Chapter 398 Cromwell - The Song of the Guillotine

A week after the Great Purge in London was carried out, after the King's Army led by Charles I recaptured London, it was immediately supported by the old London aristocracy and the powerful feudal lords, and as a result, after the Great Purge, the bourgeois ** elements in London were slaughtered, and the British bourgeoisie ** was brutally suppressed.

Charles I was angry, and not just because his palace was destroyed. Instead, the wealth and land he had amassed before were auctioned off by the elders and the new nobles. Those are the hard work of Charles I over the years, and it is no wonder that Charles I, who regards wealth as his life, is not crazy

However, after Charles I, as ruler, recovered London and restored it, there was a bigger problem of how to restore order to the country. If all the elders and the new nobles were killed, then Charles I's kingdom would be ruined. In addition, most of the country is still under the control of the remnants of the Parliamentary army, involving the main force of the King's army, and there is Scotland watching Britain from the sidelines, and Britain is likely to be annexed by Scotland.

Under these circumstances, Charles I had to make some political compromises, which was to tolerate the Presbyterians and use them to reach a settlement with the Scottish Parliament. At the same time, only the bourgeois neo-aristocratic clique was struck.

In fact, Charles I's decision was also based on a proposal from the Imperial Chinese Embassy in Britain. The Chinese Empire wanted to retain the Elders to fight against the new bourgeois aristocracy, a policy that coincided with that of Charles I.

Under the mediation of the Imperial Chinese Embassy in Britain, the Presbyterians of the British Parliament and Charles I negotiated behind closed doors. The Presbyterians promised to spit out all the property that had been embezzled by the royal family, disband the parliamentary army, help Charles I to suppress the bourgeois ** elements, and hand over a part of the new bourgeois nobility in the parliament to Charles I. Half of the property of the new nobles was used as compensation to the royal family, and half was divided among the elders.

From beginning to end, the Presbyterians had nothing to lose. Although Charles I was angry, he finally accepted the compromise conditions of the elders in order to take the overall situation into account.

Charles I and the Presbyterians made a secret compromise, and the betrayed bourgeois nobility suffered. Their entire fortunes were divided, and their family members were either hanged or exiled. The parliamentary government fell apart from within.

After the Great Purge of London, England was suddenly under the policy of White Terror of Charles I. The local parliamentarian armies were prepared to reinforce London, but most of them waited and saw until the King's army won and Charles I returned to power, when they received orders from their respective members of the Presbyterian faction to halt the reinforcements.

The Presbyterians, though compromised, were slow to respond to the disbandment of the army, fearing that Charles I would turn his face.

Cromwell was left unat home, having previously sided with the House of Elders and therefore not subjected to the Great Purge. However, the compromise of the House of Elders angered Cromwell. The new nobles who survived by luck were not willing to be swayed by Charles I, so they secretly organized an anti-British ** army. Cromwell was unwilling to lose his military status, so he quietly left London and joined the ** army.

The surviving new aristocrats did not dare to speak out against Charles I, perhaps because of their ** undetermined relationship, they could only hide in the shadows and put Cromwell in power as their spokesman.

Cromwell used his prestige and the financial support of the new aristocracy to soon recruit a large number of peasants and city townsfolk in Wales, forming a militia of about 6,000 men.

Cromwell was well aware that the militia regiment was poorly armed and poorly trained to stand up to Charles I's Medium Mechanic Regiment. As a result, Cromwell chose to submit to Charles I as a pawn on the Scottish Borders that Charles I had placed. Secretly, Cromwell used the support of the new aristocracy to buy arms from underground arms dealers and actively prepare for war.

The King's army attacked from all sides, clearing out the remnants of the Parliamentarian army, leaving London's defenses empty. Cromwell then secretly approached the Scottish top and co-opted the Scottish Presbyterian right-wingers.

