Henry VII's plan to recruit sailors for war did not go very well, because it was carried out too late. Richard. Bol had previously been sent to the fortress of Calais to negotiate with the French about exchanging prisoners of war for the fortress of Calais. But Louis XII was not stupid, and would rather pay a ransom than surrender the fortress of Calais. So, Richard. Bol had been dragged in the fortress of Calais for a long time, and he came back to offer this plan, which was naturally much later than Marin expected.

It is precisely because of this time difference that the attitudes of many big shipowners and sailors of the Five Ports Alliance began to become ambiguous. True, these shipowners knew that if all the experienced sailors of the Five Ports League helped to defend London, they might be able to keep London and the Stuart dynasty. However, that comes at a great cost.

To make matters worse, Marin had threatened in a secret letter to the big shipowners in Edward's name that if all the old sailors of the Five Ports Alliance went to London to help in the war, the army might not be able to capture London, but it would be okay to go to the sea and take the five port cities. Moreover, if they were provoked, it would not be impossible to slaughter the city in five port cities......

This threat really frightened the big shipowners, all of whom had big families and had a lot of business in five port cities. If you had tried your best to help Henry VII defend London, the five port cities would be empty at once. When the time comes, it is inevitable that it will be defeated by Edward's army. If the other party really slaughtered the city...... The big shipowners didn't dare to gamble......

Anyway, even if London was held, Henry VII might not be able to win. Because, those sailors are not used to land battles. It's okay to rely on the tall city walls to defend the city, but you will definitely be abused when you go down the plains. So, even if Edward couldn't defeat London, he could occupy other areas outside of London, including the five port cities. If Edward had besieged London for a long time, Henry VII would have been defeated......

Thinking of this, those big ship owners sent their henchmen to several military ports on the coast of Ireland to secretly inform those sailors and even captains, asking them to find a way to shirk Henry VII's summoning order. As for excuses...... It seems that Kidd's fleet is still wandering around this generation, and he can leave in the name of pursuing enemy ships......

Then, before the arrival of Henry VII's order at the military port in the west, the ships, having prepared enough food and fresh water, went out to sea to "hunt down" Kidd's fleet......

This time to go to sea, these big ships from the Five Ports Alliance decided - there will be no two months without coming back......

Hearing that those fleets from the west had gone to sea, Henry VII was also helpless. Therefore, he had no choice but to recruit ordinary sailors outside the Five Ports Alliance. Among these sailors were many of them with rich experience in navigation and combat, but they were completely incomparable in scale with the Five Ports Alliance. So, before Marin's army arrived, Henry VII recruited 10,000 sailors from a nearby port. In addition, 5,000 farmers from several surrounding counties were mobilized to help defend the city. Counting the previous 3,000 regular troops, there were 18,000 armed forces in London at this time. And that's not counting the citizens of London who serve the army...... But in reality, most of this army is very ineffective in combat. If you are on the plains, you can be defeated in one turn. Fortunately, the city of London was very tall and strong, and with its tall and sturdy walls, they could support one or two.

……

On Marin's side, the army re-embarked at Newcastle and arrived a few days later at Grimsby Harbour at the mouth of the Humber River. Then, the large army landed and joined up with the small number of troops and Minzhuang who remained behind.

At this time, according to Marin's order, the Grand Duchy of Beihai transported a large amount of grain from Emden and stored it here. After two days of recuperation, Marin regrouped his army and marched south to London.

In order to speed things up, Marin left most of the captured British soldiers in Port Grimsby and built a large number of concentration camps to house them. At the same time, along with the Scottish aristocracy, they were also housed here. As for the defense of Port Grimsby, Marin was handed over to the navy of the Grand Duchy of the North Sea......

The Grand Duchy of the North Sea's fleet stationed in Port Grimsby consisted of 10 500-ton warships and 10 armed merchant ships of the 250-class class. The total number of sailors on these ships was more than 4,000 people. Marin had them arrange for half of them to land and take care of the prisoners of war. The rest remained on board. Because he was afraid that the number of people would be insufficient, Marin also deliberately sent a fleet back to China and sent more men over to avoid the loss of those prisoners of war. Among them, the most noble ones are naturally Scottish noble prisoners of war such as James IV. These people, however, can be exchanged for a large amount of ransom, and the gold is very expensive. If it were placed as close to Scotland as Newcastle were, the Scots would probably have fought for it. But put it in Port Grimsby and that's fine. With so many powerful warships in place, and the Humber River blocking it, it was difficult for the Scots to succeed even if they tried their best.

After placing those prisoners of war, Marin went south directly with the main force, 15,000 people, and a similar number of people from the British army. There are more than 30,000 people transporting grain and grass and baggage, so the march process should not be too easy. Whether it's transporting grain and grass, or artillery ammunition, or tent fences for camping, it has become easy with so many people.

By the end of August, the army had passed through Lincolnshire, through Cambridgeshire and Essex, and had reached the vicinity of London. While passing through Cambridgeshire, Marin also commanded the army, and by the way, sacked Cambridge City, the barely defended capital of Cambridgeshire, but spared Cambridge University. Marin even suggested that Edward recruit a group of graduating law students from Cambridge University to help him govern the country in the future. After all, the overthrow of Henry VII this time required the killing of a group of high-ranking officials, and there would certainly be many vacancies for officials. Rather than promoting the unreliable middle and lower officials who had been attached to Henry VII, it would be better to train a group of Cambridge University students themselves. Of course, it is necessary to find out whether there are any noble children of Henry VII's faction among these people......

By the time of August 30, Marin's army had officially arrived outside London and began to set up camp......

The city of London is located on the north side of the River Thames, so if you want to attack the city, you can only attack the east, north and west. Therefore, Marin set up three large battalions in these three directions.

Although the forces were dispersed, Marin gave Henry VII ten dares, and Henry VII did not dare to go out of the city to attack. Because, at this time, there were only three thousand regular troops in the city of London. The rest are either pirate sailors or people, and if they come out, they will definitely deliver food......

In fact, Marin had previously asked the people of the North Sea Chamber of Commerce to focus on raiding London's West Gate. However, in order to confuse Henry VII, Marin deliberately placed the most important artillery unit for the siege of the city to the north of the city. This makes it seem as if the direction of the main attack is the north of the city. But in fact, Marin had long been ready to attack Simon.

However, there is one more thing for Marin to do before the siege......