From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

Meanwhile, the northern end of the Saint-Louis Bridge.

Colonel Giovanni was riding on horseback, holding a pair of binoculars, always paying attention to the situation on the Ile de la Cité.

And when the colonel saw the unstoppable crowd rushing out of the Palace of Justice and leaving the Ile de la Cité, he put down his telescope in a daze and said to himself with a complicated expression:

"Is everything over?"

"It doesn't seem to be over, sir."

The adjutant next to the colonel also observed the situation on the island with a long telescope. The adjutant frowned and said:

"It doesn't look like the mob is preparing to evacuate, but it looks like they are moving somewhere. Judging from their route, they are heading towards Montparnasse Avenue. It's really strange. What are these people going to do?"

Colonel Giovanni did not respond to the adjutant's analysis because his mind had already drifted away from Paris.

At this moment, Colonel Giovanni was still looking at the endless flow of people, as if every minute he spent here was a torment for him.

The police and soldiers still stood guard by the Saint Louis Bridge like a group of statues. According to Colonel Giovanni's instructions, they did not have even the slightest friction with any citizen.

Just as the adjutant was hesitating whether to ask Colonel Giovanni for instructions on how to respond, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves coming from far away on the street.

The sound of the horses' hooves was dense and rapid, and one could hear the anxious anxiety of the riders.

Colonel Giovanni and his adjutant subconsciously looked at the group of riders. The only ones who could gallop on the streets of Paris were basically those privileged public officials.

The leader was wearing a light gray tuxedo and a bowler hat. Although he looked like a stern bureaucrat, he was waving his riding crop like a Cossack and heading straight towards Colonel Giovanni.

It wasn't until he was only twenty yards away from the two of them that the man suddenly reined in his horse with great pride. He seemed to recognize Colonel Giovanni and shouted angrily:

"Are you Albert Giovanni? Are you in command now?! Damn it, what is going on here!"

Colonel Giovanni and his adjutant also quickly recognized that this bureaucrat was the head of the Paris City Hall and the mayor of Paris, Lyle Slater.

"Mr. Mayor." Colonel Giovanni frowned slightly and greeted expressionlessly:

"I didn't expect you to come here in person."

Mayor Lyle gritted his teeth with hatred, shook the reins with great displeasure, and shouted angrily:

"The Ile de la Cité is almost turning into a hornet's nest. Can I not come? Do you know that His Majesty the King still lives in Paris? How on earth did your police force allow such a riot to occur on the Ile de la Cité? Enough, tell me. What's the situation now!"

As the head of the city hall, Mayor Lyle could never accept anything going wrong during Louis XV's visit to Paris, let alone such a major riot that was rare in decades.

The adjutant on the side glanced at Colonel Giovanni who was silent. After hesitating for a moment, he took the initiative to explain:

"Mr. Mayor, the mob just gathered in the Palace of Justice to protest, but now they have begun to move towards Montparnasse Avenue."

"Monparnasse Avenue? Montparnasse Avenue"

Mayor Lyle lowered his head and murmured the street name, while using his index finger on horseback to draw a map of Paris.

The next moment, Mayor Lyle's face instantly turned pale and he exclaimed:

“After crossing Montparnasse Avenue, isn’t it the direction of the Tuileries Palace?!”

The three people present were stunned on the spot. Even the silent Colonel Giovanni couldn't help but widen his eyes. He had no idea what the entire plan of His Excellency Bonaparte was.

But judging from the movement path of these mobs, there is only one possible destination for them, the Tuileries Palace, the palace of His Majesty the King.

"Albert Giovanni! Where are your men? Does the police force only have so many soldiers?!"

Mayor Lyle glanced at the dumbfounded police and soldiers standing there, pointed at Colonel Giovanni angrily and yelled:

"Bring people to stop those mobs immediately, immediately! Now!"

The large rally held by the mob at the Ile de la Cité had already disgraced Mayor Lyle. If they really wanted to surround the palace, Mayor Lyle simply could not imagine the tragic future that would await him. .

However, Colonel Giovanni remained expressionless, as if he had not heard Mayor Lyle and was unmoved.

After a long while, he said softly:

"Mr. Mayor, the police and soldiers alone are not enough to stop the mob. Even if we are dispatched, it will not help, but will aggravate the situation. In the past few hours, these people have been peaceful demonstrators. If the police force If you suppress it forcefully, you will soon see tens of thousands of thugs on the streets of Paris.”

"You! What nonsense are you still talking about here! Send me someone immediately!"

