From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

While the guests in the Hall of Mirrors were shocked by this sudden episode, just three blocks away from the Palace of Versailles, there was a British sovereign embassy and consulate.

The Duke of Aiguillon's car quietly got into a secluded lane under the cover of night, and finally stopped at the back entrance of the embassy and consulate along this lane.

An embassy official seemed to have been here for a long time. He immediately stepped forward to fetch the cloaked Duke himself, and the two of them secretly entered the courtyard through a secret passage at the back door of the embassy.

"Ah, Your Excellency the Duke, you are finally here."

Baron Bertula was not surprised at all by Duke Aiguillon being led into his room. Instead, he looked at each other knowingly, and then immediately screened the secretary and assistant out of the room.

Duke Aiguillon's face was solemn, and he obviously didn't want to be polite to the other party. He directly pulled out a chair and sat down:

"I heard that the remnants of the Knights have rushed to the Palace of Versailles to report the news. You should also have received the report, right?"

"In fact, I only received the urgent report from the south two hours ago." Baron Bertula smiled slightly and threw an unsealed diplomatic letter to Duke Aiguillon without hesitation:

"Everything is going according to plan and the Neapolitan Navy has taken over the island of Malta."

The Duke of Aiguillon read the entire secret letter with some difficulty. His English level was not excellent:

"Have most of the remnants of the Knights fled to Corsica? Forget it, those people are not important."

Baron Bertula smiled wisely:

"As long as Monsignor Richelieu is ready, we can start the next step."

"Uncle has already made preparations." Duke Aiguillon glanced at the British ambassador, then frowned and stared at the secret letter in his hand, and cursed unwillingly:

"It's just that Lawrence Bonaparte was really lucky. He chose to cut off from the Duke of Choiseul at this exact moment, otherwise he would have been buried with that warmonger's faction."

Baron Bertula didn't care about this and waved his hand:

"This does not affect the overall situation. Our current target is Choiseul; as long as the Duke is defeated, Lord Richelieu will be able to regain power. Then it will be easy for you to deal with another Laurence Bonaparte. ”

Although Duke Aiguillon was very unwilling to put that damn Corsican to death immediately, he also admitted that Baron Bertula was right.

Their primary goal is to defeat the Duke of Choiseul and capture the power vacuum created by the Duke's fall, allowing the legendary Duke of Richelieu to return to the pinnacle of power.

In the face of this ambitious goal, the personal feud with Laurence Bonaparte can only temporarily take second place.

"but."

The Duke of Aiguillon glared at Baron Bertula with some fear and suspicion. Although the two of them are now together because of some common interests, this does not mean that the Duke of Aiguillon completely trusts the British Ambassador to France:

"In the Naples Civil War, you British were clearly on the side of the rebels, but this time you were able to encourage the Royal Navy of Naples to attack the island of Malta under the control of our ally France."

The Duke of Aiguillon can also see a lot of things about the British layout in the Mediterranean.

He knew that the British wanted to take advantage of the Naples civil war that could break out at any time, intervene in the war by supporting the rebels, and expel the Naples royal family controlled by the Spanish vassal from South Italy, thereby establishing a South Italian vassal state loyal to Britain.

In this way, even if the British failed twice in the battle for Corsica and Malta, the two Mediterranean hubs, as long as they control southern Italy, the British sphere of influence in the Mediterranean will undoubtedly be greatly enhanced.

However, Duke Aiguillon was also very confused as to how Britain, on the side of the rebels, encouraged the Royal Navy on the opposite side to take the initiative to capture the island of Malta:

"Do you also have insiders among the top leaders of the Kingdom of Naples?"

Baron Bertula pretended to be mysterious and smiled, knowing that the other party was trying to find out more about him.

He stood up and brought a glass of sherry to the Duke of Aiguillon, and said with perfect accuracy:

"There is indeed a pro-British faction among the decision-makers of the Kingdom of Naples who is dissatisfied with Spain, but please forgive me for not being able to disclose more details to you. Matters in southern Italy will soon become our internal affairs."

The Duke of Aiguillon snorted coldly and said nothing. The agreement between him and Baron Bertula was originally the same. Southern Italy belonged to the British and the power of France belonged to Richelieu.

Baron Bertula ignored Duke Aiguillon's dissatisfaction, walked to the window with a chuckle, looked at the brightly lit Versailles Palace under the moonlight, shining like stars, and grinned:

"Okay, Duke Choiseul, it's time for me to see your countermeasures."

Almost at the same time, in the Palace of Versailles.

