At 11 o'clock at noon, the remaining enemies on the sea were cleared, and the second echelon of the French Army left the Calais port.
The southwest wind blew the sails, allowing the fleet to sail north at a speed of five knots.
After a long time, a looming white line appeared in the north, and the distance shortened. What the crew saw was a pure white sea cliff that stretched for several miles and was about a hundred steps high. The top of the sea cliff was covered with dense lawns, and a herder was grazing goats. A bonfire not far away was lit to inform the inland of the enemy's incoming attack.
"White Cliffs of Dover, every time I see it, there is always an indescribable shock."
The Duke stood on the bow deck of the ship, admiring this unique view of nature.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the outline of Port of Dover appeared ahead. The place was heavily guarded, with more than thirty coastal defense guns deployed, posing a very high threat to the fleet.
The fleet did not attack Dover, sailed north along the coast, and arrived at Ramsgate before sunset.
This is a small fishing village with less than 200 households and no walls or coastal defense guns, so it became a landing site.
In the Duke's sight, the fishing village had changed beyond recognition. French Army, the first group to land, dug two trenches on the outside and installed many additional spiked wooden stakes to separate it from the land.
There were so many French Army that the two hundred farmhouses could not accommodate everyone. Ordinary soldiers could only camp in the open space inside the trenches. The tents were laid out in a messy manner, like a temporary rural market.
The dock facilities in the fishing village are poor and it is difficult to berth large ships. The Duke and Rimon can only transfer to Longboat and stagger towards the coast.
The sun has set, and the fishing village is lit up with dots of lights. Due to many days of rain, the ground is muddy, and sewage flows freely, exuding a stench.
The Duke and his party walked on the soft mud towards the center of the village and saw Jeanne Duck who was suffering from a cold.
Jeanne was not the only one who got sick. Among the first batch of 10,000 soldiers who landed, less than 600 people were lost in battle, but 1,000 people fell down due to various diseases.
Jeanne explained the current battle situation, "The rainy weather has delayed the enemy's advance. Three days ago, 15,000 enemies arrived nearby. When the battle between the two armies was tense, a heavy rain forced the enemy to retreat and go to Sandwich in the southwest to take shelter from the rain.
The rain stopped today, and the enemy resumed their tentative attack, and is expected to launch a large-scale offensive tomorrow. However, your arrival has changed the situation. If the enemy continues to attack, I am confident that I can defeat them. Ahem..."
The army is in poor condition, and Rimon plans to remain on the defensive in the next few days, waiting for the last group of troops to arrive.
October On the third day, it started to rain lightly again, and England people withdrew Sandwich again.
Throughout the morning, French Army soldiers rowed the famous dinghy in the rain, going back and forth between the fleet and the coast, transporting personnel, supplies and war horses.
At noon, the rain stopped, and Rimon ordered some soldiers to dig a third trench to make more space for camping. The remaining soldiers went to the forest to cut down trees and obtain fuel and building materials.
Next, Rimon was busy building camps and trestles. Although he had more people than England's army, he did not take the initiative to attack. Now he pursues safety. As long as the third echelon arrives, the battle will basically be won.
October On the eighth day, the transport fleet brought the last batch of soldiers and the heavy artillery needed to siege the city.
Duke of York watched Firearms Corps from the French Army come ashore one after another, and couldn't help but be overjoyed:
"Henry VI's prestige is far inferior to that of his father. More than half of the nobles in the country dislike Lancaster. Sandwich's fifteen thousand men is almost the mobilization limit of the opposite side. It is impossible to have more troops."
Beside him, Rimon remained silent, with a trace of worry flashing across his face.
Duke of York was confused. "Marshal, what are you worried about?"
Rimon: "The British commanders are not idiots. Their numbers lag behind ours and they will definitely retreat to cities suitable for defense, such as Canterbury and London, forcing us to launch sieges in winter and continue to deplete our troops.
In the past two days, Jeanne has been worried about this issue. In order to end this war as soon as possible, she set off early yesterday and ambush the enemy in the forest on the way to Canterbury. By estimating the time, they have arrived at the designated location."
At nine o'clock in the morning, a rider came to report that we had blocked the enemy's army and that the two sides were fighting fiercely.
After receiving the news, French Army of Ramsgate headed west. Duke of York did not want to miss this decisive moment and led some mercenaries to follow.
