monarch

"You promised him to attack the castle?" Baron de Epernell's adjutant looked at his officer in surprise.He lowered his voice, "You know our situation...it's totally impossible." Taking a castle can take weeks or even months, and in some special cases castles can last for years.The remaining French army lacked both siege equipment and time.

"I promise him to give it a try." The baron raised his head irritably, looking at the majestic figure of the castle.Above the castle, the sun's rays finally broke through the clouds, and the mist that had enveloped the city had lifted.Now the sun is already westward, and it is estimated that the English army will arrive at dusk. "I can't do nothing, do you understand?" He looked at his adjutant, who had come all this way, suffered such heavy losses, just to come and surrender to the King of England?He and the king of France would be a laughing stock.

A symbolic two-hour siege is not much better, the adjutant complained. "Then when the English army arrives..." he asked tentatively.

The baron seemed unwilling to think about this question, "Who can tell?" He shrugged his shoulders.

……

Edward breathed a sigh of relief and sat down in an armchair. "What a thrill just now," he smiled to Robert Dudley.They came out of the king's bedroom and walked along the secret passage of the castle to a small study. A fire had been lit in the fireplace in the study. Although it was still snowing outside, the room was still warm as spring.

"You subdued them in the end." Robert said, he picked up the wine jug on the cabinet next to him and poured a glass of wine for himself and the prince.

"After all, I have what they want." Edward took a sip of wine, silently watching the flames dancing in the fireplace.

"Your Majesty..." Robert looked at the carved Venetian glass in his hand, the dark red liquid in the glass was like blood.

"I don't know." Edward felt a headache, and he pinched his temple.If the King were to die now, the timing couldn't have been worse.

"So who would you choose?"

"I don't think I have the final say on this." Edward picked up his glass and drained the wine inside.His current support is certainly an important bargaining chip, but it has not yet reached the point where the final decision is made. "But I don't think there's going to be a clear winner." Now the forces in the court are basically balanced.The Earl of Hertford was originally in the limelight because of his conquest of Scotland, but after all, he left a stain on this rebellion, and Bishop Gardiner will definitely not let go of this good opportunity.Coupled with the Dudley family who are loyal to him, the prince can play the role of balancing hand behind the scenes.

"You can count on the unconditional loyalty of our family." Robert looked at the Crown Prince with complicated eyes, as if trying to restrain himself.He got down on one knee and kissed the prince's hand.

"I have no doubts about that." Edward smiled.

"Then what we mentioned about the regency time..." Robert raised his head and asked with some concern.Henry III's regency lasted until he was 20 years old, and Henry VI's regency was 16 years old.After all, it is not difficult to give power to the Regency Council, but taking power back from it is another matter.

"At the end of the day, it's up to the king to decide." Edward originally planned to let the king set the age of pro-government at 14 in the will, but now it is unknown whether the king can leave a will. "Once there is no will... I don't think I have any bargaining chips in my hand." Although the Earl of Hertford and Bishop Gardiner can fight each other over who will be the leader in the Regency Council, they are very concerned about prolonging the regency time as much as possible. There is no objection to that point, after all, no one likes their power being taken away out of thin air.And after several years as the supreme leader, no one will enjoy the feeling of having another master on top of them.

"I think I can accept up to 16 years old." The prince said coldly.All Regency periods in English history have been associated with infighting and the decline of the Crown.

Robert reached out and touched the prince's head, while sincerely praying for His Majesty's health in his heart.

……

The French army set up several artillery pieces on the opposite side of the castle, the muzzles of which faced the high black wall of the opposite castle. On the wall of the castle, dozens of artillery pieces were ready to be fired. This was a desperate scene. Scenes.

The Baron de Eppenel watched the sad situation with a blank face, and there was no doubt that this ridiculous rebellion had been completely defeated when the king and royal family escaped from the cathedral in time.He sighed slightly, King Francois is really old.During the 40 years of the "Knight King"'s rule, France conquered everywhere, but the result was only a futile consumption of national power.Twenty years ago, in Padua, Italy, the French army suffered a catastrophic defeat. When King François was captured by the Spanish, he was a soldier at the king's side.The captivity with the king in Spain, which had earned him the baronship and the king's favor as the son of the tavernkeeper, ended today.His career had begun in one failed military adventure at the king's whim, and would end in another failed one.Fate always treats mortals with such a mocking attitude.

The baron smiled slightly, and looked at the adjutant beside him, "Fire when you're ready."

The barrels of the guns were filled with black powder, and the shells were six-pound balls of solid iron.The gunner brought the torch close to the twig, and the twig began to burn.

The six cannons fired almost at the same time, and the solid iron ball flew towards the high wall of the castle, and hit the wall violently, creating waves of smoke and dust.

On the ramparts, the Earl of Hertford looked across at the smoking French guns.He looked very calm, but the slightly twitching facial muscles revealed the anger in his heart.He has always been ahead in the long-distance race for the domination of the Regency Council. This conquest of Scotland had originally won him a huge bargaining chip, but in an instant the advantage turned into a disadvantage. He really couldn't get away from this rebellion.If Bishop Gardiner had convinced the King that he had played any part in it, he would have been completely out of his depth.Even if he succeeds in clearing the charge, a crime of oversight is a certainty.Of course, this is the case if the king survives. If His Majesty is like this... The count shook his head slightly. Even if the king died now, his situation would hardly change.This damned mutiny would no doubt be his Achilles' heel, and his adversary, the viper-like Bishop, was a master at taking advantage of it, and no doubt he would use it as a weapon against him.The Earl's fists clenched, damned Duke of Norfolk!There is no peace in this bedbug's imminent death.

