July 8, seven days after the Corsican army landed on Sardinia from the town of San Mare.

To the surprise of Lieutenant General Essel and Governor Bertrand, the Corsican army did not immediately advance towards Cagliari after landing on Sardinia.

"Are you saying that the Corsican army did not directly go south to capture Cagliari, but took the initiative to divide its forces to occupy various local towns?"

In the meeting hall of the Governor's Palace in Cagliari, after receiving the latest information, Lieutenant General Essel and Governor Bertrand discussed matters of resisting the Corsican army again.

Although the relationship between the two people is already tense, such major matters still require the two of them to make decisions together. At least in name, Lieutenant General Ethel still needs the assistance of Governor Bertrand.

And the two of them had just received news that the Corsican army did not march straight towards Cagliari after landing, as Lieutenant General Essel had imagined.

Lawrence Bonaparte's army instead took the initiative to slow down its advance, divided its forces to occupy every town along the way, and ensured complete control of every occupied town.

In Lieutenant General Essel's view, this was undoubtedly good news. After all, if the Corsicans were heading straight for Cagliari, the army would have arrived at the city two days ago.

Judging from the Corsican's current advancement speed, it will take at least a week for them to approach the surrounding areas of the capital Cagliari. This naturally gives Lieutenant General Essel more time to organize forces to resist Corsica.

army's attack.

"Hahaha, it's God's blessing. As a result, the Corsican army's attack on Cagliari was delayed by more than ten days than expected. Sure enough, Lawrence Bonaparte, that yellow-haired boy, doesn't know anything about military affairs. He must be busy in various fields.

Let the towns plunder their treasures.”

Lieutenant General Ethel was obviously in a happy mood. He looked down upon the barbarians in Corsica and had no regard for the combat effectiveness of their army. The reason why the nearly ten thousand advance troops were completely wiped out in Corsica

, he just thought it was the damn French who were causing trouble.

Now with more preparation time, Lieutenant General Essel felt that he could not only defend Cagliari, but also have a chance to counterattack and push the front back to Corsica's territory.

As for why the Corsican army did not take Cagliari directly, Lieutenant General Ethel was not interested at all. He just thought that Laurence Bonaparte was busy burning, killing and looting, and wanted to avenge the siege of Ajaccio.

And he didn't care at all how many Sardinian towns were plundered.

Governor Bertrand's focus was completely different from Lieutenant General Ethel's. He frowned and asked the officer who reported the news:

"How many towns have so far been plundered by Bonaparte's troops? What damage has been done to the towns they have captured?"

As a nobleman from Sardinia and the governor of the island, Governor Bertrand was obviously more concerned about intelligence other than military affairs, and also cared more about the losses suffered by the people of Sardinia in this war.

The officer hesitated for a moment, as if he himself was very surprised by the next words:

"No, Your Excellency the Governor, we have not received reports of towns being looted so far. The Corsican army basically only liquidated landowners and nobles in various places. Part of the property obtained was used as trophies for the soldiers, but the larger part was used as trophies for the soldiers.

It was distributed directly to the local people."

Governor Bertrand was stunned for a moment and asked repeatedly:

"You mean they didn't attack Sardinian civilians?"

"This... we can't make a conclusion yet. We can only say that we have not received relevant information so far..."

The officer also felt that the style of this army was different from the rumored brutal and brutal Corsicans, but in the face of Lieutenant General Ethel's gloomy face, he still gave a very tactful explanation:

"And the Corsicans not only implemented military occupation of towns, they also tried to implement domestic reform laws in the occupied areas, redistributed the land and property of landlords and nobles to civilians, and issued new tax laws.

In addition to announcing that the mining rights in various places would be taken into Corsica's national ownership, Bonaparte did not seem to seize anything more... They even dissolved the local governments and announced that each municipality would elect a group of municipal officials on their own.

Officials who come out can take up their posts directly as long as they are appointed by him."

"Hmph! Who does he think he is? His Majesty the King of Sardinia?! If the Corsican army came straight to Cagliari, I would still feel a little troubled. I didn't expect this idiot to waste time in those countryside.

On Mr. Nomura.”

Lieutenant General Ethel snorted disdainfully. In his opinion, it was stupid for Bonaparte to waste his precious time on these towns. As long as the war was over and the Kingdom of Sardinia took over Sardinia again, all his

Our reforms and efforts will then be in vain.

But Governor Bertrand's eyes lit up, especially when he heard that Laurence Bonaparte abolished the existing local governments and asked each town to independently elect a new government team.

Countless thoughts flashed through Zhong Geng.

According to the current situation in Sardinia, if each locality holds its own elections, the newly appointed municipal officials will definitely not be the Savoyans who are deeply hated by the islanders, but native Sardinians.

In other words, if the intelligence is correct, then in the areas occupied by the Corsican army, the Sardinians are likely to have regained administrative power from the Savoy nobles and achieved a certain degree of national autonomy.

And this is exactly what Governor Bertrand has been dreaming about - a Sardinia autonomously governed by Sardinians.

Although the Corsican army still controls the highest power in the occupied area, for Governor Bertrand, the Corsicans can be regarded as compatriots of the Sardinians, and Laurence Bonaparte's reputation has long been

It was widely spread in Sardinia that the governance of that lord must be better than the ruthless exploitation and oppression of the Savoy people.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Including the two major reforms carried out by the Corsicans in the occupied territories, which also made Governor Bertrand more convinced of his views.

Although he himself was also a nobleman and owned a manor, judging from the relationship between the Sardinian and Savoy factions, he knew that these two major reforms could greatly enhance the social status of the Sardinian people.

with wealth.

