From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

March 2, 1770, Bonifacio, the southernmost city in Corsica.

This is a small city standing on a high and narrow promontory.

The city has a steep terrain, surrounded by the sea on three sides, and two of them are cliffs tens of meters high from the sea. Only the gentler terrain in the north can allow small ships to dock.

When Lawrence led the special battalion here, he couldn't help but sigh that this was indeed a natural fortress that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. No wonder the Southern Army chose to station here.

After completing the handover procedures with the local garrison, Lawrence took Major Trifali and Lieutenant Seth to meet the commander of the Southern Army, Colonel Silva, in a weather-beaten ancient fortress at the highest point of Bonifacio.

"Welcome, Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte, and the two of you who have come from afar, please take a seat."

Colonel Silva seemed to be looking through some letters. When he saw Lawrence entering the door, his expression even showed a moment of panic. After putting the letters away, he stood up and greeted the three of them.

Lawrence nodded and took out a squeaky chair and sat down, looking up and looking around.

This is the top floor of the fortress, but it has obviously not been repaired for a long time, and moss can be seen everywhere indoors.

The sea breeze constantly penetrates through the cracks of the stone bricks, bringing salty and humid water vapor. Sometimes it will make a very high-pitched whine when blowing through certain small cracks of suitable size.

The sound insulation effect is also very poor. The continuous sound of waves and the noisy seagulls can be heard coming in almost without any obstruction, and sometimes they can even drown out the sound of conversation.

The environment here was obviously much worse than that of General Bastiari Nathan's longhouse at that time.

"Colonel, please introduce me to the situation here."

After taking his seat, Lawrence went straight to the topic without any nonsense.

The day before Pauley and Pitt would reach a final agreement was not too far away, and Lawrence didn't have much time to waste in the South.

Colonel Silva moved his chair, leaned closer to Lawrence, and said:

"The situation in Bonifacio is not very optimistic now. As you know, this is the southernmost city, across the sea from Sardinia. The first target of the enemy in Sardinia must be here."

Lawrence turned to look at the map around Bonifacio hanging on the wall and said tentatively:

"But in my opinion, the terrain of this city is very favorable to us. Our 1,000-man defenders can occupy the natural danger and hold it for a long time."

In fact, Lawrence had no intention of stationing in Bonifacio. He only said this to confirm whether his guess about Paulie's intentions was accurate.

Sure enough, Colonel Silva was stunned for a moment, and his eyes moved aimlessly, as if he was thinking about something to say.

"Ahem, Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte, your opinion makes sense, but..."

Colonel Silva touched his chin and said seriously:

"If this enemy army gives up the siege of us and turns all the way north, approaching Ajaccio, it will directly threaten the heart of Corsica."

Lawrence listened attentively on the surface, but he already understood in his heart that Paulie had indeed sent himself and the soldiers of the fourth battalion to die.

Even a layman like Lawrence who had no formal military training could see that in this case staying within the city was the best and only option.

Colonel Silva's words undoubtedly made Lawrence give up the idea of ​​defending the city and instead take the initiative to attack.

"So, what do you mean?"

Lawrence knew that it was useless to argue with Colonel Silva. Paulie probably gave him a death order, so he just followed Colonel Silva's words.

"I think our army must intercept this enemy force in Bonifacio. To do this, we may need more radical means, even if this will cost some."

Seeing that Lawrence did not argue with him, Colonel Silva's expression immediately relaxed a lot, and he stated his policy in one breath.

The sound of waves crashing on the table and the chirping of seabirds were still coming into the room in waves, and because no one was talking anymore, it seemed even more noisy.

It was not until half a minute later that Major Cui Farley recovered from his surprise, stood up with a frown on his face, and said anxiously:

"Radical means? Colonel Silva, as far as I know, the quality and quantity of our army are not as good as the other side. How can we adopt a radical posture?!"

Lieutenant Seth could not stand up to speak because of his lower military rank, but he had the same idea as Major Trifali and nodded in agreement.

