Meanwhile, the northern end of the Saint-Louis Bridge.
Colonel Giovanni was riding on horseback, holding a pair of binoculars, always paying attention to the situation on the Ile de la Cité.
And when the colonel saw the unstoppable crowd rushing out of the Palace of Justice and leaving the Ile de la Cité, he put down his telescope in a daze and said to himself with a complex expression:
"Is everything...over?"
"It doesn't seem to be over, sir."
The adjutant beside the colonel also observed the situation on the island with a long telescope. The adjutant frowned and said:
"It doesn't look like the mob is preparing to evacuate... It seems like they are moving somewhere. Judging from their route, they are heading towards Montparnasse Avenue... It's really weird. What on earth are these people doing?
What to do..."
Colonel Giovanni did not respond to the adjutant's analysis because his mind had already drifted away from Paris.
At this moment, Colonel Giovanni was still looking at the endless flow of people, as if every minute he spent here was a torment for him.
The police and soldiers still stood guard by the San Luis Bridge like a group of statues. According to Colonel Giovanni's instructions, they did not have even the slightest friction with any citizen.
Just as the adjutant was hesitating whether to ask Colonel Giovanni for instructions on how to respond, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves coming from far and near on the street in the distance.
The sound of horses' hooves was dense and rapid, and one could hear the anxious anxiety of the riders.
Colonel Giovanni and his adjutant subconsciously looked at the group of riders. Basically, the only ones who could gallop on the streets of Paris were those privileged public officials.
The leader was wearing a light gray tuxedo and a bowler hat. Although he looked like a stern bureaucrat, at the moment he was waving his riding crop like a Cossack and heading towards Colonel Giovanni.
It wasn't until he was only twenty yards away from the two of them that the man suddenly reined in his horse with great pride, seeming to recognize Colonel Giovanni, and shouted angrily:
"Are you... Albert Giovanni? Are you in command now?! Damn it, what is going on here!"
Colonel Giovanni and his adjutant also quickly recognized that this bureaucrat was the head of the Paris City Hall and the mayor of Paris, Lyle Slater.
"Mr. Mayor..." Colonel Giovanni frowned slightly and greeted expressionlessly:
"I really didn't expect you to come here in person..."
Mayor Lyle gritted his teeth with hatred, shook the reins with great displeasure, and shouted angrily:
"The Ile de la Cité is almost turning into a hornet's nest. Can I not come? Do you know that His Majesty the King still lives in Paris? How on earth did your police force allow such a riot to occur on the Ile de la Cité? Enough, tell me.
What's the situation now!"
As the head of the city hall, Mayor Lisle could never accept anything going wrong while Louis XV was visiting Paris, let alone such a major riot that was rare in decades.
The adjutant on the side glanced at Colonel Giovanni, who was silent. After hesitating for a moment, he took the initiative to explain:
"Mr. Mayor, the mob just gathered in the Palace of Justice to protest, but now they are starting to move towards Montparnasse Avenue."
"Monparnasse Avenue? Montparnasse Avenue..."
Mayor Lyle lowered his head and murmured the street name, while using his index finger on horseback to draw a map of Paris.
The next moment, Mayor Lyle's face instantly turned pale and he exclaimed:
“After crossing Montparnasse Avenue, isn’t it the direction of the Tuileries Palace?!”
The three people present were stunned on the spot. Even the silent Colonel Giovanni couldn't help but widen his eyes. He had no idea what the entire plan of His Excellency Bonaparte was.
But judging from the movement path of these mobs, there is only one possible destination for them, the Tuileries Palace, the palace of His Majesty the King.
"Albert Giovanni! Where are your men? Do the police force only have so many soldiers?!"
Mayor Lyle glanced at the dumbfounded police and soldiers standing there, pointed at Colonel Giovanni angrily and yelled:
"Bring people to stop those mobs immediately, immediately! Now!"
The large rally held by the mob at the Île de la Cité has already disgraced Mayor Lyle. If they really go to surround the palace, Mayor Lyle simply cannot imagine the tragic future that awaits him.
.
However, Colonel Giovanni remained expressionless, as if he had not heard Mayor Lyle and was unmoved.
After a long while, he said softly:
"Mr. Mayor, the police and soldiers alone are not enough to stop the mob. Even if we are dispatched, it will not help, but will aggravate the situation. In the past few hours, these people have been relatively calm demonstrators. If the police force
If you suppress it forcefully, you will soon see tens of thousands of thugs on the streets of Paris."