Thinking of this, Governor Bertrand ignored Lieutenant General Ethel's dissatisfaction, restrained the excitement in his heart and asked:

"What do the people think of the actions of the Corsican army?"

The officer's expression immediately became solemn, thinking that the Governor was worried about his own morale:

"The situation is a bit serious. As the news spread, Sardinians in many towns welcomed the arrival of the Corsican army. Two days ago, a Savoy municipal official in the center planned to organize a militia to resist Bonaparte.

In the end, the local militia dared to start a rebellion and killed the mayor, and then took the initiative to send people to request the Corsican army to take over. Even in Cagliari, the city is now full of storms and people's hearts are floating."

After hearing this, Lieutenant General Ethel felt irritable and impatiently punched the table, and ordered in anger:

"This group of traitors, have they just believed in Bonaparte's trick and forgotten His Majesty the King's grace?! Without the kindness of the Kingdom, they are nothing, this group of wolf-hearted things! Come on, tell the story

I order that from now on, whether in the army or in the city, anyone who discusses matters in the occupied areas in private will be punished with treason!"

Governor Bertrand glanced at the general with dissatisfaction. It was obviously not within Lieutenant General Ethel's authority to issue such an administrative order, but he did not say anything. The governor's mind had already drifted elsewhere.

Lieutenant General Ethel was still angry and cursed at Governor Bertrand:

"Hey, Bertrand, don't leave me idle. It just so happens that the Corsicans gave us the opportunity to organize a counterattack. If you delay the battle, I will still use military law to deal with you; the recruitment of farmers must be accelerated.

, In addition, I also allocated a certain amount of money financially. I want to hire a mercenary group. The conscripted militiamen are not of much use at all. They can only be used to increase the momentum. It still has to be managed by my own soldiers and soldiers.

Mercenaries serve as the main force."

Governor Bertrand frowned and complained:

"We just paid a large sum of money to the Genoa mission not long ago. How can we have any spare money to hire any mercenary group? After all, that expenditure should not be borne by us at all..."

"Then you want to surrender directly to Laurence Bonaparte? Give Cagliari to them?!"

Lieutenant General Ethel had no interest in listening to Governor Bertrand's complaints, so he opened his mouth and cursed mercilessly:

"Stop talking nonsense. The financial problem is nothing more than opening a few more tax items to make the Sardinian people suffer. If you can't come up with the money, then I'll let the army find a way."

As for the method mentioned by Lieutenant General Ethel, it doesn't take much thinking to know that he is going to swing the butcher's knife at those Sardinian untouchables in their eyes.

Governor Bertrand suppressed the anger in his heart, but suddenly an idea flashed in his mind.

He thought for a few seconds, looked at Lieutenant General Ethel solemnly, and looked extremely embarrassed:

"You...! Oh, okay, but leave the communication with the mercenary group to me. You, a rough guy who has no idea about finance, probably won't even notice when someone asks for a high price. Besides..."

Governor Bertrand paused and continued to demand:

"The recruitment of peasants is also the responsibility of my administrative officials. The army recruiters are eager to drag children as young as three years old into the army. If this continues, I am afraid that Cagliari will not be here before the Corsicans arrive.

People are already panicking.”

"Hmm...Okay, I guess you can still be of some use."

Although he was a little surprised by Bertrand's active cooperation, Lieutenant General Ethel agreed to the other party's request after pondering for a moment.

The general also knows that Governor Bertrand still has a good prestige in the hearts of the Sardinian people. It will indeed be much better if he recruits soldiers, and he is indeed not proficient in the hard work of bargaining with mercenary leaders.

It was also handed over to the Governor's Mansion for completion.

After receiving the consent, Governor Bertrand finally breathed a sigh of relief, and his rapid heartbeat slowly calmed down. He knew that this might be the closest he had come to realizing his lifelong dream.

...

The actions of the Corsican army were slower than Lieutenant General Essel expected. They were not in a hurry to attack Cagliari, but focused on controlling and maintaining stability in various local towns.

Bureaucrats from the Corsican Ministry of Finance are also pushing forward the reform process in full swing. Although the time is very tight, these bureaucrats have completed their tasks outstandingly based on their practical experience in Corsica.

Most of the population in the occupied area has completed household registration, and land surveying and mapping are also in progress.

The local city halls also completed emergency elections under the supervision of Corsican soldiers, allowing a group of Sardinians with local authority and support for the Corsican army to take over nominal administrative power.

As the supreme commander of the Sardinian garrison, Lieutenant General Essel did not order the army to block the advancement of the Corsican army.

Due to Colonel Bartland's failure in Corsica, Sardinia's defense force was already very empty. Lieutenant General Ethel was neither interested nor had the extra force to take care of the areas outside the capital. He had decided to

The key to determining victory or defeat lies in the defense of Cagliari.

Also thanks to Lieutenant General Essel's strategy of shrinking the capital, the Corsican army's advance in Sardinia encountered almost no obstruction.

Those towns that had received news from the north were not only not afraid of the arrival of the Corsican army, but were very much looking forward to it, hoping that the group of relatives from the northern islands would really be able to do what Lawrence Bonaparte said.

That brings them unprecedented liberation.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Although a few Savoy nobles and officials organized some sporadic resistance, such buck-the-trend behavior could not stop the wave of resistance from the north at all.

A prairie fire.

The Sardinians in the occupied area chanted Bonaparte's name and celebrated their liberation and rebirth, while the islanders in the south looked eagerly to the north, anxiously waiting to bathe in the sea with their compatriots.
To be continued...