Eagle’s Glory

With the arrival of the early morning, the rising fog from the sea enveloped the entire sea near Lavrion.

It was already summer, so the sky was already bright before the sun came out, and the bays and cliffs also showed a cool tone, looming in sight.

Edmond Dantès was in the woods not far from the coast, holding a telescope and quietly observing the sea in the distance.

According to the information he had received before, His Majesty, to whom he was loyal, had already dispatched an advance team for him to dispatch at his request.

This trust made him grateful, and it also gave him pressure, because he knew that he had too many expectations and would never tolerate failure.

Just under his gaze, several black spots suddenly appeared on the misty sea level.

These black dots are looming, both as solid and as elusive as phantoms.

As time passed, the black spots became clearer, and their outlines gradually emerged in the telescope.

After confirming these familiar ships, Edmond Dantès breathed a sigh of relief, then walked out of his hiding place and came to the beach, and several of his men followed him, with him Let's welcome the reinforcements together.

Once on the beach, he lit a torch to signal the boat.

The boats all stopped, and then each put down a few boats and approached the beach.

Edmond Dantès watched the boats, then subconsciously adjusted his clothes to keep himself as usual.

Soon, these small boats came to the beach with the help of the tide, and then the people on the boat got off the boat and regrouped on the beach.

Under the watchful eyes of Edmond Dantès, the passwords came one after another, and the originally scattered crowd quickly gathered together and formed a regular formation-obviously their commander was quite effective.

He immediately stepped forward and walked in front of this group of people.

And the leader of this group of people was an acquaintance of his.

Edmond Dantès is not curious about the arrival of the other party - His Majesty's previous letter has made it clear that he will dispatch his cousin to come with the advance team to negotiate with the Greek government as His Majesty's representative, so he Also mentally prepared.

"His Royal Highness!" The first time he saw Louis, he bowed and saluted, "Thank you for coming."

"Long time no see, Earl." Louis nodded and greeted him. "You have done a good job here, and Your Majesty praised you very much."

"I'm just trying my best to complete the task. Thanks to His Majesty's continuous support, I can make a small achievement." Edmond Dantes replied humbly. "Now that you are in command, I think everything will go more smoothly."

Although he has gradually become accustomed to the status of an earl, and when dealing with other people, he can already assume the posture of a big man, but when facing His Royal Highness the Prince, Edmond Dantes always Can't help but feel a little embarrassed and cringe.

Not only because he was His Majesty's cousin and the Prince of the Bonaparte family, but also because this man had seen himself in the most desolate and miserable form in the Château d'If prison.

He knew that no matter how many people he was in front of, he was majestic and posing as an earl, but in front of His Highness, it was meaningless. His Highness knew his details, and he completely remembered how he looked when he begged in front of him.

"You are too humble, Edmund." Louis smiled and shook his head, "Your ability has been proved by the facts, Your Majesty and I are very satisfied, and I have nothing to guide you, you will let go. Do it, and I wish you all the best."

Although Louis detested in his heart this "Chen Chen" who jumped out halfway and robbed him of the trust and authority he should have enjoyed, on the surface he concealed it very well and treated this Monte Cristo with a very kind attitude. Lord Earl.

Although he is proud, he is not stupid. He knows that falling out with the earl now will not help, but will also make himself angry with His Majesty, so he decides to have a good relationship with the other party first, anyway, he also needs the earl.

"Your Highness, I wish you all the best," Edmond Dantès replied quickly.

After the chat was over, Louis pointed to a young soldier beside him and introduced him to Edmond Dantès.

"This is Mr. Carlos-François-Lopez, he is the captain of the advance team, responsible for the safety of the two of us, if you have any needs, you can ask him and he will find a way to do it. of."

Carlos-François-Lopez immediately gave Edmund Dantes a military salute.

"Lord Count, I am at your disposal."

"Mr. Lopez, thank you for your help. I will feel more at ease with you." Edmond Dantes looked at the officer and breathed a sigh of relief.

He finally looked forward to reinforcements, and the captain looked like a brave and reliable soldier. With them as support, he would finally have confidence.

"Okay, let's stop here." After they said hello, Louis said, "Count, have you prepared a place for us?"

"It's ready," Edmond Dantes replied.

"Okay, take us there quickly, I don't want to blow the sea breeze here all the time." Louis replied with a smile.

"Please come with me." Edmond Dantes also laughed.

Then, he took the group away from the coast and went deep into the inland area. After several hours of marching, they were tired and finally came to an abandoned village.

It seems that it has been uninhabited for a long time, and there are only a few dilapidated farmhouses left, barely able to shelter from the wind and rain.

In the center of the farmhouse, there is also a well, which should be considered ideal if you evaluate it by the standard of a military station.

"It's a really nice place," Louie whistled. "Edmond, when did you open such a big hotel?"

"Sorry, Your Highness, I can only find this place for everyone to set up camp for now. Although the conditions are simple, please forgive me." Edmond Dantès replied a little embarrassedly.

"No, I don't mind that, I didn't come to Greece to enjoy life - I wanted to ask, how did you get such a place? And how do you know it's safe?" Louis shook his head.

"Since the Turks came over, the villagers here have fled, some people have left their hometowns, some people have gone to the mountains and become mountain bandits, and now there happens to be a group of mountain bandits who are seeking refuge with me, and here is what they told me. ." Edmond Dantes explained to the Prince in detail.

