I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 95 The King Comes to Dunkirk (middle)

Although it could be seen from the window, Viscount Turenne would not have placed the English army so close to the king, so all the king saw was a row of red dots - they were in the middle of the town. In addition, training in the flat middle of the hills, the king took the telescope sent by Viscount Turenne and put it in front of his eyes to see the Englishmen - they were uniformly dressed, wearing red coats, yellow shoulder straps, gray Flip-brimmed hats and grey trousers, and brown boots, their formation was neat and firm, without laughter or laxity, much better than the French army.

   "Are these infantry?" asked the king.

   "Yes, Your Majesty," said Viscount Turenne.

   "Mr. Cromwell is quite generous indeed," said the king sarcastically, returning the telescope to Viscount Turenne. "Cromwell's new model army is said to have only more than 14,000 infantry soldiers, and he is willing to give nearly half of us... Of course, the price he asked for is quite high." He pondered for a while: "Viscount Sir, may I ask you to do something for me?"

   "At your command, Your Majesty," said Viscount Turenne.

   "I hope you can invite someone for me at tonight's banquet."

   "Who has this honor?"

   "The supreme general of this army."

Viscount Turenne hesitated for a moment, because in his opinion, although the officer was also a nobleman, he had not yet met the qualifications to have dinner with the king, but Louis had already said so and vowed not to betray the king again. And Viscount Turenne, who obeyed any of his will, would not object - just slightly suspicious, the king noticed it too, and put his hand on Turenne's shoulder (satisfied to see himself making this The movement is not difficult), "My worthy sir," said he, "don't think that I should value a foreigner over a Frenchman," said the king comfortingly: "I only want to know what kind of man he is, and This point, conveyed and described by others, may be false, so I must see him with my own eyes."

   "I can boldly ask..."

   "Certainly, Mr. Viscount," the king explained mildly, "you know that the bill of exchange I just gave you is not the full reward for the English."

   "Yes, Your Majesty, I have heard a little."

"I must admit that I have always been reluctant to admit that the pseudo-rule of Oliver Cromwell has caused some trouble for our bishop," said the king, pointing to the bills of exchange: "so these can be said to have been ordered by Cromwell. In return for the messenger's additional offer, what the British demanded from the beginning, and has never changed, is Dunkirk - the city."

Viscount Turenne was silent for a few seconds, and the king saw a look of shame on his face, only to realize that the general had misunderstood what he meant - of course, for Viscount Turenne, this genius in the army, political and political For the mortals above, it is really shameful to have to use the army of another country to seize the city that originally belonged to France, but the king will not blame his generals for this. It is the so-called best hunter without horses and Dogs, don't even try to chase down foxes - without soldiers and officers, Viscount Turenne can't conjure up enough troops no matter how perfect he is, and he is not God.

"I mean," the king put his hand on the back of the elder, who was enough to be his father, "Mr. Viscount, these six thousand soldiers are not only for the capture of Dunkirk, but also for the occupation of Dunkirk. Erke's."

   "Your Majesty?"

"When we capture Dunkirk, according to the agreement, it will belong to the British... Of course, Cromwell chose France from Spain and us because he believed that Spain was now Britain's biggest enemy— Dunkirk was a port and a fortress for Spanish privateers, and you know, most of the prey of Spanish privateers was the British fleet - so Dunkirk he A must.

   So, in order to avoid trouble, he must be stationed here, so what could be more confident and logical than the soldiers of the new model army who have achieved great results in this battle? "

The king patted Viscount Turenne on the back soothingly: "I heard that they have handed over the command of these six thousand soldiers to you, so I hope that you can understand them as much as possible, master them, especially They are their officers and generals." Having said this, the king said as if to himself: "After all, I don't know when they will become our enemies again?"

  ——

  Since the king said so, or because he said so heartily to Viscount Turenne, Viscount Turenne was bound to complete the task assigned by the king and invited this officer to the dinner.

