Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 636 - 545: Napoleon’s Thunder

Chapter 636: Chapter 545: Napoleon’s Thunder

The following day.

Two blocks away from the Ajaccio Council Hall, on a square, over 200 fully armed soldiers were neatly organized into two square formations, looking up at Colonel Buonaparte mounted on his horse.

“Not long ago, we had just rescued Corsica from those rebels,” Napoleon raised his riding crop towards the direction of the Parliament Hall, “and now, another group of conspirators are ready to destroy this peaceful life.

“According to the intelligence I’ve received, those incompetent, inefficient deputies who only know corruption will incite riots in the Qinto Mountain Area under Paul’s command.

“You, the brave soldiers of France, to save this province once again, will follow me to arrest those separatists! We shall put an end to this chaotic nightmare once and for all!”

He spoke with a powerful voice that resonated deeply, completely forgetting that just a few months prior, he himself had also been a ‘separatist.’

...

“Yes, Commander sir!” the soldiers responded in unison, and then, under the command of their officers, they marched towards the Parliament Hall to the beat of the drum.

Following them were several warhorses dragging two 6-pound cannons.

Today, the Corsican Parliament was to conduct routine voting on some policies, and over 70 deputies had just entered the Parliament Hall, some still yawning, when suddenly the front doors burst open and two officials from the Ajaccio City Hall ran in, exclaiming anxiously, “The army! Buonaparte is coming with the army!”

“Someone heard him saying he wants to ‘arrest the separatists’…”

The deputies immediately stood up in alarm, shouting, “Who gave him this authority?”

“I heard that it was he who took away the three Chief Justices, he must be mad!”

“Does he intend to capture the deputies too?”

“What should we do? Who will stop him?”

Giuseppe, the leader of the Pro-France Faction, jumped onto a table, waving his arms and shouting, “Don’t be afraid, everyone. This is the Corsican Parliament! We must unite and let that madman, that military leader, know that the Corsican people have never feared threats!”

Immediately, deputies from the Restoration Faction echoed, “Right! Corsica is the land of freedom and democracy, we will not allow him to act recklessly!”

“We aren’t afraid of him! Everyone, follow me, let’s drive that man away!”

These deputies were orators by trade, their words passionate and stirring, each resembling fearless fighters.

Giuseppe led the way, and dozens of deputies chaotically approached the doors of the Parliament Hall, just in time to see a unit of soldiers in white military uniforms approaching.

He stepped forward immediately and demanded, “What are you doing?!”

Napoleon had his soldiers surround the Parliament Hall and then, riding forward to the group of deputies, he symbolically tipped his hat then took out a list, looking down at them indifferently and declared, “In the name of the Commanding Officer of the Corsican garrison, I hereby announce the arrest of the following individuals involved in planning the riot—

“Andrew Alexander Archid.

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“Sean Chris Badolo.

“Richie Roman Grecos Joseph.

“Tim Toskaki…”

Upon hearing this, his soldiers immediately moved forward to apprehend them.

Though they hailed from the Corsican forces, they all came from provinces on the mainland of France. Specifically, Labo’s company comprised ‘Grenadier Company’, specially selected by Napoleon: though they did not have the towering stature of regular grenadiers, they certainly received their compensation.

These soldiers were all Napoleon’s “direct lineage” and didn’t care about the Corsican deputies at all.

Giuseppe’s heart tightened, and he quickly signaled to the deputies beside him. They linked arms and stepped forward, shouting loudly, “We are the Corsican deputies, representing the Corsican people! You have no right to arrest us!”

“Leave the Parliament Hall immediately, you impudent fellows.”

“You are trampling on freedom and the law, and you will be tried!”

The soldiers, intimidated by their confident rhetoric, stopped in their tracks and turned to look at the commander.

Napoleon glanced at the Grenadier Company’s leader, “Labo, show your soldiers how it’s done.”

“Yes, Commander!”

Labo snapped to attention, dismounted, and strode toward Giuseppe, the loudest shouter, raising his hand and cracking a whip, fiercely chiding, “Rebel, shut your mouth!”

Giuseppe screamed in pain, and the deputies holding him immediately let go, retreating in fear.

Labo, ignoring the deputies beside him, followed up with another lash, knocking Giuseppe to the ground, then stepping on his back, he motioned to the soldiers, “The rope, tie him up.”

“Yes, sir!”

Labo then looked at the other soldiers and loudly said, “What are you waiting for? Did you not hear the Commander’s orders?”

With him setting an example, the other soldiers immediately surged forward, looping ropes around the deputies whose names had been called by Napoleon.

“Everybody, fight them!” Giuseppe’s subordinates shouted fiercely, eyes wild with inner fear.

At that moment, from the direction of the street corner, came the “creaking” sound of wagon wheels. The deputies turned their heads and saw two dark cannons appear in their view, pointing right at them, with soldiers standing by holding linstocks.

In an instant, the once fearless deputies, who had been struggling and resisting, were frozen in place, and all was silent in front of the Parliament Hall.

In reality, the 200 plus soldiers did not need cannons to deal with the deputies, and they could not have fired them close quarters anyway.

But the terrifying deterrent power of the cannons was unmatched. A person might be able to speak confidently in the face of a flintlock gun, but under the gaze of a cannon, most would find themselves tongue-tied.

Soon, the soldiers had shoved a dozen bound deputies into horse-drawn carriages. Paul’s faction in Parliament had almost been completely captured.

The remaining deputies who had escaped harm mostly dispersed tremulously, while those from the Pro-France Faction watched the army’s departure, gossiping with schadenfreude.

From noon that day, Ajaccio implemented martial law, sending squads of soldiers onto the streets to “prevent insurgents from inciting unrest.”

Two days later, the trial began in the High Court of Ajaccio.

Under the “close protection” of soldiers, the three Chief Justices, who had previously been taken away by Napoleon to the storehouse, completed the trial process in just one day, declaring Giuseppe and 14 other deputies guilty of conspiring to incite a rebellion and colluding with foreign enemies, sentencing them to 10 to 20 years of imprisonment and revoking their deputy status.

The news spread, and all of Corsica was shocked, especially in areas with severe tendencies toward division, where the mood was agitated, nearly to the point of armed uprising.

However, their leaders were presently confined in Napoleon’s military camp, with no one to make decisions, unable to mobilize funds, and not stirring up trouble.

Before long, Napoleon’s army appeared in these areas with signs of uprising.

The restless hearts of the people instantly became calm.