Not long ago, under the introduction of the middleman, Edmond Dantès met a mountain bandit leader Isaac Valleoli, and then paid for him and his bandit gang.

Although he didn't dare to trust each other too much, at least for now, they have cooperated to a limited extent, and with the help of these bandits who are familiar with the local terrain, Edmond Dantès has made it a lot easier. Abandoned villages are also found with their help.

"I've heard about the mountain bandits." Louis nodded. "Let me see them later. Now is the time to tell him our origins."

"I will arrange it." Edmond Dantes responded quickly.

Then, he took Louis and François Lopez to the relatively best-preserved farmhouse nearby, which will also serve as a temporary base for Louis.

In the shabby, dilapidated, almost empty house, the three found a few small wooden piers as chairs and sat down, and then began to discuss the next thing.

"Edmond, I think you should know my mission from His Majesty's letter?" Louis asked, as soon as he sat down.

"Yes, Your Highness." Edmond Dantès nodded, "You will contact the independent Greek government and their opposition to determine their attitude and seek cooperation."

"So, it's been so long since you've been in Greece, do you have any clues? Or... can you give me any useful advice?" Louis looked at the Count with expectant eyes, "There's not much time left for us, I Think we need to act quickly."

Speaking of this, Edmond Dantes' expression looked a little ashamed.

"Sorry, Your Highness... Although I have been trying to get in touch with the Greek independent government recently, I still haven't heard back. It's hard for me to find a suitable messenger, and I don't dare to rush over there..."

"In other words, there is no progress yet, right?" Louis frowned.

He wasn't angry at all, just a little disappointed. "Now that I'm here, you're in a different position. You can try to get in touch and let them know of our existence. If it doesn't work, I'll just run over. I think in the current situation, they shouldn't take it lightly. Refuse aid from outside."

"I see." Edmond Dantes nodded. "Then I will take this as my main goal."

"The opposition of the Greek government, do you have any clues?" Louis asked again.

"I have some clues about this," Edmond Dantès replied. "There was infighting among the Greeks before, and they saw each other's blood and formed a deep hatred. Many people were exiled, and some people were imprisoned in prisons, and some of them are reduced to bandits. I think through our current mountain bandit friends, we should be able to contact a few former opposition groups.”

In fact, when the Greek War of Independence broke out in 1821, many of the initial uprising army were originally mountain bandits. After the infighting of the Greek government, it was normal for the losers to run back to become mountain bandits.

Louis thought for a while, then spoke again.

“It’s not enough to find collaborators, if we want them to work, we need to find someone with a charisma. What we need is a Greek government that is willing to work with us, not a bunch of mountains fighting their own way. Bandits, otherwise they are useless."

"Then what do you mean? Who do you think has the most appeal?" Edmond Dantes asked quickly.

"We have to figure out a way to get Theozoros Krokotronis on our side, or at least neutral," Louis said. "So, it's crucial now to find a way to get in touch with him."

This is indeed a crucial step.

Theodoros-Krokotronis was the original leader of the rebel army. After the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, he used his years of military experience to form an irregular army composed of mountain bandits, and then was elected as the Greek at that time. The rebel army commander, under his command, the rebel army quickly achieved many victories, defeated the Turks many times, drove the Turkish forces out of the Peloponnese, and became a national hero of Greece.

Soon after, however, there was a violent infighting in Greece, Korokotronis was caught in prison, and his old ministry suffered a **** purge.

However, because of his high prestige, the winning faction in the Greek government did not dare to kill him directly.

In the following, Turkey took advantage of the civil unrest in Greece and re-invasion with Egypt.

The situation became precarious. Under the pressure of public opinion, the Greek government released Korokotronis and appointed him as commander-in-chief again, but the situation had become extremely bad at this time, even with Korokotronis' ability, It is also impossible to restore the overall situation, and can only watch the Turks and Egyptians advancing step by step, occupying most of Greece.

Clearly, the commander-in-chief was at odds with his government, and his old ministry had hatred for the victors of infighting, and that was where it could be exploited.

"If the prestigious Kroctronis chooses cooperation or neutrality, then all problems will be solved." After a moment of silence, Edmund Dantes echoed Louis' statement, "But—this Will the general easily agree to cooperate with us? He is now the commander-in-chief of the Greek government and may not be willing to overthrow his own government.”

"Everyone has his own pursuit. Now it only depends on what he is willing to give up for his own pursuit." Louis replied with a smile. "If what he pursues is to defend the independence of Greece, then in the current situation, he will seek any life-saving straw, and he is willing to drink our help even if it is poison; if what he pursues is to defend the independent government of Greece, then of course he will not Would love to see it over - what do you think he would think?"

Edmond Dantes was silent again.

In any way, he did not feel that the commander-in-chief would have any loyalty and gratitude to the government that had once bloodwashed his subordinates.

"It's worth a try at least." He nodded in agreement with Louie's judgment.

"Okay, Count, we're done." After the two of them unified their thoughts, Louis made a final decision. "Let's divide the labor, I will find a way to get in touch with the Greek government; while you are working in the dark, contact his old ministry, his relatives, and everyone who can speak to him in front of him, we will prepare both hands, or The Greek government cooperates with us or we overthrow it and bring Korokotronis and his supporters to power!"

"Okay, Your Highness." Edmond Dantès responded. "I follow your orders."