As expected, the garrison in Birmingham heard the news and found the silk purse in the gap in the fence where the bandits had entered.

After all, the wallet was lost near the exit, and the silk was so shiny. As soon as the garrison entered, it was easy to spot.

Originally, Baron Jorgen, the commander of the Birmingham garrison, had intended to hack the money bag, but after opening the money bag, he found two letters in French and immediately dismissed this idea.

Judging by the information received, it was supposed to be a gang of horse thieves who attacked the camp. However, the thief dropped his purse with two French letters, and some French coins—Baron Jörgen knew the matter. He was one of Henry VII's cronies and hurriedly handed over the money bag to Henry VII. Moreover, he added his own judgment - this gang of horse thieves, most likely secretly supported by the French, in order to cause trouble for England......

Baron Jorgen didn't know French, but Henry VII did. Before the rebellion, Henry VII had been wandering for a long time in the Duchy of Brittany in France, and he was no stranger to the French language.

When he opened the two letters, Henri VII found that the two letters, one of which was from home, were written by a Frenchwoman named Jeanne to her husband Henry, mainly with some words of care and reporting to the other party, that everything was fine at home......

And the second, which is very important, was written by the French Count of Durt, who was in charge of intelligence, to a man named Henry. Knights of Spayo. The contents of the letter made Henry VII tremble......

In this letter, the Earl of Doult stated that information had been received from London that the British had built a base camp in Warwickshire, probably to deal with bandits in the central counties. Therefore, the Count of Durt ordered this to be called Henry. The knights of Spayo, the horse bandits who led his Robin Hood thieves, took advantage of the fact that the British soldiers were busy with spring ploughing and had not yet assembled, and took the lead in destroying the British camp and burning the other side's grain and grass in order to disrupt its operation......

This passage clearly explains why the British camp was attacked. Of course, this is not the point, and it is not what scared Henry VII. The rest of the part scared Henry VII......

The letter goes on to say that His Majesty Louis, the great Lord of France, decided to take advantage of the civil strife in England to conquer the Kingdom of England and put an end to the century-old feud between France and England......

The specific plan was to send a fleet to raid the British fleet in the Irish Sea and help Edward land in England......

Of course, this was just a ploy - the real intention of the French was to take advantage of the conflict in the Irish Sea to attract most of England's ships and weaken the maritime defense of the English Channel......

When the British fleet was drawn away by the conflict at the Irish Sea, the French would suddenly launch a large-scale landing operation and break through London in one fell swoop......

As for Edward, his life or death had nothing to do with the French, but he could fully attract the attention of the British and the main forces......

And this one is called Henry. The knight of Spayo, his task is to take the horse bandits, find fault with the British army, and specifically attack its supply lines, which will weaken the combat effectiveness of the British army to a certain extent...... After all the attention of the British army was on Edward and the bandits in the center, the French launched a large-scale landing battle and took England in one fell swoop......

Even, in the letter, the "Count of Durt" triumphantly stated that they had used several fake chambers of commerce to deceive most of the large merchant ships and a large number of experienced sailors of the Five Ports Alliance into going to sea. As long as the French army attacked before the ships returned, the British would not be able to escape the doom......

……

Seeing this, Henry VII broke out in a cold sweat......

If there was only this letter, Henry VII might have doubted it. But Marin was so chicken thief that he used the wallet as a prop, and added some French silver coins and a letter home to make everything seem so plausible......

If it was only the second letter, Henry VII might have suspected that the enemy was trying to mislead him by conveying the wrong information. But with that letter home, it seemed more reasonable. Because no one will show his family letters to the enemy. Marin took advantage of the fixed thinking of Europeans in this era, and cleverly set up a bureau, using a wallet containing family letters and French silver coins, so that Henry VII initially dispelled his doubts......

Henry VII had already made up a complete storyline in his head - a man named Henry. The French knight of Spayo, under the command of the French intelligence chief Earl Durt, took advantage of the chaos in the north and central of England to come to the Sherwood Forest Song in Nottinghamshire, which was once the place where the grand thief Robin Hood operated...... And, it seems, they succeeded......

However, this group of thieves did not pose a mortal threat to England. The real threat was the use of the conflict at sea in Ireland and Edward's power to divert the main forces of the English navy to facilitate the crossing of the French army. And, of course, the fact that the French hired the big merchant ships of the Five Ports Alliance at a high price – these were the deadliest ......

After all, in the eyes of Henry VII, although Edward's army looked like a lot, its combat effectiveness was just like that. Even if they all crossed the sea, they would not be able to defeat the English army. The biggest threat to Britain is the French......

The French army was very strong, and after the Hundred Years' War, the British were no match for the French. Otherwise, the British crown would not have lost all of the French possessions except for the fortress of Calais.

Moreover, the French army was large enough to send tens of thousands of troops to fight the national war. Unlike Edward, there are about 10,000 people at most, and it is not a climate. And if the French army successfully landed in England, the British army would be miserable, and it was not impossible to destroy the country......

