Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1470

"No, we must continue to march towards the city of London! Yes, our king's army suffered heavy losses, but the parliamentary army's losses may be greater than ours. They lost a lot of cavalry and artillery. And their infantry is just a group of rabble, cannot continue to pose a great threat to us."

"If we approach the City of London, our prestige will be greatly improved. The royalist gentry and nobles everywhere will think that we have the ability to capture the City of London and at the same time shake the House. On the contrary, if we do not form a siege to the City of London as soon as possible If the parliament can gain a firm foothold in the city of London, it is very likely that they will recruit more troops from the southeastern counties, and the war will be protracted!"

One of Sun Chuanting and Astley was an officer from the East, and the other was an officer from the West. When King Charles I was about to retreat, they also strongly advocated continuing to march towards London.

Charlie hesitated, he had already missed the chance to make a decisive battle in the Battle of Mount Edge.The current situation is really not favorable for the king's army. If they continue to march towards the city of London, they may be surrounded by the parliamentary army!

"What is the opinion of Earl Lindsay?" Charles I asked the great nobleman who resigned the title of commander-in-chief before the war.

"Earl Lindsay is dead."

"so……"

Charles I's scalp was numb.He originally thought that the king and the great nobles would be spared in the war, but the tragedy of the war sometimes makes people ignore the noble status of the other party. After all, bullets don't have eyes, so who knows whether it is the noble or the king who was shot.In other words, even as a king, it is very likely that he will be killed by unknown pawns in the chaos.

"Your Majesty, please give an order to proceed to London." Sun Chuanting said.

"So how to solve the problem of morale? We have more and more deserters." Charles I asked.

"King, you can promise to the soldiers that once you return to the city of London, you will auction off the land of the MPs who oppose you, and use the income from the land as military pay. This way you can gather people's hearts." Astley said.

After the draw with the parliamentary army in the battle, Charles I had done nothing wrong, so he took Sun Chuanting and Astley as military advisors, and could only choose to trust them.

At dawn the next day, after the king's army counted their numbers, they found that one-third of the infantry and many royalist nobles and knights left the army without permission in the dark. The number of the king's army dropped from 14000 to less than 1000.

Many of the recruited farmers didn't know what they were doing here, and they didn't even know the cruelty of war.

However, many of the officers of the King’s Army and the Parliamentary Army were soldiers who had participated in fierce battles on the European continent. They were lined up according to the lines of the Netherlands or Sweden, and the intensity of the battle was similar to that of the European continent. The mental capacity of the peaceful native British farmers could not bear it, and many of them fled without permission after a brutal battle that made them vomit.

Even the king couldn't contain these fleeing nobles and peasants.These nobles and peasants came here voluntarily, and they could not try and execute deserters like a standing army.

The number of the king's army was less than 10000. Charles I originally planned to go to Wales to regain his strength, but under the influence of Sun Chuanting and Astley, he changed his determination and secretly marched towards London!

The parliamentary army seemed to be satisfied with the record of severely injuring the king's army. The commander-in-chief of the parliamentary army, Essex, was satisfied with the existing results and moved the base camp westward to Warwickshire, giving the king's army a chance to breathe.

He didn't even know that when he retreated to the west to recuperate, instead of retreating, the king's army continued to march secretly!
"Our rear guard has arrived. We now have 3 more infantry regiments, 11 cavalry squadrons, and 7 artillery pieces. We can continue to fight the king until we eliminate them!"

Cromwell came to the Earl of Essex's room and found the Earl of Essex who was content with the status quo.

He felt that the Earl of Essex was not courageous enough, and he fought against the king's army in a completely restrained state.

"Cromwell, you should understand that we have suffered more casualties in this battle, and the officers and soldiers are very tired. The officers and soldiers under the king should be similar. They also need to rest and recuperate, and they may withdraw to Wales or Supplies in the southwestern counties. We can organize more troops during this period and threaten the king to compromise with us." said the Earl of Essex.

"My lord, I doubt that you dare to defeat the king at all. You are worried about the identity of the king, and you are afraid that he will settle accounts later, so you are timid, and even transferred the army here after the battle, instead of fighting with His Majesty the king. Knock to the end. In the battle of Edge Mountain, we obviously joined the rearguard soon, and the losses in the battle were made up for. If we continue to fight the king, the king's army will collapse soon!" Cromwell slapped the table and The Earls of Essex dispute.

"Marching and fighting is not just a matter of comparing the number of people. You have to consider many factors such as morale and people's hearts. You have never been on the battlefield and don't understand these principles. I can forgive your rude behavior. Please don't say too much." The Earl of Essex scoffed at Cromwell.

Having served in the Netherlands, he believed that Cromwell was just a member of parliament, and he became an officer with his credit for arresting the Earl of Stratford, without any military talent.Although Cromwell captured the king's royal banner in this battle, he actually made a lot of contributions... But in the eyes of the Earl of Essex, he is still just a member of parliament on paper.

"My lord, you will regret your actions! If the king continues to lead the army to march towards the city of London, our parliamentary army may lose its morale and fall into a greater crisis! Many counties that remain neutral will even see the king's situation If everything is good and you choose to support the king, the war will last for a long time, even several years is unknown."

"The king's army has suffered heavy losses and is far away from the counties that support the king. How could they choose to continue marching towards London? Don't be alarmist." The Earl of Essex couldn't believe it.

However, King Charles I really took advantage of the westward retreat of the parliamentary army to gather troops and quietly marched towards London.

Only 6 days before the Battle of Mount Edge, the surprisingly victorious King's Army captured Oxford, obtained sufficient supplies from the city, and stabilized the morale of the army.

Only at this time did the Earl of Essex, who knew that the king's army did not retreat but continued to advance, regretted it too late!He hurriedly led the army to continue to pursue the king's army heading east.

On the 13th day after the capture of Oxford, Sun Chuanting and Astley personally led the army to capture Brentford, which is only 7 miles away from the city of London. The city of London is in a hurry!
(End of this chapter)