Trinacria Caput Mundi (Kingdom of Two Sicilies AAR)

[Bande Nere]

Faction: Kingdom of Two Sicilies
Mod: Minor Factions Revenge
settings: Campaign medium/ Battle hard
Units: Ultra
Start Date: Late Campaign, 1789

4 turns per year campaign

The playthrought has ended but this is still very much a work in progress, so please bear with and I hope you will enjoy it!

This is my first AAR, any help is higly appreciated!

Trinacria Caput Mundi
A Sicilian Perspective on the events of the 19th Century

Prologue

At the beginning of 1780, news of the struggle for independence of the English colonies in North America had quickly spread to the entire continent, causing unrest and similar cries for independence even in the territories held by Spain.

Consequently, the Imperialist nations of Europe had started funding and arming each other's rebel faction, each of them hoping to take advantage of the other's problems. The results could not have been worse for most of them.

In the end not only the American colonists gained independence from the English crown, but Mexico and Colombia had successfully beaten back the Spaniards to a small stretch of land in central America. In the Canadian territories, a French Canadian revolt had taken control of Montreal and instead of handing it back to their king they had established the new Nation of Quebec.

Back in Europe, the mounting debts and news from the Americas had similarly affected the populace of France and Britain, with the crisis exploding in France as republicans took over Paris and the major cities.

When news of the execution of the King of France reached London, King George I was already facing an internal crisis, as the Scottish troops returning from years of service in the Americas, once they saw what had become of Scotland since they had left, had mutinied almost immediately and with the aid of the local populace had been able to liberate Scotland from British control. Since then a modicum of peace had been reached between the Scots and the English, but by the start of 1790, the three main colonial powers of Europe had either lost most of their American colonies or, as had been the case of France, their Royals had lost their heads.

Europe in 1789

In this new world order, a somewhat irrelevant kingdom sought to improve its standing and power in the Mediterranean, mainly at the expense of the pirate strongholds of Northern Africa.

The events that followed would have lasting consequences for all the known World in the next century.

The RSEF and the Berber Expedition

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies had spent the last 2 years training an army strong enough, it was believed, to bring bloody retribution to the Moorish pirates that had been strangling the DuoSicilian commercial routes for years and had even committed armed raids against coastal villages in the past. King Ferdinand had figured that a force of 1700 would be sufficient at first, and maybe some two regiments could join them later to reinforce the first stronghold taken.
A newly built small fleet of two fourth rates and one fifth rate would protect the transports of the invading army.

The Royal Sicilian Expeditionary Force consisted of 5 regiments of the line, one of them being the Expatriate Regiment, a Hussar regiment and one of Carabinieri for the cavalry, and four batteries of artillery, two of which consisting of 12 pounder cannons while the other two composed of 12 pounder howitzers. Lastly, a band of briganti was to be sent along with them to act as scouts. This army would be commanded by General Adamo Vavasso, one of the most famous commanders in the DuoSicilian Army, with a very young Alessandro Foscolo acting as Second.

Domenico could not believe his eyes. That was really Africa!

He could still remember vividly just 2 years ago, when that Neapolitan officer had convinced him to join the foreign regiment, after he'd downed a whole carafe of the tavern's glorified red wine, courtesy of said officer. He had finally signed the contract, courtesy of a second carafe of the sourish beverage..

The next day he'd woken up in Siracusa's regimental barracks floor, nursing the usual headache that humans generally have after spending the previous day gulping liquids that could easily cleanse the camp's latrines. 'I know better now' he smirked... But he wasn't so sure...

"Your King of Savoy is too chikenshit to even consider it, while ours has already ordered the new 12 pounder guns. We will smash those moors in their ports and take their lands for our King. Come back a year from now and you'll see."

He'd just arrived that morning in Siracuse, the main trading port of the DuoSicilian Kingdom, barely 16 years of age, his third voyage as a lowly *mozzo*, and wasn't bright enough to refuse a bad drink or two...

"I would fight those bastards too, lieutenant... The bastards killed my brother..."

It was true. His older brother was a sailor on an unlucky Genoese merchant ship that met its fate off Majorca 4 years earlier, in the form of a Berber raiding expedition. Massimo and his comrades had been thrown in some dungeon in Algiers waiting for a ransom that never arrived. He'd died 7 months later of starvation, but his family would discover this only a year later.

"And how many others should suffer the same fate as your kin, young sailor? Only 7 years ago they were raiding villages in Sicily, what could stop them if they started that again? We must burn their ships, their ports and their homes."

And so two excruciatingly long years of marching in formation, latrine duties, saluting, latrine duties, mostly failing to learn Sicilian and Neapolitan, latrine duty, some rare live fire training, latrine duty, jadda jadda later, he was now going to prove that officer(whom he never met again) and himself that he, corporal Domenico Garibaldi, a goddamn northerner, was not only yapping aloud about killing pirates but would do so with zeal, glory and whatever else kids like to imagine life is all about in the year of our Lord 1791.

He looked at his companions. While most of the troops were Sicilians and southerners, his regiment came mostly from outside the Kingdom. Among them he had come to know some fellow Ligurians, but most of the men were from Lazio and Lombardia, with a presence of Frenchmen, Spaniards, Slavs and the odd Prussian and Dutch, Even a couple huge Nubians dressed the regimental colors, and were seen very fondly by their comrades for their ability to systematically scare the living bejaysus out of fresh recruits whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Many were like him, half kidnapped half volunteered into, but most had actually chosen this life, or simply didn't know any other life outside war.

His sergeant stopped nearby. He was a stocky Roman, who had served in the Eternal City's militia until the day a Swiss officer's nose had had the audacity to hit his forehead. Or so the rumors went. Truth or myth, he was one of the few NCO's that officers would generally listen to, so it seemed that this rumor wasn't exclusive to GIs like him.

"Happy now, Liguria? Soon we'll be fighting the moor..." He pointed towards the growing land in the distance.

"Just remember that place is crawling with folks just as ready to kill you as you are to kill them. And they probably have more experience than you at that" he smirked.

"Don't worry Liguria, they'll take a look at you and run for the hills. You won't even have to fire a shot!" Now he really laughed.

And kept laughing as he walked away, seemingly unaware of the waves crashing alongside him...

