Start 1861: I just inherited the Dutch throne

Chapter 1 The Hidden Naval Base of Paradise Island
1861 12 Month 10 Day.

The vastness of heaven and earth is filled with bliss.

New Guinea Island, northwest, Shrike Bay between Bird of Paradise Peninsula and Bombarai Peninsula, in the hills and jungles of Modan Town.

A thunderstorm fell from the sky, fell on Gerrit de Vries's face, and flowed down the river, but he remained motionless and stared ahead, tightening his grip on the revolver in his hand.

The cold texture came from his fingertips, making him feel shaken and his mind clear.

Gerrit De Vries looked at the end of the wilderness, where there seemed to be a slowly moving black line, slowly approaching him.

He stared with some trembling: Are these Dutch people finally coming?
Damn it, why are these Dutch so hell-bent on arresting me, when I started my expedition in Timor?

We just followed the Southeast Islands to the Bombarai Peninsula, but before we even started, we were hunted down by this mysterious group of Dutch.

Haven't they always focused on the Maluku Islands and the southern islands of Java, Kalimantan and Sumatra?

When did such a desolate area of ​​New Guinea become so tightly guarded by the Dutch? There must be ulterior secrets here.

Gerrit de Vries tightened his trousers, which were torn by weeds and branches due to a day of quick escape, and finally tightened the waistband of his trousers, took out the remaining bread from the travel bag on his back, and opened his eyes. He was constantly vigilant, but he tried his best to move his mouth and chew it as little as possible so as not to make any noise and attract the Dutch.

"What is going on? Why are the Dutch everywhere here? Judging from the neatness of their movements, this is definitely a well-trained Dutch army.

However, in all my years in Europe, I have never discovered that the Dutch army actually has such a team.

call!
I have seen the ace navy of the British Empire and the ace army of France, but this team in front of me will definitely not be inferior to them.

Where did it come from?

If King William III of the Netherlands had such a team, there would be no need for such compromises in Europe in 1861.

However, it couldn’t have been raised privately by Jane Simscock, the Dutch Governor of East Indies, right?

But it's impossible. Are you planning to rebel, separate East India, and want to dominate this place? "

Suddenly, Gerrit De Vries' expression changed, and he stuffed the bread into his mouth hungrily without chewing it.

Because he didn't dare, the sound of gasping came closer, and the sound of branches breaking when leather boots stepped on became closer. He listened carefully to the sound.

Oops!

The sound came from this huge area, and it was obvious that there were many 20 "enemies" coming, and the area seemed to be slowly surrounding the place in a fan shape.

Gerrit De Vries's face turned pale. As the dark muzzles of the guns were pointed at him, he hurriedly turned back, and the same happened behind him. He counted them one after another, and he smiled.

There were 30 troops in total, one platoon. He was extremely sure that these people in front of him were definitely regular troops. Damn the Dutch, they actually deployed such a strict regular army here.

The surroundings were quiet, and even the original chirping of insects near the equator in winter seemed to have been affected by the atmosphere here and became much quieter.

Gerrit de Vries is a man who knows current affairs. He threw the revolver in his hand to the ground very seriously, and also lifted the travel bag on his back in front of him. Then he looked at the expressionless "enemies" and threw it helplessly. On the ground next to the revolver, his hands slowly raised above his head.

"Everyone, until now, everything is in a daze and I can't figure out what is going on?
So please let me go, I am innocent, let me leave, please."

"How could I let you leave?"

"It's you, you are the Governor General of the Netherlands, Jan Simskerk. You are not really going behind your back in Europe, here."

"Occupying the mountain and becoming the king is naturally impossible." Seeing that he did not continue, Jane Simscock added.

But he quickly shook his head and said seriously: "However, the person I serve is not His Majesty William III, but the Crown Prince.

No, it should be said that news just came from Amsterdam this morning that His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hendrick, to whom we are loyal, has become the new King of the Netherlands. However, all this has nothing to do with you. You may not even see tomorrow. of sunshine.”

"Wait a minute," Gerrit de Vries hurriedly said, "I am a great Frenchman."

The people in front of him did not stop. With only two meters away, Gerrit de Vries was about to despair when he suddenly noticed a man in a Dutch officer's uniform in the distance. Suddenly his eyes narrowed. He saw the naval medal on the shoulder. It was the symbol of the Dutch Rear Admiral. He had seen it before.

So he shouted as if to save his life: "I am a submarine expert, and I am researching an underwater combat weapon called a submarine in the French Empire.

Everyone, if you can let me go today, I am willing to contribute our patents and all kinds of incredible inventions discovered. "

"Seriously" Jane. Dutch Governor Simscock looked him up and down with disbelief and said with a smile:
"France likes deception the most. Over the past hundreds of years, you have repeatedly instigated four naval wars between the Netherlands and Britain, and France has benefited from behind the scenes.

In the end, Britain and France took their place and took away our maritime dominance and financial dominance. It is really abominable. How can you make us trust you? "

Gerrit De Vries was a little dissatisfied with the other party's generalization, but at the moment it was important to save his life, otherwise, his beautiful wife and children might not be his soon.

So, he quickly talked about some principles of manufacturing submarines. Sure enough, he watched Dutch Governor Jan Simscock look at the Dutch naval officer, who nodded, and even the officer finally looked at him. He showed a kind smile.

Gerrit de Vries suddenly seemed to be in sight of escape, so he happily nodded to him.Little did he know that in the eyes of Jane Simscock and other soldiers, it was as if they saw a sheep falling into a pile of jackals, and the scene of being delivered to the door was right before their eyes.

