On the morning of June 24, in the palace of Prime Minister Ajaccio.

It has been two days since the news of the official declaration of war reached Corsica, and perhaps due to the impact of the war, not only in the city of Ajaccio, but also in the Prime Minister's Palace, there has suddenly been a trace of tension and slaughter.

Today's Prime Minister's Office is not as cold as it used to be, with dozens of members of the House of Commons and ministers gathering in the Parliamentary Auditorium for regular meetings to discuss and vote on some wartime policies and proposals.

At the same time, in the Prime Minister's study, a private meeting to discuss the war was taking place in secrecy.

It was not an open political meeting, but a secret meeting of a handful of trusted cronies of Lawrence Bonaparte, presided over by Anna Celistia, the cabinet secretary.

"All in all, now that the city of Ajaccio is empty, we must guard against the invasion of the enemy army directly to the capital, once Ajaccio is lost, we will be forced to retreat south to join the main force of the Wehrmacht, which means that the whole north will fall, and the army gathered in the south will be difficult to confront the superior Sardinian army after losing its strategic depth."

Major Serurier stared worriedly at the map on his desk, and said to Ya'an, Old Sean, and several other participants who served in the Central Military Police Corps beside him:

"So I hope that all of you of the Central Gendarmerie will also be prepared, and the first shot of this war in Corsica will most likely be fired in the city of Ajaccio."

Yaan, who had only returned from Paris a few days ago, nodded solemnly, he had only been specially awarded the rank of major of the Central Military Police Corps by Lawrence before leaving, and naturally did not want to disappoint Lord Bonaparte in this war:

"I understand that although the Central Military Police Regiment is an expansion from the Ajaccio Patrol, its soldiers are basically elite drawn from the Wehrmacht, and they can be deployed as a regular army."

"That's fine, alas—" Major Serurier sighed softly, and looked out the window at the boundless blue sea in the distance:

"I wish Lord Bonaparte would come back soon, for no one but him will be able to suppress the proud wehrmacht; And His Excellency Bonaparte must have returned to Corsica with the first aid from France this time, and with French aid there is a chance of winning this war."

Major Serrelière's attitude towards Corsica is no longer the same as he had been in the first place, regarding the island as a cage for his path to promotion.

As the Major received more and more news from Paris, especially after learning that Lawrence Bonaparte had taken control of the French Foreign Office and the establishment of the Privy Council, Major Serreier understood that His Excellency Bonaparte could give him the great opportunity of his life.

Thus, Major Serurier took Corsica as seriously as any native officer of the Wehrmacht.

Cabinet Secretary Anna Celistia also glanced in the direction of the sea breeze, and the gentle summer breeze held her golden hair in the air and danced gently:

"Don't be in a hurry, Monsieur Sereurier, Monsieur Bonaparte should soon arrive in Marseille to cross the sea back to Corsica, and we must protect this land for two days... Now, Mr. Carlo Bonaparte, could you please tell us about the recent movements in the House of Commons, and it would be desirable for us to win the support of all the members of parliament for the Government during the war?"

Carlo Bonaparte, a member of parliament and a well-known member of the House of Commons, stood up and wanted to brief the crowd on the movements of the various factions.

And at this moment, I saw someone suddenly knock open the door of the study and anxiously break in.

Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and Anna also frowned slightly, she had clearly ordered the palace guards and the central gendarmerie just now to not allow anyone to approach the prime minister's study during the meeting.

Chardia Vicky, who had been silently staying in the corner, was in charge of the secret police station, and her eyes were even colder, and she lifted her cloak and instantly put her right hand on the dagger at her waist.

The intruder was made by a very young boy in the uniform of a Corsican sailor, who looked to be only thirteen or fourteen years old.

However, after seeing the young man's appearance clearly, everyone's vigilance immediately disappeared, and was replaced by deep doubt.

"You're... Little Nelson?"

Carlo Bonaparte looked at the young sailor at the door in astonishment, and immediately recognized that this was Horatio Nelson, a cadet of the Royal Navy who had come to Corsica with William Pitt Sr. and had been captured after the battle with the British Navy's Reason.

It is said that Prime Minister Bonaparte valued the young man's talent so much that he did not care about his service in the British Navy, the Royal Navy, but personally ordered him to serve as a junior non-commissioned officer on one of the only two line ships of the Corsican Navy at the age of thirteen, and asked the experienced Grosso to teach the young man himself.

