Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1501 Anti-French Alliance?

"When this war will end is not something that we can decide on our own. Even to some extent, far away from the Old Continent, our capital and military power cannot effectively radiate to Europe. The proportion of the factors that contribute to peace It’s not big, at least not the first one. Regarding this point, we must have a full understanding. Although we are very reluctant to admit it, the protagonist is indeed not our East Coast Republic of China.” In the lounge on the second floor of Amsterdam’s East Bank Commercial Station , the plenipotentiary diplomatic envoy Li Qing was saying something to Jiang Yaohui, commander of the Spanish Temporary Task Force.

What he pointed out was actually the two wars between West France and the Anglo-Dutches today, and the role played by the East Coast Republic in them.But frankly, neither seems very big.First of all, the West-French War is in full swing. After capturing the Southern Netherlands, Luxembourg and other places with lightning speed this year (1667), Louis XIV took a small look at the situation and discovered that the United Provinces were only Having voiced his concerns, that Britain was fighting hard, that Sweden was indifferent, and that Austria was obsessed with self-interest (wanting to carve up Spain with France), the young king's courage was immediately plucked up.

Prince Condé, the commander of his army, followed the king's will and arrived at the border area with Franche-Comté as soon as possible. Afterwards, more than [-] troops gathered from Verdun, Metz, Tours and other places. Refers to Besançon, the capital of the province.At the same time, secretly wooing and instigating rebellion were also going on at the same time. The Governor of Frans Comté, the Marquis Ienne, and many important figures directly surrendered, resulting in the fall of many cities, including Besançon, to the French. hand, provided that the sacred Shroud of Jesus is still preserved by Besançon.

In addition, the deputy commander of the French army, Marshal François de Butteville, Duke of Luxembourg, rushed to occupy Saran, and defeated a few Spanish troops who dared to resist, which further brought the enemy's morale to the bottom; the Duke of Lorraine also knew that In the case of losing the enemy, he bowed his knees to the King of France, and Louis XIV generously allowed the Duke of Lorraine to collect taxes in the territory for the last time, and then get out; representatives of Strasbourg also met secretly with Louis XIV's favorites, quite Some guarantees have been obtained, so the fighting spirit is also very weak, and it has basically been determined to return to France, and a French cavalry unit has also rushed to the place to ensure that there will be no accidents.

The battle of Franche-Comté ended before it even started, and the process and result shocked the whole of Europe.Before this, even if you ask any veteran diplomat or observer, he may not tell you that Louis took only two or three weeks and a small price without killing a few people. The output is not inferior to Franche-Comté, Lorraine, and Strasbourg (Luxembourg has been occupied before), and then merged into the territory of the Kingdom of France, further expanding the strength of France.

The fact that the French played so smoothly depends on both military and political measures, but this is even more frightening, especially the United Provinces that are now de facto bordering France, and the German states that nominally belong to the Holy Roman Empire.They feel the direct threat of the French. The lonely and invincible French Army, which has been in Europe for 20 years, is active under the nose every day. No one can sleep. Therefore, they feel that it is necessary to take some actions to curb the ambitions of the French. !

Before the West-French War, the "drowsy" Dutch were the first to wake up!Although they are still fighting and talking with the British, although they still need the friendship of the French to fight against the British, it is really unacceptable to be a neighboring country with the French, because it is likely to make the nationals of the United Provinces " Lost freedom", so they strongly opposed the Kingdom of France's occupation of the Southern Netherlands, and launched a series of actions for this.

"However, although we are not the protagonists, it does not mean that we cannot play our due role." Special Envoy Li Qing said here, and then changed the subject, saying: "Mr. , he has always opposed the autocratic system of the Kingdom of France, worried that the United Provinces would become part of France after losing their freedom, so he decided to adjust his policy towards France. At the end of last month (November), Speaker De Witt had summoned me, he said Allowing our fleet to berth, resupply, and do whatever they do in the United Provinces is a clear signal shift."

