Chapter 1701 - 1607: A Great Person

Chapter 1701: Chapter 1607: A Great Person

"There are still nearly a thousand soldiers inside Castel Sant’Angelo!" The always tough Grand Judge of the Judicial Court, Archbishop Antonelli, vigorously waved his right fist, "Those ragtag forces outside can forget about breaking in for at least one or two months..."

Archbishop Consalvi interrupted him bluntly: "If the armies of other countries don’t arrive within a month, the Holy See will be in disaster!"

The French Cardinal Archbishop Sifran Morri glanced at the Pope, whose expression was conflicted, made a sign of the cross on his chest, and said: "Holy Father, we temporarily retreat, like a merciful shepherd avoiding a storm."

"And continuing to fire at the people outside Castel Sant’Angelo, isn’t it slaughtering the lambs of Jesus? That would be a betrayal of Christ."

Outside, the timely booming of cannons seemed to punctuate his words.

Archbishop Consalvi said anxiously: "Holy Father, the rioters are still concentrated north of Castel Sant’Angelo. Once they’ve completely surrounded us, we won’t be able to leave even if we want to."

Pope Pius VI was convinced by these words and stood up to say to Archbishop Maury: "You’re right, our main tenets are kindness and tolerance. I have decided to go to Naples first."

Soon, the entire Castel Sant’Angelo came alive.

A large amount of valuables was loaded onto carriages, and around four in the afternoon, the southern gate of Castel Sant’Angelo opened, and dozens of carriages rushed out.

At this time, the north side was filled with rebellious people, to the east lay Rome, and while the west towards Florence was an option, the current Duke of Florence clearly had no loyalty to the Holy See.

The best choice was to go south via the Tiber River, entering the Mediterranean Sea.

Outside Fiumicino Port, many of the Holy See’s merchant ships were anchored. Boarding any one of them would allow them to reach the capital of Naples by noon the day after tomorrow.

About a hundred Swiss soldiers of the Vatican Guard protected the Pope as he boarded a steam tugboat—the fastest vessel available here. Even if the rioters discovered the Pope’s whereabouts, they could not catch up.

As for the other valuables and supplies, they were loaded onto a few barges, following behind.

Not until he could no longer hear the cannon fire from the direction of Castel Sant’Angelo did Pope Pius VI’s heart finally stop racing so intensely.

...

Outside the Saint Sabina Temple Cathedral, citizens cheered, "The Milanese volunteers have arrived!"

"And the volunteers from Genoa and Lucca, the whole of Europe is supporting us!"

"Long live freedom, long live victory!"

Josiah looked excitedly out the window and said to Charlie: "Mr. Charlie, let’s go welcome these brave people together."

Charles nodded and brought the higher-ups of the rebel army to the square in front of the cathedral. But when he saw the officers of those "volunteers," he suddenly widened his eyes.

Though he didn’t recognize them, he could tell from their build and appearance that they were French officers.

Denibol also saw him and immediately jumped off the saddle, running like mad to Charles’s side, looking him up and down to confirm the Prince was unharmed, and then breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Very pleased to meet you, esteemed Mr. Charlie." He and Kamas both bowed in greeting, speaking in French.

No one found it strange, after all, among Europe’s social elite, who wouldn’t say a few words in French to show elegance?

A half-hour later, Sorendino, Josiah, and others suddenly heard that Mr. Charlie was heading back to his family home in Savoy to deal with urgent matters.

Among those volunteers were his fellow countrymen from Savoy, who said that his parents and brother were quite displeased with his long absence from home.

Mr. Charlie left in a very ordinary carriage, with the curtains drawn tightly, repeatedly expressing that he didn’t want anyone to see him off.

Josiah watched the carriage gradually disappear at the end of the road and sincerely remarked: "He is the greatest person I’ve ever seen. At the moment when victory was near, he turned his back on all honor and praise, and returned to his homeland without hesitation."

Sorendino nodded: "Without his generous support and superb command, we could never have defeated the Holy See."

Josiah suddenly felt her nose tingle, quickly took a deep breath, and looked at Sorendino: "Will we have the chance to see him again?"

"Of course. On the day the republic is officially established, he will definitely stand at the forefront of all of us."

On the other side, by the time Ferdinand, the commander of the Naples army, arrived in the southern part of the city with a large number of soldiers, he found that the attackers had long since vanished.

After skirmishing with nearby rebel forces for a while, he sensed something was off.

The rebel force able to swiftly defeat the Galliard Legion indicated their probable strong fighting capabilities, unlikely scared off by themselves.

Where had they gone now?

He waited until after four in the afternoon to finally receive a report from the north of the city—Holy Trinity Church had been raided, Flaminia Gate was captured, and a large contingent of rebels was heading toward Castel Sant’Angelo.

——————

The Aurelian Wall was a military defense work constructed by the Roman Empire between A.D. 271-275 under the supervision of Emperor Aurelian and Probus. It stretched 19 kilometers, enclosing Rome’s seven hills, Mars Square, and the right bank of the Tiber River[1]. Initially built in response to barbarian invasions in 270, it was constructed with tuff concrete, overlaid with triangular bricks, and featured 383 towers, 18 main gates, and 7020 battlements. By the 5th century, the wall’s thickness had nearly doubled[2]. Its defensive role continued into the 19th century, effectively withstanding an Arab Army assault in 846, and much of its original contour remains intact, with several gates and towers well preserved, becoming an important component of the Roman cityscape.

During the 3rd century A.D., the Roman Empire fell into a military crisis, with the Germanic tribes repeatedly breaching border defenses and threatening Rome in 270. After restoring imperial authority, Emperor Aurelian commenced the wall construction project in 271, completed by his successor Probus in 275. As an emergency defensive measure, the wall integrated existing building foundations to quickly establish a barrier surrounding Rome’s core area.

The wall’s structure employed tuff concrete, its outer face covered with triangular red bricks, initially measuring 4 meters in thickness and 7.2 meters in height. Towers were erected at 30-meter intervals, forming a dense defensive system, with reinforcements in the 5th century increasing thickness to approximately 8 meters, totaling 383 towers[2]. Among the 18 main gates, the Saint Sebastian Gate (formerly the Appian Gate) was the largest, its tower having served as the residence of Fascist officials during World War II.

Throughout the 6th century, the Eastern Gothic Kingdom and medieval Popes repaired the wall multiple times. During the 9th-century Arab invasion, the wall’s northern section, standing 10.6 meters high and 4 meters thick, worked in conjunction with the Tiber River to form a dual defensive line, forcing attackers to target suburban areas. Under the rule of Honorius, General Flavius Stilicho heightened the wall to 10.6 meters and added 380 towers at 30-meter intervals.