[Bande Nere]

Domenico's regiment would make an uneventful landing in Tunisia and, together with the rest of the RSEF, occupy the main Berber stronghold in the region and the largest of the Berber "City States" across North Africa, Tunis. The force opposing them outside the city was large, but composed mainly of scarcely armed ordinary citizenry, and was easily defeated. The Expatriate Regiment would still suffer 60+ casualties forcing them to stay behind as most of the army left Tunis for the second part of the operation. They had been tasked to maintain the order and start training auxiliary regiments from the local population, while waiting for reinforcements to join them from Sicily.

After a year spent in pacification efforts, a major detachment of the RSEF composed of 3 regiments of regulars, the Briganti, the 2 howitzer batteries and the cavalry regiments of Hussars and Carabinieri reaches the Berber city state of Tripoli, but having lost men to Berber ambushes on the way, and discovering the defenders of this city are numerous, they find themselves forced to siege and wait for more artillery reinforcements from Tunis. Before they can arrive though, the defenders attempt to break the siege. While this fails and the Berbers suffer huge losses, some of the regiments now find themselves with less than half their initial complement of men still standing.

First Battle of Tripoli

As Alessandro Foscolo was wounded and had to be sent back to Taranto, General Vavasso realized his troops risked being crushed if his reinforcements were ambushed, and so chose to break the siege and retreat back to Tunisia to await for them. Once they arrived, the general ordered to move camp and in two days they had reached Tripoli again. This time a direct assault was ordered and the city was quickly taken, as most of it's defenders had either died in the previous attempt or had fled elsewhere realizing the DuoSicilian Army would come back. It is February of 1793.

Except of a correspondence between

General Adamo Vavasso, Commander in Chief of the Royal Sicilian Expeditionary Force in Tripoli, Tripolitania

to the Royal Military Academy in Naples, the office of professor Michelangelo Bonaccorso, Military Tactics

<<... so while the use of cover when fighting on open terrain is the ideal choice in a firefight, an encounter between a firepower oriented army and one dedicated exclusively to close quarters combat, the need for cover becomes superfluous and might even compromise the regular infantry, since while the first has it's line of fire constricted by whatever rock, boulder or wall it is using as cover, needless cover if the enemy is coming at you with swords rather than bullets, the other can simply charge from the sides and basically nullify the inherent advantages of being the army with guns. Troops encountering mostly melee oriented enemy forces should be instructed to abandon any search for cover, always face the enemy and solely use fire by rank as their shield.

We must learn from past mistakes, I above all, so the death of our boys here at Tripoli might not be for nothing....>>

Having mostly pacified Libya the same year, a regiment of regulars was left in Tripoli to assist the newly formed militia, while the rest of the army, now joined by the Expatriate regiment and by two new regiments of African auxiliaries, moved at pace towards Algiers, the last of the great Berber city states. Corporal Garibaldi had since been promoted to sergeant of the Expatriate Regiment, mainly for surviving.

Shortly a week after entering Algerian territory they intercepted a smaller enemy force and engaged them.


'You won't even have to fire a shot'

that ing . Domenico's fingers were burning. He wasn't even sure his musket would ever be able to fire again. That wasn't a big issue though... All around him there were plenty of other muskets.

Among bodies on top of other bodies, friend or foe, camel or horse, all around him nothing but dead or dying bodies.

The army had met a smaller but consistent force of Berbers attempting to flank them on their march towards Algiers. They had been able to force them into battle, and general Vavasso even unlimbered the damn cannons in time. But the cannons had no one to shoot at. The damn pirates appeared and disappeared among the dunes. Domenico couldn't figure out how many they were facing and some of his companions were even saying this was a hallucination. Or a magic trick. Some even threw the devil in for good measure.

When the ghosts started firing though, and a lot more bullets than expected started finding their targets, spells, ghosts and devils became very real very fast.

And Domenico couldn't find a target. Soldiers all around him kept falling but all he could see were puffs of smoke in the sand. Every once in a while a lucky shot took someone down, but he still felt like the enemy had the upper hand.

"Advance and shoot men, advance and shoot!" His orders repeated the ones of his fellow sergeants along the line. They were barely audible among the noise, and yet they advanced. Camels somehow appeared out of nowhere, launching saber attacks to their sides. One of these bands had the misfortune of running right in front of the wooden pikes the Calabrian brigands had brought with them. Half the band died impaled, the rest made it a few meters from the brigands, until they opened fire.

And once the camels were gone, the shooting had started again.

Those same brigands attempted to close in, but even them were getting shot at with increasing accuracy and had to retreat.

And then Domenico saw who he was fighting. And immediately wished he had not.

'Women, for god's sake. We are getting shot at by women.'

He remembered how he'd dismissed the tales of some soldiers in one of the regiments of regulars, after the battle for Tunis. They could swear they fought a group of female fighters, but everyone had dismissed them and some officers even put them in punishment, either because they had shot at women or because they were "repeating pacifist propaganda" was unclear. But they were right. and it seemed that this wasn't only one or two. It appeared that the majority of the opposing army was composed by them. And now he found himself in the position of either killing a woman or let be killed by one.

And then big dark shapes started crisscrossing the land in front of him.

"Hold fire! Hold fire!" first the officers, then down to the sergeants everyone jumped in to stop the men of the regiments from shooting.

It was the Hussars and the Carabinieri. They had finally decided to join the party and were now plowing through the enemy from both sides, and finally the enemy was forced to retreat.


In 1795, after 2 more battles, the RSEF enters Algiers, and with the capture of the last Berber stronghold, the Sicilian-Berber War ends. Around 1800 DuoSicilian soldiers and 500 African auxiliaries were lost in the campaign. When it had left Taranto in 1791, the RSEF was 1700 men strong. Most regiments had lost 80 to 70% of the soldiers they had started the campaign with, thought they had mostly maintained structural integrity thanks to regular reinforcements. The entire 2° regiment and the company of brigands had been annihilated. The losses for the Berbers had been between 6 and 7 thousand, but a final count could never be made as many probably died in the desert of their wounds.

