Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2501 Churchill

"What are these guys doing? Why aren't they attacking?" A young man in a black uniform asked on the front deck of the fast contact ship "Little Oriole" off the coast of Barcelona, ​​"This procrastination is for the Spaniards." Is there a chance for the fort?"

The "Little Oriole" has been tracking the combined Anglo-Dutch fleet for some time.At the beginning, the British came to inquire, but the people on the east coast said that they were field observers, and they didn't have any malicious intentions. They just wanted to observe the upcoming war.

This answer made the British frown a little.The commander-in-chief of the fleet, Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, once demanded that the ships on the east coast leave immediately, but the "Little Oriole" remained unmoved and followed along, threatening that if they dared to use force to drive them away, they would "bear the consequences."The furious Duke of Marlborough broke several cups directly, and finally had no choice but to give up his original idea.I can't afford it, let me go, whatever you like--not everyone can be a field observer, and the people on the east coast have the weakness of the English, so naturally they are not afraid at all.

From then on, the English ignored the psoriasis who stubbornly followed them, and sailed wholeheartedly.The people on the east coast were also happy. After arriving at the destination, two officials from the State Intelligence Bureau bravely boarded the top-mast observation cabin, raised the binoculars to observe the battle situation, and carefully recorded it.

After the United Fleet arrived, it organized dozens of warships to line up in a long snake formation, bombarded the forts near the scheduled landing site with broadside artillery, and wiped out the resistance smoothly.But the strange thing is that they didn't make the next move, as if they were waiting for something.

And just when the observers on the east bank were wondering, in a land defense fort near the pier, a newly arrived army was fighting with the defenders.These people didn't wear any military uniforms, they were all civilian clothes, but they all had flintlock rifles in their hands, with extremely fierce firepower.Caught off guard, the defenders of the fort suffered a great loss, and they rushed in directly and started a hand-to-hand combat.

It was at this time that the combined fleet, which had been silent for a long time, moved!A large number of small boats were lowered from the transport ships, and heavily armed English Army soldiers climbed down the net ropes and jumped onto the small boats.Every time the boat is filled with about 20 people, it starts rowing and rushes to the shore.Some naval guns also started shelling at this time to cover the charge of these small boats, and the landing operation finally officially started!

"The ones who raided on the shore were also Spaniards, right?" Another officer in a navy uniform said, "According to intelligence, the Catalans have been very restless recently, and someone should have contacted them. In the case of the Spanish air leaks everywhere." It is not difficult for the British to do this. From this point of view, at least the nobles in Barcelona are sure to rebel. The only suspense now is probably how many people participated in it, which directly determines the outcome of this battle. "

"No, the outcome of this battle is doomed long ago." The intelligence officer said: "Churchill has proved his bravery and command ability in the Southern Netherlands. There is no general in Spain that can match him. Moreover, the English Army also Not incompetent, on the contrary quite combative, the Spanish army is not an opponent at all, even though they have a good defensive position. What's more, the nobles in Barcelona are turning against the water. This battle is nothing to watch, and the English will win. "

Yes, the bustling city center in the distance has already raised a column of smoke, indicating that a riot is in progress.The Spanish army, which was attacked from both sides, basically had no choice but to collapse and lose.And after their failure in Barcelona, ​​other places in Catalonia will be even more untenable. Countless nobles, citizens, and businessmen who hate Madrid will attack and kill local officials and soldiers loyal to Philip V. , to welcome the English into the city.

Churchill, you really picked a wonderful landing site!

At this time, they also remembered that, according to some specious news, the English seemed to plan to land in Gibraltar at first, because the enemy's defense there was relatively weak, allowing them to survive the dangerous initial stage of landing.It's just that later the people from the east bank made a move and led an army to occupy this excellent harbor, and attracted a considerable number of Spanish troops to deploy defenses here, which finally made this plan aborted.

But now it seems that Barcelona is also a good choice.At least the people here are very opposed to the central government in Madrid and have been leaning towards independence for many years.In addition, the local Spanish garrison was transferred to the north, and then destroyed in the first battle in the Northern Italian Federation, which made the defense of the entire Catalonia very empty, which greatly facilitated future siege.

The luck and planning of the British are indeed good!

"It's really nothing to see." The naval officer put away the binoculars, sighed, and said, "The French were about to take down the old nest of the Austrians, but they were intercepted by the coalition forces who were desperately driving back. Now the English are in Spain again. It must be a headache for Louis XIV to open up a second battlefield and attack their most important ally."

