From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

The Palace of Versailles, on the Grand Canal, where the Duke of Richelieu lived under house arrest.

Next to the beautiful single-family villa, there is a thriving vineyard. Under the warm morning light and the breeze, everything around seems so quiet and leisurely.

The plants in the vineyard were all grafted by the Duke of Richelieu himself from the back garden of the Palace of Versailles when he had nothing to do.

It is said that His Majesty the King was very happy to see his old friend having such a leisurely life, and specially rewarded him with a batch of the best grape vines.

At the end of May, the refreshing fruity aroma begins to fill the vineyards.

The Duke of Richelieu got up early in the morning and strolled through the orchard with seven or eight of his entourage. Like a farmer who was not skilled but enthusiastic, he personally picked the crystal-clear grapes.

The Duke wore a set of sturdy but rough canvas clothes. He did not wear trousers, and his feet were not gorgeous cowhide boots, but a pair of flat straw woven straw boots.

Judging from his clothes today, almost no one can recognize that this is the famous Duke Richelieu. Instead, he really looks like an ordinary old country farmer.

The Duke's entourage also joined in the picking with smiles, as if they were following a kind and kind grandfather on an outing in the countryside, even though these people were actually assigned by His Majesty the King to monitor the Duke. agent.

After spending nearly a year with the Duke of Richelieu, these monitors gradually relaxed their vigilance. They were no longer as close to the enemy as they were at first, and they had to report every slightest sign of trouble to His Majesty the King.

They all realized that Duke Richelieu really had no ambitions. He spent his days fishing, playing chess, and making wine and growing vegetables. Although the Duke was not very good at the skills of these common people, he was always happy with it and often greeted them and his entourage. Have fun together.

Even many new agents were shocked after seeing the Duke in person. They couldn't believe that this kind, easy-going, leisurely and indifferent old man was the legendary Duke Richelieu.

And these monitors have not reported Duke Richelieu's suspicious behavior to the king for a long time.

On the one hand, this is because Duke Richelieu did not show any abnormality, and on the other hand, it is also because His Majesty the King no longer seems to resist the Duke's interest in politics as he did at the beginning.

Especially in the recent period, after Madame Du Barry passed away and the Duke of Orleans became regent, the surveillance of Duke Richelieu has become much looser, and even the entourage installed here has been reduced by nearly half.

Even not long ago, the Duke of Richelieu rarely openly discussed and analyzed the current political situation with a visitor. When this matter was reported to His Majesty the King, Louis XV did not do anything about it. The reaction was tantamount to acquiescing to Duke Richelieu's attention to political affairs.

After His Majesty the King acquiesced in this temptation, the monitors also understood and consciously further relaxed their monitoring of the Duke.

"Oh, right"

In the vineyard, a monitor whispered to his colleagues:

"The Duke of Aiguillon is coming to visit in the afternoon. Do you need to record this conversation?"

The colleague hesitated for a while, then shook his head:

"No need. It seems that the surveillance of the Duke will end soon. There is no need to offend the Duke at this juncture. Besides, the Duke of Aiguillon has been keeping a low profile recently. It should just be a heart-to-heart talk between the uncle and nephew."

"makes sense."

A few days later, on June 2, Calais Port.

The Port of Calais is the northernmost important port in France and closest to the British mainland. It borders the lowland areas controlled by Austria and is only four hundred miles away from Paris.

And the most important thing is that it is only sixty miles away from the Port of Dover in England.

When the weather is good and the sea conditions are calm, standing at the Calais Port you can completely see the outline of the British Port of Dover on the other side, and those swimmers with excellent physical fitness can even set out from here to directly cross the entire English Channel.

It is also because of this unique geographical location that the Port of Calais is not only an important hub for private trade between Britain and France, but also the most crucial military fortress for France to curb British naval hegemony.

Therefore, this port can be regarded as a battleground between Britain and France. Whenever France wants to attack the British mainland, starting from Calais is undoubtedly the first choice, including Napoleon's gathering of troops here when he tried to attack England.

Correspondingly, when Britain intended to invade France, its first strategic target must also be here.

Therefore, the French can be said to have heavily defended the Port of Calais, building more than ten heavy coastal defense forts alone.

