From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

On the morning of June 10, 1771, a breaking news was announced, which immediately made the Naples Civil War, which was about to fade out of public view, once again become the focus of discussion in Paris:

The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Corsica, His Excellency Laurence Bonaparte, officially issued a declaration of war against the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy of Milan, and the Sicilian rebels at No. 10, Champs Elysées in Paris.

Laurence Bonaparte submitted a declaration of war to the corresponding ambassadors of the three countries on the spot, and then concluded an alliance with the ambassadors of Spain and Naples who were also present, agreeing that the three countries would work together and advance and retreat together in this war.

Since the monarchs of Corsica, Naples and Spain all had the blood of the Bourbon dynasty, the outside world took advantage of the trend and called the three-nation alliance to suppress the rebels the Bourbon League.

France responded immediately. Foreign Minister Charles Gravier delivered a public speech in front of the diplomatic residence that afternoon.

Count Vergenin stated that the Kingdom of France still abides by the non-aggression agreement with Great Britain and will not change its non-interference policy in the Italian war because of the Kingdom of Corsica's participation in the war.

However, Count Vergenin also revealed to the public that the Kingdom of Corsica is a natural friend of France and a close ally united under the same great monarch, and France will do its best to provide it with all assistance except military intervention. , and fully guarantee the independence and freedom of Corsica.

Although after the Malta incident, the outside world did not believe that Louis XV would really sacrifice his life in the war to protect Corsica, judging from the generous assistance France gave to Corsica, Louis XV was really interested in this. Mediterranean island countries attach great importance to it.

At the end of his speech, the Foreign Secretary expressed with great regret that due to the impact of the Kingdom of Corsica's participation in the war, the formal coronation ceremony of Louis XV as King of Corsica had to be postponed again.

The nobles who traveled thousands of miles to attend the ceremony in Versailles were naturally extremely disappointed, but people who were politically astute could understand Louis XV's cancellation of the coronation ceremony.

After all, it is still unknown whether the Kingdom of Corsica can survive this war. Once Louis XV is crowned King of Corsica, he must shoulder the obligation to protect Corsica, and if the island is again Being annexed by an enemy country during the war, Louis XV had only two choices before him:

Either bear the humiliation and lose face and give up the Corsican crown that he just put on his head, or drag France into the quagmire of war. It is obvious that neither of these two options is acceptable to Louis XV.

After the declaration of war was issued, Lawrence immediately began to prepare to return to Corsica to take charge of the overall situation.

During the week between persuading Louis XV to agree to Corsica's participation in the war and issuing the declaration of war, Lawrence had also been negotiating with French ministers and generals and marshals on war aid.

After all, the reason why Lawrence was confident in taking huge risks to involve Corsica in this crisis-ridden war was because of the two trump cards in his hand:

One is the new rifled gun and Mini bullet produced by the Trifali Arsenal in Marseille.

Although this new type of musket has not yet reached the epoch-making significance and combat effectiveness of the striker gun, as the pinnacle design of the flintlock era, the installation of this rifled musket will undoubtedly allow the Corsican army to maintain a close balance with the strength gap. Gain the upper hand in big battles.

The second is the assistance and support of the Kingdom of France.

Although Corsica's economic strength has greatly improved after the comprehensive implementation of agricultural tax reform and land reform, it is still difficult for Lawrence to be sure that Corsica's own production capacity can support him to lead thousands of troops to win a long-term war. war.

After all, before the birth of Napoleonic strategy, the essence of the European war in the eighteenth century was logistics warfare. During the Seven Years' War, the most advanced and effective tactics of various countries were designed and targeted around the enemy's logistics and supplies.

Even if Corsica could devote all its efforts to meet the needs of the war, too much emphasis on military production would inevitably lead to a decline in people's living standards and a regression in economic standards, which Lawrence also did not want to see.

Therefore, although the current situation has become tense to the point of racing against time, Lawrence still has to make arrangements for French assistance first.

Fortunately, with the strong support of Louis XV and the Count of Vergequin, as well as the secret coordination of the generals of the Choiseul faction, Lawrence's negotiations with the ministers and generals went very smoothly, taking less than a week. The signing of the assistance agreement was completed.

Otherwise, in France's current financial difficulties, it will not be easy to get a large sum of military aid from these ministers and generals. After all, if Corsica gets more, their own department's budget will be smaller.

According to the final agreement reached by the two parties, France will be responsible for all the logistical supplies needed by the Corsican military in this war.

From marching tents to matches, from military uniforms to boots, from sabers to gunpowder, everything is available. One general even proudly stated at the negotiation table that Corsica only needs to drag a naked man to the battlefield. , France's supplies can equip him into a qualified soldier.

In addition to material assistance, the finance minister, who has always been stingy, was also forced to agree to provide economic assistance to Corsica under the triple pressure of the king, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the generals, promising to provide Corsica with an installment payment. An interest-free loan totaling forty million livres.

The first tranche of three million livres was also released to the Corsican government in the form of French national debt on the day the negotiations were concluded.

With the aid agreement reached, there was only one last thing left for Lawrence to deal with in Paris.

On the evening of June 10, inside the Paris Military Academy.

After a day of classes and training, the exhausted students were about to return to the school building to rest after dinner, when they suddenly received an incredible notification:

The school committee suddenly issued an order requiring all members of the Charles Gang to gather in the military school auditorium within half an hour. It is said that this was an order personally issued by the principal, General Balor.

