From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

As soon as General Balor's words fell, dozens of members rushed out of the door in a panic. They didn't want to stay in this auditorium for a moment longer. They joined the Charles Gang for a bright future, how could they stay? Here to accept endless imprisonment or even execution.

In the blink of an eye, the entire auditorium was in chaos.

The escape of these people instantly aroused the fear in the hearts of the remaining members. They rushed to the door and even blocked the spacious auditorium door for a while. Everyone was afraid that the heavily armed military police would come in the next second. Rush forward and put on yourself shackles that cannot be taken off for life.

At this time, a gang member ran halfway, but suddenly found Berthier in the front row still stunned. After a brief hesitation, he gritted his teeth and returned, grabbed Berthier's hand and pulled him out:

"Chairman! Let's go quickly, don't stand there! You were the victim that night, the truly innocent one."

However, Berthier withdrew his arm stiffly and forcefully, and still stood unmoving. He endured the slight trembling of his body and shook his head slightly:

"Don't worry about me, I can't leave."

Under the shocked and puzzled gaze of the member, the pale Berthier slowly raised his head and looked at the grinning General Barol on the stage:

"Even if all of us leave, General Balor will arrest a group of gang members for business purposes anyway. In this case, I will count him as one. After all, everyone came to save me that night."

After saying that, Berthier turned to look at Duke Charles and Prince Louis who were also unmoved beside him, frowned and asked:

"Ludwig, Charlie, what are you doing?"

Prince Louis hesitated for a while, looking very hesitant:

"I can't leave because I, actually. I, am also one of the founders of the gang."

Duke Charles sighed boredly and shrugged:

"Me too."

Berthier wanted to persuade the two of them to leave, but after hesitating for a moment, he still closed his mouth, leaving only an imperceptible smile of relief on his pale and frightening cheeks.

He turned his head and glanced behind him, but was surprised to find that in addition to the three of them, there were dozens of people standing quietly on the spot, with their backs facing the door leading to freedom and innocence.

Berthier remembered the appearance of everyone here. Almost all of them were members who had participated in the attack on Moon Lake Manor, and they all personally followed Charles Bornaba into the main building of Count Isaac's manor.

Obviously, these people’s ideas coincide with Berthier’s:

Since General Balor would hand over a group of gang members no matter what, in order not to harm those innocent members, it would be better for him to come forward who should have been tried.

Looking at these absolute backbones of the gang, countless memories of the past suddenly came to Berthier's mind, and for a moment he didn't know where to start.

In the end, Berthier swallowed all the words back in his stomach and cast a slight smile on these members who were willing to live and die with the gang.

To be honest, he didn't expect that a student organization that had been established for less than a year could have such cohesion.

Three minutes passed quickly, and the huge auditorium suddenly became empty.

The nearly four hundred members of the Charles Gang who initially sat in this auditorium had already been carefully selected by Berthier based on the criteria of selecting one out of ten, but in the end, those who chose to stay in this auditorium and stand with the gang until the end , there are less than sixty people left.

But for every member present, this number was completely beyond their imagination.

Before this, they would never have imagined that there would be so many people like themselves who were willing to sacrifice their futures and even their lives for the gang and other members.

More than fifty people stood together in perfect agreement, looking up at General Balor on the stage.

It is strange to say that when more than 300 people were in the same room just now, they would still feel panic and fear when faced with the dark muzzles of the military police. Now there are only about 50 of them standing together, but they do not feel any fear of those muskets. How hideous and terrifying it is.

"How can we leave so many people behind? Hahahahaha!"

General Balor was stunned at first. It seemed that he had not expected that so many students would choose to stay. The general couldn't help laughing.

However, his laughter was completely different from the gloomy and suppressed one just now. Instead, it was hearty and gentle, making people feel like a spring breeze, as if a respected elder was admiring his younger generation.

Before any of the members could react, General Balor waved his hand to an inconspicuous small room on the second floor of the auditorium and said loudly:

"Your Excellency Bonaparte, you have also seen that I really admire you now. Everyone here is a good candidate for the Royal Guards."

The gang members were startled again, Your Excellency Bonaparte? They didn't expect to hear the name out of the blue.

It seems that the only person who can hold this title is the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Corsica, a confidant of His Majesty the King, and the behind-the-scenes controller of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Laurence Bonaparte.

However, the gang members immediately felt their brains were in confusion.

They didn't know why Laurence Bonaparte was related to this case. Could it be that His Majesty the King specially assigned His Excellency Bonaparte to investigate the attack at Moon Lake Manor, so His Excellency Bonaparte had been secretly upstairs just now? observe?

Under everyone's puzzled gaze, a young man wearing a cloak walked out of the room on the second floor.

He clapped softly, and the crisp applause echoed in the silent auditorium, and slowly walked down the stairs to the crowd.

