The movement of the fleet will prevent it from escaping hastily south. In this way, Lawrence will have to pay a heavy price if he wants to retake Ajaccio.

Therefore, Lawrence's praise of Serulière for his contribution was by no means a polite exaggeration.

As for this officer with outstanding talents and outstanding achievements, Lawrence believed that it was time to formally incorporate him into his own power group:

"By the way, have you ever heard of the Privy Knights that was established in Paris not long ago? If you are interested, I will now invite you to join as the Grand Master of the Privy Knights. You have proven it with your actual actions.

Your talents and loyalty are enough to earn you a place in the Knights."

Although the current members of the Privy Knights are all members of the Charles Gang who came from the Paris Military Academy, Lawrence's eyes are naturally not just focused on the interior of the Paris Military Academy. Lawrence is quite happy to work with rare talents such as Serulier.

In the name of the Knights, he absorbed them into his ranks.

Facing Lawrence's invitation, Major Serulier was stunned for a moment, as if he was overwhelmed by this big surprise.

Even the French officers behind him suddenly stared at Major Serurier with envy. They really wished they could rush forward and accept Monsignor Bonaparte's invitation to join the regiment.

After all, according to rumors, the Privy Knights are an organization of officers who are directly loyal to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Not to mention these small officers stationed in remote places, even a general would probably try to infiltrate the knights.

He joined the regiment just for the opportunity to serve His Majesty the King directly.

Naturally, Serulier would not let go of such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He finally recovered from the frenzied surprise, and immediately stood up, bowing to Lawrence humbly, expressing his willingness to serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

and went through fire and water with Monsignor Bonaparte.

Lawrence also nodded with satisfaction, pointed at Berthier behind him and said:

"This is the Chief of Staff of the Knights, Louis Alexandre Berthier. He will introduce you to the situation of the Knights and other members later..."

Berthier also stood up and extended his right hand to shake hands with Serrulier in a friendly manner. From today on, these two historical imperial marshals will serve the same lord.

...

After inviting Major Serurier to join the Knights as a reward, Lawrence immediately focused on the Sardinian troops that were still on the move.

Major Serurier also quickly recovered from the surprise and calmly analyzed:

"Although the enemy suffered heavy losses in Ajaccio, according to available intelligence, they should still retain the strength of three infantry regiments."

Lawrence frowned slightly, which meant that the strength of the Sardinian army was almost the same as the current standing army of Corsica. Once the opponent is given enough rest time, the combat power of this Sardinian army may be even better than that of the Corsican Defense Force.

Although Lawrence also deliberately brought the new muskets produced by the Trefali Arsenal to Ajaccio, the use of this rifled gun is still slightly different from the current smoothbore gun. Before the large-scale deployment of troops to form combat capabilities,

It still takes a period of training and adaptation.

Moreover, Lawrence was vaguely aware of the enemy’s intentions from his behavior:

The Sardinian army deliberately retreated towards the south, where the main force of the Defense Forces was stationed, instead of retreating to the north, where defenses were empty.

This means that the enemy does not intend to stay in the north to regroup and continue to capture the entire territory of Corsica. Instead, it plans to break out of the main force of the defense forces in the south after a short rest, cross the Bonifacio Strait, and retreat back.

To the mainland of Sardinia.

After all, in the eyes of the commander of the Sardinian forces, the French Mediterranean Fleet has most likely provided reinforcements to Corsica, so the strategic purpose of continuing to capture the entire territory of Corsica is obviously not feasible. The top priority now should be to do everything possible

Retreat and maintain your troop strength.

Lawrence's original plan was to annihilate the Sardinian army in Corsica. If this large enemy army was allowed to successfully break through and return to Sardinia, it would undoubtedly be a return to the enemy.

"We must take advantage of the situation when the enemy troops are trapped and exhausted to pursue them."

Lawrence thought for a while and then ordered:

"Their soldiers originally came across the sea, and after a day and night of continuous high-intensity fighting, they are still marching southward and retreating. That unit must now have low morale and exhaustion. We must seize this opportunity."

Major Serurier also agreed with Lawrence's analysis, but his expression immediately became very embarrassed:

"Having said that, our soldiers have also just gone through a bloody battle, and their condition is no better than that of the enemy. Moreover, the performance of the Citizen Volunteer Army on the field battlefield is definitely far inferior to that of street fighting. If we only rely on the Central Gendarmerie and the French

As for the garrison, our strength disadvantage is too obvious, and we are likely to encounter a counterattack from the enemy... and it will take about two days for the main force of the southern defense force to arrive around Ajaccio."

The faces of all the officers in the conference room were a little ugly. They all knew that now was a God-given opportunity to pursue the Sardinian army, but unfortunately, their own soldiers were also in a state of almost exhaustion.

Now as long as there is a unit with high morale and good condition that can be dispatched, that unit will definitely be able to defeat the exhausted Sardinian army with an overwhelming effect of one against ten.

But just to defend Ajaccio last night, the defenders in the city spent almost all their strength, and even recruited a large number of civilians to take up arms and participate in the battle. Under such circumstances, how could they find a unit in good condition to accept it?

Dispatch.

Major Serulier sighed reluctantly and suggested with some hesitation:

"Your Excellency Bonaparte, if we want to pursue a forceful pursuit, we can only quickly recruit a larger citizen volunteer army. We hope that we can use morale to make up for the gap in organization and training with the enemy... But such a recruitment

I am afraid that the army will be very vulnerable when facing enemy counterattacks, and such a move may also be very unfavorable to you politically, and there will definitely be a lot of criticism among the people..."

The officers in the conference room all stared at Lawrence with bated breath, waiting for Prime Minister Bonaparte to make the final decision.

"It doesn't have to be this way."

Lawrence just closed his eyes and thought for a moment, suddenly remembered something, shook his head and ordered:
Chapter completed!