Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1626 Bergen op Zoom

"The British warships have raided our merchant ships!" On April 1673, 4, three days after France declared war on the United Provinces, several Dutch merchant ships stormed the port of Vlissingen with startling news.

Yang Liang was also very surprised when he heard about it, and immediately sent someone to the pier to inquire.The news reported after inquiring is rather confusing, but there are still some basic points, namely: firstly, the British did not declare war this time, and their behavior was relatively bad; secondly, their attack was premeditated, and they were Focusing on this merchant fleet returning from the West Indies means that the British have already invested in France. Although the Dutch have noticed it, they have not paid attention to it; The British captured the few merchant ships, and the large force was safely returned to the ports of the United Provinces; finally, the British Navy was still a strong and strong opponent of the United Provinces Navy, and this time they seemed to be well-funded, At least for now.

The British's move also caused the Dutch to fall into great panic, because it meant that the tripartite alliance of the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Britain, which had been worked so hard to contain France, had actually collapsed.Among these three countries, Sweden promptly announced its withdrawal from the Triple Alliance before the outbreak of the war, and instead focused on dealing with threats from Denmark and the German princes (Sweden also has a large area of ​​​​German territory on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, and the German princes are also concerned about these countries. coveting the land), and now that England has actually declared war on the Netherlands, they are left alone, which is also tragic.

We also can't forget Switzerland, the quasi-ally of the United Provinces when France was contained earlier.At that time Frans-Comté, Lorraine, Strasbourg and other areas were occupied by the French, which had seriously threatened the survival of the country of Switzerland, because they hit it off with the Dutch at that time and became pawns to contain the French.Although there was no alliance in the end, they have always cooperated with the Dutch in terms of policy, and it is not an exaggeration to be called a quasi-ally.

However, after seeing the French aggression directed at the United Provinces this time, the country may be short-sighted and muddle along, perhaps it has accepted bribes from the French, or it may have received some guarantees. The Dutch stand together.Instead, they hid far away and upheld the principle of neutrality. This is undoubtedly worse for the Dutch, but there is nothing they can do.

Now the Dutch can count on countries such as Brandenburg-Prussia, Austria, Spain, Denmark and the East Coast. As for other countries such as Portugal, Genoa, Venice, Switzerland, Savoy, etc. , because they have neither the thought nor the strength to interfere in this huge chess game, because it may damage the independence of their country.

Speaking of this, I have to mention the wonderful country Brandenburg-Prussia. To paraphrase an ancient Chinese saying, this country is almost rebellious, and it will eat back the original "master" at every turn.For example, when the Hohenzollern family of Brandenburg inherited the land of the Principality of Prussia, they became transnational nobles and pledged their allegiance to the King of Poland.

But they are always thinking about getting rid of their status as Polish vassals in order to gain greater autonomy.Ever since, they took advantage of the Polish-Russian War and the Polish-Swiss War to bring the [-] standing army accumulated by the militarism, jumped out against the Poles, and turned their allegiance to the King of Sweden. The laughing stock of European orthodox aristocracy.

However, if that's all there is to it, it's not too much of an exaggeration.The most exaggerated plot is still staged in this war. Perhaps seeing that the trend of the Poles regaining lost ground is becoming more and more obvious, the Swedish army is retreating steadily, and it is only retreating in a small area in northern Poland.So, this country took another gamble. Their king took a standing army that had expanded to 1.2 people to rebel against the Swedes. As a result, he was beaten up and surrendered to Sweden again, but he ceded some land to Sweden. The king, as compensation, is no one else.