Berthier and the other students hurriedly leaned down and prepared to salute. After all, His Excellency Bonaparte was much higher than the principal, General Barol, in both nominal and actual status.

However, as soon as the students were halfway through their curtsy, their movements were as uniform as stone.

what's the situation? !

The person standing in front of them was not Laurence Bonaparte at all, but Charles Bonaparte, who had been missing from school for several months!

"Ciel! What are you doing!"

Even if he is as smart as Berthier, he is completely in chaos at this moment, and he has no idea what is happening now.

Lawrence did not immediately explain to him, but first came to the slightly frowning Crown Prince Louis, bowed and apologized:

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but due to current circumstances, your military school life may only last one semester."

The principal, General Barol, also came to Prince Louis respectfully. He first waved his hand to drive all the murderous military policemen with guns out of the auditorium, and then also leaned over to apologize:

"I am extremely sorry to have frightened you, Your Highness, but I am also acting in accordance with the instructions of His Excellency Bonaparte."

Crown Prince Louis looked very disappointed. At this point, although he still didn't know what Lawrence's intention was, he also understood that he could no longer continue to be Ludwig August, a cadet at the Paris Military Academy.

The crown prince looked back at his companions who had been living with each other day and night and treated each other as equals for the past six months, sighed deeply, and said with a forced smile:

"Don't feel guilty, Lawrence. I believe that what you did is necessary, and I have learned enough."

The students stared blankly at Prince Louis, not understanding what they had just heard. They even suspected that their hearing was controlled by Satan.

Your Highness? What kind of person is qualified to be called His Highness?

No matter what it was, the students couldn't believe that that idiot Ludwig would be respectfully addressed as His Highness by the principal, General Balor.

Berthier on the side was even more stunned as if he had been struck by lightning. Several clues suddenly flashed through his mind, which were all doubts he had when he first met the three Charles:

Why are the temperaments of the three of them not at all like the poor people they claimed to be from? Why did Ludwig claim to be a blacksmith but showed no trace of hard work? Why was Charlie's aristocratic swordsmanship so superb? Why did Count Isaac become gray after suffering a great humiliation? Leaving Paris in a hurry.

Berthier had also speculated that the three Charles people might have unusual origins, but when all the clues came together, Berthier still felt as if he was dreaming and unbelievable for a while.

"You, Ludwig, you actually..." Berthier was already speaking incoherently. He vaguely guessed who the His Highness General Barol and Lawrence were talking about.

Prince Louis nodded to Berthier, then took a few steps forward, turned to face his companions who had been with him day and night for several months, and mustered up the courage to say:

"Everyone, Ludwig is actually a pseudonym. My real name is Louis August. I come from the royal family."

Although everyone had a lot of psychological expectations, when Crown Prince Louis really admitted his identity in public, everyone was still stunned on the spot as if they were petrified, and could not say anything for a long time.

The little fat man whom they nicknamed "Stupid", the cowardly and introverted yet persevering military academy cadet, the gang member who sat shoulder to shoulder with them in the military academy cafeteria while drinking low-quality beer and chatting about the future, at this moment Standing in front of them is actually the future king, the current Crown Prince? !

Berthier took a deep breath and suddenly realized something. He quickly opened his eyes and looked at Duke Charles and Lawrence aside:

"Then Charlie, Charles, you guys too...?"

"I'm sorry for hiding it from you, Chairman Berthier." Duke Charles sighed helplessly and confessed to everyone:

"You can call me Louis-Philippe Joseph, I am from the House of Orléans."

Lawrence didn't explain much, just nodded slightly, responding and confirming Berthier's question.

And when the three people made their true identities public, it took the students in the auditorium two or three minutes to recover from the shock and reluctantly accepted this joke-like reality.

After all, almost no one could immediately accept that the three close classmates in front of them turned out to be His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the heir to the Regent of Orleans, and the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Corsica.

After everyone accepted this dramatic reality, looking at the auditorium that had turned from a bustling crowd to an empty auditorium, all the students also vaguely realized the purpose of everything that happened tonight.

Under the attention of everyone, Lawrence walked up to the podium and bowed to everyone in public to apologize. Even Prince Louis and Duke Charles also leaned slightly. The students present felt flattered when they saw this scene. :

"Please accept my apology, my brothers, but such a trial is necessary. I need to select those who are truly loyal and courageous in the gang, and your performance really makes me extremely gratified. "

The students listened with great excitement. At this time, they would not complain at all that Lawrence was actually designing to test their loyalty. After all, after the identities of the three were revealed, the status gap between the two sides was as big as clouds and mud.

"I know that you must be wondering in your hearts at this time, wondering about the time when we stood side by side in the past, and wondering what the meaning of the existence of the Shire Gang is."