Due to the secret agreement between Scotland and the British parliamentary government, the powerful Scottish army posed a great threat to Britain while the King's army split up to quell the rebellion. Although Charles I was of Scottish descent, it did not mean that Scotland would be willing to submit to England. The Scots had been allies of the British Parliamentary Army in the previous years of the civil war, and had a close relationship with Cromwell, so it was easy for Cromwell to contact the Scottish Presbyterian right-wing Eighth Earl of Altai and other powerful figures who controlled military power.

The idea was clear, the 8th Count of Altai and others rejected the policy of unification of Charles I, and therefore continued to support the new bourgeois aristocracy.

At the end of June, the Scottish Parliament suddenly issued an ultimatum to Charles I and the British Parliament, demanding an end to the massacre of the ** party, as well as the persecution of the new British aristocracy, and the renunciation of sovereignty claims to Scotland.

Charles I naturally did not agree, Charles I, who had the backing of the Chinese Empire, had great ambitions and wanted to unify the island of Great Britain. The Scottish Parliament's request was therefore directly rejected.

The Scots attempted to take advantage of the pinning down of the King's army in South Wales and the east of England to move south to London and remove Charles I from the throne again.

Charles I was not afraid, and he ordered the Cromwell militia regiment stationed on the Scottish border to stop the Scottish army. As a result, Cromwell had already betrayed the English Presbyterians, directly spared the Scottish army, and marched on London together.

When Charles I learned of this, he was furious and almost went to war against the Elders again.

As a result of Cromwell's betrayal, the London defense system was opened. The main force of the King's army could not return to London in time, and the reconstruction of the city had not yet resumed, so it could not stop the rebel attack at all.

The situation was critical, and Charles I immediately turned to the Chinese Empire for help.

At this time, the Chinese Empire was engaged in large-scale infrastructure construction on the British Isle of Wight. The Isle of Wight has become a strategic nail in the eye of the Chinese Empire next to the British capital, so the Chinese Empire mobilized a regiment from the Suez Suttun Army to garrison the Isle of Wight to maintain law and order.

Although Charles I was dissatisfied with the garrison of the Chinese Empire on the Isle of Wight, he borrowed a large amount of foreign debt from the Chinese Empire, and the Isle of Wight belonged to the Chinese Empire before he could repay the debt, so Charles I could only stare dryly.

The army near London was now insufficient to withstand the Scottish army and the Cromwell rebels, so Charles I had to ask for help from the Chinese Empire's garrison on the Isle of Wight.

At this time, the Chinese Imperial Embassy in Britain had not yet left, so the Imperial Chinese Embassy in Britain agreed to the British king's request to send troops to help.

On 2 July, Li Zicheng, commander of the Imperial Chinese Field Observation Group, was appointed commander of the British Intervention Force of the Royal Army of the Imperial Chinese Army, commanding the 358th Regiment of the Royal Army on the Isle of Wight.

The establishment of the British Intervention Army in the Chinese Empire immediately became a topic of controversy in European countries. Once upon a time, the internal affairs of the Europeans would allow the Orientals to interfere? The British first provided the Chinese Empire with a foothold in Europe, the Isle of Wight, and now asked the Chinese Imperial Army to help fight the civil war, which undoubtedly opened the door for the Chinese Empire to interfere in European affairs. European politicians were keenly aware of the threat from the Chinese Empire, but most Europeans were still unaware of it. In addition to the Spaniards, Europeans seem to have fantasized about the Chinese Empire.

Two days later, the 358th Regiment arrived in London along the Thames on a British transport.

At the same time, on the Scottish side, the main force of the Scottish Army under the command of Hamilton was mostly newly recruited soldiers, poorly trained, and lacking equipment, and the other Scottish Army commanded by Monroe could not meet it in time, so the Scottish Army advanced very slowly. Cromwell's militia did not dare to advance alone, and slowed down, giving the 358th Regiment of the Royal Army of the Chinese Empire time to arrive in London in time to set up defenses against the Scottish army.