Pax Borbonica

Morale in the RSEF was low. As a fresh NCO and a survivor of the entire Berber campaign, Domenico knew why. After the "successful campaign", the army had been instructed to garrison the main occupied cities, enforce strict colonial rule and protect the trickle of Neapolitan nobility that had started to arrive in North Africa to split the spoils of war. This meant no one would be going home any time soon and even more troops had been sent from Naples to reinforce some of the dwindling regiments. What had started as a war of just retribution had quickly devolved into a purely colonialist adventure, resulting in unexpected strife for the troops and no apparent gains for the lower classes of the Kingdom.

Some of the Sicilian soldiers had received letters from home through fishing boats hailing from their villages, and the news they brought had quickly spread. Since the army had first left, the king and his cronies had raised taxes to maintain the campaign, while the clergy seemed to be requesting ever increasing donations from their lambs so they could "send aid" to the boys fighting in Africa.

This last particular had the men both enraged and amused as the few packages they had received from the Church had consisted of a number of cheap bibles and stale cookies that even the garrison's pet "Topo del Deserto", a dog they had bought from a Bedouin caravan during the conflict while still a scrawny puppy, would not go near them.

Most didn't want to believe this but every new arrival in the regiments had some story to tell about how families that couldn't pay the ever raising taxes had their sons rounded up and conscripted to fight in Africa.

There had even been some peasant revolts in Sicily and Puglia, quickly and brutally handled by the militias put together by the nobility, as most of the regular army was by now involved in the Berber campaign. Some soldiers came from these areas and it had taken all the skills and patience of the NCOs to keep 2 entire regiments of regulars from committing mutiny in a zone of operations, a crime punishable by firing squad. At the start of 1796 Domenico contracted malaria. While surviving the sickness, he had to be sent back to the Kingdom to recover. During the second battle of Algiers he had shown courage and resolve, leading a group of his men through the city and into the square, fighting all along the way with muskets, sabers, hatchets and whatever could be used to kill, rip, and tear. The effectiveness of this young man wasn't lost to the officers who had witnessed this, and they didn't want to risk him getting killed by a sickness after he'd survived the whole campaign. The rest of the Army would follow him later that year.


"the Tsarina of Russia, Olga the First, agrees to open her ports to DuoSicilian goods and to a military alliance with our King Ferdinand!"

"London captured by the Dutch. King George the First forced to abscond to Ireland. England in flames"

Domenico kept reading the titles in the Gazzettino in disbelief. He didn't know which of them was more surprising, as he remembered that most of the older men from the regiment, some of whom had even met them in battle, would generally speak well about the English redcoats. His mind then went to Marteen, a fellow ER and a giant of a Dutch. They had lost him during the first battle of Algiers, his chest disappearing under the hooves of a trampling camel. He had shot the devilish beast himself, and then let his men murder the rider with a dozen bayonets. For the rest of the battle they barely fired again, preferring to charge the increasingly panicking defenders and bayoneting everyone on their path. His eyes hardened at that memory and he threw away the newspaper in a fit of rage and disgust...

First Battle of Algiers

"An officer of His Majesty shouldn't act unbecomingly" he opened his eyes in a stupor as he seemed to recall the voice. It was Alessandro Foscolo, the Second in Command of the RSEF until he'd been wounded in Tripoli. 'That was a battle I wasn't in. one of the few' Domenico thought to himself while getting up from the bench outside the military hospital and trying to straighten himself up in an attempt to salute the general who was addressing him.

"I beg your pardon sir, General sir. I'm no officer Sir!"

The general snorted. "So you're not Domenico Garibaldi?"

"No, I mean Yes, Sir! I'm Sergeant Domenico Garibaldi, Expatriate Regiment"

"Well now you are Lieutenant Domenico Garibaldi of the Expatriate Regiment. The Gods of War and our King's seal want it. You must have impressed a few people at Algiers."

"But... I..."

"No buts, walk with me young man, I have a matter to discuss with you"

[Bande Nere]

Just a quick update. I sprained my writing hand last friday and writing with my left is a bit of a mess so it will have to wait a while longer. This AAR is still in progress I promise!

[Alwyn]

I'm sorry to hear that you sprained your writing hand, as I'm enjoying your AAR and I'm looking forward to seeing what the newest Lieutenant of the Expatriate Regiment will be asked to do. I hope you'll be back in action soon.

[Bande Nere]

I'm sorry to hear that you sprained your writing hand, as I'm enjoying your AAR and I'm looking forward to seeing what the newest Lieutenant of the Expatriate Regiment will be asked to do. I hope you'll be back in action soon.

TY Alwyn! It means a lot! Hand's getting better but still sorta black.
Domenico seems to enjoy getting thrown into trouble.

[Bande Nere]

Here we go again, sorry for the long wait, hope you enjoy.

Fools and Revolutions

Domenico walked nervously along the dockyard. A sergeant followed him while 2 boys dressed as regulars kept their distance from the older men.

“What happens if the letter doesn’t convince him, Domenico? Is this folly?” blurted apprehensively the sergeant.

Domenico exhaled… Salvatore was, like him, a veteran of the Berber War. His bravery had saved many men at Tripoli and he had been shipped back to Taranto after surviving the “battle of the Amazons” with a wound to the leg.
They had met during the sail to Africa and had bumped into each other in more occasions on the fronts, the simple fact they had both survived when so many had not, bounded them in a quasi-friendship.
Domenico thought that if it had not been for that wound, Salvatore might have made lieutenant even before him.

And while technically a sergeant was not allowed to take such liberties when addressing a superior, the conversation they were having basically amounted to treason. If all went to hell, they would be both shot as traitors, and if the miracle actually happened, they would be brothers in the revolution.

“All revolutionaries are a bit crazy, Salvo” he paused. “And own a serious set of iron balls”
he smirked at the sergeant, who attempted a laugh that resembled terribly a snort.

In fact Domenico was doing his best not to show how nervous he was. He didn’t even try to follow Salvo’s example and light a pipe, as he feared his hands might tremble and give up his actual state.

“You won’t have to be present when he opens it. Remember, you are just an escort and know nothing about the letter. Until I tell you differently, this is your line.”

“But Domenico…”

“No. Your cousin is on one of those transports and your family has already suffered enough, your mother shouldn’t have to cry another son. Think about them.”