Lawrence's voice was impassioned, and his tone and tone were still exactly the same as that of Charles Bornaparte in the military academy:

"And what I want to tell you is that the friendship and trust between us transcend all identities and classes. In front of you, I am still Charles Bornaparte, and he is still Charles Chartres. To each other, There is no duke or lord in between!”

Listening to these words, many students had tears in their eyes due to excitement. Before that, they had never dared to imagine that three unattainable top dignitaries would treat an ordinary civilian student like themselves. Bowed and apologized, and even publicly acknowledged their great friendship.

You know, under normal circumstances, these military academy cadets would not even be able to step in the door of their mansion, let alone meet the three Lawrences. The guards at the door would undoubtedly despise these little people who don't know the heights of the world. The students were rushed out the door.

Lawrence glanced at all the students and sincerely requested:

"As for the Charles Gang, its existence will not disappear because of this. I can understand the companions who have just chosen to leave. They must have their own difficulties, but for those who have passed the trial, I have one thing that is more important. An important mission is entrusted to everyone, and I hope you will agree."

Although they still don't know what His Excellency Bonaparte wants, the students can already realize that what is in front of them this time is probably the greatest opportunity in their lives.

"I hope that you will establish an officer organization directly under His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, a military group that only takes orders from His Highness the Crown Prince. You may serve in various military regions in the future and take orders from your respective superiors, but from today's oath of allegiance, After that, I hope everyone will keep one thing in mind - we are directly loyal to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and to His Majesty the future King, and we will only obey the King's orders!"

Lawrence announced in a deep voice:

"As for the name of this new organization, I name it the Privy Knights. Those who are willing to swear allegiance to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince please continue to stay here. As for those who have no other requests, they can leave on their own. I swear in the name of His Highness that I will not Will do anything."

The students were stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then a surge of excitement and ecstasy rushed directly to their Tianling Caps, leaving them unable to breathe for a while.

They never imagined that an opportunity to become an officer directly under His Majesty the King would be right in front of them.

Except for a very few generals, every officer dreams of getting such an opportunity. After all, whether in the military or in politics, the royal background is the most unbreakable backer.

Even General Balor looked at this group of young and immature military cadets with mixed emotions. If everything went well, he estimated that among the group of ignorant young people in front of him, there would be at least ten generals.

Now that things have come to this, naturally no student will choose to leave the auditorium.

Their original intention of joining the Shire Gang was to seek shelter and connections in the military community. Now that such an opportunity to directly pledge allegiance to the future king was before them, how could they give up so easily at this time.

"Privy Knights?"

Duke Charles on the side pondered the name alone for a while and laughed knowingly.

As the heir to the Orleans family, Duke Charles, who is already a leader among men, naturally saw Lawrence's purpose at a glance - he was using the name of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to recruit a group of elite officers directly under him.

As for the so-called loyalty to the crown prince, it is just a disguise to not attract attention. After all, even the former Minister of War, Duke Choiseul, did not dare to directly and blatantly train direct officers, but used the name of the Paris Military Academy to recruit talents.

When Louis XV heard that Laurence Bonaparte had formed a loyal corps of direct officers in the army for His Royal Highness, the old king would be overjoyed.

Regardless of the fact that everyone present will swear allegiance to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, due to Crown Prince Louis' trust in Lawrence and Lawrence's prestige among everyone, it is he, Lawrence Bonaparte, who will actually lead the Privy Knights in the end.

Duke Charles glanced at Lawrence tacitly and said nothing more. After all, he was also happy to join this new knighthood directly under the king.

The immature Crown Prince Louis was completely unaware of the way in between. Instead, he looked at Lawrence with great gratitude and once again lamented that this close friend had really taken great pains for himself.

In the auditorium, Lawrence deliberately waited for a few minutes, indicating that students who were unwilling to be loyal to the crown prince could leave on their own.

Of course, no student will refuse the olive branch offered by Lawrence. Many of them are originally from civilian families in various places. Normally, they may never have the opportunity to see a member of the royal family in person, let alone one. Direct allegiance to His Majesty the future King.

After confirming that all the more than fifty people present agreed to join the Privy Knights, Lawrence led everyone to curtsy to Prince Louis on the spot to show their allegiance.

General Balor, the principal on the side, was even more envious after seeing the neat and solemn display of allegiance of these young students. He wished he could be thirty years younger so that he could join this group of young people and become a leader. An officer directly subordinate to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

After the concise and solemn ceremony, Lawrence immediately announced that he would be the grand master of the Privy Knights, with Duke Charles as the sergeant-major and Berthier as the administrative chief. This is equivalent to the fact that these three people will jointly lead the knights in name.

Since the three of them were originally founding members of the Charles Gang, no one had any objections to this appointment. However, Berthier was flattered by this for a long time and did not recover for a long time.

