Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2228 Deadlock and the future

November 1693, 11, the United Provinces, heavy snowfall.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun has been squatting in Groningen Province for half a year.In the past six months, he personally took part in the command, and used the officers and soldiers of the third mixed regiment who arrived one after another to destroy one after another noble armed groups that intended to defy the Hague government's taxation order. He was famous in the three northern provinces—of course not What a reputation.

After these provinces were cleaned up by The Hague, they are now much more honest. Not only have they fully implemented the tax policy formulated by the central government, but they have also paid a lot of taxes, which are about 2000 million dong. Military expenditure (including the cost of attracting allies) is not enough, but it is not without small supplements.

The three provinces including Groningen also sent many militias to join the army of the United Provincial Government.However, perhaps because Hague did not trust them very much, the total of about [-] militiamen were divided into companies and sent to various frontline ministries, mainly as supplementary soldiers.The nobles and councilors of the three provinces are certainly dissatisfied, but under the current general situation, they dare not say anything and can only obey.

And thanks to the fairly effective efforts of the Hague government, the anti-French coalition forces' front in the southern Netherlands became increasingly stable.In the middle of this year, they had a huge decisive battle with the French.One side of the decisive battle was dominated by the German Allied Forces, the Dutch Army and the French Huguenots, with about 8 people, and the other side was [-] French Army and about [-] German soldiers.

The two sides fought in the outskirts of Brussels.In this battle, the army composed of French Huguenots played an unexpected role. They had a deep hatred for Catholic France because their relatives were persecuted and massacred, so they had a lot of fighting spirit.And the French who faced them were also the iron army who had just won, so a fight of sparks hitting the earth began.The Huguenot army fought back desperately, and once attacked the French commander-in-chief Marshal Butteville. The Marshal's son, the Duke of Montmorency, was killed, which greatly shook the French army's position.

Fortunately, the French Army is a well-trained and powerful army on earth in this era, and its commander-in-chief, the Duke of Luxembourg, is also experienced in many battles.Having experienced the pain of bereavement, he was not afraid, dispatched troops calmly, pushed back the enemy's ferocious offensive, and finally won the victory.

However, the price of victory is also painful.In this battle, the French army killed more than 8000 people in battle alone, and the number of wounded was twice as high, basically losing the ability to continue attacking.The casualties of their opponents were even more miserable. The three sides combined killed more than 1 people and injured countless people, so that they had to retreat in embarrassment. The Earl Salm was seriously injured and captured.

After this bloody battle with heavy casualties, the French, Dutch, and Germans couldn't bear it any longer. The two sides came to a tacit understanding and stopped contact. They drove back to their own stations to lick their wounds.However, the Dutch still did not dare to neglect. Having experienced the pain of being invaded by the French army, they insisted on keeping the enemy out of the country, and desperately sent military pay, equipment, ammunition, food and even supplementary soldiers and mercenaries to the Southern Netherlands. Delay the offensive of the French army there, and prevent them from poisoning the mainland of the Alliance of Seven Provinces.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun carefully studied the Dutch battle report, and after analysis, he believed that the possibility of realizing the Dutch request was still very high.Now the main force of the French army is divided into two parts, one in the Rhine Valley and the other in the Southern Netherlands. It seems that both aspects can gain the upper hand, but they just cannot make a decisive breakthrough.Their enemies are like Xiaoqiang who can't be beaten to death. After being defeated, they keep making comebacks, blocking the iron hooves of the French army.

To be honest, the overall exchange ratio of the French in previous battles is superior, and the enemy's casualties are obviously greater, but who makes them rich?As soon as the Dutch made a move, from Italy to Sweden, from Switzerland to Prussia, mercenaries who were not afraid of death flooded into the battlefield everywhere, fighting desperately with the French who had no enmity or grudge.After all, the money of the Dutch is the main backstage of this war. The Austrians, who are relatively good at fighting, are gold medal fighters, supplemented by cannon fodder from other countries. After the French cannot win quickly, they are destined to be dragged into the immediate deadlock. middle.

The only place where the French made a breakthrough was probably in its southern direction.There were only a few partial divisions there, but the Savoys were beaten to cry their fathers and mothers, ceding land and paying compensation, and the Spaniards shrank their heads and did not dare to attack. The situation was very good.However, this is the end of the south. The Savoys have already succumbed. Spain is a big country. If you want to make them succumb, you can't just rely on partial divisions. You can only mobilize the main force, but it is impossible at this stage.Therefore, the south now focuses on stability, and first digests the land annexed from the Kingdom of Savoy.

