The Rise of the European Emperor

If you want to wipe out the French fleet, the best way is to attack while it is halfway across the sea. . For more latest chapters visit: ШЩЩ.⑦⑨XS.сОМ. As a result, the French fleet was stuck in the middle of the English Channel, unable to advance or retreat. It takes a day to go forward or backward, and it's hard to make a choice.

Of course, in order to prevent the enemy fleet from fleeing back, Henry VII, after consulting with his ministers, felt that it would be better to bring the French fleet closer. If the French fleet were closer to the English side, the retreat would have been more difficult. Moreover, it is easy to be surrounded and wiped out.

But it's not good if it's too close to England's side. Because, the French may take the opportunity to forcibly land. Once the subsequent heavy cavalry and artillery of the French army converge with the vanguard on the shore, the opponent will become a whole and be difficult to deal with. After all, the English Army was not confident that it could defeat a full French army 100%.

Henry VII's large-scale mobilization this time, but mobilized 20,000 troops, which is equivalent to the number of French troops. The total number of the French ** team is also 20,000. If they fight each other, the French have the advantage of artillery, and the English army may not be able to win. Therefore, it is best to solve the heavy cavalry and artillery at the core of the French army at sea.

To completely solve the French fleet, it is necessary to surround the French fleet. But the French are not fools. If they see a large-scale British fleet outflanking, they may turn around and run away...

After 'fierce' discussions, Henry VII finally decided to let the 54 large ships rush out of Southampton Bay to intercept the French fleet that wanted to land, and entangle each other. Then, while the two sides were fighting fiercely, the main force rushed over from the Calais Strait, headed south first, then westward, cutting off the French fleet's retreat, and then taking advantage of the situation to encircle it...

However, the ministers agreed that the 54 English warships alone could not stop the French fleet. The French fleet has a total of 100 large ships as warships, and other small and medium-sized ships mainly load personnel, horses, artillery, food and other materials. Among them, medium-sized ships are the main force of transportation, and horses and artillery are basically on medium-sized ships. Small ships mainly transport infantry and food.

If only 54 large warships intercepted the French fleet of hundreds of ships, the French only needed 100 large ships to come and entangle the 54 large British ships. The rest of the small and medium-sized transport ships can go around and land directly.

In response to this issue, after discussion with Henry VII and Thomas Stanley and others, they decided to mobilize some small combat ships from the Thames estuary, and go through the Strait of Calais to go for reinforcements.

Whether it was the 54 large ships or the 20 or 30 small combat ships that Henry VII sent to reinforce, their mission was not to destroy the French fleet, but to hold the French to a dead end and make the French fleet in a dilemma.

The reason why Henry VII only sent some small boats for reinforcements was to give the French hope. 54 large ships, and other small ships,

Just to send a message to the French - as long as you work harder, you can still beat the other party...

In this way, the French fleet will not retreat. With confidence, the French main fleet will try to defeat the "non-main fleet" that seems to be put together. The transport fleet, on the other hand, will stop at the sea and continue to move forward after the battle is won.

However, it will take time for the French to eliminate this "mixed" fleet of 54 large ships and 20 or 30 small ships. In this way, the French fleet would be stranded in the English Channel. And the real main force of Henry VII's fleet has enough time to kill from the east and outflank the French fleet...

After formulating the tactics, Henry VII sent someone to convey the order. Some naval officers were also dispatched to the port of Southampton to take charge of the battle command. And in charge of commanding the 54 large ships in Southampton, it was Sir Wallace who had previously brought a group of fishing boats to pretend to pursue Kidd's fleet...

In fact, before Henry VII issued the final battle order, Sir Wallace set off from Plymouth Port to Southampton Bay with more than a dozen small warships that he had brought to Plymouth. At this time, he also did not care to send the dozen or so small and medium-sized warships to intercept the reconnaissance ships sent by France to the Irish Sea. Because Wallace knew that the battle in the middle of the English Channel was the most important. As long as the main French fleet sets off, the anomalies in the Irish Sea will be nothing if they are discovered...

...

On the French side, after the vanguard arrived at Hastings Harbour, Louis XII did not send a fleet immediately. Because he planned to give Hastings' vanguard time to build the Longbridge Pier. After all, the follow-up troops were not infantry, there were a lot of heavy cavalry and artillery, and they couldn't land in water.

In this way, the French delayed another three days before letting the second fleet set off. In addition to the two days for the fleet to return, it has been 5 days...

It was during these five days that the English fleet completed its final transfer. Today, Wallace and the dozen or so small warships under his command, as well as the twenty or thirty small warships that came to support from London, have all arrived at Southampton Bay.

The twenty or thirty small warships sent by Henry VII were naturally discovered by French scouts when they passed through the narrow Strait of Calais. The French commander of the fortress of Calais immediately sent someone to the French stronghold at the mouth of the Seine to report the incident to Louis XII.

But Louis XII didn't care. He thought that even if the big ships were moved away, the English would definitely leave some small warships behind. Therefore, for the twenty or thirty small warships passing through the Calais, Louis XII felt that it was normal. If England didn't react at all, he didn't feel normal. But what is the use of twenty or thirty small warships? In front of 100 large French warships, those 20 or 30 small warships are definitely delivering food...

As a result, Louis XII once again confidently boarded the high platform by the sea and gave a loud order to let the main force of the French army, the heavy cavalry and the horses, as well as the artillery and personnel of the artillery corps, as well as a large amount of baggage, begin to board the ship and set off. ...

Unlike the first batch of landings to test for 'sex', the French could afford to lose 5,000 infantry and 5,000 strong people. And now this 'wave' is not something that can be lost. Because most of the commanders, as well as the "elite" 8,000 heavy armored cavalry, and a large number of artillery, artillery and other weapons to restrain the English army, are all in this fleet. If this fleet is lost, France will not be able to recover for many years...

Louis XII did not board the ship because he was worried about the naval battle. After all, on land, if the battle is defeated, he, the king, still has a chance of being captured. If the king is captured, he will not be harmed, and he will only ask for a huge ransom. But if you are defeated in the middle of the sea, you may fall into the sea and feed the sharks, whether you are the king or not...

Out of fear of the sea, Louis XII stayed in Le Havre, a small fishing village at the mouth of the Seine, and watched the main fleet leave. In his place, commanding the French team was Valgeri, the earl of the palace. Although he is a court earl like Duarte, Valgeri has more military talents. Of course, in the ability to flatter him, he is a few blocks behind Earl Duarte. However, at a critical time, Louis XII decided to use the more capable Count Valgeri to command the army.

In order to weaken the local nobility, Louis XII preferred to use and appoint these newly promoted nobility without fiefs. Because, even if these nobles hold military power, it is difficult for them to threaten the royal family. And those local nobles are very powerful in their own right. If they were to be the commanders of the army, then Louis XII would not be able to sleep...

France is now a centralized country. Since it wants to centralize power, it naturally does not want big nobles with fiefs to sit on the throne. Therefore, reusing those court nobles who have no foundation is also an important means.

It's just that this general Valgeri, who was just promoted to earl, is unfortunate and will lead the French army to defeat... Of course, this old man still doesn't know that the French army is about to fail. Woolen cloth……