From Ramsgate to the ambush site, which is about twelve miles away, Rimon asked three thousand light cavalry to go west first, and the remaining troops accelerated their pace, striving to reach the battlefield within five hours.
The sky was gloomy, with thick clouds like a piece of washed gray woolen cloth. There were large areas of exposed gray-brown land on both sides of the road. Some of the land was planted with spring crops and had been harvested not long ago, leaving behind neat wheat stubble. Some of the land was sown with winter wheat, but the seeds had not yet germinated.
The remaining land was in the fallow period and was used as a temporary grazing place. Some farmers drove their sheep to graze on the grassland. As a result, they were plundered by the French Army cavalry and the sheep were turned into trophies.
Rimon has ignored the issue of military discipline. After fighting for so many years, he has become numb to such things.
He came to the nearby high ground to observe the surroundings, but found no enemies. There was a smoking village a few miles to the south. The plunderers were mercenaries from Duke of York.
The team continued to march, walking silently among the gently rolling hills. At 12 noon, Rimon received news from the front line:
The British army abandoned their baggage and wounded, and most of them withdrew Canterbury.
Duke of York is unbelievable, "We won?"
Rimon:"It seems so."
More than half an hour later, sporadic corpses appeared in the field of vision. French Army light cavalry were searching for the property on the corpses. A few people fought over a certain England noble who died in the battle and did not hesitate to draw their swords.
Further forward, the number of corpses was increasing. The flag of House of Lancaster was randomly discarded on the ground. The flag was stepped into the dirty mud by the crowd. The pattern on it was a strange-looking Stag.
Although the emblem of this family is a red rose, the red rose flag appears less frequently. Henry VI uses his favorite Stag flag. "Stag" is white and the flag surface is blue.
The family emblem of York is a white rose. The Duke takes it as his symbol. The military flag and the robes of his confidants are all embroidered with a blooming white rose.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Rimon arrived at the scene of the decisive battle.
The road leads to Canterbury from west to east. The French Army position is located in the hills to the north of the road.
The Iris flag and the white flag of Jeanne himself were erected on the top of the hill, and twenty small artillery pieces were set up. Below the hill was the area where the battle was fiercest, with corpses scattered everywhere.
After listening to Jeanne's introduction, Rimon roughly understood the battle:
At the beginning of the war, French Army defeated some of the enemies. However, the numbers on the opposite side were too great, so Jeanne led his army to retreat to the hills and blocked the road with artillery.
Enemy soldiers could bypass the fields on both sides, but the baggage trains and artillery were too heavy and could only move on the road.
In order to ensure a smooth road, the England people attacked the hills twice in succession, but were repelled both times.
Before the British army launched the third attack, the commander knew that the France light cavalry was coming. He was forced to abandon the baggage trains and artillery on the road and hastily withdrew the Canterbury.
Canterbury is the largest settlement in Kent, with nearly five thousand residents. The earliest stone city wall was built in the third century AD. In the fourteenth century, the city wall was renovated and its defensive performance was improved.
That afternoon, when French Army was building Artillery's position, Duke of York sent people to the city to persuade them to surrender, but there was no response.
Rimon is unwilling to waste time and demands to attack the city immediately:
"England Rains frequently in autumn and winter. The weather is okay now, but if we delay further, we may not know which day it will rain again."
The target of the French Army artillery is the city wall in the southeast section. According to the confessions of prisoners of war, the condition here is poor. The royal family specially allocated funds for repairs some time ago, and there should be no time to complete the repairs.
The shelling lasted for two days, and Canterbury's city wall reached a critical point. A section of the wall began to collapse, and the permeating smoke and dust did not dissipate for a long time.
Rimon was relieved, "Fortunately England didn't learn Eastern Roman Empire's city building method, otherwise, we would have been delayed outside the city for at least a month."
He looked at the commando team that was ready to go, and when he was about to issue an order, an old cleric walked out of the city.
Duke of York panicked and shouted to Jeanne and Rimon: "Stop, this is Archbishop Canterbury!"
Within the England church, the Canterbury archbishop has the highest status, and his influence extends to most areas of England. According to tradition, if a duke wants to ascend the throne, he must be crowned by the Canterbury archbishop.
Rimon discussed quietly with several senior generals and agreed to postpone the siege.
