Make France Great Again-Chapter 122 The Holy See’s Flattery

"Report to the Commander, our troops have occupied the passage to the inner city, requesting further instructions!"

The soldier responsible for delivering orders came before Major General Renio, saluted, and said to General Renio.

"Tell Major Edgar Ney to control the city gates and receive the main forces entering Rome!"

After issuing the next order to the messenger, General Renio yawned and said to the Cannon Corps Commander beside him, "If Major Edgar Ney reports again, tell him I’ve gone to rest. He should know my residence!"

"Yes!" The Cannon Corps Commander quickly responded.

General Renio turned to leave, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly thought of something and turned back to face the Cannon Corps Commander again.

"Commander!" The Cannon Corps Commander stared at Renio with a puzzled look.

"Where’s the map?" General Renio again ordered the Cannon Corps Commander.

The Cannon Corps Commander hurriedly brought the map to General Renio and ordered a nearby soldier to bring a kerosene lamp to provide illumination for General Renio.

Under the lamp’s light, Renio used his rough hand to trace the map of Rome. With his brows tightly furrowed, he stopped his hand at a place marked with a large gate and asked, "Can you tell me where this place is?"

The Cannon Corps Commander hesitated for a moment, carefully examined the spot General Renio pointed at, and then used moonlight to look toward Rome. Rome seemed not to have the gate General Renio indicated.

"Com...Commander...this might be due to the era difference!" The Cannon Corps Commander cautiously tried to explain, "This map is actually from the Emperor’s time; it’s been over thirty years since the Emperor’s era, so some changes are expected!"

"Expected? You call this expected?" General Renio raised his voice and sternly criticized, "Your so-called ’expected’ could cost many lives!"

The Cannon Corps Commander bowed his head and dared not utter a single rebuttal.

Since the Emperor’s abdication, the French Army has not undergone any reforms, even its basic intelligence work is utterly chaotic.

If this continues, the entire French Army will face a crisis.

Of course, in General Renio’s mind, this is just a moderate crisis for the French Army, far from the danger of destroying the army.

It only requires some slight rectification.

"Tell Major Edgar Ney, Brigadier General Nie’er...after the complete order to come to my residence once!" General Renio said to the Cannon Corps Commander. He was prepared to summon all mid-to-senior level commanders of the Expeditionary Army and properly discipline the laxity of the French Army.

"Yes!" The Cannon Corps Commander, afraid to provoke General Renio’s wrath, responded in a low voice.

"Target here...here...and here, and blast them fiercely!" Renio pointed to City Hall and other marked iconic buildings on the map and instructed the Cannon Corps Commander, "Knock down their arrogant spirit in one go!"

After instructing all the situations, Renio slowly descended the mountain under the protection of soldiers, leaving only the Cannon Corps Commander to carry out General Renio’s orders.

June 2, 1849.

After a night of chaotic battles, the French Army finally occupied Rome’s city walls just before the sun rose above the horizon, making Rome a possession of France.

The Roman Republic was just a name now.

As the Governor of the Roman Republic, Mazzini escaped from Rome, with only about 5,000 troops scattered across the streets of Rome under Garibaldi’s leadership, ready to turn it into another "Austria," to drain every drop of blood from the French Army.

The French, of course, would not oblige, as the artillery on Mount Janiculum and the cannons on Rome’s city walls were already aimed at the city streets. Once any commotion arose, the cannons would fire upon the streets immediately.

The soldiers, exhausted after a night long battle, began to rest in turn under the orders of the "benevolent" commanders.

Similarly, the commanders who fought through the night hadn’t had the chance to recuperate when they were informed by the Cannon Corps Commander to gather at General Renio’s residence.

The confused and bewildered commanders could only temporarily set aside their fatigue and head to General Renio’s temporary residence.

More than a dozen military commanders arrived outside an apartment on the outskirts of Rome. Passing through a quaint garden, they came to the apartment entrance as the sun gently rose.

This apartment originally belonged to a wealthy Roman noble. After the establishment of the Roman Republic, the noble fled in panic, leaving the apartment ownerless.

Once the French Army stationed on the outskirts of Rome, the apartment became French property.

"The Commander has just gone to sleep; you’ll have to wait a while," the soldier guarding the door said to the gathered commanders.

The commanders looked at each other and had no choice but to wait at the door of the apartment.

After about half an hour, the apartment door slowly opened, and General Renio, clad in the Imperial Army Uniform, appeared at the door.

Except for Edgar Ney, everyone displayed a look of surprise.

