On November 4, 1693, heavy snow fell in United Province.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun has been in Groningen Province for half a year. In the past six months, he personally participated in the command and used the officers and soldiers of the Third Mixed Regiment who had arrived one after another to destroy one noble armed group after another who intended to disobey the Hague government's tax collection order. He was famous in the three northern provinces - of course not a good reputation.

After these provinces were cleaned up by The Hague, they have become much more honest. Not only have they fully implemented the tax policies formulated by the central government, but they have also paid a lot of taxes, which are about 20 million rupiahs. Although it is not enough for the current military expenditure of more than 100 million rupiahs per year (including the expenses of luring allies), it is also a small supplement.

Groningen and other three provinces also sent a lot of militias to join the army of the United Provincial Government. However, perhaps because The Hague did not trust them very much, the total number of these approximately 20,000 militias were split up in companies and sent to the front lines, mainly as supplementary troops. Although the nobles and members of the three provinces were dissatisfied, under the current general trend, they did not dare to say anything and could only obey.

Due to the effective efforts of the Hague government, the anti-French coalition forces in the South Netherlands became increasingly stable. In the middle of this year, they fought a large-scale decisive battle with the French. The decisive battle was mainly the German coalition, the Dutch Army and the French Huguenots, with about 80,000 people, and the other was the 50,000 French Army and about more than 10,000 German soldiers.

双方在布鲁塞尔近郊展开了大战.在此战中,法国胡格诺教徒组成的军队发挥了意想不到的作用,他们因为亲人遭受迫害,屠杀而对天主教法国怀有刻骨的仇恨,因此战意非常充足.而对上他们的法国人也是刚刚获胜的铁军,于是一场火星撞地球的厮杀就展开了.胡格诺教徒组成的军队拼死反击,一度攻到法军总指挥布特维尔元帅面前,元帅之子蒙莫朗西公爵阵亡,极大动摇了法军的阵脚.

Fortunately, the French Army was a well-trained strong army on Earth in this era. The commander-in-chief Butwell, the Duke of Luxembourg, was also experienced many battles. He was not afraid of losing his son, and calmly dispatched troops to push the enemy's fierce offensive back and finally won.

However, the price of victory was also terrible. In this battle, the French army suffered more than 8,000 casualties alone, and the injured were twice as many, and basically lost the ability to continue attacking. The casualties of their opponents were even more terrible. The three sides killed more than 12,000 people in battle, and countless injured people, so they had to retreat in a mess in the end. Earl Salm, who had cut off the rear, was seriously injured and captured.

After experiencing this bloody battle with heavy casualties, the French, Dutch and Germans were a little overwhelmed. The two sides tacitly stopped contact and drove back to their own garrison to lick their wounds. The front line suddenly calmed down strangely. However, the Dutch still did not dare to neglect. After experiencing the pain of being invaded by the French army, they insisted on defending the enemy outside the country's gates, and desperately sent military pay, equipment, ammunition, food, and even replenishing soldiers and mercenaries to the South Netherlands, hoping to drag the French offensive there so that they would not poison the seven provinces alliance.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun carefully studied the war report of the Netherlands. After analysis, he believed that the Dutch's request was still very likely to achieve. Now the main force of the French army is divided into two parts, one in the Rhine River Basin and the other in the South Netherlands. Both seem to have the upper hand, but they just cannot make a decisive breakthrough. Their enemies are like the irresistible Xiaoqiang, who are defeated and keep making a comeback, blocking the French army's iron hooves.

To be honest, the overall exchange ratio of the French in previous battles was dominant, and the enemy's casualties were obviously greater, but who said that they were rich? As soon as the Dutch took action, from Italy to Sweden, from Switzerland to Prussia, mercenaries who were not afraid of death poured into the battlefield, fighting one after another with no grudges against the French. After all, the Dutch's money was the general backstage of this war. The Austrians who were relatively good at fighting were gold medal thugs, supplemented by cannon fodder from other countries. After the French could not win quickly, they were destined to be dragged into the deadlock in front of them.

The only breakthrough in the French was probably in the south. There were only a few partial divisions there, but the attack made the Savoys cry and ced the land and pay compensation. The Spaniards shrank their heads and dared not attack. The situation was very good. However, the south ended here. The Savoys had already surrendered. Spain was a big country. If they wanted them to surrender, they could not rely on partial divisions alone. They could only mobilize the main force, but it was impossible at this stage. Therefore, the south is now mainly stable, and they first digest the land annexed from the Savoy Kingdom.

