eastern european eagle

Chapter 626: The Anglo-French War Restarts
The next morning, Poland and Brandenburg fought again. This time, Władysław personally led the cavalry charge, vowing to wash away the shame of the past few years.

"This is our last battle. The glory of Poland and Lithuania is ours to protect. Follow God's will and attack the enemy!!!"

Władysław led the Polish cavalry and rushed towards Brandenburg's defensive position. Seeing this, Vlad was a little shocked.

"It looks like this is his last stand. Prepare the artillery and fire!"

The artillery fired at the charging cavalry, followed by muskets. The cavalry around Władysław fell off their horses, but he still charged forward.

Bang! A bullet shot into the king's body, and Władysław fell off his horse. He looked at the sky, and he had never been so calm. He saw a white light. Was it God?

The death of a king on the battlefield should be the best ending for Władysław. Brandenburg immediately launched a counterattack, the Polish army was defeated, and the remaining soldiers fled back to Warsaw.

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Paris, England, the vast Frankish lands under Stephen's rule tended to be stable. The people felt that there was nothing wrong with being under British rule, except for the old nobles and the Catholic Church, and Stephen was still able to rule.

The younger brother felt guilty that he couldn't help his three older brothers in their conquest of Eastern Europe, but there wasn't much he could do to help, so he might as well destroy France.

After taking Paris, Stéphane made restoring order in Normandy a top priority. To encourage the arrest of bandits, he introduced a reward system. Anyone who handed a bandit over to the judiciary and completed the process of trial, conviction and execution would receive a reward of £20 for each person handed over. The informant was also allowed to keep all the criminal's belongings, so trophy hunting was a lucrative business.

At this time, a coup d'état took place in France. Charles VI was imprisoned in a monastery, and the crown prince ascended the throne, known as Charles VII. With the help of a group of French loyalists, he proclaimed himself king in Bourges in southern France, and France was divided into north and south. The poor financial situation left Charles VII in debt. Because he had no money to pay the shoemaker, the shoemaker took off the leather leggings he had just put on him and took them away.

In addition, he owed a lot of debts. His creditors included court ministers and nobles, butchers, fishermen, chefs, and even his own personal servants. He also took the lead in making counterfeit money. For a while, Charles VII was so poor that he sold castles just to repay 16,000 livres. Without the coronation in Reims Cathedral, Charles VII's throne was not legitimate. Those who did not respect Charles VII laughed at him as a Bourges king who was not qualified to inherit the French throne. The political identity rejection made Charles VII frightened, fearing that he would be driven out or murdered one day. However, he was also strong and clearly stated in diplomatic letters that he wanted to restore France. He lowered his status to visit some wandering officials. After the fall of northern France, these officials were expelled by the English and Burgundy authorities and had to stay away from their posts and live in seclusion in the mountains. Charles VII's sincere invitation made them come out again to help the king rebuild the political center, which made the Bourges court quite rejuvenated.

He set about negotiating with the Scots and Castilians to form an 8,000-man coalition army to drive the English out of France by the New Year. He vowed to fight all the way back to Reims and continue the centuries-old tradition of French kings being crowned in Reims Cathedral.

Stephan's plan was equally ambitious: he wanted to clear out the remaining Orleans garrisons on the Normandy border and expand southward to Anjou, Maine, and Dreux to ensure border security.

In Paris, the plot to surrender the city to Charles VII was exposed. A priest was walking in his garden outside the city in the morning and noticed the wife of the royal armorer talking secretly with several soldiers. He reported this strange incident to the guards at the city gate. The woman was arrested and found to be carrying a letter from the king to the accomplices in Paris. She and her accomplices were thrown into the river and died.

In the face of these challenges, Stephen remained vigilant. He ordered all soldiers to return to their garrisons immediately and ordered the Norman subjects to gather with their weapons. Pilgrimages to Mount St. Michael were forbidden, which was often used as an excuse for illegal transactions with local enemy forces. Suspected people in Paris were imprisoned in one place, and everyone in the city, including "citizens, landlords, coachmen, shepherds, shepherds, swineherds in monasteries, maids and monks" were required to swear allegiance to England and the King of the Franks.

Stephane was now determined to wage war on his enemies. At the king's urging, the English Parliament approved a tax of £45. The Earl of Salisbury was appointed governor of Champagne and began a systematic sweep of the Orleanist fortresses between Paris and Chartres. Le Crotoy surrendered to the English in accordance with the agreement reached earlier. Twelve days later, Compiègne agreed to surrender.

Charles VII assembled a powerful force at Tours: French troops from Anjou and Maine, nominally led by the Duke of Alençon but in reality commanded by the experienced Jean de Acourt, Count of Aumale, and 1 Scots; he also hired new heavy cavalry from Milan.

Stephen also received assistance, the Prince of Wales brought 2000 soldiers from England. At the same time, he issued a general mobilization for war in Normandy, calling on all those who received land and weapons from the crown. The Orthodox Church also called on 1000 people from Ireland. According to estimates, Stephen finally had 10000 soldiers.

Stephen led his troops to Verneuil. They found some Scotsmen who could speak English, tied them up, whipped them until they bled, and sent them back on horseback as if they were in prison. When these people arrived at the city of Verneuil, they shouted loudly in English, lamenting their fate and crying that their army was completely annihilated. Seeing them like this, the terrified citizens believed that everything was over. So they opened the city and surrendered to Stephen.

When Charles VII heard that Werne had surrendered, he led a large army to wait for Stephen in the wilderness north of the city. He chose this place to fight in order to maximize the advantages of the Milanese cavalry, who were wearing heavy armor and could rush forward before the English archers fired a deadly rain of arrows.

(End of this chapter)