From Corsica to the Fourth Rome.

Chapter 377: The Siege of Turin
Turin, the most dazzling pearl at the foot of the Alps.

Since the Roman Empire, this city has controlled the main road between Lombardy and Transalpine Gaul, and has been a military stronghold that has been fought over for thousands of years.

The tranquil Po River flows through the east side of the city, and the fertile Po Plain continuously brings countless wealth to the city.

Although there is still some gap between it and world-class cities like Paris with a population of 600,000, Turin, with a population of nearly 200,000, is definitely one of the richest cities in the entire Apennine Peninsula.

Over thousands of years of history, this city has witnessed Hannibal's crossing of the Alps to invade the Apennine Peninsula, as well as Constantine the Great's defeat of Maxentius, the Western Emperor. The Renaissance left its mark here, and the scars of several major wars are still vivid.

On October 1771, 10, after four days of forced march, the Corsican army was less than seventy miles away from this important ancient city.

On the morning of October 10, in the back garden of the Royal Palace in Turin

"Our country is happy to provide you with military assistance in your counterattack on Sardinia"

The British ambassador drank his tea slowly and looked at the old King Carlo Emanuele III:

“But it seems that Corsican talent on your own soil should be your top priority.”

In Carlo Emmanuele III's strategic deployment, Prince Vittorio did not need to rush into a decisive battle with the Corsican army. Since the main force of the enemy had already landed in Liguria, it would be better to take the opportunity to retake the undefended islands of Sardinia and Corsica.

In this way, the Corsican army, which had lost its rear homeland, would undoubtedly be trapped in a jar. There would be no need for a bloody battle, and the Corsican army would voluntarily surrender to the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Such a strategy of defeating the enemy without fighting was naturally favored by a seasoned diplomat like Carlo Emmanuele III.

If they wanted to counterattack Sardinia and Corsica, they naturally needed the British maritime assistance. The two countries had secretly reached a number of military agreements before the outbreak of the Italian War.

Although Great Britain had signed a complementary treaty with France and jointly promised not to interfere in the war in Italy, it was still possible to secretly provide some assistance to the Sardinian navy as it did during the Siege of Ajaccio. Such behavior had long become an unspoken secret between the great powers when conducting proxy wars.

Carlo Emanuele III did not drink his tea. He lay tiredly in his armchair, apparently resting his eyes.

For an old king in his seventies, handling state affairs is already exhausting both physically and mentally, not to mention that the Kingdom of Sardinia has now taken the initiative to jump into the quagmire of the Italian War at the instigation of the British.

If it weren't for the fact that he could easily get Corsica, Carlo Emmanuel III would definitely have stayed out of the Sicilian War of Independence just as he had done in the Seven Years' War.

"There is no need to worry about the war on the home front."

The old king looked at the British ambassador and said in a weak but firm voice:
"Vittorio will hold the Corsicans back, and I need you to deploy the fleet as quickly as possible and relaunch the attack on Ajaccio."

The British ambassador nodded slightly. Although he would rather fight a decisive battle with the Corsican army in Liguria, Carlo Emmanuele III obviously did not want to take any more risks.

After all, when Colonel Bartram invaded Ajaccio, the whole country believed that Corsica could be easily captured. If there was any problem in the war in Liguria, the regular army of the Kingdom of Sardinia would be almost completely lost.

What's more, the main force of the Sardinian army is led by Prince Vittorio. As the heir to the kingdom, he cannot afford any mistakes on the battlefield. The seventy-year-old king no longer has time to train another heir.

Just as the two were about to discuss the details of the second invasion of Ajaccio, the kingdom's Minister of War rushed into the back garden.

The Minister of War was already obese, and when he ran he looked like a wild boar, trampling the beautiful flowers and herbs in the garden into pieces.

When he ran breathlessly to the king and the British ambassador, Carlo Emmanuele III's brows were already furrowed before he could say anything, obviously very dissatisfied with the interruption of the meeting:
"What the hell do you want to do?!"

"I am extremely sorry, Your Majesty, but I have two urgent reports to report to you."

The Minister of War knelt on one knee, not daring to look up at the king's eyes, and said loudly, panting:

"First, we have the news we received late yesterday, which confirms that the Republic of Genoa has been attacked by the Corsicans, that the Genoese have been completely routed and forced to sign a treaty with the Corsicans."

The British ambassador still held a cup of tea in his hand and did not seem to care about the news. In his opinion, the feud between the Corsicans and the Genoese was just a minor one:

"It's interesting that the Corsicans still have the energy to care about their old friend Genoa."

Carlo Emmanuel III just nodded. He didn't care about this commercial republic at the moment. The focus of the kingdom now was to retake Sardinia and Corsica as soon as possible:
"I understand, but please don't bother me with such trivial matters anymore. You will only embarrass us in front of our British guests."