Mayor Lyle was stunned, clenched his fists and was about to explode, but Colonel Giovanni changed the topic and shouted in a deep voice:

"In addition, I have to remind you, Mr. Mayor, that the Paris police force takes orders from the Minister of War, not from the City Hall. I will only accept orders from the Supreme Lieutenant General, not your dispatch. Please do not interfere with the police. decisions within the army.”

After hearing this, Mayor Lyle's whole body was shaking violently with extreme rage. He simply couldn't believe that at this juncture, the Paris police force was still ignoring the escalation of the riot like an outsider. .

Upon seeing this, a bureaucrat from the city hall quickly rode forward and whispered in Mayor Lyle's ear:

"Sir, the police force alone cannot solve this riot. We don't have time to waste time with the police force here. We must rush to the Isle of Saint-Louis immediately and seek assistance from the city defense army."

Under the persuasion of his subordinates, Mayor Lyle finally restrained his anger. He held the reins tightly and turned the horse's head. Before leaving, he turned back to glare at Colonel Giovanni and said fiercely:

"Albert Giovanni! This matter is not over yet. Just wait and say goodbye to the land of Paris!"

Having said that, Mayor Lyle did not dare to waste a moment, and immediately rushed with his entourage to the Île Saint-Louis, which is not far away from the Île de la Cité. The city defense force command post was on the Île Saint-Louis.

Watching Mayor Lyle's back gradually disappear, Colonel Giovanni smiled faintly, lowered his head and sighed softly:

"You may not know that my fate to leave Paris was determined half a month ago."

Less than five minutes later, Mayor Lyle and his party appeared on the Ile Saint-Louis.

When they arrived in front of the city defense force command post, Mayor Lyle didn't even rein in the horse completely, so he turned over and jumped off the mount that was still trotting.

He threw the reins to the followers behind him, then rushed straight into the command post, shouting at the top of his lungs:

"I am Lyle Slater! Alderman of Paris, I have something important and I must see Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe immediately!"

After simply confirming Mayor Lyle's identity, the soldiers on duty immediately took him into the public rest area, where basically all the officers from the command post gathered.

However, Mayor Lyle did not see Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe. The person who came to receive him was the second-in-command of the city defense force, the unlucky Major General Mani.

Major General Mani kindly brought a cup of coffee to Mayor Lyle and asked puzzledly:

"Welcome, Mr. Alderman, I don't know why you came to visit?"

Mayor Lyle didn't care about tasting the coffee at all. He rudely threw the cup and saucer aside, and at the same time looked around restlessly at the officers, seeming to be looking for Lieutenant General Philip:

"I'm here to see Lieutenant General Philip, where is he?"

Major General Mani looked at the city official's graceless behavior and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment before replying:

"Unfortunately, Mr. Mayor, General Philip is not at the command post. He just led the troops out of the city in person. If you have anything urgent, you can tell his adjutant."

"Leading the troops out of the city? What's going on?" Mayor Lyle was also startled. He knew very well that Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe, as the supreme commander of the city defense army, could say that there was nothing worthy of him personally leading the troops to handle. .

Major General Mani blew the steam from the coffee slowly, shrugged and explained:

"Just this morning, a group of gangsters suddenly appeared in the eastern suburbs. According to reports, there were hundreds of people. They burned, killed and looted the villages along the way. They were absolutely lawless."

Mayor Lyle couldn't help but frown. If it weren't for Major General Magny's serious tone, he couldn't believe that there would be a group of bandits stupid enough to do evil around Paris:

"Bandits? Around Paris? Is there such a thing?"

"We don't know how those fools dared to challenge the authority of the city defense army. Anyway, General Philip was quite angry. He felt that the bandits didn't take him seriously at all."

Major General Mani smiled and shook his head, taking a sip of coffee:

"So General Philip personally led the troops to hunt down the bandits this time. He vowed to kill all the bandits one by one. I guess you won't see General Philip today. Sorry, I digressed. Did you meet General Philip? Is there something important?"

Mayor Lyle took a deep breath, pointed to the Ile de la Cité outside the window and said:

"General, haven't you noticed that right next door to you on the Ile de la Cité, there is a group of lawless mobs causing chaos?"

"Ile de la Cité? Ah, there seems to be a protest rally, right? The aristocrats in court uniforms at the Palace of Justice will probably be in trouble for a while, hahaha."

Major General Mani didn't take this to heart at all, and still smiled and joked:

"It's not a big deal. Just let the police force handle these minor matters. They are best at using violence against unarmed civilians."

But Mayor Lyle was obviously not in a joking mood. He gritted his teeth and said:

"No, General, the scale of this riot has exceeded the limit of what the police force can handle, and as expected, these mobs are preparing to make the Tuileries Palace their next target!"

