Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2070 Negotiation and Arrangement

"Detachment Captain, Lieutenant Yang Chengdong is back." On August 1689, 8, the headquarters of the Portuguese Garrison Command of the East Coast Republic had been moved to Maastricht. Make a report.

This is a villa in the countryside. It occupies a small area, but it is very well decorated. It was originally owned by a member of the Utrecht Province. It is now rented by the Dutch government and serves as a temporary headquarters for the East Coast Army.The private houses next to the villa were also requisitioned, and a large number of staff officers and miscellaneous personnel lived in. In addition, the troops directly under the headquarters (artillery, cavalry, engineers, baggage soldiers, and guards) also lived in this area and listened to orders at any time.

In the other direction of Maastricht City, the main force of the Portuguese garrison, including the seventh mixed battalion, is stationed. It is currently reorganized into the first regiment of the garrison army. The number of soldiers is less than 3000, mostly on the east bank. Nationality, weapons and equipment, tactics and tactics are no different from the regular army on the east coast.

The second regiment of the Garrison Army was a mercenary army recruited in Portugal and Italy, with a total of 3000 people.They lost some during the battle in the Black Sea, and left some after returning. At the beginning of this year, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun ordered it to be repaired, so they recruited nearly 3000 Walloons in the Southern Netherlands into the army, and they made up enough [-] people were recruited.This force is currently stationed on the Maas River west of Sittard between Maastricht and the mainland of the Netherlands. The people on the east bank have set up a transfer station here for temporary storage of troops from the Netherlands and the South Netherlands. And supplies bought from Germany.At the same time, the garrison here is also to communicate with the Netherlands and Maastricht, in case the retreat route is cut off and cannot return to the United Provinces.

You know, Maastricht is an enclave of the League of Seven Provinces.The enclave borders Germany to the east and is surrounded by the Western Southern Netherlands to the west, north, and south. Its inhabitants were also predominantly Catholic at this time.The Dutch occupied the city and its surrounding areas for only a few decades, and it was said that they took it from the Spaniards.It can even be said that the "commons" south of the province of Utrecht (that is, the Duchy of Limburg-Brabant in the Netherlands) were gradually eroded from the Southern Netherlands in history, just as the French gnawed at them step by step. It is like devouring the southern Netherlands and expanding its northeastern territory.

Of course, the Dutch also wanted to eat some towns between Maastricht and the commons, so that this enclave could be connected with the mainland.But under the current international situation, it seems unlikely.Although the Spaniards are weak, they still have to face. What's more, they have the support of the people on the east coast, and they will not allow others to humiliate the country too much. Therefore, the Dutch decided to continue to wait for the opportunity to wait for the outbreak of a war that swept across the country. Like now.

The Portuguese garrison of the people on the east bank also has a third regiment with a staff of about 3000, most of whom are captured Russian infantry and East Ukrainian Cossacks. They are currently stationed in Groningen, an important town in the northern part of the United Provinces, to monitor the local area nearby. Numerous Orange family sympathizers.

This time Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun led the main force of the garrison army to go south to Maastricht, but he still did not move the third regiment, but made him feel at ease to station in Groningen and suppress the place.Now that the French are messing around again, a big war sweeping across the European continent is inevitable. The Orange faction in the United Provinces is ready to move again. Many people are preaching that the Republicans are only good at naval warfare, and the land warfare is a mess, encircling the seven provinces The alliance still has to rely on the Orange family.

There is no doubt that this is a very dangerous idea.The Orange family has always been in command of the army, and has been commanding operations since the era of rebellion against the Spaniards, and has a deep influence in the army.In fact, this is not a big deal, because influence can be eliminated slowly. For example, after William II died of illness after rebellion, the speaker of the third-level parliament, De Witt, spent a full 20 years in the Orange family. The influence of the army was reduced to a minimum, so that William III came to power because of the French invasion, the republican government was helpless, and the people were extremely dissatisfied.And before that, William III was so run on that he couldn't receive noble education for a time, so why didn't there be loyal and brave officers standing up to defend him at this time?

