Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2031 "Visit" Holland

Because the people on the east coast used their connections, the fleet was repaired faster.By September 9, most of the ships had been repaired, and the cost only cost less than 25 yuan.Considering that this is a foreign country, the charge of the Portuguese can really be regarded as a conscience.After all, they do not produce ship materials. Many ship planks, masts and other things are imported from the Baltic Sea or Portuguese Brazil, and the cost is not low.

During these five days, the three-deck battleship "Milestone" and several ships also arrived in the port of Lisbon, which greatly relieved the fleet commander Morie.These ships are the elite of the navy, and the officers and soldiers are veterans who have been trained for many years. Once they are lost, it is really heartbreaking.

Morie Eel counted the ships currently in Hong Kong, and learned that there are 4 three-deck battleships, 18 escort gunboats, 26 light cruisers and 8 logistics auxiliary ships in Hong Kong, and 10 ships are still in the state of being lost. , don't know how.Although he intends to wait here for a while to see if there are any ships coming to join him, but given the relatively delicate and tense situation in Europe, he feels that he can't afford to wait.Therefore, after much consideration, he finally ordered that the entire army move to Bruges and be ready at any time.

Before setting off, they also hired more than ten Portuguese merchant ships through the relationship of the embassy to transport ammunition and equipment.These ships mainly shuttle between Bruges and Lisbon. They are all mature routes, and monsoons and ocean currents are also suitable. If there are no accidents, it will not be a problem to transport some weapons and ammunition.

On October 1688, 10, after the itinerary was delayed again and again, this huge fleet finally arrived at the famous commercial port of Bruges in the Southern Netherlands amidst the tangled and complicated emotions of the Spaniards, and officially anchored. Only one step away from the English Channel, it suddenly became a role that attracted the attention of the entire European continent.

To be honest, the conditions in the Port of Bruges are not as good as Antwerp.But the problem is that entering and exiting Antwerp needs to pass through the Scheldt River controlled by the Dutch. The mouth of this river is in the heart of Zeeland Province, so it is not very suitable for the entry and exit of the East Coast Fleet, so Moller finally chose Bruges. This once prosperous port is now in great decline.

Bruges was once the economic and financial center of Europe in the 16th century. The local wool textile industry was developed, and there were many handicraftsmen. The nearby towns also had developed military manufacturing industries. In addition, a large number of American specialty commodities were traded here. Therefore, the economic level of Bruges was once very developed and became the economic center of Central and Western Europe.

However, with the changing situation and the continuous silting of the sea off Bruges, the city slowly declined irresistibly.In the 17th century, the threat hanging over France was as unsettling as the sword of Damocles. Trade and economy were greatly affected, and many wealthy and talented people left one after another, or went to The Netherlands, either went to England, or even joined France, which further caused the decline of Bruges.

Although the Kingdom of Spain is fucked, it is not that it has not thought about restoring the former glory of Bruges and Antwerp. After all, this is their important source of income.Just a few decades ago, the Kingdom of Spain invested in improving the waterway conditions in the port of Bruges, expanded the harbor for berthing ships, widened and dredged some silted important waterways, and once greatly improved the port conditions. The various economies of Luri have also recovered, and the local people are all rejoicing.

But the good times didn't last long.Decades later, as the Kingdom of Spain became more and more financially difficult, King Louis XIV of France launched wars one after another against the lowlands, and the port of Bruges declined at an unstoppable rate. The port facilities that have not received investment and repair for many years are also beginning to age, and the waterway feels silted up again, which makes people feel helpless.

The Spaniards invested in the infrastructure of the port for the last time after the Franco-Dutch War. Although the amount was not too large, they also restored some functions of the port and the roadway, which restored the city's economy a lot.And these are undoubtedly very beneficial to the entry of the East Coast Fleet, because it means a lot of cost savings.