But to be honest, the officer was unwilling to accept this honor from the bottom of his heart. The British and the French have been enemies for a hundred years, and I am afraid that they will continue to do so. This time, in order to fight against the common The enemy Spain walked together, but no one knows what the future will hold, but during the time Viscount Turenne was with them, he did conquer many people with his charm, including him, and this time Viscount The gentleman also brought the bill of exchange that the king entrusted him to bring - he thought that he would have to wait until the end of the war, and maybe it would take a while to get it, which made him and his soldiers a lot more at ease, at least, if the war was over If they die in the middle, their children and parents can get pensions and stipends.

So after hesitating for a while, he still accepted the king's invitation and set off immediately, arriving at the king's palace ahead of time to show his respect to the king of France. Turenne introduced him to the king, and he respectfully did so. Li, who was probably only a little older than Louis, with a young but serious face, but when he heard his surname, the king asked, "Is George Munch your father or uncle?"

   "Yes, Your Majesty," said the young gentleman, "he is my uncle."

   "How is he now?"

   "He is now Governor of Scotland," replied Mr. Munch.

The king nodded, and they took their seats. Mr. Munch's seat was on the right hand side of Viscount Turenne. Of course, the "swimming quail" that was joking with Mr. Bishop before could not be served. They ate it seriously. A meal of fresh sea fish, shell eggs and bread. When Mr. Munch found out that the king had been paying attention to his uniform, he had to ask his majesty if there was something wrong with him?

"I just see that you don't seem to be the same colour as the other officers, they are grey and you are blue, is it because of your position or something? Of course, if that makes you uncomfortable, you can No need to answer, I'm just curious."

"Oh," said Mr. Munk, "there is nothing that cannot be answered, Your Majesty, the reason why my trousers and cap are blue is that I was once the personal soldier of Commander Thomas Fairfax, Although he has resigned now, even in memory of him, Your Majesty, I still think I am his soldier."

   "You are a loyal man," said the king.

  Mr. Munch bowed his head humbly and proudly, and accepted the king's praise.

  ——

  The king's admiration for this Mr. Munch undoubtedly attracted the attention of Mr. Bishop. There is not much separation between him and the king now, so he asked directly when he was doing vespers.

   "You can say that this young officer is a treasure boy," said the king.

   Mr. Bishop's expression suddenly became strange. Fortunately, he has recently become accustomed to the king's strange words, "Why do you say that? Because of his surname?"

It is true that George Munch was in the hands of the British Parliament and the army, but as he faced the king's army (Charles I's army) several times, he had to retire to Devon, and later Oliver Clen Will felt that he was still trustworthy, insisted on his promotion to the position of Admiral, and won a great victory in the first Anglo-Dutch War - now he is at his best, even his son and nephew. Possibly bought by the French.

"No, I didn't plan on that," said Louie. "The name Munch does deserve our attention, but I'm concerned about Fairfax, who voted against the decision whether or not Charles I should be executed, and it was a clear-cut. "

   "He is now in the countryside for retirement."

"Since he can leave, he can go back." Louis turned around: "If Thomas Fairfax can return to the center of power in England, then it is Cromwell who is troubled - in 1640, the Renwell was only a squire councillor, Fairfax had inherited his father's title and was a baron; when the New Model Army was established, he was the commander-in-chief, Cromwell was only a lieutenant general, he The prestige in the army is also higher than that of Cromwell, and so are the victories and experience; if not for the fact that the cavalry in the New Model Army is almost all from Cromwell's supporters, and in the so-called Equality Act incident I fell into Cromwell's trick, and finally, when discussing the expedition to Scotland, I had a big quarrel with the former and resigned in anger, and now we are not necessarily dealing with Oliver Cromwell."

   "But that doesn't mean he intends to restore the kingship."

   "He maintains the due respect for kingship, and that is enough, Mr. Bishop."

   "Do you still intend for Charles II to regain his throne?"

   "Yes, Mr. Bishop."

   "But what good is it for us?"

   "When France must face an enemy, Mr. Bishop, to choose between Cromwell and Charles II, who will you choose?"

  Louis closed the Bible.

   "Charlie, of course Charlie."

   (end of this chapter)