"Tsk"

Colonel Silva smacked his lips and looked at Trifali with some dissatisfaction, and scolded sternly:

"Major Cui Fali, as a soldier, I prefer that you obey rather than question! Please remember that I am the commander of the Southern Army. You only need to accept my orders and execute them!"

Lawrence held his forehead and glanced at Colonel Silva. It was obvious that his words were not meant for Major Trifali alone.

So, Lawrence turned to Major Trifali and winked, asking him to sit down. Then he looked at Colonel Silva and asked in a deep voice:

"I want to ask you a question, are these policies of yours your own, or are they issued by General Pauli?"

"What's the difference?" Colonel Silva shook his head, not wanting to answer the question.

"Of course."

Lawrence deliberately made his posture more unrestrained, leaning on the back of the chair with his legs crossed, looking down at Colonel Silva and saying:

"I'm sorry to say that I don't agree with your policy. As the commander of the special battalion, I have the right to refuse to obey. But if this is General Pauli's order, even if I don't understand it personally, I must obey it."

"you"

Colonel Silva looked confused. He didn't know what kind of trick Lawrence was playing. After hesitating for a moment, he said:

"Okay, let me tell you, this is General Pauli's order, but the order document is confidential, and I can't confirm it for you."

"Very good. In this case, I will act according to the policy just now."

To Colonel Silva's surprise, Lawrence did not ask to see Pauli's secret message at all. He just left these words and stood up to say goodbye to him. He left with Major Trifali and Lieutenant Seth without looking back.

Until the footsteps of the three Lawrence men disappeared into the fortress, Colonel Silva did not figure out what Lawrence wanted to do by asking this question:

"This Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte, did he realize that General Pauli was targeting him, but he only received verbal confirmation from me. It is entirely possible that I deceived him in order to make him obey the order. It is impossible for him not to know this point."

Colonel Silva rubbed his chin and thought about it for a long time, unable to figure out what Lawrence's intention was in asking this question.

Of course, what Colonel Silva didn't know was that. Lawrence didn't even want to confirm from him whether Paulie was targeting him.

His last question was not asked for himself, but for the two people behind him, Major Trifali and Lieutenant Seth.

"So, do you understand?"

In the special camp's station, Lawrence leaned against the wall and asked Major Trifali and Lieutenant Seth with a serious face.

As soon as he returned to the station, Lawrence told the two of them the situation between himself and Paulie without any secret, and even briefly talked about the agreement between Paulie and the British.

Lieutenant Seth stood there blankly, still not recovering from the facts Lawrence had just told them.

Major Cui Fali's expression was so gloomy that he could shed tears. He never thought that he would be treated like this in exchange for dedicating half his life to the National Defense Forces.

"That is to say, Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte, General Paoli now regards you as a thorn in his side."

Major Cui Farley gritted his teeth and said:

"This reinforcement is actually just to suppress you and bury the fourth battalion on the battlefield."

Lawrence nodded slowly and added:

"Strictly speaking, it's not about suppressing me, it's about suppressing me and you, you, Lieutenant Seth, and all the soldiers of the original 4th Battalion. In Pauly's eyes, these are all my partisans."

Silence once again became the theme between the three.

Both Major Trifali and Lieutenant Seth could not accept that General Pauli, whom they had devoted their loyalty to, would treat them like this.

After a long time, Lawrence took the initiative to break the silence and said:

"In other words, the three of us are on a ship. It is impossible to expect Paulie to change his mind. There is only one way left for us."

Major Trifari asked in an almost trembling voice:

"Which one?"

Lawrence shook his head and said:

"I will inform you as soon as possible after returning to Ajaccio. I will still need your help by then."

The two people in front of Lawrence looked at each other and said nothing, but nodded firmly. They had no choice.

Although they still don’t know what the road Lawrence is talking about is, Major Trifali and Lieutenant Seth can already foresee it:

Corsica, I'm afraid things are going to change.

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