Salvatore was a Sicilian from Palermo. While he fought for King and Country in Africa, The King’s militiamen had fired at civilians during a protest against the latest tax raise, wounding an older cousin and killing his own brother. As a result one of his other cousins, Filippo, had been forcefully conscripted in the army and had joined the RSEF just a year earlier. They had not seen each other since Salvo had left for Africa in late 1792.

Domenico had no one. Most of his surviving family lived up north, and the few people he could actually count as friends were the 60 or so veteran survivors of his regiment. And probably a few of the African NCOs he’d trained along in Tunis. His sacrifice would not cause harm to others.

“Masts on the horizon my dear Salvo, let’s go see if we can make history.”

The fleet with General Vavasso's Army on board is finally on it's way back to Taranto after 5 years of desert warfare in Africa. King Ferdinand hoped their arrival might ease the growing tensions amongst the populace. If not, he could still use them to fusillade some of these rebellious peasants. He had sent word to general Foscolo to order an officer be sent to Puglia to request general Vavasso send a part of it’s troops to Calabria to reinforce the antibanditi operation led by Foscolo himself, while the majority be sent back to Naples were a gala would be held for him and his officers.

World map in 1797

In 1797 its open rebellion against the King. While for some reason Vavasso's army remains in Puglia, A small rebel army composed of briganti, italian guards and expatriates march towards the Capital. Three regiments of the King's militia "defend" the city, but they are alone as the citizenry refuse to take arms against the rebels.

General Foscolo had used his antibanditi campaign as an excuse to leave Napoli and unite the various elements of the population that had different reasons to want the king ousted. Young officers, Italian repubblicans, local banditi, veterans, farmers, members of the guilds and antipapists from Rome. Some of the best men of the insurrectionist camp had been put under the general's direct orders, and while leaving a regiment and a gang to spread false rumors in southern Calabria, this small army quickly made it’s way towards Napoli.

General Alessandro Foscolo. Outskirts of Napoli

With the 4 regiments at hand and no artillery, the young General Alessandro Foscolo ordered the regiments to advance in formation in the center, to meet the militiamen just outside the city. The briganti meanwhile had slowly infiltrated the city, advising the citizens to remain inside their homes while
moving into firing positions on the left flank of the king’s men.

Militia attempting to resist the rebel soldiers

Once his regiments had closed range with the militia he ordered to open fire. Four fusillades later they started fleeing back into the city, where the Briganti showered them with bullets from concealed positions.
The militiamen, who until that moment had only fought against barely armed peasants and citizens, could not resist the onslaught and quickly surrendered.


Napoli had fallen to the revolution.

The Two Generals

"Where the hell is that royal piece of ?"

Foscolo was furious. The troops had searched everywhere, he himself had been searching the royal palace for days, but neither Ferdinand nor his family, not even those damn ministers of his could be found.

"If he makes it to a royalist garrison we are finished. This meager army and a thousand briganti wouldn't save us. We got lucky they didn't have cannons this time"

Four days later a messenger from the RSEF arrived at the revolutionary headquarters. Foscolo and the others knew something was up when they noticed the tricolored piece of cloth the messenger proudly bore on his left bicep above the regimental uniform.

"General Vavasso sends his regards and informs you that the main army should be at the doors of Napoli by tomorrow, general, sir!"

"I think you missed the important part, young man. Is he coming to shoot at us or to join with us?"
The messenger, still panting from the journey, froze and looked in puzzlement around him...

"This IS the revolution, my general, right?"
As he started to fume from his ears Foscolo walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder...

"Calm down, take a sip, sit down and tell us what's going on. Yes, this is the revolution. Now tell us how does Vavasso feel about it?"
The kid instantly relaxed... He took the glass, downed it in one gulp and then started talking and couldn't be stopped.

"...Army minister arrived at camp 2 weeks ago with whatever was left of Napoli's garrison...
He ordered the General to march on the Capital and raze the Spanish neighborhood with cannon fire.
Vavasso arrested him and the officers loyal to King Ferdinand...
The king has escaped to Sicily and the general has sent a third of the army down there to capture him and the cabinet...
He's bringing the minister in chains!"

The next day general Vavasso and his men entered Napoli, all donning the revolutionary tricolor in one fashion or the other.
The cheers from the citizens could be heard from miles away, and few of the bewildered men were able to escape kisses from old hags and young lasses alike.

"Your messenger almost made me my pants, you old bastard"
Vavasso smirked at his junior general.

"I knew you still wear diapers kid, so no harm no foul"
the room roared with laughter as did Vavasso and Foscolo, who then embraced each other.

"Any news of the king?"

"Yeah... That cheeky bastard. Once he realized my regiments had landed in Sicily to arrest him rather than support him, he and his retinue jumped on board a Maltese sixth rate and disappeared in the night. That was about 3-4 days ago.... who knows where he might be now. I sent that young lieutenant of yours, the one who was waiting for me at the docks in Taranto, with that detachment. He might be able to tell us more when he comes back."

"I guess I'll have to go and ask the Maltese myself someday"
Foscolo snorted...

[Alwyn]

I enjoy a good rebellion story, and the tensions and uncertainty of this revolution came across well. At the same time, I wonder what form of government the Two Sicilities will adopt, and how nearby nations will react. If you're a republic, in my experience, this can make diplomacy difficult as there republics tend to be rare - although of course you're using a 1789 start date, so there are some powerful republics in existence.

[Bande Nere]

TY Alwyn! Had to rework how to connect the 2° to the 3° part as I could find zero inspiration for what the conversation with Foscolo was going to be so I just wrote the conversation at the docks instead. Hope it worked.

Yes, Viva la Revoluciòn! I will refrain from spoilers but there will be a bit of what you mention in part 4(couple days from now hopefully) and something unexpected.

[Bande Nere]

A New Dawn

While the king had effectively absconded, he had not been able to bring all of the state’s treasury with him. Taxation was immediately lowered to all classes, and the enthusiasm from the overwhelming majority of the populace to societal, agricultural and industrial reform had permitted the economy to revive surprisingly quickly.

The new republican government had been able to maintain the pre-existing commercial relations the old regime had, though while the alliance with Russia was strengthened by granting equal protections to the orthodox minorities in the Republic, the same thing could not be said about the Pope and the Northern Italian states.

