Eagle’s Glory

Just as Panos Kolokotronis forced his way into the National Assembly with a neat gesture, threatening the members to pass the bill, a similar coup was quietly taking place in the seat of the independent government of Greece.

A group of heavily armed soldiers broke into the official residence of President Capodistria. After a brief but intense exchange of fire, they disarmed the guards and broke into the president's office.

"You are under arrest, President," the leading officer said to President Kapodistria.

"What are you doing?" The president was still in shock at this time, looking at the person in front of him at a loss. "Why do you want to do this?"

No one paid any attention to his questioning. Under the call of the officer, several soldiers stepped forward, directly set him up, and dragged him out of the mansion.

In desperation, the president could only follow the soldiers away in a daze and panic, and was escorted to a residential house not far away. Then, he found a person waiting here.

This man was probably in his fifties, with gray hair, but he was still tall and tall. He was wearing a military uniform and looked at him seriously.

Of course he recognized that this person was Theodoros Kolokotronis, commander-in-chief of the Independence Army.

And he immediately understood what happened.

"Theozolos! Are you crazy?" He couldn't help asking loudly.

It's no wonder he was so excited, because the relationship between the two of them is not bad on weekdays.

Although President Capodistria is very pro-Russian and has even served the tsar for a long time, he himself hopes that Greece can become a republic after independence-but he must always follow the pro-Russian line, and his position is also inconsistent with the Theozolos-Kolokotronis himself had the same wish, so after being released from prison, the two of them cooperated closely and finally maintained the situation in front of them.

So President Capodistria couldn't figure out why his commander-in-chief suddenly turned his back on him and launched a coup to arrest him.

"I'm not crazy." Under the questioning of the president, Theozolos Kolokotronis replied calmly, "Your Excellency, everything that has happened does not affect your current position. I only hope that you can do exactly that. Issue a statement, appoint me to act on my behalf, and openly invite His Excellency François Bonaparte to assist the cause of our independence."

"Bonaparte!" After hearing this name, the president immediately understood everything, "You have been used by the Bonaparte family!"

Some time ago, envoys from the Bonaparte family had contacted the Greek government.

However, he and his cronies directly and sternly rejected the family's offer without any hesitation.

They don't dislike this family, but in their view, joining forces with the sunken Bonaparte family will only increase the dislike of the Greek government among European powers, and will eventually damage the national interests.

However, today it seems that after being rejected, the family did not give up their efforts, and they found helpers elsewhere.

"They're using us, but so are we," Theozolos-Kolokotronis replied. "We can't be too picky these days, can we? In this precarious situation, as long as If someone is willing to reach out, we shouldn't say no."

"But they obviously have other plans!" The president retorted loudly. "Do you think they can solve the current problem?"

"At least it's worth a try," Theozolos replied. "We won't suffer any more losses for it anyway."

"The Tsar will have a different opinion." President Capodistria replied, "We managed to gain the favor of His Majesty the Tsar, but now if we cooperate with the Bonaparte family, what will he think? Will he not?" Will angrily withdraw all aid from us?"

"We have always placed our hopes on the tsar, but the tsar has not yet saved us." Theozolos-Kolokotronis replied angrily, "If this is the case, how can they point fingers at us now? "

Since the outbreak of the War of Independence, the Greek Independence Army knew that it was weak and unable to resist the pressure of the Turkish Empire, so it paid great attention to seeking outside assistance from the very beginning.

And the internal factions are also arguing endlessly over which European power to seek help from.

A party is secretly negotiating with France to give the Greek throne to the Duke of Nemours in France; Kolokotronis once formally sent a letter to Russia, proposing to submit to Russia after independence in exchange for the tsar's aid; and in 1825 In July, Greek leaders reached a rare consensus, co-signing a document that was sent to London shortly thereafter. The document, dated August 1, 1825, states that "Greece places its sacred liberty, independence and political existence under the absolute protection of the British Empire".

However, these three major powers did not actively respond to the Greeks' request, and at first they resolutely opposed Greek independence.

After more than 20 years of bloody baptism in the French Revolution, the European countries that had finally recovered their breath felt a headache when they heard the word "revolution"; "European order" is regarded as an absolute and inviolable rule of heaven.

From this perspective, the Ottoman Turkish Empire, although its rule is corrupt and brutal, is still part of the monarchy and a part of the balance of power in Europe, so its rule and territory cannot be easily touched and changed.

The overwhelming fascination with the "established order" now outweighs the dislike of the Turks in the great powers that have devastated the revolution.

Because of this, the Holy Alliance headed by Tsar Alexander I even publicly issued a statement that it would never support the Greek independence movement, and this approach also broke the hearts of these Greek leaders.

Although with the death of Tsar Alexander I and various other events, the sympathy of Western countries for the cause of Greek independence has quietly risen, and the policies of various countries are also undergoing drastic changes. Solve the problem between Turkey and Greece-but right now, Theozoros-Kolokotronis, who is already in a desperate situation, is unwilling to wait any longer.

Since the assistance from the big country in his dream has been delayed, he would rather accept the olive branch handed over by the Bonaparte family. Even if there is some evil in the olive branch, he can't care about it right now.

The words of Ozoros-Kolokotronis made the president speechless.

Indeed, he did not know how to defend his point of view.

"The Bonaparte family has more enemies than us, and they are even more difficult to deal with." After a moment of silence, he asked in a low voice, "If the western powers take drastic actions out of anger, how should we face the consequences? "

"The consequences are stronger than they are now. I don't believe they will send troops to destroy Greece. They can't do such a thing in terms of public opinion or diplomacy. After all, the Bonaparte family is only volunteering to help us." Ozo Ross Kolokotronis replied, "Using the Bonaparte family, we can attract the attention of the great powers. Maybe this is a good catalyst for those great powers that have been hesitant to make up their minds and solve our problems as soon as possible." problem here."

