Chapter 13： Give up Ireland Cork

In this era of Europe, wars fought and the situation was chaotic. Of course, no chaos can match Italy. King Louis XII of France had completed the occupation of the Kingdom of Naples, and the class returned to the dynasty.

As in history, the French did not completely occupy the entire Kingdom of Naples, but jointly occupied the Kingdom of Naples with Spain. Among them, France occupied the northern half, and Spain occupied the southern part. The southern region is also the southernmost point of the Apennine Peninsula.

Originally, Louis XII was not willing to share the fruits of victory with the Spaniards. However, if they do not share their territory with the Spaniards, the Spaniards will support the confrontation between the Kingdom of Naples and France.

Know that Sicily, which belongs to the Kingdom of Aragon in Spain, is next to the Kingdom of Naples. The Spanish want to support Naples, not too simple. They can not only use Sicily as a base to support the Naples resistance, but also use Sicily as a base for exiles in the Kingdom of Naples. In any case, Spain is uneasy, and the French do n’t think better.

In desperation, Louis XII decided to compromise first, and gave the southern part of the Kingdom of Naples to Spain. According to the agreement, Spain gave up the asylum of the royal family of Naples. Eventually, King Frederick IV of Naples refused to protect him because of the Spaniards, leading him to be captured by the French and brought back to France, and was deposed of the title of King Naples. Louis XII used the name of a French earl to forcibly change to his kingdom of Naples. The southern part of Naples, which Spain acquired, is actually a poorer part of Naples. The most central area of ​​Naples is still north of the Romagna region centered on Naples.

In fact, both the French King Louis XII and the Spanish King Ferdinand II were born with ghosts of their own, which also laid the bane for the future of the two countries to compete for Naples.

Of course, it is precisely because the monarchs of the two countries turned over for the Kingdom of Naples. In the original history, it led to the emergence of the Spanish phalanx that has been rampant in Europe for 100 years. And because of the emergence of the Spanish phalanx, the Spaniards defeated the French army with knight advantage and swallowed the Kingdom of Naples.

However, in this time and space, because of the appearance of Marin, the Spanish phalanx appeared a few years earlier. Even more strange is that the Spanish phalanx is not called the Spanish phalanx in this time and space, but called the "Marin phalanx." What's more interesting is that Gonzalo de Cordoba, the original creator of the Spanish Phalanx, came to learn this "Marin Phalanx" from Marin ...

To tell the truth, Marin, the "Li Gui", met the genuine "Li Kui" Gonzalo. At the beginning, he was very guilty. But after a long time, Marin's face became thicker, and he pointed out the original creator Gonzalo ...

And Gonzalo de Cordova learned the "Marin Phalanx" from Marin, and he was also amazed by the power of the Phalanx.

To be honest, Marin's phalanx may be abused as a dog if it encounters the monstrous Mongolian bow cavalry. Therefore, Marin specially formed black shirt knights and lancers. Because, the biggest disadvantage of this phalanx is that it lacks offensive power and is more suitable for playing defense.

However, this is no problem for Spain. Because there are many light cavalry in Spain, they can completely deal with arms like the cavalry of the Mongolian cavalry. Moreover, the Spanish's opponent, the French, the main armament is the plate armor knight and the Swiss spearman. These two arms cannot exactly cause trouble for the Spanish phalanx. Therefore, Gonzalo de Cordova attached great importance to this phalanx and was authorized by Ferdinand II to form several such phalanxes, supplemented by a large number of hussars (melee cavalry). Even, Gonzalo de Cordoba has already planned, and after his "Marin Phalanx" is well-trained, he can turn his face with the French ...

……

On the French side, Louis XII also left Paris for a long time. Therefore, he can't wait to return to Paris to take control of North Korea. After all, the political power of the DPRK is not at ease in the hands of others for a long time.

Therefore, after leaving some troops stationed in the Kingdom of Naples and the Principality of Milan, Louis XII returned to Paris with half of his army.