After arriving in London with the 358th Regiment, Li Zicheng learned that the rebels were still faltering and decided to take the initiative to attack and take the enemy by surprise.

Since the news of the Chinese Empire's dispatch had not yet reached the ears of the Scottish commanders, they also considered London to be empty of defenses, so they were expected to be careless on the march. The 358th Regiment commanded by Li Zicheng was all on horseback, and it was extremely mobile, and the rebels had not yet converged at this time, so they advanced in three ways.

First of all, the nearest army under the command of Monroe of Scotland, this army is the weakest, and their tactical combat readiness is like the palm of the hand of the officers of the Chinese Empire's field observation group.

On 6 July, Li Zicheng commanded the 358th Regiment to run 70 kilometers and attack Monroe's headquarters in a mine-filled wasteland near Luton.

At that time, Monroe's headquarters was marching, and the team of more than 2,000 people was instantly crushed by the cavalry of the 358th Regiment. The sudden attack immediately frightened the Scottish soldiers, who never expected that the other side would be the army of the Chinese Empire, and because of their lack of preparation and ignorance of the Chinese Imperial army, as well as a certain amount of fear, the command of the commander was out of order, and the whole army was divided into seven or eight sections, each fighting separately, and was defeated in less than half an hour.

Of course, the rapid defeat of the enemy army was mainly based on the bravery and decisiveness of the officers and men of the Imperial Chinese Army.

As his first war with the British, Li Zicheng was well aware of the various implications. As far as the war itself is concerned, the idea of "winning the first battle" is the core idea of the Imperial Chinese Army, and the first battle in any war must be won, otherwise it will affect the morale of the whole army. And the war itself aside, the first battle in Britain involved the international influence of the Chinese Empire. Li Zicheng must win, otherwise no matter how capable he is, he will be severely punished by the imperial government, and even his future military career may end.

Therefore, Li Zicheng did considerable ideological work before the war, and the whole regiment overwhelmed the enemy's will to resist with all the momentum of the whole regiment.

After the battle, more than 1,300 people including Monroe were captured, more than 200 were killed and wounded, and the rest fled, and more than 300 people were missing after the war. The 358th Regiment had only one person killed and less than ten wounded, and won a complete victory.

As the first battle between Chinese and British armies, the Battle of Luton was so simple that ancient and modern military strategists could not understand it. In a dramatic scene, Commander Monroe ordered his soldiers to surrender the weapons of the Scottish soldiers who were resisting nearby, and demanded that they surrender directly to the Chinese Imperial Army.

Afterwards, Monroe's defense at the Scottish military tribunal turned out to be that Scotland did not formally declare war on the Chinese Empire and did not want Scotland and the Chinese Empire to be at odds.

After the Battle of Luton, the Scottish army of more than 4,000 men under the command of General Hamilton suddenly stopped. He didn't know the inside story, and he thought that the 2,000 soldiers who could completely annihilate Monroe were by no means a small number of Chinese Imperial troops. Almost like Monroe, General Hamilton was dissatisfied with the military intervention of the Chinese Empire, but he did not dare to go to war with the Chinese Imperial Army without the approval of the Scottish Parliament to prevent the war from expanding.

Hamilton's army halted its advance and found an easy position to defend and organize its defense.

After Cromwell captured Newpoli, he learned that it was impossible for the Scottish army to meet at the end of the division. The military intervention of the Chinese Empire caused Cromwell to feel a great crisis.

By this time, Cromwell's army was already alone. Most of his troops were new recruits, and they obviously couldn't compare with the elite Imperial Chinese Army, weighing the pros and cons. Cromwell immediately marched north with a force of 5,000 men in an attempt to evade the Chinese Empire's forces and retreat safely to Scotland or join Hamilton's army.

It was a long and arduous march. During the march, Cromwell's soldiers were disheveled in rags and their boots and socks were worn out, but they did not complain. They know very well that they are fighting for a just cause, against the absolutist monarchy.

