The Rise of the European Emperor

Annexing Scotland and Ireland is something every generation of British kings aspires to do. It's just that the Scots have been united with France for a long time. Once England attacked Scotland with all its strength, the French would attack England from the south and force the English to return.

Coupled with the rugged terrain of Scotland, it was difficult for the English army to advance, which made it impossible for England to annex Scotland for a long time. Scotland has not yet been annexed, let alone Ireland across the sea.

In fact, England once annexed Ireland. When William the Conqueror invaded England, because King Malcolm of Scotland married the subjugated English princess as his wife, William the Conqueror who had just annexed England was angered, and it was considered to be a challenge to his royal power. Then, William the Conqueror's army sent troops to capture Scotland, forcing Malcolm to surrender.

After that occupation, however, William the Conqueror did not formally annex Scotland, but only demanded its surrender. Because, William the Conqueror has not yet completed complete control of England. After all, the Normans were conquerors and foreign invaders to the English. It will take a long time to control England. Therefore, even if Scotland was conquered at the beginning, William the Conqueror was unable to completely control Scotland, so he could only take the method of supporting puppets to indirectly control Scotland.

But the method of indirect control has sequelae. Later, the Scots launched an uprising and completely got rid of the control of the English. Then, when King Edward IV of England was strong and strong and planned to destroy Scotland, the "Hundred Years' War between England and France" broke out because of the dispute over the succession of the French throne. Then, the annexation of Scotland was delayed again...

Frankly speaking, if James IV hadn't courted death, wanted to fish in troubled waters, and led an army south to England, but was cut off by Marin's army and wiped out the entire army, Scotland would have been really difficult to break through.

If the Scottish army stays in the country and defends based on the dangerous terrain, it will be very difficult for the English to destroy Scotland. Even if the English mobilize the whole country for the Northern Expedition, it depends on whether the French agree or not.

With the capture of James IV and more than 10,000 main Scottish troops, these problems were easily solved. In the absence of troops in Scotland, Marin asked the Fourth Army to attack Edinburgh from the sea, and Scotland was quickly destroyed.

However, the occupation of Edinburgh and the demise of the Scottish regime are only the beginning. Because, in the future, the Scots will definitely rise up and rebel because they refuse to accept the rule of England.

The most troublesome thing is that the terrain of Scotland is dominated by highlands with rugged terrain. If the rebels fought guerrillas in the mountains, it would be difficult for England to suppress them.

As a result, England is busy suppressing the Scottish Rebels every year, and may not have time to do something serious.

Edward obviously knew this too, so, in the conversation with Marin,

He raised his concerns. At the same time, he wanted to ask Marin if there was any solution.

Moreover, Edward has an urgent problem to solve right now—the problem of the more than 10,000 Scottish prisoners of war...

As Edward is about to be crowned king in Edinburgh, the status of these prisoners of war is no longer that of enemy prisoners of war. After the coronation ceremony, these prisoners of war should be released.

However, Edward was very worried that the more than 10,000 prisoners of war would take the opportunity to raise their troops to rebel after returning to Scotland. These people are all regular soldiers. If they meet on the frontal battlefield, Edward is not afraid of them. At worst, let Marin's army go up to them.

However, if these people hide in the mountains to fight guerrillas. Then, even if Marin's army is powerful, there is nothing to do. Facing the guerrilla warfare of the local mountain people who are familiar with the terrain, Marin's ingenious battle formation is useless...

Facing Edward's inquiry, Marin also felt very troublesome. These Scottish regular army officers and soldiers have good military qualities. For the moment, they are indeed surrendering. But God knows whether they will recognize Edward's kingship when they return to Scotland. Therefore, putting these people back is definitely letting the tiger go back to the mountain.

However, after Edward's coronation ceremony is completed, it will not work. After all, you have become the king of Scotland, how can you not release your subjects?