Previously, the British relied on civilian merchant ships and experienced sailors to successfully repel the invasions of the French again and again, and also invaded the northern coast of France mainly against the enemy (the French navy was not strong, in addition to not paying attention to itself, it was also related to the sweep of the British)......

Now, if the main naval force of the British army is drawn to the Irish Sea, the big ships of the Five Ports Alliance will be diverted...... It seems that the English Channel really can't stop the landing of the French......

Henry VII hurriedly sent people to the port of the Five Ports Alliance to verify, and at this time, the so-called branches of the Dutch and Italian chambers of commerce had been emptied under Marin's notice. The men sent by Henry VII found only some French supplies and paper in French......

After hearing that most of the merchant ships of the Five Ports Alliance had indeed been hired to sail at high prices, Henry VII had to believe the contents of the letter—the French were indeed going to make a move against England......

Therefore, Henry VII immediately sent a large number of speedboats to chase in the direction of Italy and the Baltic Sea, and ordered the merchant ships of the Five Ports Alliance to hurry back home to prepare for war in order to block the French invasion at sea.

In addition, Henry VII specially summoned the small ships and experienced sailors of the various ports to join them in the battle......

However, Henry VII was also a shrewd man. Knowing that the French might cross the English Channel, he guessed that the French would inevitably send ships to reconnoitre. So, instead of immediately giving the order for all the small boats to rush to the English Channel, he ordered them to wait for the order first in the harbors on the southeast and southwest coasts of England......

Then, Henry VII sent a lot of small fishing boats to reconnoiter the English Channel. As soon as the French reconnaissance ship was spotted, it was reported to the British court. And if the reconnaissance ships sent by the French turned back, Henry VII would immediately order all ships, large and small, to gather on the southern coast of England and await the arrival of the French fleet...... This time, Henry VII decided to annihilate the French fleet and teach the French a fatal lesson......

As everyone knows, all this happened to fall into Marin's calculations......

The reason why Marin came up with this letter was to specifically trap France. England wanted to annex it, but France was a greater threat. If the French were allowed to land in England, a major war was inevitable. The French may not have much to do with England across the sea, but they have a way to deal with the Grand Duchy of the North Sea, which is also on the European continent. This is evidenced by the tragic end of the Netherlands in the original history......

In the Anglo-Dutch War, Britain finally won the Dutch ...... by uniting with France and ending the Dutch homeland on land

Therefore, it is best to drive the British to engage the French......

Originally, Marlin had intended to deliver the news through the English spy in the French royal palace. However, since Koster went to attack the British camp in advance, it is better to leave it to Koster to do it. After all, the more prepared the British were, the better prepared they were, and the higher the success rate of defeating the French fleet......

Moreover, when England knew the so-called "truth" that "the battle at sea of Ireland was only to attract the attention of the main forces of the English navy", it would not have sent ships desperately to stop Edward......

After all, in the letter, the French considered Edward to be just a pawn, a pawn of the English army that attracted Henry VII......

Moreover, Henry VII also had an idea - since Edward had no way to take him from hiding on the island of Ireland, why not put Edward on England and annihilate him in one fell swoop? You know, that's how that fake Richard ended......

Henry VII thought that as long as he resisted the landing of the French, then he would not smile when he went back and cleaned up Edward's money? It's just that he is hiding on the island of Ireland, and it is simply self-defeating to dare to return to England mainland......

And Marin's half-truths and half-truths were intended to allow Henry VII to focus his attention on the French. Then, while blocking Edward's landing, the water was deliberately released......

In this way, if the French want to land at that time, they will directly hit the iron plate - the fully mobilized English Navy is still very strong......

It is precisely because the content of this information is half-true and half-false, and the true part can be confirmed. Therefore, Henry VII believed the authenticity of this information. Otherwise, the scheming Henry VII would not be so easy to deceive......

It is true that the French wanted to invade England (which can also be verified by British spies in France). It is also true that the big ships of the Five Ports Alliance were deceived overseas (Marin just threw the pot of the liars to the French)......

Even, in order to trap the French, Marin did not hesitate to reveal the news that he was going to launch a "feint" on the Irish Sea to Henry VII. Based on Marin's understanding of the old fox Henry VII, it is very likely that the other party will "plan the plan" and let Edward land in England. That's because Henry VII didn't know that he had quietly landed an army of 20,000 troops in Newcastle......

In his previous life, Marin had heard of such a saying - a lie of "seven points true, three points false" is the easiest to deceive. The false information provided by Marin to Henry VII, although it did not reach the level of "seven points true", was half true. And in 16th-century Europe, when scheming was not prevalent, this kind of half-truths and half-truths were enough to fool people, even those as scheming as Henry VII...... Because, limited by the background of the times, he has never seen a clever deception...... A half-truth and half-truth was enough to make Henry VII into the pit......