August 23, 1673, The Hague, Holland Province.

More and more mobs gathered at the door. They were restless and looked at the dark prison gate on tiptoes, as if waiting for something. The soldiers guarding the gate carried rifles absent-mindedly, and did not drive away the mobs that were getting closer and closer to the prison gate, as if nothing had to do with them. Further away, there was a huge gallows and a smaller guillotine. Many militiamen took off their uniforms and stood there with fanatical expressions. Some of them were small vendors, some were manors, some were workers, some were soldiers in the village, and even many civil servants who had been extremely respectful to Speaker Dwayte.

Jacob Vandergrave stood in the crowd with a ferocious look on his face, with a stinging sword hanging around his waist and a flintlock pistol in his hand, and he looked like he wanted to be unfavorable to anyone. However, no one here would be surprised by his behavior, because everyone had more or less carried some weapons and waited for the next big show to begin.

"Today is a 'gala' arranged by His Highness himself, so you can't miss it. If you don't get rid of the Devite brothers this time, there may not be such a good opportunity later. That coward has now fallen to the point where he needs to rely on the pagan army to defend. It's really shameful. Let's end it together this time." Van der Grave tightened the musket in his hand and thought silently.

The emotions of the people around him had long been suspicious, and the people who were connected everywhere were successfully incited. The militia patrolling the city had long disappeared. The soldiers guarding the prison were their accomplices. As long as the DeVette brothers appeared in this place, the one or two thousand people crowded here would rush up and tear the two brothers apart. Van der Grave had this confidence because there were too many nails inserted by Prince Orange in this mob with more than a thousand eyes. At the critical moment, they raised their arms and shouted, and the others would be carried in and finally killed the DeVette brothers completely.

Some shops around felt troubles vaguely. They stopped doing business silently and closed the thick store door. However, they did not stay away, but hid in the room and watched everything outside. This was because they were afraid that the store's property would be looted and all the rumors were already there, saying that the farmers in the countryside were tortured by hunger and thirst, and were rushing towards the city in groups, intending to see how the Hague City would end today, because they were also very curious.

Just when the atmosphere in front of the Gwangenport Prison was extremely solemn, at the other end of the city, Lan Fei, the commander of the First Mixed Battalion of the East Coast Army, was also turning over the horse with anger, intending to escort a carriage. From the specifications of Battalion Lan having to go out to escort himself, it can be seen that the passengers in the carriage are definitely not small people. Maybe they are Speaker John Dewit, whom they have always been closely guarding. Well, he is the former Speaker. After all, he has officially resigned and is now just a civilian without any title.

"Battery Commander, I really won't persuade you anymore? I don't think it's good to go to prison this time." Staff Wang asked quietly while looking at the two infantry companies lined up in two columns: "Also, we only brought two infantry companies and a few cavalry. Is it too small and not enough?"

"What? Do you have to bring the artillery with you? Are you going to instigate me to order the attack on Gwangenpotter Prison?" Lan Fei glanced at his contact staff and said angrily: "Besides, Speaker Dwayte, will such a stubborn person listen to your advice? If so, I immediately recommend you as the deputy battalion commander and never break your promise!"

"Hehe, I don't have that ability." Staff Officer Wang smiled embarrassedly and said, "I don't know how many times I have persuaded you, but it has no effect. Of course, this is understandable. After all, the Speaker's brother was released from prison today, and the Speaker himself must pick him up. They have deep brotherhood, so we outsiders really can't make any comments. What's more, the Speaker is too confident, so confident that he thinks he can calm the angry people down. This is really a bit..."

Speaking of which, after being falsely accused by doctor Tichler and was sent to prison, the United Province Admiral Conelis de Witt was tortured, but he never admitted his crime. In the end, Prince William III of Orange had no choice. Although he wanted to kill this annoying guy through procedures, under the active activities of the Republican MPs, he could not do anything so at will. Therefore, he could only rule that Conelis de Witt paid a huge fine and then deported him to the end, but it was also strange whether Conelis was guilty.

Today is the day when Conelis DeWitt is released from prison, and the prison also sent people to John DeWitt's home "understand" to tell him that Conelis is not good at doing well and needs his brother to pick him up. In addition, only former Speaker John DeWitt can handle the procedures for the release.

What a character John Dewit is? Of course he knew that Prince Orange was narrow-minded and wanted to kill himself. He would not go to prison this time. However, after all, it was a deep brotherhood. After finding someone to learn about the situation in the prison, he decided to go there himself, pick up his brother, and then find a way to send him to Antwerp for recuperation.

Lan Fei, the commander of the First Mixed Battalion, strongly opposed this because he did not want his protection to be in the county, because even a fool knew that the Gwangenport Prison had become a tiger's den, and there was absolutely no good result after going there. Lan Fei even pointed out bluntly that the Orange family has never been a good person who follows the rules. It can be seen from William III's father Frederick that this family has many despicable methods. He has to be careful not to be able to defeat the republicans in the parliamentary struggle. As the rule of the United Provinces, Frederick, actually led troops to attack Amsterdam and The Hague, in an attempt to carry out mutiny. As a result, someone reported to the third-level parliament, it failed. This shows that this family does not like to abide by the rules of the game and will always overturn the table.

Despite Lan Fei's persuasion, Speaker Dewit insisted on going to Gwangenpotter Prison to pick up his brother. Of course, he was not a fool. He knew that there was danger ahead and he had to go to the prison. Therefore, he asked Major Lan Fei to bring more people and guard him to the prison. Dewit believed that under the escort of elite East Coast soldiers, some prison guards or rioters dared not do anything to him.

