monarch

Some days are destined to go down in history, and those days usually come with death.Some are individual deaths, like the early morning when Ulysses Caesar, wearing a toga, walked into the Theater of Pompey, where the Senate was in session.In more cases, a day that shines in the annals of history needs more nourishment of blood. On the day when Hannibal became a giant, 8 people died in Zama.And on October 1545, 10, how many lives will be devoured?

The Earl of Hertford and his commanders on horseback, on the morning of the Battle of Salamis, Xerxes, King of Persia, placed his golden throne on a hilltop overlooking the Gulf of Salamis, and on this day Although the hill where the earl was on in the morning was not as good as that of King Xerxes, it still gave him an unobstructed view of the battlefield.Below the mountain, the English infantry phalanx is marching neatly towards the bank of the Esk River, further away are Lord Gray's cavalry, and in the rear are the German musketeers. These expensive mercenaries work in teams of two. It is the crystallization of the most advanced military technology in the European continent today.

The earl turned his eyes to the other side of the river, where the Scottish troops were forming.They don't look as neat as the English army, and their clothes are colorful.The sea farther away was so thick with fog that it was difficult to see even with some wonderful device which the Netherlanders had recently invented to enable one to see farther.

There was a heavy rain last night, and the surface of the Esk River is much wider today, which makes it impossible to cross the river directly. Therefore, the formation of troops on both sides revolves around a stone bridge built in Roman times across the river. .

"The small village next to the bridge is the village of Fort Mosel." The guide tremblingly said that this shepherd boy was hired by "England, Ireland and France, the king of Jerusalem, the guardian of the faith" at a high price of five silver coins. as a guide for the army.

"How many people are there in the village?" asked the Earl of Hertford.

"About five or six hundred people." The boy swallowed, "This is a big village." He paused, "But there should be no one now, and everyone in the village should have run away."

The count was noncommittal, he pointed to the plain where the army was forming, "What do you call this place?"

"Pinkie Cleugh, my lord."

"I don't understand Celtic." The earl shrugged his shoulders and turned to Robert Dudley beside him, "What does this mean?"

"It appears to be Little Round Top, sir."

The Earl of Hertford looked around the hill where he was, "It's very appropriate."

A messenger rode up the hillside and came to the Earl of Hertford, "My lord, the army has been lined up."

"What time is it?" asked the count.

"10:30."

The earl raised his head again. The entire battlefield was like a huge chessboard, and the Scots on the opposite side stood still. Obviously, whoever crossed the bridge first would be at a disadvantage. The narrow stone bridge is easier to defend and harder to attack than the river beach.

"Then let's begin." Earl of Hertford said lightly.

……

The mood of Earl Allen on the other side of the river was ups and downs that night. When he lost all his cavalry, Earl Allen was already seriously considering the possibility of withdrawing to Edinburgh, even though he himself knew that once the order to retreat was given, he would This patchwork army is likely to disperse like birds and beasts.And when he was frowning in the tent, a heavy rain outside undoubtedly gave him hope again—even if these conscripts were not up to the mark, a bridge could still be blocked.

The armies of the two sides faced each other across the bridge. The hands of the soldiers holding their spears were already sweaty, and the archers bent their bows and set their arrows, pointing the arrows in the air.

It was quiet.

"What's that?" Earl Allen said when he heard a voice, he turned his head, and there was a puff of white smoke rising from the hillside in the distance?Is it artillery?But they couldn't hit the target at such a distance... There were bursts of screams in the air, and the count looked towards the place where the sound came from, and a blood mist burst out of the phalanx.

"It's a chain bomb!" Someone yelled in horror. The two iron balls were connected by an iron chain and fired from the cannon. The chain would cut the entire row of soldiers in half like a sickle.

The screams became louder and louder. Along with the horrified shouts and the groans of the wounded, the Scottish phalanx showed signs of collapsing.

"Your Excellency, we..." An officer next to Earl Allen was about to say something when he was interrupted by a shell that fell from the sky. A chain bullet mashed a group of soldiers into blood and smashed heavily in front of Earl Allen. On the muddy ground, the hot shells were still steaming.

