monarch

The day after returning to Hampton Court Palace, the king signed an order appointing Robert Dudley, Marquess of Pembroke, as the chairman of the newly established War Steering Committee. As the helm of Britain's highest military command, he Also obtained the right to attend cabinet meetings.

On February 2, Robert's first cabinet meeting after returning to Britain was held at Hampton Court Palace. The subject of this meeting was naturally related to the imminent Spanish invasion.

Three days after Christmas last year, the Spanish army entered Lisbon, which was already a ghost city.When the news spread in the city that the King and Queen Elizabeth had fled to Britain, the soldiers who were still guarding the city dispersed after only one morning.

The Duke of Alva, who seized the capital and major cities, adopted a gentle policy towards the Portuguese nobles, and he had no intention of driving out the local forces.In his opinion, the benefits that can be obtained in this barren land are far less than the value of the time spent here.

Facing the olive branch thrown by the Duke of Alva, the Duke of Braganza readily reached an agreement with him. On January 1558, 1, the Duke of Braganza returned to Lisbon and recognized Prince Don Carlos as King Don Carlos I of Portugal, and he himself became the sole regent of the Kingdom of Portugal as he wished.For the coming of peace, the Duke of Alva naturally wished for it, the Portuguese nobles were also very satisfied, and Philip II was also happy to see it. Only King Don Carlos I was depressed because his power fell into the hands of the Duke of Braganza Unjust, but his dissatisfaction was naturally ignored by Philip II and the Duke of Alva.

As the situation in Portugal calmed down, Spain's attention once again turned to Britain.The St. George's plan, which had been temporarily shelved because of the invasion of Portugal, was being prepared again in full swing. However, it was difficult to make up for the winter time delayed by this invasion.

When Robert entered the room, the cabinet members in the room watched the favorite who had been away from Britain for three years with curious eyes, and in contrast, Robert was also watching them.

Most of the people sitting in the cabinet meeting room today are young and fresh faces, and those gray-haired veterans have been gradually cleared out of the cabinet by the king.Those old men who made their fortunes during the reign of the late King Henry VIII, except for Bishop Gardner, who was used as a target and a vase by the king, there is no one left in the cabinet.They were replaced by close vassals who had a closer relationship with the king, most of whom came from the propertied class and small and medium aristocratic families.

The cabinet meeting began immediately after the king entered the room. The first issue discussed today was information about the time of the Spanish invasion.

"Your Excellencies." Sir Walsingham bowed to the king, and when the materials he had prepared were distributed to the people present, he said, "According to the new news from Madrid, the Duke of Alva has Returned to Madrid and continued to invest in the supervision of the invasion plan. According to the information we have received, there are some differences in the Spanish court regarding the start time of the invasion.”

"Because of the weather, in order to ensure the invasion of our country before the autumn and winter gale season, the Spanish fleet should set off from the mainland no later than the beginning of June, and it is already mid-February now, which means that if they have to do it this year Invasion, then the preparation time left for them is only three and a half months.

"How are their preparations going?" asked the king.

"It seems to be well behind schedule," said Sir Walsingham. "Because of the financial pressure caused by the invasion of Portugal, the work of building ships and recruiting crews has been temporarily stopped, and we estimate that the Spaniards will not be ready before June at most. Three hundred warships, and they may not be able to prepare enough crews, weapons and supplies for these warships."

"And we will have two hundred warships this summer, two-thirds of the Spaniards in number." Cecil interjected, "but far superior to the Spaniards in quality and firepower, in fact If we count the total number of artillery, then although our warships are one-third less than the Spaniards, the total number of naval guns is [-]% more than theirs, not to mention that our crews have undergone at least four months of training."

"At present, the Spanish court is divided into two factions." Sir Walsingham took up the conversation again, "Some people think that since the invasion this year seems to be too hasty, then the start of the invasion should be delayed until next year."

"That sounds reasonable," murmured the King, "and who would object to that?"

"Duke of Alva, Your Majesty." Sir Walsingham replied respectfully, "He seems to want to try to carry out the invasion this year, regardless of the state of preparation... It seems that he thinks that time is on our side The longer it goes on, the smaller the difference in numbers between us and Spain, and numbers are pretty much the only thing they can rely on now."

