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Alas, sweet Edward, fair sovereign of my heart, In this shadowed hour, I stand bereft, torn apart. Thine tender years, a fragile bloom untimely severed, A boy king's reign, by fate's cruel hand endeavored. O, how oft have I beheld thee, radiant and bright, A princely visage, bathed in innocence and light. Thy laughter, a melody that danced upon the air, Now silenced, as death claims me, a love so rare. From childhood's embrace, thou didst asc

Thanks for reading

It's good and bad, since Eli is crushing it on the battlefield, but avoided attacks on civilians. In some ways, the lack of civilian casualties may not be a positive thing.

A lot of people forget what traditional Christmas truly was, not a commercial or consumer holiday, but a communal holiday where people shared their resources with one another. Ironic, considering UK was one of the original nations that pushed commercialism for Christmas celebrations.

Good strategem

Nope, but he's not completely unscathed after losing a son.

History is a fickle thing, even the Papal authority knew there's risk to tampering with the course of events.

True actions speak louder than words, sadly for all the others who suffered in this place, Eli came too late

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Good quote

There is major lore behind the story, stuff that goes beyond what has been revealed so far

The abilities of the fair folk are quite interesting, knowledge applied on subjects or individuals

Thanks for loving this humble bard's flight of whimsy

The fair folk is another name used by English literature to describe the fae species from the fantasy genre.

Time is finite or infinite depending on your point of view

Very true in both this story and actual history. The Protestant-Catholic wars of the 16th century were a major tug-of-war, during the mid-16th century when counter-reformation began to coalesce it was far less clear that Protestants states could actually survive, especially against a unified Catholic coalition.

That's why the short stories set in this universe exist Writing it from just Eli's perspective would lack this important aspect to the universe. However, if I interrupt the flow of Eli's narrative for world-building then it stops the flow of e main plot. That is why I bifurcated the main story and related side-stories. Not sure if readers are following both the wider narrative in the short stories and the main plot from this story.

Thanks Chris

The Nazca Lines in Peru remain an enigma as the geoglyphs were made by a pre-industrial civilization for view from the sky, but they did not have any form of air travel as far as we know

By the autumn of 1557, we were finally ready to make a move. My forces had swelled to two times their original size in 1553 with a combined force of around 38,000 men and women, serving in my armed forces. I had 84 tracked armored vehicles, 26 of which I would classify as medium tanks were built on a chassis similar to the famous T-34 tank with its sloping armor and 76.2-millimeter gun. Another 32 tanks were built with lighter armor and a smaller caliber 37-millimeter gun using Soviet and Czech

Chapter 23 This is a big chapter when it comes to the results of the long plot threads. Military equipment is now being fully deployed by Eli and Robert. A lot of covert industrialization has been happening as I mentioned in prior chapters, funded by gold stowed away from the national treasury due to the clerical issue of coinage. A shadow economy developed in Western English areas where Eli has direct oversight. Recruitment for troops has also been building for quite some time, via the short stories like "Quid Hoc" you heard that the basic training camps were already filled to the brim. Officer and advanced training facilities at Seahawk base and Plymouth Base were also mentioned in the last short story. That is what allows a 48,000 combined arms force to exist. As for equipment, Eli does not have an airforce, due to several factors, such as the need for specialized training, maintenance, and problematic reconnaissance from Imperial aircraft. However, the deficit of air power was made up of major pieces of equipment: tracked armored vehicles, 8.8 cm Anti-air/Artillery guns, communication and radar equipment to coordinate, and finally 20th warships. The naval and communication equipment is based on British designs during WWII. The tanks are based on easily produced soviet designs such as T-34 medium tank, T-80 Light tank, and Czech 38t light tank. The artilley and anti-air guns are based on German designs, which had multi-functionality. What many people might overlook in all of the military equipment though is the inclusion of a simple new wagon design, based on the US Conestoga wagons, which could carry 12,000 pounds. Even with four years of preparation, Eli could not create a fully mechanized military force, so a heavy load-bearing wagon was needed to transport mortars, artillery, and munitions across the various battlefields. As for the Coup de grace on what Eli was building with the 3 stolen cores (they have 4 in total, but the 4th is special due its connection with Robert/Eli), HMS Dreadnaught has been launched. Most people will not know what HMS Dreadnaught was, but they do know the name signifies the power of a battleship above the rest. England historically began to rule the Oceans in history during Elizabeth's era, so Eli's timeline will have similar themes. A warship armed with a smaller railgun that can fire 200 miles and deliver 500 tons of TNT explosive power is technically possible and was tested by US navy in 2010s, but the railgun power requirement was too steep to be a useful weapon, along with recharge time. The cores would essentially solve that issue. However, unlike the sky fortress, the railgun barrel is too short with the limited space of the battleship, so it cannot achieve nuclear weapons level of power without Eli or Robert playing with physics. The Imperial Sky fortress can unleash at maximum output 3x at 150 megatons of TNT to what the Pluton gun can unleash in one-shot, but 50 megatons is more than enough to take out most major cities. This week's law of Power is 29th law, “Plan all the way to the end”, which is epitomized by the years of preparation that Eli used to build a military and infrastructure that could rival and defeat his opponents. Eli also made allies along the way such as John Knox in Scotland and William Parr, Earl of Northhampton, who supported the effort through their own independent uprisings and providing crucial support. John Knox's rebellion held off 50,000 French troops in Scotland, while William Parr secured the second largest city of Norwich, which had already developed favorable impression of Duke Eli's effort from the Kett's Rebellion campaign. Notes: 1. In real history, Mary's second false pregnancy was made public in the autumn of 1557 2. The real HMS Dreadnaught never saw battle and was scrapped, despite being considered the pinnacle of a modern waship when it was launched at the start of the 20th century. 3. Henry Percy is famous for being a conspirator against Elizabeth I, so it's not odd for him to control some of Mary's army.

Warfare is part of my universe, but it's not just big flashy battles like the one you are about to witness in Chapter 23. A lot of preparation went into the outcome through tactical training like this. I wanted to show readers what goes into success isn't just equipment; though I love military equipment, the officer corp is important. Interesting note for military vets: Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall is home to a real UK military training base, Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, also known as HMS Seahawk.

Frances Howard had known that this was unlike any challenge she'd ever faced. While she had received basic training in firearms and hand-to-hand combat from various individuals, including members of Duke Eli's bodyguards, it could not prepare her for this next stage. She found herself at the Training Base Seahawk on the Lizard Peninsula of Cornwall, England, where Duke Eli's Army and Navy trained to become the new model armed forces of England. She promised herself that she would succeed in her

You'll see in the next chapter We're around that point in history for the transition of power.

Thanks, Chris, it was fun to write. I love the caper and the background I added to it.