"You! What nonsense are you still talking about here! Send me someone immediately!"
Mayor Lyle was stunned, clenched his fists and was about to explode, but Colonel Giovanni changed the subject and shouted in a deep voice:
"In addition, I have to remind you, Mr. Mayor, that the Paris police force takes orders from the Minister of War and not from the City Hall. I will only accept orders from the Supreme Lieutenant General, not your dispatch. Please do not interfere with the police.
It’s a decision within the army.”
Upon hearing this, Mayor Lyle's whole body was shaking violently with extreme rage. He simply couldn't believe that at this juncture, the Paris police force was still ignoring the escalation of the riot like an outsider.
.
Upon seeing this, a bureaucrat from the city hall quickly rode forward and whispered in Mayor Lyle's ear:
"Sir, the police force alone cannot solve this riot. We don't have time to waste time with the police force here. We must rush to the Ile Saint-Louis immediately and seek assistance from the city defense army."
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! With the persuasion of his subordinates, Mayor Lyle finally restrained his anger. He held the reins tightly, turned the horse's head, and only turned back before leaving.
He glared at Colonel Giovanni and said fiercely:
"Albert Giovanni! This matter is not over today. Just wait and say goodbye to the land of Paris!"
Having said that, Mayor Lyle did not dare to waste a moment, and immediately rushed with his entourage to the Île Saint-Louis, which is not far away from the Île de la Cité. The command post of the city defense force was on the Île Saint-Louis.
Watching Mayor Lyle's back gradually disappear, Colonel Giovanni smiled faintly, lowered his head and sighed softly:
"You may not know that my fate of leaving Paris was determined half a month ago."
...
Less than five minutes later, Mayor Lyle and his party appeared on the Île Saint-Louis.
When they arrived in front of the city defense command post, Mayor Lyle didn't even rein in the horse completely, but he turned over and jumped off the mount that was still trotting.
He threw the reins to the entourage behind him, then rushed straight into the command post, shouting at the top of his lungs:
"I am Lyle Slater! Alderman of Paris. I have something important and I must see Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe immediately!"
After the soldiers on duty simply confirmed Mayor Lyle's identity, they immediately took him into the public rest area, where basically all the officers from the command post gathered.
However, Mayor Lyle did not see Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe. The person who came to receive him was the second in command of the city defense force, the unlucky Major General Mani.
Major General Mani kindly brought a cup of coffee to Mayor Lyle and asked puzzledly:
"Welcome, Mr. Alderman, I don't know why you came to visit...?"
Mayor Lyle didn't care about tasting the coffee at all. He rudely threw the cup and saucer aside, and at the same time looked around restlessly at the officers, seeming to be looking for Lieutenant General Philip:
"I'm here to see Lieutenant General Philip, where is he?"
Major General Mani looked at the city official's graceless behavior and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment before replying:
"Unfortunately, Mr. Alderman, General Philip is not at the command post. He just led the troops out of the city in person. If you have anything urgent, you can tell his adjutant."
"Leading the troops out of the city? What's going on?" Mayor Lyle was also startled. He knew very well that Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe, as the top commander of the city defense army, could say that there was nothing worthy of him personally leading the troops to handle.
.
Major General Mani blew the steam from the coffee slowly, shrugged and explained:
"Just this morning, a group of gangsters suddenly appeared in the eastern suburbs. According to reports, there were hundreds of people. They burned, killed and looted the villages along the way. They were simply lawless."
Mayor Lyle couldn't help but frown. If it weren't for Major General Magny's serious tone, he couldn't believe that there would be a group of bandits stupid enough to do evil around Paris:
"Bandits? Around Paris? This...is there such a thing?"
"We don't know how those idiots dared to challenge the authority of the city defense army. Anyway, General Philip was quite angry. He felt that the bandits didn't take him seriously at all."
Major General Mani shook his head with a smile and took a sip of coffee:
"So General Philip personally led the troops to hunt down the bandits this time. He vowed to kill all the bandits one by one. I guess you won't be able to see General Philip today... Sorry, I digressed. You will see
General Philip, is there something important?"
Mayor Lyle took a deep breath, pointed to the Ile de la Cité outside the window and said:
"General, haven't you noticed that right next door to you on the Ile de la Cité, there is a group of lawless mobs causing trouble!"
To be continued...