monarch

Two days after his conversation with the former emperor, the Duke of Alva left Madrid to return to his post in the Netherlands, where he was to direct the preparations for the invasion of the Army of Flanders.A year ago, when he returned to Spain from the Netherlands, Madrid held a grand welcome ceremony for him, and when he left again in the early morning mist, the escort of his carriage was only twenty people. Just cavalry.

The warships gathered from the American colonies and the Mediterranean Sea are now crowded with Cadiz, Lisbon, La Coruña and other ports facing the Atlantic Ocean on the Spanish and Portuguese coastlines. The total number has reached nearly 350. A fleet of this size, even the galleys of the Mediterranean Fleet that were not suitable for sailing in the Atlantic Ocean were gathered into this "Invincible Fleet" to make up for it.And any experienced naval officer knows that these ships are useless decorations in the rough Atlantic Ocean.

In order to equip this fleet with sufficient crews, Philip II recruited fishermen and sailors from almost all of Spain into the fleet.Due to the financial deficit caused by the invasion of Portugal, the recruitment of crew members that should have started last year had to be postponed, and at this time, there is no time to train these civilians into soldiers of the navy.

Due to the shortage of funds, Philip II sent all the prisoners in the Spanish prisons, as long as they could move, to the galleys as oarsmen, or sent them to the sailing warships to work in the bottom warehouse.Many of these prisoners were sentenced to five years of hard labor by King Philip II's judges simply because they defaulted on the rent owed to the landlord or shot a rabbit in the Royal Forest Garden in hunger, and most of them will probably die. In this war, they were buried in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean due to disease and fatigue-for these "consumables", the Spanish authorities would not bother to prepare funerals for them, and the sea is their cemetery.

For the citizens of these coastal cities, as long as they look at the large group of small island-like ships floating on the sea, they can clearly know that the invasion of Britain is imminent, and the day when the fleet departs will not Not in the early summer of next year, but in this year.There are a lot of supplies piled up on the pier, and countless stevedores are just like ants, loading these boxes and packages into the bilge of the battleship.

In the Netherlands, thousands of miles away, ports such as Antwerp and Ostend have the same prosperity.The Flanders Legion has now withdrawn its attack on the rebel cities of the North Netherlands except fortress Breda, leaving only enough troops to maintain the current front, and the main force of the Legion has begun to concentrate on various ports.In order to hold a port under the onslaught of the British Guards and wait for the arrival of reinforcements, the number of people who landed in the first wave will reach more than 3, and the ones selected to perform this glorious task are naturally the most powerful members of the Flanders Legion The elite part.

The Habsburg Empire looked like a dilapidated old house, creaking in the wind that was about to uproot it and its foundations.The Kingdom of Bohemia has become an enemy territory. If it weren't for the restraint of the nobles in Prague, the excited Czech peasants would have rushed into the gate of Vienna with their pitchforks; The great Spanish legions have been nearly a year old, but the seven provinces of the north still retain their liberty and independence; The French spider in the web is full of desire for revenge against Spain, and looks forward to sweeping away the Spanish power on the Italian peninsula.Spain is a dying patient, and this invasion will be his last breath, and what will happen after that, I am afraid only God can reveal the answer.

Naturally, these clear signals will not fail to be ignored by Sir Walsingham's eyes and ears all over the European continent. Since two months ago, countless urgent documents concerning the Spanish invasion have fallen like snowflakes in the office of the Ministry of the Interior. .There are indications that Spain will launch an invasion this summer, and the most likely start time of the invasion will be May of this year. At that time, the huge Spanish fleet will set sail from the mainland and head towards the English Channel.

On the same afternoon when Duke Alva left Madrid, on the English Channel outside Portsmouth Harbor, a huge ship as tall as a hill was sailing with full sail on the sea under the whistling westerly wind. with.The St. George's flag with a red cross on a white background flutters in the wind on the top of the mast, and the king's flag that is flying above the St. George's flag is flying in the wind, indicating that His Majesty the King is staying on this battleship.