But the officers who knew the inside story understood that the Chinese Empire had intervened militarily directly, and the prospects for a second civil war were pessimistic. This was clear from the moment Cromwell heard about the Chinese Imperial Army, because their spiritual leader, Cromwell, did not yet dare to engage the Chinese Imperial Army head-on.

They braved the rain and marched from the desert and desolate Welsh grasslands to the northern mountains, which were full of pits. While Cromwell fled, Li Zicheng did not choose to attack, but ordered the main force to rest and hide the target, and sent scout cavalry to keep an eye on Cromwell's movements, ready to deliver a fatal blow when he was most tired.

On July 27, the British King's Army successfully countered the rebellion in all directions and returned one after another. Charles I immediately ordered the King's Army to continue the northern expedition to Scotland, cooperate with the Chinese Imperial Intervention Army to encircle the rebels, and occupy Scotland in one fell swoop.

On 5 August, Cromwell arrived in Nottingham. At the same time, an order from the Scottish Parliament was issued, ordering Hamilton to immediately bring the army back to Scotland and abandon plans to attack England.

Hamilton was annoyed that the military was at the mercy of the government, but he had to obey orders.

Hamilton led his army back, and Cromwell realized that the war had been lost. For the rest of the day, Cromwell only thought about how to escape from the King's army.

On the 8th, Cromwell led his army into Dawnkester, Yorkshire, and three days later joined up with Lambert, the remnant of another parliamentarian army, between Rieds and Yorktown, and when the two armies met, the total number of the army reached more than 6,000.

At the same time, Li Zicheng led the 358th Regiment to raid Scottish territory from the north. Due to the indecision and vacillation of the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish army did not know how to face the army of the Chinese Empire, so they had to abandon the city and retreat again and again.

The Scottish army retreated south along the Western Avenue via Cumberland, Westmoreland and Lancashire, and joined Hamilton's army. Owing to the sluggishness of the troops, more than 20,000 men were eventually scattered across the Ribours Valley, stretching about fifteen or sixteen miles from north to south.

Cromwell watched as the Chinese Empire's army pursued them, and once entangled, the king's army behind them would completely crush them. As a result, Cromwell launched a counteroffensive to drive out Li Zicheng's troops. However, the Duke of Hamilton stubbornly implemented the Scottish Parliament's policy of non-resistance, and moved his base camp directly to Preston, north of the River Riebre.

On August 17, Li Zicheng led the 358th Regiment to launch a fierce attack on Cromwell's department. Cromwell led his troops to resist stubbornly on favorable terrain and called for reinforcements from Hamilton. But Hamilton's reinforcements were delayed.

After four hours of fierce fighting, Cromwell's army finally bowed its head under the artillery fire of the Chinese Empire, and the formation of more than 6,000 people was crushed by an artillery battalion of the Chinese Empire. Then, Li Zicheng led a cavalry group to launch a charge, crushing Cromwell's army.

Cromwell was defeated, and Li Zicheng took advantage of the victory to attack the Scottish army, when the Scottish army was rushing to cross the Rieble River, most of them had already crossed the river, only Hamilton led two regiments of infantry and several battalions of cavalry to cover on the right bank of the river. Li Zicheng immediately led his troops to follow Cromwell's rout, took the opportunity to get close to the Scottish army, and immediately routed the enemy army on the right bank of the river, and then Li Zicheng continued to cross the river in pursuit.

The next morning, the king's army arrived one after another, Li Zicheng had no worries, in order to show the military combat effectiveness of the Royal Army of the Chinese Empire, Li Zicheng led the army to continue to pursue the Scottish army.

In the afternoon, catch up with the Scottish Army at Wigan, 15 miles from Preston. The Scottish army, which had become frightened, saw the cavalry of the Chinese Empire chasing after them, and immediately scrambled. Li Zicheng seized the fighter plane, immediately led his troops into the enemy formation, cut his rearguard troops into several sections, and annihilated them.

