Chapter 626: The Anglo-French War Restarts
The next morning, Poland and Brandenburg fought again. This time, Władysław personally led the cavalry to charge, and he vowed to wash away the shame of the past few years.
"This is our last battle, and the glory of Poland and Lithuania is guarded by us. Follow God's will and attack the enemy!!!"
Władysław took the lead and led the Polish cavalry to Brandenburg's defensive position. Seeing this situation, Vlad was a little shocked.
"It seems that this is his last fight, artillery ready, fire!"
The artillery fired at the charging cavalry, followed by muskets. There were cavalrymen around Władysław who fell off their horses, but he still charged to the opposite side.
Bang! A bullet shot into the king's body, and Władysław fell off his horse. He looked at the sky and had never been so calm. He saw a white light, was it God?
A generation of kings died on the battlefield, this should be the best ending for Władysław. Brandenburg immediately launched a counterattack, the Polish army was defeated, and the remnants fled back to Warsaw.
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In Paris, England, the vast Frankish land under the rule of Stefan tended to be stable. The people felt that there was nothing wrong with being under British rule. Except for the old nobles and the Catholic Church, Stefan could still rule.
For the conquest of Eastern Europe by his three brothers, the younger brother felt a little sorry that he could not help much. He had nothing to help, so he might as well destroy France.
After capturing Paris, Stefan made the reconstruction of order in Normandy a top priority. In order to encourage the arrest of bandits, he introduced a reward system. Anyone who handed over bandits to the judicial authorities and completed the trial, conviction and execution process would receive a reward of 20 pounds for each person handed over. The informant was also allowed to keep all the property of the criminal, so hunting trophies was a lucrative business.
At this time, a coup took place in France. Charles VI was imprisoned in a monastery, and the crown prince ascended the throne and was called Charles VII. With the help of a group of French loyalists, he became king in Bourges in southern France, and France was divided into north and south. The poor financial situation made Charles VII heavily in debt. Because he had no money to pay the shoemaker, the shoemaker took off the leather leggings he had just put on him and took them away.
In addition, he owed many debts. The creditors included court ministers and nobles, butchers, fishermen, cooks, and even his own personal servants, who also took the lead in making counterfeit money. For a while, Charles VII was so poor that he sold castles just to repay 16,000 livres. Without the coronation in Reims Cathedral, Charles VII's throne was not legitimate. Those who did not respect Charles VII laughed at him for being a Bourges king and not qualified to inherit the French throne. The political identity veto made Charles VII frightened, fearing that he would be driven out or murdered one day. But he was also strong, and he clearly stated in his diplomatic letters that he wanted to restore France. He lowered his status to visit some wandering officials who had been expelled from their posts by the English and Burgundian authorities after the fall of northern France. Charles VII's sincere invitation made them come out again to help the king rebuild the political center, which made the Bourges court quite rejuvenated.
He began to discuss with the Scots and Castilians to form an 8,000-man coalition army to drive the English out of France at the beginning of the new year. He vowed to fight all the way back to Reims and continue the tradition of French kings for centuries to be crowned in Reims Cathedral.
Stefan's plan was equally ambitious: he wanted to eliminate the remaining Orleans garrisons on the Normandy border and expand southward to Anjou, Maine and Dreux to ensure the security of the border.
In Paris, the plot to surrender the city to Charles VII was exposed. A priest took a walk in his garden outside the city in the early morning and noticed that the wife of the royal armorer was talking secretly with several soldiers. He reported the incident to the guards at the gates, and the woman was arrested. She was found to be carrying letters from the king to a spy in Paris, so she and her accomplices were thrown into the river and killed.
In the face of these challenges, Stephan remained vigilant. He ordered all soldiers to return to their garrisons immediately and asked the Norman subjects to gather with their weapons. It was forbidden to go to Mount St. Michael in the name of pilgrimage, which was often an excuse for illegal transactions with local enemy forces. Suspected people in Paris were imprisoned in one place, and everyone in the city, including "citizens, landlords, coachmen, shepherds, shepherds, monasteries pig breeders, maids and monks" were required to swear allegiance to England and the King of the Franks.
Stephan was now determined to make war on the enemy. At the king's strong request, the British Parliament approved a tax of 450,000 pounds. The Earl of Salisbury was appointed as the administrator of the Champagne Province and began a systematic cleanup of the Orleanist fortresses between Paris and Chartres. Le Crotoy surrendered to the English in accordance with the agreement reached earlier. Twelve days later, Compiègne agreed to surrender.
Charles VII recruited a powerful force in Tours: French troops from Anjou and Maine, nominally led by the Duke of Alençon, but actually commanded by the experienced Jean de Acourt, Count of Aumale, and 10,000 Scots; he also hired 2,000 heavy cavalry from Milan.
Stephen also received assistance, and the Prince of Wales brought 2,000 soldiers from England. At the same time, he issued a general mobilization for war in Normandy, summoning all those who received land and weapons from the royal family. The Orthodox Church also summoned 1,000 people from Ireland. According to estimates, Stephen would have 10,000 soldiers in the end.
Stephane personally led his troops to Verneuil. They found some Scotsmen who could speak English, tied them up, whipped them until they bled, and sent them back on horseback as if they were in prison. When these people arrived at the city of Verneuil, they shouted loudly in English, lamenting their fate and crying that their army was annihilated. The terrified citizens saw them like this and believed that everything was over. So they opened the city and surrendered to Stephane.
When Charles VII heard that Verneuil had surrendered, he led a large army to wait for Stephane in the wilderness north of the city. The choice of this place to fight was to maximize the advantages of the Milanese cavalry, who were wearing heavy armor and could rush forward before the English archers fired a deadly rain of arrows.