My British Empire

  Chapter 463 The negotiation broke down

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   "Hey-hey-"

  The summer sun is like a stove, scorching hot, baking the whole land, triggering waves of heat waves, torturing the working people.

  Outside the city of Rouen, the capital of Normandy, a large number of captives were wearing single-clothes and thin shirts. Under the scorching sun above their heads, they were taking heavy steps, picking up soil from a distance, and walking towards the city wall.

These Catholic captives, nobles with armor on their bodies, have been pulled down long ago, throwing a linen singlet, let them rest and enjoy the cool in the cell, not having to enjoy the hot weather and hard work, it can be regarded as giving them face and enjoying the nobles. treated.

  The other ordinary soldiers basically put on a sad face helplessly, obeyed the arrangement, and walked heavily step by step, carrying clay, making an outstanding contribution to the restoration of the city of Rouen.

  In order to prevent the Catholic Allied Forces from attacking again and to fulfill the agreement, Knight Alexander held talks with Earl Gabriel, which included:

  The city of Rouen must surrender half of its control to the British army.

  The British army must also send no less than 3,000 reinforcements within a month to support the Protestant army fighting against the Catholic allies.

  So, this group of captive Catholic allies could only carry the load and pull the soil to contribute to the construction of the city wall.

  Originally, Earl Gabriel planned to recruit some Catholic allies to supplement his troops.

   Knight Alexander, who had other plans, refused without hesitation, and the reasons given were also very convincing:

  These soldiers who believe in the Roman Catholic Church must not be firm in their will to follow the Protestantism. When the two armies are fighting, they will definitely retreat and defect. It is better to abandon them and let them build the city wall.

   In this way, Earl Gabriel originally wanted to add some strength, and his plan to strengthen the Protestant strength in Rouen was completely bankrupt.

   After all, most of the captives were in the hands of the British army.

   "Hey! Hey—" The captives were dripping sweat on their faces, shouting slogans, moving their feet, and started to work.

   Opening his mouth wide, Mo Lin panted heavily, staring helplessly at the city wall in front of him, carrying a load of fired bricks on his shoulders, weighing fifty or sixty pounds, and moved his feet.

  For him, who is sixteen years old, this kind of weight is not a problem in normal times, but what he ate in his stomach this morning has already been consumed by the heavy work he did all morning.

  What he is most looking forward to now is the arrival of noon, so that he can enjoy the life of the knight master and eat three meals a day.

  The companions around him also had the same idea with him, so they worked hard and earnestly. If they didn't see that they were eating well, they would have left long ago.

   "One, two, three, one, two, three..."

   Just as Mo Lin’s footsteps followed the steps ahead, moving mechanically, there was a burst of slogans in his ears, and he couldn’t help turning his head to look:

  I saw a group of young British soldiers in red and white, with sweat streaming from their foreheads, circling around the entire army of captives and working in circles.

  The military uniforms on their bodies were soaked in sweat, and the muskets on their backs were also glowing red from the sun. It seemed that the temperature was very high and the damage was high.

  A team of more than 200 people formed a small square team, walking in neat steps, shouting slogans, looking straight ahead, and running.

  Even if it wasn’t the first time he saw them, Mo Lin still felt sympathy for them in his heart. Running in such hot weather was even worse than them.

   After taking a serious look at the matchlock guns on their shoulders, after sighing a few words in their hearts, they walked mechanically and started walking.

  While walking, Mo Lin thought about what happened in the captive camp recently.

  Recently, several priests (called pastors in Protestantism) have been promoting the belief in Anglicanism in their ranks in England, calling on everyone to abandon Romanism and convert to Anglicanism.

  More importantly, the English announced that only by converting to Anglicanism, they could not only escape the hard work every day, but also get wages, and eat meat every few days.

   In this way, after a few days, many people could not stand the temptation and could only choose to convert.

  Molin reckons that there are probably hundreds of them!

   Chucking his mouth, he also became greedy at this moment.

   Meat! I haven't eaten it for a long time, and I almost forgot the specific taste. I really want to eat it.

  But the belief he had built up in his heart for more than ten years made him hesitate.

   Shaking his head, Maureen stopped thinking about it, let's talk about it after lunch!

   While the captives were working hard and the soldiers were sweating and running, Knight Alexander was conducting new military training in the city of Rouen.

  England is different from France. England is rainy, the air is humid, and the temperature is relatively low all year round. The soldiers are used to the weather in England.

  Since coming to France, especially in France in summer, the English are very uncomfortable with this kind of weather.

  As the summer progressed, more and more English soldiers suffered from heat stroke.

  The doctors accompanying the army spent a lot of energy and money, and finally cured most of the heat stroke patients.

  In the end, more than a hundred English soldiers passed away regrettably.

   Fortunately, the military regulations stipulate that drinking raw water is not allowed, otherwise more soldiers will die.

   In view of the possibility that his army will stay in Normandy for a long time in the future, Knight Alexander decided to let all soldiers undergo adaptive training.

   That is to say, soldiers who have recovered and have not suffered from heatstroke will receive high temperature training.

   And slowly began to try the food and water in the Normandy area to adapt to the body.

  From the very beginning of walking at noon, then training activities, and then running, the soldiers in England suffered the most severe training in their lives.

  In their hearts, this is as if it is different from hell.

   Cavalier Alexander also knew that the long-term repression and foreign troops fighting in foreign countries should not suppress the army too hard, otherwise camp roars and mutinies would follow one after another, and he, the commander, would be in danger.

  So, after surrendering most of Normandy and supplying some food and military expenses, especially after occupying the Normandy granary-Manger Township area, the British army became richer than ever before.

  The knights of Alexander, who had no desires and desires, naturally would not enjoy these wealth alone, nor could they stay in the army and become moldy.

  Every day at noon, the Alexander knights would order some pigs and sheep to be slaughtered and made into broth to supply the harshly trained British soldiers.

And you must know that at this time, even the knights in the country don't see much meat every week, and for the British soldiers who are mostly civilians, eating broth every day is already a nobleman's life. up!

  So, the soldiers of the United Kingdom in Normandy lived through the pain and happiness every day.

  In Paris, the Duke of Guise used the name of the king to request the supply of food and taxes from all over the country to recruit a large number of soldiers.

   However, this time the target is no longer the city of Rouen in Normandy, but the Protestant army from Orleans.

   Yes, the Duke of Guise rejected the offer of peace talks.

  The top Huguenots in Orleans, after heated discussions, also rejected the peace talks proposal.

   Moreover, the Huguenots also sent envoys into the city of Paris.

  The envoy came to the city of Paris carelessly, brazenly demanded the surrender of the entire Catholic League, and put forward a series of requirements.

  Especially the requirement that the Huguenots legally hold mass prayers and build churches, which angered the entire Catholic League.

  The Duke of Guise angrily tore up the letter of persuasion and started a new round of civil war.

   I had a cold yesterday and didn’t update it. Who knew that the recommended votes for the past two days have dropped to single digits. I feel helpless and heartbroken.

  (end of this chapter)