And in the Principality of Milan, the situation has also changed. Originally, after the French left Milan and went to Naples, the Duchy of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, received the support of some Swiss mercenary leaders, received the Swiss mercenaries, and regained the Duchy of Milan.

In this time and space, because the Swiss and Maximilian I had a fight, they could not draw their troops to help Sforza. Therefore, Sforza has not been able to find enough mercenaries to counterattack Milan until now. Of course, this is not his misfortune, but his luck. Because the Swiss mercenary who helped him regain Milan in the past, after the French sent a large number of Swiss mercenaries to suppress, he even abandoned him and let him use the so-called "Swiss do not fight Swiss" Bai spent so much money, and finally ended up fleeing. Therefore, although he did not get a chance to counterattack, he did not waste money to hire Swiss.

After returning to Paris, Louis XII warmly received Count Edward and was willing to provide him with mercenaries to help him compete with Henry VII for the British throne.

In order to attract Count Edward, Louis XII also arranged for the daughter of a French nobleman, Anna, to prepare to marry Count Edward and get engaged. In this way, if Edward becomes King of England in the future, his wife is French ...

But Louis XII was willing to support Earl Edward with enough money to hire mercenaries, and was willing to introduce some French and Swiss mercenaries to him. However, Earl Edwards lacked a site and no place for the army.

And Louis XII was not happy to put Count Edward's army in France. Because it would bring danger to France. You know, mercenaries are not a good thing. Where is stationed, God knows what bad things they will do.

To fight Henry VII, Earl Edward needs to recruit at least 10,000 mercenaries. Wherever the 10,000-strong army is placed is a huge scourge and may endanger French security.

Therefore, Louis XII asked Count Edward to recruit all mercenaries and then take the last British stronghold on the mainland, Calais, and then use the Calais area as a springboard to attack Britain.

However, the United Kingdom was able to keep this place in Calais and not be taken away by France. Obviously, the defense here is doing very well. Calais Fortress is also a fortress difficult to overcome. Moreover, the Calais fortress is close to the sea, and the British can easily support the Calais fortress by sea. Therefore, the Calais region is very difficult to overcome. Even if there are 10,000 troops, it will have to pay a heavy price and take a long time to capture.

However, after all, mercenaries are people who fight for money, not the loyal men of Earl Edward. If the task is too difficult, they may not accept it, or they will not work. Especially in battles like the death of the Calais Fortress, few mercenaries are willing to participate. Because accepting such a task is thankless.

In fact, Louis XII also wanted to use Earl Edward to kill him and the British army in the fortress of Calais. When the two sides are exhausted, Louis XII may come out to pick peaches. Because the Calais Fortress is the last stronghold of Britain on the European continent. As long as this nail is removed, Britain will become a complete island nation and no longer have a springboard to intervene in continental Europe.

Earl Edward was obviously not a fool. He knew that Louis XII was trying to use him to storm the fortress of Calais. Earl Edward is different from Louis XII. Louis XII is the king of France. If he storms the Calais region, he will be strongly opposed by the local British.

And Earl Edward, the only male heir to the York dynasty, has many supporters in the UK. Letting him attack the Calais fortress will make the British defending the fortress have a complicated feeling, and may not necessarily resist. Good luck, there may be someone surrendering. However, if you are unlucky, it is difficult to say. Even if the Calais Fortress was won, Louis XII might suddenly add the Calais Fortress to French territory.

Therefore, it is not cost-effective for Edward to attack the Calais fortress. It is also a very bad choice. Therefore, Earl Edward was very depressed and found the secret representative of the North Sea Chamber of Commerce secretly established by Kohler to complain.

This secret representative of the Beihai Chamber of Commerce quickly sent the information back to East Friesland. Then, Kohler sent the information to Marin's desk who had just returned from Worms ...

"So, Count Edwards has no place to stand now, so the French King was forced to attack the Calais area as a foothold?" Marin asked after reading the information.

