Chapter 61
News of Queen Elizabeth's dispatch of troops to Hastings also reached the Scottish Queen's cowhide tent with the help of spies on horseback.
This news caused some unrest among the Italian mercenaries in the camp.
This is a perfectly normal thing.
Although on the way to England, Albert tried his best to train the discipline of this temporary army, to organize them into a cohesive unit, and to ensure that they obeyed orders and remained steadfast in their discipline during training, instead of the chaotic mess they were in when they were first recruited, with no one willing to submit to each other and fights breaking out every night.
But in essence, they were still just a group of mercenaries who were paid to fight for their lives. They would not risk their lives for the Queen of Scotland on the battlefield. If the war was going well, that was fine, but once they were defeated, everyone would only care about their own survival.
Mary Seton, a young noblewoman and lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Scots, was deeply worried about the mercenaries' appearance and remained frowning all day. One evening, while helping the Queen loosen her hair, she couldn't help but bring up the matter.
"I went for a walk in the camp today and overheard people talking about how to survive on the battlefield, how to desert, and some soldiers even secretly left the camp to seek pleasure in the nearby countryside. Yesterday, the Duke of Lorraine dealt with someone who robbed a farmer's house... These people aren't soldiers at all; they're just a bunch of robbers, thugs, and thieves in the name of soldiers..." At this point, Seton hesitated for a long time before finally speaking his mind, "...Your Majesty, can we really win this war? Perhaps a temporary retreat to France, followed by a gradual counter-offensive, would be a more reasonable approach?"
“We can retreat to France, but the people of Edinburgh cannot…” The Queen of Scots crossed her arms in front of her, pointing to the reason why Seton had been secretly weeping for months, and said quietly, “…Maitland, Boswell, Beaton, Livingston, Fleming, and Arthur Erkins…and your parents, so many subjects who have been loyal to me and entrusted their entire trust to me, are now trapped in Edinburgh, their fate unknown. Some may have already met with cruelty, and I cannot believe that the Earl of Morley will treat them well…”
Just for the shot she fired in the leg when her half-brother fled England, Earl Maurice would hate her to death.
I heard that he later became a cripple because of the bad treatment he received after being shot, and many doctors in London could not help him... Mary recalled those pieces of information in her mind uncertainly.
“I must win this war as quickly as possible and then go back to save them. As a monarch, I will never abandon my subjects,” Mary concluded.
This was her last line of defense in the brutal political struggle.
In the dim candlelight of the tent, Mary saw Seton's eyes redden.
Immediately afterwards, this aristocratic young lady, who had been pampered since childhood but had suffered greatly during the past few months of hardship, could no longer contain her fear and covered her face as she sat down and cried.
"I... I'm so sorry for losing my composure in front of you, Your Majesty... May God bless you, may God have mercy on my parents and friends, and grant Him another miracle to win this war for you..."
Seton cried louder and louder, curling up in the chair like a child, hugging himself tightly with his arms clasped together.
Her beautiful face was covered with tears and snot, her nose was red and swollen, she was crying her eyes out, she tightly gripped the gold cross around her neck, and begged for the Lord's mercy.
Mary sighed silently, squatted down beside the chair, and like a true elder sister, hugged her friend who had always been by her side, then patted her back to comfort her.
“Good girl, I’m so sorry for making you suffer so much by my side, enduring all that fright and hardship,” Mary said guiltily.
Whether it's the past life or this life, it's always been like this.
...
When the English army arrived at Hastings and set up camp, and engaged in a decisive battle with the Italian mercenaries led by the Queen of Scots, they were met with a summer downpour.
Under the grey-blue sky, a light rain pattered across the open fields. Queen Scott, clad in armor and with a musket at her waist, rode her horse to a strategically advantageous hillside and saw the English army, also encamped in the nearby woods, like vast, shadowy formations.
Armed with longbows and shields, they marched in orderly ranks, led by their officers, and launched an attack on the Scottish camp step by step!
"boom--!"
