The British army officially sent troops and landed in Ireland soon spread to France and Scotland. Although King James IV of Scotland was the son-in-law of Henry VII, he sent troops south without hesitation to take an offensive posture at the Great Wall of Hadrian, the dividing line between England and Scotland, and threaten England.
Although Henry VII's eldest daughter, Margaret, Queen of Scotland, was very dissatisfied, James IV knew very well that England was definitely the enemy of life and death of Scotland. If England became stronger endlessly, Scotland would inevitably be unified by England. Moreover, before, Scotland was unified by England.
This time, the British transferred all the main forces to the Ireland Island, and James IV felt that the opportunity was rare. If the British army retreated their troops in time, then he would take the troops back as if nothing had happened. But if the British continued to attack Edward, then he also planned to invade England, at least, he would go to loot the big cities in northern England such as Newcastle.
As for France, countermeasures were also taken quickly. Originally, Louis XII planned to send a fleet to the mouth of the Thames to threaten London. However, French ministers believed that the French fleet was too poor. If they failed to block London, they would be pressed to the ground and rubbed by the British fleet, it would be more than worth the loss.
At this time, the French officer Jean Paul, who happened to return from Ireland to rest, stood up and suggested that - it would be better to take advantage of the British main force to go to Ireland and send troops to capture the British last foothold in the European continent - Calais Fortress...
Jean Paul's suggestion was appreciated by King Louis XII. So, only the knight Jean Paul was summoned by the Dharma King.
"See my king!" Jean Paul performed the knightly ceremony of kneeling on one knee. After all, the king he met. Therefore, he adopted the highest etiquette to worship.
"Get up and tell me why I suggest you attack Calais?"
"Your Majesty, I have followed Edward Earl of Warwick before and participated in the battle to conquer Wicklow, the strong city of Ireland, and learned a new method of siege. If you use this method, it will be no problem to take the Calais Fortress, and it will only take one or two days!"
Louis XII was shocked, and then, as if he had remembered something:
"Is it... the Spanish did the way to break through the city of Naples?"
"That's right, this method is actually very simple. It was invented by Marin Hoffman, the Count of East Friesland of the Holy Roman Empire. At the beginning, he used this method and swept across the Principality of Holstein and Schleswig in Denmark at a very fast speed, and took more than a dozen cities in a row. Each time he attacked the city, it took no more than three days."
"When I was fighting in Ireland, I heard that the Dutch North Sea Chamber of Commerce invited a Danish soldier and asked him to demonstrate this simple, rough and timely effective way of siege. Under the bombardment of 20 heavy artillery provided by the North Sea Chamber of Commerce, a hole soon appeared in the Wicklossi Gate. Then, the Danish soldier, carrying a door panel and carrying a powder barrel, ran into the city gate hole..."
"Wait...what did that Danish soldier carry the door panel?" Louis XII did not know much about this tactic, so he asked this question.
"Beware of attacks on the city head, just put the door panel on your head. Unless the opponent uses a large stone or heavy iron ball, it can open the defense of the door panel and injure the person in the powder barrel. Otherwise, ordinary bows and arrows will not reach the person under the door panel at all."
"So that's the case, it's a good idea..."
"Then, the blaster arrived in front of the city gate, stuffed the powder barrel into the hole in the city gate, and found a way to bury the powder barrel deeper. In this way, it is said that the blaster was even more powerful. Then, the blaster ignited the fuse, then held the door panel and quickly escaped from the scene. Soon, the city gate was blown up..."
"Well... this method is indeed powerful. If the enemy uses it to attack French cities, it is indeed very fierce. I wonder if there is any way to crack it?"
"Yes, it is said that by changing the city gate to a large iron gate, you can withstand the impact of iron ball shells. As long as the city gate has no holes, there will be no place to bury the powder barrels, and you will not be able to blow up the city gate!" This is what a "Denmark soldier" named "Jonathan" told him. Of course, it is also the truth.
"There is no way to replace the city gate with an iron gate?"
"No, the British did not seem to pay attention to this point yet. Moreover, I sent my servants to the Calais Fortress and found that there was no iron gate there yet. So I dared to make this suggestion."
"That's great. I'm ready to send troops to take down the Calais Fortress and completely drive the British out of the sea!"
"Your Majesty is wise. This time, the British have no time and no troops to reinforce the Calais Fortress. By then, the British have no foothold and will not pose a threat to France!"
...
Soon, King Louis XII of France mobilized 10,000 troops to send troops to the Calais Fortress. With France's strong national strength, it was much faster than the British. Moreover, because there was a way to fight quickly, King Louis XVI of France did not use to prepare so much food and grass. The only thing that needed to be prepared was probably enough gunpowder and shells. After all, bombarding the city gates required a lot of gunpowder and shells. France was not short of artillery. Although they were all small-caliber artillery, it was enough to pull hundreds of them over. In this way, the 10,000 French troops quickly launched from Paris with 100 artillery.
At this time, there were only 3,000 defenders in the Calais Fortress. Generally speaking, with these 3,000 defenders, even if they face 10,000 enemy troops, they could hold on for several months. What's more, the British could continuously launch support from the sea to the north of the Calais Fortress. Therefore, under normal circumstances, even if there are 20,000 French troops, they may not be able to conquer them.
However, the current situation is very abnormal. Because the main force of the British army has been released and went to Ireland. At this time, there were only a few thousand defenders from London in the UK. Moreover, these thousands of people in London are definitely not able to move. If they move, if they fail, then London will be an empty city.
Therefore, at this time, there are no reinforcements to be dispatched by Calais Fortress...
When the French army arrived, although the Calais Fortress sent a fast ship for help, the far water could not save the near fire...
In just two days, the French used hundreds of small cannons to smash a hole in the south gate of the Calais Fortress. Then, Paul asked a strong obedient, and with the door panel and the powder barrel on his back, he exploded the city gate of the Calais Fortress...
Chapter completed!