The Royal Archives

[Mergerberger II]

[size="2"][size="2"]In the years since the Great Rebellions, English relations with their newly independent neighbors was not good. While the English crown consolidated its power over its remaining territory, putting down minor revolts in Sussex and around Nottingham, Nobles loyal to the English crown on the borders with Wales, Northumbria, and Cornwall had continued fighting the independent rabble. They had had some minor successes, and some minor defeats, but it continued nonetheless.

The greatest of these excursions was of John Williams, Duke of Gloucester. Managing to conquer immense tracts of land in Cornwall with the use of his Chief of the Army, William Johns, he lost them after the death of Johns. Williams took control of the Army and stretched himself too thin, allowing the Cornwall folk to maneuver and push him back.[/size]

As war usually does in Winter, it waned, however the Cornish have been rather feisty lately, English spies report, and scattered, unconfirmed rumors of a larger Cornish Army are beginning to surface. Some in the court of the Duke are beginning to advise him to ask for the assistance of the King should anything escalate.

In the other former English provinces, the situation is much the same. English nobles fighting with Welsh and Northumbrian local lords is no rare feat, however there are continued rumors of larger Welsh and Northumbrian Armies floating around the English countryside. Royal spies have been dispatched to investigate the claims, however the King remains skeptical and relatively unaware. On the borders, many lords are fearful for their lands, and, as usual, peasants don't really care much.[/size]

Edited April 19, 2010 by Mergerberger II

[Mergerberger II]

War!

On all fronts, the enemy had coordinated. A great alliance of the three Kingdoms descended upon England with a fury never before witnessed by the people of England. And they were savages. The Northumbrians, reaching York rapidly, sacked the city and burned it to the ground, choosing instead to make their encampment in the English Fort just West of the city. No citizen was left alive, and all England glowed with rage. The Corns sacked Bristol and did the same as the cowardly Northumbrians, and the Welsh marched out of Monmouthsire and into Southern England, where they expected to be joined by the Corns in their invasion.

But Henry VI was no fool. He was intelligent, and he was trained in the ways of war from his father, the former King Henry V, who beat the ever-loving !@#$ out of France at every turn. And though Henry VI was old, he knew still how to command and how to win a war on three fronts. Immediately, scouts were sent to the North and West, to attempt to find the precise size of the Armies of the invading coalition.

The reports returned within a month:
Northumbria: 15,000 men-at-arms, 200 knights in Yorkshire
Cornwall: 13,000 infantrymen, 400 knights in Bristol
Wales: 14,000 infantrymen, 2,000 knights in Bristol

Immediately King Henry knew that the had an advantage: Gunpowder. None of these meagre kingdoms knew that he had such an advantage either. His plan became simple: shock and awe. Fear. that was the cornerstone. The great explosions on the battlefields of England would rattle the invading armies, routing them and sending them on the run. He would reconquer Wales, Cornwall, and Northumberland. He would take back what his uncle, James, had lost as King.

The armies moved swiftly. 11,000 dismounted knights, 3,000 longbowmen and 2,000 mounted knights to Bristol. 7,000 dismounted knights, 2,000 longbowmen, and 2,400 mounted knights to Yorkshire. They would arrive within two weeks.

Edited April 26, 2010 by Mergerberger II