From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

It was the morning of March 9, 1770, two days after the Battle of Bonifacio.

Ten miles away from Ajaccio, I saw a huge team that was one mile long, marching slowly and orderly on the official road.

This was the special battalion led by Lawrence and the nearly a thousand Sardinian soldiers he captured.

After paying a heavy price to repulse the Sardinian army, Lawrence still ordered the soldiers of the Southern Legion to garrison Bonifacio, while he led the special battalion to rush back to Ajaccio immediately.

Although he did not have much time to consolidate his position in the Southern Army, Lawrence knew very well that within a short time, the soldiers of the Southern Army would regard his orders as the only orders that needed to be executed.

"Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte, will we return to Ajaccio this time?"

Major Trifari shook the reins, drove the horse closer to Lawrence, and whispered.

As he got closer to Ajaccio, Major Trifalli became more and more uneasy. The words Lawrence said to him and Lieutenant Seth that day were still firmly in his mind.

In Major Cui Farley's view, although they returned with a great victory this time, it might only allow Paulie to continue to increase the pressure on Lawrence's faction.

For this reason, Major Trifalli even proposed a crazy plan to Lawrence on the way: to directly lead the Southern Army to occupy Ajaccio.

However, this plan was quickly rejected by Lawrence.

Because the garrison in Ajaccio, including Pauli's cuirassiers, were a very elite force in the National Defense Forces, even if Lawrence had those precision shooters under his command, it would be difficult to capture Ajaccio with complete certainty.

Even if Lawrence could capture Ajaccio and imprison Paoli, Lawrence would not yet have the strength to confront the British, Sardinians, Genoese, and even the Northern Army led by General Nathan who were waiting for an opportunity.

In addition, it was also because Lawrence did not want to turn his fight with Paulie into a turmoil that would endanger all of Corsica.

Lawrence on horseback shook his head affirmatively and whispered:

"We are the heroes of Corsica. Pauli will not take action against us in the short term. At most, he will try his best to move us away from Ajaccio like this time."

"That's true." Although Major Trifali was still a little uneasy, he chose to believe Lawrence's judgment.

"correct"

Lawrence's expression suddenly became solemn, he turned to Lieutenant Seth and waved his hand, motioning for him to come closer, and then said in a voice that only three people could hear:

"As I told you last time, my plan after returning to Ajaccio."

Upon hearing this, Major Trifali and Lieutenant Seth immediately became more energetic and looked at Lawrence nervously, anticipating every word he said.

After some whispering, under the shocked gazes of the two people, Lawrence nodded to himself and rode his horse for a few steps as if nothing had happened.

In the afternoon, in the auditorium of the Governor's Palace in Ajaccio.

"Your Excellency Peter, today's meeting went very well."

After finishing his routine meeting with Peter, Paulie put away the documents on the table with a smile, stood up and invited:

"Want to have a cup of tea in my garden?"

Peter just nodded with a polite smile, and followed Pauli to the garden of the Governor's Mansion with the help of an attendant.

The two of them sat down at a small round table, with matching tea sets already prepared on the table.

After taking their seats, the two of them drove the entourage out with a tacit understanding. They both knew that this would not be a simple afternoon tea.

Peter directly picked up the teacup and took a sip, looked up at the flowers and grass around him, and said casually:

"The garden is nice, Governor Pauly."

"Thank you for the compliment."

After some polite words, there was a brief silence between the two, and then Paulie spoke first:

"By the way, don't you care about that young man Lawrence? He should be back soon."

Although Paulie did not receive any letters from Bonifacio, judging from the time, Lawrence should lead a group of defeated soldiers back to Ajaccio in disgrace in the next few days.

In Pauley's mind, it was the best outcome to use Lawrence's defeat to deprive him of all his authority, and then send him back to England with Pitt.

Peter nodded with a half-smile and said meaningfully:

"Isn't it just for this reason that you asked me to come for tea?"

"Your Excellency is indeed very witty." Pauli was not surprised and said with a smile:

"I mentioned to you some time ago that the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia has landed in Corsica. If I guessed correctly, they have occupied southern Corsica at this moment."

Peter glanced at Paulie with some dissatisfaction, frowned and said:

"Isn't this a good thing for you as a leader? The alluvial plain in southern Corsica is an important granary for the entire island, not to mention it is farming season."

"Haha." Paulie smiled awkwardly and said:

"Not necessarily. If the Sardinian army occupies a large area of ​​Corsica, even though the Kingdom of Sardinia has not yet submitted a declaration of war, such an action would already be a substantial war."

"So? What do you want to say?" Peter's brows still didn't relax, he put the teacup back on the table and looked at Paulie and asked.

Paulie straightened his back and looked around. Although he knew that there were only two people in this garden, Paulie still said with a guilty conscience:

"I hope that the English army can land in Corsica. At that time, I will announce the treaty with you so that Britain can join the war and occupy Sardinia after repelling the Sardinian army. within the jurisdiction of Corsica.”

Although the sun was shining brightly in the garden and the chirping of various rare birds was refreshing, Peter's face instantly turned gloomy and he said sternly:

"You gave up one-third of Corsica to the Sardinians just to get an excuse to occupy Sardinia? Governor Paoli, although I am an Englishman, I still want to ask you whether you have considered southern Corsica. the people?”

Pauly didn't look into Peter's eyes, he just shook his head and said:

"The people. Those farmers must be very proud that they deserve to make sacrifices for Corsica."

Dissatisfied, Peter propped up the table and stood up, shaking his head and saying:

"Excuse me for sacrificing their lives for Corsica, Governor Paoli. I think they sacrificed their lives for your title of 'Duke of Sardinia and Corsica'."

For Pauli, if he was only awarded the title of Count of Corsica, such a title would no longer be able to satisfy Pauli's desire. Once he captured Sardinia, he could use the historical titles of the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica. , will definitely be granted the title of a Duke.

Seeing that the atmosphere in the garden was becoming difficult to end, Pauli's secretary suddenly rushed in.

"What's wrong? Didn't I tell no one to enter the garden?"

Paulie immediately turned to look at his secretary and asked, ending the argument with Pete.

"I'm sorry, Lord Governor, but..."

The secretary glanced in Peter's direction, seeming hesitant to speak.

"If you have anything to say, speak quickly. Mr. Peter is one of our own." Pauli noticed the secretary's hesitation and ordered impatiently.

Although Peter could also understand Italian, Paulie did not let Peter get out of the way in order to show his generosity.

"Yes." The secretary swallowed, glanced at Paulie with some fear, hesitated for two seconds, and then said quickly:

"Laurence Bonaparte led the special battalion back to Ajaccio, and they defeated the Sardinian army and came back with about a thousand prisoners!"

"What?!"

Paulie froze on the spot in a daze, couldn't stop taking a few steps back, and knocked the round table filled with tea sets over to the ground, making a crackling sound.

Peter was as shocked as Pauli. He also knew how weak the Corsican Southern Army was compared to the Sardinian Army. Even as a meritorious leader who won the Seven Years' War, Peter had no confidence that he could compete with Lawrence. Same thing.

"Where is Lawrence now!" Paulie stopped pretending and roared directly without caring about his face.

"General. Governor, he is now parading through the streets of Ajaccio with his soldiers and prisoners, and is receiving cheers from the people."