Chapter 228: The situation in Ireland
On the island of Ireland, after capturing the entire McMurrow dynasty, Count Edward's army repaired for a period of time and did not immediately attack Dublin. Instead, he waited for the British royal family ’s forage ship to collect the autumn food from the Irish royal territory (ThePale) before attacking.
The British were not too concerned about the island of Ireland at this time. Even in the royal territory, Henry VII was handed over to the Earl of Kildare, one of the three major counts left after the Norman conquest on the island Plenipotentiary rule.
Therefore, the Royal Family of England hardly manages the island of Ireland. Every year, only when the autumn food is collected, ships are sent on a large scale. Usually, unless a big thing happens, a boat will be sent to spread the word. Then, the merchant ships of some merchants came to Ireland to do business.
After the British royal collection ship left, Earl Edward sent a letter to France and Scotland inviting them to start intercepting any ship that wanted to enter or leave Ireland on the east side of the Irish island. Even fishing vessels are only allowed to fish in the offshore waters, and it is strictly forbidden to leave the coast.
Then, taking advantage of the local inattentiveness, Count Edward, under the banner of the recently annihilated Kingdom of Leinster McMurray, raided Dublin on Christmas Day 1503.
Because it was Christmas, the defenders in Dublin were unprepared. Even the Earl of Kildare, because of Christmas, ran back to his territory for the holidays.
Even Count Edward ’s army, without using the artillery bombardment + gunpowder barrel to explode the door, sent someone to climb the city wall with a ladder, and easily captured Dublin, the largest city on the Irish island.
It's no wonder that Europeans 'Christmas is as important as Orientals' Spring Festival, and even more important than New Year's. On this day, no one is going to work, and the shops are closed. Even many soldiers returned home on vacation, and few people on the walls were defending.
This tradition of holidaying soldiers on holidays will not be cancelled in the military of various countries until the devils attack the Pearl Harbor. Instead, even in major festivals, the armed forces of all regions will maintain alertness, even higher than usual.
Because it is a traversal from later generations, Marin naturally realized this. Therefore, in the East Frisian Army, on duty every holiday, staff will be arranged on duty day and night.
However, other troops belonging to this era do not have this tradition.
When Marin sent the "Danish Jonathan" Sahi in the Count Edward's army, he suggested to Count Edward that when he raided Dublin on Christmas Day, he was met with opposition from the whole army, thinking it was a deprivation of soldiers for Christmas s right.
However, Earl Edward believed that the Christmas raid could indeed be unexpected and reduce siege losses. Therefore, he strongly supported Sahi's approach.
Sure enough, on Christmas Day, when the Count Edward's army entered the kingdom directly under the King, there was no resistance at all. Even though the army was driving under the city of Dublin, there were few defenders above the city. In this way, after spending a small price, the Count Edward's army occupied Dublin.
Then, after taking control of Dublin, Earl Edward adopted Sahi ’s advice, and after leaving some defenders to control Dublin, he took most of the army to the Kingdom of Kildare, not far west of the royal territory. Attack Ness, the capital of Kildare.
The news that Earl Edward's army captured Dublin seemed to have alarmed Kildare. Gerald Fitzgerald, the eighth generation Earl of Kildare, received a report on the contribution of Dublin. It seems that he is gathering soldiers and horses, intending to retake Dublin.
Probably afraid of the King's punishment, Count Gerald did not send someone to find a boat to ask the King for help, but planned to go it alone and regain Dublin's atonement.
In addition, Gerald did not ask for help from neighbor Ormond. Because, when Henry VII appointed the Earl of Kildare as the sole governor of Ireland, and replaced the original three counts, the administration of the Count of Ormond and Desmond broke down with Kildare. Too. Therefore, even if Gerald goes to help, there will be no good results. Even if you ask the other party to help, you will need to pay an unimaginably high price.