After hearing these words, Major General Mani's relaxed and leisurely expression finally faded a bit, and his movements holding the coffee cup froze for a few seconds, and then he asked in a deep voice:

"Tuileries? Monsieur Alderman, are you kidding me?"

Mayor Lyle said loudly without hesitation:

"Other than such a big thing, why would I come to the city defense command post?"

Major General Mani put down the coffee cup gently, his brows filled with confusion.

He turned to look at the other officers and found that everyone was similarly entangled and indecisive.

Indeed, it stands to reason that when the police force cannot handle emergencies in Paris, regular troops such as the city defense force are needed to intervene in the situation.

However, all the officers present, especially Major General Mani, will never forget the merciless reprimand given by Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe to everyone a few days ago.

The very act of mobilizing troops is the exclusive power of the supreme commander. In many cases, illegal mobilization of troops will even be directly regarded as an act of rebellion.

If Lieutenant General Philip came back and learned that the officers had deployed troops to suppress the riot without his permission, it can be said that no officer present could withstand Lieutenant General Philip's anger.

Major General Mani couldn't help but shudder. Although he was the chief of staff and deputy commander of the city defense force, and although he had completely legitimate reasons to dispatch troops, he still did not dare to risk offending General Philip to issue an order. .

After all, he had already incurred the wrath of General Philip for signing documents without authorization. If he made the same mistake again this time

Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe threatened to bypass the military court and directly execute the officers who had overstepped his authority. As the younger brother of the Duke of Choiseul, Lieutenant General Philippe definitely had the confidence to do what he said.

"General? General!"

Seeing Major General Mani sinking into deep thought, Mayor Lyle suddenly felt very baffled and had no idea why he should hesitate about this kind of thing:

"What are you hesitating about? The city defense army must be sent out immediately to suppress this riot. Let the mob surround the palace. How much trouble may there be!"

Major General Mani still bit his lip and thought for a while, then suddenly asked:

"Wait a minute. You just said that the police force can no longer handle the riot. Have the police soldiers already clashed with the rioters?"

"This" Mayor Lyle recalled the scene where Colonel Giovanni and his men were watching the Ile de la Cité like a group of scarecrows, and shook his head repeatedly:

"Probably not."

Major General Mani slapped his thigh and said repeatedly:

"That is to say, the police force did not try to suppress this riot at all. They didn't even try, so how can they say they can't suppress it? I think it's not easy for those heavily armed police soldiers to suppress unarmed civilians."

"General, what do you mean?" Mayor Lyle couldn't believe his ears and asked tremblingly.

"This is just a demonstration. Mr. Mayor, the police force can handle it by itself. There is no need for the intervention of the city defense army."

Major General Mani said categorically:

"Besides, using the military to suppress civilians will damage the government's reputation. Don't you know clearly as a city official?"

At this moment, Major General Mani had made up his mind to stand still and not to give Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe any more leverage.

As for the impact of the mob surrounding the palace, Major General Magny estimated that the mob would not make any waves. After all, Louis XV also had an elite royal guard around him. At most, it would only embarrass the king politically and diplomatically.

Even if His Majesty the King is held accountable by then, it will definitely be those in the police force who bear the blame for not taking effective action at the beginning of the riot.

Major General Mani also had good reasons to say that he did not order the dispatch of troops because he misjudged the situation. Even if he ended up taking some minor responsibilities, it would be much better than offending Lieutenant General Philip to death.

Mayor Lyle stood up excitedly, the veins on his forehead standing out:

"Don't you understand, General, the mob is going to surround the palace! Why won't the city defense army intervene?!"

Major General Mani, who had already made up his mind, instantly turned dark and said displeasedly:

"Am I not clear enough? Let the police handle this riot. Unless there is an order from Lieutenant General Philip, the city defense force will not interfere."

"You! You!" Mayor Lyle suddenly felt that he was standing among a group of hopeless fools, and he was so angry that he couldn't say a word.

"That's enough, Mr. Mayor, you have received our final reply." Major General Mani also stood up unceremoniously and ordered the guests to be dismissed:

"We belong to the Île-de-France Military Region, not to the Paris City Hall. Please stop dictating our decisions. If you have nothing else to do, please come back."

After being pushed and driven out of the city defense force command post, Mayor Lyle still couldn't recover for a long time.

At this point, he had no way to stop that damn mob from marching towards the Tuileries Palace in great force.

"What on earth are these idiots from the police force and city defense force thinking!"

Mayor Lyle squatted on a stone pier by the roadside and muttered to himself in a state of collapse:

"In this way, Paris will become an undefended empty city!"