At a time when the Holy See was sending a message to the whole Western world, Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England, was worried about the future of England and had just rejected a request from Parliament for coronation.

In England at this time, Charles I had long been guillotined. Cromwell's military dictatorships in England, Scotland, and Ireland were rock-solid.

However, Cromwell did not have Chongzhen's prestige in the Ming Dynasty, and there was no loyal student group in England's parliamentary army like the battalion of soldiers in the Ming army, and what was more troublesome was that Cromwell was not able to establish a military academy in London in time that was completely loyal to him, and then trained a large number of low-ranking officers who were loyal to him.

So Cromwell suffered a backlash from the military dictatorship. The trouble with military dictatorship lies in the militarization of local officials.

This is the same situation as after Yuan Shikai stole the fruits of the Chinese revolution. After Yuan Shikai stole the fruits of the Chinese revolution, he relied on the support of the Beiyang New Army and successfully became president, but the Beiyang New Army was inevitably divided into local factions such as Feng, Zhi, and Anhui, and as time went by, the independent tendency of the local factions became stronger and stronger, and the contradictions between the various factions became increasingly intense.

Yuan Shikai couldn't bear to be disturbed, so he thought of a way to bridge the gap by ascending the throne and becoming emperor. Yuan Shikai's ascension to the throne as emperor and the lavish rewards on local military leaders not only failed to bridge the contradictions between various factions and the separatist tendencies in various places, but accelerated this trend, and eventually led to the outbreak of the Protectorate War and the complete disintegration of the Beiyang Army.

Cromwell's situation is similar to that of Yuan Shikai. Although Cromwell divided England into thirteen military districts and promoted thirteen major generals to command them, this only slowed down the trend of local militarism.

Cromwell's anxiety as he watched England slide into the abyss of warlord warfare, but could do nothing, was so anxious that there were really no words to describe it, and Cromwell, who was only 54 years old, had gray hair, as if he were seventy years old.

Funnily enough, there are also parliamentary ones

"Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chicks" gave Cromwell the same bad idea. That's right

The "Crouching Dragon" proposed that Cromwell be crowned king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and then give dukes to senior officers, including the commanders of the eleven military regions, in order to ease the conflict.

However, Cromwell was smarter than Yuan Shikai, and he refused to be crowned. Because Cromwell knew his senior officers well, as soon as he was crowned King of England, these senior officers immediately came up with the idea of replacing him, and did not hesitate to raise troops.

But Cromwell was also well aware that a military dictatorship could not last. If the militarization of the Parliamentarian army is not resolved, England will either be plunged into a warlord melee or the Stuarts will return to rule England.

Although Charles II was impoverished to the point of living on his art, it is an undeniable fact that he still had a very high prestige in the hearts of the conservative nobility and people of England, Scotland and Ireland, and he was once king of England in any case.

But how easy is it to solve the militarization of the parliamentary army? One carelessness provokes a rebellion among high-ranking officers.

When the time comes, he will repeat the mistakes of Charles I. And then it was at this time that the decree of the Holy See came to London.

Alexander VII's will gave Cromwell an opportunity to address the militaristic tendencies of England by sending these increasingly unruly warriors to the battlefield of the Crusades in exchange for the support of the Roman Catholic Church and the conservatives in England, so that he could be crowned.

For this, Cromwell even recalled his eldest son, Richard, ahead of schedule. As Cromwell's eldest son, Richard has been carefully nurtured over the years.

Unfortunately, Richard's abilities simply can't be compared to his father's.

"Father." Richard, who is already twenty-seven years old, still trembles like a child in front of his father, lest he will be scolded by his father if he says something wrong.

"Richard, I need your help." Cromwell showed a rare side of affection. Such a father made Richard even more frightened.

"Father, if you have anything to do, just tell your son." Looking at his frightened son, Cromwell could only keep a straight face again.

"Did you know that in the far east there was an empire called the Great Ming?"

"Yes, I have heard of some of them, it is said that the expeditionary fleet of the Netherlands was completely destroyed, and the merchant ships of the East India Company of Spain and Portugal were also plundered and suffered heavy losses."

"Not only that, but the Ming Empire also hit Central Asia and the Indian Peninsula from the land."