The King was standing above the poop, watching with satisfaction the Britannia sailing through the dark waters of Spithead Sound.Thanks to the hard work of the staff at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard, the new flagship of the British Navy was completed months ahead of schedule and she is now undergoing sea trials outside the port.

Compared with the steel behemoths of later generations, this wooden sailboat is just a simple sampan, but for people of this era, her towering mast like a church pillar and the eyes of the hundred-eyed giant Argos There are even more black muzzles, which are extremely visually impactful.

The captain gave the order to furl the sails, and the crew manipulated a set of sophisticated pulley blocks. In just a dozen seconds, the top sails were furled, and the Britannia deftly drew a line on the sea. Arc, galloping towards the direction of the port.

This set of blocks, along with many of the new technologies employed in this ship, is the result of the Royal Academy of Sciences established by King Edward.Scientists on the continent today fear growing religious tensions before publishing their academic views: the Catholic Inquisition is attempting to intimidate at the stake any thought or person deemed deviant across Europe , and Protestant zealots are sometimes more extreme than their Catholic enemies.Although Britain is the country with the most concentrated royal power, it is very free to express any opinions except criticizing the king's own remarks.

Since King Edward established the Royal Academy of Sciences and announced that he would provide funding for the research of the scientists who joined, a large number of scientists and technical craftsmen from the European continent have moved to the British Isle.The king did not impose any restrictions on their research results and academic views, many of which were beyond the scope of apostasy in the eyes of the church, and could be called outrageous.Books such as Copernicus's "On the Movement of Celestial Spheres", which are strictly censored by churches in continental Europe, can be found in fine print in any decent bookstore in London, and there are astronomers at Greenwich Observatory who are enthusiastic about heliocentric theory illustrations for it.

The church is naturally very dissatisfied with the spread of these heresies. However, under the suppression of two generations of kings, the British church has been completely castrated. They have lost their independent will, and even if they still have their own will, And absolutely dare not reveal it in front of the king.In addition to the church, the financial department also complained about the huge grants to the Royal Academy of Sciences, thinking that this is purely handing over gold to a group of lunatics. However, when many research results of the Royal Academy of Sciences are applied in the industrial and military fields Afterwards, such discordant voices suddenly decreased a lot.

Like a huge golden plate, the sun slowly set towards the western sea level, the wind became much weaker, and it also became warmer.The speed of the battleship has slowed down, the sea trials are over, and everything seems to be perfect for the new flagship of the British fleet.

"When we are back in port, I would like to congratulate the Superintendent of the Shipyard." Sir John Hawkins rejoiced like a child who has been given a new toy. Excellent results were awarded the rank of Admiral, and according to well-informed sources in the court, His Majesty is planning to award the title of Earl to this rising star after the war against Spain is over.

"I have no doubt that you will put this ship to the best possible use," said the king. "It is a pity that if the invasion can be delayed until next year, then we will have three of these ships at our disposal, but now we can only finish the war." Two."

"And these two warships have never been owned by any country in the whole of Europe." Sir Hawkins' excitement was not compromised by the loss of one available warship, "The Spaniards have no means to deal with these two behemoths ... Their planks are as thick as the hide of an elephant, and the shells of those wretched Spanish cannons bounce off them like tennis balls. She is as great as a hill, but as nimble as a dolphin The speed of the Spaniards' warships, which are only one-third of her size, can't match her. This ship is the Helen of warships. Your Majesty, any captain who gets her will be envied by others, just like Paris! "

Everyone on the poop laughed at Sir's one-liner.

"I hope you can make good use of this ship." The king said. He looked towards the shore not far away. Not far from the beach was a beacon tower that had just been built. The black shadows are patrolling around the beacon tower—since half a month ago, the counties on the southern coastline have entered a pre-war state of alert, and the county sheriff has begun to recruit self-defense forces, ready to deal with the Spanish invasion at any time.

Sir Hawkins nodded to the king, and then walked to the bow with great interest. He couldn't wait to see every corner of the new ship.

