Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2387 The rise of Italy in an all-round way?

Something big just happened in Corsica, something that hasn't happened in decades!The Italians from the Apennines executed two noblemen who had led the resistance to paying taxes.The two have repeatedly accused the Italians of illegally stealing Corsica in public, and that no one should provide taxes to the invaders.Their remarks have won the support of many people. These people have money, have guns, are rebellious, and hate all outsiders, let alone pay taxes.

In fact, if this happened in the past, the Genoese who taxed the tax might be discouraged.Anyway, it is not impossible to collect taxes on this island, and there is no need to cause turmoil for a few thorns, put yourself in a dilemma, and at the same time provide opportunities for overseas careerists (Louis XIV).

But things are different now.The 7500 members of the Third Division of the Northern Italian Army have already stationed in Ajaccio, the capital of the island.

To be honest, the deterrence of the new army is quite strong, providing Genoese officials at all levels on the island with a strong sense of security.They are uniformly dressed, well-equipped, and have high morale. At first glance, they are more reliable than those loose Genoese mercenaries in the past. Most of the mercenaries come from all over Italy, but there are also many from Germany and Switzerland. The total number is about 1000. ——The only regret is that the officers and soldiers of the third division of the new army are not from Genoa, most of them are Tuscans.

Yes, Tuscany is also very close to the east coast.Their Grand Duke participated in the development of Xinhua Island, and is a shareholder of the famous Delta Corporation. At the same time, the country has a vast land area (well, relatively), a large population (this is true), a developed handicraft industry, and a good financial situation. Want to expand abroad in order to realize one's own political aspirations (ambition).This time the Genoese wanted to clean up the thorns on Corsica, so at the Liaison and Coordination Meeting of the Northern Italian Coalition Forces, they proposed to send some troops to the island. After unanimous approval, Cosimo in Tuscany announced The Third Division of the Italian Nouveau Army volunteered and entered Corsica to undertake the task of suppression.

The Genoese also knew how dangerous it was to involve Tuscany in their traditional sphere of influence.But there is no way. The Republic of Genoa is not enough in terms of land area or population size. Counting the smaller towns and villages controlled by it near the city, the population of the country is less than 60, and it can dominate the Northern Italian coalition forces. Your navy is already a fluke, but you still want to join the army?Thank you, there is no such human resources!

So, compared to letting the Venetian army enter Corsica, the Tuscans are a good choice.At least, there is no enmity between them and Genoa, unlike Venice, which has been fighting for hundreds of years.The Third Division of the New Army has entered Corsica, come and come, what a big deal.

Well, let's get down to business.After the third division of the new army landed in the port of Ajaccio, it immediately took over the city defense, and at the same time sent troops to patrol in the wild to increase its influence in the countryside.When the local nobles who gathered here saw it, they all fell silent.It is one thing to face the weak rule of the Genoese (even assassinated the governor sent by Genoa many times in history), but it is another thing to face the well-trained new army. The nobles are not stupid , Knowing that if you don't cooperate at this time, the end may not be good. The Genoese have been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.

Coincidentally, this time there were still two nobles whose brains were not very good. After seeing the Italian army entering the city, they still went their own way. Therefore, in the middle of the night, a large group of soldiers smashed the gate of the manor and took them away from the bed.The trials of these two nobles were also resolute and swift. The Genoese's small books had recorded a lot of things and provided evidence of crimes, so they were sent to the gallows on the third day , put to death directly.

So cool!This is the feeling of Genoese officials on the island of Corsica at this time.For many years, there has been no such thrill of free movement!These aristocrats on the island have citizens, sources of income, and unknown channels for the inflow of weapons, which form the basis for forming an army.Therefore, the Genoese have not been very comfortable ruling the island over the years. The outstanding performance is that they cannot always collect enough money, food and taxes, and it is extremely difficult to recruit soldiers.In addition, the number of officials on the island who were assassinated and killed by the locals was so staggering that even the Genoese were unwilling to mention it.

In short, the foundation of Genoese rule in Corsica is very unstable. The local nobles are strong (relatively) and some people have guns, which makes many of their policies impossible to implement.The pressure was so severe that there would even be riots on the island, and the ruling order would collapse in an instant. Even if there were no riots, various assassinations would still occur one after another, causing the Genoese to be devastated.