"Really? In this way, this Ming Empire is really quite powerful, but fortunately, the Ming Empire is separated from Europe by tens of thousands of miles, and it has little to do with our England. ”

"No, no, you're wrong, the rise of the Ming Empire has threatened the entire Western world." Speaking of this, Cromwell handed Richard the decree he had just received, and after reading the decree of the Holy See, Richard looked unimpressed.

"What does the holy war called for by the Catholic Church have to do with us Protestants? They Catholics want to fight the Ming, so let them fight, but we Puritans don't need to participate in this crusade. "Protestantism and Catholicism have the same origin, but their relationship is extremely bad.

To use a misapt analogy, the relationship between Protestantism and Catholicism is like that of the Sunni and Shia of the Green Church.

However, just as Sunnis and Shiites can reconcile, Protestant-Catholic cooperation is not inconceivable, at least not in Cromwell's mind.

Cromwell was a politician first and a Catholic second. In Cromwell's view, political interests preceded religious beliefs.

"Son, I'm afraid we in England will also be part of this crusade." Cromwell said earnestly,

"In any case, we Puritans are God's people like Catholics, and we worship the same cross, not to mention, once the army of the Ming Empire hits Europe, it is not only Catholic countries that threaten it."

"Ahh Richard said with a confused face,

"England is also going to participate in the Holy War?"

"Yes, also to participate in the jihad." Cromwell nodded, and continued,

"And all the elite armies of England, Scotland, and Ireland will be sent to participate in the jihad." After a pause, Cromwell said, "Richard, you are the commander-in-chief of the British army." ”

"Me?" Richard said to Ai,

"Father, I'm afraid that I will not be able to do it, and I may disappoint you, or let Blake be the commander-in-chief?"

"Fool, how can the position of commander-in-chief be made of people?" Cromwell was furious at once,

"Do you know what the position of commander-in-chief really means?"

"Yes, it means that it is your father's heir." Richard said in amazement.

"So, you're going to make Blake the Lord of the Protector?" Cromwell said angrily.

"No, father, I didn't mean that, I was just worried that I wouldn't be able to do well."

"You don't have to worry about this, I believe you can do it well, you just have to do your best." Speaking of this, Cromwell said silently in his heart: "If you can use all the 50,000 new parliamentary troops in England, Scotland, and Ireland, it will be a great help to my father." Cromwell advised: "When Blake and they arrive, you have to take the initiative to ask for battle, do you know?" Cromwell knew very well that it would not be easy to get the leaders of Blake to obey orders and take part in this crusade with his proud generals.

But as long as Richard was involved in the crusade, it was not a big problem. I've sent my sons to the Crusade, what else do you have to say?

As a matter of fact, under Cromwell's strong push, the new armies of England, Scotland, and Ireland were mobilized rapidly, and they were assembled even faster than the Kingdom of France.

While the armies of the various lords of the Kingdom of France were massing towards Paris, the new armies of the Kingdom of England had crossed the English Channel and marched into the Kingdom of France.

…… When the news reached Rome, Alexander VII burst into tears. Including France, England, Spain, and Portugal, four great powers have already declared their participation in jihad.

To be honest, it was not what Alexander expected that France and England would be so actively involved in this holy war.

These two countries, although the Kingdom of France is nominally a Catholic country, in fact does not take the Holy See seriously at all, and even the cardinal of the Diocese of France is not appointed by the Holy See, whether it is the former Richelieu or the current Mazarin, they do not take the Holy See seriously at all.

The Protestants and Catholics of the Kingdom of England were even more bitter enemies. Alexander VII had feared that the call for holy war would be led by European powers such as France, England and Tsarist Russia, but if that were the case, the holy war would have become a joke, because what could be achieved by the lords of the Holy Roman Empire alone?

But now, Alexander's hanging heart can finally be put back in his stomach. With the involvement of France and the Kingdom of England, the Holy War became even stronger.

Of course, it would have been better if Tsarist Russia and Sweden had also been able to participate in this holy war. If Tsarist Russia and Sweden were to join the jihad, the major powers of the entire continent would be involved, and at least a crusade of 500,000 men would be able to be assembled.