Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1608

"...these are completely useless troops!" On August 1671, 8, in the embassy of the United Provinces of Dongfang County in Dongfang, the diplomat Hieronymus van Beveninghe from the three-tier parliament said fiercely commented.

Sitting in front of him at this time is the ambassador Konrad van Beuningen, who had just returned from a "travel" in Patagonia, and he agreed with his deputy, because the Netherlands' small army really sucks .Those who serve as the army are generally new immigrants who can't get along (many Germans and French Protestants pour into the United Provinces every year), according to van Beverninghe, they are "very low-level people" who "do sea work Morale doesn't sound very high.

And another strange thing is that these soldiers are generally municipal, not belonging to the province, let alone the country, which is very strange, probably related to the loose political system of the United Provinces.They patrol the city during the day and return to the barracks to rest at night. They don't have much time for drills, because they are more of a police force than a field force, so they don't need too high combat skills and relative strength. Harsh discipline.

As for who is in charge of the night patrols, it is very simple. Generally speaking, the militia is responsible for this task.The militia in the Netherlands is also quite strange. Although it is legally stipulated that all men aged 18-60 are obliged to perform military service (this stems from the resistance to Spanish rule in the last century), but in order to maintain as many militias as possible and To reduce financial expenditures, the government requires militiamen to pay for the purchase and maintenance of firearms and equipment, as well as daily training expenses.To put it bluntly, the government requires militiamen to equip themselves with firearms, dry food, and training at their own expense. This has resulted in only the middle class being able to serve as militiamen, and ordinary workers and farmers are excluded because they have no money.

Thus the Dutch militia (which constituted the bulk of the country's armed forces) was, in the words of a Rotterdam chronicler: "...the Prince of Orange transformed all the town's militia into a body of middle-class citizens, who Regular gatherings, drinking, playing, like anything but soldiers. During Whitsuntide, all the militia companies in each city assemble on the shooting range, are reviewed by their superiors and cheered by the citizens, and after the parade there is A big feast of merrymaking. In 1664 the leaders of the Leiden militia hired 22 bartenders to serve on the parade ground. All the militia were determined to maintain their reputation as gluttons and drunkards, so they feasted Drinking and indulging in drinking greatly promoted the camaraderie among the militiamen, but it did not increase the combat effectiveness, and it is no wonder that the orthodox priests complained about this, because it obviously desecrated the Lord's festival but Nothing happens..."

Professional soldiers are usually stationed in the cities of the colorful world and are "frequent customers of bars and brothels", while the militia is more like a social group. It is not difficult to understand how scumbag the armed forces of the United Province are.To put it bluntly, compared with the bloody lowland militias who resisted the Spanish rule decades or even hundreds of years ago, the current Dutch militias have been corrupted by wealth and degenerate. The [-] troops recruited were beaten to pieces, and finally [-] French soldiers rushed to defeat the Munsters. Otherwise, the United Province might let the little Munster fall. Think about it It is also a sense of joy.

Hieronymus van Beveninghe used to be a militia officer (and also a city councilor) in Leiden, a textile city in the United Provinces. He had to eat and drink with his militiamen every month, and he was also given a gift He bought a wine glass inlaid with silver animal horns, not because of his beautiful work, but because of his excellent drinking capacity, which is also wonderful-he still remembers the drinking poem at the dinner party at that time: "The wisest devil in strife and rebellion; Our officers will valiantly defeat them; keep the united crown of Batavia alive..."

"Citizens only want to be militiamen, not professional soldiers. What can we do? Are they forced to be soldiers? It's really too difficult. They all have jobs that can support their families. As for going into the army for a salary of nine guilders a month. So it is no wonder that the poorly equipped army is full of social scum in the service. What is more terrible is that some of our officers - of course, Hironi Moose, I'm not talking about you, but there are indeed a large number of people of that type—mostly young and inexperienced sons of nobles or big businessmen, I think you know their abilities better than I do." Van Beuningen also laughed at himself Said: "With the existence of these people and such an army, I think it is too cautious for the special envoys of King Louis XIV of France to still move around in various countries. They don't need to be so nervous at all, because their army that dominates the European continent can Destroy the Land Armed Forces of the Federal Republic without breaking a sweat, and then all is quiet."

"In any case, this crisis has to survive. The French are eyeing them. Whether they really want to occupy the United Provinces, or just increase the garrison on the border to blackmail a military expenditure, we have to be fully prepared." Fan Bei Feningher said decisively: "Mr. Ambassador, I think the plan you proposed to fully hire eight battalions of the East Coast Army is reasonable, no matter how much it costs, it is worth it, because they are all real professional soldiers. Compared with the militias and half-baked army in the country who only know how to eat, drink and have fun, they are much stronger. Even if we want to reorganize the domestic army power-this is what Mr. Dewitt Speaker has promised-we have to wait until this time Let’s talk about the crisis, otherwise everything will be out of the question.”

"Yeah, once Louis XIV's soldiers occupy the land of the United Provinces, it will be difficult to drive them out, and I don't know how much it will cost. Therefore, the best way is to prevent them from mobilizing The pretext for war, and the fear of the serious consequences of launching a war lock, but if these fail, then we have to fight on our own strength. The people on the east coast have always been on good terms with us, and just because of the Spanish incident If the French turn against each other, then they are an excellent target for wooing, but I don’t know if they are willing to accept the employment of the eight battalions and dispatch them to the United Provinces to deal with the threat of war. Although I was the original proposer of this plan, I did not To be sure, you must know that they also have vast colonies in the open sea, and they also need army guards in the mainland, so this matter may not be easy to handle." Van Boiningen said: "The current problem is that if the people on the east coast are only allowed to dispatch two or three It doesn’t make much sense for the battalion to accept our employment, and they may not be willing to fight against the French just because of a few battalions’ employment fees. Compared with the losses in large trade, some employment fees are really unreasonable Let's do it."