President Capodistria finally understood what the other party was thinking.

Needless to say, the Tsar’s hostility towards the Bonaparte family, the current Bourbon royal family in France would definitely not want to see the Bonaparte family stir up trouble, and they would have enough motivation to solve the problem as soon as possible.

As for what they will do, no one can predict.

"You're gambling." He frowned.

"Yes, I am indeed gambling. Anyway, we have already lost almost, why can't we bet a little bigger? Maybe we will get God's favor because of this." Theozolos-Kolokotronis nodded, " Well, Mr. President, please make the statement I requested."

President Kapodistria lowered his head in silence, as if still hesitating.

"Just write and let me take all the responsibility! Who can blame you for this situation?" Theozolos Kolokotronis urged impatiently, "If the situation really reaches the worst If it is not enough, then you can naturally put all the responsibility on me, and you can take me to seek the tsar's help again."

Now that the words have been said so clearly, President Kapodistria no longer hesitated, and he nodded in agreement.

"I can only wish you good luck." After a pause, he added in a low voice, "I wish Duke Reichstedt good luck too..."

"No, we call him the head of the Knights of Fontainebleau." Theozolos-Kolokotronis corrected his title.

------------------------------------------

While the Peloponnese is changing, the small island of Monte Cristo is calm today.

Aigron took Teresa for a walk on the reef by the sea.

He didn't say a word, and looked at the distant sea from time to time, listening to the sound of the tide beating against the rocks and splashing around.

Of course he knows everything that is about to happen in Greece - these days, he has been in close communication with the men he sent to Greece, guiding them to negotiate, making various honest or false promises, and encouraging Theodoros - Kolokotronis coup as soon as possible, send him official title.

If all goes well, within a few days, he will be formally invited by the Greek Parliament and the Greek President, and then, with a justifiable gesture, he will visit the land of Greece and formally participate in their great independent cause.

At that time, he was the defender of Christians in Greece and even the Balkans, fighting with all his might for their freedom and glory.

If everything doesn't go well... Well, it just means that his efforts for a while have returned to the original point, and he will participate in this war in another way.

Right now is a critical moment. It is impossible to say that he is not nervous, but he has learned the ability to hide his emotions and anger since he was a child, so he can keep himself calm all the time, and his words and deeds are as usual.

Of course, this kind of calm can only scare those people who rarely see him, but with the closest people around, they can feel his tension at the moment from his slightly strange behavior.

"Your Highness... don't worry, everything will be fine." Amidst the sound of the waves, Teresa gently grabbed Aigron's shoulder, and comforted him in a low voice, "Although I haven't seen the Ed you mentioned Mr. Mont-Dantes, but judging from your usual description, he should be a thoughtful and courageous person, and he will definitely live up to your trust."

"I hope so." Aigron nodded with a smile, "Teresa, I have great confidence in Edmund, but I also know that fate is a very mysterious thing, no matter how sure things are, sometimes it is unavoidable." Things can go wrong, so I always have a little bit of doubt in my mind."

"This is a very good habit. Many people are destroyed by their own arrogance, so always be vigilant in order to win continuously." Teresa also laughed. "In the future, you will definitely have more tense moments than this time, but Your Highness, we will all get through!"

Teresa's comfort made Aigron feel a lot better.

Yes, we have reached this point, so what's the point of worrying so much? It's better to wait patiently for the result, at worst, it won't be worse than myself a year ago.

As soon as he thought of this, he relaxed, and then he faced the blue sea and let out a long sigh of relief.

"So I'm packing my bags. No matter what happens there, I'm going! Nobody can stop me."

"I'm going with you, too," Teresa whispered.

Aigron looked away, then looked at Teresa worriedly.

Recently, she has been suffering from persistent fever due to a cold and acclimatization. Until now, she is still a little weak and has not fully recovered. Eggron didn't want Teresa to suffer the toil of a bumpy journey in this situation.

"Teresa, you can wait here." He couldn't help persuading the other party, "Anyway, after I go there, you can come over anytime."

"No, I can't." Teresa's reaction was more intense than Aggron's imagined. She tightly grasped the young man's hand, refusing to change her mind. "Your Highness, I want to go with you, from day one."

Then, Teresa bit her lips, looking unhappy, "Your Highness, didn't we agree to share weal and woe? If so, how can you take risks and I won't be by your side?"

Aigron was surprised to find that it was the first time Teresa insisted on her own opinion in front of him so persistently.

It must be very, very important to her.

"I'm not letting you go, I just want you to rest and recuperate first, and it won't be too late to come back when your body recovers..." Aigron replied helplessly.

"No, I recover faster if I'm with His Highness." Theresa replied stubbornly, "If I don't see you for a long time, I will worry about it instead, and it will be even more uncomfortable in the end... I have experienced this kind of life before, and it is much more uncomfortable than a cold and fever. Besides, if I'm here, I can definitely help you, Your Highness, just let me go together..."

Originally, Aigron wanted to persuade her a few more words, but seeing Teresa's insistence, he had no choice but to agree. "Okay... Since you insist, then do it this way. But, promise me, you must take care of yourself."

"I will, Your Highness!" Teresa was overjoyed when she saw Aigron's concession, and a little blush appeared on her weak and pale face, "For us, I will overcome all obstacles, and a mere cold is nothing ……trust me!"

Then, she leaned into the arms of the young man, closed her eyes and quietly enjoyed this moment of peace.