The establishment of regular commercial routes to the Indies and Eastern Africa granted ever growing returns in the Republic’s treasury and commercial relations with the Maratha Confederacy had also proven to be a good source of goods and revenue.

A growing influx of Italian patriots from the north had also brought to a further strengthening of Republican and anti papist sentiments in the region, which was strongly favored by the new government. Furthermore, a number of these patriots had been in the service of northern Italian armies, and their experience was appreciated as flocks of young men wanted to join the new Republican Army.

These developments were seen ambivalently in the rest of the Courts of the peninsula. While some were somewhat relieved to be freed by their local republican agitators, pagans and traitors, others recognized the danger they could pose in the future, as their growing relevance in a government that shared their ideals might one day instigate and arm similar rebellions in their territories.

Elements of the Borbon regime were known to roam in those courts, counting their allies. Most of them had absconded north when the revolt had started and expected to return once the revolution had been crushed. When the RSEF had joined the revolutionaries rather than execute them, they realized it would take much longer than predicted to return home.

In Rome, the Borbon Kingdom still maintained an official embassy, and it was presumed that Flyin’ Ferdinand was now in Milan, under the protection of the Spanish Crown.

In 1799 two Sicilian fleets cross the strait of Gibraltar a few months apart from each other, both admirals making rapid stops in Tangiers to bring gifts and messages to Sultan Abdallah, First of His Name.

The very public refusal by the newborn Republic to Rome’s requests of building a church(at the Republic's expense) in Algeria first, and the alliance with Morocco later, had contributed to re-establish some harmony in the African provinces of the new Republic.

A path to integration in the new regime was approved by parliament in 1798, granting full citizenship at the completion of 5 years in the service of the Republic, through military service or employment in other governmental institutions. Service under the previous regime was to be counted as well. All newborns in the African provinces were to be granted Ius Soli citizenship rights.

While the Parliament in Napoli was to maintain centralized power, a modicum of autonomy was given to the districts of Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli with the establishment of Provincial Councils and a change of legal status to Provincia d’Oltre Mare(POM) for all three territories.

India

The captain of the Dutch fifth rate was perplexed. Encountering European ships on this route was common these days, most of them being trading ships with the occasional minor warship to protect them. But this was something else.

The Fleets passing through

A couple months earlier what appeared like a huge commercial fleet had revealed itself in a few powerful warships protecting a couple dozen transport ships. and from what he'd seen they were carrying at least two thousand soldiers. Now this new fleet had appeared, composed only of warships, but of a tonnage he still had to see in the Indies. Both fleets flew the same colors, the Tricolor of the Sicilian Republican Navy.

Thankfully, they had not seemed interested in Ceylon, but the Governor of the island had to be informed at once of these disturbing developments.

At the end of 1800, 3000 men, horses and artillery of the SEF, under command of General Foscolo, make landing a hundred kms east of Calcutta, and after 3 successive battles finally enter the city. In a campaign that had lasted barely 4 months they had lost almost 1600 men, slightly more than half the members of the expedition. The Moghuls had launched a suicide attack after the other against them, losing 8500 men in a desperate attempt to save the last stronghold of their once powerful empire. While being highly motivated and surprisingly well trained, their lack of artillery had doomed them. By the time the SEF had entered Calcutta, only the citizenry was left to oppose them.

The shelling of Mughal Troops during the First Battle of Bengal

Bengal is now the first province of Sicilian India

It is soon revealed that a secret alliance with the Maratha Confederacy had granted the Republic the somewhat obscure “right” to maintain control over any Moghul or rebel held territory in the Indian subcontinent it might be able to capture. While the diplomats of the Marathas had accepted that clause as of little relevance, given the logistics such an operation would entail, and the general assumption that the Moghuls would be crushed soon, while the profits that ties with such a young Nation in the heart of the Mediterranean could bring were extremely favorable for the Confederacy.

Elite Mughal soldiers. First Battle of Bengal

Once the Confederacy realized their mistake it was too late. The Sicilians had the right to be in Calcutta.

While some hawks in the Indian council wanted war declared on this new neighbor, cooler heads prevailed. The DuoSicilians had de facto eliminated their biggest rival and had neither the capabilities nor the interest to break the treaty and attempt further conquest. Furthermore, while Bengal was a major region and a source of great profit, the now certain presence of a major Sicilian fleet in the region, that could singlehandedly strangle the Confederacy’s economy by blocking the ports and capturing their trading ports, was an enemy they were yet unprepared to overpower.

Sicilian Hussars destroying the only cannon battery of the Mughals. Second Battle of Calcutta

In the end, the armies of the Confederacy started moving west, were they planned to overpower Afghanistan and their Persian allies.

Bengal was quickly organized into a POM of the Republic, on the model of the POMs of North Africa. Through funds to restore and reform the agricultural and industrial sectors, a university to mold the best minds of Bengal to the values and interests of the Republic, and a number of social events and buildings to befriend the population. After the shrewd violence of the short war, the SEF command and civilian administration favored a soft approach to dissent rather than violent repression.

As their own regime was born of a revolt against repression, and they had seen what had worked and what had not in Africa, this model would evolve and soon become standard practice for the Republic.



As this drop is shorter than the others, I will be uploading a few more before the end of the week.

[Bande Nere]

Back again as promised. With a little help from Flinn(TY!) I finally got all the screenshots uploaded in the previous and present updates.

Hope you enjoy!

The Devil's Coin

In march of 1801, a group of disguised men attacks parliament while it's deliberating. They use grenades and pistols, kill a dozen soldiers of the guard, 3 members of parliament and 9 civilians who die in the crossfire. As some of the MPs have pistols themselves, they return fire against the attackers.

Similar attacks will be reported across the Republic. Mainly towards governmental and military buildings, but even against some of the poorest neighborhoods in the region, local veteran clubs and unions.

The attacks are eventually over and most of the terrorists are killed, but upon interrogating the survivors, the investigators realize that while most of them are knuckle draggers normally employed by one or the other noble as bravi(enforcers), the ringleaders are monarchist and catholic sympathizers, two categories that had fiercely opposed the Revolution, the Republic and all it stood for.