The young Nelson had been so disappointed with the Royal Navy that he had witnessed the massacre of the citizens of Ajaccio by the sailors of the USS Reasonable last year, and with the promotion and care of Lawrence and Grosso, the thirteen-year-old Horatio Nelson quickly became determined to serve in the Corsican Navy.

And Grosso Bruno has always been very fond of this talented and potential teenager, especially after rushing back to Corsica from Paris this time, Grosso, who was awarded the permanent secretary of the Admiralty and actually controlled the Corsican navy, took Nelson with him inseparably, as if he was training a successor.

Grosso even drunkenly said several times that he wanted to adopt this clever little guy as an adopted son.

Because of this, everyone in the room had some impressions of this boy, and knew that he was a talent that Lawrence and Grosso valued very much, so they let down their vigilance.

However, Horatio Nelson, who was supposed to serve in the navy, suddenly appeared here anxiously, which made everyone suddenly have a bad premonition in their hearts.

Major Serier's heart tightened even more, his eyes widened instantly, and he walked quickly in front of Nelson:

"I remember you stayed with Lord Grosso... Is there any news from the Navy?"

Young Nelson's body trembled slightly from nervousness, but he still firmly gave a sailor salute to the crowd, and reported aloud with meticulous attention:

"Deputy Grosso sent me to report! Our patrol ships found a fleet in the waters northwest of Ajaccio, flying the Sardinian flag, the fleet was composed of eight main line ships, about 20 escorts and cruisers, and a large number of fast sailing ships, suspected of carrying a large number of sailors! The fleet is heading towards the port of Ajaccio and is expected to arrive in four to six hours!"

"What?!"

As soon as the words fell, everyone in the study subconsciously focused their eyes on Major Serier.

The news came as a complete surprise to everyone, who were still considering strengthening the defenses of Ajaccio, when a Sardinian fleet was heading towards the capital Ajaccio as expected at worst.

Moreover, judging from Nelson's report, it was clear that the Sardinian fleet that was sailing towards Ajaccio was prepared, and it seemed that it had anticipated the declaration of war by the Kingdom of Corsica, and that Ajaccio, who was empty of guard, would inevitably suffer a catastrophe in the face of such an offend.

The thought that the overwhelming artillery fire was about to pour down on Ajaccio a few hours later made everyone's faces instantly solemn.

Major Serreier gritted his teeth even more, turned around and walked to the table, glanced at the map, and slammed his fist on the table in indignation:

"I knew that the mobilization and deployment of northern Sardinia was a feint, and the Sardinian army knew very well that the capture of Ajaccio would cut off the whole of Corsica, not to mention the political implications of capturing the enemy capital... Damn, and that fleet clearly has the British in it, and all the capital ships of the Navy of the Kingdom of Sardinia are only six! Pardon my offense, but what a bunch of narrow-eyed fools at the top of the Wehrmacht think this war is the same thing as the war against Genoa!"

Ya'an quickly stood up and looked at Major Serurier solemnly, the two troops in their hands were the only two city defense units in Ajaccio:

"There's no point in talking about that now, there's still time left for us

Some, Major, we must immediately mobilize the garrison and the central gendarmerie for the defense of the city, and Ajaccio must not be lost."

Major Principal Serurier sighed, and didn't care if the others minded, took out a cut cigar from his bosom and lit it with a match, and after taking a deep breath, he quickly calmed down, and calmly analyzed:

"That's right, the southern army must also be immediately retracted, and the Bonifa can give up for the time being, but Ajaccio can't be occupied by the enemy for even a moment... But to tell the truth, there were less than 3,000 troops defending the city, and I was not sure that I would be able to hold Ajaccio in the face of a Sardinian army with superiority at sea..."

"The Corsican government will help you in every way, Major."

Anna Celistia interrupted Serurier softly, her blue eyes unwavering, without a hint of panic:

"Please guard Ajaccio, for all Corsicans, and for Monsieur Bonaparte."

Anna didn't know much about military strategy, but as one of the first followers of Lawrence Bonaparte, she knew how important the city of Ajaccio was to her and Monsieur Bonaparte.

For this meaning alone, Anna Celestia, as a cabinet secretary, is willing to protect the city at all costs.

And though he was not sure enough, Major Serrelière kept his head down.