Now, the Kingdom of Brandenburg-Prussia, which has experienced the setbacks of being beaten and ceded land, has become more gambling than before, and has become a famous European thug and mercenary.During the Second Anglo-Dutch War, when the British tried to land in the Netherlands (and were successfully intercepted by the Dutch Navy), the country's army had been mobilized to serve as the Dutch "defense force"; it was the Second Anglo-Dutch War Well, when the 1 troops of the Bishop of Münster were in dire straits in the south of the Netherlands, the army of this country was almost dispatched in an emergency to act as a thug for the Dutch. Fortunately, the French helped the United Provinces to defeat the Munsters—of course Although they were not actually dispatched these two times, the country still received a large amount of money compensation from the Dutch, which made their country's more than [-] standing army more and more mercenary.

However, considering that the Netherlands is not the only one who can give a lot of money in Europe, the country of Brandenburg-Prussia is actually up for sale at the moment. It depends on who gives more money from the United Provinces or France. .Anyway, if they have milk, they are mothers. There is a standing army of more than 1 people on a land with a small area and a not-so-prosperous economy.

Therefore, now envoys from Paris and The Hague appear frequently in Berlin, constantly promising various conditions and writing various checks, in order to persuade this country to help itself (the request of the Dutch) or deal with the enemy (the request of the French), It made the Hohenzollern family very popular.At present, it is said that the family of the ruler of the Kingdom of Brandenburg-Prussia has not yet made a final decision, and perhaps in the end it depends on whose diplomatic means are better.

Yang Liang had received relevant training from the General Administration of State Intelligence before coming here, and he had a general understanding of the current situation in Europe. Although he might not know too much about the details, he generally grasped the general direction, so he was quite comfortable when facing the Dutch Feelings - now the Dutch are declared war by the two countries (although England is not declaring war...), the situation is extremely bad, and the diplomacy is even more failure. It may be an exaggeration to say that they are alone, but it is definitely not much better. , so when facing the only quasi-allies from the East Coast, he was naturally extremely polite.

After receiving the news, Major Yang Liang immediately ordered the entire army to stop building camps, and began to pack their bags and prepare their equipment to prepare for departure.Especially the preparation of gunpowder, projectiles, medicines, spare barrels and other parts is the most important thing, and it must not be sloppy. Yang Liang took people to each camp to check them carefully one by one.As for things like food and drinking water, I don't really worry too much. After all, this is an inside battle, and supplies can be found everywhere in the United Provinces. I believe that all provinces and cities will fully satisfy the people on the east coast in this regard.

Of course, it is not right to say how much the Dutch attach importance to the east coast.After all, there are less than 2300 troops on the east coast that have already landed on the east coast (Nearly 200 people from the Infantry Battalion and the Third Mixed Battalion of the Chinese Nationalist Army lost their personnel due to illness during the long-distance sea transportation and were stranded in the Cape Verde Islands). Can't play much role at all.The Dutch's attitude towards them is only a little better than some mercenaries who have just been urgently recruited from Switzerland and Germany, but to a very limited extent.

On April 1673, 4, just after the people on the east coast took emergency action, the Dutch, who were involved, were not idle.The leader of the militia in Vlissingen sent 14 barrels of gunpowder, a large amount of cured meat, wine, and [-] carts loaded with the above supplies that day. In addition, they sent an additional [-] pack horses to the farm. It is specially used by people on the east coast.After delivering these things, the Netherlands also sent several officials who acted as liaison officers to urge the people on the east coast to leave camp and leave the relatively safe Zeeland Province for the "commons"—that is, the forest. The Burg-Brabant area, also known as the Dutch Duchy of Brabant, is a territory acquired by the United Provinces from the Spanish Netherlands over the years and has become a de facto province of the United Provinces, but the The city cannot send representatives in the three-level parliament, and their political rights are exercised by the neighboring province of Utrecht-the small town of Bergen op Zoom in the west is stationed to prevent possible French troops from Brussels and Antwerp.