Not only the other students felt strange, but also the members of the Shire Gang felt baffled. They didn't know why the principal, General Balor, specifically called them together.

The gang members quickly followed the instructions and came to sit in the military academy auditorium. Although they didn't know what the purpose of this gathering was, all the members had a bad feeling in their hearts.

Sitting in the front row of the auditorium, Berthier, the chairman of the student association and acting gang leader, looked solemn and worried.

After all, the power of the Charles Gang can be said to be at its peak in the Paris Military Academy today. Even some military school teachers are very optimistic about the future potential of this gang and choose to join the gang in the name of instructors.

In Berthier's eyes, it would be difficult for the school committee to accept the existence of such a student organization that is not under their control, especially since this student organization has completely replaced the status and power of the once powerful student union.

This time, the principal, General Balor, came forward in person, most likely to represent the will of the entire school committee, to personally rectify this wildly growing student gang that is not controlled by the school committee.

In the auditorium, not only Berthier made such an analysis and judgment, many gang members also came to this conclusion in their hearts, and their faces could not help but show a touch of nervousness and anxiety.

Soon, within half an hour of gathering, more than 300 members of the Shire Gang were sitting in the auditorium.

At the last second of the assembly time, the principal, General Balor, suddenly pushed open the auditorium door.

His face was extremely gloomy, he just glanced at the people in the auditorium, and then quickly walked onto the podium without saying a word.

"Good evening, Mr. Principal, may I ask?"

As the president of the Federation of Students, Berthier stood up on his own initiative, greeted General Barol and asked about the purpose of convening everyone this time.

However, he was interrupted by General Balor's roar just in the middle of his words:

"Shut your bitch, you scum of the Paris Military Academy! You want to ask me why I called you here? Well, I'll give you a hint! Remember what the hell you did three months ago! "

Berthier's pupils trembled subconsciously. Of course, he clearly remembered what happened three months ago - in order to rescue him, Charles Bornaba personally led a group of gang members into Count Isaac's house. Moon Lake Manor.

However, after this incident, not only did the outside world not carry out any investigation, but even some members of the military academy were only given some mild punishments. Although Berthier found it strange at the time, he also thought that this incident was considered a serious incident. It's come to an end.

General Balor specifically mentioned this matter again today, which immediately deepened the bad feeling in the hearts of Berthier and all the gang members:

Could it be that their gang leader, Charles Bornaba, had not left school on leave because of physical discomfort, but had been secretly arrested by a military court for the crime of attacking Moon Lake Manor? !

"Do you think you can escape punishment for committing such a murder?"

General Balor snorted coldly, and his sharp and gloomy eyes swept over the members below one by one:

"Forced into a chief executive's manor, injured a noble earl, and killed dozens of manor guards. Any one of these actions alone can get you sentenced to death in a military court, not to mention you All of them were committed! I didn’t hold you accountable before because the investigation was not completed yet, just to stabilize your emotions, but now, it’s time for you to submit to the law!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a messy and heavy footsteps were heard outside the auditorium.

Immediately under the shocked and horrified gaze of the gang members, dozens of fully armed military police with guns rushed into the auditorium accompanied by the howling evening wind. In an instant, they occupied every corner of the auditorium and fired their deadly black guns. The gun was aimed directly at the members of the Shire Gang present.

Obviously, General Barol was not alarmist at all. These military police were not just paper tigers in the military academy, but real internal purifiers from the Île-de-France Military Court.

In front of these cold-blooded military police, let alone a group of unarmed military cadets, even a school-level officer who dared to openly resist their arrest would only be shot on the spot.

The gang members who realized this suddenly went blank.

Some people were blind, praying silently for their fate, some people were biting their lips, extremely regretful that they had joined this damn gang, and some people were cursing the missing Charles Bornaba in their hearts, scolding him. His reckless behavior will soon kill everyone.

Berthier stood there, staring blankly at the dozens of muskets. The fear of facing death made his body instinctively start to tremble slightly.

It seemed that his guess was indeed correct. General Balor wanted to take this opportunity to eradicate the Charles Gang, the thorn in the side of the school committee, in one fell swoop.

Crown Prince Louis, who was sitting next to him, also looked at the gun-wielding gendarmes nervously, looking hesitant.

Duke Charlie stared at General Balor on the stage with great interest for a while, smiled and sighed, and then began to close his eyes to rest.

The gang members present were also terrified in front of this deadly gun.

Although they are also soldiers, the elite among future officers, as long as they are human beings, they will involuntarily fall into panic and despair when this dark gun is pointed at their heads.

Especially when they thought about their life after being arrested and taken to a military court, many members turned pale and bloodless, and some even fell limply from their chairs.

General Barol looked coldly at the group of criminals in the audience, as if he was deliberately admiring their ugliness, and did not immediately order the military police to arrest:

"However, since you are still military students, I won't go too far. Let me remind you that after investigation, the military court only found out that the person who carried out the attack that night was a student organization called the Shire Gang. , but they are not sure of the number of people participating in the operation, nor are they sure who are the members of the organization. In other words, I don’t need to arrest all of you and hand them over to the military court. I just need some of your members to give an explanation. ,so."

Looking at the widened eyes of the gang members, General Balor sneered triumphantly:

"Those who think they are still a member of that reactionary gang should stay here to prepare for a military court; those who think they are just an innocent military academy cadet should get out of that door immediately and fight with all their might. Forget all memories of this reactionary gang, and pray that I and the investigators of the Military District Court will not discover that you were involved in the crimes that night. I only give you three minutes!"