It is said that the army selected elites before, and after forcibly crossing the Rhine River, they defeated the main force of the coalition forces in front of them, and then rushed all the way to Vienna.The German Emperor, Archduke Leopold of Austria, panicked, abandoned his capital, and fled.Fortunately, his ministers and generals were still shameless and full of courage. They desperately rushed to defeat the Bavarian army that underestimated the enemy and gained a little respite before the main force of the French army arrived.

At the same time, Prince Eugen also led tens of thousands of troops to leave the Netherlands, marching lightly and galloping all the way.Finally, [-] reinforcements from Brandenburg-Prussia were assembled at the junction of Bavaria and Austria, and a big battle was launched with the French.

In this battle, both sides fought very fiercely, high-ranking generals fell one after another, and the total number of soldiers killed and injured exceeded [-].You know, these are all brave warriors and elite teachers who dared to fight hard, but they all died in the cold and damp mountains in the tragic fighting.

The final result of the battle was that the French army retreated and Austria turned the corner, but Prince Eugen, who had suffered a heavy loss, was unable to pursue him. The two sides finally confronted each other in the Principality of Bavaria and fell into a boring tug-of-war.

In the direction of the Netherlands, because Prince Eugen took away tens of thousands of horses, the French Marshal Duke Vendome took advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack and achieved considerable results.They not only regained all the lost ground in the Southern Netherlands, but also counterattacked into the territory of the United Provinces and fought fiercely with the Dutch army.

The Dutch hated Prince Eugene deeply.Because this man sacrificed the front of the Netherlands in order to save King Qin, and let the Dutch face the brutal French army alone, but retreated all the way, allowing Vendome to occupy Limburg-Brabant, Utrecht Many towns in the two provinces suffered huge losses.

Fortunately, the brutality of the French army aroused the patriotic enthusiasm of the Dutch.The militiamen knew that it was a critical moment, resisted desperately, and tried their best to delay and kill the French army.The three-level parliament in The Hague also urgently issued additional public bonds, recruiting a large number of mercenaries from Denmark, Germany and other places. At the same time, the militias in the rear were also trained in large numbers, and they continued to go to the battlefield. Finally, they barely resisted the French army with their superior numbers, causing them to perish in the United Provinces. plan fell through.

The above are all tragic battles that took place from the end of last year to the beginning of this year.Hundreds of thousands of armies in France, Bavaria, Cologne, Münster, United Provinces, England, Austria, and Prussia risked their lives and fought fiercely, but failed to achieve any decisive results in the end. Instead, they consumed countless supplies and hundreds of thousands of troops. more than the lives of soldiers.

In order to reverse this unfavorable situation of being passively beaten and save the precarious Dutch battlefield, the English finally made a move.They sent an army of [-] troops led by Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, with the help of the British and Dutch navies, to attack Spain and open up a second battlefield.

It should be said that their plan was relatively successful.France's ally Bavaria has been abolished, the Elector of Cologne has been dragged down by his old enemy, the Archbishop of Münster, and Savoy is suspected of not working hard. The only reliable one is the Kingdom of Spain.Now that the British army has landed in Barcelona brazenly, Louis XIV should draw troops from other battlefields to reinforce Madrid.Otherwise, once Spain falls, the situation in France will be very dangerous - when Spain was strong, the most important national policy of France was to break the semi-encirclement pattern formed by the Habsburg family on France. Lanche-Comté, Alsace, Lorraine and other places have been included in the bag one after another. How could Louis XIV just sit back and watch and return to the pre-liberation?

The Kingdom of Spain must be saved!This is not only related to the dignity and glory of his Sun King, but also to the safety of France itself.France could not accept the geostrategic disadvantage of being surrounded, and Louis XIV made every effort to thwart the enemy's attempt.

"Churchill landed in Barcelona, ​​and the Spaniards were powerless to resist. This will inevitably cause a series of changes." The intelligence official continued: "This situation, Special Envoy Sheng should really want to see it? The security of Jinghai County seems to be deepening again. It's the first floor. Philip V, unless he is in a daze, he will mobilize the army to declare war on us at this time. However, if the enemy does not declare war, what should we do? It is to sit and watch the Spaniards, the English, and the French in Ibi Should Leah fight to the death, or take the initiative to provoke conflicts and fish in troubled waters? It seems that there is a reason for both choices."

"This is not something we can decide." The naval officer said: "Churchill is not an easy man. Besides, after the British have gained a solid foothold, they may have two or three reinforcements. This new battlefield on the Iberian Peninsula is not easy. It will end in a short time, and even if we don’t end immediately, we still have a lot of opportunities. Besides, this kind of thing is something that the big shots worry about, so what does it have to do with us? Let’s think about how to write the next report.”

(End of this chapter)