It is reasonable for the Dutch to be so worried, because theoretically speaking, starting from Lille, an important town in northeastern France, this route is the most convenient and fastest, and the spearhead of the attack can be directed at the relatively wealthy Zeeland province , the province of the Netherlands, is much better than detouring from the direction of the Rhine, and the provinces of Upper Ijssel, Gelderland, and Utrecht, which can be called backcountry (of course, relatively speaking), are all passed along the way. Moreover, there are many fortified cities and military fortresses on the way, and the Dutch spent a huge amount of money to build them for half a century (in order to defend against the Spanish army invading from the southern Netherlands), which is indeed a thankless route.

Therefore, they also deployed heavy troops in the Limburg-Brabant area adjacent to the Southern Netherlands. Radar Fortress is the core defense point, with heavy troops stationed there; and 's-Hertogenbosch, which has fought repeatedly with the Spaniards in history, is also an extremely strong city with heavy troops stationed, but the scale is not as large as Breda Fortress That's all; as for the small town of Bergen op Zoom, where Major Yang Liang's troops are stationed, it is a relatively "remote" area and a secondary defensive node. This is probably related to their lack of troops. The Dutch I don't know their depth, I only know that their number is not large, so I simply arranged them with a mercenary force from Switzerland with less than a thousand people to jointly defend this small city on the Scheldt River. Accept leadership from local militia groups.

Major Yang Liang complied with this.After accepting an additional bonus of 2000 guilders from Zeeland Province and Vlissingen City, their [-]-strong force officially set off, and the liaison officers sent by Vlissingen City Under the guidance of the team members and guides, head east along the Scheldt River towards the final destination.

They basically walked along the way, neither fast nor slow, and occasionally encountered boats to cross rivers and seas (at this time, Zeeland Province was still a province with islands as its main landform, and many lands of later generations had not had time to encircle them. The sea was created, so boats are needed for travel), the speed will slow down suddenly, and it will appear a little chaotic.Yang Liang was furious when he saw it, but there was nothing he could do about it. The third mixed battalion was okay, after all, it was an old unit and well-trained, but the infantry battalion of the Nationalist Army was really useless, except that its combat effectiveness was stronger than those of the Dutch militiamen. In terms of discipline, it was even worse, making Yang Liang scratch his head, thinking that after he settled down, he must train them hard, otherwise how would he fight!

On April 1673, 4, the 17 people under Yang Liang’s command, who were stopped and stopped because of waiting for ships, supplies, and customs clearance documents, finally crossed a small shallow strait after a distance of only tens of kilometers. , Arrived at the small town of Bergen op Zoom on the other side, and set up camp on the militia training ground on the outskirts of the city, which can be regarded as a preliminary settlement.

The leader of the militia in Bergen op Zoom is Frank Banning, a thin, middle-aged man who runs a shop in the city, and also has a mill belonging to him on the outskirts of the city. Generally speaking, he is considered a success. people.However, his commercial success cannot cover up his lack of military literacy. After talking with this gentleman, Yang Liang completely lost confidence in the combat effectiveness of the militia groups in Bergen op Zoom, although it is said that they can muster more than [-] soldiers, but if you can't fight, what's the difference between [-] pigs?

Therefore, Major Yang Liang found that the defense here really had to rely on himself, and the Dutch militia could not be counted on.Well, maybe there are more than a thousand Swiss mercenaries who traveled thousands of miles to come here.However, although these people have good morale and combat skills should not be bad (after all, those who have been hired for a long time will have a lot of combat experience), but their tactical thinking and weapons and equipment are very backward. A quarter of a spearman, this is simply speechless.You must know that because of the leading trend of the all-firearms force on the east coast, the British later compiled and trained the "New Model Army", an all-firearms force that made a big splash in the Civil War.Since then, all-firearms troops have become more and more popular in Europe—at least Western Europe—whether it is England, Sweden, France, or Spain. The elements of cold weapons in their troops are less and less, and their tactics are more and more powerful. more and more "modern".

But now when Yang Liang saw this "antique" army from the Swiss mountains, he was shocked. Can this f*ck still fight?He felt a little awkward, and the days to come would be difficult!

(End of this chapter)