Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2451 The Footsteps of War

On April 1702, 4, while the Italians were still intensively transporting supplies and personnel, a short and fierce outpost had already begun in the northern Rhine Valley.

The warring party was a French cavalry with a number of about a thousand people. They suddenly entered the Duchy of Lorraine controlled by the Austrians from the southeast (the duchy was ruled by the Duke of Lorraine in name, but the actual controller was the Habsburgs. Dynasty, the former can only collect part of the tax), and then attacked an Austrian transport force, killing more than a hundred people and burning the cargo of dozens of carriages.

According to the land division agreement reached after the end of the last war, the Kingdom of France acquired Alsace, the Free City of Strasbourg, the native governance colony of India, the Nova Scotia peninsula in America, and the southern Netherlands on the border with France little town.Therefore, the Austrians can be sure that this army must have set off from Alsace. They have received the highest order from Paris and launched a shameless surprise attack on the Austrian army stationed in the Principality of Lorraine.

The time they launched the attack was even earlier than the deadline for the grace period given by the three countries of Britain, the Netherlands, and Austria. How insane this is, and how impatient it is! On April 4, 11, and 12, the French army launched three more small-scale cavalry raids.At this time, French troops from other places also joined in. They attacked the towns of the Principality of Lorraine indiscriminately with hundreds of people, and occupied a considerable part of them.Not far away in France, a large number of infantry are also quickly following up. They are carrying long guns and pushing cannons, full of murderous aura.

On April 4, Leopold of the Habsburgs called a meeting of ministers in Vienna.At the meeting, he denounced the serious damage caused by the French Army to the Principality of Lorraine: "...they attacked the towns and villages that were prosperous and well-ordered. The cities were destroyed, the villages were burned, and the people fled elsewhere. Find shelter."

Subsequently, Leopold signed the declaration of war against the Kingdom of France in front of his ministers, and was quickly taken to Paris by the envoy to be delivered to Louis XIV.In addition, other envoys also set out one after another. Some went to London and The Hague to ask allies to fulfill their alliance obligations, some went to other German princes to ask for help, and some went to Sweden, Poland, Denmark, Portugal, Northern Italy and other places to find new allies .It is worth mentioning that Leopold finally gave up all kinds of dangerous ideas about the rich northern Italy region, and turned to win-win-now everyone knows that this national union has financial resources, an army, and a very important position. Excellent and great value.

On April 4, before the envoys from Vienna arrived in The Hague, the United Provinces officially declared war on France.Five days later, William III made a speech in Parliament, explaining the threat from France. With the consent of the majority of members of Parliament, William III also declared war on France on behalf of the British government.So far, the three main countries of the Second Anti-French Coalition have all declared war on France one by one, which means that the war broke out in an all-round way, and the European continent, which has been peaceful for a few years, once again ushered in an era of raging wars.

In early May, France, the Bishop of Cologne, and the Principality of Bavaria declared war on Britain, the Netherlands, and France almost simultaneously.There is no doubt that these three countries must have colluded together before the war, otherwise they would not have acted in such a way.Of course, before that, the Kingdom of Spain had already declared war on Britain, France, and the Netherlands. This country has been completely reduced to a vassal and puppet of France. All diplomacy closely follows France, including foreign wars of course, but this is what they asked for .

The anti-French alliance is also actively looking for allies.Bishop Münster, the archbishop of Cologne's mortal enemy, naturally joined the anti-French alliance without hesitation. With him, part of Cologne's troops could be contained.The Kingdom of Denmark, which had suffered a disastrous defeat in the previous Great Northern War, was also moved by the Dutch and joined in. They will send some naval ships to join the British and Dutch combined fleet to fight against the French.And as the successor family to the throne of England—unfortunately, William III has worked hard for many years, but still has no heirs. Now all his energy has been transferred to realize his ideals in life (against France)—Elector of Hanover Hou also said that he declared war on France and included it in the anti-French alliance.

In addition, because of Vienna's huge influence among the German princes, many German princes including Mainz and Palatine (Palatinate) joined them to oppose France.No way, Louis XIV's ambition is too great. How much land has he expanded over the years?If he successfully swallowed the lowland area and the Rhine River valley this time, he will enter the hinterland of Germany next time, which is intolerable to everyone.In addition, everyone is a part of the empire in name, and the emperor has orders, so it is not easy to shirk, the rich will pay, and some will pay, let's go together.As for Bavaria and Cologne, the two anti-bone cubs, they must be cleaned up this time, and they jumped to the side of Louis XIV. They are really dizzy!

Ah, we can't forget Brandenburg-Prussia, Germany's number one anti-bone cub.Their monarch was going crazy to be king, especially his old rival August of Saxony actually got the title of King of Poland, which almost made him lose his mind!Therefore, he is now willing to do almost anything to claim the title of King.Leopold of Vienna saw this and threw the bait.Frederick immediately took the bait, agreeing to send [-] well-trained soldiers to Austria, under full Austrian command, as long as Leopold helped him ascend the throne.

