The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1197: Chapter 134: The Sinister and Cunning Academic Director, Your Excellency

The occurrence of riots and uprisings often does not depend on the strength of the anti-government forces or the precision of their plans, but on the extent to which the government’s response measures have failed. Behind a successful uprising often lies the incompetence of the police institution and the negligence of the intelligence agencies. After the failure of an uprising, these institutions and related personnel usually choose to exaggerate the organizational capabilities of the anti-government forces to cover up the mistakes they’ve made.

If the uprising is successful, the rebels will, in order to maintain the legitimacy of their regime and highlight their glory and justice, similarly choose to beautify the motley process of their uprising with exaggerated language. This also explains why the real intelligence we receive about uprisings always vastly differs from the meticulously planned uprising events recorded in history books.

— Arthur Hastings “British Secret Intelligence Bureau Internal Training Manual”

As soon as Garibaldi finished speaking, Nourri couldn’t help but sigh at the good fortune of this young Italian sailor.

“Giuseppe, it’s fortunate that we are both taking the same path. If you hadn’t met me and went straight to Nice, then ran to France seeking political asylum, you’d be doomed!”

Garibaldi looked confused, “Did something happen in Paris?”

Nourri, arms crossed, leaned against the window and said, “You know I work at the Paris Opera House, so I often get to interact with some high society figures. That day, after performing ‘The Crusaders in Egypt’ at the Opera House, I naturally needed to thank the Parisian celebrities who came to support with the customary social etiquette after the curtain call.

I chatted briefly with Mrs. Thiers in the crowd, smoothly transitioned from discussing French opera to Italian opera, and then from Italian opera to Italy’s recent turbulent situation. I expressed concern that if the situation in Italy does not calm down quickly, the performance I had planned to hold in Rome in October might be canceled.

But Mrs. Thiers just laughed and told me not to worry. She said her husband told her that Italy’s situation would soon return to calm because His Majesty the King and the Cabinet members had unanimously decided at a State Council meeting that France would absolutely not waver in its current policy of diplomatic non-intervention, and the Paris side would not consider any proposals to aid Italian Republican insurgents.

Moreover, not only will they not provide aid, but they also intend to strengthen patrol work in the border areas between France and Italy, strictly preventing any Italian insurgents from entering France. If caught at the border, they will be extradited back to the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont for trial according to the previously signed extradition agreement.”

Saying this, Nourri took out a newspaper he bought in Italy from his jacket pocket and placed it on the table.

“Initially, I feared you’d act impulsively and rush back to court death, so I didn’t show you this newspaper. But now, I feel you have the right to know this.”

Garibaldi took the newspaper, and on the front page, a warrant from the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont was prominently displayed.

By order of His Excellency, the Governor and Divisional Commander of Genoa, Paulo, a Genoa Conflict Committee has been established.

The committee has filed charges with this military tribunal, accusing the following individuals of serious military mutiny crimes:

Mutlu Edoardo: 24 years old, a native of Nice, third-class sailor.

Giuseppe Baldassarre: 34 years old, from Genoa, formerly a tailor apprentice, deputy leader of the Savona First Regiment.

Palodi Enrico: 28 years old, from Genoa, second-class sailor.

Darus Joseph: 30 years old, native of Terceira Island, Portuguese sailor, passed through Genoa.

Canale Philip: 17 years old, native of Genoa, bookstore clerk.

Giuseppe Garibaldi: 26 years old, former merchant ship captain, third-class sailor.

Mascarelli Vito: 24 years old, merchant ship captain, currently living in Genoa.

…

Out of the above offenders, the first five have been apprehended and detained, while the others remain at large to this day.

Garibaldi, Mascarelli, and Caiolsi are considered the top conspirators intending to instigate military mutiny and overthrow His Majesty’s government at the beginning of last month.

Upon investigation, Garibaldi even attempted to bribe a lower-ranking officer of the Royal Artillery, Caiolsi, to store a large amount of weapons and ammunition for this heinous conspiracy. The five detainees were already aware of the above conspiracies, yet not only did they fail to report them, they joined the collaborators.

Given the aforementioned crimes, after hearing testimonies and appeals from the defendants, despite the defendants’ lawyer’s vigorous defense, it has been dismissed by this court. According to the Royal Criminal Law, handling severely all principal offenders, the Genoa Military Tribunal hereby declares:

Giuseppe Garibaldi, Mascarelli Vito, and Caiolsi Jan Baptista are enemies of the nation and are sentenced to death in absentia.

Additionally: Mutlu and the other five contest the verdict, but this court dismisses their appeal, commanding them to be imprisoned to serve their sentence.

Finally, due to insufficient evidence, Andrea Crovo is acquitted and released.

Genoa Military Tribunal

August 31, 1833

Upon seeing this content, Garibaldi couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly, “I didn’t expect my first honorable appearance in a newspaper to be as a condemned criminal.”

Nourri spoke, “After leading you out of Italy, I initially intended to send you south to Marseille to catch a ship and leave. But along the way, I heard that the Marseille City Government had intensified monitoring of the ports, because Marseille was once the main activity base for Young Italy, and so they suspect you might escape from there.