The Rise of the European Emperor

After all, Marin did not make up his mind to destroy the British fleet, because once he destroyed the British fleet, only the French would be cheap. France was originally a landlubber. If it occupied the United Kingdom, it would master the "Five-Hong Kong Alliance". In this way, the French maritime shortcomings will be filled.

At that time, the whole of Europe will see an amphibious dual-material overlord. Even as a traveler, Marin will kneel down and call his father. So, Marin finally gave up the idea of ​​eliminating the British fleet.

Moreover, giving up destroying the British fleet would save Marin a lot of gunpowder. Because naval battles are too expensive. The last time there was a battle of Jutland, half of the gunpowder in Marin's inventory was directly consumed. If we go to destroy the British fleet this time, it is estimated that the gunpowder will be exhausted.

In fact, Marin didn't know that his decision today saved his life. Because the combined forces of Denmark, Saxony and Brandenburg are so huge, if Marin is not willing to use gunpowder, it is estimated that there is no hope of winning at all.

In France, due to the fiasco in the Italian battlefield, there was a lot of domestic complaints, and the prestige of Louis XII also plummeted. However, with the capture of the fortress of Calais, the whole of France is boiling.

You know, Britain is the sworn enemy of France, and caused huge trauma to France in the Hundred Years War. Moreover, the Hundred Years War between Britain and France has not ended for several decades, and many old people still remember the bloody storm of that year.

This time, Louis XII's army conquered the last stronghold of the British on the European continent, which made the French court and opposition rejoice. As for the fiasco to Spain in the Italian battlefield, everyone simply ignored it. Or, some people just made excuses for the failure of the French army - it was all caused by Italian mercenaries... If Louis XII hired 20,000 Italian mercenaries to hold him back, maybe the French army would still win...

Seeing that the prestige lost due to the defeat of the Italian War "slowly" rose back, Louis XII was extremely happy. As for Jean Paul, the greatest hero who captured the fortress of Calais, he was promoted to Baron of Calais by Louis XII and became the garrison commander of the fortress of Calais, in charge of preventing the counterattack of the British army.

Moreover, in order to prevent the British counterattack, Louis XII directly ordered to expel all the British in the Calais area, and demolished the pier of the Calais fortress, so that even if the British wanted to land, there was no pier.

In fact, Louis XII's capture of the fortress of Calais this time is indeed of great significance. Because, once the British lost the fortress of Calais, it was difficult to send troops to land in France to fight. With the fortress of Calais, the British could calmly transport tens of thousands of troops to the Continent in batches, and then go out of the fortress to attack France. And if the fortress of Calais is lost, it will be difficult for the British to land in the future. Because, there are not many ports in northern France. It does not mean that you can easily land on the coastline. This requires that the troop transport ship has a long bridge deep into the sea to dock. Otherwise, the troop carrier could easily run aground.

There are no towed power boats these days, and once the boat runs aground, it is very difficult to handle. Unless, as Marin did, the big ship had a small boat, and after approaching the shoreline, the soldiers landed in the small boat and waded to land.

This trick is a common login method in later generations, but it is not very popular in this era. Mainly, the people of this era have been oppressed by the Holy See's ideas for too long, and their minds have become rigid. And Marin, seeing the landing battles and landing exercises in later generations, all brought landing ships and landing craft. If you use the dock to log in, the ghost knows how long it will take to complete the landing. If the landing time is too long, it is easy to be attacked by the enemy midway. However, with the current IQ of the British, the French had conquered the fortress of Calais, and they really lacked a good landing method.

Originally, Louis XII also wanted to pursue the victory and attack the British mainland by the way. However, I did not expect that the reconnaissance ship had just approached the British mainland, and saw a hundred and dozens of warships approaching on the sea. So, the reconnaissance ship ran back and reported the news in fright.

At this time, in order to protect the security of the homeland, King Henry VII of the United Kingdom has mobilized all large merchant ships to participate in the defense of the strait. Therefore, the British warships reached as many as 160 at this time.

The number of warships along the northern coast of France is only fifty or sixty, which is difficult to compare.

In this era, except for the maritime hegemons such as Denmark, Portugal, and the Hanseatic League, few European countries had standing fleets. Generally, the navies of European countries are recruited from the people. Usually, those warships are ordinary civilian merchant ships.

For example, the United Kingdom, the main force of its fleet, is from the "Five-Port Alliance". Usually, the King of England does not set up a standing fleet, only one or two royal warships, which are built to be strong, so that they can be used as flagships in naval battles.

The same is true of France, which usually does not set up a standing fleet. If there is a need in wartime, they will go to several northern ports to collect merchant ships. Of course, the merchant ships on the Seine River in Paris were also recruited. Think about it, how big can a river boat on the Seine be?

As for fishing boats, don't even think about recruiting them for combat. Because, it's too small... After all, fishermen are all paupers, how can they have the money to build big fishing boats?

There is a lack of ports in northern France, only a few ports such as Brest and Caen, and ports such as Le Havre have not yet been established. Therefore, there are only a few dozen warships that can be recruited along the northern coast.

In fact, maritime shipping in the Mediterranean region of southern France is quite developed. Marseille, for example, is an important trading port on the Mediterranean. In the south, dozens of merchant ships can also be assembled as warships. The problem, however, was that the merchant ships of Marseille had to go through the Strait of Gibraltar controlled by the Spaniards to go to the northern coast. Will the Spaniards allow the French fleet to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar? Obviously impossible, the biggest possibility is to destroy it on the spot...

Because, at this time, Spain and Britain were still allies and in-laws. Princess Catherine of Spain, previously married to Henry VII's eldest son Arthur, and after Arthur's death, engaged again to marry Prince Henry (Henry VIII). So, at this time Spain and England are still in their honeymoon period. It was not until Henry VIII and Princess Catherine divorced that Spain and England were completely torn apart. But by then, Britain was already stronger. Because, during the reign of Henry VIII, he vigorously developed the navy and established a standing fleet, which made Britain officially begin to rise as a maritime power. At this time, the United Kingdom still needs to rely on the "Five-Port Alliance" for naval warfare.

In desperation, Louis XII had to give up the idea of ​​continuing to attack the British mainland. However, the coastal ports have strengthened their vigilance. Because, if Britain recovers, it will definitely retaliate against France. If nothing else, the fortress of Calais, the British are definitely not willing to give up. Abandoning the fortress of Calais means that Britain has given up its qualification to intervene in continental affairs.

Now, Louis XII can only pin his hopes on Earl Edward, hoping that he can defeat the British army of 20,000. In this way, Britain, whose vitality was severely damaged, would not be able to retaliate against France.

At this time in the UK, it was also a mess. The Scottish army of ten thousand galloped across the north of England, looting and looting. However, the United Kingdom could not gather troops to fight at this time, and could only wait quietly, waiting for the news from Ireland...