"Is the artillery ready?" he asked coldly.

"At your command." The officer beside him seemed startled by the low air pressure surrounding the count.

"Destroy those damn artillery of the French." The count said coldly, without looking at the silent officer beside him.

There are as many as twelve cannons facing the French on the castle, exactly twice as many as the French cannons on the opposite side.And these artillery fixed on the castle are larger and heavier than the French artillery on the opposite side because they do not need to be transported, and the eight-pound shells fired are also better than the six-pound French.Now, these twelve artillery pieces have all been aimed at the French on the opposite side.

An orderly raised a small blue flag and waved it vigorously.

The gunners lit the twisters, stepped back quickly, and covered their ears.

The sound of twelve guns firing at the same time was deafening.In the study in the castle, Edward saw that the windows of the room were shaking.

Twelve eight-pound iron balls fell into the French artillery positions.The shell hit the ground, bounced, and fell to the ground, plowing a deep ditch.When the steaming, burning red shells finally stopped, only half of the French artillery was left, and there were even fewer gunners who could continue to fire. Those wounded groaned in pain , The smoke from burning black powder and the smell of blood mixed together in the air, making people feel sick.

"Go ahead and fire." The Earl of Hertford looked at the opposite scene coldly, without a trace of emotion in his voice.

……

The Duke of Norfolk awoke, feeling a pang of thirst in his throat.He weakly propped himself up on his arms, stretched out his right hand, and tried to grab the flagon on the bedside table.He gripped the handle of the flagon, which was lighter than he'd imagined.The duke tried to pour out the wine, but the flagon was empty.

The Duke panted heavily, let go of his hand and let the silver flagon fall to the ground.He pulled the bell rope hanging over the bed, trying to summon the servants.

After a long time, when the Duke thought he would not get a response, the door of the room opened, and a figure in a black cloak entered the room.The Duke narrowed his eyes, trying to see the other person's face clearly——

"Father." The Earl of Surrey's voice saved the Duke from this trouble, "What do you want?"

The Duke coughed violently, and he pointed to the empty flagon on the bedside table.

The Earl of Surrey smiled, picked up the flagon and walked to the other side of the room.When he returned, the flagon was already full of Bordeaux wine.He picked up an unused crystal glass from the bedside table, filled it for the Duke, and held the glass to the Duke of Norfolk's mouth.

The Duke sucked greedily from the glass like a drowning man thirsting for air.After drinking half a glass of wine, the Duke finally stopped.He gasped heavily, looking at his son with cloudy eyes. "Why are you here, what time is it...?"

"Four o'clock in the afternoon, my dear father."

The Duke raised his head and looked out of the window of his room, which faced the southwest, where the winter sun was not far from the horizon.He suddenly felt a little short of breath. "Have you taken the castle yet?" He already had the answer in his mind.

"No." The Earl of Surrey's voice was calm, as if discussing the dinner menu, "We have completely failed. The scouts have found the forward of the army and they are entering the city."

The Duke coughed violently again.

The door opened again, and several tall figures in cloaks entered the room.

"Help the Duke up, we are leaving." The Earl of Surrey ordered without looking at his father.

……

When the last gun was destroyed, the morale of the French army had collapsed, and when the vanguard of the English army outside the city arrived, Baron de Epernell did not hesitate long, and gave the order to surrender.

In the square in front of the castle, the remnants of the French army will be surrounded.They looked exhausted but clearly grateful for their narrow escape.There are more than 4000 Frenchmen who boarded the ship in Le Havre, and now there are fewer than 1000 left, most of whom are buried in the cold bottom of the North Sea.

The Baron de Eppenelle stood alone at the head of the procession, his face impassive.The baron had expected his own tragic fate, but what surprised him was that when this moment came, there was not much pain in his heart, but more relief—this scene The farce is finally over.He has undoubtedly become a joke, and the only thing he wants to do now is to get off the stage.

The gate of the castle opened, and a group of people came out from inside.A young man in a black cloak was surrounded by several knights. He looked extremely beautiful. Under the light of the torch, the young man's French-style facial features looked even more beautiful.He rode on a horse, walked slowly in front of the baron, and looked down at the baron standing on the ground.

"I am an officer of His Majesty François, Baron de Epnell, and I surrender to the representative appointed by the King of England." The baron's voice was a little hoarse from the smoke of gunpowder.

"I accept your surrender." The boy replied in fluent French.

"I want to know who I am surrendering to." The baron raised his head and looked directly at the other party. "I can't just surrender to someone."

The surrounding knights seemed very dissatisfied with his rudeness, and the boy waved his hand to silence them.He winked at one of them.The knight rode his horse forward a few steps and walked up to the baron. "You have before you the rightful heir to the thrones of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales."

The baron's eyes widened, and after a while, he bowed to the boy on the horse, "I'm sorry, Your Highness. Please accept my surrender." He took off his saber and his gloves Hold them high together.

The boy waved his hand, and the knight took the glove and sword from the baron. "I accept your surrender, and you will receive corresponding treatment from nobles, as will your subordinates." After finishing speaking, the boy turned his horse and galloped towards the castle.