It starts to become clear that such a plot, albeit unsuccessful, had received funding from someone with a very deep purse.

"What do you mean, 'we don't know who paid them', huh? Haven't you found all that money in their homes?"

"Sir, most of them are simply old coin of the Kingdom, the rest we can't even understand of which country they are supposed to be"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well sir. Signor Presidente... They are blank"


"The devil's coin!"


Half the room turned towards the source of those words.

"What? Who said that?"

"Forgive me sir, that was me..."

"Well speak up then soldier, what did you mean?"

"Well sir... I was a cleaning boy in a tavern in Roma before I moved here and joined up. Some of the girls would get paid with those. They said their clients called it the devil's coin..."

“Dear gods boy, who were these 'clients' of theirs, and let's be quick about it!"

"Swiss guards, sir."

Silence fell in the room. Someone hissed 'goddamn papists' in the back.

"And why the hell would the Pope pay his men with blank coins, he coins his own money after all..."

"Not if their mission was... Err... Not very Christian, sir. That's why they call them that way, sir"


While the whole cabinet erupted, Ottavio Cuda sank in his chair. He'd just been elected president a few months ago and now he faced royalist terror attacks, Ferdinand was still out there, and to make things worse, if this brothel kid turned Italian guard was right, he might have to declare war on the Pope, the Church, their northern allies and worst of all, Spain.

State of the Nation. 1801

"Alright, alright. Shut up everyone. We might be a democracy but I'm not going to war with anyone based solely on the words of a goddamn soldier... Even if it's against that bloated bible thumper in Rome. I need actual proof. Before we decide anything.

"Vavasso, stop salivating, see what can be done to get the army back from India as soon as possible. And get me that northern lieutenant of yours, what's his name..."

"Garibaldi sir?"

"That one. How's his experiment going?"

"Well sir, we might get somewhere after all"

And for the first time since they knew each other, Ottavio saw the legendary general chuckle.

Retribution

In January of 1802 the SEF landed in North Africa, finally relieving from service the two African regiments that had followed the SEF during its Berber campaign, joined the rebellion in 1797 and then bled out on the grassy lands of Bengal. They had made the Republic proud.

At the end of the following week the fleet reached Taranto, where the rest of the expedition disembarked. Most of the army was semi-demobilized, as the able bodies were still to serve 7 days a month in their local militia, as well as maintaining themselves in fighting order.

In april of 1802, probably as a reaction to the monarchist terror campaign, they were recalled into service and would now be joined by 3 new detachments, the Cacciatori, the light dragoons and Domenico Garibaldi's new experimental "offensive light infantry", as the Ligurian liked to call them.

After the horrendous losses suffered in the campaign against the Berbers first and against the Moghuls later, in which enemy skirmishers had killed hundreds while the regiments desperately tried to get into range, and the hussars themselves could barely manage half those numbers and risked getting shredded by their own artillery in almost every battle, the Republican Army had decided to invest their resources in specialized training for new units.

The Cacciatori consisted mainly of the best men the Briganti had to offer, armed with powerful long range muskets and excruciating training, they could theoretically pick off a cavalry charge before it reached them.

The light dragoons were initially composed of the cream of the Carabinieri, but were eventually reformed into a new independent cavalry unit. They were fast riders and even better shooters, ideal for contrasting lightly armed skirmishers and artillery positions.

The men trained by Garibaldi were something else.

Garibaldini

Armed with powerful muskets and sabers, they would carry the bare minimum in battle, trained both in regular fire drills as well as in skirmish, hand to hand combat and guerrilla tactics, and adopted from other corps what best could suit them.

Instead of cumbersome uniforms, these men wore red wool shirts that followed the style of factory workers, giving them much more agility in combat.

Once the army had been assembled in Taranto, General Foscolo ordered the men to board the transports.

As the ships left port, the junior officers were told what the mission was. As they had correctly assumed, this expedition was a consequence of the 1801 terror attacks. But rather unexpectedly, they were to land in Malta and capture whomever was left there of the ousted cabinet of King Ferdinand. The Maltese had protected the royalists and even sponsored the attacks, so it was assumed they would not give these men up easily.

Most of the fleet had been sent in advance to blockade the harbor and ensure the transports would not get sunk before they reached the island and were successful in doing so.

Once the army had landed, the ships were sent to reinforce the blockading fleet. They had barely joined it when the Maltese stationed at harbor tried to break the blockade.

While impressive for the navy of such a small island Nation, this fleet was no match against the fleet of the Republic, which at this point counted 4 third ranks and 3 fourth ranks, and had more guns per ship than any other fleet in the Mediterranean. Though most of the Republic’s sailors were inexperienced, and some of these ships had just been built, the fleet was able to fight in great coordination and quickly encircled and destroyed the Maltese, capturing a commercial ship in the process.

SR Navy surrounding the Maltese fleet

They were then attacked a second time by another small fleet with the same results. Not a single SRN ship was lost.

On the island, the Expedition had not been attacked, and while Foscolo knew about the attacks on the blockade, he still hoped to reach his objectives peacefully. The army deployed in front of the fortress on the outskirts of Valletta. He hoped the show of power would put the Maltese in a more amenable mood.

Once the troops were in position, Foscolo sent emissaries to request they surrender the men responsible for the attacks.

A fusillade from the ramparts killed them as they neared the fortifications.

Foscolo ordered the 4 howitzer batteries and the 2 cannon batteries to fire at will on the fortress.

First shelling of the fortress of Valletta


The Breach

An hour later, the walls were breached. A forward scout noticed a strong concentration of forces in the fortress square, and the howitzers were ordered forward to cover that area too.

Main concentration of Maltese Forces

2 hours later, the artillery stopped firing. The Maltese had stopped firing for a while now.

A battalion was quickly deployed to secure the breach. They managed to reach and secure it after a short exchange of fire. They then moved inside the fortress.
A few minutes later half the battalion was seen quickly leaving the fortress, signaling it had been secured and that it was safe to enter.

The only musket fire exchange of the entire battle

As Foscolo rode by them, he couldn’t help but notice the sickened and sully looks on these men. They had not suffered casualties as far as he could see, yet something had happened. Some of the younger men seemed intent in puking their intestines out.

