Bringing the Railway to Daming

A minister said, “Your Majesty, according to the messenger from Bournemouth, the Ming army may number ten thousand. Moreover, they are equipped with many firearms, especially their cannons, which are particularly fierce.”

“Bournemouth was only garrisoned by a little over a thousand soldiers, so it was captured by the Ming army in less than a quarter of an hour.”

In the shadow of his cloak, the gaunt-faced Henry IV frowned, making his eyes appear even more sinister.

He asked, "What about Taylor and his fleet? Didn't they encounter the Ming fleet?"

The minister said, "According to the messenger, there seem to be several dozen of our warships in the Ming fleet, so I think Taylor and his fleet must have been defeated after encountering the Ming fleet."

"Defeat?" Henry IV sat up abruptly and exclaimed, "Even if they can't defeat the Ming navy, are they really so desperate that not a single ship can escape?"

"When did Taylor become so incompetent? I trusted him so much, entrusting him with one of the kingdom's three main fleets, and this is how he repays me?!"

The English have no habit of trying to calm their superiors down, so the ministers and guards in the palace remained silent, as if they had become air and could not hear Henry IV's roar.

"The Ming people!" Henry IV slammed his hand on the armrest of the Iron Throne and stood up. "They've already occupied the last bit of English territory in Europe, and now they've even invaded Great Britain! Do they really think England is easy to bully?!"

"Issue my royal decree that all nobles and generals in all provinces prepare to repel the invasion of the Ming people!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After his ministers had taken their orders and gone to carry them out, Henry IV sat down, took a deep breath, and broke out in a cold sweat.

He was feeling particularly unwell just now, but he was enduring it all.

'Why are all these troubles happening to me since I seized the throne? Not only did I contract this strange illness, but even the Ming people inexplicably attacked England?'

'Could it be that I really did something wrong, angered God, and was punished as a result?'

Henry IV's somewhat pale face showed an unpredictable expression.

He stirred up a rumor that had been circulating in London recently, saying that Richard Scroup, ostensibly the Archbishop of Yorkshire, was actually practicing dark magic, or witchcraft, using the blood and bones of young boys, so that Archbishop Richard was actually a dark sorcerer.

Therefore, Richard was cursed with black magic when he was executed, which is why he contracted the strange disease.

If this is true, could England's current misfortune of being targeted by the Ming Dynasty also be related to Richard's curse?

Thinking of this, Henry IV immediately signaled for a guard to come over.

The guard asked respectfully, "What are your orders, Your Majesty?"

"Send a few people to secretly investigate black magic and wizards, or any information about curses."

The guard felt a chill run down his spine, thinking to himself: Could it be that the king has truly fallen under the archbishop's curse?

However, he outwardly agreed respectfully and immediately went to select people to handle the matter.
···
Bournemouth, a coastal city in southern England.

The Jinning-Dai allied fleet, personally led by Zhu Gui, finally arrived here and was landing. The small town of Bournemouth and its former naval port were now under the control of the Ming army, so the landing of the Three Feudatories was proceeding in an orderly manner.

In this joint campaign by the three vassal states against England, the Jin vassal state not only dispatched a main fleet but also a garrison force of over 5,000 men; the Ning vassal state dispatched two garrison forces, totaling over 10,000 men.

The Dai Kingdom sent the most troops—in addition to the Left Tiger Guard, which was reorganized from the Dai Kingdom's guards, there were four other garrison troops, totaling nearly 30,000 soldiers!
Furthermore, Zhu Gui's military prowess was demonstrated through his numerous campaigns in Europe, where he was virtually undefeated. With Prince Jin, Zhu Gang, absent, Prince Ning, Zhu Quan, was naturally unable to compete with him for the position of commander-in-chief.

Moreover, Zhu Quan's current focus is still on his own domain.

At this moment, on the deck of the 3,000-ton warship "Daijing", Zhu Gui, who was 32 years old, was holding a pair of binoculars and looking out at Bournemouth and the adjacent naval port.

After he put down his binoculars, he looked at a large map hanging on a wooden frame behind him, picked up a thin wooden stick, pointed to several places in the southern part of Great Britain on the map, and began to speak to the generals around him.

"Now that we have taken Bournemouth, if we take Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton, and the other four important port cities, we can establish a solid base on the southern coast of Great Britain."

"We can even set up camp on the Isle of Wight right now, and start building it into a stable logistics hub and base. In this way, we will be able to attack or defend on this island of Great Britain in the future."

"Of course, this is just a contingency plan—in my opinion, the Kingdom of England is very likely to be wiped out by our Three Kingdoms alliance in one fell swoop, and even taking Scotland and Ireland would be a piece of cake!"

The surrounding generals and strategists all showed excitement upon hearing this.

It should be understood that only by constantly expanding their territories can the princes continuously achieve merit and be promoted!

"Commander Lin, I heard that you wiped out a main English fleet without lifting a finger. Tell me, what do you think of the English navy's combat strength?"

Lin Kui thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness, the English navy's fighting spirit is not bad, and their discipline is also decent, but their warships and equipment are far inferior."

"These main warships of England are called 'Kirks,' and Your Highness must have seen them. They are no match for our main warships, not to mention that our warships are equipped with many powerful cannons."

"Their warships are neither as tall nor as sturdy as ours, nor as fast, and they are only equipped with two general's cannons and some catapults. How can they be a match for us?"

"I can guarantee that once we capture England's other two main fleets, we can annihilate them!"

After listening, Zhu Gui stroked his short beard and thought to himself: In history, when Britain invaded the Qing Dynasty, its ships and cannons were strong and powerful, and the Qing army dared not go out to sea. I thought that even if its navy was far inferior to that of later generations, it would not be too bad. I did not expect it to be so backward.

In that case, even if I were to truly destroy England, I would still feel a little less accomplished.

After regaining his composure, Zhu Gui immediately put that thought aside and continued with the important matter: "Since Commander Lin is so confident, then the next battle against the English navy will be entrusted to you."

"As for land warfare—I plan to divide my forces into three routes and take Southampton, Portsmouth, and Brighton before England can react."

"By the way, the English have given us some awful names. We'll rename each city we conquer. Let's start with Bournemouth. Hmm, let's rename it 'The Three Feudatories' to commemorate our great victory on this island!" (End of Chapter)