When the news of the French attack on the fortress of Calais came, King Henry VII of England panicked. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoHowever, thinking of the fortification of the fortress of Calais, Henry VII did not lose hope. He then sent his men to various places to mobilize a few thousand more men and transport them by sea to the fortress of Calais to help resist the French attack.

However, what was not expected was that a few days later, Henry VII learned that there were only a few hundred British troops left and fled Calais on ships on the docks. And the Calais fortress, naturally, fell into the hands of the French.

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

Upon awakening, Henry VII hurriedly instructed his ministers:

"Quick, quick! The Navy was instructed to immediately enter a state of full combat readiness. See the French fleet and be sure to sink it! ”

"Your Majesty, what's wrong?" Secretary of the Navy Johnson was a little puzzled.

"The French have mastered the way to easily break through the Oak Gate, and now London is empty, and it is the Oak Gate, if the French army is allowed to land across the sea and surround London, the British will be destroyed!"

Johnson thought about it, and that's really what happened. So, he advised:

"Shall we withdraw our troops in Ireland?"

"No, no. This is a great opportunity to eliminate Edward, and there is no room for failure. Although the French army is strong, the premise is that the French fleet can defeat the British fleet and control the English Channel. Otherwise, they won't be able to get by. That's why I asked the British fleet to be fully combat-ready. As long as our fleet can control the straits, the French will not be able to cross. Henry VII said firmly.

"Your Majesty is wise!" After saying that, Johnson hurriedly mobilized warships to guard the English Channel.

"Well, your majesty, what about the invasion of Scotland?" Henry VII's stepfather, Thomas Brown. Stanley asked worriedly. After discovering that Henry VII showed no signs of withdrawing his troops, the Scottish army of 10,000 had broken through Hadrian's Wall and began to sack some towns in the north of England, aiming for Newcastle.

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

"Let him be, there are guards in the north of England, and Newcastle also has 1,500 defenders. I hope they'll hold on......"

"Then it doesn't matter?"

"Tube? What do I do? The main force of the army went to Ireland. I finally caught Edward, how could I allow him to escape? As long as Edward is dead, my throne will be secure. As for the Scottish army, it will not be able to hit London for a while. Don't forget, there are so many counties in England, and every county has an army. Before Scotland fought city by city, the war on the Irish side was long over. A few days ago, Richard wrote that they had arrived near Dublin and were ready to attack the city, and I don't know if they had succeeded......"

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

"Don't be afraid, the Scottish army is only 10,000 people, and even if it hits London, it will consume a lot of soldiers and horses. By the time we get to London, it would be nice to have 8,000 people left. There were also four or five thousand soldiers and horses in the city of London, all of them were regular troops, and they could completely resist it. Wait until Richard's army returns, just in time to wipe out the Scottish army, and then go north to annex your Scotland! Henry VII said harshly.

"What if Scotland also bombarded the gates with artillery? We may not be able to make it back to the country......"

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

Sussex is the centre of ironsmithing in England, and there is no shortage of ironsmiths here. It's no problem to collect iron and make dozens of large iron gates here.

……

In fact, Marin was also struggling at this time. The British side of the country is getting a steady stream of information into their own hands. At this time, Marin suddenly realized that there was an opportunity to destroy Britain......

What chances? It was Marlin who could send a fleet and destroy the British fleet. As long as the British fleet was destroyed, the French army could cross the sea safely, and then surround London and destroy the British. At least, taking out Henry VII is not a problem.

At present, Britain has only 120 warships, most of which are still merchant ships of the "Five Ports Alliance". Moreover, they are all classic-style Kirk sailboats with thin side sides. The side of such a ship could not withstand the blows of the guns of the Marin warship.

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

Of course, even with 35 warships, Marin's navy could not shake. Why? There are enough ships, enough cannons, but not enough gunpowder......

Naval battles are also very staggering because of the large number of artillery pieces and large calibers. A salvo of 20 18-pound guns on a battleship consumed 120 pounds of gunpowder on the spot. In naval warfare, artillery fired an average of one fire every two minutes. If you fire 30 rounds in an hour, the consumption of gunpowder is 3,600 pounds...... If we fight for a day, well, let's fire a cannon for 5 hours, which is 18,000 pounds, equivalent to 8.16 tons of gunpowder. 10 warships, 81.6 tons of gunpowder......

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

In other words, after a sea battle, the consumption of gunpowder is hundreds of tons. Hell, Marlin felt it again—there wasn't enough gunpowder! Or more accurately - there is not enough saltpeter......

I'm afraid that only by developing the saltpeter mines in Chile can the naval warships open fire at will......

As a result, Marin became more concerned about the development of Panama. Once you have a foothold in Panama, you can go north to Mexico, south to the Inca Empire in Peru, or further south to the deserts of northern Chile to dig for saltpeter......

However, the desert in northern Chile is so arid that it doesn't rain for hundreds of years. Probably, only in such a climate can saltpeter, which is easily soluble in water, be preserved. Otherwise, the saltpeter would have been dissolved by the rainwater and seeped into the ground......

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

"By the way, the Arabs and the Berbers of North Africa seem to be quite adapted to this climate. Their homeland is also an arid desert...... Perhaps, we can go to Morocco to get some Berber slaves and take our camels to the desert of northern Chile to mine saltpeter...... "Marin pondered......

Marin remembers mentioning in a novel that Arabs were used to dig saltpeter in the desert of northern Chile. In that novel, it is said that there is too much saltpeter in the Chilean desert, and the value is amazing. Therefore, confidentiality is required. Otherwise, it is known that there are hundreds of millions of tons of saltpeter picked up on the ground, and it is estimated that it will be snatched by people in groups. Therefore, the big solution was to let the Chinese manage the Arabs to mine saltpeter in Chile. In this way, it is not easy to leak......

Marin hurriedly wrote down this method, although it was not necessary to use the Chinese, but it was necessary to use the most loyal subordinates. As for saltpeter mining in the desert, either Arabs or Berbers are allowed......

In addition, in addition to saltpeter, Chile also has a lot of 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 compares to Peru and Mexico? For Marin, what is most needed is Chilean saltpeter. Possession of Chilean saltpeter is equivalent to the ability to fire infinitely......