The Dutch basically see the situation clearly now.Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun met Van Boiningen a while ago, and after chatting with him, he found that the other party was in a good mood, especially full of praise for the front-line generals, who believed that they had guaranteed the freedom of the United Provinces and made the greatest contribution.The only thing that made him unhappy was that the total national debt of the United Provincial Government had exceeded [-] million dong. This was the biggest burden on him, and he was once too overwhelmed.

Therefore, after the situation stabilized slightly, Van Boyningen talked with Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun about the withdrawal of troops, that is, after the East Coast Navy withdrew from the United Provinces in batches, they were about to end their employment contract with the East Coast Army and let them withdraw in batches .Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun had received instructions from Cai Zhenguo, the special envoy to Europe, and agreed in principle to the Dutch request, but asked for a severance fee of about 300 million dong.After a little consideration, Van Boyningen agreed to pay the money, so the people on the East Bank have now entered the implementation stage of withdrawal.

After the members of the third mixed regiment leave the United Provinces, they will not return to the country like the navy, but will go to the Viana do Castelo military base in northern Portugal to prepare for possible future operations.As for the action, there is actually nothing to hide, it is to prepare for possible turmoil in the Kingdom of Spain.

King Carlos II's physical condition is now in ups and downs.At the beginning of this year, he was struck down by a serious illness again, and was once on the verge of death.At that time, envoys from all over the world rushed to Madrid in the name of visiting the patient, but in fact they had their own ghosts.Cai Zhenguo, the East Coast Plenipotentiary Envoy to Europe, also went and had a brief chat with envoys from various countries. When he came back, he followed the scene with his followers in a humorous language: "In front of the bed of an old rich man who has no heirs and is about to die, His relatives are fighting, and everyone has a will for the old man in their hands, and without exception, they hope that the old man will sign the one that is beneficial to themselves."

It has to be said that Cai Zhenguo's remarks clearly portrayed the attitude of those envoys or monarchs.At that time, how many envoys from various countries before Carlos II's illness really cared about the king's condition?I'm afraid that those people are all gearing up, ready to take away their own benefits according to the will as soon as Carlos closes his eyes.Some people may even have the idea of ​​using their strength to snatch what they want if the will is not to their liking, which can be described as a group of demons dancing wildly.

Cai Zhenguo is probably the only one who really cares about King Carlos' condition and hopes for his recovery.He strongly demanded that doctors from the east coast come into the palace to care for King Carlos, and warned envoys from various countries that King Carlos II was still the king of Spain, the West Indies, Peru, New Spain, the Southern Netherlands, Franche-Comte, etc. , Naples, Sicily, Milan, Parma, the Philippines and other places the only monarch, before his death, any agreement in private is disrespect to the king himself, is a very dangerous behavior, the consequences may lead to war.

After hearing Cai Zhenguo's words, the envoys from various countries had different expressions, some thoughtful, some disapproving, some even glared at each other, all in all, it was very exciting.At this time, Cai Zhenguo also deeply realized that it is necessary to keep an army with a certain combat effectiveness by his side, otherwise it would be difficult for others to pay attention to what he said about King Carlos' death, even though the East Bank is already the number one in the world. A first-class power, but it's too far away, isn't it?

The army that Cai Zhenguo envisioned is naturally the third mixed regiment—of course this is at present, and it may not be the third mixed regiment in the future, because there will be rotation—with these thousands of troops in hand, many things can be done at critical moments.If it really doesn't work, are the Northern Italian Allied Forces who are struggling to adapt to the dry food?Especially the Duchy of Milan, which has joined the coalition, they are plotting to carve you up, shouldn't they stand up and say something?You see, even the reasons for interference are ready-made, how wonderful!

Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun is also very clear about this matter.To be honest, he really wanted to participate in this "event", but with the miraculous improvement of King Carlos' condition, he felt that he might not be able to catch up, because he had been out for a long time, and it was almost time to return to the country for rotation, which made him very happy Pity.But no matter who came, he believed that the matter could be done properly.The five mixed regiments of the army have all undergone hard training and have certain combat experience. Everyone has similar strengths, and it doesn't matter who they come from.

He was just worried that if the enemy came out in full force and moved out tens of thousands or even a hundred thousand troops at once, would it be enough to intervene with only one mixed group of troops.However, this matter is something that Cai Zhenguo and even the members of the local executive committee should consider. These warriors are not yet able to participate in the decision-making, so we can only talk about it when the time comes.He always felt that the succession turmoil caused by the death of King Carlos II might lead to a large-scale war in the future.This is not good for the East Coast Republic at first glance, but it is also a rare opportunity when you think about it carefully, it all depends on how it will be operated at that time.

(End of this chapter)