Moreover, Gerald Intelligence also made mistakes. He thought that the attack on Dublin was the McMurrow dynasty that was next to Dublin's Leinster Kingdom, so he didn't take the enemy's eyes at all. Because, Earl Gerald looked down upon the fighting power of the indigenous army on the island of Ireland. He believes that the reason why Dublin lost its ground is because the enemy succeeded in the absence of defense in Dublin City at Christmas. If it is a head-to-head battle, the army of the McMurrow dynasty, even the Kildare army can't beat ...
It is a pity that, in fact, it was not the indigenous Irish army that Count Gerald believed that attacked Dublin, but the elite French mercenaries, Swiss mercenaries and Scottish highland infantry ...
These troops are also among the top-ranked in terms of combat effectiveness in Europe, and they are stronger than the main fighting power of the British army. So, the Earl of Gerald was tragic ...
The 5,000-strong army led by Earl Edward met in a village in the Kildare Kingdom with the more than 3,000 Kildare forces led by Gerald and intending to retake Dublin ...
Kildare's army still belongs to the most primitive feudal army. It is mainly composed of 300 elite knight servants led by 50 knights in Kildare, 1,000 regular infantry and 1800 conscripts. The combat effectiveness of such an army cannot be compared with that of French professional soldiers, Swiss mercenaries and Scotland's most elite highland infantry. They bully most of the indigenous army on the island of Ireland to fight against Europe's top army ...
The battle was worth half a day, and the outcome was decided. Two thousand Swiss spearmen lined up directly into a phalanx and launched an active attack on Kildare's army. In just two rounds, the 50 knights and 300 elite knight servants under the Earl of Kildare killed 23 knights and 150 knight servants. After the remaining knights and knight-servants fled their horses, the Swiss mercenaries did not stop and directly killed the 1,000 regular infantry directly under the Earl of Kildare ...
The Swiss spearmen are the king of European infantry (not Marin's army). Isn't the so-called regular infantry that has abused its Kildarebes still within reach? One hour later, the regular infantry of Kildarebo lost half of its men, and the rest ran away. The Earl Gerald could not stop his escape.
Even the master knights and regular infantry are defeated. Those recruiters still have the courage to fight? You know, Earl Edward only dispatched Swiss mercenaries, but French mercenaries and Scottish mercenaries have not yet dispatched.
In desperation, Count Gerald, with the remaining knights, knight servants, and conscripts, retreated into the small village on the side, attempting to resist the corner.
However, there is no solid wall in the village, only some wooden fences. If the attacking enemy is a cold weapon unit, it can indeed stand firm. However, there is artillery in the army of Count Edward ...
In front of the iron ball shells, those wooden fences are no different from paper paste ...
Before dark, Count Gerald saw that the general trend was gone and had to surrender Count Edward ...
For a period of time ~ www.wuxiaspot.com ~ Count Edward sent a large army, sweeping Kildare, and the Kingdom of Kings. In this way, Earl Edward owns a large area of land with a total area of almost 15,000 square kilometers.
The next time is the stage of repairing the city and waiting for the British army to attack.
Over time, the British will definitely be able to discover the changes on the island of Ireland. At that time, Henry VII will certainly not allow Count Edward to occupy the island of Ireland, and will inevitably send a large army to attack.
What Earl Edward had to do was to stick to big cities such as Dublin and Wicklow, repel the British counterattack, and stabilize the rule of Ireland.
Of course, Count Edward was not alone in the fight. When the British army invaded the Irish island, the French promised that they would send a fleet to the Thames estuary, threatening the city of London. At the same time, the Kingdom of Scotland will gather troops to go to the border between Scotland and England, to pressure England and force the British to withdraw their troops ...
As long as he survived this wave, Count Edward will have a firm foothold on the island of Ireland and will become bigger and stronger, becoming a powerful force that truly threatens Henry VII. And this is exactly what France and Scotland, which are hostile to England, are most willing to see ...