These forts surround most of Calais Port, enough to cover the entire port area with artillery fire.

The person responsible for commanding these forts and an entire subordinate artillery regiment is an experienced lieutenant colonel commander who is about to retire, Lieutenant Colonel Cavell.

On the evening of June 2, the sunset was like a fire, and the red sky was reflected from the sky to the sea, extending to the infinite distance where the water and the sky meet, as if the entire North Sea was bathed in blazing fire.

Lieutenant Colonel Cavell stood on the top floor terrace of a seaside fortress, blowing the salty sea breeze and looking uneasily at the prosperous port area below him.

There is an endless stream of merchant ships going back and forth inside and outside the port area. Most of them are trading ships from Britain and France, but there are also merchants from the Netherlands, Austria, Spain and a number of small coastal countries in North Germany. Even standing on the top floor of this fortress. You can hear the bustle of the harbor.

The sky gradually darkened, and the port area and the city were covered with a hazy light. Lieutenant Colonel Cavell squinted and saw that the lights in the blurred vision were like dots of starlight reflected from the sky on the water.

Although the Lieutenant Colonel has been stationed at the Port of Calais for nearly fifteen years, and he has watched this scenery for fifteen years, at this moment, he is still staring at the peaceful and peaceful port area that he is guarding. , as if a wanderer who is about to travel far away is gazing at his hometown longingly.

Colonel Cavell watched for a while longer, until the setting sun began to kiss the western horizon.

He sighed, carefully turned his head and looked around, making sure no one was around before taking out a crumpled letter from his chest. It was obvious that he had read this letter more than once before.

The content of the letter was very long, but Lieutenant Colonel Cavell's eyes were fixed on the signature, on the very familiar red inverted triangle logo on a white background, which was the coat of arms of the Richelieu family.

When Lieutenant Colonel Cavell had just entered the ranks of upper-level officers, the Duke of Richelieu was still known as Marshal Richelieu and had considerable power in the French army.

Therefore, the lieutenant colonel did not hesitate to seek refuge with Duke Richelieu. He proved his loyalty in many missions and was deeply trusted by Duke Richelieu.

Lieutenant Colonel Cavell originally thought that he could easily become a general with the help of the Richelieu family. However, the world always did not fulfill people's wishes, and the rise of Duke Choiseul completely shattered his hopes.

The lieutenant colonel soon became a victim of the political struggle between the two dukes. As Choiseul came to power, he was sent to the port of Calais as a garrison officer in his prime, which meant that he lost all hope of promotion.

But despite this, Lieutenant Colonel Cavell does not resent the Duke of Richelieu. On the contrary, during the fifteen years he was stationed in this border fortress, he has always maintained contact with the Richelieu family, and has always proved that own loyalty.

And this is probably why Duke Richelieu gave him this important task.

The lieutenant colonel knew that if this mission could be successfully carried out, he might still be able to seize the hope of promotion during his last period of service.

Lieutenant Colonel Cavill took one last look at the contents of the secret letter, then tore the entire letter into pieces and threw it into the howling sea breeze.

Taking advantage of the afterglow of the setting sun, Lieutenant Colonel Cavell looked at a few British cruisers cruising in the distant sea. These warships were nominally escorting the country's merchant ships, but in fact they only came to show off to the French in Calais Port every day. muscular.

"The timing is almost perfect."

Lieutenant Colonel Cavill nodded, took a few deep breaths, and walked downstairs toward the port area without looking back.

Before the sun had completely set, a large British armed merchant ship sped up, sailed into the port area under the guidance of the customs officials of Calais Port, and docked smoothly on the pier.

The customs officials were preparing to board the ship for inspection as usual, but they saw Lieutenant Colonel Cavell leading a group of heavily armed soldiers to the dock and motioned to them bureaucrats to leave:

"Gentlemen, this place has been taken over by the garrison. We suspect that the ship came to Calais Port with impure motives."

The British captain on the deck suddenly changed his expression when he heard this. He didn't know how he had offended this officer, so he quickly put on a smile and flattered him in less fluent French:

"Good evening, sir! Of course a big man like you can see that we are a group of honest businessmen. The boats are full of fabrics and clothes. If you like British clothes, you can pick a few boxes and go on board. Just treat me and A brave soldier like you makes a friend."

