The Rise of the European Emperor

When the news of the French attacking the fortress of Calais came, King Henry VII panicked. However, considering the fortress of Calais, Henry VII did not lose hope. Then, he sent his men to various places, trying to mobilize a few thousand more people and transport them by sea to the fortress of Calais to help resist the French attack.

However, unexpectedly, a few days later, Henry VII learned that there were only a few hundred British soldiers left and fled Calais by boat on the dock. The fortress of Calais naturally fell into the hands of the French.

Hearing this news, Henry VII vomited out a mouthful of old blood on the spot, and then passed out gloriously...

After waking up, Henry VII hurriedly ordered his ministers:

"Quick, quick! Instruct the navy to enter a state of full-scale preparation immediately. When you see the French fleet, be sure to sink it!"

"Your Majesty, what's the matter?" Admiral Johnson was a little puzzled.

"The French have mastered the way to easily break through the Oak City Gate. Now London is empty, and the Oak City Gate is again. If the French army is allowed to land across the sea and surround London, the United Kingdom will be destroyed!"

Johnson thought about it, and it really happened. So he suggested:

"How about we withdraw our troops in Ireland?"

"No, there is no need. This is a great opportunity to destroy Edward, which cannot be missed. Although the French army is strong, the premise is that the French fleet can beat the British fleet and control the English Channel. Otherwise, they will not be able to get through. . Therefore, I asked the British fleet to be fully prepared. As long as our fleet can control the strait, the French will not be able to cross the strait." Henry VII said firmly.

"Your Majesty is wise!" After speaking, Johnson quickly mobilized warships to guard the English Channel.

"Then, Your Majesty, what about the invasion of Scotland?" Henry VII's stepfather Thomas Stanley asked worriedly. After finding that Henry VII showed no sign of withdrawing, the 10,000-strong Scottish army had broken through Hadrian's Wall and began to sack some towns in northern England, targeting Newcastle.

"Scottish army..." Henry VII frowned... After a long time, he sighed and said:

"Let him go. There are also guards in the north of England, and Newcastle also has 1500 guards. I hope they can hold on..."

"Then don't care?"

"What? What do I do? The main force of the army has gone to Ireland. I finally caught Edward, how could I allow him to run away? As long as Edward is dead, my throne will be safe. As for the Scottish army, we will fight for a while. Don't come to London. Don't forget that there are so many counties in England, and every county has an army. Before Scotland came from town to town, the war in Ireland was over long ago. A few days ago, Richard wrote Now, they said they have arrived near Dublin and are ready to attack the city, and I don't know if they succeeded..."

"And what if the Scottish army comes to London?"

"Don't be afraid. The Scottish army is only 10,000 people. Even if it hits London, it will consume a lot of troops. When it comes to London, it will be good to have 8,000 troops left. There are also four or five thousand troops in London. They are all regular troops and can be completely resisted. When Richard's army comes back, it will just wipe out the Scottish army, and then go north to annex you Scotland!" Henry VII said fiercely.

"What if Scotland also bombarded the city gate with artillery? We may not be able to get reinforcements to return home..."

"This... I will send someone to Sussex to collect iron materials, and cast a few iron doors to replace the oak doors..."

Sussex is the center of iron smelting in England. There are many blacksmith shops here, and there is no shortage of iron materials. It is no problem to collect iron materials here and make dozens of large iron gates.

...

In fact, Marin is also struggling at this time. The information from the British side is being sent to him continuously. At this time, Marin suddenly realized that there is a chance to destroy Britain now...

What is the opportunity? That is, Marin can send a fleet to destroy the British fleet. As long as the British fleet is wiped out,

The French army can safely cross the sea, then encircle London and destroy England. At least, killing Henry VII is not a problem.

At present, the United Kingdom has a total of only 120 warships, most of which are merchant ships of the "Five-Port Alliance". Moreover, they are all classical Kirk sailboats with thin broadsides. The broadside of such a ship could not resist the attack of the artillery of the Marlin warships.

Now, there are more than 23 warships under Marin's command. Previously, there were 8 warships plus 15 Class 250 armed merchant ships. But over time, the 250-class armed merchant ships have increased to 25, and the warships have also increased to 10. That said, Marin now has 35 warships.

Of course, even with 35 warships, Marin's navy couldn't shake. why? Enough ships, enough guns, but not enough gunpowder...

Due to the large number and large caliber of artillery in naval warfare, the consumption of gunpowder is also amazing. A salvo of 20 18-pound guns on a battleship consumes 120 pounds of gunpowder on the spot. In naval battles, artillery fires on average every two minutes. If the gun is fired continuously for 30 rounds within an hour, the consumption of gunpowder will be 3600 pounds... If it is fired for one day, well, let's fire the gun for 5 hours, that is 18,000 pounds, which is equivalent to 8.16 tons of gunpowder. 10 warships cost 81.6 tons of gunpowder...

There are also those 25 armed merchant ships, the number of artillery is halved, but it also consumes dozens of tons of gunpowder...

In other words, after a sea battle, the consumption of gunpowder is hundreds of tons. What's so special, Marin felt once again - not enough gunpowder! Or to be more precise - there is not enough saltpeter...

I'm afraid, only by developing the saltpeter mine in Chile, can the naval warships fire casually...

As a result, Marin became more attentive to the development of Panama. As long as you have a firm foothold in Panama, you can go north to Mexico, go south to the Inca Empire in Peru, or go further south to dig for saltpeter in the northern desert of Chile...

However, the deserts of northern Chile are too dry to rain for hundreds of years. Probably, only in such a climate can saltpeter, which is soluble in water, be preserved. Otherwise, the saltpeter would have been dissolved by the rain and seeped into the ground...

It's true that Marin wants to mine saltpeter, but who is so adapted to the desert climate?

"By the way, the Arabs and Berbers in North Africa seem to be quite adapted to such a climate. Their homeland is also a dry desert... Maybe, they can go to Morocco to get some Berber slaves and take camels to northern Chile. Mining saltpeter in the desert..." Marin fell into deep thought...

Marin remembers that in a novel, he used Arabs to dig for saltpeter in the deserts of northern Chile. In that novel, there is so much saltpeter in the Chilean desert that the value is staggering. Therefore, confidentiality is required. Otherwise, it is known that there are hundreds of millions of tons of saltpeter randomly picked up on the ground, and it is estimated that they will be robbed by a group. Therefore, the great solution is to let the Chinese manage the Arabs to mine saltpeter in Chile. In this way, it is not easy to leak...

Marin quickly wrote down this method. Although it is not necessary to use the Chinese, it is necessary to use the most loyal subordinates. As for the mining of saltpeter in the desert, either Arabs or Berbers can do it...

In addition, in addition to saltpeter, Chile has many copper and silver mines. It seems that there is a silver mine near Santiago, the capital of Chile. Of course, when it comes to silver, who can compare with Peru and Mexico? For Marin, what he needs most is saltpeter from Chile. Having Chile's saltpeter means having the ability to fire infinitely...