Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2448 Gibraltar Bay

On February 1702, 2, in the Bay of Gibraltar, two men of Nordic face closed their shop doors, heralding the end of business for the day.

It was a sparsely populated street, mostly poor fishermen, mercenaries, or whatever.Fishermen dry their nets and seafood all day long, making the streets stinky.The mercenaries in shabby clothes basked in the sun boredly, hungry and full.Occasionally, they have the opportunity to act as temporary bodyguards for wealthy households and earn one or two pesos back. A delicious lamb chops meal, and the rest of the money can go to the alley to find a prostitute for a night. It is really a happy life that is nostalgic!

But most of the time, their lives don't go their way.Many people need to do part-time jobs to make ends meet. The income of such daily jobs is very low. It is very sad for people to work day after day.Of course, it’s not that there are no stable jobs. In fact, there are two seafood processing factories and a wool factory in the nearby streets. They recruit workers all the year round, and their jobs are very stable. I can't stand the intensity of the work, and the salary is even less attractive. It is a typical "black factory".So they would rather do odd jobs at the end of the day, fool around in pubs when they earn money, and lie in the sun when there are no odd jobs to do, than work in black factories.

However, there have been a lot fewer paralyzed mercenaries on the streets in the past month. They called for friends, wore tattered clothes, and carried old-fashioned matchlock guns and rapiers. They gathered near the pier one after another, and then boarded a boat and left.Everyone knows the reason, it's going to war!

Since Philip V, the new king from the Bourbon family, officially became the queen, the Kingdom of Spain stopped the loan principal and interest that should have been paid to the Netherlands and other countries, blatantly reckless.However, perhaps considering the possibility of borrowing in the future, they did not stop paying the principal and interest of loans from the Bank of St. George in Northern Italy, the Bank of Venice, the Bank of Rialto Square, and the Bank of St. Paul in the Principality of Savoy.In addition, more than 200 million yuan of sovereign bonds publicly issued on the Qingdao financial market of the Republic of China on the East Bank of China are still paying interest. There are "collection tools" in Newland. If you owe them money and don't pay it back, it's just overthinking, even if you borrow it by your ability.

The Spaniards stopped paying the principal and interest of the Dutch loan, the French army entered the southern Netherlands, and Louis XIV’s envoys went to Sweden, the German states, Poland, Turkey and other places to join forces. Britain, the Netherlands, Austria and other countries do not want to see the words that France dominates.

The Dutch have already carried out general mobilization, and the government once again issued war bonds of [-] million guilders. Subscribers were very enthusiastic, and it is said that they were sold out within a month.The regular army, militia, and mercenaries were deployed one after another, the naval ships continued to be unblocked, and the cannons purchased from Britain and the east coast were armed one by one, and the entire country began to enter a wartime economy.

However, there are also peacemakers in the country who do not like war. Although the number is small, they want to continue to work hard.After all, once the war starts, foreign trade will inevitably be greatly affected, which is unacceptable to businessmen who love money like their lives.They came forward to join forces, affecting the three levels of parliament, and then fought for an opportunity.

In early February, representatives from England, the United Provinces, and Austria met in The Hague. After a day of discussion, they put forward several requirements: 2. The Holy Roman Emperor has the right to inherit the Spanish throne, which is necessary for European peace. Nanned Second, England and the United Provinces should obtain the Spanish overseas territories and the corresponding shipping and commercial security; Second, Philip V can be the king of Spain, but the merger of Spain and France is prohibited. Prohibition of French commerce in Spanish America.

It is worth mentioning that these three requirements almost completely ignore the demands of the East Coast people.People on the east coast are well-known for their desire to control Spanish America, and these three countries are not so unwise.Therefore, they also negotiated a supplementary agreement, which was signed by the representatives of the three countries and sent to the ambassador of the East Coast to the United Provinces, saying that the status of Spanish America could be negotiated separately with the East Bank. After all, they were also afraid of forcing the East Bank to to the French side.

The three requirements were formed into a document and sent to Paris by the messenger.They gave the French a two-month grace period to decide whether to accept the conditions or the three countries would jointly declare war on France.The proud Louis XIV said on the spot that there was no need for a grace period, and that he would "be happy to accept any challenge" as he kept the will of King Carlos II and the determination of the Spanish people not to disintegrate the country.

There is no room for such things.The peacemakers were frustrated, but accepted the reality.Representatives of the three countries continued their work in The Hague and signed the treaty of alliance, the Treaty of Hague, on February 2, ready to declare war on France unanimously after the end of the two-month grace period, although the proud Louis XIV had already There is no need for a grace period.