"Does this mean that the three-level council of the United Provinces believes that the threat of the French on land is imminent and unbearable. In comparison, the threat of the British on the sea is not that great, so this battle has been delayed for a while. Is it possible to speed up the peace talks that have been going on for more than a year?" Major Jiang Yaohui, the commander of the fleet, asked: "We are allowed to use their port to attack the French, the United Provinces are really not afraid of turning their faces."

In fact, the fact that people on the east coast do not know is that Mr. De Witt, the chairman of the three-level council of the United Provinces, not only contacted the people on the east coast, but also contacted the Swiss ambassador, Mr. Donner.This poor country on the edge of Franche-Comté, which has nothing but freedom, is now also facing the threat of French soldiers, so it is also very panicked. It was drawn over by the Dutch as soon as it was drawn, and became a part of its fight against the French. Of course, this is also under the premise that the United Provinces allocated part of the war expenses.

In addition, Speaker de Witt also summoned the British representative in The Hague, Temple, and used their friendly personal relationship to conduct several fruitful discussions, exchanging views on the [-] troops stationed by France on the Dutch border.According to some unreliable rumors, the Dutch and the British intend to sign a treaty called "Aix la Chapelle", which aims to maintain the balance of power in Europe and the peace of the continent, and curb the ambitions of King Louis XIV of France.

Special Envoy Li Qing also heard the news, but he was a little skeptical about it, because even the name of the treaty popped up. Doesn't it mean that this has entered the stage of substantive discussions, and has the change between the United Kingdom and the United Provinces been so rapid?Even if the French are indeed the confidant of the United Provinces, the severity is far greater than that of England-because England cannot perish the United Provinces, but the tens of thousands of French troops currently stationed in the Southern Netherlands may annex the United Provinces, although after the annexation Whether they can digest it is another matter-but they have fought the British for so long, it is impossible to say that there is no hatred, is it so easy to let go of prejudice?If this is true, it can only show that both King Charles and Speaker DeWitt are really thick-faced and black-hearted political figures. They don’t want any face for the sake of profit, and changing their faces is probably faster than turning over a book.

By the way, in the chaos of West, France, Britain, Holland and Switzerland, the relative of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty and King Leopold of Austria, who should have made his own voice, could only watch bitterly from the sidelines.Restricted by the secret agreement signed with Louis to carve up Spain, he will not be able to oppose France openly, so he can only endure the strange eyes of others, while secretly encouraging Britain, Sweden, the United Provinces and other countries to fight against the aggressive France.For this reason, he also quietly spent a sum of gold and silver from the treasury to arm the army troops of the clinkingly poor Switzerland and the Bishop of Münster, so that they could act together at critical moments against the French.

Arming the armies of Switzerland and the Bishop of Münster, actively contacting Sweden, Brandenburg-Prussia and other countries with a certain army strength, and at the same time wooing countries with naval power such as Denmark and England-people from the east coast of the southern New World also It has not been forgotten, because their small but extremely elite fleet has been swaying off the coast of France-to deal with the Kingdom of France together is probably the current plan of the United Provinces.Many people in Europe can see this point, and Louis XIV can also see it. Now it depends on how he chooses.

"The Dutch are really scared now, and they are a little confused. After all, the British naval guns can only cause them some commercial losses, but the French army can easily defeat them and take control of Amsterdam. They were enslaved by the Spaniards for several years. Ten years of history, the older generation in the Netherlands has not forgotten, how many years of good life have passed." Li Qing waved her hand and said with a smile: "But the Dutch army is really bad, they were actually defeated The group of German bitter hahas armed by the Bishop of Münster defeated them. At that time, they even contacted the Prussian Army to help in the battle. As a result, the 2 Münster army that abused the Dutch Army was easily defeated by the [-] French Army , Such a stark contrast will only make the Dutch more wary of the French expansion on land."

