Britain sent troops, not something that could be done in a few days. www.biquge.info After all, Britain in this era did not have a standing army. Therefore, if you want to send troops, you must first gather all the troops.

Although there were thousands of soldiers in London, it was impossible for Henry VII to use this army. After all, London is the heart of England. If all the troops were sent out and the French army raided London, then Henry VII would be finished.

Therefore, this time, Henry VII used the soldiers and horses of the nobles from all over the country who were recruited from all over the country, and the 7,000 longbowmen. The longbowmen of England were a very special class, they were not nobles, but they enjoyed certain privileges, belonging to the warrior class between the nobility and the commoners.

At present, muskets were just emerging, and with the exception of Marin's army, the Spanish army, and the Teutonic army, as well as the supported Swedish army and the West Frisian Resistance Army (most of which were killed at the time of Leeuwarden's break), armies of other countries did not have a history of large-scale use of muskets.

Therefore, in this era, the English longbowmen were still the largest and strongest long-range firepower in Europe. Of course, due to the strengthening of plate armor technology, the lethality of English longbowmen against knights was decreasing. However, it is terrifying to fight those infantry who have little armor.

Even the famous Swiss phalanx had to kneel if it met the English longbowmen. Even if it was Marin's Marin phalanx, when it met the English longbowmen, it would not be pleased.

After all, whether it is a Swiss mercenary or a Spanish phalanx in Marin, only veterans of the first three rows will wear chest armor and helmets. The fighters in the back row basically have no armor. As long as the English longbowmen threw and killed and wounded the infantry in the back row in large numbers, it was a piece of cake.

The only advantage of musketeers is that the cost of training is very low. For example, the spearmen and musketeers under Marin's command were trained for months before they could be pulled into battle. Even if you don't have it, you can recruit and train again.

But the English longbowmen were different, they all started to practice archery from a young age, and they practiced for more than ten years. The spine of many English longbowmen, who often drew their bows during their youth, grew out of shape.

Kill a musketeer, and it's a big deal to recruit or capture a farmer to train for a few weeks. But if a longbowman dies, the loss will be great. Because, it takes more than ten years of training for longbowmen to be able to go out of the division. This is very similar to that of a knight. The training of knights also takes more than ten years. Therefore, if you fight for attrition, the loss of longbowmen cannot be compensated.

And this was an important reason why England finally decided to abolish the longbowmen class. England abolished the longbowmen system around 1596, in the latter part of Elizabeth I. At that time, with the wars of religion and the great phalanx of Spain, muskets had gradually become the mainstream of European armies. The bow and arrow slowly withdrew from the stage of history.

In addition to the excessive cost of training and the loss of money, the plate armor is becoming more and more powerful, making it difficult for longbowmen to shoot through, which is also one of the important reasons why longbowmen are eliminated.

Although, at a very close distance, the longbow can still shoot through the plate armor with a single burst. But what chance is there on the battlefield for a longbowman to leisurely aim at the Plate Knight at a close distance? When the Plate Knight gets close to the longbowmen, it means that the longbowmen will be slaughtered. As a result, longbowmen can only strike at the Plate Knights from a distance by projectiles. However, in the case of technological advances in plate armor, long-range strikes are ineffective.

However, muskets are different. Even if the distance is hundreds of meters, as long as the lead bullet hits, the huge impact can still hurt the plate knight. In such a situation, it is natural for countries to prefer muskets that restrain plate armor to longbows that are restrained by plate armor. Moreover, the cost of training longbowmen is too high and the time is too long.

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Of course, because of the high cost of plate armor, and most of the nobles in this era were poor. Therefore, it is difficult for you to find an army with a large number of plate armor.

Speaking of which, the largest number of plate knights is probably France. In fact, the French got so many plate knights, but they were actually scared by the British. Later, the French plate armor became stronger and stronger, and it could withstand the longbow, and with the use of artillery, it gradually won the Hundred Years' War between England and France. It's not like at the beginning, it was basically shot like a dog by the British.

