London, England, is shrouded in gloomy haze in winter. Affected by the warm North Atlantic Current, although the temperature here is higher, the temperature is not too cold. Even in winter, the temperature is still okay, but it is rainy.
weather.
The rain in winter always makes people dislike it very much, not to mention that London at this time is very dirty and messy, the smell is extremely fishy everywhere, and the dirty things can be seen everywhere on the streets, which is disgusting.
The dark influence of the Middle Ages has just begun to recede, and the English people who still believe that bathing will make them sick are the same as those on the European continent in this regard.
"Damn the weather!"
People who are in a hurry can't help but complain about the weather.
But what really worries us is not the weather, but the bad news one after another.
The powerful fleets formed by England and France encountered the fleets of the Ming Dynasty and Spain in the Bay of Biscay. After a day of bloody battle between the two sides, the British and French forces finally ended in a disastrous defeat.
This fleet concentrated almost all the maritime power of Britain and France. For this reason, not a single large ship was left in the London Port, leaving only a few small ships alone telling the hustle and bustle of the past.
The pirates and sailors who once filled the streets and taverns of London have disappeared. While Londoners feel peaceful, it also makes people feel as if something is missing.
The Ming fleet and the Spanish fleet were marching from south to north. Wherever they went, the ports and cities along the French coast were mercilessly bombarded by them. The British ports of Plymouth and Dover were also mercilessly bombarded by them.
blow.
Wherever the Ming Dynasty fleet and the Spanish fleet went, they were like locusts passing through. They sank ships whenever they saw them, attacked ports and cities when they saw them, and headed towards London, the core of England, with great force.
"Da da~"
From time to time, you can see some nobles hurriedly leaving London in carriages on the streets, preparing to go to other places to avoid artillery fire.
As for ordinary people, they are still worried about tomorrow's bread. During this period, England not only failed to unify the British Isles, but even completely lost its territory in France during the Hundred Years' War decades ago.
The bottom ones were driven out of the European continent by the French.
At the beginning of the colonial era and the Age of Discovery, the first ones were the Spanish and the Portuguese. At this time, the British were still interested in the unprofitable business of piracy, specializing in robbing the Spanish and Portuguese, and did not think about going overseas.
Occupying colonies and the like.
Tower of London (The Tower of London is not a tower as everyone imagines. It is actually a royal palace, consisting of a series of palaces and buildings. It is one of the most important palaces of the British royal family. Many British kings lived in it in history.
(Here) In the palace, Henry VII was looking sad.
The news of the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Biscay has come back. The Ming Dynasty fleet and the Spanish fleet are marching towards London. Seeing that the enemy is about to kill him, he seems to have no way.
Henry VII was a very accomplished monarch. He relied on the religious reform to establish and consolidate the royal power. He replaced the Senate, which was controlled by the nobility, with the Privy Council. At the same time, he expanded the power of local county magistrates to weaken the great nobles of England.
At the same time, in terms of finance, Henry VII has been committed to recovering the royal lands once occupied by the nobles and reducing dependence on Parliament. During his reign, he implemented financial institutions and financial methods to completely break the medieval financial system and get rid of the control of Parliament.
.
At the same time, maritime trade was vigorously developed and tariff revenue was greatly increased. All of this strengthened Henry VII's royal power.
But in terms of military affairs, Henry VII disbanded the private armed forces of the feudal nobles and firmly took the armed forces into his own hands. However, due to limited finances and the inability to form a standing army, he has always tended to use foreign mercenaries.
army, and at the same time recruit refugees, unemployed people, vagabonds, dilapidated knights, etc. to serve for themselves.
Supporting pirates is one of his series of operations.
If it were in the past, these operations would naturally have no problems at all. They could not only attack the power of the traditional feudal nobles, but also establish an armed force that can implement the king's will. It also created jobs for many unemployed ruffians and so on.
Chance.
However, now, facing the approaching Ming fleet and Spanish fleet, he seemed helpless.
There was no standing army, the private armies of the feudal nobles were disbanded, and mercenaries were sent out to fight but were lost in the Battle of Biscay. At this time, the entire military strength in London was less than 3,000 people.
According to the news, the Ming Dynasty had 20 warships with more than 4,000 people, and the Spanish matadors, who hated the British, came with more than 80 warships, tens of thousands of people, and more.