"Hehe, now the Dutch are determined to rectify the army. After all, it is unreliable to rely on others to be thugs. You have to be strong yourself. No, the business of the Northern Arsenal and the Dayuhe Armory is here again. The Dutch want to It is estimated that the total contract value will exceed 200 million dong for ordering military supplies including muskets, cannons, armor, ammunition kits, tents, sabers, etc.” Special Envoy Li Qing said with a smile: “This is the recent request from Speaker DeWitt What I mentioned when I vented, I believe it will be put into practice soon. This European continent is really not peaceful, and there are waves of ups and downs. Of course, if they are peaceful, it will be my turn. The shore is not peaceful, so let them continue to be chaotic, as the saying goes, a dead friend will not die a poor one."

What Li Qing said about the Dutch reorganizing the army's equipment was true.In fact, after the 30-year war ended and the Kingdom of Spain recognized its independent status, the level of armaments of the Dutch has been on a downward path. Both the army and the navy have been severely cut. The gang of the three-level parliament The shrewd parliamentarians are not willing to spend huge sums of money every year to raise too many troops. As a result, the Dutch suffered a humiliating defeat in the first Anglo-Dutch naval battle, and this time the Dutch army was fanned by the little-known Bishop of Münster Army. face, which made the Dutch feel a little sober and tried to change.

The change of the navy is at the forefront. The fleet armed with huge funds of 1200 million guilders, under the command of the talented general Druiter, has never been able to defeat the English in a frontal battle. The conflict between the British Parliament and the king caused a shortage of military expenditures. While paralyzing the British through negotiations, they planned a surprise attack on London and succeeded, which greatly humiliated the face of the English.Perhaps, after this battle, the navy of the United Provinces can finally barely stand up, and from then on it can pat its chest and say that it is not afraid of the English.

The strength of the navy has been enhanced after successive transformations, but the Dutch Army, which once performed extremely well in the war with the Spaniards, has become more and more depraved over the years.Even when European countries generally improve military equipment and military thinking, the Dutch Army still clings to the old concepts decades ago. It is no wonder that others can easily defeat you, because you yourself are behind the times ah!

Therefore, the Dutch, who are now feeling the pain, have to invest huge sums of money to transform the army.In view of the current hostile relationship with the British (the UK is the country with the largest production capacity of army equipment in Europe), and the awkward and delicate situation with the Kingdom of France, the Dutch can only import a small amount of ordnance from Sweden and North Germany, including Countries with arms production capabilities such as Venice, Milan, and the East Coast have placed orders.

"The Dutch are so anxious to get angry and start running around, gathering and contacting friends, the French may not be able to handle it." Major Jiang Yaohui said: "From this point of view, this bad battle between us and the French, If it is to end, it still depends on what step the Dutch can make. If they gather their partners effectively and make the French king Louis XIV fearful, then this war may really end within a year, and we The country can also end the hostile relationship with the French. However, the follow-up negotiations are also troublesome. You are busy, Special Envoy Li. It is also an opportunity for Louis XIV to "get to know" us. Before that, he only knew about our naval guns. .”

"Dealing with the French is not a trivial matter. The United Provinces need to mobilize a lot of connections and money, like those countries that were bought by them, such as Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Brandenburg-Prussia, Münster, etc., which one does not need to spend a lot Money, otherwise, why would they send troops over to help you with the French? Are you hungry enough to support yourself? Besides, using these foreign thugs to fight is actually more costly than sending out your own troops.” Li Qing smiled when she heard this, and it was I acquiesced to Jiang Yaohui's teasing words, and then only heard him say: "Although the Dutch are rich and powerful, they have fought for three years and have thrown tens of millions of dong away. The country has raised taxes several times. It is impossible for the parliamentarians to There is no opinion, so it is inevitable to make peace with Britain to deal with France. Otherwise, what else can we do? Should we continue to invest in the navy, or simply buy us to fight with the British? Although it is not realistic to say that this is unrealistic, it is only about the funds , the Dutch are also quite involved. That's why I said that the peace between Britain and the Netherlands is not far away, and the next step is to deal with the big show of Louis XIV. What role will we play in it? Dutch ports attacking France) go further and join the so-called anti-French alliance, but it depends on the development of the situation.”

(End of this chapter)