"Spain's financial situation has deteriorated to an alarming degree." Cecil leaned slightly toward the king, and the chair under him creaked a few times, "The servants of King Philip seem to be With the blood of rodents, the wealth that the Duke of Alva plundered from the Netherlands disappeared like raindrops on the desert in an instant. Madrid has begun to buy and sell official positions and titles, and the treasury Empty because of the rising tide of all kinds of expenses. They have no money to build new ships, and the existing fleet has become a noose around their necks. If it drags until next year, the cost of maintaining the fleet may be able to strangle them. Die...they only have one chance, it's a gamble."

"So you see, we certainly hope that the invasion will be delayed until next year...maybe there will be no invasion at all by then." Sir Walsingham laughed dryly, "But we don't plan to pin all our hopes on it." Regarding the decision of the Spanish court, we will take the initiative to create some troubles for them, in order to induce them to temporarily postpone their invasion of us..."

"Our people in Prague have taken action," he lowered his voice. "I mentioned this matter to you before, and the details are in the memo I wrote to you."

The king gave a vague hum. He did remember the plan that Sir Walsingham had mentioned to him.

In Germany, the fire of religious conflict has been burning for nearly half a century, and the eye of this storm is the Kingdom of Bohemia.Counting from the Hussite War more than 100 years ago, for more than a century after that, the Czechs have never been loyal subjects of the Holy Roman Emperor. Today's Prague has shown all the signs before the Dutch riots. Fortunately for the Czechs, the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs was weak compared to their Spanish cousins.

Starting a year ago, Sir Walsingham began secretly providing secret financial support to Bohemian Protestants, and the total amount has now reached a huge one million pounds, and all of this money is in the hands of the king. Disbursement of secret funds. A million pounds would be enough to build ten warships, yet if Sir Walsingham's plans were successful, the Bohemian Rebellion would cause far more trouble for the Habsburgs than a well-armed fleet.Once Bohemia declares its independence, the flames of religious wars that have just been extinguished in the Holy Roman Empire in Germany are bound to be rekindled, and that may lead to the total collapse of the Habsburg Austrian family.

"Our ambassadors in various European countries are active, trying to win more countries to our side, especially those countries that are not friendly to the Spaniards." His illegitimate brother, the Earl of Warwick, "The French do not seem to intend to intervene in the conflict between us in a short time. They are weak and may break out of civil war at any time... But judging from the news from Constantinople , the Turks seem to be quite interested in our proposal."

"Did the ambassador you sent see Suleiman Sultan?" The king seemed to be interested. He put his elbows on the table and rested his chin with his hands. "Is this what the Sultan meant?"

"It's not the sultan himself, but it's about the same." Earl Warwick looked quite complacent, "It was his son-in-law, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, Rustan Pasha who said it himself...he received our ambassador , and accepted the little gift you gave him."

The king laughed too, remembering the details of the little gift, a small moroccan leather packet filled with diamonds the size of hazelnuts.

"As long as he is willing to accept it." The scene of the greedy minister looking through the diamonds under the candlelight appeared in front of the king's eyes, and the greed in his eyes was clearly illuminated by the bright reflection.

"People in my department believe that this pasha must have known what his master meant... The Turks have been eyeing Vienna. Sultan Suleiman tried to conquer the city 30 years ago, but he failed. After all, he is not a person who is good at forgetting. In addition, Cyprus occupied by the Venetians and Malta occupied by the Knights Hospitaller, these two nails in the Mediterranean are still in the hands of Christians, and he has always wanted to pull them out. Lose."

"And no matter where the Turks attack, it is difficult for Philip to sit idly by." The king said indifferently, "But what if Philip is really desperate? Vienna, Malta, Cyprus, no matter which one, at least a few can always survive." For a month."

"So we should be prepared." Cecil said, "I suggest that the focus of construction be shifted to the battleship with the highest degree of completion, and ensure that more warships are completed before this summer, especially the one you visited' Britannia, we need this monster of the sea, and we must have her finished by June."

