I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1134 The First Joint Operation by Security Organizations
Ariosto's eyes lit up immediately: "You mean, the security organization will..."

Talleyrand smiled and nodded again: "The security organization will begin assembling troops at the same time as Luca declares war. As soon as the Neapolitans dare to retaliate, the army will immediately enter Abruzzo."

Abruzzo is a major town northwest of Naples, located just over 150 kilometers from the capital city.

Ariosto, however, remained somewhat uneasy and asked, "Your Excellency, what if Ferdinand IV seeks help from Austria?"

Naples outwardly follows Spain, but in reality, it has always pursued a pro-Austrian policy.

Talleyrand glanced at him: "If he remembered General Cordoba, he wouldn't have chosen to do this."

He was referring to the early 16th century when the Duchy of Milan, angered by Naples' interference in its succession affairs, decided to join forces with France to attack Naples.

King Ferdinand II of Naples, unable to withstand the attack, sought help from Spain.

Spanish general Cordoba soon led his army into Naples and went to war with France. At this time, the Duchy of Milan suddenly turned against France, and the French army suffered heavy losses and was forced to retreat.

Enraged, King Louis XII of France secretly negotiated with Spain to jointly divide Milan and Florence.

The army of Córdoba turned and occupied Florence, forcing King Frederick IV to flee. Florence was then under Spanish rule for nearly 200 years, until it regained its independence through the Treaty of Vienna following the War of the Polish Succession.

How dare Napoli let the wolf into their house again?

Talleyrand added coldly, "It might actually be a good thing if Naples really asks Austria for help."

The Austrians couldn't even hold the Mantua fortress back then, so asking them to take over a French-held fortress now would be tantamount to handing over war reparations.

Ariosto finally stopped hesitating and stood up, saying, "I will have the elders vote on whether to go to war."

a few days later.

Naples' Foreign Minister Domenico Caracciolo handed the declaration of war note just sent by the Republic of Luca to Prime Minister John Acton, and scoffed, "Have the Lucas gone mad?"

The latter's gaze swept quickly across the document, a smile also appearing on his face: "'Compensate Luca for losses of 600 million francs and sign a written agreement guaranteeing that similar incidents will not occur again... Otherwise, a full-scale attack will be launched within half a month.'"

"Hehe, their council of elders probably has to give an explanation to the country. After all, the British have made a huge fuss this time."

“Most likely so.” Caracciolo nodded, then asked, “What do you think we should do?”

Acton thought for a moment and then instructed, "Send someone to Luca to make a statement, saying that the armory officials smuggled weapons and that the military court has already dealt with it."

This is already considered very lenient towards a small country like Lucca. Of course, it's also because the Lucca government has presented solid evidence proving Naples' involvement in the riots.

Acton then added, “Go and summon Sir Paget and tell him that we have caused him considerable trouble and that he must compensate us.”

They settled this "minor matter" just like that, and then simply reported it to Ferdinand IV.

To their surprise, Luca actually sent troops out two weeks later.

Luca has never been so glorious since the founding of the nation.

Nine hundred Luca National Army soldiers are stationed in Abruzzo – they have been urgently mobilized for this battle.

Standing on their left flank were 5 soldiers from Parma and Modena. On the right flank were 4 soldiers from a combined force of Milan, Genoa, and Venice.

Followed by a 1-strong Sardinian army.

In the distance were two French artillery batteries, with a total of 12 cannons, staring menacingly at the Abruzzo border guards below.

In addition, there were 3 French infantrymen serving as reserves. They all came from the French garrisons in Ravenna and Mantua.

The 1500 Neapolitan soldiers opposite them were all trembling.

The border colonel in command was praying in his heart that the enemy wouldn't launch an attack. He had heard about Luca's declaration of war, but he never expected it to happen in his own territory—Luca and Abruzzo didn't even border each other. Everyone in Naples thought that Luca would at most send a fleet to hover around Napoli, which would count as "launching an attack."

It wasn't until he saw the 23,000-strong army that he remembered about the Mediterranean Security Organization.

Two hours later, the Neapolitan lieutenant colonel was drinking coffee in Luca's camp—he surrendered without any struggle.

Subsequently, the security coalition forces diverted some of their troops to surround Abruzzo. The main force of 20,000 continued their advance south towards Naples.

The entire city of Naples was immediately thrown into panic.

Ferdinand IV urgently mobilized troops to defend the capital while sending Caracciolo to negotiate with Luca.

The total number of troops in Naples is more than 5, but because they did not take Luca's declaration of war seriously, the troops are still scattered throughout the country, with less than 1 troops stationed near the capital.

What worries Ferdinand IV most is the 3 French troops in the security coalition.

Although their numbers were small, this demonstrated France's stance.

Even if Naples manages to stop this wave of troops with an emergency troop deployment, the city could fall at any moment if France begins to reinforce its troops.

King Ferdinand IV did consider asking the British, who were the instigators of the incident, to help mediate, but the British minister flatly refused and threatened him not to reveal Britain's involvement in the matter.

Eight days later, when the security coalition finally arrived at the gates of Naples, they received a message from the governor of Lucca: Naples had agreed to sign a ceasefire agreement with Lucca, including 600 million francs in compensation to Lucca, 150 million francs for the coalition's logistical expenses, and a promise never to interfere in the internal affairs of any northern Italian country again.

At the request of the Lucca government, the security coalition began withdrawing its troops—Joseph had never intended to really harm Naples in the first place—maintaining stability on the Apennine Peninsula was currently in France's best interest. The deployment was primarily intended to warn Naples against extending its influence into northern Italy.

As newspapers began reporting on the allied expedition, the whole of northern Italy was in an uproar.

This bloodless victory truly demonstrates the reliability of the security organization mechanism.

Small countries like Luca, which used to be able to swallow their anger when large countries caused trouble for them, had no choice but to bow down and pay reparations this time.

This gives all member states of the security organization a great sense of security.

At the same time, this unified troop deployment also served as a drill for military cooperation among various countries, revealing some coordination issues and laying the foundation for improving the efficiency of joint operations in the future.

Luca also wisely distributed the vast majority of the reparations to the countries that sent troops, using the funds to "support the development of new industries."

Governments around the world began celebrating their great victory, and the streets were bustling with activity, showing no signs of the protests and demonstrations that had been taking place just over two weeks ago.

(End of this chapter)