To be honest, Marin really wanted to suggest that Edward learn from nothing and kill more than 10,000 Scottish soldiers. However, this is not possible. After all, this is Europe where rules are followed, not China where winners and losers prevail.

However, it would be a disaster to put these people back, to return these people to the mountains of Scotland. Once they raise the anti-flag, England can only be exhausted and busy suppressing...

...

"What to do? What to do?" Marin was lost in thought.

Not letting them go back, obviously not. But let them go back, don't worry...

The fighting power of the Scottish mountain people is very powerful on the British Isles. In the British Army of later generations, the Highland Infantry was the most elite part of it.

For example, in the Battle of Naval War, the elite of the British Army, in addition to the King's German Legion (KGL) and the Hanoverian Army, the most elite infantry from the British mainland came from the Scottish Highland Infantry.

The Scottish Highland Infantry, to put it bluntly, is an infantry unit composed of Scottish mountain people. This is similar to the reason why Marin used the German elite infantry composed of mountain people from Württemberg and other places in Germany. In short, the mountain people are very fierce, very capable of fighting, and very dangerous...

The Scottish Mountaineers can play well, that's for sure. If it weren't for the first army composed of German mountain people who were equally capable of fighting and better than Marin transferred from the mainland last time, coupled with the elite trained by Sakala, they might not be able to eliminate their opponents.

But the question now is - how can we use reasonable means to prevent those Scottish mountain people who are very capable of fighting back?

Edward has already used the trick of fief replacement. Among them, James Hamilton, Earl of Arlan, and John Stewart, Earl of Bakken, two Scottish nobles with Scottish royal blood, have been replaced by Edward and placed in England.

However, with so many nobles in Scotland, it is impossible for everyone to change their fiefs to England. The main reason is that there is not so much land to change. Moreover, the English nobles would not be happy to be traded to cold Scotland.

Moreover, those Scottish nobles are actually not the focus, but the Scottish mountain people who can fight, that is, the Scottish Highland infantry. The aristocratic fiefs can be exchanged, but you can't give them land to those Scottish mountain people and let them move to England, right? There are more than 10,000 people, and there is not so much land... If each family is given 100 mu of land, it will be more than 1 million mu of land, and Edward will definitely be reluctant... But if it is put back like this, it will be a disaster... use……

Marin was thinking, and Edward suddenly said:

"Or, Marin, you form a Scots army yourself and absorb these people?"

"I formed the Scots Legion myself?" Marin was stunned. That's a legion, not a flock of sheep. The Beihai State has a regiment of tens of thousands of people. If no one is paid 3 pfennigs a day, the daily salary alone will be as high as 30,000 pfennigs, which is 500 gold coins. For one year, the salary alone will cost 182,500 gold coins... This is still basic, and Marin has to pay for the military rations every day, as well as equipment, gunpowder, lead bullets, and shells... What a big expense... …

However, after thinking about it, Marin thought that he really lacked an army...

Now, the German princes in the south are beginning to resist Marin's recruitment of soldiers in the mountains of southern Germany. Even immigration is restricted. Where can I recruit enough soldiers and horses? We must also ensure the combat effectiveness...

Obviously, the Scottish Highland Infantry is a good choice for Marin...

Although the combat effectiveness of the Scottish Highland infantry is weaker than that of the German mountain infantry, it is not much worse. After training, it is definitely better than the English soldiers of the Fourth Army in Saqqara.

Moreover, recruiting soldiers in the Scottish Highlands can not only break the blockade imposed by the German princes, but also solve the problem of the Scottish rebellion-most of the mountain people in the Scottish Highlands were selected by themselves to serve as soldiers, and those who wanted to rebel could not be recruited. Enough fighters...

If Marin had no idea about Britain, he might not agree to Edward's suggestion. However, considering the need to maintain the stability of Scotland in the future, Marin agreed after thinking about it:

"Okay, I will form a Scottish Highland infantry regiment!"