From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

The sound of wind still echoed throughout the entire auditorium. The manic evening wind swept through and blew out all the candles on the table. Some candlesticks were even overturned directly to the ground, rolling on the ground and making a clanking sound.

"Treason? Ha"

Paulie shook his head, sneered disdainfully, and said without looking at Lawrence:

"I am protecting Corsica, young boy, don't talk about politics!"

"Protect?" Lawrence couldn't help but put his hands on the table and asked loudly:

"This country will cease to exist. Corsican language, culture, traditions, everything will cease to exist. Our descendants living in London only know that they are British but do not know that they have a home called Corsica. , you call this protection!”

The echoes continued to refract and reflect, reaching Pauli's ears over and over again, but Pauli just shook his head indifferently and said:

"You'll understand when you look at something later."

About a few minutes later, Pauli's secretary returned to the auditorium with a large volume of documents in his arms, put the documents on the table, and left in a sensible manner.

"Let's see."

Paulie pushed the large pile of documents in front of Lawrence, dropped this sentence, and then closed his eyes to rest.

Lawrence frowned and opened the document. The letterhead stated that this was a report from the Southern Corps of the National Defense Forces.

The reports have been arranged chronologically, the earliest one was four months ago, and the latest one was just delivered a few days ago.

In the twilight before sunset, Lawrence looked through these reports.

When the sun completely set, the auditorium became pitch black, and both of them could only see each other clearly through the moonlight.

Lawrence threw the thick book on the table, held his forehead and exhaled a long breath, and asked in a deep voice:

"The Kingdom of Sardinia is preparing to invade Corsica?"

Sardinia is located just south of Corsica, and is almost connected end to end with Corsica. There is only a strait about ten kilometers wide between the two islands.

The full name of the Kingdom of Sardinia in this era should be the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont.

Because the earliest Duke of Piedmont in northwest Italy exchanged Sicily for Sardinia in 1723, used Sardinian legal principles to create the title of the Kingdom of Sardinia and crown himself.

Therefore, the basic base of the Kingdom of Sardinia is not in the poor island of Sardinia, but in the rich Piedmont in the Po River Basin.

Even its capital is not in Sardinia, but in Turin, Piedmont.

"Yes, do you know this country?"

Paulie said, stood up, picked up a candlestick, lit it again and placed it on the table.

Lawrence sorted out his memory and analyzed:

"Sardinia has nothing to say, but Piedmont is a land of fertile soil and water, and it is the industrial center of Northern Italy. It also has a unique geographical environment, surrounded by the Alps on three sides. Although the territory is small, its national strength is quite strong. "

Of course, there is one thing Lawrence did not mention, that is, the historical Kingdom of Sardinia completed the unification of all Italy and established the Kingdom of Italy almost ninety years ago.

Paulie nodded in recognition and asked:

"Do you think Corsica has a chance of winning?"

Lawrence shook his head simply and turned into a defeatist strategist:

"Not at all. They came here for the silver mines. Mineral-rich Corsica is an excellent complement to the terrain of the Piedmont plains."

After hearing this, Paulie smiled happily, thinking that he had convinced Lawrence, and said:

"Use your intelligence to understand. If the Reasonable had not been anchored in Ajaccio, the navy of the Kingdom of Sardinia would have entered the port of Ajaccio."

The evening breeze rustled the pages on the table. Paulie crossed his legs, looked at Lawrence as if he had a winning chance, and added:

"And you also heard that Lord Peter has won a title for you, so shut your mouth and go to London to enjoy life."

However, to Pauly's surprise, Lawrence slowly but firmly shook his head and said:

"With all due respect, Governor, in order to drive away a wild wolf, you attracted the attention of a lion."

"What do you mean?" Paulie was startled and asked with a frown.

Lawrence took a deep breath, collected his thoughts for a moment, and said:

"Governor, who hates the British the most?"

Paulie replied without hesitation:

"The French, the whole world knows."

"So which is the most important seaport of the British Royal Navy in the Mediterranean?" Lawrence then asked.

"Well of course it's Gibraltar, Lawrence, what on earth are you trying to say?"

After Paulie thought for a moment, he frowned at Lawrence and said.

"Your answer was correct. Unfortunately, it was wrong not long after."

By candlelight, Lawrence opened the report of the Southern Army, found a map of the Northern Mediterranean, brought it to Pauli and said:

"When the British get Corsica, Ajaccio will become their most important naval base in the Mediterranean. Because here is Spain and France to the west, Italy to the east, and North Africa to the south. They may even This served as a springboard for an attempt to gain control of Egypt to open a second route to India."

"Of course, these are not the most important." Lawrence then added:

"The most important thing, and the most fatal thing for Corsica, is that Ajaccio is only about a day's sail from Toulon and Marseille in France. The French will not accept that these two cities are directly threatened by the Royal Navy."

As soon as he finished speaking, Paulie fell into silence for a while, saying nothing under the continuous chirping of insects.

"You also understand, once a war breaks out between Britain and France, Corsica will immediately become the focus of competition between the two sides, and the consequences of that will be

Lawrence didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning was obvious.

The entire island of Corsica will become a battlefield filled with smoke. As long as the historical enemies of Britain and France are still hostile to each other, the Corsican people will always live in the haze of war.

"That's enough, Lawrence, that's enough."

Pauli struggled to squeeze out a sentence, waved his hand and said:

"This is just your wishful thinking. Since the British will regard Ajaccio as an important military port, they will also protect Corsica. I don't want to hear these words anymore."

Seeing Paulie's stubborn look, Lawrence couldn't help but lower his head and sighed, shook his head and said:

"Governor, if I had known that you were going to give Corsica to the British, I would not have put so much effort into helping you get rid of the French threat."

"Lawrence, what do you mean?!" Paulie was already a little angry, but it was only for Pete's sake that he didn't break up with Lawrence.

Lawrence waved his hands, not caring about Paulie's emotions at all, shrugged and said:

"At least the French will treat Corsica as a core territory rather than just a large port like the British did."

Historically, Corsica has been synonymous with poverty since its annexation to France. Its per capita GDP is 30% lower than that of France, but it will also receive huge financial subsidies.

During the French Directory period, the annual subsidy to Corsica was as high as 11.4 billion francs.

Even in the 21st century of Lawrence's previous life, the French government provided high financial subsidies to Corsica every year.

Boom!

Paulie punched the table hard, and the loud noise passed through the lonely night sky, startling a group of birds living in the garden:

"Shut up! Laurence, you can leave now. Also, here's what the Corsicans often say: don't try to fight the wave."

Lawrence stood up silently and walked out of the auditorium without looking back.

Paulie sat in his seat, trembling with anger, staring uneasily at Lawrence's back slowly disappearing into the darkness under the moonlight.

It was not until after leaving the Governor's Palace that Lawrence looked up at the clear night sky and murmured to himself:

"Genoa, Sardinia, Corsica, England, this island has become the fuse of a powder keg. In this case, it might as well make the situation more chaotic."

Having finalized his decision, Lawrence's eyes became firm again and he looked towards the northwest sky, in the direction of France.