At five o'clock in the morning on June 25, at dawn, the French Mediterranean Fleet officially entered the port of Ajaccio.
The battle in the city was not completely over. Although Colonel Bartland immediately ordered the entire army to abandon Ajaccio and retreat south after receiving the urgent report from the Sardinian fleet, in the haste, the retreat order was not fully conveyed to those who were still on the front line.
In the ears of soldiers fighting fiercely.
Seeing the French fleet gradually approaching, Colonel Bartland had no choice but to abandon the soldiers who had not yet assembled, led the remaining army of less than 6,000 men, and fled south in panic in an almost defeated posture.
Since the soldiers of the Ajaccio city defense force were also exhausted and almost exhausted, Major Serurier was unable to order a pursuit and had to send a small reconnaissance force to closely follow the fleeing Sardinian army.
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As for the Sardinian soldiers who were abandoned in Ajaccio, they either continued to fight and died in a foreign land without knowing anything, or they chose to surrender in despair after discovering the fact that the French fleet was stationed and their main force was withdrawing.
It was not until around 7 a.m. that the sound of gunshots and clashes of swords in Ajaccio completely ceased. The fire that spread in the north and south districts was barely controlled with the concerted efforts of the city defense troops and citizens.
The fragile peace finally enveloped Ajaccio again. After confirming the safety of the city, Lawrence led the Privy Knights out of the warship and once again stood on the land that had always supported him.
Looking at the mess and ruins in front of him, Lawrence stood on the pier in silence for a long time.
Not far away, he saw a pitch-black crow jumping down from the treetops, jumping up onto the cheek of a dead soldier, leaning down and pecking out a sapphire-like eyeball with its beak.
A shiver of coldness crept up his back, and Lawrence sighed deeply, turning his head away and no longer looking.
Soon, a Central Gendarmerie heard the news and rushed to the port area. The bodies of these soldiers were covered with dirty dust and blood, but when they saw Prime Minister Laurence Bonaparte appearing in front of them again, they
Everyone's eyes are extremely clear and fiery.
A captain of the military police took the lead in giving a standard military salute to Lawrence, and then looked at the blood stains and mud on himself and his subordinates with some embarrassment, saying that he asked Lord Bonaparte to forgive him, because they really did not have time to change into a clean uniform.
, even just wash your face.
Lawrence's eyes were a little sore, but he didn't say anything, but stepped forward to shake hands with each soldier one by one, and kissed their unkempt cheeks.
For Italians, a kiss on the face is a ritual performed when brothers who have not seen each other for a long time meet again.
Subsequently, under the escort of this central military police, Lawrence and the Privy Knights officially entered the city of Ajaccio and headed to the Prime Minister's Office in Dongcheng District.
Along the way, many citizens also witnessed the return of Prime Minister Bonaparte. Although the war all night yesterday had made the citizens numb and exhausted, when Lawrence Bonaparte appeared in front of them, there was an explosive cheer.
The sound still echoed throughout Ajaccio for a long time.
The citizens on both sides of the street roared at the top of their lungs. Their cheers were more like a kind of catharsis after being suppressed for a long time, mixed with the joy of surviving the disaster, the joy of defeating the enemy, and the excitement for the return of Prime Minister Bonaparte.
Joy from within.
Amidst the farewell of the citizens of Ajaccio, Lawrence returned to the Prime Minister's Palace, where he had been away for a long time, and immediately summoned high-level government officials and cronies to understand what had happened in Ajaccio in recent days.
"Really...that means the main force of the National Defense Force has actually been transferred to the south, which is why this defensive battle is so difficult."
Listening to Cabinet Secretary Anna's narration, Lawrence couldn't help but frown. If he said this, the tragedy of this battle would be many times more difficult than he imagined.
As for the strategic misjudgment of the top brass of the National Defense Force, Lawrence only felt that it was unexpected but reasonable.
After all, although the officers of the National Defense Force have accumulated rich experience in decades of continuous war with Genoa, their long-term confinement to the small Corsican battlefield also means that these officers' strategic vision must be flawed.
This time, it was precisely because the top brass of the National Defense Forces mistakenly believed that the British would be completely independent from this war, and thus misjudged the naval strength of the Kingdom of Sardinia, that they ignored the possibility of launching a landing operation.
But the good news is that it was precisely in order to eliminate this strategic risk that Lawrence brought everyone from the Privy Knights to Italy, and they established the Corsican Army Staff.
Lawrence listened to Anna's story and suddenly asked:
"By the way Anna, that is to say, you persuaded Pasquale Paoli to lead the Citizen Volunteer Army in combat?"
Anna lowered her head carefully and whispered:
"Yes, sir, please forgive me for making my own decision..."
"No, you did it right. If it were me, I would probably do the same thing..."