The English longbowmen, who were hiding in the woods, drew their long arrows from their backs and unleashed a rain of arrows that crashed into the spiked fence in front of the camp like meteors!
Standing under the Scottish royal banner, Mary took a deep breath, then took a command flag from a guard beside her and began to lead her mercenaries in a fierce counterattack against the enemy!
At the beginning of the battle, the English and Italian mercenaries were evenly matched.
The Italian mercenaries even had a slight advantage.
While the two armies were still some distance apart, these mercenaries, taking advantage of their firearms, hid behind their own camps or in makeshift trenches and did not hesitate to shoot and kill the British soldiers!
This is precisely the advantage of these Italian mercenaries!
Unlike the great development and emphasis placed on the navy, because of its location on an island and its distance from the European continent, the British army did not need to fight against powerful enemies such as France or Spain. Therefore, successive British monarchs did not equip the army with any advanced firearms.
During the Tudor dynasty, in order to prevent the powerful nobles from uniting against the king's rule, the government explicitly restricted the private armies of nobles and the equipment of the army through laws, seeing this as a threat to the king.
In the army, the traditional English longbowman, an old farmer, took his place. This was because Henry VIII had ordered all eligible men in England to practice longbow archery, so everyone had a good skill in shooting.
On the chaotic battlefield, rainwater mixed with blood flowed everywhere, and corpses gradually began to cover the muddy ground.
Everywhere, Italian mercenaries lit fuses, and with deafening roars and flashes of light, they knocked enemy soldiers to the ground.
Every now and then, long arrows would fly out from the poplar grove on the other side, streak across the sky, and fall into the Scottish positions, taking away a mercenary's fighting ability or life.
Amidst the torrential rain, the British soldiers, draped in turf and like black ants, slowly approached the Scottish camp during this arduous offensive, and then began to attack the enemies who had invaded their country!
Before long, with the distance no longer a constraint, the two armies officially clashed and began hand-to-hand combat and melee!
The Italian mercenaries gradually began to fall into disarray...
They fight for money, but they won't risk their lives for money. Why should they risk their lives for a foreign queen?
In contrast, the morale of the British soldiers was very high.
They could not tolerate these Italians, led by the Queen of Scots, invading their country and harming their families. Therefore, they were exceptionally eager to fight, and together they chanted the slogan "God save the Queen" as they repeatedly attacked the Italian mercenaries' camp, trying to defeat them!
The scales of victory are tipping in Britain's favor.
In the poplar grove, Sir Thomas Howard, the English army commander, kept a close eye on the battlefield. When a large group of British soldiers finally stormed into the Scottish camp and lit a fire in a tent, he couldn't help but smile triumphantly.
The tent contained food, which caused panic among some people. Nearly a hundred soldiers were busy cleaning up the mess and did not have time to rebuild the defense line. The British soldiers seized this opportunity and rushed into the Italian mercenaries' camp like wolves pouncing on sheepfolds!
From this small leak, Britain gained a complete advantage.
The Italian mercenaries began to flee in a panic!
Under a dark, overcast sky, the torrential rain quickly extinguished the flames in the tents, but plumes of black smoke rose straight into the sky.
To the British soldiers, this was like a signal, foreshadowing the dire defeat that the Queen of Scots was about to face on the battlefield!
"Our chance has come! If we kill the Queen of Scots, Her Majesty Elizabeth might grant us an earldom!" Sir Thomas Howard said excitedly to his colleagues in the poplar grove.
Lord Montjoy, the Earl of Southampton, and others all wore beaming smiles, already imagining the generous rewards they would receive from the Queen upon returning to London with such a triumphant report!
Immediately afterwards, Sir Thomas Howard gave the order for the heavy cavalry to charge!
"God bless Queen Elizabeth!"
"God bless Queen Elizabeth!"
"God bless Queen Elizabeth!"
Accompanied by a series of impassioned and passionate slogans, the British Army's true trump card, the heavy cavalry, which had been hidden in the dense forest, burst out of the poplar grove, causing the earth to tremble, and charged into the Italian mercenary camp...
...
