turin directly.

As for the proposal to divide the troops to defend both sides, it was quickly vetoed by Prince Vittorio. If the main force of the Corsican army really has more than five regiments, then the Sardinian army after the division will face the main enemy force. It is entirely possible to fall into disadvantage.

Seeing that everyone was silent, a lieutenant colonel officer suggested with a difficult expression:

"Your Highness, from the perspective of probability, the enemy army in Genoa is more likely to be its main force. Since they can completely defeat the Republican Guard in Genoa, it is unlikely that they are a feint attack force. The Corsicans must It’s about bypassing Genoa and entering the Po Valley.”

As soon as he finished speaking, someone immediately objected:

"Genoa's army is already weak, and the Corsicans made a surprise attack, so it is entirely possible to win with less."

Prince Vittorio listened silently, his expression uncertain.

He indeed believed that the enemy troops in the direction of Genoa were more likely to be the main force of the Corsican army, but Prince Vittorio, who was suspicious by nature, felt that something was not right.

If the purpose of the Corsican Army is to march north through Genoa quickly and covertly, then they should pay attention to directly engaging the Republican Guard, instead of engaging in a head-on battle with the Republican Guard and entering the Doge's Palace with great fanfare, and even forcing Genoa's top brass signed a peace treaty.

Such an arrogant posture simply told everyone, including Prince Vittorio, that the Corsican army was launching an attack on the Kingdom of Sardinia through Genoa.

Even Laurence Bonaparte personally led the Corsican army on the Genoese side.

Think about it for a moment, if Prince Vittorio, as the commander-in-chief of the Corsican army, wants to confuse the Sardinian army, he will definitely personally take charge of Valdolidore's feint attack force and let his subordinates lead the main force to quickly bypass Genoa. Launch an attack.

Prince Vittorio did not believe that Prime Minister Bonaparte, who had become famous at a young age, would not think of this, but Lawrence Bonaparte still showed up at the Governor's Palace in Genoa. This abnormal behavior immediately made Prince Vittorio suspicious. :

"Could it be that Valdore Dore's Corsican army is the main force? Laurence Bonaparte's publicity in Genoa was just to confuse me? It's suspicious, too suspicious."

In fact, such contradictory psychology is also a true portrayal of the heart of every officer present.

In the face of such limited information, no one can make a 100% correct decision with certainty.

And just when everyone's decision-making was at a deadlock, a messenger suddenly walked into the tent:

"Your Highness, an envoy has arrived at our army camp. He claims to be an envoy from the Palace of Turin and has come to deliver a letter from His Majesty the King to you."

"A messenger sent by my father?"

Hearing this, the gloom on Prince Vittorio's face suddenly disappeared, and he hurriedly waved:

"Bring him in quickly!"

After a simple security check, a plain-looking royal envoy wearing a sheepskin cloak was brought to the prince.

Prince Vittorio frowned and looked at the dusty envoy in front of him, feeling a little weird. He couldn't remember when the Kingdom of Sardinia was so poor that it had to wear cheap sheepskin cloaks for royal envoys.

"Greetings, your highness."

The envoy simply exchanged greetings, and then said nothing. He only respectfully handed a gold-gilded envelope to Prince Vittorio's hand, and then said goodbye:

"Please understand that I have a heavy workload and have to immediately convey His Majesty's orders to several towns in the south. I cannot stay in His Highness's camp for a long time. Please forgive me."

Having said that, before Prince Vittorio could nod in agreement, the envoy left the main tent after bowing and walked out without looking back.

"Um?"

Prince Vittorio still held the envelope in his hand, but his eyes were still staring at the back of the envoy. He didn't come back to his senses until the other party completely disappeared from sight, frowned and said to himself:

"It's really strange. His face just feels strange to me, and I've never seen this guy in the Palace of Turin before. His accent is also like Tuscany and Corsican dialect."