Due to the serious silting of the outer port of Bruges, the East Coast Fleet could only reach the city along the canal dredged by the population, and then lined up near the pier along the river.Residents of the Southern Netherlands in the city have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, they believe that tens of thousands of naval officers and soldiers from the east coast have brought considerable economic benefits to the city, because they will buy a lot of consumer goods in the market, and The port department will pay the fee, but on the other hand, they are also worried that the arrival of the East Coast Fleet will bring security troubles to the city of Bruges.

Yes, it's the safety concerns!Many people worry that Britain and the Netherlands will be hostile to the existence of this fleet, and even the neighboring Kingdom of France will feel uneasy.The residents of Bruges are worried that the French will find various excuses to invade the Southern Netherlands again, and then occupy the port of Bruges to drive out the East Coast Fleet.

I have to say that their worries are unreasonable, but the possibility is really low.Because now in the eyes of many people, the East Coast Fleet is actually heading towards the United Provinces and England, because the special envoys of the East Coast people have repeatedly opposed the Prince of Orange's intervention in the situation in England in public, and even opposed the Anglo-Dutch Lordship or Merger of countries, nobody took it seriously before, but it's clearly different now, isn't it?

No matter what the residents of Bruges think, the East Coast Fleet is stationed here after all, and is ready to use this as a base at any time to launch various military operations.Regarding this point, it can be seen from the fact that they bought or rented a large area of ​​warehouses and warehouses near the docks. These are all used to store important military materials.The city's Spanish officials were very enthusiastic about the East Coasters, perhaps because they had received instructions from Madrid, and this undoubtedly disappointed the residents of Bruges even more, who felt that they had been completely kidnapped by the East Coasters.

"The two forts near the mouth of the canal must be completely taken over. Didn't we bring a lot of spare naval guns? Pick one and replace the outdated bronze cannons on the forts. I'm convinced by these Spaniards , These are old antique guns that have been used for many years, and they are still not retired, but still insist on using them, how poor they are!" As the right-hand man of Colonel Moreel, the former commander of the Caribbean Squadron of the First Fleet, Ding Colonel Epicenter said: "The conditions in the port of Bruges are somewhat special. To a certain extent, they are similar to London. Back then, the Dutch could take advantage of the negligence of the British and sneak attack the British fleet anchored on both sides of the Thames at night. Then we We also have to worry about this kind of thing happening again, so the forts and lighthouses must be in our hands, and I don’t worry about those demoralized useless soldiers in Spain.”

Speaking of Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen, as a soldier, naturally everything is considered from a military point of view.Perhaps the diplomats will think that the east coast is not at war with any country, and there is no reason for others to attack the east coast navy, but that is just what the diplomats think.As a soldier, you can never pin your hopes on others. The inbound transportation in the port of Bruges is extremely narrow. Once the enemy sneaks into the port to prevent fire at the high tide at night, I am afraid that the large fleet of the East Coast Navy will suffer unimaginable Therefore, the forts and lighthouses must be controlled in the hands at the first time, no matter whether the Spaniards are willing or not.

In addition, the people on the east bank even planned to properly control the foreign trade in the port of Bruges for a period of time to reduce the frequency of foreign ships entering and leaving the port, so as not to mix in many suspicious foreign armed ships and cause losses to the people on the east coast.Of course, the Spaniards strongly protested this, but the attitude of the East Coast Navy was very firm. They planned to send warships to patrol near the mouth of the canal 24 hours a day, inspect every merchant ship trying to enter the port, and would not release it until it was confirmed that there was no threat.

Safety is always the number one priority!

"Army soldiers should also be stationed in important and sensitive areas. Not many, dozens of people are enough, mainly to prevent irrelevant people from coming to make trouble. When you go out, you have to be careful in everything. Now our main fleet is gathered here, and we can't afford any There is a risk of accidents. Don't worry, the Portuguese merchant ship we hired should arrive in the next few days. In addition to the large amount of ammunition purchased, there will also be a group of army soldiers who stayed behind in Viana do Castelo. We must ensure that the situation is completely under control Don’t let any accident happen.” Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen continued to issue orders, only to hear him say: “The Prince of Orange is a ruthless man, he should know why our large fleet is coming to Europe, so if it is not in order, it will make people Some indiscriminate sneak attacks, we have to guard against this."

