The Rise of the European Emperor

Edward strictly implemented Marin's strategy. He extended the negotiation time with James IV by asking for Queen Margaret and other nonsense methods, and also bought enough time for Kahn and others to prepare.

At the same time, according to Marin's suggestion, Edward also made a move on the selection of the Scottish knights who escorted James IV back home-he deliberately selected 50 Scottish knights with ordinary martial arts. Of course, he didn't pick the weakest Scottish knight either. That would be too obvious. Therefore, he selected 50 Scottish knights with a lower-middle level of martial arts. As for the Scottish knights with the strongest martial arts, he didn't give James IV a single one.

At this point, James IV was so angry that he jumped on his feet. But Edward's reason is also very good-those Scottish knights with high martial arts skills can be exchanged for a lot of ransom, and they are the most precious "collateral". How can they be returned to Scotland casually?

On the horse, Edward also shrewdly chose a horse that was not strong enough. Originally, according to Marin's intention, it would be fine to just send some nanny horses to James IV. But doing so would be too conspicuous. Afterwards, if James IV was really killed, people would definitely suspect him.

Therefore, under the suggestion of his cronies, Edward selected the worst endurance horses from the war horses, as the mounts of James IV and his 50 retinue knights. Moreover, if there is no transfer, only one ride is given to each person. In this way, James IV and his party can be forced to travel faster.

As for the most important armor and weapons, Edward also wanted to choose the worst ones, but it was difficult to do so due to limited technology. He can't send a bunch of junk to James IV, can he? That was too obvious.

In the end, the task of preparing special weapons and armor fell on Marin's head...

Then, Marin asked his steel factory to prepare two special steels-one is high-purity wrought iron, and the other is pig iron with added sulfur and phosphorus...

High-purity wrought iron is relatively soft, and Marin asked the people in the forge to forge French-style plate armor. Wearing this kind of relatively soft plate armor, it must not be able to withstand the blunt weapon blows of Kahn and his Spike commando soldiers. And the two-handed sword and one-handed sword made of pig iron with sulfur and phosphorus added...the thing is very brittle, and it is easy to break when it touches the enemy's sword...but from the appearance, you can't see the problem... …

In the end, this batch of armors, two-handed swords, and one-handed swords that seemed to be fine but actually had serious problems were sent to London...

At first, Edward didn't quite believe that there would be problems with these armors and weapons that seemed to have no problems. Because, looking at the brand-new plate armor and swords, there is really no problem...

But after the test, Edward believed that Marin's work was reliable-the plate armor made of wrought iron, with a hammer down, there was a dent immediately, which was obviously not strong enough. A sword made of pig iron with added sulfur and phosphorus is usually fine for slashing, and it is sharp enough. However, once it comes into contact with a steel weapon, it immediately reveals its shape - that is called a brittle... crunching, broken...

...

In this way, at the end of March, Edward finally sent off James IV and his 50 guarding knights.

For the sake of safety, James IV and 50 guarding knights all put on brand-new French plate armor, as well as gleaming French two-handed swords and one-handed swords... This deceptive appearance made James The fourth generation is very satisfied, and also lowered his vigilance...

But after seeing the war horses provided by Edward, James IV's face was very ugly - because the war horses provided by Edward can be seen as ordinary goods at a glance, and each person is given one...

James IV ran to protest to Edward, but Edward looked at him with caring eyes for the mentally retarded, and said speechlessly:

"Your Majesty James, you are now a released prisoner of war, not a distinguished guest of England. So, don't pick and choose. At least, the horses given to you are also war horses. It is my mercy not to give you horses. !"

James IV was choked suddenly,

Then, he also reacted - indeed, he was a released prisoner of war, not a foreign monarch visiting England... But he still protested:

"At the very least, we have to equip us with a replacement horse!" Just riding a war horse, and everyone is wearing plate armor, so they need to stop their horses often to rest.

Edward waved his hand and said:

"No, it's spring plowing now, and the poor horses can also plow the land. I don't have any extra horses for you!" This reason is very strong, and spring plowing is a big deal, and James IV couldn't find an excuse to refute it.

Then, under the escort of the English army, James IV and his party went north, crossed Newcastle, and arrived at the border between England and Scotland...

Here, James IV began to get nervous. Previously, within England, James IV had not worried about safety. Because, Edward would not risk the disgrace of the world and kill him, the real king. Not in London, let alone in the rest of England.

However, if it enters the territory of Scotland, it will be dangerous...

Because, entering Scotland, if James IV was attacked and killed, Edward could completely disassociate himself from it.

Therefore, the journey from England to Scotland can be said to be the most dangerous. As long as England sends a team of cavalry, take off their English clothes and put on horse bandit clothes, they can attack and kill him, and then push them to the horse bandits...

Therefore, after entering Scotland, James IV did not continue on his way immediately, but directly hid in a castle where the Scottish army was stationed on the border, and refused to come out after hiding for several days.

A few days later, James IV finally came out of the small castle on the border, and then asked the local guard to send a guide to take him along the path...

However, the guard told him with a look of embarrassment - there are horse bandits on the path...

"Horse bandits?" James IV was taken aback, this was the thing he was most afraid of. He could conclude that those horse bandits were probably disguised as English knights and came here to intercept and kill him.

"Yes, there are basically traces of horse bandits in the nearby small roads, which are very dangerous. If His Majesty walks on those small roads..."

"Then take the main road, and you take the 800 guards in the castle with me on the road to protect my safety!" James IV ordered decisively after thinking about it.

"But...Your Majesty, I still have to guard against the British invasion!" The guard said weakly.

"I am the country!" James IV uttered the famous words of the Sun King more than a hundred years in advance. He continued:

"If I am assassinated, if I have no heirs and none of my brothers survived, the Kingdom of Scotland will be in chaos. At that time, the English will easily destroy Scotland. Therefore, my life is very important You can't easily die at the hands of those Englishmen pretending to be horse bandits!"

"But this border... has to be guarded..."

After thinking for a while, James IV said:

"How about this, you take 800 infantry, follow my team halfway, and then come back and continue to guard against the English. In this way, there will be no delay in guarding the border. Presumably, in the second half of the road, it will be difficult for the English army to come and go. After all, they can't intercept and kill me near Edinburgh. You know, there are thousands of defenders in Edinburgh!"

"Your Majesty is wise!" The guard resolutely obeyed James IV's arrangement, brought out all the infantry in the castle, and escorted James IV all the way north...