Chapter 59 The Battle of Pink (1)
The Scottish army is preparing for the oath meeting, and the Duke of Somerset has arrived in York and is preparing for the battle.
"Your Excellency the Baron! Can York's barracks accommodate our army?"
Duke Edward hurried to York City, and before he could catch his breath, he summoned Baron Vitelli Olizard and asked.
"Honorable Duke! Our Northern Committee in York has arranged for the barracks that you personally conquered in Scotland four years ago! We are afraid to delay your important event, Duke, and we have expanded a lot!"
Baron Olizard trotted all the way over, his fat body couldn't bear it, and there were still a few drops of sweat on his forehead. But the most powerful man in all England is here, can he not come quickly!
"It is estimated that the barracks in the south of the city can accommodate 30,000 troops!"
Regarding the Baron’s answer, Duke Edward said it was okay, but for Duke Edward, who often leads the army, food and weapons are the most basic configurations for the army to win.
"Then! My Lord Baron! Have you prepared the food and weapons?"
"Of course! Your Excellency the Duke! As you know, the city of York was established for Scotland. The entire York warehouse has 808,965 pounds of rye and 105,000 pounds of oats!"
"These are enough to feed the current 15,000 troops for forty days, and can also meet the monthly needs of 1,000 war horses!"
In the Middle Ages, war horses generally only ate oats to maintain their physical strength, but the pitfall is that the harvest of oats per acre is only one-third of that of ordinary rye. But the price is more than ten times more expensive than rye.
So, at that time, a horse spent ten times as much money as an ordinary soldier every day. Even the knights are usually fed with a mixture of barley and oats, but in times of war, they must be fed with oats.
"Besides, we have 3,000 longbows in stock, 100,000 sharp arrows, 500 pairs of heavy armor, and more than 1,000 matchlock guns!" Before Duke Edward could ask, the baron had already said everything in one breath.
"Wait! Is there enough gunpowder for the matchlock gun?" Duke Edward couldn't help asking when he heard this.
As a general with rich experience in war, Edward likes to use the new weapon of matchlock gun very much. He believes that this effectively reduces the reliance on soldiers and is conducive to the minority against the majority.
"That! Your Excellency the Duke! Our army is very unfamiliar with this new type of weapon, so there is only enough for more than a thousand musketeers to use it about five times."
"Okay! Go down first! Prepare a delicious roast lamb for the soldiers who came from afar to celebrate!"
Duke Edward knew that the morale of the soldiers was easy to buy, and a little mutton could boost their morale.
"Ah? Okay! Your Excellency the Duke!" The Baron was very surprised why the Duke asked him to do this, but as a subordinate, he didn't ask too much.
However, his heart is already bleeding. The preparation of food and grass for the army has almost dried up the blood of York City. If this kind of reward army comes again, if this war is not won, York City will go bankrupt.
On August 13th, Lord Duke Edward officially came to the barracks, summoned the main nobles to distribute the team, and gathered the archers and knights.
More than 500 tall infantrymen were selected to wear heavy armor and play the role of heavy infantry. Then screen out more than a thousand soldiers who can use matchlock guns to form a musket formation.
After that, His Excellency the Duke selected more than a thousand old and weak soldiers to serve as the logistics battalion, responsible for transporting food. At this time, the Earl of Warwick also rushed to York City, leading the logistics battalion with a depressed mind.
Duke Edward selected more than a thousand elite militiamen to serve as his guards to protect himself full-time.
In this way, on the fourteenth day, the entire army took on a completely new look, and there was no such a chaotic scene as when it came.
At this time, the army ruled by Edward had a battalion of 2,000 archers, a musketeer of 1,000, 500 heavy infantry, 1,000 heavy cavalry, 1,000 light cavalry, 1,000 guards, and 1,000 soldiers. The logistics battalion has more than 9,000 light infantry.
Scotland has nearly 5,000 cavalry, 200 heavy cavalry, and 2,000 archers, as well as a maximum of 23,000 infantry, and 200 musketeers.
Under the leadership of Duke Edward, the English army rushed out of the 73-mile-long Hadrian's Wall, which is the 117-kilometer-long Roman Great Wall, and marched to the territory of Scotland.
And behind the army led by His Excellency the Duke, a large group of small merchants, and many chicken girls doing business with men slowly followed the army.
But those big merchants stayed in York City, waiting for the soldiers who returned from victory to sell precious items.
Generally speaking, soldiers will only sell valuable items to small merchants, and very valuable goods can only be swallowed by big merchants.
The army swept towards the villages in Scotland like locusts, and the soldiers rushed towards the wooden houses like howling.
The village also responded quickly, but dozens of young and strong forces were no match for the huge English army.
Soon, the gates of several villages near the border were opened, and women's cries and men's resentment could be heard not far away. The militiamen grabbed a large amount of food and goods and traded with the merchants behind.
The villages that can remain in the border area, only those great nobles across England and Scotland have the courage, so the militiamen wisely did not kill people, but just robbed some food and items.
Obviously, they also know that the nobles who own these villages are something they cannot afford to offend.
These nobles across the two countries are mainly caused by the marriage between the nobles of the two countries.
For example, James I married Joan, the daughter of the Earl of Somerset (a nobleman during Henry VII), and James IV married Margaret, the daughter of King Henry VII. Their son James V and his descendants thus possessed the right of succession to the throne of England.
This is why James VI inherited the Tudor throne left by Elizabeth I.
Therefore, the relationship between England and Scotland is intricate and cannot be simply sorted out.
The looting of the village was just a small episode between the troops, and it did not delay the progress of the army in the slightest.
On August 15th, the English army, led by Duke Edward, came to a wide grassland, which was called Pinkie by the Scots.
As the name suggests, it is a canyon like a little finger, and it is a good place to fight.
The Earl of Allen also led the Scottish army here. Both of them believed that they would win, so they chose this place as the decisive battle without exception.
The regents of the two countries face off against each other, and this is a place that attracts the attention of everyone in both countries.
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(end of this chapter)
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