Logically speaking, the Genoese would never be able to cope with this situation.With their strength, this pot of raw food will continue to be eaten until Corsica is finally taken away by more powerful people.But the wonderful thing is that the intervention of the people on the east coast has greatly changed the fate of the Italian states.First of all, several major countries such as Genoa*, Venice, Tuscany, and Milan have become richer; secondly, after years of matchmaking by people on the east coast, they have formed a loose political alliance; The growth of the military strength of the Italian states is also obvious to all. Their navy has introduced many cutting-edge warships, and the army has also formed a large number of new military divisions. The equipment is also first-class in Europe. This strength is enough for them to deal with the aggression of most countries—not to say that Definitely stop aggression, at least they let the enemy realize that eating them will break a lot of teeth, and the price is very high.

Finally - and most importantly - they embraced a thick thigh.Yes, that's right, hug your thighs!But don't underestimate this thing, there are great benefits in it.For example, the Venetians got rid of the endless bloody battles with the Ottomans on the Greek Peninsula and the coast of Dalmatia, the Genoese opened up new sources of food, the Duchy of Milan actually got rid of the Spanish rule, Tuscany A lot of money was made through overseas trade.And, if it weren't for a fundamental conflict of interest, no one would give them trouble these days.After all, the East Coast Republic of China is quite famous in Europe now, and it also controls many key nodes and overseas trade routes. Who would provoke them for nothing.

Therefore, the Italians are really shaking now.Many scattered states in Northern Italy have been united politically and militarily, and the unified commodity market is also undergoing fierce games and negotiations-different tax rates between countries are the key, and there is also the trouble of canceling tariffs-but With the help of people from the east coast, the prospects are very bright, and it will be a matter of course for the country to be completely merged into one country in the future.

With the establishment of the Northern Italian Federation, will they let go of central and southern Italy, Sardinia, Corsica, and the Principality of Savoy?The answer is obviously no.So you can see now that the Genoese could no longer hold back, and directly attacked the stubborn nobles on Corsica, strengthening their rule in an all-round way, and at the same time moved from the crowded and narrow Genoa to the local area. The immigrants—according to incomplete statistics, there are currently only [-] to [-] residents in Corsica—plan to cook this pot of raw rice thoroughly, making it an inalienable territory of the Republic of Genoa, rather than a rebellious province where centrifugalism prevails .

It should be said that such a high-profile action by the Italians is quite hated, especially the French King Louis XIV who has always had thoughts about Corsica.But so what?We Italians are also powerful now, just look at the record of the heroic army in Morocco!After a fierce battle, the first division of the New Army "Split Division" finally captured Tangier, which was once occupied by Portuguese and English Christians. More than [-] Moroccan soldiers were killed, wounded and captured, and a great victory was achieved. .The other "Zakynthos Division" also defeated the Moroccans twice near the city of Tetouan and occupied the city. In total, more than a thousand Moroccan soldiers were killed, wounded and captured, and the results were not small.

At present, the two armies have been rested. After sending a small number of soldiers to stay behind, the main force has gone south to join the east bank army that is fighting the enemy further south, intending to further put pressure on the Moroccans.And when it comes to the record of this ally on the east coast, it is even more amazing!They fought against [-] Moroccan soldiers in the mountains before. As a result, they had almost no damage, but wiped out more than half of the enemies.Later, they encountered [-] Moroccan cavalry further south. As a result, they calmed down and formed a formation, defeating the wave after wave of Berber cavalry offensive in one fell swoop, causing more than half of the enemy's casualties again.Since then, the Moroccans no longer dared to attack the East Coast army head-on. Instead, they used small cavalry to infiltrate the rear and harass their supply lines, delaying their march to Meknes.

Of course, it seems that the people on the east coast have no idea of ​​​​taking the capital of the Moroccans.In fact, their supply line has been stretched too long, and the Moroccan tactic of using cavalry to bypass the rear to harass is very correct.Therefore, the people on the east coast have actually stopped, while consolidating the occupied area, collecting supplies such as grain, cattle and sheep-certainly not collected in a peaceful way-while waiting for the Italian army to approach.At the same time, they are constantly urging the Portuguese to prepare materials and personnel as soon as possible, send the five infantry regiments they promised to open up the second battlefield, and plan the deployment of the Moroccans to achieve the ultimate goal of promoting peace through war Purpose.

But regardless of whether the Portuguese can't make it through, the Italians have made great efforts this time and made a lot of contributions.If the results of the battle are rewarded for their merits, they can also get considerable benefits.For example, when the Northern Italian Federation decided to march south and capture Naples, Sicily and other places controlled by the Spanish, it received unreserved support from the people on the east coast.And if this can really be achieved, it seems that it is only a matter of time before the entire Apennine Peninsula is finally unified and fully risen.

(End of this chapter)