February 9, 1768, was the day after Lawrence and the 4th Battalion were evacuated from Fort Creek.

After returning to Bastia yesterday afternoon, Lawrence and Trevary briefed General Nathan on the situation.

General Nathan's jaw dropped when he learned that the 4th Battalion had captured the Supreme Commander of the Genoese Army in Corsica, something he had dreamed of for so many years in the Northern Army.

Unexpectedly, Lawrence led a force of only more than 200 people to accomplish this feat, although he was not escorted back to Bastia in the end, but as long as this matter was spread, it was enough to make Lawrence and the entire soldiers of the fourth battalion famous.

Not to mention that Lawrence also seized a batch of Genoese sophisticated equipment, which came from the German region and was much better than the homemade in Corsica, and even General Nathan was a little jealous.

Of course, Lawrence did not intend to tell Nathan about General Berlan's notebook for the time being, but was going to return to Ajaccio and hand it over to Governor Pauly. After all, this is the key item that killed Ciro,

Lawrence did not explain much about the matter of attracting the Genoese army to attack, which was of the greatest concern to all three, except that the Genoese army would inevitably attack within two days.

On 9 February, neither Lawrence nor Trafali returned to the 4th Battalion's camp, but remained in General Nathan's longhouse to wait for the situation to change.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, a scout hurried to the longhouse to report that, judging by the dust and mud he was covered in, he must have just returned from the outpost.

"General, we observed that the garrison in the fortress of Creekwood is beginning to build, and the target should be Bastia."

The Scout gasped and said anxiously.

General Nathan glanced at Lawrence with a complicated face, but he didn't expect this young man to really be like a god, as if everything was in his calculations.

Lawrence also noticed General Nathan's strange gaze, smiled and looked at him, got up and said:

"In that case, it's time for me to go back to the 4th Battalion with Major Trefary and begin directing the evacuation."

General Nathan nodded silently, watched Lawrence and Treffar walk out of the longhouse, sighed, and then called the herald and said:

"Inform the troops to assemble and prepare to withdraw, leaving only one battalion of troops in Bastiane for symbolic resistance."

......

On the evening of 9 February, the Genoese army began its assault on Bastia, and they met little resistance, and after a scattered burst of gunfire in the city, General Berlan's forces successfully took over the military stronghold, which he had so desperately desired, as well as the surrounding area.

Of course, the inhabitants of these areas have already been evacuated to the rear in advance and compensated accordingly.

"General Bellan!"

Colonel Keno ran to General Bellan with a smile on his face and reported:

"Bastia is completely under our control."

But General Bellan was not half happy, and sighed and asked:

"How's the supply situation in the city?"

Colonel Keno was stunned for a moment, then put away his flattering smile and replied bitterly:

"The Corsicans should have taken them with them when they retreated, and the food in the city was only five days' worth of food."

"Sure enough, it was on purpose..."

General Berlan bowed slightly, if Bastia's garrison retreated in a hurry, it would certainly not be possible to transport all the supplies in a short time.

However, for General Berlan, the food in the city and the supplies in the Ximu fortress, if the amount of each meal is reduced, it can still last for half a month, and it can last until Genoa itself deploys a batch of supplies to be delivered.

It's just that the question of why the Corsicans gave them a city for nothing has always haunted General Berlan.

At the same time, Bastia's garrison was marching south towards a new garrison, and their destination was a castle to the south.

Similar to the Creek Fortress, the castle was built by a noble family in the Middle Ages, but the Corsican government did not have the money to build and fortify the castle, which looks like it has been going through a long period of time.

The story of the 4th Battalion's burning of Giethoorn a few days earlier and the capture of General Bellan had already spread throughout the Northern Corps, and General Nathan had to admit their merits and arrange them with the other three infantry battalions when assigning the garrison.

"Oh my God, that's the soldiers of the Fourth Battalion!"

"I didn't expect them to be able to return safely after such a havoc behind the Creek Wood Fortress."

"And these equipment of theirs, it shouldn't be ordinary standard equipment."

"Yes, but it's a lot better than the guy we have on our hands."

"I heard that each of them was given a bottle of good wine."

"Damn, we can't even drink light beer mixed with water!"

"There's no way, that's what people won back."

......

When Lawrence led the soldiers to the station, it instantly attracted the attention of the soldiers of the other three battalions, and the whispering discussion reached Lawrence's ears.

Even when the commanders of the other three battalions stepped forward to greet Lawrence, the eyes they looked at Lawrence were very complicated, mixed with admiration, admiration and jealousy.

When Lawrence first came to the Northern Corps and was assigned to the fourth battalion, they were still waiting to see Lawrence's jokes, in their eyes, Lawrence's military position was completely from General Pauly, but no one expected that in less than a week, Lawrence would hit them in the face with real achievements.

The soldiers of each of the four battalions also accepted these discussions with envy and jealousy with their heads held high, and in just a few days, they had gone from being cannon fodder that everyone hated to being the focus of the whole army.

And all the soldiers of the fourth battalion knew in their hearts that all this happened after the arrival of Lawrence Bonaparte.

Half of the glory and wealth that Lawrence had promised to the soldiers had been accomplished, and at least in the Northern Legion, no one would roll their eyes at the soldiers of the Fourth Battalion again.

After settling down in his new station, Lawrence did not immediately return to Ajaccio, but prepared to stay in the army for a while longer.

The first is to observe the future movements of the Genoese army, if the Genoese army did not intend to occupy Bastia, Lawrence will have to find a way to pull the battle line back. Of course, this is a very low probability that Lawrence and General Nathan would spit out the meat that had been eaten in their mouths.

The second is to continue to consolidate his influence in the army, after all, Lawrence has only been in the army for about a week, and it is difficult to guarantee that he can still be supported by his soldiers after a long time away.

Lawrence, who is well versed in history, knows very well that in these turbulent times, especially in a country like Corsica, which is surrounded by large countries on all sides and at risk of being annexed at any time, holding on to the barrel of a gun is definitely the first priority.

"Once the hearts of men, the force, and the riches are all gathered, it is time for me to lead the Corsicans."