As the commander of the Corsican garrison, he knew better than anyone present the strategic and political value of Ajaccio, and for him personally, if he was able to hold Ajaccio in this siege, this feat would definitely be enough for His Excellency Bonaparte to notice him, a French major.

The major took another puff on the cigar in his hand, and then quickly left the Prime Minister's Office with several officers of the Central Military Regiment, and immediately began to work on the deployment of the city defense troops.

...

And just as the officers were leaving the study, a steward happened to pass by them, and ran in in a panic:

"Miss Anna! Pardon me, but there is a commotion in the council hall, and the councillors have just learned that the Sardinian fleet is approaching Ajaccio, and Speaker Rousseau is already a little out of control!"

"Do the councillors already know...? Mr. Grosso—" Anna frowned slightly, glancing helplessly at Nelson at the door.

Normally, such a major news should be reported to the decision-making level first and concealed from the public first, but Grosso himself does not have too much knowledge of politics and conspiracy, so as soon as he received the news, he directly assigned Nelson to announce the news of the attack on the Sardinian fleet directly to the public.

But at this point, Anna calmly asked the steward:

"How's it going in the House? Did the various parliamentarians say anything about the news of the enemy attack?"

The steward wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said in a trembling voice:

"Immediately after the news of the news, the parliamentarians held an emergency vote, and all the parliamentarians basically agreed that they were against the fight against the Sardinian army in Ajaccio, and at least immediately send troops to escort the parliamentarians to the safety of the south to be protected by the main force of the Wehrmacht."

It is clear that not everyone in the Corsican government is determined to defend Ajaccio.

At least for the lawmakers, they have shown with their votes that they don't want to risk their lives in Ajaccio, which is about to be reduced to a hail of bullets.

"Damn silverfish!"

Hearing the request of the councillors to forcibly pass, Chardia Vicky in the corner was even more annoyed, and stuck a dagger shining with cold light on the table:

"It's already like this, how can there be extra manpower to escort them to Bonifa Chinese, and besides, if the army learns that the councillors have fled the capital first, what a blow to morale!"

Looking at the dagger that was three points into the wood, the steward was also shocked, but he knew how much the director of the secret police department hated the powerful and hateful:

"Please... Please calm down, Miss Vicky, at this time

It would be better not to have an internal conflict, Miss Anna, Speaker Rousseau is in the House of Representatives to persuade the members to give up the illegal vote just now, but it seems to have no effect, and perhaps only you will be able to convince the members yourself..."

In the eyes of the steward, only Anna Celistia, as cabinet secretary and civil leader of the Corsican government, could intimidate the group of parliamentarians, after all, she was the handmaiden of His Excellency Bonaparte.

However, Anna's eyes were also fixed on Shadia's dagger, and her expression was a little hesitant, and she did not give the order immediately.

The young girl knew very well that even if she came forward in person, there was probably no hope that she would be able to convince the parliamentarians to stick to Ajaccio with the army, and it was human nature to seek advantage and avoid harm, let alone such a life-and-death situation.

Nor could Anna allow the legislators to leave Ajaccio immediately, not to mention the demoralisation of the legislators who would have been demoralized, and the mere act of escape would have led to the imprint of wealthy businessmen, politicians, and the public.

Once the citizens rush to flee Ajaccio, the city will probably experience a major upheaval before the Sardinian army reaches Ajaccio.

Everyone in the study was anxiously awaiting Anna's order, and Carlo Bonaparte was also anxious, and he knew all too well the difficulties of this group of councillors, and took the initiative to propose:

"I will also come forward with you to convince the councillors, Miss Anna, that these councillors also have a great deal of influence among the people, and now that the enemy is present, we can no longer bear the internal turmoil at this juncture, and perhaps we can make some concessions to them in exchange for them to stay in Ajaccio..."

"No, Mr. Carlo."

Before Carlo Bonaparte's suggestion was finished, Anna shook her head firmly and vetoed:

"I will not make any concessions to these deputies unless it is at the will of Monsieur Bonaparte, but you are right in saying that we cannot afford internal turmoil at such a critical juncture, so..."

Before the words fell, Anna's voice suddenly lowered a little, and there was a chilling coldness between her gentle brows:

"Please convey my order to immediately dispatch a company of the Central Military Police Corps to the Prime Minister's Office for command, and in addition, urgently assemble the cadres of the Executive Department of the Secret Police Department to also enter the Prime Minister's Office for command."

Free to read.