The Dutch have basically seen the situation clearly now. Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun met Van Boyningen a while ago. After talking, he found that the other party was in a good mood, especially praised the generals on the front line, believing that they had guaranteed the freedom of the United Province and made great contributions. The only thing he was unhappy was probably that the total amount of the United Province government had exceeded 300 million rupiahs, which was the biggest burden on him, and he was too breathless for a while.

Therefore, after the situation was slightly stable, Van Boyningen talked about the withdrawal of troops with Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun. That is, after the East Coast Navy evacuated from the United Province in batches, they were about to end their employment contract with the East Coast Army and let them evacuate in batches. Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun had previously received instructions from Gao Wengang, the plenipotentiary envoy to Europe, and in principle agreed to the Dutch request, but demanded a severance fee of about three million rupiahs. After a little consideration, Van Boyningen agreed to pay the money, so the East Coast people have now entered the stage of withdrawal.

第三混成团的人离开联合省后,并不会如同海军那样返回国内,而是会前往葡萄牙北部的维亚纳堡军事基地驻扎,为今后可能展开的行动做好准备.至于是什么行动,其实也没什么好隐瞒的,就是为西班牙王国可能发生的动乱做准备.

King Carlos II's physical condition is now getting better and worse. He was knocked down by serious illness at the beginning of this year and was once on the verge of death. At that time, envoys from all countries rushed to Madrid, called visiting the condition, but in fact they had their own ulterior motives. Gao Wengang, the plenipotentiary envoy of the East Coast to Europe, also went there and had a brief chat with envoys from various countries. After returning, he followed his followers in humorous and witty language to tell the scene at that time: "In front of an old rich man who has no children and is about to die, his relatives are fighting, and everyone has a will for the elderly. They all hope that the elderly will sign the one that is beneficial to them."

I have to say that Gao Wengang's words portrayed the attitudes of those messengers or monarchs to a deep impression. At that time, how many of the envoys from various countries who were in front of Carlos II's bed were really concerned about the king's condition? I'm afraid that those people were all ready to wait for Carlos to close his eyes and take away his own interests according to the will. Some people may even have the idea of ​​stealing what they want with their strength if the will is not in line with their own wishes. It can be said that they are dancing with demons.

The only one who truly cares about King Carlos's condition and hopes that he will be well should be the only one who is really concerned about King Carlos and hopes that he will be well. He strongly requested that the doctors from the East Coast enter the palace to take care of King Carlos, and warned the envoys of various countries that King Carlos II is still the only monarch in Spain, West Indies, Peru, New Spain, Southern Netherlands, Franche Conte, Naples, Sicily, Milan, Palma de Philippines, etc. Before his death, any private agreement was disrespectful to the king himself and was a very dangerous act, and the consequences could lead to war.

After hearing Gao Wengang's words, the envoys from various countries looked different, some thoughtful, some disapproved, and some even glared at each other. In short, it was very exciting. Gao Wengang also deeply realized at this time that a unit with certain combat effectiveness must be kept by his side, otherwise his words would be difficult to attract attention from others in the funeral of King Carlos. Even though the East Coast is now the world's first-class power, it is too far away, isn't it?

The troops that Gao Wengang imagined were naturally the third mixed regiment - of course this is the present, and it may not be the third mixed regiment in the future, because there will be rotations - with these thousands of troops in hand, you can do a lot of things at critical moments. If it really doesn't work, is the Northern Italian coalition, which is undergoing hard work, a good meal? Especially the Principality of Milan, which has participated in the coalition, people are plotting to divide you up. Shouldn't you stand up and say something? Look, even the reasons for interference are ready-made, how great!

Lt. Colonel Mao Jun was also very clear about this matter. To be honest, he really wanted to participate in this "game", but as King Carlos's condition miraculously improved, he felt that he might not be able to catch up, because he had been out for a long time and it was almost time to return to China to rotate, which made him feel very regretful. However, no matter who came, he believed that this matter could be done properly. The five mixed regiments of the Army were all trained hard and had certain combat experience. Everyone had the same strength, and everyone came the same.

He was just worried that if the enemy came out in full swing and brought out a army of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands at once, just a group of people would be enough to interfere. However, this is something that Gao Wengang and even the local executive committee should consider. They are still unable to participate in the decision-making, so they can only talk about it later. He always felt that the inheritance storm caused by the death of King Carlos II may trigger a large-scale war in the future. This may seem unfavorable to the East Coast Republic at first glance, but if you think about it carefully, it will be a rare opportunity. It depends on how to operate it at that time.
Chapter completed!