These countries are so tense, naturally they won't be able to control the small fights in northern Italy for a while.Philip V was naturally a little startled when he saw that the northern Italians had only suffered a little damage, exploded like hedgehogs, and then counterattacked into the Principality of Savoy.What was even more shocking to them was that this national alliance-like organization was not afraid at all. The Milan Parliament approved a resolution to allocate 1800 million bank lire war funds within three days—obtained by federal tariffs and a showdown among various countries—and Four divisions (two of which are recruit divisions) have been transferred successively to threaten the Principality of Savoy. This is a naked display of strength.

In addition, the federal navy dominated by the Genoese also left the port collectively and began to sway in the Tyrrhenian Sea.They dispatched a total of more than 30 warships, about half of which were "Star" class light cruisers and "Jieqi" class frigate gunboats ordered from the east coast, all of which are active equipment of the East Coast Navy.In addition, there are a large number of warships or galley warships made in Italy, which are still very powerful, at least making the Spaniards very taboo.Their Mediterranean fleet has been underinvested for many years and currently has less than ten capital ships, although one of them is a super battleship equipped with more than 100 guns (built in Havana shipyard).

Philip V understood that if he did not pay a heavy price, it would be difficult for him to restore his rule and influence in northern Italy.The three principalities of Milan, Parma, and Mantua are determined to mix with the Northern Italian Federation. Even if there are a few nobles or priests in the area who are interested in Madrid, it is difficult to make big waves.Now, it would be great to keep his remaining territory in the Italian peninsula. Naples and Sicily are his two main local assets, which can provide a considerable amount of taxes, soldiers and other supplies. If the Northern Italian Federation is not greedy enough, If it is decided to march to these two places, then the Kingdom of Spain has no choice but to fight if it does not fight.Although this is bound to affect other fronts, it can't be too much.If it doesn't work, just ask the help of the French allies, I believe they will respond.

Of course, what Philip V didn't know was that when he was still paying attention to Italian affairs, a large number of British fleets were entering the port in Amsterdam as far away as the North Sea.King William III had just won a 270 million pound appropriation from the Congress. The Navy rapidly expanded its army by [-]. Many retired veterans were called back. The shipyards in London, Portsmouth and other places were booming, and the berths were crowded with people. Ships waiting to be repaired and even orders for some new ships came in like snowflakes, and the shipyard had to recruit employees urgently to expand the production scale.

More than 20 warships in better condition were sent to the Netherlands.The arrival of the 30 British Navy made Amsterdam once again the focus of the North Sea. The Dutch Navy also selected more than [-] large and small ships to join the British fleet. Protect the safety of trade lifelines—Both England and the United Provinces have a large number of commercial interests in the Mediterranean, and commercial profits are an important nutrient for them to survive the war.

The generals of the British and Dutch navies even formulated a bold plan, that is, to attack Gibraltar, Cadiz and other Spanish ports by surprise.You know, these two ports are important trading ports in Spain, and a lot of goods and money are flowing all year round. I feel sorry for myself for not grabbing one.

People on the east coast did not know the plans of the Anglo-Dutch navy at this time.If they knew, I don’t know if they, who are still basking in the sun in the Cape Verde Islands, would be furious, and immediately go north with the whole army, and beat back the fleet from Amsterdam.Damn it, someone snatches the prey I fancy, what kind of world is this?

Of course, Sheng Dehong didn't know about the conspiracy planned by Amsterdam.He is now preparing to go north to Genoa to personally mediate the armed conflict between the Principality of Savoy and the Northern Italian Federation.Undoubtedly, the Savoys will have to cede land and pay compensation like a few years ago, which is also a tragedy.But what can I do?Mobilize the whole country to fight with the northern Italians?Impossible, the population, economy, and army size are not on the same level, the defense is acceptable, but the offense is really terrible, so it is better to sit down and discuss conditions.

Sheng Dehong has already known the bottom line of the Milan Parliament, that is, the occupied area is assigned to Northern Italy-note that it will not belong to the neighboring Genoa* or Milan, but the territory directly under the Federation, which is about 3000 square kilometers. A population of 5—in addition, Chambery paid 100 million bank lire in compensation, which is not much, which makes sense.

To be honest, this condition is not a big mouth for a lion.If the Principality of Savoy is willing to admit defeat, Sheng Dehong is still very sure to help negotiate.The only question is, are they willing to admit death so readily?Everything has to go.Finally, it is also a big task to beat up the hateful army. These guys are too presumptuous.

(End of this chapter)