Van Beuningen's words caused both of them to fall silent.Yes, the citizens who now constitute the main body of the United Province's land power do not have the high-spirited, brave and loyal qualities of decades ago. They have gradually become philistine and caressing in urban life, and they are indeed no longer suitable as a source of soldiers. up.Van Boyningen, who is proficient in "Oriental learning" and has read many history books on the East Bank, even feels that it is similar to the corruption of the military system of the Tang Empire in the history of the East Bank—in the United Provinces, he was awarded the title of "citizen" of a city It is not easy. Taking Amsterdam as an example, people with full citizenship rights acquired their status through inheritance at the earliest.Occasionally, mayors may also grant honorary citizenship to a person, as in 1655, when the mayor of Amsterdam awarded Michel de Ruyter an honorary citizenship.But whether it is inherited or granted by the mayor, it means that this person or his ancestors have made sacrifices and contributions to the city, and are worthy of becoming the backbone of the city.

However, after a few years of peace, the title of citizen, which originally carried honor, began to be increasingly tainted by money.Taking Amsterdam as an example, now you don’t need your ancestors to shed blood for it, you only need to pay a fee of 50 guilders—of which 13 guilders are allocated to the city’s orphanage and 22 guilders to the poor The court, 10 guilders are allocated to the militia organizations in the city, and the last 5 guilders are handed over to the city itself—so it is inevitable that the citizens of Amsterdam as a whole will become philistine and "wretched". This is an inevitable trend in commercial society, so The combat effectiveness of the land armed forces of the United Provinces composed of these sources of troops (especially their lack of management and training, and their poor equipment) is very clear, it is simply vulnerable!

"Heronymus, when I return to the mainland to take up my post, you who will take over the position of ambassador must work hard to maintain a good relationship with the people on the east coast. Now there are too many monarchs of the old continent coveting the wealth of the United Provinces. Although we didn't actively provoke anyone (is it true...), our huge wealth is regarded as original sin by many people. Especially Catholic Spain, France-ah, I almost forgot And Charles II of England, who was extremely sympathetic to the Catholic Church—wasn’t the annexation of the Lowlands what their monarchs dreamed of all the time, either in the name of commerce or in the name of religion? They themselves were profligate and wasteful, and the result But I want millions of hard-working people in the lowlands to pay for their luxury and thus bear a heavy tax burden, which I will never agree to." When Van Beuningen said this, his emotions became a little passionate, as long as Listening to him continue: "The country on the east coast is located on a major traffic route and controls the route to the East. This is a great threat to the East India Company. But we are limited by our lack of strength here, and We are facing a severe international situation, so we must always focus on winning over this country and gain their support for us in European and Far East trade affairs. You will be here for many years to come, I hope you Bearing this in mind, try to maintain the relationship between the two sides, and don't let the English, French, and even Italians take advantage of it, understand, Hieronymus?"

Hieronymus van Beverninghe nodded silently, expressing his understanding.In fact, he is also a professional diplomat. Before he came to The Hague, he had read a large amount of information about the East Coast, and met Mr. Li Qing, the special envoy of the East Coast in Europe. a relatively intuitive impression.Therefore, he can still understand what Van Beuningen said. After all, at this critical juncture, the people on the east coast must be wooed, and for this reason, even if they are given some convenience in the affairs of the old continent, they will not hesitate.

"The people on the east coast have no territorial or political ambitions for the old continent. All they pursue are commercial interests. This time, the local government instructed us to give up the woolen market in parts of Germany and Sweden to goods from the east coast. One of the concrete manifestations of this policy is that people from the east coast can produce 3000 bolts of low-grade duffel products every year, and there are more than 200 bolts of high-grade woolen cloth, which is a big business worth more than [-] million dong. .And, in this way, it will also let the English cloth merchants see if they want to lead their king in the right direction, otherwise the benefits can only be taken away by the pagans on the east coast of the New World , we have the ability to decide who earns the money.” Van Boiningen said to Van Beveningen: “England has a special system in this country. Their parliamentary power is still quite large, and they have the most crucial financial power. And the woolen Merchants have always been an extremely important political force in the Congress. With them, I believe that their king can be restrained to some extent, that is, if he really goes crazy and wants to start a war against the United Provinces—— He’s very likely to do that, so it’s been done twice before—then Congress could block the funding, and then the war would be less of a big one, and it’d be easy to end.”

Van Boyningen's words actually represent the current thinking of the United Provinces, that is, to do everything possible to isolate France and increase their allies. This is actually exactly the same as what the French are doing now.However, now it seems that many countries that have been bullied by the commercial hegemony of the United Provinces for a long time seem to have a faint intention to stand on the side of the French when the French are also throwing a lot of money, which is very troublesome.After all, the Dutch have suppressed everyone for so long—for example, all the copper mines and iron mines in Sweden have been monopolized by the De Haier family, and their royal family still owes usury to the Tripp family—everyone has long been upset, In addition, you are so rich, as the saying goes, everyone is innocent and conceived a crime, so there is no way to divide your property, otherwise, how can we vent everyone's anger!

"Tomorrow, on my behalf, you will go to the Dayuhe Arsenal of the people on the east bank to discuss with their managers about the appropriate production of army weapons. No matter how bad the local militia is, we have to rely on them for the time being. The equipment that hasn't been changed for many years (and some Including the factor of reluctance to change, after all, they are spending their own money), this time the state finance will help them out, which is really cheap for these guys." Van Boiningen finally said.

(End of this chapter)