"Yes, Master, Count Edward has now recruited 5,000 mercenaries. Many of them are French and Swiss. Their combat effectiveness is not bad. They lack a foothold and are difficult to obtain supplies. They can only rely on France."

"This is a problem. Edward will not attack Calais. Louis XII will not squat him anymore, then it will be sad ..."

"Master, where do you think he should go?"

"Where should I go? It would be best to go to England, but that is too dangerous. After all, Edward was imprisoned for many years and lacked allies in England. If he landed in England, he would be defeated quickly."

"How about going to Ireland?" Kohler suggested.

"Ireland ... Well, it is a good idea. However, the forces on the island of Ireland are not weak ... 5000 people, just newly formed, and they are not skilled enough to cooperate with each other. If you play wild with those princes on the island of Ireland Fighting may have the upper hand. But if the enemy hides in the city and stubbornly resists, they will not be able to fight ... When the British side gets the news to send troops to attack, it will be over ... "

"Shall we lend Cork to him?" Kohler suggested.

Today, Cork, an important port in southern Ireland, is under the control of Marin. Marin was there, with 500 garrisons, and sent the North Sea Chamber of Commerce, where he bought wool from the Irish island and exported it to Flanders.

It's just that this business seems to be not too profitable. Of course, not low. On average, the Port of Cork can provide Malin with a tax of several thousand gold coins every year.

Because there are more than one Cork port on the island of Ireland. For example, Dublin under the direct control of England is an excellent port. Most of the goods in the northern and eastern parts of the island of Ireland go through Dublin Port.

Moreover, even in the southern region, Waterford, east of Cork, is an important port. Including Limerick and Galway on the west coast, both are export ports, and are in a competitive relationship with Cork.

The most important thing is that because Marin secretly occupied Cork, it was not good to openly raise a banner to solicit business. If the attention of Henry VII was caught and his identity was revealed, he might be attacked by the British army and might trigger a war between East Friesland and Britain. If you are silent, it is difficult to attract enough merchants. Therefore, Cork City has become a tasteless existence. It did not meet Marin's original expectations, but the profit was not small. Every year, Marin can also provide several thousand gold coins in taxes. You know, this tax is left after feeding 500 garrisons and paying the salaries of local administrators ~ www.novelhall.com ~ Marlins thought about it, and finally decided to give Cork to Earl Edward, let him have Habitat, lest it has no base like the early Liu Bei.

Edward has 5,000 men and horses, and then owns a strong city like Cork. Even if tens of thousands of British troops come to attack, they will not be able to attack. Unless 50,000 troops are dispatched, they are more confident. But does Henry VII have the money to hire 50,000 troops? Obviously not ... If Edward squeezes a few more Irish island states, it will be more perfect. By that time, Edward was based on the island of Ireland, and he and Henry VII were torn against each other, so the United Kingdom would not want peace. While the British heritage is strong, Marin is most afraid of Britain competing with itself for maritime interests. With Edward and Henry VII making troubles, Britain will be draining its finances in a continuing civil war and want to rise, it will be very difficult ...

Moreover, the dark-bellied Marin intends to serve as a "boxing referee" between Henry VII and Earl Edward in the future. Once one side shows strength, Marin will find ways to intervene, help the weak side, and suppress the strong side ... In short, it is to make the two sides evenly matched and fight you to death ... just like the original British did to France and Germany in history That's the way ... In this way, it will be difficult for Britain to rise ...

So, Marin ordered that the 500 defenders of Cork City be prepared to withdraw and hand over Cork City to Earl Edward at any time. However, retain the North Sea Chamber of Commerce's wool acquisition market in Cork City. Although the city ’s control and taxes were ceded, the North Sea Chamber of Commerce ’s acquisition of Irish wool in Cork City will not stop.

At the same time, Marin asked Kohler to send the secret representative of the North Sea Chamber of Commerce to quietly notify Count Edward, let him find a boat, and quietly pull the horses and men to Cork, based on Cork, to fight against the throne of Henry VII ...