Chapter 119: Reinforcements
In the Governor's Palace, the study that originally belonged to Poly has now ushered in a new owner.
Lawrence sat calmly behind his desk, undenied any surprise from the sudden change of identity.
As for the two in front of Lawrence, they were Major Trefali and Lieutenant Seth, who had just arrived from the Ajaccio residence.
"Governor Bonaparte, report to you."
Major Trefali and Lieutenant Seth saluted Lawrence excitedly.
When they received the order to be summoned by Lawrence in the camp, the hearts of the two of them finally let go, and they knew that the Bonaparte they were following had entered the Doge's Palace.
Major Trefali and Lieutenant Seth were accompanied by more than 600 soldiers in the camp, including the Wehrmacht at Ajaccio's garrison and the soldiers of the special battalion that Lawrence had brought back from Bonifacio.
Lawrence knew well that his 100-odd patrols would be enough to raid the Doge's Palace, but it was a bit of a stretch to deter possible riots in Ajaccio.
For this reason, Lawrence immediately ordered Major Trefali and Lieutenant Seth to lead their troops into the city to prevent unrest.
"Oh no, Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte, oh no, I mean Governor Bonaparte."
Even though Major Trifali was already standing in front of Lawrence, he had not yet recovered from the excitement of receiving the news, and patted his chest and said repeatedly:
"I can't believe you actually did it."
Lieutenant Seth on the side also nodded excitedly and agreed:
"It's just a shame that I didn't witness the moment when you came to power."
Listening to the congratulations of the two, Lawrence only smiled wryly and shook his head, while taking over the power of Corsica, he also shouldered the responsibility to the people of the whole island.
The thought of being watched by thousands of pairs of eyes on his every move made Lawrence feel a heavy pressure.
After congratulating Lawrence, Major Trefary and Lieutenant Seth regained their seriousness, and the two of them knew that despite the success of overthrowing Pauly, there was still a lot of mess in front of them that needed to be cleaned up.
"By the way, Governor Bonaparte, the soldiers in the camp, in addition to the wounded, have also arrived in Ajaccio with us."
Major Trevley reported to Lawrence when he suddenly asked, with some confusion:
"Why do you want me to bring all the soldiers to the city? In order to maintain order, the soldiers of the special battalion are enough, right? ”
Lieutenant Seth also looked at Lawrence, and in the opinion of the two, except for the soldiers of the special battalion, who were absolutely loyal, the rest of the Wehrmacht soldiers were forced to obey Major Trefali because of the disappearance of Lieutenant Colonel Ledo.
Allowing such an unstable force to enter Ajaccio, which was already unsettled, would never have been carried out by Major Trefali and Lieutenant Seth if it had not been personally ordered by Lawrence.
In the face of the two's questions, Lawrence calmly explained:
"Now that Poly has stepped down, the chances of their defection are slim to none."
"But," said Major Trefali, still worriedly:
"Paulie is still alive after all, some officers with ulterior motives, they might..."
Lawrence still shook his head, and he had already considered this possibility, so he said:
"It's possible, but these soldiers have a bigger enemy than me at the moment."
"Enemies? What enemy? ”
Major Trefali and Lieutenant Seth blurted out in surprise and bewilderment, they had no idea of any enemy in Ajaccio that all the soldiers needed to be dispatched to deal with.
And when Lawrence opened his mouth to explain, he saw that the door of the study was suddenly pushed open.
Major Trevary and Lieutenant Seth quickly turned their heads to see that it was a strong man with a scarface, and this was none other than Lawrence's Grosso.
When Lawrence saw Grosso suddenly break in, his face suddenly became serious, and he didn't care about his rude behavior, and hurriedly asked:
"Grosso, you're here, is there any movement over there?"
Grosso also nodded with a heavy look and said:
"They're already rallied, Lawrence, you kid guessed right."
"Really," Lawrence touched his chin and nodded, waving at Grosso:
"You take someone to observe, and send someone to report it as soon as there is a change."
"Okay, got it."
Grosso dropped these words, and ran out in a puff of smoke, without even closing the door.
"It's... This..."
Major Trevary and Lieutenant Seth looked at each other blankly, completely unaware of what was happening, and asked urgently:
"Doge Bonaparte, what is this?"
Lawrence propped his hands on the table and dragged his chin and calmly explained:
"It was my man, and he was ordered to keep an eye on the British warship anchored in the harbor. Now that the sailors on the warship have been assembled, their target is the Governor's Palace, if nothing else. ”
Lawrence had Captain Morris's revenge in mind when he was considering what to do with William Pitt, so he sent Grosso to observe the harbor with a telescope outside the Doge's Palace on higher ground.
And the two men finally understood why Lawrence would transfer all the soldiers into the city, it turned out that Lawrence had anticipated the actions of the British sailors.
"But, Governor Bonaparte..."
Major Trevary touched his chin, his brows full of uneasiness, and then said hesitantly:
"If it were those sailors, we wouldn't even be able to withstand their attack."
These words were also uttered by Major Trefali after careful consideration.
As a third-class ship, the Rationale generally carries between 450 and 600 sailors.
Although the sailors may seem slightly inferior in numbers to the Corsicans, let's not forget that in street battles in urban terrain like Ajaccio, these sailors with better individual qualities have the upper hand.
In the intricate streets, the Corsican line soldiers were easily approached by the British sailors from the flanks or from behind, and forced into hand-to-hand combat, which they were not good at.
"Governor Bonaparte, I have no intention of surrendering without a fight, but..."
Major Trevary cautiously observed Lawrence's face, gritted his teeth, and said:
"In the face of these sailors, even if we win, it will be a terrible victory. They're definitely here for that Pete anyway, but it's better for us... Take the initiative to hand people over. ”
Lieutenant Seth also looked at Lawrence's face with uneasiness, fearing that Lawrence would take Major Trefali's words as an act of increasing the prestige of others and destroying his own morale.
However, Lawrence only shook his head quietly, and knew that Major Trevary had made a rational judgment after thinking, so he said patiently:
"No, if we give in, it will only make Morris more convinced that Ajaccio is under-guarded. And when Pete returns to Morris, he will inevitably ask him to directly attack the Governor's Palace and re-establish Paulie as the Governor. ”
"It's... Indeed, sorry, Governor Bonaparte, it was I who miscalculated. ”
Major Trefarli thought about it for a moment, quickly bowed and apologized, and said:
"In that case, we'll have to start arranging the soldiers at once."
The sailors on board the Reasonable had already been assembled, and it was only an hour's journey from the port of Xicheng to the governor's palace, leaving little time for the Corsican army.
Lawrence also nodded in acknowledging the urgency of the time, but instead of immediately letting the two of them go to lead the lead, he suddenly said to Major Trefary:
"By the way, Major Trefali, that troop should have come with you into the city, right?"
Major Trefarli was stunned for a moment before he reacted:
"The troops? You mean... That cuirassiers? ”
"That's right, I'm going to see their captain." Lawrence nodded.
"They did come into town with us, but..."
Major Trefalli looked embarrassed and said:
"In this battle, those cavalry should not obey our command, after all, they are loyal to Pauly's troops."
"Nope."
Lawrence's eyes became gloomy, and he shook his head slowly and said in a deep voice:
"From now on, they have to and can only pledge allegiance to Corsica."