"No, no, Your Majesty, this is not a small matter."

The Minister of War dared to interrupt the King's accusation and said through gritted teeth:
"The second piece of news is what I just confirmed from the Army Department. The Corsican army that attacked Genoa did not return to Vadolidore, but went north into the Po River Valley. They marched straight to Turin! Now they are probably only one day away from Turin."

Bang!

The British ambassador was stunned. The teacup in his hand fell to the ground and shattered all over the floor. He didn't even react when the scalding tea splashed on his legs.

The Corsicans are coming to Turin?! And in one day?!

This was totally beyond the expectations of the British ambassador and Carlo Emmanuel III. Shouldn't these Corsicans be held back in Liguria by Vittorio? !
Carlo Emanuele III's pupils trembled, but he reacted immediately and asked back:
"And the size of that army?"

"About three regiments."

"It's the main force of the Corsican army." Carlo Emmanuel III frowned even more tightly, and the wrinkles on his face seemed to be twisted together:
"Where are Vittorio's troops? They should have received the news from Genoa faster! Have they set out to intercept the Corsican army?"

Vadolidore is only two days' journey from Genoa. Logically, Prince Vittorio should have learned of the movements of the Corsican army and should be leading his troops to stop the Corsicans.

The Minister of War lowered his head even more, his chin almost poking into his chest. He considered for a long time before carefully speaking:
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince's troops did not take any action. Your Highness seemed to think that the main force of the Corsican army was still stationed in Vadolidore, and his troops were still confronting the garrison in Vadolidore."

Carlo Emanuele III suddenly felt dizzy and wanted to curse, but after all, he was his heir and the commander-in-chief of the army he had appointed. The old king could only hold his forehead and sigh.

He didn't know what had happened in Vadolidore to cause his son to make such a serious misjudgment, but it meant that, at least for the next period of time, Turin would have to rely on its own strength to resist the Corsicans.

"I'm sorry Mr. Ambassador, it looks like we have to talk another time."

The old king forced himself to sit up and ordered the British ambassador to expel him. At least until the crisis in Turin was resolved, the plan to counterattack Sardinia and Corsica had to be completely shelved.

The British ambassador nodded tactfully, and then left the Turin Palace with a gloomy face.

He also knew very well that if the Royal Palace of Turin was really lost, then the Kingdom of Sardinia would be doomed to withdraw from the Italian War, and that was definitely not what Great Britain wanted to see. After the British left, Carlo Emanuele III sighed again and once again regretted joining the Italian War.

But now the Corsican's knife was about to point at the tip of his nose. It was useless to regret. The old king asked in a deep voice:
"How many troops can be mobilized around Turin?"

The Minister of War hastily replied:

"About 4,000 people, but 3,000 of them are from the two newly recruited regiments. I'm afraid the only ones with sufficient combat power are the 1,000-plus people in the Royal Guard."

In order to make up for the loss of Colonel Bartram's entire army in Corsica, the Kingdom of Sardinia also recruited a group of new soldiers in Piedmont. However, these new soldiers who had not even completed basic training would not be of much use, especially on the field battlefield.

"Four thousand men are not enough to repel the Corsicans, but if we just want to hold Turin and buy time, it should be enough."

Carlo Emanuele III pondered for a moment, his expression no longer as ugly as before, and he immediately had a response strategy in his mind, and gave the order with confidence:

"Immediately pass on my order and have the Ministry of War send a letter to Vittorio, ordering him to return to Turin immediately; declare martial law and curfew within the city, and no one is allowed to enter or leave without reason; order the Royal Guard and two new regiments to enter the southwest bastion and accept my command; immediately dismantle all bridges on the rivers outside the city to hinder the Corsican army's offensive."

A series of instructions came out of the old king's mouth with almost no pause. This was not the worst moment in Carlo Emmanuele III's military career, so he quickly took on the role of leader.

All the deployments of the old king had only one purpose - to do his best to defend Turin by relying on the city's defense advantage and to buy enough time for Prince Vittorio to return to defend and rescue.

And this is not a problem for the impregnable Turin.

When the last order was spoken and recorded by the Minister of War and the court secretary, Carlo Emanuele III lay back in his armchair, looking tired but not panicked.

He closed his eyes and murmured to himself:
"Let the Corsicans come next. When the magnificent walls and moats of Turin appear in the sight of these barbarians, they will realize how insignificant they are."

One day later, on October 10, it rained heavily.
After five days and a rapid march of nearly 500 miles from Genoa, the Corsican army has arrived at the east bank of the Po River, only separated from the magnificent ancient city on the other side of the river.

Lawrence did not order his army to attack immediately, but instead set up camp on two hilly heights east of the river.

