I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1128 Winning in Northern Italy
Count Costantini immediately shrank back nervously: "Who...who exactly are you?"

Wilson said calmly, "He is your most loyal friend."

Count Costantini stared at him for a long while, then finally nodded vigorously: "Alright, I believe you. How many guns can you get your hands on?"

“Enough for your needs.” Wilson took a sip of coffee, raising his eyelids slightly. “However, you can only get 100 for now. You know, my boss is a businessman; he wants to see your capabilities before he continues to invest.”

Count Costantini's heart pounded. If the organization could truly acquire a large quantity of weapons, then the unification of Italy would be completed at least ten years ahead of schedule!

He took a deep breath and said, "How do I need to demonstrate my strength?"

"It's very simple..."

More than ten days later.

Sir Norris glanced at the front page of the Milan Morning Post and patted his assistant with satisfaction: "Wilson, you've done a very good job this time. Luca's affair could very well become the French's 'Boston Tea'."

The newspaper reported: Hundreds of protesters in Lucca surrounded a French caravan heading to the outskirts of the city, chanting "No French goods!" and burning furniture worth hundreds of thousands of francs. When the police arrived, they found the protesters armed and dared not approach. Eventually, the protesters dispersed, chanting slogans.

Wilson was quite pleased: "I didn't initially expect that these Italian unificationists would have such a great influence."

In fact, protests involving thousands of people have broken out in Bergamo, Pisa and other places recently, demanding that the government expel French forces and achieve a "unity of Northern Italy".

However, none of these protests had as much impact as the Luca incident.

As the news spread, people across northern Italy are now discussing whether to emulate the protesters in Lucca—except in the monarchies of Parma and Modena, where the news was immediately suppressed and the country is unaware of the events.

Florence, a monarchical state, is where the Young Italy movement is most active.

It wasn't that Adrian had any connection with them; it was simply that just two years ago he was a poor art dealer with no idea how to govern a country. Queen Caterina could barely manage some daily affairs and was helpless against the pervasive nationalist organizations.

Sir Norris nodded and said, "We can have more flintlock muskets shipped over from Vortunau Castle."

Fort Voltuno is the westernmost city of Naples, about a day and a half's journey by cargo ship from Pisa.

King Ferdinand IV of Naples, who shared ancestry with the Spanish monarchy, outwardly "followed" Madrid and pursued a foreign policy closer to France. However, after the rest of northern Italy joined the French-dominated trade and military system, Naples, located in southern Italy, became very wary of France.

Meanwhile, Ferdinand IV's wife, Maria Carolina, came from the Habsburg family, and naturally encouraged her husband to be hostile to France.

So when the British expressed their intention to "do something" to northern Italy, the Naples government immediately agreed to secretly provide assistance—the flintlock muskets shipped to Pisa were directly transferred from the armory of Fort Voltuno.

Sir Norris then instructed his servant, "Spano, inform Baron Bruch and his men to cooperate with those lovely 'Unificationists'."

"Yes, sir."

“The results this time have been unexpectedly good.” Sir Norris poured a glass of wine and handed it to his assistant. “I even think we should provide them with a few cannons, haha.” Wilson took the glass and smiled in agreement. “That would certainly be exciting. However, it seems unnecessary for us to invest too much, since the French will soon send troops to suppress them. Whether it’s those Austrians or the ‘unificationists,’ no matter how many weapons they’re given, they can’t possibly be a match for the French army.”

The Baron Bruch that Norris just mentioned was a pro-Austrian figure in northern Italy—Austria had ruled there for over a century, and it was impossible to completely eliminate the compradors they had cultivated in just one or two years. They were also a key asset for the British in their recent efforts to destabilize Italy.

Sir Norris smiled and shook his head: "No, no, it makes sense. With more and more powerful weapons, those people will have more confidence to do what they want, and at the same time, they can inflict greater casualties on the French army."

"This will further enrage the French, leading them to retaliate against the rioters with even more brutal killings."

"Ultimately, the seeds of hatred will grow rapidly. We will help the people of northern Italy to launch uprisings against the French. And the French will have to station a large number of troops here to maintain stability."

"Think about the terrible situation in North America back then; now France will also taste that kind of pain."

He and Wilson smiled at each other and lightly clinked their glasses.

In recent years, Britain's various schemes against France have largely failed. This time, however, they are absolutely confident of success.

If France does not send troops to suppress the unrest, riots will break out everywhere in northern Italy, driving out French forces and even leading to unification.

If France were to send troops into Italy, it would be bogged down in a massive war of attrition. Austria would be more than happy to have another duel with the French there.

At that time, Britain, together with other countries, will launch an attack from northern France, and the war will end in a short period of time.

……

Paris.

Palace of Versailles.

Joseph tossed the report that had just arrived from Madrid onto the table and rubbed his temples in exasperation.

He suddenly began to understand Napoleon's actions in history—he now also very much wanted to send troops into Spain, fire all the less capable ministers, and replace them with a more competent king.

He was somewhat bewildered when he received Spain's sudden decision to send troops to Morocco two weeks ago.

Instead of concentrating their forces to deal with the Anglo-Portuguese alliance and quickly consolidate the newly acquired Portuguese territory, they impulsively went to attack Morocco. This was practically giving the British a halftime break.

However, by then, the Spanish expeditionary force had already landed in North Africa, and he couldn't possibly force the Spanish to withdraw. Even if he did, the "wise" ministers in Madrid would most likely not listen.

At the time, Joseph estimated that the war should end within two or three months. After all, Moro had previously managed to fight a Moroccan imperial guard that outnumbered them several times over with a group of poorly trained noblemen, while this time the Spanish were only facing tribal forces.

The report in front of them stated that the Spanish expeditionary force commander, Soldano, had sent tens of thousands of soldiers deep into the Rif Mountains to search for the enemy after a certain infantry regiment was ambushed by Moroccan tribes.

(End of this chapter)