Prince Vittorio, who was born in the Purple House, knew very well that those who could serve as envoys in the Turin Palace were all local nobles with pure blood from Savoy. How could their accents have a southern accent.

With such doubts, Prince Vittorio tore open the envelope and read it in front of all the officers.

The content of the letter is very brief:

"My son, how is everything in the military camp? I have received news that the main force of the Corsicans has marched from the direction of Genoa towards Turin. I hope that after receiving this letter, you will immediately lead the army eastward, in the Po River Valley. Intercepting the Corsican Army."

Finally, there is the signature and seal of King Carlo Emanuele III.

After learning the content of this letter, the faces of the officers in the main tent suddenly became much more relaxed. Unexpectedly, His Majesty the King had already received the news and made a decision directly. This saved the hesitant officers like them. A big trouble.

"As expected of Your Majesty, you are indeed wise and powerful."

"Well, although I don't know how His Majesty judged that the direction of Genoa is the enemy's main attack direction, I still obey the order."

"Finally a fight to the death with the damn Corsicans."

"Your Highness, let's prepare to march immediately. There is no more time to waste."

Seeing His Majesty the King's order being issued, the officers were finally no longer as nervous and depressed as before. Now they only need to execute the order, and all consequences will be borne by His Majesty the King himself.

However, just as everyone was looking at Prince Vittorio expectantly, waiting for his order.

Prince Vittorio suddenly sneered, held the gorgeous white letter in front of him, and then tore it into shreds without hesitation.

"Your Highness! What are you doing!"

All the officers were completely shocked.

Even if Prince Vittorio is the undisputed king in the future, at this moment, he cannot do such a rebellious act as tearing up His Majesty's decree.

Prince Vittorio just glanced at the debris on the ground with a sneer and said in a deep voice:

"I felt something was wrong when the envoy came in. After seeing the letter with my own eyes, I was even more convinced that it was not a royal envoy at all. It must be a spy sent by the Corsicans. The handwriting of this letter It's not my father's at all. It doesn't look like it at all. Even the seal is an extremely poor forgery. I can see at least five mistakes at a glance!"

An officer carefully looked down at the piece of paper with the seal, and suddenly felt that the seal pattern on it was slightly different from the seal of His Majesty the King that he often saw.

"Is this letter a forgery?! Then that person just now is!"

The officers looked at each other and immediately realized the seriousness of the matter.

"Guards! Guards! Capture that so-called envoy just now!"

Prince Vittorio called loudly to his personal guards, but soon a guard walked into the tent, knelt down on one knee and said:

"I'm extremely sorry, Your Highness! The man who just walked out of your military tent left the military camp directly and fled south on a fast horse!"

"Huh, that's all. There's no need to send people to chase him."

Prince Vittorio smiled ferociously. Looking at the pile of debris on the ground, he already felt like he was winning. He couldn't help laughing loudly:

"Hahahahaha!"

"Why is Your Highness laughing?" the staff adjutant asked cautiously.

"I laugh at Laurence Bonaparte's scheme."

Prince Vittorio clenched his fists and said with joy:

"Stupid Corsicans, if they didn't play this dirty trick with me, I would really be a little hesitant, but now, their actions show that the Corsicans desperately want us to leave Vadoli Dore!”

After hearing this, the expressions of the officers immediately changed from shock to ecstasy.

That's right, the Corsicans sent this spy to deliver a message in an attempt to move Prince Vittorio's army to the east. Doesn't this prove that the army stationed in Valdolidore at this moment is actually the main force of the Corsican army? !

"Give me the order!"

Prince Vittorio looked majestic, waved his hand, and confidently ordered:

"The whole army will continue to guard this place and block the Corsicans in Valdolidore. No matter what the rumors are from the outside world or what the enemy's actions are, our army will remain stationary. Those who disobey orders will be dealt with according to military laws in wartime!"

"Your Highness is wise!"

The officers couldn't help but express heartfelt admiration.