[Alwyn]

I'm enjoying this, and I like the way that you explain the events leading up the attack on Malta.

I'm impressed by the amibition of the Sicilian Republic, sending expeditions to India and Africa. Despite being an emerging nation, it looks like Sicily has an effective navy as well as well-trained light dragoons and light infantry.

[Bande Nere]

I'm enjoying this, and I like the way that you explain the events leading up the attack on Malta.

I'm impressed by the amibition of the Sicilian Republic, sending expeditions to India and Africa. Despite being an emerging nation, it looks like Sicily has an effective navy as well as well-trained light dragoons and light infantry.

Pizza Strong and monopolizing half the Ivory market


TY Alwyn, my next update will be tomorrow, hope it will be of your liking!

I might have to explain why/how the economy's doing so well so quickly, have to think about how to write it.

[Bande Nere]

Cholera

Foscolo was trying his best not to vomit all he'd ever eaten in his current life and the previous.

The scene in front of him seemed a representation of Dante’s Inferno.

Hundreds of Maltese soldiers, or what was left of them, laid in a huge pile in the fortress square.

Burned corpses of horse, men and artillery alike laid one on top of each other, melting into each other...

The carnage. Fortress of La Valletta

He had to stop looking.

"Who did that?" He and the rest of the troops had entered the fortress only 15 minutes earlier through an opening in the wall, a few dozen soldiers had tried to stop them but had been quickly silenced by the regiment who climbed through the opening first. None of his men could have done such a thing in so little time...

"Us sir. Well the carcass shot from the howitzers, actually"

"By God... But why did they just stay there in the open? Couldn't they see their comrades burning next to them???"

"Bad information* sir. Someone told them howitzers are useless in a siege, They must have never gotten very far in the tech tree"

"Bad information... And hundreds of soldiers burned alive as a result."

"But at least they aren't ours" he finally muttered, more to himself than to others.

"Giuliani, one more thing."

"Yes sir!"

"When you compile the AAR, the total registered kills by our howitzer batteries must not be more than roughly a dozen each"

Official AAR from the Battle of Malta

"Sir?"

"Would you like the enemy finding out about this weapon and use it against us?"

"No sir, but..."

"But what, Giuliani?"

"How do we explain those burned bodies?"

"Cholera is a horrible thing. When we found their poor bodies, burning them was the only thing we could do to stop the disease. Make the men cover their faces and start digging. We are not finished yet."

Those are the bad news

Malta had been taken with the loss of less than a hundred men between sailors and soldiers, and had now forced the European powers to see the rising Republic in a new light. Malta had not been captured in centuries. She was, by all accounts, impregnable.

The combined arms of the Republic’s military had captured the island in less than 3 months, suffering little casualty.

For many in the capitals of Europe, this had been a greater shock than the capture of Bengal, as, aside from the English, the general consensus over the capabilities of the Moghul soldiers was less than stellar. But Malta had a strong standard European army, and the Sicilian losses had been a small fraction of the ones suffered by them in Bengal.

While Malta’s de facto annexation had not been part of the plan, both the civilian administration and the heads of the military concurred that this was for the best, as abandoning the island would either leave it in the hands of bandits and pirates or, even worse, be captured by potentially hostile forces and used to wreak the main commercial harbor of Siracusa.

Furthermore, the strategic location of Malta made it almost impossible for any future enemy to cross the Strait of Sicily undetected, while creating a safe corridor between the Peninsula and Tunisia.

Ottavio Cuda couldn’t figure out how Foscolo had been able to obtain such a quick success with so little loss of life, but had been assured by him through missives that these numbers were in fact true, and not mere propaganda. He didn’t go into detail over his successes, only suggesting that “external events” had done most of the job for him, and that further details would be soon explained in person.

And as promised, by December of that same year the SEF is back in Taranto, from which it starts marching to Napoli almost immediately.

Malta remains under direct military occupation, and its garrison reinforced by 2 African regiments. To further placate the local population, no taxes are to be imposed on them. For the moment.

“Carcass shot huh? Had you not been using it in Bengal already, Foscolo?”

“Yes Presidente, but those battles were pure chaos, The Mughals were very mobile and on open fields. With all that shooting it was difficult to know who had killed who. This time we had the time and security to fire at mostly immobile targets in a confined space, and know for a fact only one of the regiments fired, in this battle.”

“Very well then, it seems we have an actual secret weapon! I commend your commitment to secrecy. If our enemies discovered it we could get be in a lot of trouble.”

“And you, Garibaldi, how did your men do?”

“My men had a nice holyday in Malta, signor Presidente” Domenico was adamant. “apart from losing 7 of our number from some lucky shots of the Maltese artillery, we barely did anything but watch the shelling, like everyone else.”

“Very well then, but their vacation ends now. Vavasso, tell them.”

The old general cleared his throat and spoke.

“Well ladies and gentlemen, it appears that our suspicions were true. The Papists and the northern Courts had a hand in the attacks, what’s worse is that both Rome and Ferdinand have raised 3 armies under the flags of Venice, Savoia and Genova, and our republican friends in those Courts suspect these armies are preparing to move south soon. Even Spain seems to have had a hand in this.”

The room had gone immediately silent.

“Those are the bad news.”

“The good news are that they are not here yet, and that our numbers keep growing. Except for the Sardinian navy, their fleets are no match to our SRN, and before they can reach us they should march across all of Central Italy.”

“Your mission to Malta had the unspoken objective of scaring the Maltese into not joining our enemies when war inevitably starts in the peninsula. Conquering it was a happy accident that somewhat ensures no attacks will come from the south.”

“We know what their plan is, and we know they might implement it before the end of 1803. Our scouts haven’t been able to spot a single regiment outside of Roma’s fortress, and it would appear the majority of the Swiss guard are currently in Liguria, training the last of the 3 armies to be sent against us.. Before they are able to recall their men to Lazio or train more, we use the little time we have to do the unthinkable. We take Roma.”

Foscolo, Garibaldi and the other officers were astounded.

Roma. They were going to capture the Eternal City.

“But will one army be enough? Won’t everyone declare war on us?” asked one of the officers.

