From late 1607 to early 1608, a great cold wave descended upon Europe and North America.
In the original timeline, Jamestown was just beginning construction in this area around this time. This is how we know the great cold wave also affected North America. The early history of the settlement is recorded with the memory of conflict with the Powhatan tribe, crop failure, and a cold so utterly horrific it tortured them mercilessly.
The sea froze. People built fires on the ice, but the ice did not melt. They cut off frostbitten limbs and huddled together like animals for warmth.
It is even recorded that cannibalism occurred.
And what of Europe, with its larger population and better defenses? Just the same. People died of exposure everywhere. The North Sea was choked with icebergs, stopping trade ships. Even in the cities of Spain and Italy, famous for their warmth and mild climate, people froze to death, and lakes and rivers froze solid under heavy snowfall. Roads were cut off, and buildings collapsed.
And that winter lasted until March, extending into May.
Winter had devoured spring.
The catalog’s prose describing this was dry, but the phrase ‘a cold snap that happens once or twice a century’ was chilling. Such a cold wave would not occur again for decades.
“This year’s grape harvest, I do not think it will turn out well. We should stockpile the wine supply as much as possible.”
“…”
“…”
“The same goes for food supplies. We must inform Oitotan and the Knightly Order as well.”
Fortunately, we had the catalog, and I was here to read it. Furthermore, we were currently cultivating enough massive tracts of land with tractors to feed hundreds of thousands of people, even with a population of only 100,000. It would be difficult for us to starve, no matter how great the famine. The cold? Furs and firewood were everywhere. We were more than capable of preparing for the cold wave and the ensuing famine.
However, “What will the situation in Europe be like?”
When I asked, everyone bowed their heads and fell silent. In our hands was a report written by Bacon detailing the situation in England, Ireland, and other places.
What would Europe be like? Especially England, Scotland, and Ireland, with whom we traded most closely? Could they prepare properly for the cold wave?
I reread the section of Bacon’s report detailing the situation in England carefully. And I concluded. The British Isles were utter chaos.
***
“What are you people saying!”
“Just what you heard. We are questioning whether you intend to make yourself King of Ireland.”
“Can you take responsibility for those words? Can you take responsibility!”
Ireland was, a continuum of disorder, even after their apparent victory. The council, made up of various lords and nobles gathered from across the country, was deadlocked day after day.
“Earl of Tyrone! You initially only demanded home rule and the position of Governor from the Queen of England!”
“That’s right! If you truly intended to free us and expel those who do not follow the true word of the Lord, how could you have done that!”
“He, too, rose up merely to grab power!”
These were absurd things to say to Aodh Mór Ó Néill, the leader of the Irish forces.
Were they suggesting he should have demanded Irish independence and the immediate expulsion of the English from the start, thus eliminating all room for negotiation? Especially when they weren’t in such an advantageous position then? Besides, most of the people shouting now hadn’t even offered a proper resistance to the English back then. They were just Johnny-come-latelys who had joined once the tide turned.
Ó Néill suppressed his anger and tried to persuade them by pointing out these facts, but they were unyielding. Their purpose, from the start, was to prevent Aodh Mór Ó Néill from becoming the King of Ireland.
Who, then, should be King?
‘Me!’
‘I must be the one!’
‘I will be the sovereign of the new Kingdom of Ireland!’
As a result, there was no way the Irish forces could unite properly and wage war. The war had simply dragged on too long, indecisively, allowing every hanger-on and rabble-rouser who had never intended to rebel in the first place to join in and demand a share of the spoils.
The English army was still present.
Yet, the actions of these nobles, acting as if they had already won, disgusted Commander Ó Néill, Red Hugh O’Donnell, and even the Spanish commanders. The result was that they plunged into a never-ending cycle of division and squabbling over rewards in a war that hadn’t even ended. Nothing was truly changing, and they had to endure multiple famines and disasters.
For the Irish peasants, who had joined the cause hoping for freedom to worship as the Catholic Church wished and liberation from foreign landowners, this was terrible news.
If that was the state of internal division in Ireland, what were the English—the ones who should be stabbing a dagger into their back—doing? Were they preparing to once again impose the yoke of oppression and exploitation on Ireland?
“W-we still haven’t found our homes after the flood, and it’s been months.” “Please, send ships of aid!”
It didn’t look like it.
“WAAAH! Give us back our common land!”
“Are those dirty nobles not stealing our land and putting up fences? Let’s tear down those fences!”
Things were somewhat difficult.
“C-C-CRAAAK! Catholic rioters!”
“Freedom of faith! Death to the unbelievers who oppose the Pope!”
There were some complications.
First, a massive flood had occurred around January 1607, leaving southwestern England and Wales in utter chaos. An entire village was completely submerged, and thousands of refugees were still wandering everywhere.
If that was the case, what was the government doing instead of controlling and resettling the refugees?
“You will obey the King’s command! If you do not disarm and disperse immediately, we will exercise the King’s sovereignty in this land, as permitted by the Lord!”
“Don’t be fooled! They will kill us even if we surrender our weapons!”
“Damn it, it’s no good. Attack!”
They had to put down the rebellion that had just erupted. The Midlands peasant revolt, which was a reaction against the enclosure movement, had spread like wildfire, unlike in the original history where it was easily suppressed.
“This is all because the Queen isn’t here! Everyone lived well when Queen Elizabeth was on the throne!”
“The King of Scotland is trying to steal the throne by threatening the Queen! The London riots were also instigated by James!”