From this we can also see that the anti-French alliance is still outnumbered.Regardless of the size of the economy, the total population or various resources, they all greatly surpassed that of Louis XIV. The French were at a very disadvantaged position from the very beginning.

In fact, if it were not for the interference of the people on the east coast, the Kingdom of Savoy and the Kingdom of Portugal would have been added to the list of the anti-French alliance in history.Savoy was persuaded by the Austrians, and Portugal joined the anti-French alliance because of historical grievances and territorial disputes with Spain.

But even without these two countries, the Anti-French Alliance still gathered a huge force of more than 20 people.And this is not all, it is said that there are still 10 troops being formed rapidly.They have money and abundant human resources. As long as they have determination and will, they will be very terrifying after being transformed into the nourishment of war machines.On the other hand, Louis XIV's main force is actually France, which has not recovered its vitality after repeated wars and famines. Spain's finances are in dire straits. If the Italian territory is not counted, the population is only about 400 million, and its strength is quite limited.As for Cologne and Bavaria, it is considered good if they can defend their own country, and it is difficult to provide much help on the frontal battlefield-Louis XIV is actually fighting alone!

People on the east coast are also closely watching the progress of this war.The Portuguese were suppressed by them and did not join the anti-French alliance. The Principality of Savoy had just suffered a loss and had no intention of getting involved in this war for the time being. The pressure on the French was slightly relieved.Sheng Dehong, the plenipotentiary special envoy of the East Coast Republic to Europe, also spent a lot of time meeting representatives from various countries during his stay in Milan. In addition to the seven member states of the Northern Italian Federation, there were also representatives of the Duchy of Modena, which had recently applied to join.He asked these countries to exercise restraint, ignore any promises and solicitations from Paris, and reject all solicitations from Vienna, but the tone should be tactful, the attitude should be ambiguous, and try not to cause misjudgment by the other party.

In addition, he is also recently promoting the Milan Parliament and the Principality of Austria to sign a non-aggression agreement, that is, the two sides promise not to attack each other's homeland, not to impose tariffs, and not to restrict the flow of people, goods and funds, valid for ten years.Sheng Dehong predicted that the troops of the Austrian and German princes are being transferred west one after another. They must be very interested in this non-aggression agreement, and the possibility of successful signing is very high.The Milan Council also believes that this agreement will have a positive impact on their external security situation, and has some emotions, it is indeed different with strength!In the past, such an agreement would have been absolutely impossible to reach. Northern Italy, which is scattered but relatively rich, would be good if it was not attacked by the Austrians. Do you still want to not invade each other?I really think too much.

After signing this agreement, the Northern Italian Federation can basically go south with all its strength and attack Naples and Sicily.After taking these two places, they will find ways to take care of the other city-states on the peninsula. Step by step, the ultimate goal is to achieve the overall unification of Italy and complete the great rejuvenation of the nation (this is the slogan proposed by the people on the east coast...).In this process, anyone who stands in the way—whether he is the Pope or not—will be ruthlessly crushed by their war machine, and the Northern Italian Federation will become a force that no one can ignore on the European continent.

On May 5, Louis XIV's army occupied most of the Duchy of Lorraine, and tens of thousands of French troops began to besiege Fort Philippe, an important stronghold in the Rhine Valley. This is the fortress they spit out during the last war.Before this, it was under the control of the Kingdom of France, and it was their bridgehead to attack the German region. This time, it had to be captured before the main force of the enemy army arrived.

And on the same day, the Milan Parliament in northern Italy also unanimously approved the application of the Principality of Modena to join the Federation.So far, the number of member states of the Northern Italian Federation has reached eight, and its strength has been further enhanced.According to the agreement signed at the time of accession, the Principality of Modena has no right to secede from the Federation without authorization—whether it is hard or soft with an agreement—at the same time, it must carry out economic reforms, cancel tariffs with other member states, and unify the tax system in accordance with federal requirements.In terms of rights, the Principality of Modena will get four seats in the Milanese parliament - not many, that's the difference between early and late - and the total number of seats in the parliament will reach 73.

On May 5, the French army exchanged fire with the British and Dutch allied forces in the Southern Netherlands. The two sides increased their forces rapidly, and the war was imminent.In the Rhine River Basin, the main forces of the German Allied Forces also arrived one after another, but unfortunately, Philipburg fell almost at the same time.

On May 5, the Northern Italian Federation set up a general logistics base at the southern tip of Corsica, and the naval fleet began to patrol the sea area. The entire Tyrrhenian Sea can also be shrouded in a suffocating sense of terror.On the same day, Sheng Dehong visited the Port of Ajaccio on the "Winter Solstice" battleship. This move was very symbolic, and everyone seemed to hear the footsteps of war.

(End of this chapter)