What really scares people about the Orange family is actually the great prestige they have gained from saving the country for a long time.This kind of prestige is so deep that it has almost formed a kind of superstition. The Dutch people are convinced that as long as the Orange family comes out of the mountain, no matter how difficult the country is in, it will eventually be reversed and the danger will be saved.Historical revolts against Spanish rule, the Franco-Dutch War, etc., have reinforced this superstition over and over again, so that republican governments are very nervous about anyone who promotes this idea.Especially in the three provinces of Friesland, Groningen, and Upper Ijssel, the republican government sent heavy troops to station in order to prevent local disturbances.Groningen is the place where people who sympathize with the Orange family gather the most among the three provinces. Therefore, the rude and bloodthirsty Russian troops who do not understand the language are stationed here. They can be ruthless!

It can be seen from this that although the republicans have successfully come to power, their rule is not very stable.If the external situation is calm, they can easily adjust and clean up, and gradually understand the influence left by the Orange family, but it will take more time.But the problem is that now the French have launched a war of aggression. Although the Netherlands has not suffered any damage, because of the secret alliance agreement signed with other countries, the United Provincial Government has no choice but to declare war on France and send a navy to attack the French coastline. plunder their merchant ships.

Under such circumstances, the future of the United Provinces is somewhat uncertain.Van Beuningen is not a fool. He naturally knew that there was another undercurrent in the country. Therefore, under the advice of the diplomats on the east bank, he immediately cleaned up the army and suppressed the local area. Richter, a key traffic node, guards against possible changes on the border.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun, who had full military power, agreed to the request.Full of militant factors in his blood, he asked the Dutch government for a large sum of money and supplies, and then took the first and second regiments to Maastricht and stationed in the fortress outside the city.Considering that the border is still relatively calm at present, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun doesn't like the cramped, dark, and humid environment of the fortress, so he lives in a beautiful villa outside the city and commands more than 1 soldiers nearby—including more than 6000 Dutch local troops .

Before the dispatch, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun also wrote a letter to Gao Wengang in Cadiz, describing his plan in detail.Gao Wengang's order to the Portuguese garrison was to maintain the political stability in the Netherlands. Under this principle, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun could decide various matters by himself, so he could still make up his mind about the matter of marching into Maastricht this time.

To the east of Maastricht is the land of the Holy Roman Empire, currently occupied by the troops of Louis XIV and his ally, the Elector of Cologne.After the French army entered Cologne, Furstenberg quickly stabilized the situation, and then controlled a large part of the army with the help of the French. He is still very good at present.

The shadow of the Cologne army has appeared several times on the border of Maastricht.These people even crossed the border to provoke the Dutch garrison, and one of them even led to a large-scale armed conflict, with hundreds of people killed and injured on both sides.Because of the distance from the mainland, the Dutch army here is panicked and demoralized, and the French spies are moving around in the territory, constantly fanning the flames and inciting rebellion among the Catholics.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun's troops arrived on August 8.Once in Maastricht, they foiled a rebellion by the local nobles.The nobleman colluded with the Cologne army on the opposite side, and even attracted some French cavalry to rush in, intending to overthrow the local rule of the Dutch.The army on the east bank directly suppressed them. The four infantry companies of the 12th Mixed Battalion opened up in the field, and thousands of musketeers fired a dense volley of guns outside the enemy's range, which made the Germans unable to maintain The camp completely collapsed, and even the hundreds of French cavalry who assisted in the battle were coerced and fled, so embarrassed.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun promptly sent out the five cavalry companies on hand, chasing after the fleeing enemy army, and finally achieved an astonishing result of killing, wounding and capturing more than [-] enemy soldiers, including dozens of Frenchmen , Let a group of bumpkins in Maastricht see the majesty of the East Coast Army.