After the establishment of the Knights was announced, Lawrence directly issued the first task to them without giving everyone more time to react:

"Then, I hereby issue the first instruction to the Privy Knights. You should have heard the news that the Kingdom of Corsica declared war on the Sicilian rebels this morning, right?"

Everyone in the Privy Knights nodded solemnly. This kind of news involving the military field naturally spread very quickly within the military academy.

"I plan to assign the entire Privy Knights to this Naples Civil War."

Facing the surprised expressions of the students, Lawrence announced loudly:

"You will be awarded the additional rank of Corsican Royal Army and serve in the Corsican Army Staff Command until the end of the war. If there are no objections, please pack your bags tonight and follow me to Corsica early tomorrow morning. island."

After hearing Lawrence's order, everyone in the Knights was suddenly shocked. They did not expect to be involved in a tragic war so soon.

However, since they had chosen to accept this great opportunity, everyone quickly put aside any complaints and uniformly raised their hands to salute Lawrence to express acceptance of the order.

Lawrence was also very satisfied with the obedience of the Privy Knights. There were naturally many reasons why he specially brought this group of loyal military cadets to the Italian battlefield before finally leaving Paris.

The first is this group of outstanding people who have come from various local military academies in France. They have received the best military education in France and can provide a lot of help to the Corsican Army Staff, which has been in vain before.

Although the Corsican Defense Force has accumulated a lot of experience in more than 20 years of fighting against the Genoese army, the battlefields between the two sides have always been limited to small Corsica, and the officers of the Defense Force basically joined the army halfway. , few people have received formal military education, so their strategic vision is bound to have great limitations.

To fight on the mainland of Corsica, the experience and experience of the National Defense Force alone may be enough. However, this time the battlefield of the Naples Civil War can be said to be all over Italy from south to north, so Lawrence also believes that it is necessary to introduce it from France. A group of outstanding military talents.

Secondly, in order for members of the Privy Knights to be quickly promoted within the French army, a solid war experience is undoubtedly indispensable.

After all, everyone in front of them is still a student of the Paris Military Academy. Even if Prince Louis uses the influence of the royal family to support them, it will undoubtedly be a long and difficult task for them to climb to the top of the military in peacetime. Lawrence is obviously not so It takes a long time to wait for this group of students to climb to the top of the military.

Therefore, he had to send the members of the Privy Knights to the Italian battlefield to give all of them a resume of the Italian war. In this way, the royal family could promote these officers with reasonable grounds without attracting a lot of opposition.

As for the last reason, Lawrence wanted to deliberately take the Privy Knights away from Prince Louis.

Although Prince Louis is now very close and trusting Lawrence, Lawrence has always believed in one rule - power is best left in his own hands no matter what the circumstances.

Although the entire knighthood was formed to be loyal to the crown prince, Lawrence did not want Prince Louis to have excessive control and influence over the Privy Knights.

Therefore, Lawrence also deliberately wanted to bring the Privy Knights to the Italian battlefield and keep them under his orders for a long time.

In this way, as time goes by, the members of the Knights themselves should also know who they are ultimately loyal to, whether it is His Highness the Crown Prince who is high above and thousands of miles away, or the one who has shared the joys and sorrows and fought side by side for several years. Monsignor Bonaparte.

"Administrator, at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, you will lead everyone to gather at No. 10 Champs Elysées on time."

Lawrence gave Berthier an order, then looked at the crowd, took a deep breath, raised his right arm and shouted:

"Everyone, I have a premonition that the reputation of the Privy Knights will soon be resounding across the land of Apennines. For the glory of His Royal Highness, now is the time to use your swords to fulfill this prophecy!"

Everyone in the Privy Knights stood there, their blood boiling with excitement, and they followed Lawrence in unison and shouted in unison:

"For Your Highness!"

"For Your Highness!"

Berthier, who was in the front row, stared at Lawrence on the podium, and suddenly shouted out of nowhere:

"And for Bonaparte!"

There was a moment of silence in the auditorium.

Lawrence narrowed his eyes and looked at Berthier with a smile, and was about to say something, but the roar of the knights following closely behind him immediately drowned out all his voices:

"For Bonaparte!"

"For Bonaparte!"

"For Bonaparte!"

The crowd's voice became louder and louder, and it was as powerful as an overwhelming force. Even the glass of the auditorium window shook slightly. This sound even completely drowned out the shouts for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince just now.

If the shouting for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sounds like everyone is shouting from the throat, then the shouting for His Excellency Bonaparte is like everyone roaring from the heart.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was unaware of the sound. He even raised his right arm and joined the shouting crowd, smiling and echoing:

"For Laurence Bonaparte!"

Lawrence turned and looked at Crown Prince Louis, but smiled and shook his head. He did not say anything, nor did he stop His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's unethical behavior.