When the news came out, the soldiers complained. The most noisy were the Duke's mercenaries. They raised their weapons and yelled. They did not take the bishop's authority into consideration and just wanted to go into the city and grab it.
A few minutes later, the bishop walked through the mud to the French Army formation and greeted everyone with Latin: "Duke, I didn't expect to see you and France guests on such an occasion."
Even after hearing the bishop's taunts, the Duke still kept smiling. He relied on the French Army's help to return to his homeland. This act offended many nobles and commoners, and he could no longer offend the church.
He came up with the rhetoric he had prepared. "Henry VI is suffering from mental illness, and power is controlled by traitorous officials. The reason why I raised the army is not for myself, but for the people, so that England can restore the original order."
While the Duke was defending, the Archbishop's eyes moved towards the light cavalry. Many of them had their waists filled with jewelry, and the backs of their saddles carried brightly colored cloths, some of which were stained with blood. Two thousand sheep followed behind the team.
What a disaster.
The archbishop proposed to surrender on behalf of the defenders and people in the city. The defenders were willing to join the Duke of York camp, and the people could provide some supplies.
In exchange, the generals must restrain the soldiers and prevent them from looting Canterbury.
Rimon looked at the dark clouds in the sky and felt that it was going to rain again. He did not want the soldiers to attack the city in the rain and continue to increase the number of patients, so he agreed to the surrender request.
By capturing Canterbury, the coalition forces finally gained a solid foothold. London is located in the Northwest direction of the city, 55 miles (89 kilometers) away, 3 to 4 days' journey away.
The top leaders of the coalition forces gathered together to discuss. Rimon's idea was to capture the southeast port of Sandwich and obtain more supplies and reinforcements from the country.
"The sea conditions in Atlantic Ocean are getting worse. I want to stock up on more supplies before winter comes. London is located to the north of the Thames River. The city is well defended and no one knows how long it will be besieged. If the war situation is unfavorable, we can spend the winter in Canterbury and make plans next spring."
Duke of York opposed this approach, claiming that he had many friends in London who could open the city gate at critical moments.
"Duke, before the war started, you said you had friends in Dover and Sandwich, but they did not hand over the port, so we could only land at Ramsgate.
Not long ago, your friends at Canterbury were equally unreliable. It was not until the city wall collapsed and our army was about to launch an assault that the defenders were willing to surrender.
In the future, I guess your friends at London will be useless. Don't be too anxious and be patient. The war will last for a long time, but victory will eventually belong to us."
October On the 11th, Rimon began to attack Sandwich along the coast.
This town has stone walls and is a core member of "Cinque Ports" along with Dover and Hastings. The King of England formed this alliance in order to let them be responsible for coastal patrol and defense. In this way, the royal family no longer needs to directly control the navy, which can save a lot of expenses.
Sandwich faced the threat from the Europe mainland. The defense facilities were stronger than Canterbury. It took French Army five days to finally capture the town.
Just as Rimon was cleaning up the mess, news came from the north: Lancaster sent a messenger and brought a letter from the queen.
(England The queen is Margaret of House of Anjou. Her aunt Marie·de·Anjou is France Queen. Her father René I is King Naples and Duke Anjou, and holds many territories in France.)
After the disastrous defeat of Canterbury, Lancaster's available troops were less than five thousand, and there was still a large group of nobles in the country who were about to rebel, so they basically lost hope of continuing to resist.
Therefore, Margaret made a request for peace talks on behalf of the king:
1. Hand over Channel Islands (located at English Channel, closer to the France side, and under the control of England for a long time) and Isle of Wight (located at English Channel, less than two miles from Britain island).
Second, conclude a military alliance with France and sever relations with Burgundy, Brittany Principality.
Third, let the crown prince get engaged to a princess from France.
Rimon looked surprised after reading the Queen's letter. "I remember Henry VI has no children, who is the crown prince?"
The messenger told a piece of good news: on October 13, three days ago, the queen gave birth to a baby boy in Westminster, a western suburb of London, and Lancaster temporarily got rid of the situation of extinct heirs.
This is too coincidental.
Rimon clutched the letter and suddenly understood the reason why Duke of York was so impatient:
Lancaster can also provide the conditions offered by the Duke. If Lancaster's concessions are large enough, the French King may give up the Duke's Yorkist faction and support Lancaster instead.