"It's calling from the other side!" Earl Allen followed the voice and saw that the figure of the English fleet was emerging from the thick fog, and the fire from the ship's artillery was like the eyes of a devil.

"We must retreat, Your Excellency!" Earl Allen heard someone shouting in his ear.

The earl's brow was beaded with sweat, and his face was ashen. There is nothing more cruel than breaking false hopes.

"Your Excellency..." The voice was still whispering in my ear.

"We attack, all armies, all armies," said the Count weakly.

"This..." The followers looked at each other.

"Going back to Edinburgh now, everything will be over." The earl forced himself to sit upright on the horse, "It's better to gamble everything." His eyes were bloodshot, "At least there is a chance! He stared straight at the highland across the river, where the red cross of St. George's flag in England was extremely eye-catching.

After a while, the Scottish army began to move. Many people were reluctant to advance, and there were small disturbances in many ranks. After 15 minutes, the first Scottish soldier finally set foot on the land on the other side of the river.

The Englishman did not move.

More and more Scottish troops were crossing the river.

When half the Scottish army was across the river, the English finally moved.

The longbow first originated in Wales. Hunters in the mountains used this highly accurate bow to shoot animals, but it was the English who developed this weapon.Compared with the continental European giants like France, which mobilized tens of thousands of people at every turn, England was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of population, and a large number of longbowmen just made up for this shortcoming.The longbow has a long range and high accuracy, so England spares no effort to cultivate longbowmen. Archery competitions are held in every county, and sports activities other than archery are banned on Sundays.England's arrows at Poitiers, Crecy and Agincourt were the worst nightmares of the French, and now it was the turn of the Scots.

The bow length of the longbowmen is about six feet, which is longer than their own height, and the arrows they shoot are close to three feet. It takes a lot of strength to draw such a huge bow.The longbowmen raised their bows to aim, and drew their bows. They didn't draw their bows to the fullest. The soldiers on the opposite side had almost no armor, and the only thing they had was low-quality leather armor, which could only deal with the heavily armed French It is only when the knight needs to draw the bow to the full.Their shooting speed is extremely fast, and each person shoots six arrows in one minute. This is still in the case of aiming. If they don't aim at them, they can shoot twelve arrows in one minute.

The rain of arrows shot by three thousand longbowmen fell on the heads of the Scots with a terrible whistling sound.The arrow pierced through the poor victim's body, and then dug deep into the earth, pinning them whole to the ground.A few lucky ones with shields protected their heads in time, but it was futile after all. The arrows easily tore apart these poor-quality shields, just like tearing a piece of white paper.

The Scottish phalanx let out screams, and the soldiers bathed in the rain of arrows in front had already shown signs of collapse.

For 2 minutes of shooting, England's 3 archers shot more than [-] arrows.And when it was all over, the English cavalry flanked from both sides and charged through the crowd like bulls in a china shop.

At this time, the Scottish army should have turned into a phalanx to fight against the cavalry. However, these inexperienced levies drawn from the countryside were completely incapable of carrying out any orders in such a chaotic situation.Finally, the first person turned around and fled backwards, then the second, and the third... In an instant, the situation was irreversible.

The Earl of Hertford on the high ground smiled coldly, "A bunch of rabble."

The English infantry began to advance towards the stone bridge at this time.The infantry was lined up in horizontal formation, with spearmen in front and Italian and Spanish mercenaries standing behind them with muskets.Like the tide crashing on a cliff, the Scottish army quickly wiped out in front of them.

The army in front has been disintegrated, but the army behind is still advancing. The narrow stone bridge is crowded into a pot of porridge. Countless people are squeezed from the bridge into the river, and more people jump into the river in despair because the bridge is blocked. The broken soldiers in the river trying to swim back to the other side.The heavy rain that gave Earl Arlen hope last night has now killed the hope of these poor people.The water level of the Esk River rose sharply, and the current became extremely turbulent. Countless people were swept away by the waves and drowned in the river.

The English army advanced rapidly, and soon the stone bridge fell, and some English soldiers had already driven to the other side of the bridge.