After all, the army had hardly had enough rest since Vadolidore marched towards Genoa. Now that the war was imminent, Lawrence absolutely did not want to let the soldiers go to the battlefield exhausted both physically and mentally.

Moreover, in heavy rain, the Corsican hunters' rifles were also unusable because of the wet gunpowder. Before the firing pin guns and metal fixed bullets were equipped, rainy days were probably the peace signal for a ceasefire between the two armies.

Moreover, facing a heavily defended city like Turin, Lawrence and his staff officers had to first draw up a reasonable plan.

In Lawrence's own tent, Chief of Staff Berthier spread a 1750 edition of the Turin map on the table, pointed at the map and analyzed it to everyone:

"This north-south river is the Po River. We are now stationed on the east bank of the Po River. As for Turin on the other side of the river, although the number of troops stationed there must be small, it will probably cost a lot to completely capture it. The city is completely surrounded by moats and walls. There are some small fortresses scattered on the walls, and there is a large bastion in the southwest corner. The defense of the Turin Palace in the middle must also be extremely strict."

Lawrence and a group of Corsican officers listened attentively, and everyone's expression was extremely serious.

These Corsican officers were all experienced in battle, but this was their first time besieging a large city with a population of 200,000 that had walls, moats, and bastions. Compared with the city before them, the sieges they had experienced on the Corsica battlefield before were just minor skirmishes.

A Corsican officer could not help but sigh:

"It seems that a strong attack is unrealistic."

Everyone nodded in agreement. If the Corsican hunters equipped with rifles were used as the defenders, they would be able to defeat ten enemies at once by relying on their ability to accurately snipe enemy stragglers after occupying advantageous terrain in street fighting. However, if they were used as the attackers, they would probably have to pay a heavy price to completely capture Turin.

And the most important point is that the Corsican army has always lacked heavy firepower support such as artillery.

In the previous war with the Genoese, due to the limitation of military budget, the Corsican army itself did not have many artillery pieces, and the only dozen or so artillery pieces were six-pound light field guns.

Although the army's war budget is now much more abundant and the French have also provided a large amount of arms, the training of high-quality talents such as artillery is just like the training of pilots in later generations. It is not something that can be achieved overnight.

If they wanted to attack Turin by force, it would be difficult to destroy the impregnable walls of Turin with just the dozen or so light field artillery in the army.

The tent fell into a brief silence; the sound of rain outside could be heard clearly.

Because everyone understood that a strong attack was indeed unrealistic, but they did not have time to engage in a protracted battle with the defenders of Turin. Vittorio's troops could return to defend Turin at any time.

"Has there been any letter from Andre? What's the movement of the main force of the Sardinian army?" Lawrence asked casually.

Berthier nodded, but his tone was a little hesitant:

"The letter from Dawu's army was delivered yesterday. He said that the main force of the enemy is still not moving, and he said in the letter that the main force of the enemy can be tied up for at least a month."

After hearing this, everyone looked at each other in surprise. No one thought that Andrea Davout could really hold Vittorio in Vadolidore for a month. After all, the request for help from the Turin Royal Palace would be delivered to Vittorio's military tent in a week at most.

But Lawrence just nodded slightly and wrote a month on the map:

"A month? I'm afraid the food in Turin will last for a month."

Even if Andrea Davout did manage to keep Vittorio at Vadodore for a month, this would not have been enough time to deprive besieged Turin of its ammunition and food.

In Lawrence's estimation, if the worst-case scenario occurred and the Corsican army was unable to capture Turin, they could only try to encircle the city and attack its reinforcements, occupying advantageous terrain in advance and preparing for a decisive battle with Vittorio's troops who came to support them.

But such a decision is undoubtedly very risky. The strength of Vittorio's troops is about three times that of the Corsican army, and the quality of its troops is far superior to that of the vulnerable Genoese Republican Guard under the long-term reforms of Carlo Emmanuele III.

It can even be said that the Kingdom of Sardinia under Carlo Emanuele III was at the forefront of contemporary European countries in terms of military technology.

Even with three Corsican chasseur regiments, Lawrence could not be sure of victory, which is why the Corsican army tried every means to bypass Vittorio's troops and attack Turin.

If they were defeated in this battle, the Corsican army fighting on enemy soil would have no way to retreat and would end up in a situation of total defeat.

"No, we still have to conquer Turin. As long as we can enter the Turin Palace, the war in the Kingdom of Sardinia will be over."

Lawrence pondered silently, then turned his head to look at the city of Turin looming in the rain and fog outside the tent.

Berthier also looked outside the tent, but his eyes were fixed on the Po River rushing in the heavy rain, and he suddenly realized something:
"Early October, late summer and early autumn, the flood season of the Po River, etc., Charles! I may have a way. As long as Davout's troops can really buy a month, Turin will surely fall into the hands of our army!"