“We have enough regiments in reserve to quickly garrison and pacify Roma once we take it. If the Northern Courts and Spain join the Pope we should first secure the western provinces and then move our attention to Venezia and Sardegna, were the Savoias have relocated since Bonaparte captured Torino. The presence of an aggressive and strong foreign nation in northern Italy is an issue of great concern for us, we cannot let them take more Italian land. So far they have been decent comrades in the Revolution, but there’s no way we can give them an excuse to spill over from Piemonte.

Moreover, except for their foreign legions, barely any of them has seen any combat, and they don’t seem to believe in artillery as much as we do. We can presume that taking them one by one can be achieved, with a little help from my spies. Rather than train an entire second army, we should dedicate our resources to strengthen the garrisons, so that the main army is not tangled in any one province but rather ready to move quickly to the next target. We need garrisons strong enough to make the enemy think twice about attacking directly, which would give our couriers enough time to inform the army of a siege and move to break it.

My spies are doing their best to rally support for republican sentiment, and they are having some successes among their armed forces. The civilian unrest alone will make their rulers think twice before sending their armies across the border.

Remember, the dream of all Italians is to finally see us united once more. Who accomplishes that is of marginal interest for them. If we can achieve enough victories in the first months of the war, more and more people will rally to our cause.”

The silence in the room was eerie.

“So, any more questions?” asked Vavasso.

A collective mumble suggested they had a few, but no one said a word.

“Foscolo, rejoin the army, you are leaving at first light. Garibaldi, you too. Time to find out what your men are capable of.”

Garibaldi and Foscolo left together, one mumbling to the other.

“So I guess some Swiss guards are going to catch cholera in the near future, huh?”

“Quite a tragedy I must say. I hear it is very contagious” muttered Foscolo, still reflecting on the dangers ahead.

“I’ll tell the men to bring shovels.”



*

The "Cholera" episode was inspired by a post on a FB group, erroneously suggesting the uselessness of howitzers in sieges. As the episode shows, howitzers are in fact essential to conquer a fortress with little loss of life, if you know how to direct the shelling. It is also meant to give some sort of in story explanation on the clear inconsistency of actual kills Vs. registered kills by this specific artillery unit.

[mishkin]

Really cool mate.

[Bande Nere]

Thanks Mishkin! I'm just getting started!

[Kilo11]

Excited to find this, my dude! I don't have time to read the installments right now, but I love having some nice reading material for before I go to sleep! Proper feedback and thoughts will come once I've had the chance to really dig into the story, but from just glancing over the first installment, I have a good feeling about it!

[Bande Nere]

TY Kilo, hope you'll enjoy the read!

[Alwyn]

That's an impressively decisive victory on Malta - but will different tactics be needed to secure the next objective, which sounds even more ambitious? I look forward to finding out how Garibaldi and Foscolo will get on, in the next stage of the campaign.

[Bande Nere]

Thanks Alwyn! You might notice a small reference to your ongoing Skaven AAR in this chapter, I hope you'll enjoy it! The next chapter should be ready by next week.

The Renegade and the General

In march of 1803 the Republican Army crossed into Papal lands just as the Sicilian Republic’s ambassador gave the Declaration of War to his Roman counterpart. He was furious.

“You heathen fools! The Northern armies will descend on you and throw you into the sea. By the time we will be finished with your disgusting lot of heretics and thieves, you will be grateful to be surviving in a rat infested hovel in Tripoli!”

As expected, news of the invasion had quickly reached the Northern Italian states and Spain, which in accordance to their military alliance with the Vatican, immediately declared war on the Republic. Thankfully General Vavasso’s spies seemed to have done the miracle. No armies crossed the borders, though it was not immediately clear why.

As the Republican Army reached the outskirts of Roma, a Vatican Militia officer approached the advancing columns along with a dozen of his men.

“We surrender. I’m a captain in the Milizia Romana. Your general might want to hear what I have to say.”

Lazzaro Matarazzo was a member of the Roman middle class. 9 years earlier his older brother had died in Tripoli, while serving under the flag of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. He had traveled to the south, where he had met one of his brother’s last commanders, Alessandro Foscolo, who had been wounded in the same battle that took his brother’s life.

Although Foscolo could not recall his brother, “a stocky Roman sergeant of the ER”, they had made quick friends thanks to a shared antipathy for each one’s rulers.

Complicit a new pain medication from India* the doctor in charge of the military hospital had prescribed Foscolo, the two young men had spent a few evenings in a daze, plotting, giggling and shouting to the black sky their dreams of revolution and irredentism.

Now 30 and a captain in the city’s militia, he was to meet Foscolo again.

“Lazzaro, military life seems to suit you, after all...”

“What can I say my general, I’m a humble and trustworthy servant of our Holiness the Pope” sneered Lazzaro.

“Speaking of which. Me and my men have been waiting for your arrival for quite some years now. When we heard about Bengal some of us even thought the Republic had forsaken irredentism.”

“My vacation in Malta must have really pissed you off then.”

“My general, I don’t know if it was us or the Papists who were angrier about you taking that island. Although for contrasting reasons.”

“But you are here now, and if all goes well, my city shall soon be free of priests and their ilk.”

“We aren’t here to burn churches Lazzaro, I feel the need to remind you that.”

“Well - well, how about a small one?” They both laughed. But Foscolo was quick to reaffirm his order.

“No church burning, but tell me what we can expect at the fortress”

“I’ve sent the trusted men in my militia outside the city, after “receiving reports” of banditi in Toscana. There are few Swiss Guards left in Rome as most are in Genova. Apart from some heavy cavalry and a few regiments, almost all the fortress is manned by the worst elements of the militia and armed townsfolk. If your army is half as good as I heard, we shall be victorious.”


*

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

In 1885, doctor Raffaele Valieri, in charge of the Ospedale degli Incurabili of Napoli, would start administering to his patients experimental medications derived from the elaboration of flowers of Cannabis Indica, with surprisingly positive results. While the events of the AAR are set about 90 years earlier, I felt it would be an interesting particular to add to the storyline.

[Alwyn]

This sounds like a dangerous situation for the Sicilian Republic - facing the combined strength of the Papal States, Genoa, Sardinia and Venice, and also Spain, a major power. I wonder if there is any chance of the Sicilian Republic acquiring allies.