In early November of that year, the King's Army appeared in Brentford, only 7 miles from London. At this critical moment, the Parliament organized more than 5,000 militias composed of handicraftsmen, apprentices and urban civilians to head to the front line and meet with the Parliamentary Army led by Essex.

More than 5,000 London militias joined the parliamentary army, and the number of the parliamentary army recovered to 20,000, while the King's army had less than 10,000! The morale of the parliament, which had a huge increase in number, greatly boosted the situation and reversed again!

The city of London is located in the southeast of Britain, and it is the core territory controlled by parliament!

Perhaps Sun Chuanting and Astley did not expect that the City of London would stand so firmly on the side of the parliament. Just a city in London could call on 5,000 militias to the front line in just a few days when the King's Army approached.

This progress deviated from Sun Chuanting's estimates again. After the King's army captured Oxford, it turned the city into its own base camp. The subsequent march became slow and it was not long before the parliamentary army reacted.

"Although the progress is slower than expected, our initial goal has been achieved. We push the front to the hinterland of the area controlled by the parliament, which will make them very uncomfortable. At the same time, our strategic depth has become wider, and we can obtain support from the royalists in the south, west, north, Wales, Ireland and other places, which is much better than retreating to Wales. When both sides have balanced their strength, if one side retreats to their territory, the balance of victory will not tilt to his side."

"Now the parliamentary army is supplemented by the London City militia, with more than 20,000 people. Our troops are limited and we cannot attack the parliamentary army led by Earl Essex while siegeing the city. In addition, winter is coming, and it is cold and cold, so it is not suitable for siege and field battles. So I suggest that we retreat to Oxford, spend the winter in Oxford, and accumulate strength. Your Majesty the King, you can call on more knights and people to join our king's army during this period. We will train soldiers and fight again next year."

Sun Chuanting put forward his own opinions to Charles I.

The King's Army approached the City of London, lowering the morale of the Parliamentary Army and the City of London to the freezing point, but the civilians in London quickly formed militias to join the Parliamentary Army to restore the morale of the Parliamentary Army.

Sun Chuanting had to admit the power of civilians. When the core forces of both sides were militias, the morale bonus brought by the number of people was very advantageous.

"It's better not to attack London City. We use Oxford as a base and wait for an opportunity to attack London City." Charles I had no confidence in capturing London City, and easily agreed to Sun Chuanting's proposal to withdraw his troops.

The King's Army only appeared outside London for a while, and the King was forced to give up his plan to attack London.

However, the Earl of Essex, who had obtained more troops, ordered not to pursue the retreating king, and only planned to passively defend the city of London, waiting for the king to change his mind.

A group of noble officers represented by Cromwell were very dissatisfied with the orders of the commander-in-chief Essex. This time, it was not just Cromwell who opposed the king, but more noble officers who opposed the king came to criticize the Earl of Essex with Cromwell.

"According to the intelligence collected by our people, the King's Army lost one-third of its troops in the Battle of Mount Edge, with less than 10,000 troops. Those who supported the King had not had time to replenish the losses for the King's Army. Now they are retreating to Oxford, and as long as we pursue, we can not only recover many occupied towns along the way, but also completely defeat the King!"

This time it was not Cromwell, but a cavalry officer of the parliamentary army, wearing a red high-tube hat.

This man Sun Chuanting had also seen before in the Battle of Newcastle. He recruited a Red Hat Dragoon from Yorkshire to participate in the Battle of Newcastle, a young man named Fairfax.

Originally, he was still in the camp of the King's Army in the battle with the Scots, but after the Parliament was reorganized by Pim, Hampton and others, he saw that Fairfax, who was vulnerable to the attack of the Scottish Vowed Army, was disappointed with the king. He joined the Parliamentary Army instead of the King's Army after the outbreak of the British Civil War.

He had a similar idea to Cromwell, believing that the Earl of Essex was a mistake in the fighter!

"I am the commander-in-chief of the parliamentary army. The members of the parliament trust me to give us this position. Don't doubt my actions. I am also planning for the welfare of the parliament and the people of Britain. Britain cannot be without a king."

The Earl of Essex drove Cromwell, Fairfax and others out of his noble officers who criticized him.

"Whether it is the Parliament or the Earl of Essex, they are not completely opposed to the king. They are afraid that they will be liquidated by the king in the future, so all actions are restricted and many fighter opportunities are delayed in vain! When the king was still in Nottingham, we are a large number of people, and the King's Army was about to collapse at the Battle of Mount Edge. Now the king is retreating to Oxford, and we have no less than three chances to completely defeat the king! However, the King's Army is still lively and occupying Oxford. We are here to fight, not to sympathize with the King!"

"The Earl of Essex is a coward. Although I think the king is still the king, I never tied up my hands and feet to fight the enemy during duels!"

Cromwell and a group of noble officers were depressed.

Although the King's Army made a great mistake, the actions of the Earl of Essex of the Parliamentary Army were extremely stupid in their eyes.

"We cannot rely on the army of Essex... soldiers are not expensive. We will continue to fight under his command, no matter how many battles we have fought, we will not be able to completely defeat the king. We need to set up an elite standing army, and we don't have to look at the face of Essex." Cromwell suggested.

"I guess neither side will be able to engage in a large-scale battle in winter. I plan to return to Yorkshire to recruit more cavalry and clear the royals from Yorkshire. If I can occupy Yorkshire, I will definitely go south to support you after the beginning of spring next year." Fairfax said.

These Earl of Essex, who were more firmly opposed to the king's inaction, gradually disappointed and had the idea of ​​establishing a new parliamentary army.

"In addition to establishing a new army, if the parliament really wants to make the king surrender, it must first break with the parliament!" Cromwell suggested to this group of hard-working parliamentary officers.

"How can we make the parliament break with the king completely?" some officers asked in confusion.

"The Parliament arrested the king's favorite Earl Straffor, who was still in prison in London. If he was tried and executed this winter..."
Chapter completed!