Threatened to massacre London.
One can imagine Henry VII's mood at this moment. His hair turned gray with worry. After hearing the news, Scotland in the north seemed to be ready to attack England again, completely ignoring that his father-in-law was in the most difficult situation.
time.
"Alas~"
"Damn Spanish traitors!"
Thinking of what was bothering him, Henry VII couldn't help but curse.
"Everyone, let's talk about it, what should we do?"
Henry VII looked at the many ministers and nobles around him. To be honest, he didn't want to use the power of these nobles, because these nobles were always thinking about limiting the king's power, whether it was parliament, finance, land, etc.
Many aspects.
A few years ago, many old nobles even thought of using the remaining power of the York Dynasty to overthrow their own rule, but in the end they were successfully annihilated.
"Your Majesty, at present, the only option is to negotiate peace with them. If the fight continues, our losses will only be more severe."
"But now we are not able to negotiate a peace if we want to. The Ming Dynasty and the Spaniards will not miss the opportunity to humiliate us."
"Then we will fight them to the end. As long as His Majesty the King allows us to form private armed forces, we will soon be able to form a huge army to defend London."
"Why are you going to fight with them?"
"Can a temporary ragtag group of people be defeated by the Ming Dynasty and the Spaniards?"
"Can His Majesty's mercenaries do it?"
"Count on those German barbarians?"
"What's more, the enemy is almost reaching the Thames River. At this time, it's already too late."
"The king should not have disbanded the private armed forces of the nobles. Now, the coalition forces of the Spaniards and the Ming Dynasties are coming soon. The Scots are in the north and are ready to move. Without the armed forces of our nobles and just relying on mercenaries, Scotland will be in danger.
Already."
"..."
As soon as Henry VII finished speaking, the nobles who had long been dissatisfied with Henry VII began to take offense, accusing Henry VII of not disbanding the private armed forces of the nobles in the first place. Now that it is better, the disadvantages of not having a standing army have been reflected. They
It turns out that they don't even have the strength to defend London.
The British king and nobles were quarreling in the Tower of London Palace. On the Thames River, a gust of sea breeze blew away the fog on the sea, and a huge fleet revealed itself.
The one who rushed to the front was the Spanish bullfighter. The bullfighter hated the English pirates and threatened to make the English look good. This time he would never miss the opportunity to humiliate the English.
Behind the Spanish matador are twenty Ming warships.
"Tsk, tsk, this is London~"
"I don't understand why Mr. Liu Jin and Mr. Liu wrote to me that they asked me to bombard London severely. If possible, it would be best to loot London severely."
"What's there to loot in such a shabby place?"
Tian Erniu stood on the deck and looked at the London in front of him with a telescope. It was not big, far inferior to Tianjin in the Ming Dynasty, and even inferior to places like Songhu and Nanjing. But some people didn't understand why Liu Jin wanted to
He bombarded and sacked London fiercely.
In Tian Erniu's view, such a place has no great value at all.
"Whatever~"
"Just follow the orders from above."
Jiang Liang beside him shook his head indifferently. After the victory in the Battle of Biscay, the maritime power of Britain and France was weakened to the extreme. At this time, London was like a girl without clothes, not letting herself have the final say.
"Well, give me the order to bomb London hard and knock down all the buildings you can see!"
Tian Erniu nodded solemnly, he still had to listen to Liu Jin's orders. Even though this place was thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty, he still had to listen.
"Dong~dong~"
Soon, as Tian Erniu's order was issued, both Ming warships and Spanish warships on the Thames began to roar.
With billowing smoke filling the air, cannonballs flew towards London on both sides of the Thames River.
"Boom~"
Dense shells roared in the sky, and then hit the buildings one after another.
Suddenly, the whole of London was in complete chaos. The panicked crowds, the whistling of artillery shells, and the sound of buildings being bombarded completely broke the winter haze and continued to echo throughout London.
In the Palace of the Tower of London, Henry VII looked at the crowd who were still arguing, and his face became even more ugly. These nobles seemed to be rebelling, and wanted to take the opportunity to restore their private armed forces and at the same time, more
He threatened to strengthen the power of Parliament, abolish the Privy Council, etc.
However, soon someone hurried over to report the news, and soon bursts of rumbling shelling began.
