The second war with England under the guidence of John Lambert progressed with much sucess for the Commonwealth. After a crushing victory over the English forces of Meath, the cities of London, Wessex and Meath fell under seige. The Irish proved to be particularly bloodthirsty, calling for the decapitation of King Charles II and death to all royalists, striking the fear of god into the remaining defenders of the British controled Meath.
October, 1677: The rugged land several miles north of Plymouth.
Colonel Preston led his hastily assembled regiment southward. News had reached the high command that the Royalists were plotting southing down in Plymouth and so he and his men had been assembled, the first welsh brigade. Despite the thick fog, he navigated as smoothly as possible, having instructed his men to silence for the last hour. If he could use the fog to his advantage he would, the less of his men died, the better. He knew that he could do great things here, if he won a victory, perhaps he and his welsh brethren might get some recognition. As he drifted through his thoughts, one of his advance scouts emerged silently from the fog.
"Colonel, the royalists are less than a mile from our current position. I do not believe they are aware of us." The lanky scout said with hushed voice.
"Good work. Let us introduce ourselves to the Royalist." spoken with a wide smile, before Preston sent orders down the line and followed behind the scout.
Less than an hour later the battle began with a chorus of musket-fire. Surprising the royalist, the bullets tore through their lines before the welsh cavalry followed up the surprise assault with a charge. Horses trampled men underfoot as they poured from the dense fog. Another volley of gunfire followed, though more than a few hit the welsh's own men, cutting down royalists as well as the Cavalry of Preston's regiment. Despite this the royalists were unable to put up any true defense and in the following day the army was routed, stumbling east towards Wessex where they would doubtlessly meet their doom.
December 26th, 1677: London falls to Colonel Warwick, bringing greater humiliation to the British crown. The following day Charles II sues for peace, offering the provinces of Wessex and Cornwall, despite the fact that they still held out. While John Lambert did consider this it was ultimately refused, as he did not want to rob his Irish allies of the victory they were promised. So the war continued, with Wessex falling under the Commonwealths control by the end of March, 1679.
December 11th, 1679: Coventry, The Commonwealth.
A light snow dusted the homes of Coventry, the growing capital of the Puritan Commonwealth. In the large manor home of John Lambert, a makeshift meeting of Parliment and the Protectorate was taking place.
John leaned back in his chair as he absorbed the warmth from the buring fire, shadows cast across his face as he adressed several leading members of the Puritan parliment gathered before him. "I suppose you have all heard the news by now." By the look on a few of their faces, he guessed it was a mixed bag, with a few knowledgeable and a few in the dark. Clearing his throat, he continued. "It seems that our Irish allies are not satisfied with merely taking the war to Royalist England, but they desire war with Charles on all fronts. Early this morning.. they declared war on Scotland as well."
This brought some commotion from the room, as more than he intially believed had no clue as to what the latest news was. Waiting for quiet to return, he addressed the Parliment once more.
"I expect that we will give our commitment to our ally." The way he spoke, hinted that this was not a question. "While Scotland will not be the push over the the Royalist forces here are, we do have a slight advantage. The scottish nobles are not well loved in the rest of Europe and currently they are already in two seperate wars. One with Austria and its allies Ragusa and Venice.. and another with France of all things. Seems the french have really shown their true colors. I fear we might have to keep a close eye on them in the future. I shall send word to the commanders to begin for war with Scotland. Unless there are any questions, meeting adjourned."
A few questions did spring up, but having more important things to do, John Lambert banged his gavel down and ended the emergency session of Parliment. He was afterall the real leader of the Commonwealth.
January, 1680: The small Puritan settlement in the Adirondaks, North America.
The fires continued to burn high into the sky, despite the harsh downfall of snow. With a cruelty that had made the British infamous in some regions, the Cavalry of New England galloped through the burning settlement, cutting down any of the Puritans who did not move quickly enough into the so called reformist church they had built. Sealing the innocent settlers inside the church, the British set the church ablaze without remorse. Before the shrieks of women and children could reach their ears, the Cavalry rode out of the settlement, leaving it to burn to the ground, its inhabitants with it.
On January 15th, 1680 the province of Meath fell completely under the control of Commonwealth and Irish forces. With control of the city well in hand, the veterans boarded a new ship bound for Strathclyde. By the beginning of February, the battle hardened troops surrounded the city of Glasgow, preparing for a costly winter seige. On the 8th the Commonwealth did gain some relief, as Charles eager to save England, signed over Cornwall, Wessex and Meath to the Puritans along with 50 in indemnities. Rather than giving control of Meath back to the Irish though, the Puritan forces remained in place.
