Flowers, Swords and France

It was already late at night.

The early summer sky was cloudless, with only a full moon high above it, which spread its silver light all over the fields, making everything on the ground look so clear.

Everything was quiet, with only the sparse chirping of insects. The early morning of June 3, 1849, looked no different from any other day before.

However, this was destined to be just the last calm before the storm.

Under the clear moonlight, Major Lucien Leflair took out his pocket watch and waited for the scheduled moment. Obviously, the second hand of the pocket watch did not make any sound when it moved, but in his heart, the sound of "click, click, click" was endless.

He was not nervous, but very excited, the kind of excitement that a soldier would have when he was about to face the battlefield, the kind of excitement that would see thousands of people carry out their plans.

The second hand finally reached the moment that determined his fate, and he looked up at several small buildings in the distance.

At this moment, the roar of the cannon suddenly sounded, and the shells that had been accelerated for the first time in the smoothbore cannon rushed towards the predetermined target with a sharp whistle, causing the distant buildings to be shaky.

With the roar of the cannon, the shouts from the position suddenly sounded, and the original silence was instantly broken, and the endless insect chirping was completely overwhelmed by the fierce shouts and shouts of killing.

Dozens of command knives were waved one after another, and the cold knife light flashed like brilliant starlight.

Following the orders of the commanders on the front line, like children summoned by the magic flute. Soldiers in blue tops and red pants picked up their bayoneted rifles and jumped out of the ambush positions. Then they rushed forward regardless of anything.

"Charge!"

"Long live France!"

"Go to Rome!"

"Hang Mazzini!"

"Defend the Pope!"

The slogans that came one after another gathered together and turned into a strange roar that no one could hear clearly, but no one cared what they heard. They just drew strength and courage from the shouts.

Just after they started charging, the enemies on the opposite side were also alarmed at the same time. They immediately launched a counterattack as if they had just woken up from a dream. Bursts of gunfire and artillery fire also sounded from the opposite side. Solid cast iron shells flew in the air at a terrible speed and bounced on the ground. The soldiers who blocked their way were beaten to pieces, bloody and even had broken limbs that were hit into the sky and then fell heavily.

In front of the building. Many soldiers were hit by bullets. Then they fell straight to the ground. The wounded screamed in great pain, adding a harmonious note to the endless shouting and killing.

Lucien watched the soldiers charge quietly. In front of him, soldiers fell from time to time, but he ignored them and just estimated the pros and cons of the situation.

The soldiers were not afraid of the enemy's counterattack, they just rushed forward with strange shouts. They had to obey the orders of the officers, and some of them drank some wine beforehand. They didn't care what happened around them. They rushed forward like crazy. Those who were unfortunately injured or killed in the battle did not get any attention, mercy, or even a moment's attention from the living. In order to fulfill the orders of their superiors, their comrades could only rush forward, and secretly prayed that they would not become one of the dying people, and they no longer had the extra energy to pay attention to the fate of others.

Under Lucien's gaze, the blue frenzy was getting closer and closer to the target.

"Stop the shelling! Stop the shelling!" he shouted, "Our people are about to rush in!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a small group of soldiers had already stepped on the bodies of the soldiers in front and rushed into the villa in front of them. The sound of gunfire and the clash of bayonets were transformed into a somewhat muffled tune in the house. Inspired by this scene, the soldiers outside roared even louder, and their footsteps suddenly accelerated a bit, and they also rushed into the villa.

"We won!" After seeing this scene, Lucien was overjoyed, "Rome is ours!"

"Lucien, report to the general!" An officer next to him was also overjoyed, "We will dedicate the victory to Mr. President!"

"He is not a president!" Amid the sound of gunfire, Lucien shouted back, "Long live the emperor!"

Just when the slogan of "Long live the emperor" was about to come out, the soldiers who rushed into the villa also planted a military flag on the roof of the villa. This move not only symbolized that the stronghold had been captured, but also marked that the French Republic's attack on the Roman Republic had finally won a decisive victory.

………………

The revolutionary fire that originated in France in 1848 soon spread throughout the European continent, and even the most conservative and reactionary Papal States were greatly affected. On November 15, Pellegrino-Rossi, the Minister of Justice of the Papal States, was assassinated. The next day, the citizens of Rome took to the streets to march, demanding that the Papal States implement social reforms, appoint a democratic government, and declare war on Austria. On the evening of November 24, Pope Pius IX fled Rome in the disguise of an ordinary priest and went to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (the king at that time was a branch of the Bourbon family) for refuge. The Vatican Bishop Carlo Uzzarelli formed a stay-over government and subsequently issued some new liberal decrees. The Pope therefore refused to recognize the government and formed a new government in exile.