Earl Allen looked at the catastrophic scene in front of him, his eyes were red, his face was purple, and he was breathing like a bellows in a blacksmith's shop. In the eyes of those around him, he looked as if he was about to have a stroke.

"Your Excellency, are you okay?" His adjutant grabbed his shoulder worriedly.

The count breathed a sigh of relief, and he felt that his sanity seemed to have recovered.He pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm fine." His voice sounded weak, "Call the French army to attack."

The adjutant sounded frightened, "Are you sure?" This was the last card in the Earl's hand.

"Do as I say." There is no doubt that after this battle, the French will abandon Scotland, a weak ally, and these French troops will never be used by the Kingdom of Scotland in the future. The army took a gamble.The English attacked while the Scottish army was on the other side of the river, and now that the English had crossed the river, he could do the same.

A few minutes later, the French troops set off.Four thousand elite infantry wearing breastplates advanced in a row, and the blue iris flags they carried were extremely conspicuous.

"Gentlemen, for the king, for France!" cried the commander.

"Long live the King! Long live France!" These battle-hardened soldiers who had shed their blood for King Francois in Italy, the Basque Country, and Germany now fought on the moors of the Scottish Lowlands.The Scots' cannons had been destroyed by the opponent's artillery, their archers could not shoot as far and as accurately as the English, and the French infantry could only rely on their spears.

With about 2000 English troops across the river and 4000 French on the opposite side, all the English had to do was hold them off until reinforcements crossed.

"Phalanx!" the English commander shouted loudly, and immediately, the horizontal line of 2000 people turned into four hollow phalanxes. The outer layer of the phalanx was infantry holding spears, and their spears pointed in all directions like hedgehogs. .In the center of the phalanx are vulnerable musketeers who shoot calmly under the protection of spears. This is the famous Spanish large phalanx.

"Damn!" The French commander cursed, he was too familiar with this phalanx. Twenty years ago, Emperor Charles V used this phalanx to defeat the French army in Padua, Italy, and even the king became a prisoner of the Spaniards. However, the French still have not found a way to fight this phalanx until now.

"Keep going!" Something that has not been done in 20 years, and the commander does not expect to find a solution in these few minutes.

Four thousand French infantry charged the four squares of the English in ranks.

The phalanx was attacked from all directions, countless spears pierced each other, and some spears were broken, and the soldiers stabbed the enemy on the opposite side with the spikes from the broken spears.Someone throws a spear, plunges it into the enemy's heart, and is immediately pierced by another spear.Inside the phalanx, the firearms in the hands of the musketeers kept firing projectiles, and many French soldiers were knocked down by the bullets.

The French commander wiped the liquid from his forehead, and the sweat mixed with unknown blood stained his palms red.He felt as though the ground were shaking, and when he looked up, the English cavalry had crossed the river and were closing in on both wings.

"Phalanx!" he also shouted the same words.

However, it was too late, the melee had already messed up the French army, and everyone was fighting on their own.

The cavalry knocked countless French soldiers into the air, and they waved their sabers like a god of death wielding a sickle.

There was nothing in the commander's mind as the chill from the saber's edge rushed to his nose.

……

The Scots left nearly 3000 corpses on the battlefield, and 600 people became prisoners, while the English paid only [-] people.

The Earl of Hertford and his entourage rode horses to patrol the battlefield. Countless corpses piled up like mountains, and the air was filled with the smell of blood. Even though it was late autumn, it still attracted many flies.

In the position where the Earl of Allen once stayed, his guard of honor was discarded casually, and the huge blue St. Andrews flag was cut off from the flagpole and fell to the ground, covered with mud and blood. The original blue and white flag It looks a little darkened already.

The Earl of Hertford rode his horse, and his horse's hoof slowly stepped on the flag.The count straightened his back and looked around. The people around looked at him with admiration, admiration, and jealousy, but there was no doubt that everyone was looking at him. The count smiled and opened his eyes. mouth.

"This is the end of the Kingdom of Scotland."

In the distance came the crowing of a few crows.