"Okay, don't worry too much. Take a good rest these few days and wait for the transport ship from Lisbon." In the end, Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen was waved and ordered.

And when Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen took over the defense in the Outer Harbor, in a villa in Bruges, Colonel Moreel was discussing with several major officers: "According to the plan, we should first contact the Dutch republicans, and then Make friendly visits to several of its main ports. Although I don’t know if this can be done, which ports the Prince of Orange’s people control, but I think it is necessary to try it. Visiting the Netherlands can cause great damage to the republicans They were not in favor of William III entering London, because it would inevitably damage the interests of the United Provinces, and they did not have no supporters in the Netherlands, and it could even be said that there were many supporters, after all, people are selfish Well. So, out of this consideration, we'd better find a way to visit the Netherlands, even if we can't go to Amsterdam, we can still try to win the next-level ports such as Vlissingen."

It is said that William III is really desperate to enter London now!Because there are many domestic opponents, even a considerable part of the army that originally supported him refused to accompany him to England. This made William III scratch his head very much and had to turn to his allies for help.To this end, he recently convened a conference, attended by representatives of the Governor of the Southern Netherlands of the Kingdom of Spain, the Elector of Brandenburg, the Elector of Saxony, the Count of Hesse-Kassel, the House of Luxembourg, and other allies near and far.At the meeting, King William III reached an agreement with these representatives to send troops from the above-mentioned areas to form an army of between 1 and 2 people, hired by the Orange family as a whole, to replace the emotional officers and soldiers in the Netherlands, to follow William III travels to England to ascend the throne.

In addition, these people also promised to form another army, secretly arrived in the United Provinces, and entered Nijmegen under the pretext of helping the United Provinces resist the French invasion. In fact, they followed the command of William III. He immediately suppressed those Dutch troops who showed signs of betraying him. Especially after William III left the Netherlands for England, the status of these troops became even more important. Commanded many Dutch generals.

Under such circumstances, it is particularly necessary for the large fleet of East Coasters to visit the Netherlands.Especially now that the republicans control the three-level councils and many local town councils. After this turmoil, they have won the support of many middle forces and even the Orange faction forces. Therefore, with their full assistance, they are stationed in Seven In some ports of the Provincial Union, it seems necessary to support the republicans in various senses.

They believe that Van Beuningen should not be ambiguous in this matter.William III has shamelessly introduced foreign troops into the Netherlands to stabilize his position, so can't the republicans seek military help from outside?of course!Therefore, it is entirely possible for the East Coast Fleet to visit the Netherlands at this time, giving confidence to those who are lucky and still unwilling to confront William III head-on.In addition, if Van Beuningen asks to hire an east bank army to fight tit for tat, then the people on the east bank don't mind sending the Portuguese garrison there too. Hired into the League of Seven Provinces for the first time.

People on the east coast basically do what they think! On the evening of October 10, they sent messengers to The Hague day and night to confer with Van Beuningen. On October 25, the extremely efficient messenger sent back the news that the republicans agreed that the East Coast Fleet would visit the port of Vlissingen in Zeeland Province on a friendly basis, but the scale should not be too large, so as not to cause some bad impressions.At the same time, they are also very interested in hiring the East Coast Army, hoping to hire the famous 10th Mixed Battalion to The Hague, together with many of the Dutch local troops they have recruited, as an armed force to defend the Republic.

At this time, another group of ships from the east coast that had lost contact before also rushed to the port of Bruges.The fleet that was separated due to the storm during the northward journey was basically regrouped. The people on the east coast lost an escort gunboat, a light cruiser and an ammunition supply ship in the process, which is acceptable.

Arriving together with the lost alliance warship, there were also a large number of Portuguese merchant ships they hired in Lisbon, and they carried valuable ammunition supplies and some army soldiers.So far, everything is ready for the East Coast Fleet, only the east wind is needed!

(End of this chapter)