At the same time, the mercenaries serving as guards on the deck were also eyeing the French soldiers who were waiting on the dock. The keen mercenary captain frowned and secretly ordered his subordinates to get weapons and distribute them.

The well-informed mercenary captain also realized that something was wrong, and vaguely realized that they could not stay in Calais Port tonight.

And Lieutenant Colonel Cavell didn't listen to the captain's words at all. He just pretended to glance at the large armed merchant ship in front of him.

This kind of ship is generally used for ocean navigation. It is either modified from retired warships or produced according to the standards of warships. Even the British Royal Navy will use this kind of ship with acceptable firepower and flexibility. Used as a frigate.

"You despicable and cunning British fellows!"

Lieutenant Colonel Cavell suddenly roared, drew his command knife, pointed at the gun deck of the merchant ship and angrily shouted:

"What kind of merchant ship is this? This is clearly a warship. What are you trying to do by sneaking into the Port of Calais?! Soldiers, immediately take control of all the people on board and shoot those who resist!"

"What?!"

Not to mention the British captain, even the customs officials nearby were shocked.

This is no warship, it's clearly just an ordinary armed merchant ship.

Could it be that a lieutenant colonel officer who had been stationed in the port area for fifteen years could not tell such an obvious difference? !

Naturally, the trusted soldiers who took orders from Lieutenant Colonel Cavell would not make these useless thoughts.

They immediately lined up and set up the boarding ladder that had been prepared, and in an instant they were about to board the deck and take control of the British merchant ship.

The British captain looked horrified and leaned out to say something.

However, the mercenary captain next to him pushed him away, stepped forward, took out his pistol, pointed it at the French soldiers on the gangway, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

This dull gunshot seemed to silence the entire Port of Calais for a moment.

A French soldier who was struggling to climb was shot in the chest. His legs and feet suddenly became weak and he fell directly from the more than 20-foot-high gangway into the sea. The gushing blood soon dyed the surrounding seawater light red.

The sailors, officials and businessmen on the surrounding docks all subconsciously stopped talking and looked at the British merchant ship and the French soldiers with blank expressions.

The British shot French soldiers in the port of Calais? !

In today's peaceful era, it is hard to believe such news even if it is printed in newspapers, but it really happened before everyone's eyes.

The shot itself was a serious diplomatic incident.

What's more, this is just the beginning.

After the mercenary captain fired the first shot of resistance, the rest of the guards woke up one after another, and immediately used the cover of the ship's side to rain down bullets on the French soldiers below, trying their best to prevent them from boarding the ship.

The French soldiers in the rear row were also well prepared. They immediately raised their guns and fired back without Lieutenant Colonel Cavell's order, providing fire cover for the pioneers boarding the ship.

The two sides immediately began a fierce exchange of fire, and the pier, which was usually soaked by sea water, was soon filled with blood.

Continuous gunshots and the wails of the wounded echoed through the Port of Calais, and the ten-year peace that this prosperous port area had enjoyed was completely broken at this moment.

The pier was filled with panicked civilians who ran away, and many anchored ships also responded quickly, scrambling to set sail and prepare to escape from this land of trouble and trouble.

On the deck, the British captain, who was bathed in the hail of bullets, squatted down with his head in his hands, looking shocked, and yelled at the mercenary captain:

"Oh my God, what are you going to do? That's an army soldier!"

"Don't be so fucking stupid, lift anchor and leave the harbor!"

The mercenary captain pulled out his short sword, gritted his teeth and shouted:

"This must be a premeditated accident! If it falls into the hands of the French, we will never get back alive!"

The British captain turned pale and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

As a well-informed captain, he had also heard that there might be a stalemate between Britain and France recently due to the war in southern Italy.

However, he never expected that such bad luck would happen to him.

But no matter what, the only option now is to escape. You must not be caught by these French guys.

He did not dare to waste a moment, and quickly ordered the sailors to prepare to set sail and leave the port, while the mercenaries on the ship could still use the terrain advantage to temporarily resist the French troops from boarding the ship.