After that battle, the border calmed down for a full ten days.The Cologne and French people who were raging nearby seemed to disappear overnight and never showed up again, which was very surprising.Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun thought about it, probably because the main attack direction of the French was not here, and the large number of reinforcements from the Austrian army made them feel pressured.

However, this is not the reason why Lieutenant Colonel Mao can slack off.In fact, he was still very vigilant and tried every means to hoard supplies to the front line.These include not only food, medicine, etc. that can be purchased locally, but also ammunition delivered from the navy.You must know that the Dutch could not provide the rifled ammunition used by the regular army on the east coast. These bullets and gunpowder were hoarded in the Port of Bruges and later transferred to Vlissingen.Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun was worried that there would be a large-scale battle next, so he wanted to stock up as much as possible in Maastricht, lest the transportation line be cut off by the enemy after the war broke out, so he could only fight with old-fashioned muskets.

Lieutenant Yang Chengdong went to the beach to pick up ammunition this time.Just now the staff reported that he was back, which meant that a large amount of ammunition had arrived. This made Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun very happy, so he immediately put down the document he was writing, got up and went outside.

"Commander, this time we met Commander Mollie Mo of the Navy. He reminded us to stay vigilant and not to take the initiative to attack. Large-scale conflicts broke out with the Germans and even the French." After a military salute, Lieutenant Yang Chengdong greeted Mao Jun whispered the report: "He said that although the Van Beuningen government has just signed a 200 million yuan worth of cane sugar and tobacco procurement contracts with us, this is not enough for us to work for them. Navy ships are the country's point of view. We have saved a little, and we are all loyal national soldiers. Although we are not afraid of the barbaric Frenchmen, we will definitely suffer casualties as long as we fight.

"Hmph, it really is the navy that can say it. I don't like this kind of weak tone." Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun lit a cigarette and said teasingly: "But forget it, Special Envoy Gao has been watching us for a long time. The army is not very pleasing to the eye, so we should not provoke him at this time. Damn, we sold us for a business of 200 million, which is really cheap. The new Dutch government now wants nothing, arms, daily necessities, machines and even Food, why don’t you extort 1000 million? You know, when a person is drowning, he is unwilling to let go of any life-saving straw. At this time, if you negotiate terms with him, what can’t be negotiated?”

After finishing speaking, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun went to the goods yard to check the military supplies he had brought back.In fact, even though he had hurt Haijun and Gao Wengang a lot with what he said just now, he was still very clear in his heart, knowing that he did not take the initiative to provoke the enemy's capital, it is better to calm down.For example, the bullets and high-quality gunpowder in front of us were transported thousands of miles from the mainland, and neither the Portuguese nor the Dutch could provide them.

Furthermore, it is said that China is now negotiating a series of cooperation agreements with the new Dutch government, with a total amount of about 1000 million yuan, which will be completed in the next five years.In other words, the Dutch will increase the import quota of goods from the east coast by about 200 million yuan per year on the current basis, including arms, textiles, machinery and equipment, food and medicine, tropical specialties, etc., which will stimulate the economic development of the east coast Very big.

However, the Dutch were unwilling to make concessions easily during the negotiations, and put forward many conditions, many of which the East Bank government could not agree to.At present, although the two sides have reached some results, there are still disputes in some places, and it is not known when it will be completed.Therefore, there is really no need for the people on the east coast to work too hard at this time. It is enough to help the Van Beuningen government stabilize the situation. There is really no need to do more, unless the Dutch make major concessions in the negotiations.

This war that was provoked by the French and swept across many countries in Western Europe and Central Europe is naturally a tragedy for the countries deep in the vortex of war, but it may not be an excellent opportunity for other countries that are watching from the sidelines.The East Coast Republic, which is negotiating a package of commercial cooperation with the Dutch government, seems to be receiving large orders, and the Kingdom of England, which is separated from the European continent by a strait, has also benefited greatly, at least so far.

(End of this chapter)