The 358th Regiment won all the battles and its morale was greatly boosted. The highly mobile Chinese Imperial Army was brought into full play at this moment, and Li Zicheng continued to pursue the enemy on the 19th. Although the Scottish army is the majority, the Scottish Parliament will fight the main battle for a while, avoid the war for a while, and passively resist the war for a while.

When Hamilton led his troops to retreat to the vicinity of Warrington, he attempted to rely on a mountain pass with favorable terrain and suddenly kill the horse pistol to buy more time to retreat. As a result, Li Zicheng and Hamilton fought the fiercest battle since the Chinese Empire's intervention in the British Civil War.

As a result, the Chinese Imperial Army captured the mountain pass and then a bridge over the Mersey River near Warrington. The Scottish army was cut off from retreat and plunged into chaos, with more than 9,000 Scottish soldiers surrendering. Hamilton led a handful of remnants to Stratfordshire.

On 25 August, Hamilton was forced to surrender to Lee in desperation. At this point, the main forces of the Scottish Army and Cromwell's rebels were completely annihilated.

Three days later, Li Zicheng led his army to storm Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and the Scottish Parliament announced its surrender. Edinburgh, which had a defense of 8,000 men, surrendered to Li Zicheng's army of more than 400 people, which was less than a battalion, which became an embarrassment in British military history.

On September 4, Li Zicheng escorted Cromwell back to London, where he was ceremoniously welcomed by Charles I. Li Zicheng and more than 100 other officers were awarded the Order of the King of England of the First Class, all soldiers participating in the war were awarded the Order of England Warriors, all 137 soldiers of the Chinese Empire who died in battle were awarded the Royal Medal, and a monument to the soldiers of the Chinese Empire was built outside the Royal Palace in London, and the names of these 137 soldiers were engraved on the monument.

Subsequently, Li Zicheng led the 358th Regiment back to the Isle of Wight station. King Charles I negotiated with the Parliament of England, the Parliament of Scotland, and the remaining new nobles throughout England. Due to the consumption of British national strength by the civil war, the destruction of the British capitalist economy, and the inability of Charles I to repay the loan of up to 300 million silver dollars with interest and interest of the Chinese Empire, Charles I had to give up the slaughter of the remnants of the bourgeois new aristocracy.

In the end, the new nobles chose to give in, and in addition to their military struggle, political weakness and vacillation led them to accept the rule of the British king.

In return, the new nobles laid all the blame on Cromwell, in addition to offering Charles I three million pounds sterling (12 million silver dollars) in compensation.

In this way, Cromwell became a scapegoat.

On the side of the Elders, Charles I was also not buying it. Due to the open support of the Chinese Imperial Government for Charles I, Charles I had a great say in politics. At the same time, the Chinese Empire became the largest creditor of Britain, and the economy began to affect the direction of the British economy, and the interests of the British aristocracy required the formation of a pro-Chinese group, so that it had to support Charles I.

Charles I then took control of the cabinet and parliament, became the supreme king, and the divine authority of the monarch was completely realized.

On September 10, Charles I was approved by Parliament, which established the absolute dominance of the royal power, and Parliament became an instrument accountable only to the king.

Three days later, Parliament guillotined Cromwell for treason. Thus, Cromwell became the scapegoat of the British bourgeoisie. The English Civil War, which lasted for more than six years, ended and the British bourgeoisie was defeated, and Britain embarked on an era of feudal autocracy that lasted for two hundred years.

The various strengths of the Chinese Empire in the English Civil War led to the emergence of a large number of politicians and citizens who admired the Chinese Empire in Britain, and this qiē gradually influenced Britain and then the whole of Europe, and the Chinese Empire successfully branded a deep trace in the hearts of Europeans, laying the foundation for future intervention in European affairs. A