After a while, the gunfire gradually subsided.

Dozens of corpses were lying strewn on the pier, including those of French soldiers and British mercenaries who were injured and fell from the deck. More corpses fell directly into the sea and fell away after a few waves. No trace.

There was a hint of blood smell in the salty sea breeze.

This armed merchant ship from Britain finally escaped from danger and slowly sailed out of the harbor in the roaring sea wind.

The sails on all the masts have been raised, and the surviving crew members are eager for a storm to send them back to the waters of their home country in an instant.

Although they have not completely left the port, at least the heavily armed French soldiers cannot pose any threat to the merchant ship.

The British captain sat down on the bloody deck, turned to look at the Port of Calais, which was gradually shrinking in his field of vision, and crossed himself on his chest with a pale face, thanking God for protecting him from the hands of these damn French lunatics.

However, his thanks seemed a bit too early.

Suddenly, deafening roars were heard one after another from all around the Port of Calais.

Immediately afterwards, in the British captain's field of vision, he saw hundreds of black shadows flying from all directions, and expanded rapidly in his field of vision, leaving him no time to react.

"Shock! Get down!"

The mercenary captain shouted, flew towards the captain and pushed him to the ground.

The overwhelming cannonballs were tilted around the merchant ship. Although most of the cannonballs just fell into the sea and made a splash, there were still more than a dozen heavy lead bullets that smashed into the hull of the merchant ship, causing the entire deck to shake like an earthquake. stand up.

After a round of shelling, amid the flying wood chips and dust mist, the British captain leaned out blankly.

Only then did he realize that the dozen or so coastal defense forts deployed around Calais Port had already aimed their guns at the merchant ship. No, it should be said that the French had prepared this bombardment in advance.

Not only that, on the highlands and hills around Calais Port, more than thirty field artillery pieces were also deployed in advance, and they also aimed their muzzles at the ships in the port area.

The British captain almost gave up thinking. He stared at the rising smoke inside and outside the port in despair, completely unable to understand what the French were trying to do.

And he also knew that he would never know the truth. Under the bombardment of nearly sixty coastal defense guns, everyone on this ship was destined to be buried in this foreign sea.

The deafening roar continued for several more rounds. The British merchant ship had lost all power under the bombardment, and the hull was also flooded on a large scale. In a few tens of minutes, this large merchant ship would turn into a skeletal mass thousands of years later. Undersea ruins.

Lieutenant Colonel Cavill in the distance put down his telescope after confirming that the ship had begun to sink. His face was expressionless and he didn't know what he was thinking.

"Sir." The lieutenant colonel's adjutant swallowed and hesitated several times before speaking:

"Now that the enemy ship has been incapacitated, we should immediately salvage and capture the British spies. If they really came to plot against Calais Port, we should be able to interrogate a lot of information."

To be honest, even this adjutant did not believe his commander's judgment. How could that ordinary large merchant ship be full of British spies who came to destroy the port of Calais.

"No! This is not the top priority!" Lieutenant Colonel Cavell suddenly shook his head, his eyes extremely firm, staring hard at the merchant ships flying British flags in the entire port area:

"Now all British ships may have invaded the port of Calais."

The adjutant stared, unable to believe what he heard:

"What do you mean?"

Lieutenant Colonel Cavell ordered without refusal:

"Immediately issue a notice to the entire Hong Kong that no ship is allowed to leave the port now, and allow soldiers to immediately control the crew of all British ships; in addition, once any ship leaves the port without authorization, the coastal defense batteries and artillery regiments are allowed to fire freely. It's sinking!"

Soon, Lieutenant Colonel Cavill's order was conveyed to the entire port area.

Not surprisingly, this order caused an instant panic among the captains, especially the British captains.

Merchant ships from other countries were probably aware that this was a dispute between Britain and France and had nothing to do with them, so they basically chose to obey Lieutenant Colonel Cavell's order and stay in the port for the time being while strengthening their vigilance.

As for the British merchant ships, almost no captain ordered the entire crew to give up resistance and chose to leave their fate to the French for no reason.