The royal dinner in the Hall of Mirrors was still going on. Most of the guests, especially the ladies and artists, were only slightly affected by this sudden episode. When Archbishop Giotto was taken away from the mirror, After entering the hall, the golden banquet corridor soon returned to its usual state of revelry.

Only a small number of politically sensitive guests seemed a little uneasy. They clearly remembered that the nominal Grand Master of the Knights of Malta was the current King. How could the Kingdom of Naples, an ally of Spain, take the initiative to occupy Malta? What about the island? !

In any case, several cabinet ministers, including Lawrence, could no longer stay in the Hall of Mirrors. They immediately followed Archbishop Giotto to a side hall outside the Hall of Mirrors and asked solemnly. What happened to that heart of the Mediterranean.

And according to the narration of Archbishop Giotto, an eyewitness, the ministers in the side palace felt even more unbelievable about the appalling behavior of the Kingdom of Naples:

About ten days ago, the main fleet of the Royal Navy of Naples gathered around the island of Malta.

Archimandrite Giotto didn't pay much attention to this at first. After all, the Knights often attacked neighboring Naples merchant ships when carrying out pirate raids. The relationship between the two sides was therefore very tense. The Naples Navy also often dispatched fleets for escort and deterrence. Such a fleet gathering is not surprising.

In addition, the Knights of Malta have now obtained the protection of Louis XV. Archbishop Giotto did not use the limited manpower on the island for combat preparation and defense. He just assigned a few flexible small schooners to scout the opponent's fleet as usual. movements and whereabouts.

However, that night, without any warning or communication, the fleet suddenly bombarded the port of Valletta on the island of Malta.

With the cover of artillery fire and darkness, and the fact that the Knights did not expect that the Kingdom of Naples, an ally of France, would launch a surprise attack on them, the Naples Marines easily occupied the port of Valletta.

What happened after that was almost exactly the same as the siege of Malta a year ago: the Naples Navy relied on the absolute advantage of its fleet to continue bombarding the small island of Malta with artillery.

This time, the Knights did not have the reinforcements brought by Lawrence to ambush like a year ago, nor did they have the right time and place brought by the storm at that time.

In the face of the opponent's continuously advancing line of infantry, the knights' superb swordsmanship had almost no use. Only during skirmishes in street battles did the knights have the opportunity to pull out the long swords at their waists.

But despite this, the Naples army's advance was still overwhelming.

After all, the biggest feature of the musket since its birth is that it can bring an elite warrior who has been trained for twenty years and a conscripted peasant who has been trained for twenty days to the same starting line.

Due to the unexpected surprise and the huge numerical disadvantage, Archbishop Giotto knew that it would be impossible to defend the enemy's offensive with the strength of the Knights themselves.

In the end, he had no choice but to issue a humiliating and extremely difficult order: to withdraw the main force of the Knights to the headquarters of Fort Manoel and defend it in a bloody battle to attract the enemy's attention, while a small number of the remaining people took the opportunity to take the express train. Sailboat, use the agility and speed of small ships to escape the enemy fleet blockade and save the Knights' spark.

"We finally escaped to Corsica, Monsignor Bonaparte."

Archimandrite Giotto looked at Lawrence with a complicated expression, his tone was heavy but also full of gratitude:

"Your personal secretary, Miss Anna Celestia, received us and has already settled the remnants of the Knights. I came to France alone to report the news of the attack on Malta. Your Excellency, I must tell you My sincerest gratitude, this is the second time you have saved the Knights."

Lawrence also nodded solemnly. It seems that the reason why Archimandrite Giotto is so down and haggard is probably because he traveled all the way through starry nights and did not dare to waste a moment.

At this moment, there is only one question that worries Lawrence and all the cabinet ministers - why on earth the Naples Navy, which is supposed to be an ally, attacked the Mal Island.

"Are you sure that the attacking party is the Royal Navy of Naples?" Lawrence pondered for a moment and asked with a frown.

Lawrence's first thought was whether the British as a spoiler would interfere again, pretending to be the Naples navy and launch an attack to alienate the good diplomatic relations between France and the Kingdom of Naples.

After all, Lawrence already knew last year that the British had also coveted the island of Malta for a long time. If he had not provided help to the Knights in advance, I am afraid that the Union Jack flag would have been hung on the Heart of the Mediterranean.

Archimandrite Giotto nodded his head without hesitation, gritted his teeth and said:

"I have been a sailor on ships since I was twelve years old. Over the years, the regular army I have fought against the most is the Naples Navy. I can be sure that the people who launched the attack that day were Neapolitans. Their uniforms, weapons, queues, accents, and password habits are all... It can’t be faked, I can even name half of the battleships in their fleet.”

