The Rise of the European Emperor

As Marin had guessed, when Coster and Maric returned to the robbers' camp to talk about their trip north to fight the Scottish army, the thieves got excited.

Most of them have a deep hatred with Scotland. Although the Scottish army did not directly slaughter the residents of the northern counties of England, but robbed all the food, it was equivalent to killing a lot of people in disguise. And these thieves are basically the relatives of the victims. In order to survive, they had to join the band of thieves. As long as there is a way to live, who is willing?

At first, the Scots robbed all the grain of the residents of the northern counties, killed all the livestock, and made bacon to take away. As a result, people from several northern counties suddenly became refugees, and they flocked to the south, hoping to go south to beg for food.

However, in order to prevent refugees from disrupting the most prosperous southeastern part of England, Henry VII sent a large army to set up defensive lines in the south of several central counties to prevent refugees from going south. In desperation, these people had no choice but to become robbers in order to survive, coupled with the cheating of Coster and Maric. Although he survived, his hatred for the Scots has not been forgotten.

Now, when Coster and Maric mentioned it, their unbearable memories suddenly came to mind. Thinking of the parents, wife and children who starved to death at home, many thieves couldn't help crying. But soon, they hid their sadness, and their faces became extremely hideous:

"The Scots must be paid in blood!"

"Yes, kill them!"

"We want revenge!"

...

Such a frenetic atmosphere immediately pervaded the camp...

Taking this opportunity, Coster and Maric announced the formation of a Volunteer Army, selecting 3,000 people to enter Newcastle to assist in the defense and resist the Scots.

As expected by Marin, many thieves whose families starved to death enthusiastically signed up. According to Marin, this kind of person is eager for revenge, and is most suitable for fighting the Scottish army at the top of the city. Because of hatred, they won't take a step back.

For those who are not very active in signing up, either their family members are dead, or they have no courage to work hard. If such a person goes to the top of the city, it may be a bad thing. However, since they are not so fanatical, they are quite suitable for harassment warfare. Because, these people will not go to hell with the Scottish army as easily as those fanatics. In harassment warfare, the important thing is to retreat with one blow. If you are eager for revenge, you will fight and eventually lead to a head-to-head confrontation. And this group of thieves, confronting the Scottish regular army in the wild, is tantamount to dying...

Therefore, as a liberal arts student who has studied psychology, Marin is quite accurate on this point.

In the end, Coster and Maric picked out 3300 thieves eager for revenge, led by Coster's confidant Lescott, and went to Newcastle to assist in the defense.

Of the remaining approximately 4,200 men, Coster left 300 men to protect the thousands of families who accompanied the army. The remaining 4,000 men were divided into two parts—the 900 horse thieves, led by Coster himself, to attack the rations of the Scottish army. And Maric, with the other 3,000 people, was responsible for harassing the Scots camp in batches in the middle of the night, so that the Scots could not sleep well...

After the division of labor, the three groups of people heading north went north together, preparing to deal with the Scots. Especially the thieves who are eager to take revenge with 3,300 lives, they exude murderous aura, and they can't wait to fly to Newcastle immediately and fight the enemy to the death...

...

At the same time, Marin also sent people north to inform Siwager to prepare for these friendly forces and to deliver supplies to these thieves through the Tyne.

In the era of cold weapons, there is no need for ammunition supplies. The main supplies are food and grass, and replacement of broken swords. Of course, the supply of bows and arrows is also a big one.

Marin has long regarded Newcastle as his home base in England, so he paid a lot of money to run it. At this time, in the city of Newcastle, the grain was piled up, and it was impossible to eat it all. After all, this is prepared to consume tens of thousands of troops.

However, this also creates a problem, and that is - Newcastle can't lose... If the Scots get the mountains of food in Newcastle,

They may have the guts to go south...

You know, although the Kingdom of Scotland is very large, most of the areas are highlands. In later generations, the Scottish Highlands were famous. The so-called Scottish Highland Infantry in the British army is actually the Scottish mountain people. Because there are many highlands and the plains are only a little south, the population of Scotland cannot be too large, because the arable land is not enough to feed too many people. Therefore, the Scots have always had the idea of ​​going south to invade England.

But unfortunately, because of the small number of people, in the age of cold weapons, Scotland's national strength has always been weaker than that of England in the south. Wanted to invade England, but couldn't beat it. Only in times of upheaval in England can Scotland go south to reap the benefits.

No, I heard that Edward gathered tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to fight with Henry VII. James IV felt that the opportunity came, and immediately led his army south.

However, the fodder for the army going south became the weakness of the Scottish army. why? As I said before, Scotland has more mountains and less plains, and there is not much arable land, and there is not enough natural food. Often when the army goes south, it takes a long time, even two or three years, to prepare the food and grass the army needs.

Of course, it doesn't have to be. The Scots could also get enough food and grass by plundering the English and supplying them on the spot. As for the life and death of the Englishmen who were robbed of their food, what did it matter to them?

But the problem is that the Scottish army plundered several counties in northern England the year before, completely destroying the agricultural production in the north of England, and till now the agriculture in several counties in the north of England has not recovered. Therefore, when going south at this time, don't try to grab the food the army needs, and can only rely on domestic transportation.

But if you take down Newcastle, where Marin is stockpiling grain, that's another story...

Newcastle's grain reserves are about 50 million pounds, which is enough for 100,000 people to eat for 16 months based on the normal standard of one pound per person per day.

The most important consumption of the army these days is food. If the Scottish army can grab so much food, then the supply will not be worrying at all. And then the Scottish Army loves to toss as much as they want in the North of England because they can afford to...

Fortunately, Marin asked Siwager to lead the army north to escort the refugees there. If the Scots accidentally took the fifty million pounds of food stored in Newcastle because of the lack of troops, Marin would definitely cry in the toilet.

Because this not only financed the Scottish army, but also cut off Marin's food supply. You know, he has tens of thousands of people in his hands, and they all count on Newcastle to ship grain over there. Otherwise, why did Marin choose the seaside route? Without him, it is only convenient for food transportation...

However, now that Newcastle is facing a war, it is difficult to safely transport food south. Fortunately, the Humber Valley is now under Marin's control. So, for the safety of the food route, Marin personally wrote a letter and ordered the ships from Newcastle to go south to the port town of Grimsby on the south bank of the Humber Estuary.

Moreover, Marin intends to mobilize a thousand troops from the mainland to guard the small port of Grimsby. After that, it will become the rear of the food supply for the Marin army.

Newcastle's grain must not be shipped because of the war. However, as long as the small port is guarded, Marin can send a ship back to Emden to bring food. In this way, the supply of food and grass for the army is solved...

You ask why not move the grain port to the south? There are English ships cruising to the south! Marin used the Danish pirates to contain the power of the English seas in the waters of Suffolk and Norfolk, making the British ships temporarily unable to cruise north. Otherwise, this small port in the north of Lincolnshire is not suitable for a food logistics base.

However, Marin could not guarantee that the English ships would go mad and just go north to the mouth of the Humber despite the pirates. Therefore, for safety, Marin decided to send 10 500-ton main battleships from the mainland to protect the safety of Grimsby port. At the same time, let the 250-level armed merchant ship take on the task of transporting food. The 250-level armed merchant ships also have the ability to bombard, and they are not afraid of being intercepted by the Kirk ship of the English Navy... In this way, the supply of food and grass for the army is completely safe...

At this time, the time has come to see the picture, and Marin doesn't need to be secretive anymore. Therefore, his battleship can also shine. If they were still secretive and accidentally cut off the food supply for the English navy, Marin's army would be starved to death. After all, that's 50,000 to 60,000 mouths...