This was a big reason: all sorts of rumors were being mixed into the chaos. Stories that would make James foam at the mouth and have a fit. (Though it was true he had tried to cooperate with the rebels, and true he had tried to get the Queen killed.)
They wandered in groups of thousands, burning down gentry houses and tearing down the fences they had erected on common land. The revolt was only barely suppressed after mobilizing a matching force. Considering what that military force could have accomplished in Ireland, it was enough to make James weep blood, but no one cared about his tears.
And finally.
“Shh, be careful.”
“Are we all gathered? Let us begin the meeting.”
Catholics were gathering everywhere.
It was a natural phenomenon.
Their Spanish allies had achieved enormous success in Ireland. Even if the Spanish were too preoccupied with their own internal conflicts in Ireland to directly support the Old Catholics in England, they were still quietly increasing their power base on their own.
“What do you think of the current situation?”
“Elizabeth and James are nothing but the same oppressors! A pro-Catholic member of the Stuart family must be put on the throne!”
“That’s right! The King’s grip on England is weaker now than it has ever been! This is our chance!”
Their meetings were, on the one hand, secret. On the other hand, they were public. In secret alleyways, basements, and private chambers, they quietly recruited allies, drew up plans for various conspiracies, and prepared resources for acts of terrorism.
“Look, there are Protestants!”
“Grab him!”
And in public squares and thoroughfares, they announced their presence and drew support with small-scale riots and acts of defiance. Protestants were frequently being killed or lynched everywhere.
A state of complete anarchy seemed to have settled upon England.
At the same time…
“What do you think, son?”
“Well, everyone is confused, aren’t they? We must be the ones to impose order.”
“That’s right, my boy. This is the time to grow our influence. For the sake of our family.”
Zealous Protestants began to arm themselves everywhere, using the chaos as justification.
Rebels in London were playing house, holding their own parliaments and courts amidst the chaos, and James, the one who should have been keeping them in check, lacked the resources to do so. In the middle of all that turmoil, a father and son from a wealthy gentry family in Huntingdon whispered to each other.
Their names were Robert Cromwell and Oliver Cromwell.
And so.
The ambitions, desires, anger, and interests of countless people became thoroughly entangled. In the middle of it all, a horrific political maze, too complex for anyone to navigate, was created in England. It was unrecognizable as the country that had recently been riding high, fighting the mightiest power in Europe, Spain, to a standstill.
In the middle of all that chaos…
“Your Highness, Queen Elizabeth has released another batch of furs! The price of furs is fluctuating wildly!”
“Wine exports have plummeted since France began its own independent trade. We must reroute the trade lanes to the North Sea immediately!”
“Ugh! Kck!”
James VI of Scotland clenched his jaw, buried under a mountain of administrative tasks pouring in from everywhere.
The turmoil Elizabeth was creating across the continent. The turmoil arising from Virginia’s growing independence. The turmoil caused by the Scottish lords, who were cooperating with Elizabeth and plotting against the crown. And the turmoil arising from all the other internal crises in England.
Processing all of it drove him to the brink of exhaustion every day. He cursed Elizabeth, the woman who had brought all these trials upon him, day and night. And, he told his young son: My boy. In the end, a King’s administrative capacity is all that matters. And never neglect Scotland. Those English dogs are not to be trusted.
“Yes, Father.”
Charles Stuart, the man who would one day become Charles I of England, learned his most important life lessons this way.
Considering that he would later neglect Scotland and be hit by a rebellion, and then, in the middle of that, be hit by a Parliamentarian rebellion that would ultimately lead to his execution.
These were truly valuable lessons.
***
It was chaos.
Horrific chaos was erupting everywhere in England, Scotland, and Ireland. England, in particular, well, Catholic and Puritan mobs were reportedly occupying and fighting in the streets in broad daylight, frequently. It was debatable whether one could even call it a ‘country’ anymore.
In the midst of all this, even if I were to give them a heads-up about the coming cold wave, what could they possibly do? No, imagine if, in the middle of the Injwidae Rebellion in Korea, the (self-proclaimed) Emperor of Australia suddenly told King Yeongjo, ‘You need to prepare for a great cold snap!’ Would he believe it? Wouldn’t it seem like a rebel plot?
And given that I’m allied with Elizabeth, James’s bitter rival, wouldn’t he be even less likely to believe it?
And so, the ‘Warn Them and Prevent Disaster’ operation was postponed indefinitely. We had to find another plan.
We certainly didn’t have enough food to feed the millions of people in England and Ireland. Nor did we have a way to quell their internal strife. But we couldn’t just let them die. We had to do our best.
Operating under that principle, we made our plans, stockpiled our resources, and gathered ships. Naturally, when a harbor suddenly fills with ships and people start loading them up with cargo, word is bound to get out.
And,
“I have heard that you are preparing an operation of some magnitude.”
“…”
“In Ireland.”
“That is correct.”
The news couldn’t possibly not have reached Elizabeth, who was freely moving about the area.
I was unnecessarily tense. I worried that this unpredictable woman would try to interfere with our plans.
“What are your thoughts on expanding the scale?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean exactly what I said. You are doing this to save human lives, are you not? It would be even better if you operated in England’s territories as well, not just Ireland.”
“The idea is welcome. But we have no effective means to do so.”
“You do.”
…Huh?
“What is that means?” I asked.
“Me.”
The Queen replied.
“…” “…” “Huh?”
“That’s right. I will cross the Atlantic myself.”
“Is that strictly necessary?”
What on earth?
“Well, it will be a good way to embarrass everyone I dislike.”
What exactly is this woman?
The Queen smiled, a strange, cunning look in her eyes.