"Come in!" Renio gestured to them, and Edgar Ney and others entered the hall.

The once-present artworks in the hall had long vanished, leaving only a walnut long table with a simple sand table on it, beside which lay a slightly yellowed map.

"Well done, lads!" General Renio gave a thumbs-up to everyone present in praise.

"For the Empire!" Edgar Ney swiftly responded.

"For the Empire!" The remaining commanders also shouted loudly.

After all, in a top-down military, with the commander being a Bonapartist, how could they not align with the commander?

The upcoming actions were crucial, as they were directly tied to their wallets.

If that Bonaparte could lead them to wealth like the Emperor once did, they wouldn’t mind pledging loyalty to the President either.

When everyone gathered around the map, General Renio initiated a grand wave of division.

"Brigadier General Nie’er, your next task is..." As the second in command of the Expeditionary Army after General Renio, Nie’er was assigned the splendid task around the City Hall, drawing envious gazes from his peers.

"Colonel De Lassum, your task is to clear the traitors in this area!" Renio marked out another region and handed it to Colonel De Lassum.

Colonel De Lassum, obtaining the area second only to that of Colonel Nie’er, also grinned with delight.

General Renio assigned each present person their respective areas to clear the "bandits," and then solemnly said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I wish you all successful endeavors!"

"Long live the President, long live the Empire!" The satisfied officers cheered sincerely.

Renio nodded with satisfaction. This expedition’s results evidently exceeded his expectations.

It seemed the army’s resistance to the President was not strong.

After the division was complete, General Renio informed every officer present about the map’s issue, and a hint of shame appeared on their faces.

General Renio, after reprimanding the officers, continued to admonish, "I hope there won’t be a mismatch between the labeled map and reality in the future! Now, I assign you a task: mark every street within your responsible area on the map and then compile it!"

"Yes!" the officers said in unison.

"Go take a rest first! Oh, Brigadier General Nie’er, please stay!" Renio said kindly to all commanding officers.

The commanding officers took their orders and left, while Brigadier General Nie’er stood firmly after a brief moment of confusion, awaiting orders from General Renio.

"Nie’er, have a seat!" General Renio, sitting by the map, warmly invited Nie’er to sit down.

"Yes!" Nie’er sat down next to General Renio.

"Look, here... here, and here!" General Renio pointed out several buildings to Nie’er, saying, "These buildings weren’t visible when I observed Rome from Mount Janiculum!"

Brigadier General Nie’er immediately understood General Renio’s implication: "General, you want me to recalibrate the map of Rome’s suburbs as well?"

"Exactly!" Renio nodded and told Nie’er, "You’re from the Paris Institute of Technology, I will have them (the officers) compile the streets and buildings within their areas and hand them over to you. You and your team will redo a map. We can’t fight here with maps from decades ago; it would lead to chaos!"

"Yes!" Brigadier General Nie’er accepted Major General Renio’s task without hesitation. Back at the Paris Institute of Technology, he majored in surveying. If not for some unforeseen circumstances, he might have become a national engineer for the bridge troops.

"Then please do your best!" General Renio said to Brigadier General Nie’er.

After Brigadier General Nie’er left, Renio continued to stare at the map, and an absurd idea sprouted in his mind.

Perhaps I should suggest to His Majesty to redo all the maps.

General Renio did not know that what he was contemplating was already proceeding methodically with Jerome Bonaparte.

As time gradually approached 6 PM, the fiery disk was slowly descending. Having recuperated the entire day, the French Army was revitalized again, itching to advance into the streets of Rome and utterly eliminate Garibaldi’s forces.

Meanwhile, within General Renio’s apartment, an "unexpected visitor" arrived.

A stern-faced, naturally curly-haired, sinister middle-aged man wearing a black tight-fitting uniform and trousers came to General Renio’s villa, exhibiting a devout expression and said to General Renio, "God bless! General, you have defeated the rioters! Protected the God!"

"Bishop Antonelli! I merely followed orders from Mr. President!" General Renio said neither humbly nor arrogantly to Cardinal Antonelli, the favored aide of Pope Pius IX.

The 42-year-old Antonelli gradually showed a benevolent smile, nodding, "Of course! Of course! Mr. President is indeed a devout person; I’ve heard he came to Rome as early as a year ago!"

Then, he showed a regretful expression: "But I was visiting Naples then, missing the opportunity to meet Mr. President!"

General Renio did not speak and quietly waited for Antonelli’s performance.

"General Renio, may I ask when His Holiness the Pope will be able to enter Rome?"

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