Chapter 1698 - 1604: The Wisdom of Ordinary People

Chapter 1698: Chapter 1604: The Wisdom of Ordinary People

The Commander of the Marines, Major Denibol, said grimly, "This is too serious, we should report to Paris immediately."

Lieutenant Kamas spoke very quickly, "I’ve already sent an assistant to Siena. But Paris won’t respond for at least two days, and anything could happen during that time."

There are no Sharp Signal Towers within the Pope State capable of communicating with France, the nearest tower is in Siena, Florence, which takes half a day to reach by horseback. Reporting back to France also takes over half a day. The round trip is two days.

Kamas was feeling very frustrated at this moment too.

Last week, Captain Savien, the head of the Security Bureau here, happened to be in Perugia dealing with matters, leaving Kamas as the acting intelligence director in Rome.

The day before yesterday afternoon, while drinking with the Archbishop Consalvi’s secretary, he heard the latter mention that some "fools" had spent 20,000 francs to risk entering the city.

He felt that the appearance of the "fools" described by the secretary, four short and one tall, was very much like Prince Charles and his trusted aides.

Considering the prince’s previous connections with the rioters in Rome, he cautiously went to find the noble who had acted as the intermediary. He then heard the answer he least wanted to hear.

At that time, the Security Bureau only had 5 agents remaining in Rome, far from enough to rescue anyone.

In desperation, Kamas recalled the high-level "rescue the Pope" plan, which seemed to have a fleet stationed outside Fiumicino Port. He immediately brought Baron Belgerlon here.

The fleet’s Commander, Major Luca, gestured to the staff officer, "Send another report to Paris in the name of the fleet.

"Damn it, what else can we do besides sending reports?!"

Baron Belgerlon lowered his head and said in a small voice, "If you could lead the soldiers into the city and bring His Highness out, that would be the best..."

Major Luca impatiently waved to the attendant at the door, "Lock this guy in the bottom cabin for me!"

"Yes, Commander."

After the baron was taken away, Luca finally looked at Kamas, gritting his teeth, "You’re really going to kill me!

"His Highness the Regent has strictly ordered not to interfere with the riots in Rome, I absolutely cannot let the Marines storm into the city."

Major Denibol said, "In that case, it would be better to directly notify the Neapolitans, that the Prince of France is in the city, and arrange an honor guard to escort him out immediately."

Kamas signaled for the two to calm down, reminding them, "You should know, His Highness the Regent does not want our troops to interfere in Rome’s affairs because he wants to wait for the Mediterranean Security Organization to discuss then deploy forces together."

Luca retorted irritably, "Do you think by the time the Security Organization finishes its meeting, how many cannonballs will hit His Highness Charles?"

Kamas leaned forward a bit, "We don’t actually need to wait for them to convene, as long as troops can be deployed in the name of the Security Organization, it doesn’t count as violating His Highness the Regent’s orders."

Luca glared at him, "Do you have authorization from the Security Organization?"

"Of course not," Kamas said, "But think, how would the Security Organization handle the situation in Rome?

"They’d likely dispatch troops predominantly from our country, along with soldiers from Milan, Parma, Genoa, to drive off the Neapolitan army and occupy Rome."

"What are you really talking about?"

Kamas lowered his voice, "You could entirely gather some soldiers from Milan and Parma to impersonate the Security Organization’s troops and enter Rome to rescue His Highness."

"Damn it, are you crazy?!" Luca grabbed his collar and growled, "Even if we do rescue His Highness, then what? We’ll be court-martialed for forging military orders!"

"No, we won’t, please trust me," Kamas struggled to say, "His Highness the Regent will surely pardon us.

"Look at the result, you saved His Highness Charles, and also didn’t disrupt our country’s diplomatic strategy, so not only won’t you be punished, you might even get a promotion."

Luca vigorously shook his head, "No, I don’t need to take this risk..."

Kamas coldly replied, "You also heard what Baron Belgerlon said just now, after His Highness Charles entered the city, the rioters launched a fierce attack.

"That means he could very well be leading those people on the front lines.

"If he unfortunately gets shot, which seems highly possible, do you think His Highness the Regent will praise you for ’strictly following his orders’, or will he throw you, and of course, me too, into prison for not saving him?"

Luca couldn’t help but release his grip. He felt that he probably wouldn’t end up in prison, but rather directly find himself in heaven.

He stared nervously at the lieutenant in front of him, "Are you sure this plan will work?"

"Of course," Kamas nodded, "The Neapolitan army doesn’t have much combat power, it took them a whole week to deal with the shoemakers and peddlers in the city just to capture the eastern part.

"I’m very familiar with the routes inside and outside the city, as well as suitable places for combat.

"Look, if we suddenly appear to the south by following the canal, there are only four or five hundred Neapolitan soldiers there, it’ll be very easy to enter the city. By that afternoon, we can have His Highness leave almost as if we were never here.

"Next, the Foreign Ministry will explain everything for us."

Luca, being very smart, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been sent to ’assist the Pope’, pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Major Denibol, "If we’re unlucky, we might be reassigned to North America, but we probably won’t go to prison."

The Commander of the Marines nodded, "Let’s hope we’re not that unlucky. I’ll go gather the soldiers."

"Wait," Luca stopped him, "Where are you going to find the Milan or Parma soldiers to make up the numbers?"

Denibol looked out to the sea, "There are plenty of armed merchant ships from other countries nearby, surely someone would like to earn some extra money."

Fiumicino Port handles over half of Rome’s sea trade, there’s a lot of commercial shipping from various countries coming and going. Coupled with the fact that the Tiber River’s estuary is blocked by silt year-round, preventing seagoing vessels from entering directly, merchant ships often anchor here, waiting for shallow draft river boats to transfer goods.

Luca nodded, "Do as you said, preferably find ships from Genoa and Luca."

These two countries have always had conflicts with the Pope State, especially Luca.

One hour later.

Luca was in the captain’s cabin listening to the Security Bureau agents briefing the situation in the city, when he saw Denibol rush in with a bright smile, "Jesus bless, guess what I encountered?"

"What?"

"A Genoese convoy passing through the Tyrrhenian Sea. The best part is they’re escorted by an escort ship."

Luca’s eyes lit up, "Immediately have that ship join the ’Combined Fleet’."

By two in the afternoon, a temporary fleet composed of France, Genoa, and Milan arrived at the mouth of the Trajan Canal—the Milan ship was from the anti-smuggling bureau, but it was still a government vessel.

Afterwards, Denibol led more than 800 "Security Organization Dispatched Troops" ashore on the sandy beach via small boats. Among them were 92 Genoese soldiers, 50 Milan anti-smuggling team members, and several dozen Luca "volunteers."

Except for the 600 French soldiers, they all stayed just 3 kilometers from the landing point, watching the French, who borrowed their flags, gradually fade into the distance.