The Italian mercenaries' camp had descended into complete chaos.
British soldiers were rushing in and killing everywhere, and mercenaries were scattering and fleeing. These despicable people didn't forget to rob before they fled, taking valuable items from the camp.
Only a small number of elite mercenaries maintained their fighting skills and protected the Queen of Scots during her breakout and escape.
“Those Italian mercenaries lost, we lost… It’s all over, God, I’m going to be thrown onto the guillotine and beheaded, Lord, save me…”
Soaked to the bone by the rain, Seton huddled in the Queen's tent.
She had considered the possibility of losing the war, but she never imagined that the defeat would come so easily. Good heavens, these Italian mercenaries didn't even last four hours.
Seton was trembling and crying, not even knowing what he was muttering to himself, but his hands kept rummaging through the Queen's trunk and taking out the most conspicuous piece of clothing.
It was a wine-red long dress with a square neckline and a tight waist. It was inlaid with strings of white pearls and rubies, and had branches and flowers embroidered with gold thread. Even on such a gloomy rainy day, it shone brightly and could make any soldier notice the owner of this dress.
Seton put on the clothes himself, then found a small gold crown that the Queen often wore and put it on his head. He then tried to straighten his back, wanting to emulate the Queen of Scots's usual calm and composed demeanor, and to calmly face the fierce British soldiers outside.
Unfortunately, she couldn't imitate it well at all; she even felt her legs tremble when she walked.
Just as Seton reached the tent entrance, the Queen of Scots flung open the tent flap and came in to find Seton.
Thanks to the terrible weather, the Queen of Scots looked extremely disheveled, her wet black hair clinging tightly to her cheeks, her face pale from the cold, as if she had just recovered from a serious illness.
Mary's face changed the moment she saw Seton wearing the dress.
"What are you doing? Take it off right now, then go change into your pants and ride a horse with me!" Mary said sternly.
“You go ahead, I’ll go out and shout to the British that I am the Queen of Scotland, and draw all their attention away…” Seton’s lips were trembling, but she still tried to control herself and put on a smile on her beautiful face. “…My dearest Your Majesty, only God knows how much I love you.”
Who needs your self-sacrifice! Who needs it!
Mary felt she couldn't control her anger and heartache at all, and her face even twisted slightly as she managed to suppress the urge to curse Seton at this moment.
“…We’re not in dire straits yet, silly girl, hurry up and run with me!” Mary said through gritted teeth.
The Queen of Scotland dragged her maid back into the tent, then roughly picked up a pair of scissors and cut open the complicated and difficult-to-untie skirt in a few strokes. During the process, Seton tried several times to refuse and continue her plan of sacrifice, but was suppressed by the Queen of Scotland's cold and angry gaze.
After tossing the dress onto the muddy ground like a rag, Mary grabbed an inconspicuous woolen cloak and threw it at Seton, then led her to the horses that had been prepared.
More than 11,000 Italian mercenaries with advanced weaponry were no match for a mere 6,000 united British soldiers. By the time Mary began to order a retreat—no, a strategic withdrawal—less than 300 mercenaries remained to protect the Queen of Scots.
As Seton rode on his horse, he looked around and suddenly noticed something was amiss.
"What about Duke Lorraine and Mr. Albert? Didn't they say they were willing to sacrifice their lives for you? Or perhaps..." Seton's face suddenly turned angry, his hand gripping the horse's long mane tightly, and he asked through gritted teeth, "...they also deserted in the face of battle?"
The Queen of Scots cracked her whip and led her few remaining men out, galloping along the mountain path.
As Mary ran, she heard Seton ask this question and gave a cryptic laugh.
"No, the Duke of Lorraine did not betray me, but he stuck to his plan and last night led his own army, the army of the Duchy of Lorraine, deep into the heart of England."
“And what about Mr. Albert?” Seton asked.
“Albert has taken command of the Swiss mercenaries and is serving under the Duke of Lorraine,” Mary said calmly.
"These self-important bastards!" Seton said through gritted teeth, his voice muffled by the pattering rain.
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