August 16, 1666 AD, The Hague, Grand Speaker's Residence.
An emergency meeting in the United Provinces of the Netherlands is being held!
This is the tenth or eleventh emergency meeting since the outbreak of the war. However, the situation faced by the Federal Republic of the Netherlands has not been alleviated in any way by so many emergency meetings. Instead, it has become more and more serious. It has become more and more critical, and now it has reached a critical point. The atmosphere at the emergency meeting of the Great Council became increasingly gloomy, reaching the point where everyone felt breathless.
In the conference room, everyone was livid and looked at the silent Speaker John DeWitt.
This great politician who was resourceful and good at dancing in the past is now like a defeated rooster, slumped in his chair, his eyes are dull, and he can no longer think of any clever ideas that can save the Federal Republic of the Netherlands. .
Oh, it’s not that he can’t come up with clever ideas—John de Wit’s brain is full of strategies, such as wooing Britain to send troops, wooing Sweden to send troops, wooing Austria to send troops, wooing Brandenburg to send troops... as long as The silver content of the Dutch guilders in the Bank of Amsterdam is still guaranteed, and John de Wit can find countries willing to bleed and fight for the Netherlands.
But the problem now is that all these countries need time to mobilize their military!
The French's 100,000 troops (actually only 70,000) have passed through the Ardennes Forest, the Bishopric of Cologne and the Bishopric of Münster in the southern Spanish Netherlands at lightning speed, and invaded the Netherlands with thunderous momentum. The southeastern part of the Republic of Lanzhou.
A large number of scattered vassal states of the Holy Roman Empire bordering the southeastern part of the United Provinces of the Netherlands are too divided and cannot pose any threat to the wealthy and powerful United Provinces of the Netherlands, so there is no need to waste money. A lot of money was spent on building a lot of useless forts...
But who would have thought that the French would first use the "Turin Wedding" as a cover to make a surprise attack (undeclared war was nothing in the 17th century, almost all wars started first and then declared war), and then another 100 With Farley's great detour, the 100,000-strong army crashed directly into the southeastern part of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, which has the weakest defense!
The speed of the French action was jaw-dropping. When Prince Condé's army passed through the Ardennes Forest and arrived in the Bishopric of Cologne, only six days had passed since France launched the war. Durenne attacked from the front. The legion failed to capture even a Spanish fortress. The upper-class Dutch figures in Amsterdam and The Hague were still considering which country to unite to restrict Louis XIV's ambitions... As a result, the Dutch envoys had not yet left. In The Hague, Prince Condé's 100,000-strong army has entered Dutch territory.
Realizing that they had become the number one target of the French, the Grand Council, which had been confident in its plans, was immediately thrown into disarray and could only hastily mobilize the armies of various provinces to form a coalition to resist.
However, the hastily organized Dutch coalition was in chaos, without a unified command and lacked qualified generals. Because after the death of William II, Prince of Orange, the Netherlands did not have a unified army. Instead, each province established its own defenses. By 1666, the Netherlands had not had a unified army for 16 years!
In the past 16 years, the veterans who used to follow the Orange family in their conquests were either unemployed, died of illness, or went abroad to work. In a hurry, there were not many who could fight!
And Prince William III of Orange, who was able to control these followers of the Orange family, was only 16 years old... It was impossible for the Grand Council to hand over the fate of the Netherlands to a 16-year-old boy!
Moreover, even if they did this, the 16-year-old William III would not be able to stop the invasion of Prince Condé, who commanded 70,000 new French troops.
Therefore, the coalition forces organized in a hurry by the Dutch became the unlucky ones who improved Prince Condé's record. The two sides held two main battles in Deventer and Utrecht. 40,000 Dutch provincial coalition troops were wiped out in these two battles, more than 20,000 were captured, and the rest were either killed or seriously injured. The casualties of the French army were only a few thousand!
It was only then that the Dutch, who had not managed the army properly for 16 years, suddenly woke up from their dreams - the Dutch army was completely behind the times!
They are no match for the powerful French New Army!
After the Battle of Utrecht, the spirit of the Dutch began to collapse. The citizens of Utrecht first lost the courage to resist and surrendered on August 12!
Utrecht is not an ordinary city, but the place where the Treaty of Utrecht, established by the Federal Republic of the Netherlands, was signed, and it is also the gateway to the most elite province of the Netherlands in the Federal Republic of the Netherlands!
Two days after Prince Condé occupied Utrecht, a French infantry division led by the Vicomte Rochefort advanced to Maiden, south of Amsterdam... and Maiden is only 3 meters away from the center of Amsterdam. Fari (12 km)!
There are only two options left before the Dutch Grand Council. One is to surrender to France and accept a humiliating and costly peace!
The second is to dig up the seawall around Amsterdam and use water instead of troops to temporarily block the French army and win a little breathing time for the Netherlands.
However, the time gained by digging the seawall is also limited, because the Dutch winter is very cold at this time, and the floodwaters will freeze. If the Netherlands cannot get back on its feet in just three or four months, the end of the country is coming.
But what can we do in these three or four months?
Can the 16-year-old William III train an army that can compete with the French New Army in 3 months? If not, can the troops of the German princes who were bribed be able to fight against the new French army of up to 100,000 people?
I feel desperate just thinking about it!
In the midst of the silence, I saw a secretary of the Grand Council running into the conference room panting, holding a wax-sealed envelope in his hand. Judging from his expression, the envelope contained should be good news!
"... Mr. Grand Speaker, the envoy of the King of France has arrived at The Hague Port on a British merchant ship, and has also brought a personal letter from King Louis XIV..."
This is indeed good news!
The Dutch Grand Council has not yet selected the envoy for peace, but the victorious French have sent an envoy first. This shows that Louis XIV has not considered the issue of destroying the Netherlands...
"Come here quickly, get the envelope!"
John de Wit quickly called the secretary to him, then took the envelope, tore off the wax seal, and took out the letter inside... All the members of the Grand Council looked at him intently. The members discovered that they The hands of the Grand Speaker have been trembling!
There was silence in the hall, and everyone's heart was in their throats.
At this moment, John de Wit suddenly let out a deep breath and said: "Thank Christ, the King of France's goal is to form an alliance with us..."
What? Make an alliance?
The King of France sent Prince Condé with 100,000 French troops to fight outside Amsterdam just to form an alliance?
John de Wit was in tears at this time. He said: "His Majesty the King said in the letter that he believes that France is the first army power in Christian civilization, and the Netherlands is the first naval power in Christian civilization... ....Therefore, both countries have the mission to defend the glory of Christian civilization!
The world empire of Eastern civilization is rapidly rising into the world's leading empire because of its extremely vast territory and hundreds of millions of people. Unlike our powerful countries in Europe, the Eastern world empire is not only a country, but also the entire Eastern civilization! From the steppes of Central Asia to the east, across the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of America, they are all under the rule of this great country that calls itself the Celestial Empire.
If France and the Netherlands cannot unite to deal with this Celestial Empire, one day the entire Christian civilization will lie at the feet of the great powers of the Eastern world...forever! "
The Dutch Speaker wiped away tears and looked at the MPs in the hall: "Gentlemen, the Netherlands is saved... we are saved!"