Relying on their speed and flexibility, those small schooners immediately set sail and left the port the moment they received the news, fleeing to the high seas as quickly as possible.

The artillery deployed on the shore immediately followed the order to block the attack. The total number of shells fired by these artillery in these few hours even exceeded that in the past few years. The overwhelming network of artillery fire was vented towards the waters of the port area without interruption. The mountains and forests surrounding the area were even covered by a lingering white smoke.

And the bulky large merchant ships also know very well that if they rush to break out, with the speed and flexibility of their ships, they will most likely suffer heavy damage under French artillery fire, most likely like the original armed merchant ship. Same as buried under the sea.

Therefore, after a very brief communication, the captains of several large merchant ships agreed to give it a go and choose the most desperate strategy:

They distributed weapons to the sailors and guards on the ship. While the French army was dispersed and controlling the ships, they took the initiative to fight out of the ship, gathered together to form a temporary force, and tried to capture the port of Calais directly from the land.

This decision soon gained support from other British captains, and many British captains gritted their teeth and joined in. In less than half an hour, nearly two thousand British sailors had gathered together and were preparing to seize the shore. There are more than a dozen coastal defense forts on the side.

Lieutenant Colonel Cavell, who was located at the command post, did not panic after seeing the British intentions. Instead, he smiled with great satisfaction for a while, and then ordered the garrison troops to gather their forces and gather together to fight with the British sailors in the port area. street fighting.

The sudden fighting soon spread to the urban area of ​​Calais Port.

Although the French army had an advantage in terms of military strength, the French army was unable to exert its numerical advantage in street fighting in the winding alleys of the city. They had to engage in close firefights with British sailors street by street, and even It's close-hand hand-to-hand combat.

The civilians were hiding in their homes in fear, closing their doors and windows, silently praying that this unwarranted disaster would end as soon as possible.

The flash of swords and wisps of smoke became the theme of Calais Port tonight. French soldiers and British sailors fighting desperately could be seen on almost every street.

Many people's bodies were already covered with blood stains, as if they had walked out of a pool of blood. It was unclear whether they were left by the enemy or themselves.

The fierce fighting lasted until nine in the evening when the winner was barely decided.

Although the British sailors were inferior to the regular army in equipment and organization and quickly fell into a disadvantage in the battle, relying on the complex and unpredictable urban terrain, the French soldiers also paid a heavy price to finally drive these sailors together. Go to a small bunker and prepare for the final encirclement and suppression.

And just when everyone thought that this farce and conflict would end with the surrender of the British, something unexpected happened in the sea outside Calais Port.

Under the hazy moonlight, five fourth-class heavy cruisers flying the Royal Navy flag sailed through the broken waves and headed openly towards the harbor.

Obviously, this frigate patrolling the English Channel also learned about everything that happened in Calais Port from the merchant ships that escaped, and quickly rushed to Calais to protect the interests of its own citizens.

In the command post of the garrison, as the British warships approached, all the officers could use their binoculars to clearly see the signal flag raised by the other side's flagship, which was a request for communication.

However, Lieutenant Colonel Cavell stated that the British's request for communication was just a despicable excuse to approach the port area. Their actual purpose was to provide reinforcements for the British spies who were still stationed in the city.

Therefore, what responded to the Royal Navy was not the representatives sent by the French military, but the overwhelming rain of bullets released by the salvo of sixty artillery pieces.

The merchants in the port stared with wide eyes and stared in disbelief at what was happening in front of them. The battleships of the Royal Navy were being bombarded by French artillery? !

If everything that happened before was just a conflict between the French military and the British people, and could only be regarded as a serious diplomatic accident, then France's behavior now is undoubtedly a naked military provocation against Great Britain.

What the hell is this world like? Is another war between Britain and France about to begin?

At this moment, most of the businessmen in the port only have this idea.

On the sea surface, the British warships that were suddenly bombarded immediately changed the signal flag representing friendly communication. The five heavy cruisers also changed their formations in a very short time, arranged in a line, and aimed half of their artillery. to the Calais port area.

Perhaps in order to avoid accidentally injuring merchant ships of other countries, or perhaps not wanting to expand the conflict with France and just giving a warning, the Royal Navy did not rush to fight back after changing its formation.