King Edward held onto the railing of the ship's side with both hands, turned his head to look at Robert standing behind him, "I think we can win."

"I've never doubted it." Robert stretched out his hand, and tied the belt of the fur cloak on the king's body tighter. The other attendants not far away saw this situation, and they all tacitly agreed at the same time. He lowered his head.

"The Spaniards went on an expedition, but we are waiting for work." Edward leaned his head on Robert's shoulder, "This reminds me of the Salamis naval battle between the Greeks and the Persian Empire... that time the Greeks also successfully defended own homeland, defending the great Greek civilization."

"And the gap between your fleet and the Spanish fleet is far smaller than the gap between the Greeks and the Persian Empire." Robert said, "not to mention the quality... Our metallurgical technology and shipbuilding industry are far away. Better than the Spaniards, we have been preparing for this war for a long time, the Spaniards think they are kicking on a plank, and when their feet swell, they will know that they are hitting a stone."

"The church ranks arrogance at the top of the seven deadly sins, and there is indeed some reason." Edward was silent for a moment, and muttered, "Arrogance ruined Philip, and arrogance will also ruin Spain's future."

"Arrogance blinded his eyes, making him unable to see that his empire was falling apart. He should have compromised with existing enemies to recuperate, but in fact he kept creating more new enemies for himself. Spain is just a shadow of her ten years ago. Now there is only an empty shell left in this great empire, but he stubbornly uses this empty shell to collide with rocks everywhere... Glory leads to arrogance, and arrogance leads to recklessness But recklessness means ruin, such is the curse of fate on the victor! I hope Britain can avoid this unfortunate fate, but the word 'fate' says it all - it is unstoppable."

"That's dozens or hundreds of years later." Robert said in a relieved tone.

"Aren't you curious how history will judge us?" The king gently closed his eyes, letting the sea breeze play with his long eyelashes, "When we are a hundred years from now, what will remain in this world will be nothing more than ordinary It's just a few lines on the pages of Huang's book."

"You said it too, but it's just a few lines." Robert embraced the king in his arms, "There have been countless people living on this island, and countless people will be born in the future. That's their world, and in the In our world, I only care about the two of us, people in other worlds will never know who we are, they don't understand us, and they have no right to judge us, I don't care how they write those two lines Character."

"I think that if we win the battle, those few lines will be better written." The king looked at the rapidly sinking sun, and the color of the bright sphere had changed from white to orange.

"I think it will sound better than writing about any other king." Robert said into the king's ear. He watched the king's earlobe turn slightly red, and this sight made him feel inexplicably happy every time.

The Britannia sailed into the port slowly, and passed the breakwater flexibly and freely. The citizens of the entire Portsmouth Harbor seemed to be crowded on the shore, curiously watching the heroic appearance of this unparalleled warship.They took off their hats, waved them in the air, and cheered heartily towards the king's flag hanging on the top of the mast.

Glass windows throughout the city reflect the orange glow of the sun, giving everything an alluring warm hue.Along the harbor's breakwaters, a dozen newly completed warships are moored together, as workers are fitting their sails, painted with giant Tudor roses.The crew who will manipulate them have already boarded the ship two months ago. When the Spaniards arrive, these warships will become a wooden wall to defend the British Isle. In other words, there is really no barrier stronger than this wall.

The warship dropped anchor on the shore, and the gangway was put on the deck. The king waved to the enthusiastic citizens while walking down the gangway. When his feet stepped on the solid ground again, the carriage was already waiting for His Majesty up.

"We're going back to Hampton Court Palace now, and I'm afraid it will be late at night when we arrive." When the door was closed, Robert reminded the king, "Maybe we should stay in the city for one more night."

"Who said we were going to Hampton Court Palace?" The king raised his eyebrows, and that smile seemed to have some meaning in Robert's eyes.

"Where are you taking me then?" Robert asked.

"You'll recognize us when we arrive." The king drew the curtains, leaned on the cushion, closed his eyes, apparently not intending to answer any more questions.