The Rise of the European Emperor

Chapter 348 Newcastle coal supply cut off

Although there was nothing to do with the 300,000 refugees, Henry VII and his ministers knew that refugees must not be allowed to arrive in London. Otherwise, the country will be in turmoil.

So, after entanglement, Henry VII ordered Sir Richard Ball's 18,000 troops to stop the southward withdrawal, and set up defense lines in the northern border areas of Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Norfolk County to prevent refugees from crossing the defense line and heading south. .

As for unaffected areas such as Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire north of the defense line, they were temporarily abandoned and allowed to flood in. As for Staffordshire and Cheshire to the west, refugees are also allowed to influx.

The intention of the English court was to keep the richest southeast region free from refugees. As for the central counties, let him go. And those nobles whose territories have been destroyed will also be compensated in the future. For example, Henry VII's stepfather, Thomas Stanley, Earl of Derbyshire, his Derbyshire fief was sacked by the Scottish army. Because of the deep hatred of Thomas Stanley's scheming, the Scottish army, under the direction of King James IV of Scotland, sacked Derbyshire thoroughly.

However, Derbyshire is Thomas Stanley's territory. Who is Thomas Stanley? That was Henry VII's stepfather. Moreover, Thomas Stanley was one of the most important contributors to Henry VII's ability to defeat Richard III to seize the throne.

If there were no Thomas Stanley and a few people as internal responders, or even defected before the battle, Richard III would not necessarily lose to Henry VII. Even, the chance of winning is much greater than Henry VII. After all, Henry VII only brought 2,000 French mercenaries to England, and only 5,000 men and horses later in the decisive battle.

It was also Richard III's carelessness, who only brought 10,000 horses to fight. But among the 10,000 Mali, 3,000 turned their backs (Thomas Stanley's younger brother William Stanley defected with 3,000 men, while Thomas Stanley did not move with 1,000 men), and the Earl of Northumberland's 2,000 men and horses did not move.

In other words, Richard III's army of 10,000 people actually had 3,000 people defecting, and another 3,000 people did not move...

In the end, only 4,000 troops led by Richard III, 5,000 troops led by Henry VII and 3,000 defectors led by William Stanley were left to fight. At this time, the strength ratio of the two sides changed from 2 to 1 to 1 to 2. Moreover, Richard III was still facing the enemy, and it was strange that he was undefeated.

But the current situation is very different. Richard III killed his nephew to usurp the throne, which angered the aristocracy and led to the betrayal of relatives.

What Earl Edward encountered was a united English court. Therefore, let alone bringing thousands of people to land, even bringing 10,000 troops to land, the possibility of failure is extremely high. Earl Edward also knew this, coupled with the lessons of fake Richard's failure, he did not send troops to England rashly, but first consolidated his territory in Ireland. When the rear is stable, we will send troops to England.

...

The core of England is the counties around London in the southeast. Also, the population is concentrated here. Therefore, both the court and the opposition in England understand that at this juncture, the most important thing is not to allow refugees to flood into London. Even, they cannot be allowed to destroy several counties around London. As for the several counties in the central part, they are enough to harm the refugees.

As for the life and death of the people in the central counties? Henry VII didn't care. The other nobles didn't care either. As for the nobles in the central counties, they would also get some compensation afterwards. In any case, there must be no common people's share. As for the labor force in the aristocratic realm? It's very simple, hire and compile from the surviving ordinary people... Anyway,

After the scourge of refugees, those ordinary people who survived will definitely have nothing, and if they don't work for the nobles, how can they survive?

In this way, Henry VII and his ministers made a cruel decision - let the 300,000 refugees harm the three counties of Lincoln, Nottingham and Leicester in the middle, and Cheshire and Stadt in the west. Ford County. The suffering of the people in the central counties was exchanged for the peace of the southern region.

Refugees crossing the border are no joke. Although European refugees don't have the idea of ​​"the princes and generals have a similar feeling" like the Chinese refugees, it is normal for thieves to emerge. At that time, the area where the thieves group is active will definitely be hard for the people.

Afterwards, all the English court had to do was to suppress the band of thieves, or simply win over the band of bandits and incorporate them into the army. As for the life and death of civilians, who cares?

...

However, this riot brought a huge trouble to Marin - that is, the coal supply in Newcastle was cut off...

After all, Newcastle was broken by the Scottish army and looted as a whole. Now, everyone in Newcastle is going to flee the famine, who still has the heart to dig coal?

However, the fuel for the cooking salt base and cement factory on Baltrum Island is mainly supplied by Newcastle...

As a result, the person in charge of Bartlem Island, which had cut off the coal supply, urgently reported to Prime Minister Geoffrey. Then, Jeffrey sent people to go south to ask Marin how to deal with...

"What's the matter, is it considered that I was 'missed in the passenger car'..." Ma Lin thought with a headache.

It is impossible to transfer coal from the Ruhr area in a short time, and buying coal in large quantities from the Ruhr area may attract the attention of those who are interested. After all, transporting coal from the Ruhr area has to pass through multiple countries, and it is difficult to be unobtrusive. Only buying coal from the harbour of Newcastle is stealthy enough.

So, now, Marin will have to intervene in England's affairs. At least, to meddle in the affairs of the Newcastle area.

Now, over Newcastle, the coal mines have basically stopped. Last time, Marin's coal carrier passed by. As a result, the locals did not accept money, only food. Even the food on board was looted by Newcastle people. If it hadn't been for the fishing nets on the boat, and the fishing nets on the return journey solved the food problem of the crew members, the crew members would have starved to death...

After thinking twice, Marin believes that Newcastle is too chaotic now. It is difficult to get coal there by normal means. Even if Marin sends people to transport food, it is easy to be violently robbed by the locals.

So, this time to send people to Newcastle, it may be necessary to send troops to the town. Otherwise, there is no way to stop the hungry Englishmen.

However, they cannot openly send troops there. Otherwise, it would be blatantly offending England.

Therefore, the best way is to send a group of soldiers in the name of the Chamber of Commerce to control the coal mines and docks in Newcastle in the name of mercenaries, and hire local people to help mine and transport coal with grain. It will then be transported to Baltrum Island.

To this end, Malin specially asked his subordinates to use the name of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, and mobilized 2,000 mercenaries, wearing French breastplates and helmets, holding long hairs, and went to the town of Newcastle. As for the firearm, it is unusable. In particular, the Marin phalanx cannot be discharged. Otherwise, no matter how stupid the English people are, they can guess that it was Marin's handwriting.

However, the Marin phalanx that uses arquebuses on a large scale cannot be used, and the scattered formations that use arquebuses on a small scale can still be used. The role of the musketeer is also mainly used to snipe the opponent's fierce generals and armorers. As long as the fierce general brother on the opposite side is killed, the others, the neat and uniform spear formation will definitely make them call their mother...

In this way, Marin gave the order to send 2,000 spearmen and 100 musketeers to Newcastle. Do not seek to control Newcastle, but only to control Newcastle's coal mines and terminals, to ensure the supply of coal... 8)

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