The strange looks of these people fell into his eyes, but they thought they were stunned by his erudition. Unknowingly, he fell into the hands of a man in the Dutch Navy who was the most crazy about naval weapons and warship modifications, but he didn't know it. , everyone felt sorry for him.

After Gerrit de Vries was taken away by 20 Marines, only 10 Marines were left, plus Dutch Governor Jan Simscock and the officer.

The officer's name was Theo von Linden.

Deputy Minister of the Navy of the Netherlands and the largest naval officer in the Dutch East Indies.

Jane Simscock is only 42 years old, and Theo von Linden is only 35 years old. Both of them are young men in the Dutch officialdom, and they are also loyal to the new king William IV. William Hendrik .

"In order to capture this person, we have been fishing for big fish since last month, leading him from Europe to here. Since entering Java last week, we have gradually made him fall into our trap. The purpose of the trap is not to alert the enemy, so as not to reveal our purpose of capturing him, the most advanced submarine researcher in France.

His Majesty William has learned that the other party's concept has been completed and has begun to enter the manufacturing stage, so he has laid this big net in order to capture him so that our Netherlands will not lag behind other countries in the field of submarines, or even reach the leading position.

Linden, you just heard what he said, what if the submarine was made according to his invention and idea? "

"If his design is followed, the submarine will be shaped like a dolphin, about 42 meters long, displace 420 tons, use a 59 kilowatt (80 horsepower) steam engine as power, and can reach a speed of 2.4 knots (approximately 4.5 kilometers per hour). Snorkel underwater for 3 hours and dive to a maximum depth of 12 meters.”

Theo von Linden thought about it for a while, and then said with some dissatisfaction: "Although the submarine is equipped with such a power device, it has made a qualitative leap compared to the submarines circulated in various countries in the past, but the risk is not small. When adding such a power device, When the ballast makes its buoyancy equal to zero, the submarine loses control of its dive and its underwater navigation stability is very poor. In addition, the submarine needs a large amount of air when sailing underwater, but he did not mention how to solve this problem."

"Is he playing tricks on us? He deliberately left it hidden." After all, Jane Simscock is the person sitting in the position of governor. When he gets angry, the surrounding soldiers feel that the temperature suddenly drops to an extreme. This is the behavior of the superior. The anger is shocking.

Theo von Lin is a prince of one party like him. He is not subordinate to the other party, but he is not affected by it.

He shook his head; "This shouldn't happen. If he knew how to solve it, he wouldn't have to come here. Instead, he would have been rewarded by Napoleon III.

However, he didn't.

His Majesty once thought of a plan, because His Majesty thought of the development route of electric motor underwater diving and diesel engine surface navigation for ventilation, which also solved the problem of scarcity of air and oxygen replacement."

After saying that, Theo von Linden's face showed his admiration.

Even Jane Simscock and the surrounding soldiers looked at her with blazing eyes.

Obviously, Wilhelm IV Hendrick was like the sun in the sky to them, so shining.

"The submarine is already in sight, and we need to start construction as soon as possible. The Netherlands currently has a total of 9-ton warships, of which sailing warships account for 90%.

Sail battleships will gradually become obsolete, and steam armored ships will be the mainstream in the future.

We need to speed up the construction now so that the next time our European counterparts face these submarines, they will be surprised.”

Theo von Linden's eyes showed a smile: "Simscock, you don't want to let other people's ambitions destroy your own prestige. Last week, the internationally famous weekly magazine.

The latest report released by the "Amsterdam Peace Research Institute", in the 1861 global naval strength report, the apparent naval fleet strength of the Netherlands alone was already tied for eighth place at the end of last year in 1861. The Netherlands and the American Ottoman Empire were tied for 8th place. At 9 tons.

The British Empire ranked first with 23 tons, the French Empire ranked second with 20 tons, and Spain ranked third with 13 tons.

Italy, the Kingdom of Austria = the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Confederation, the Kingdom of Portugal, and the Russian Empire all had 4 tons, ranking tied for fourth place."

"If other people knew that six years ago, in 6, the Netherlands began to build such a huge military shipyard in a remote place on the island of New Guinea, specializing in manufacturing the world's leading warships, how would it shock the world? I really look forward to this day coming soon.

In addition to the previous three-year shipyard construction period, more than 3 tons of warships are now launched every year.

Now based on tonnage alone, this place has reached the tonnage of the local fleet.

In other words, in terms of tonnage, together with the local navy's 18 tons, we have almost caught up with the French Empire's 20 tons, temporarily ranking third.

If we are given another two years, we will definitely catch up with each other. By then, even the British Empire will have to admit that we have returned to a neck-to-neck naval strength.

Simskok, His Majesty said that the local immigrants will be transferred here. It will be a busy period next. I hope that the government can continue to cooperate closely with our navy, for the great Netherlands, for The great William IV, continue to contribute our loyal strength."

******
Europe, Netherlands, Amsterdam.

His father, William III, was dissatisfied with Tolbeck being re-elected as Prime Minister of the Netherlands because of the weakening of the royal power.

于是荒唐的一幕出现了，威廉三世竟然在1862年1月5日托尔贝克组建新内阁前，先一步1861年12月1日直接宣布把王位传给长子威廉.亨德里克。

Afterwards, he took himself as the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and made his youngest son William Frederick, born in 1851, the heir to the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

After William Hendrick ascended the throne as King of the Netherlands on January 1, he took Queen Sophie and William Frederic to Luxembourg.

William Hendrick looked back on the public opinion during this period with some pride, and was extremely satisfied with the results of his operation.

(ps: The author has a similar work on foreign history in 2013, "Rebirth of the Spanish Empire", a VIP entry with 145 million words, please continue to support!)
(End of this chapter)