Chapter 14: Northumberland and Ireland united against a common enemy
With Irish troops now committed to the conflict, we naturally assume leadership over all peace negotiations. England will have to deal with us!
The English waste no time and invade Northumberland. Luckily, the Scots are already lending a helping Braveheart.
A new admiral is promoted and instructed to get our fleet ready for action.
We appoint out finest general (with a useless shock rating) to lead our expeditionary forces.
And then -- this! We're supposed to be the leaders here, how
dare the Northumbrians make peace behind our back? We're busy shipping our troops, at least have the decency to wait until our help has arrived!
Our troops arrive too late, but intercept the English in Cumbria.
Somehow, the battle is decidedly not going in our favour... And now we can see why the Northumbrians were so eager to make peace -- the English king, Charles I, is a god on the battlefield! He's single-handedly mowing down our troops. Our cavalry flanks are already obliterated.
We order an immediate retreat into Scotland. Our navy is sent out into the Irish sea to be able to pick up the remains of our army. It had hidden in the ports form the Royal Navy, but now we need to take the risks of naval battle.
But Charles I is no fool, he immediately pursues our troops into Scotland to force a decisive battle. Oh dear, can we retreat before our troops are overrun? Charles I is relentless! We should have just sticked to our Irish Alliance Doctrine...
We lose the battle, and a few remaining men manage to flee the battlefield.
We manage to salvage the situation and the last remaining men are smuggled onto Irish ships at night.
They are shipped to Ireland and arrive safely. of the 10,000 men sent out to help Northumberland following the New Irish Alliance Doctrine, only 1780 men return. 8,220 Irishmen died in the Cumbrian fields, fighting the English. Great sorrow and mourning overcomes the nation.
And then, this:
Those thieving, good-for-nothing, conniving, backstabbing bastards! Northumberland is the reason we overthrew the Old Irish Alliance Doctrine and established the New Irish Alliance Doctrine (which has failed spectacularly)!
What will happen now? Can Ireland fight the military genius of Charles I? How will the nation react, knowing that it is now fighting the very nation is was sent out to protect? How can the Northumbrians sleep at night? Don't they have any conscience? The next update will show!