My British Empire

  Chapter 456 Chapter 467 Negotiation

  The Duke of Guise took the remnant of the army and ran forward with all his brains, and he came to Elbeuf, a small town tens of kilometers away from Rouen.

   "Huhuhu—" Panting heavily, the Duke of Guise pinched his legs lightly, and the war horse under his crotch also stopped slowly, with white gas breathing from his nostrils.

   "Dong dong dong—" the Duke stopped, and finally many cavalrymen who followed him breathed a sigh of relief and stopped to rest for a while.

   "Have the Englishmen come after them?" The Duke of Guise rubbed his waist, panted, and asked about the cavalry commander around him.

   "No, the English are not chasing them anymore!" The cavalry commander glanced at the surrounding cavalry, and replied after receiving an affirmative answer.

   "That's good, Erdorf is ahead. Let everyone enter and take a break!"

   Glancing at the small town ahead, the Duke of Guise breathed a sigh of relief and ordered.

Afterwards, the cavalry followed the Duke of Guise and entered Eldorf, rested for a long time, and then continued to Paris until Vernon, which was close to the Ile-de-France region, was relieved. Already more than two hundred miles.

  Finally, the Duke of Guise counted, and the cavalry who ran out with him were only more than 1,100, and the infantry had just reached 1,000.

   That is to say, of the more than 10,000 people he brought over, only 2,000 people remained, a heavy loss!

   What makes the Duke even more distressing is that he has lost more than half of the thousands of elite veterans he brought with him. The price is too cruel!

   "Damn Rouen, **** English!" The Duke of Guise could not stop cursing in his heart.

   This is the biggest loss he has suffered since he led the army. Even in the face of the Spaniards, he has never suffered such a heavy blow. This is a huge blow to his prestige.

  At the same time, the news that England captured Normandy and Brittany at the same time began to prevail throughout France, and the entire French nobles, priests, and royal family panicked.

  The nobles are unwilling to have a strong monarch to control France again, and it is the barbaric Englishman who once slaughtered them.

  The priests, whether they are Catholics or Huguenots, they all know what England does, and even Henry VIII's approach. Even in terms of protecting faith and property, they are unwilling to be crowned by the English crowned by the French crown.

  Of course, the most fearful thing is the French royal family in a small country town at this time.

  French King Charles IX, although still young, was not too clear about the meaning behind the failure of the Duke of Guise and the loss of Brittany, but he understood that the crown on his head was in danger at this time.

  As the regent, Queen Catherine naturally understood what this meant with her political sense.

  So, at this moment, she understands that the civil war can no longer continue. At this time, France is facing the same situation as the Hundred Years War.

  So, she couldn't wait to start sending an invitation to the Catholic League and the Huguenots for peace talks, asking the two factions to put the interests of France first and join forces to drive the English out of France.

   City of Orleans.

  As the stronghold of the Huguenots, since the Duke of Guise left with part of the army, Prince Condé and Admiral Coligny who besieged Paris immediately withdrew their troops and resolved the siege of Orleans.

   Before that, they were extremely happy when they learned that the Englishman and the Duke of Guise had started to hurt each other.

  In the eyes of the Huguenots, the Protestant Englishmen are obviously much cuter than the Catholics.

  They don't mind losing the Normandy region, of course, if they get the power of France.

   And after gaining power, driving away the English is nothing more than an easy task!

   Yes, it really is easy.

  Even if Edward refuses to admit it in his heart, he has to say that the French have forgotten the royal family that owns the crown but lives in England.

   More importantly, the failure of the Hundred Years War between Britain and France not only caused England to lose its most important name, but also created antagonism.

  In other words, war is really the best national catalyst. The Hundred Years' War reunified the French Valois dynasty and gave birth to the so-called French nation.

  Afterwards, the concept that the English and the French were two nations was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and before Prussia unified Germany, the two were feuds.

  The loss of Brittany, the Huguenots didn't care, it was just a backcountry, and it hadn't been merged into France for a long time, and more importantly, it was the territory of the Catholic League.

   But the Normandy area is different. It is close to Flanders, and the economy is developing well. More importantly, it is the basic base of the Huguenots and cannot be lost.

   "Everyone, the English have occupied all of Normandy except Rouen. The Duke of Guise has been defeated. The queen regent invited us to negotiate peace with the Catholic League. What do you think?"

  Prince Condé, as the leader of the Huguenots and the commander-in-chief of the army, looked at the high-level Huguenots who were gathered together, and asked the first question.

   "I think we can temporarily abandon Normandy and take advantage of the Duke of Guise's heavy loss to defeat the Catholic League in one fell swoop, so that we can concentrate our efforts and drive away the English!"

  As soon as the voice fell, one person stood up to speak, bluntly intending to make the most of the trouble, advocating first the inside and then the outside.

   "No, the British occupy Brittany and Normandy, so the Spaniards will definitely not sit idly by. France will be regarded as a piece of fat, and our Italian region and southwest will be in danger!"

   "The current strategy is to get rid of the English!"

  This proposition puts the outside first before the inside, focusing on national interests.

   Then, other people continued to refute and discuss these two viewpoints and guidelines, and there were endless debates.

  In the city of Vernon, the archbishop of Reims, Charles de Guise, hurried back and forth to see his brother.

   "My dear brother, why are you here?" The Duke of Guise was confused by his brother's arrival.

   Could it be that he came here to comfort himself when he saw that he had lost the battle? But this is not in line with his character!

   "Francois, the news of your failure has now spread throughout France!"

   Archbishop Charlie glanced at his brother, and then said softly.

   Seeing a hint of anger rising on the face of the Duke of Guise, he said again:

   "Queen Catherine asked us to make peace with the Huguenots and drive out the English together!"

   "This time, I came here to ask for your opinion!"

   "You agreed? Charlie!" the Duke of Guise asked with a straight face.

   "I agree, France does not need the English, although its king married our niece!"

  The Queen Mother Mary is their sister, and Edward married their niece Queen Mary, so in theory, Edward still has the right to inherit the Duke of Guise.

  (end of this chapter)