Five days after the Battle of Lodi, Napoleon arrived in Milan. The local Italians living there stood on the side of the streets, waving their hands as they cheered and whistled.
"They are cheering for us…" Murat observed. "Why is that?"
"It's simple," Napoleon replied with a slight smile playing on his lips, as he rode alongside Murat, his trusted cavalry commander. "They are cheering because they see in us the heralds of change, the agents of liberation."
As they continued their journey through the jubilant crowds, Napoleon gestured toward the people lining the streets.
"These Italians have long yearned for freedom from foreign oppression," he explained. "For centuries, they have been subject to the rule of foreign powers, their aspirations for self-determination suppressed."