Hearing these words, the expressions of the ministers in the room instantly became more solemn. If Archbishop Giotto's judgment is correct, it means that the attack was indeed carried out by the officials of the Kingdom of Naples.

This is not good news for the two countries that maintain an alliance, especially for Louis XV. He only happily accepted the title of Grand Master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem last year, and even served in the priesthood for this purpose. The staff were filled with pride for a while.

If His Majesty the King were to know that the Knights of Malta, which he personally protected, had been raided by the allies, the ministers would have expected His Majesty the King to be furious and furious.

The newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Vergenin, frowned even more. He had never expected that he would experience such a severe diplomatic crisis when he first took office.

Fortunately, as an extremely experienced diplomat, Count Vergenin quickly calmed down and ordered his assistant secretary:

"Summon the Ambassador of Naples to Versailles, immediately, immediately!"

Since the international status of the Kingdom of Naples is very average, their ambassadors are not eligible to be invited to the dinner in the Hall of Mirrors. However, embassies and consulates from various countries are also gathered in the center of Versailles, and the ambassadors can rush to Versailles as quickly as possible. Come to the palace.

The ministers looked at each other and nodded. In this case, they must first listen to the descriptions of both parties before making a decision.

In less than half an hour, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Naples, a Spanish nobleman who seemed taciturn and extremely dull, rushed to the Palace of Versailles under the order of Count Vergenin to accept questions from the cabinet ministers.

When the ambassador was informed of the situation at the scene, his expression showed a hint of surprise, and he muttered strangely:

"Malta? That small island? That doesn't matter at all. I thought you were going to discuss war aid."

"War aid?"

Count Vergenin twitched his eyebrows. He felt confused at first, then his face changed drastically, and he realized something in an instant:

"Does it mean that your country has already?"

Before the ambassador could answer, the ministers had already opened their eyes as wide as Count Vergenin, anticipating the worst outcome.

The Ambassador of Naples glanced at the ministers, and then sighed heavily and uncontrollably. His expression was no lighter than that of the French ministers present:

"War, yes, sirs, war! A civil war has broken out on the land of southern Italy. I only received news from the mainland late last night. I was originally planning to meet with His Majesty the King of France tomorrow."

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the whole room suddenly became a lot heavier, as if there were a thousand pounds of iron weighing on everyone's hearts.

Although the news about the critical situation in South Italy was no longer a secret, the ministers could not help but feel a palpitation after the Naples ambassador actually confirmed the outbreak of the civil war.

The word war is extremely heavy, and no one can tell whether the sparks caused by a small civil war will ignite the entire French Kingdom into an endless flames of war.

After all, the Kingdom of Naples is a vassal state of Spain, and Louis XV had long signed a family agreement with his cousin, King Carlos III of Spain, to advance and retreat together.

Once Spain and France, the two major Western European hegemons, join forces to intervene in the Italian war, the situation will inevitably expand.

Britain, Austria, Prussia, and even Russia and the Ottomans in the east, the European powers may all focus their attention on the Apennine Peninsula, treating the entire South Italy as a chessboard, and engage in a game of iron and blood.

Less than ten years have passed since the end of the last continental war, the Seven Years' War, but at this moment, the false peace is already crumbling, and the ministers in the room can vaguely smell the faint smell of gunpowder.

The Kingdom of France has one foot hanging over the abyss of war. Regardless of whether the Naples Civil War will develop into a continental war, the Kingdom of France seems to have to abide by the family agreement with Spain and rush to the war with a sword.

While the ministers were whispering and discussing the shocking news, Lawrence just sat in his seat without saying a word, staring up at a map of Europe hanging on the wall of the room.

Corsica is a hub located in the center of the Western Mediterranean. Once a war breaks out in southern Italy, no matter how large the scale of the war will develop, this lonely island will definitely be involved in the center of the storm.

"Is the war inevitable?"

Lawrence closed his eyes and meditated, thinking silently:

"However, this may also be a good opportunity for me to enter Italy. Since war is unavoidable, I just need to be the winner."

Lawrence clearly understood that the calm peace was comforting, but since the war had spread to the seas in all directions, the Corsicans must be forced to take up arms.

And this war will definitely bring not only risks and disasters to Corsica, but also endless opportunities to rise on the European continent.

"As long as the scale of the war can be controlled within Italy through diplomatic mediation and ensure that major powers do not interfere in the Mediterranean, my army will most likely be able to influence the direction of the entire war."

Lawrence slowly opened his eyes, his eyes clear and firm:

"If everything goes well, Corsica's boundaries should soon no longer be restricted to that barren island."