"The lookouts and watchtowers in the coastal counties must be completed before the summer. If the Spanish fleet sets sail, the entire south coast counties will be in a state of emergency. The work of hoarding supplies must also be hastened. The war may continue until the end of the year, so we We must be prepared for a temporary stagnation of import and export trade. In short, all work should be based on the premise that Spain will invade this summer, and we cannot afford to guess wrong."

The next topic of the meeting was the initial deployment of the assault, and a huge map of the British Isles and Channel region was sent into the room.

"The Spanish fleet will set sail from its ports on the Atlantic coast. Cadiz, La Coruña, and Lisbon and Porto, which are now in their hands, may be the fleet's rendezvous." Robert walked to the map and used a stick The willow cane pointed to the map, "After they sail into the waters of the British Isles, there are two possible directions."

"One is to carry troops from the mainland and land directly in Ireland or in places such as Cornwall in the west of the British Isle. These places are farther away from the capital, and the landing will be easier, but it also means that the Spaniards who landed are in It is unlikely that there will be a threat in the short term...Perhaps Philip is counting on the Irish Catholics to revolt, but Sir Walsingham assures me that is impossible."

"I can assure Your Majesty that the loyalty of the Irish subjects is absolutely reliable." Sir Walsingham nodded towards the king, "Since you came to the throne, the rights and living standards of the Irish have been significantly improved. , bread is always more convincing than scriptures, besides, your religious freedom policy also ensures that they will not be persecuted by the Anglicans, and the aristocrat’s wanton enclosure in Ireland is also prohibited... You are still very popular in Ireland supported."

"Thank you, sir." Robert tapped the southern part of Ireland on the map with the tip of his cane in his hand, "If Spain transports soldiers from the mainland, the total number of people that the fleet can carry will not exceed 2. For other reasons, these long-distance soldiers will lose 20.00% to 1%...These more than [-] people need to fight alone on the Irish island for a winter, and because of the weather, the supply line will not be restored until the next spring."

"I think we can easily get rid of them before then," said the Secretary of War. "It only needs to transport the Guards from the British Isles to Ireland, and the narrow channel can be safely sailed at any time."

"Therefore, it's hard for me to imagine that the Duke of Alva would be willing to devote limited resources to this senseless invasion." Robert shook his head, "I think, since he values ​​time so much, it means that he His plan must be a thunderbolt, and time is his more dangerous enemy than ours. If the kingdom of Britain is to be destroyed or rendered defenseless before winter comes, he can only attack near the capital."

Moving his cane to the channel, "he will send the fleet into the channel, break through our blockade, and reach the Netherlands, where his Legion of Flanders is ready to fight the British Guards, and he will be in the capital The nearby Eastern Landings, which are but a stone's throw from the Netherlands, where his fleet can shuttle back and forth, carrying as many Spaniards as possible to our island... If I were him, this is the plan I would adopt. "

"A blow like Yanac's." The king looked at the map and nodded approvingly. "As long as London is captured, the wealth of this city will be enough to solve the many troubles the Spaniards are facing."

Everyone at the conference table shivered. They imagined that their mansions were set on fire, and those safes full of gold, silver and bonds were split open by red-eyed Spanish soldiers with axes.

"This is the situation we face, my lords." The king's voice was not loud, but it was thunderous in the silent room. "This will be a war that will decide the fate of two countries. The winner will get all and the loser No matter what grievances and grievances there are among you, at least in this matter, we are facing a common destiny. For Britain and for yourselves, I think it is time for everyone to abandon the prejudices of factions and work together. "

Cecil twisted a few times on the chair, and after a while, he pushed the chair back, stood up, and bowed deeply to the king.

Immediately, everyone in the room stood up, bowed down to the king in unison, and showed the top of their heads to the king humbly.

Robert put down his cane, looked at Edward, and also bent his waist.

"Thank you all," said the king.

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A Jarnac blow usually refers to an unexpected blow. Jean Jarnac was a French nobleman who turned defeat into victory by unexpectedly stabbing his opponent's knee in a duel