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Henry VII ordered the whole country to recruit troops, and the movement was naturally very large, and it was impossible to hide it if you wanted to. And the news that the seven thousand longbowmen were recruited was naturally heard by the intelligence officers of the London branch of the North Sea Chamber of Commerce. Then, this information was quickly sent to the city of Münster......

After Ma Lin received the information from the secret agents of the Beihai Chamber of Commerce, after deducing it in his heart, he found that the existence of those longbowmen was really powerful.

Because, those longbowmen can suppress the defenders at the head of the city with dense firepower by projectiles. Except for those soldiers who wore plate armor, other ordinary soldiers could be overwhelmed by the rain of arrows from the English longbowmen. Whoever dares to show his head will be easily injured by the rain of arrows.

However, Marlin supported Count Edward's 2,000 arquebuses, which could be used to shoot at the longbowmen. However, the British army had 7,000 longbowmen, and Count Edward could only come out with 2000 musketeers. If it was fired, the result would have been the first of the small Earl Edward's musketeers.

After all, the English longbowmen were not only numerous. Moreover, the speed of archery is faster than that of muskets. Once the musket is loaded and fired in one shot, the archers may shoot more than three arrows.

Therefore, the only way was for the musketeers to wear plate armor and helmets with masks, plus the cover of the city walls, so that they could shoot at the longbowmen. Otherwise, the 2000 musketeers without armor were definitely delivering food to the English longbowmen.

However, Count Edward's musketeers, because of the cover of the city walls, definitely did not need armor for the lower half of their bodies. Because, there are battlements in the way. But the upper body and head definitely need tight armor to ensure that they are not injured by bows and arrows.

Therefore, Marlin intends to support Count Edward with 2,000 more half-body plate armors and equip the musketeers, so that those musketeers can shoot at the English longbowmen, and can protect themselves from being damaged by the English longbowmen.

However, in a short period of time, Marin can't get 2,000 pairs of half-body plate armor. Moreover, it should be noted that in order to hide his identity, Marin could not take out the improvised armor in the style of the East Friesian army and give it to Count Edward. Otherwise, it will be exposed......

Suddenly, Marin remembered the plate armor captured from the army of the former French king Charles VIII......

Marin ambushed Charles VIII's army that year and captured 7,000 sets of plate armor and 5,000 sets of horse armor. But in the end, Marin greedily inked 1,000 sets of plate armor and 1,000 sets of horse armor down.

However, these plate armor and horse armor are all French. Now, Maximilian I has developed a stronger Maximilian armor, and Marin also plans to replace all the plate armor in the army with more advanced Maximilian armor, eliminating the 1,000 sets of French plate armor.

So, Marin decided to give the upper body of these 1,000 sets of French plate armor to Count Edward. As for the 1,000 sets that were still missing, Marin decided to buy a batch of second-hand plate armor, which was cheap and enough to withstand bows and arrows......

In this way, Marin arranged for Kohler, in the name of the North Sea Chamber of Commerce, to buy second-hand plate armor in the Netherlands and France. At the same time, Marin also collected the original 1,000 sets of plate armor in the army. Of course, those officers and heavy cavalry who turned in French plate armor could be compensated by a set of the latest Maximilian armor. Moreover, they can also keep the trousers of the French plate armor.

With half a set of old-fashioned French plate armor and exchanging advanced Maximilian armor, these people are naturally eager to do it. The prestige of Maximilian armor has spread to East Friesland. Because of the new convex structure, the protection of Maximilian's armor is even improved, especially against bows and arrows and bullets.

In a hurry, Kohler instructed the North Sea Chamber of Commerce to buy old plates from the homes of those Dutch and French knights at the price of new plates. With such a good opportunity, many knight families will naturally not let it go.

In this way, Marin quickly assembled 2,000 sets of half-body plate armor, most of which were French and Dutch plate armor. Even if the British saw it, they would not suspect it......

While the British army was still gathering soldiers, horses, grain and grass, Marin hurriedly sent the North Sea Chamber of Commerce to quietly send the 2,000 sets of half-body plate armor to Dublin by clipper and handed them over to Earl Edward......