Lawrence waved his hand without any intention of blaming him, but he immediately changed the subject and asked in a deep voice:
"But where is Pasquale Paoli now?"
Although the Citizen Volunteer Army was only a temporary levy force, after repelling the invading enemy, Lawrence was not worried about letting Pauli continue to lead an armed force even for a minute. After all, for General Pauli who was under house arrest all day long
, now may be the best time for him to regain power.
Anna blinked and turned to look at Xia Diya, who was in charge of the secret police station. Xia Diya also added understandingly:
"General Pauli was seriously injured while commanding the operation and seems to be receiving rescue now."
Lawrence squinted his eyes slightly, and he already realized something just from the fact that the person who answered him was Xia Diya and not Anna:
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Did the doctor indicate the possibility of successful rescue?"
Xia Diya nodded briefly:
"Trivially."
"That's it..."
Lawrence sighed softly, already understanding everything that happened to General Pauli, and stopped asking any more questions.
Lawrence's attitude toward Pasquale Paoli, the former governor, was also quite complex.
On the one hand, he indeed led the Corsican people to gain independence and freedom from the colonial rule of Genoa, and implemented a series of enlightened and progressive policies and laws, from mining to building water conservancy, from banning vendettas to establishing universities,
It can be said that Pasquale Paoli successfully opened a corner of enlightenment and progress for the ignorant and barbaric Corsica.
The Corsican Constitution he promulgated and implemented was even the first legal text in modern history to be named a constitution.
This is why not only contemporary Enlightenment scholars, such as Rousseau and Voltaire, were excited about Corsica's independence, but even many scholars of later generations also believed that the independence of Corsica under Pasquale Paoli was
Corsica is the real revolutionary land that preceded Paris, France.
But on the other hand, whether in history or in this current timeline, Pasquale Paoli has indeed taken actions to try to sell the sovereignty of Corsica to Great Britain.
In this sense, Pasquale Paoli is fully qualified to be called a traitor.
The relationship between Lawrence and Pauly cannot be summed up in a few words.
The two had had heart-to-heart conversations, and had also been at loggerheads; Lawrence launched a coup to seize Pauly's administrative power, and in the last stage of his life, Pauly fully recognized Lawrence as his successor, knowing that he had no way back.
.
But no matter what, everything about Pasquale Paoli can now be left to Lawrence to seal the coffin.
"Take note of my orders, Anna."
Lawrence shook his head. Now he didn't have any time to express any unnecessary emotions:
"If General Paoli unfortunately dies, he will be buried in Ajaccio as soon as possible with a state funeral. This funeral must be directly prepared by the Prime Minister's Office and personally presided over by the Archbishop of Corsica; in addition, General Paoli can be named the great liberator.
Permanently retain the title and status of his country's general, and provide life-long allowances to his family; if his children are willing to return to Corsica, some idle positions in the government department will be arranged for them, but his children are not allowed to
Participate in politics in the future..."
After all, Pasquale Paoli died for Ajaccio and for Corsica. Lawrence will naturally follow his previous promise and give him a good death, so that the name of Pasquale Paoli will always be known as the liberator and war.
The image of the hero will be remembered by future Corsicans.
Perhaps it won't be long before Pasquale Paoli's secret secrets unknown to the public will be completely lost in the long river of history, and will forever remain in the hearts of Corsican people as a symbol of great justice.
...
After having a general understanding of the siege of Ajaccio and dealing with General Paoli's funeral, Lawrence immediately focused on war affairs and left the officers alone in the conference room.
Although the landing force of the Kingdom of Sardinia suffered a major defeat in Ajaccio, if their remaining effective forces are fully rested, the enemy force will still be strong.
Lawrence must also solve this hidden danger in Corsica as soon as possible, especially before the enemy realizes that the French Mediterranean Fleet will not actually interfere in the war situation.
"Major Serrurier, on behalf of the Corsican Army, I apologize to you."
Lawrence was the first to look at the actual commander-in-chief of this defensive battle. Major Serurier on the side apologized sincerely:
"It was our army's wrong judgment that led to it paying such a heavy price for this battle. Your ability to defend Ajaccio under such difficult conditions is really indispensable. I think your talents are definitely not only
Limited to commanding a garrison."
Berthier also looked at Serrurier in amazement. When he just heard that the Ajaccio city defense force only had more than 3,000 people plus the temporarily formed citizen volunteer army, he was really shocked. He was simply shocked.
I can believe that such a force can withstand the fierce attack of nearly 10,000 Sardinian troops.
Because of the high-intensity command all day and night, Major Serulier was still a little groggy and exhausted, but when he heard the words of praise from His Excellency Bonaparte, he sobered up almost instantly and even got a little excited.
Incoherent:
"No, no, no, sir, how can I accept your apology? Besides, it is my duty to protect Ajaccio, and I don't dare to ask for any reward."
To be continued...