Lan Fei was very embarrassed about this. Of course, he believed in the combat effectiveness of his troops, and at the same time he despised the combat effectiveness of armed forces at all levels in the Netherlands, including professional soldiers, militias, prison guards, etc., but he really did not want to intensify the conflict with the Dutch at this time. Previously, the Special Envoy Li Qing in Amsterdam had written to him, asking him to do his best to protect the safety of many important Republican figures, including Speaker Devit, and try to pay attention to avoid deteriorating relations with the Dutch. Lan Fei also agrees with this.

But this time the matter was obvious. William III, the Orange family, was obviously "crazy", and he didn't even want to force himself. He planned to bypass the legal process and directly use despicable means to kill the Dewit brothers. The gallows and guillotines set up at the gate of Gwangenport prison are proof of this. Don't tell me that it was a joke, and this would inevitably conflict with the East Coast soldiers who protected them. Then it is hard to say what would happen then.

Major Lan Fei was very worried that the officers and soldiers of the First Mixed Battalion were all from the capital, and there were many children of officials. Although these people could not have any temper and style of the yamen, they were also extremely arrogant. Once the Dutch mobs at the entrance of the prison made any moves, they might not have been able to do anything, and then they would have done something that was uncontrollable. Lan Fei still remembers the Hague militia officer who was whipped by a "prince" on the road by a "prince" in the cavalry company. The impact of the incident was so bad that the First Mixed Battalion suddenly fell into a dilemma of being hated in The Hague.

However, he could not change Speaker Devite's determination after all. So, taking the second best, leading more troops, strictly maintaining the safety of the entire itinerary, and successfully picking up Conelis Devite, was what Lan Fei was going to do. For this reason, he ordered two infantry companies, half a cavalry company, and a total of nearly 300 troops to go to Gwangenport Prison, which was also intoxicating.

It was not far from Dewit's residence to Gwangenport Prison. It took only twenty minutes for everyone to see the large prison at the naked eye. At this time, the contact staff who had just arrived in front to investigate the situation came back on horseback and told Speaker Dewit and Lan Fei panting, saying that the soldiers guarding the prison had set up roadblocks at the door and refused to enter the prison.

Lan Fei was about to say something, but saw Speaker Dwayte walk out of the carriage and walk forward under the protection of several personal guards. Of course, he did not forget to express his gratitude to Lan Fei and asked them to remain calm. He wanted to try to talk to the prison guards and the people gathered outside. He did not believe that the people of The Hague City, which he had been governing for many years, would betray him.

Lan Fei expressed helplessness at such a "silly" behavior, but he did not show it. Instead, he pointed two fully armed infantry platoons and followed, guarding the periphery of Speaker Devit, isolated the mobs around him with unpredictable thoughts. He saw frenzy, anger and uneasiness in the eyes of those people. He felt that he needed to do something, so he immediately ordered the combat staff to lead the deployment. Everyone even twisted the bayonet onto the rifle, which seemed to greatly stimulate the residents of The Hague around, causing a loud noise.

Speaker Dewit had just talked with the guards at the door, but when he saw the sharp opposition between the officers and soldiers of the First Mixed Battalion and the people of The Hague, he immediately shook his head helplessly, and was also a little sad. The people were really the most forgetful people. When he officially took over this country twenty years ago, it was the first British-Dutch War. At that time, the United Provinces naval battle failed, the domestic economy suffered heavy damage, and the people's income plummeted, and many people fell into hunger. At that time, many people expressed pessimism about the future, but he did not! With his extraordinary perseverance and outstanding talents, he slowly reversed the economic situation in the Netherlands, and then took advantage of the situation to restore the already severely damaged economy, which made a large number of people who were in trouble eat and wear warm clothes.

There is no doubt that in that era, Speaker Dewit gained great gratitude from the people, and at the same time, his prestige gradually increased, making the Orange family gradually forgotten and were repeatedly defeated by the republicans in the struggle of parliament. When the Second Anglo-Dutch War, because the United Provinces achieved the final victory, Speaker Dewit, who firmly stood up to the top, and countless people in Amsterdam and The Hague cheered him, which once made the Orange MPs feel sad.

As a result, it only took ten years, and it was just because of the invasion of France that everyone's lives were in trouble. The furious people forgot about the past, and then planned to trample on the object they had worshipped before, and even sentenced to death. What a fuss for Speaker Devit!

And at this moment, the little guards at the gate of Gwangenport Prison also looked at the former three-level speaker of parliament with an angry and arrogant expression, which made John Dewitt particularly unacceptable, and at the same time he lost the urge to talk to the Hague residents who were crowded around, because these people seemed to have lost their minds.

"Get out of here!" An East Coast officer whose forehead was bleeding from unknown things finally couldn't bear the anger in his heart, and directly hit the prison guards who were still chattering with him, and then called on the brothers behind him to quickly step forward and cleared the roadblocks at the door. During this period, seven or eight prison guards rushed over, as if they were planning to stop the somewhat arrogant East Coast soldiers. However, these prison guards who were used to being pampered and pampered were squeezed by a platoon of East Coast infantry coming quickly, and they were immediately tilted to the side. They wanted to get up and say something, but when they saw the shaky bayonet in front of them, they immediately shut up. To deal with these guys who have always bullied the weak and feared the strong, they really had to rely on the arrogant and unreasonable warriors, and there was no other way!
Chapter completed!