However, the French coastal defense artillerymen ignored the Royal Navy's actions and immediately launched a second round of bombardment after loading.

The Royal Navy, which suffered two consecutive rounds of shelling, finally gave up the possibility of negotiation and immediately responded to the French provocation with artillery fire.

Hundreds of tongues of flame bloomed one after another on the dark sea, and bursts of artillery shells hit the Port of Calais mercilessly with sharp whistling sounds. Almost every round of shelling reduced several bustling neighborhoods to rubble. ruins.

Since it was already dark, and the distance between the two sides was almost within each other's ultimate range, it was difficult for the British and French artillery to cause effective damage to each other's fire points.

But despite this, no one on either side had any intention of ending the bombardment.

The continuous roar of artillery continued until late at night. Almost half of the urban area of ​​Calais Port suffered varying degrees of damage, and the five heavy cruisers of the Royal Navy also suffered varying degrees of battle damage.

Until near dawn the next day, the two sides in the artillery battle, which had almost run out of ammunition and food, were still facing off in this sea area, and no one took the initiative to give in.

And just when the two sides were in a standoff, naval reinforcements from Britain and France received the news almost at the same time and rushed to this land of gunfire and right and wrong.

France's North Sea Fleet and a main fleet of the Royal Navy rushed to the Port of Calais from the west and the north respectively.

When the civilians and merchants in the Port of Calais saw the reinforcements of the main fleets of the two major powers meeting here, they couldn't help but sweat.

If these two main fleets also join this military conflict and stage a large-scale naval battle of a hundred ships here, then a new Anglo-French war will almost be a certainty.

Fortunately for everyone, the commanders of the two fleets remained completely rational at this time.

They sent envoys to each other on small boats to negotiate on each other's flagships, and soon reached an agreement. Both sides agreed to give up the conflict first and leave all subsequent troubles to the diplomats.

As the two fleets reached a settlement, the bombardment that lasted all night in the port of Calais came to an end.

Five damaged British cruisers were merged into the main fleet and returned together. The French North Sea Fleet was stationed in the Port of Calais to maintain order, and the passage of all merchant ships returned to normal.

Although everything seems to have quickly returned to normal, the messy ruins and ferocious bomb craters in the city of Calais remind people all the time that this incident cannot be treated as if the two sides shook hands and made peace. Never happened.

If it is not handled properly, the two fleets may reunite in the Calais port area someday soon, but by then, there will definitely be fighting and bloodshed between the two sides.

The military conflict may have ended, but the political and diplomatic conflict has only just begun.

Just one day later, on June 4, Paris, only four hundred miles away from the port of Calais, learned what happened that night in the northern port.

In Choiseul Manor, the Duke stared at the latest urgent report with wide eyes. He, who was always calm, actually lost his composure for a moment.

"A firefight with British traders and a bombardment with the Royal Navy?"

Duke Choiseul put down his report and paced back and forth in the study. The Duke showed a very upset look:

"Is it a coincidence? No, at this juncture, it can't be a coincidence. Damn it, you can have such a method."

After thinking deeply for a long time, Duke Choiseul gradually regained his composure, with a fierce look in his eyes as he murmured to himself:

"In this case, we can only resort to tricks. No matter how the Palace of Versailles reacts, as long as the war starts, I will be the final winner."

Almost at the same time, in the Palace of Versailles, in the King's Suite.

After hearing the press secretary's urgent request for a meeting, Louis XV did not come back to his senses for a long time.

"Your Majesty." The press secretary knelt on the ground and carefully added in the most respectful and humble tone:

"The British Ambassador, Baron Bertula, has arrived at the Palace of Versailles. He threatened that France must have an explanation for this incident."

But Louis XV seemed not to have heard it. He sat on the chair with dull eyes, not knowing where his thoughts were drifting.

And His Majesty the King's closest courtiers all know that His Majesty's thoughts are most likely drifting to the Duke of Choiseul.

"I clearly warned him, I clearly warned him."

After a long time, Louis XV closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and murmured to himself. The king's voice was low and cold, and the chilling air was already palpable:

"Choiseul, my brother, you have crossed a line."