The citizens of Rome held their first free election on January 21, 1849 to form a constitutional convention. All men over the age of 21 could vote. On February 8, the constitutional convention announced the establishment of the Roman Republic, with the Triumvirate as the head of state. The Pope only retained the status of religious leader, while Mazzini, the spiritual leader of the Italian revolutionaries, became one of the three rulers and held de facto power.

Pope Pius IX, who was unwilling to let his power slip away, immediately asked for help from European Catholic countries to put down the riots. Representatives from France, Austria, Spain and other countries gathered in Gaeta, Spain, and formulated a plan for armed intervention in the Roman Republic. In April 1849. Under the order of Louis Bonaparte, President of the French Republic, General Oudinot led 9,000 French troops to land in Civitavecchia and marched towards Rome at the same time.

The Austrian army invaded Bologna. The Spanish army approached the south of Rome, and the army of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (also known as the Kingdom of Naples) also advanced towards Rome. The newly born Roman Republic was surrounded by enemies and was about to fall into a situation of destruction.

At this time, the legendary Italian hero Garibaldi rushed to the Roman Republic and was ordered to become a general. He commanded the army that was seriously insufficient in number, equipment and training. He won battle after battle and defeated the French and Sicilian royal armies one after another. He occupied the Villa of the Four Winds and the Villa of Pamphili near the city of Rome with infantry. He used artillery to control the Gianicolo Heights, forming a solid defensive position, and repeatedly defeated the attacks of the French army.

After General Oudinot suffered a series of setbacks in Rome, he immediately requested reinforcements from France. After President Louis Bonaparte received the news. He was furious and immediately ordered reinforcements. The French army soon reached as many as 40,000 troops. At the same time, in order to be cautious, he also sent an old general to be in charge of the entire French army.

This old general was General de Treville, who was famous in the imperial era. Under the care of the general, Lucien Leflair had gotten rid of the predicament of last year. He even became the general's adjutant and accompanied him in the expedition.

As soon as he arrived in Italy. General de Treville first stopped all military operations, allowing his subordinates to rest from their previous fatigue, and at the same time began to negotiate with representatives of the Roman Republic, delaying the preparation time while taking this opportunity to find out the bottom of the other party.

At this time, the Roman Republic had relaxed from the tension. Their armed forces were divided into three divisions, isolated in the unconnected urban areas. The troops did not seize the time to build fortifications. There was a scene of singing and dancing everywhere. Even Garibaldi himself was trapped in a situation of being alone because of the exclusion of his colleagues.

The original text is in Liu # 9 @book/bar!

After feeling that the time was ripe, General de Treville decided to launch an attack.

In order to keep it secret, he decided not to prepare for artillery fire in advance, but to launch a charge directly at night, and to seize victory before the enemy was caught off guard. The location he chose was exactly the strongholds such as the Villa of the Four Winds and the Villa of Pamphili that the French army had repeatedly attacked before.

Lucien Leflair was sent by him to supervise the battle on the front line, and even the formulation of this plan was also his contribution. After capturing this crucial stronghold, the gate of Rome was already in sight, and there was nothing to stop the French attack.

………………

The artillery fire continued, the wounded lay on the ground groaning helplessly, and some people were inevitably heading for death. However, what deserves people's attention is only the fluttering military flag.

Seeing that the plan he participated in formulating was completed so smoothly, Lucien felt extremely excited. His blood, his passion, and his ambition had been burned by the artillery fire and could no longer be easily cooled down. It was not just him, the entire French army had felt a scene that had not been seen in the previous decades. This was the first war during the reign of Louis Bonaparte, but it would not be the last.

In the complete victory, Lucien felt extremely satisfied. He was full of pride in the army he participated in. The only thing that made him feel a little regretful was that the enemy was just a group of hastily armed rabble, and it was completely incompatible with the opponent in his dreams.

"We almost lost the honor of victory. Such a victory is simply meaningless!" he thought.

After a moment, he threw away these thoughts and turned to look at the officer next to him.

"I will report to the general now. You take your people to defend here and don't let the Italians succeed in counterattacking!"

"No problem." The officer quickly agreed, "You can report the good news to the general."

"Long live the empire!" The two shouted at the same time.

Although, it is now a republic. (To be continued..)

ps: New volume, new atmosphere, please continue to recommend and reward~~

Please everyone...

Also, thank you f sauce for the reward, auntie still washes the railway...