The heavy snow fell. Roads, villages, rivers, hills, churches, lighthouses and other artificial or natural landscapes were covered with a layer of silver-white plain makeup.

William III comfortably drank a cup of steaming coffee, stomped his feet gently, and sighed with satisfaction. Outside the tent, the wind and snow were still howling, and large groups of soldiers were moaning in the cold and cold. They sometimes cursed the damn weather, sometimes complained about their Shangguan, and sometimes hoped that they would be entertained by the local Englishmen soon so that they could get out of their current predicament and have a good rest.

But to be honest, it was not something that ordinary people could bear when landing near England during such a cold and cold years. Just this morning, a whole regiment of infantry was trapped in the rotten mud near the mouth of the Hull River and could not move. William III followed these people and landed in a very embarrassing situation. His shoes were filled with cold mud and water, and his bodies were covered with snow. He finally calmed down after a few mouthfuls of brandy.

William III was very glad at that time, fortunately, there were no enemy forces obstructing them near the landing field. Otherwise, with the chaos that they would land, the enemy would have a well-trained army of infantry and cavalry, and could drive them all into the sea. Of course, William III also knew that this was impossible! The vast majority of people in England were Protestants, so more than 90% of the people in the army were Protestants. They were very dissatisfied with James II's "reverse actions" in religious policies and their loyalty was pitifully low. Otherwise, it would not have been possible that when William III landed in history, almost all Protestant officers would have rebelled. Therefore, it would have been too difficult to expect that there are soldiers in England today to stand up to resist William III. In fact, even if William III did not bring more than 10,000 mercenaries and came to London alone, he would have been almost as likely to be the throne of the king.

The nobles and squire of Lincolnshire, where the landing place was located, unanimously supported William III and his wife ascended the king's throne. Even a famous bishop nearby drove over to visit the main merchants, nobles and other decent people in the county. At the same time, he also did some military work, which almost left Lincolnshire without any resistance and could easily land and march. Even a river separated by Yorkshire, which was nominally directly under the royal family, turned completely to William III. The local Protestant soldiers cheered and directly tied up a few officials who were still loyal to the royal family - in fact, there were really few Catholics in Yorkshire remained silent due to the power of the Protestants - and sent an army to Lincolnshire, intending to gather more than 10,000 mercenaries brought by William III and march towards London together.

From this we can see that there are so many people busy running around and so many Protestants to welcome them. William III's action to land in Britain and take over London was really relaxed and without any difficulty. James II is probably in a state of serious panic now. There are not many people around him who are available, and everyone looks like a traitor. The Protestant soldiers who occupy an absolute dominant position do not obey the command. There is nothing worse than this.

Overall, although William III suffered some crimes during sailing and landing, he was in a relatively relaxed and happy mood than the strong expectation of being a king in London. The crown of England is much more attractive than the throne of the United Provinces rule! William III is a wise man, not a fool who knows nothing. He has been in battles, fought wars, and governed the country. He knows the differences between England and United Provinces very well.

England, a country that controls England, Scotland, Ireland and some overseas colonies, has an entire population of infinitely close to 10 million. The domestic industry is well developed and the trade is quite good. It is a strong rival of Dutch merchants. On the surface, it seems not as good as the United Provinces (mainly because the money is not as much as others), but it is really not the case! This country has abundant population resources and developed industries and commerce that are not comparable to the Netherlands, and this is actually the main component of national strength.

Not just money.

What's more, the crown of England can be hereditary. Although William III and his wife have no children yet, how can they know that they will not be there in the future? Children can inherit the throne and continue to be rulers of a country. Even if their power is restricted to a certain extent, it is excellent. Compared with the crown of England, the position of the United Provinces in power is much more fucked!

First of all, this position was subject to more restrictions than the King of England. Many major internal and diplomatic policies were led by the third-level parliament in The Hague, and the parliament had been interfering with William III, which annoyed him, so that he often lived in Amsterdam and disliked the city of The Hague. Secondly, the position of governing is theoretically not hereditary! Although members of the Orange family often sat on this throne in history, this does not mean that others had never been governed. In other words, the United Provinces governing can theoretically take turns, which disappointed William III. After all, he did not have the confidence that after his death, this position could still be controlled by his son (if any) or other family members.

So, in general, if one can be the king of England, a fool will be the ruler of the United Provinces. However, if both positions can be held in his hands, one of whom is the two hot positions of the United Provinces and the King of England, it would be better.

Obviously, William III is making this idea now! Now it seems that everything is going well.

After drinking the warm coffee, William III stood up and moved a few times, and then talked to his wife, James II's daughter Maria, for a while, and talked about the customs and customs of London. Then he did not stay in the tent and patrolled the army outside.

Some nearby English nobles came over to express their loyalty to him, and William III took time to meet them and took them to inspect some of the rest German mercenaries. William III still gave great patience to these little nobles in the county. Because he understood that since he landed, there was actually no way out, so maintaining a relatively good image seemed to be a necessary condition for success. You must know that these little nobles may also enter the parliament and become glorious members of parliament. If William III wants to gain a foothold in England and be a good king, then it is absolutely right to have a good relationship with Congress. This point was deeply understood after Charles I and James II, the father and son, was made to death by Congress.

The English nobles were generally quite enthusiastic. Some of them even sold some of their property and used the funds they raised to hire combatants, intending to follow William III to take over London and place bets for their future. William III heard that there were also a large number of gentry and nobles in the neighboring Yorkshire, Norfolkshire in the south and other places, and the nobles were forming the so-called volunteer army and intending to march into London together. Even some nobles or merchants who did not have enough wealth and did not know how to win over local troops and lay a solid foundation for William III to ascend the throne.

William III was naturally very happy with these phenomena. The Protestants in England were too enthusiastic and James II was stupid enough, which created the current situation. The only opportunity for James II to maintain power was probably to agree to the suggestion of King Louis XIV of France, inviting French troops into England and help James II maintain the throne. But for various reasons, James rejected this suggestion twice, and eventually made himself in such a dilemma.

Of course, William III did not think that the French army could change any situation. The English navy was powerful. Although France had invested heavily in the navy over the years, it was still not enough to shake the British's strong position. This had nothing to do with the cultivation of large ships and cannons, but it was also related to the cultivation of naval talents, the construction of reserve echelons, and the training level of officers and soldiers. The French would only foolishly build ships, but the quantity was enough, but the quality was far from enough. Therefore, William III did not think that the French army had hope of arriving in England. Or even if it successfully landed, the subsequent troops would be cut off, allowing the people who were landing in front to give their heads.

However, when it comes to hiring foreign aid, James II is stupid enough, but the annoying republicans in The Hague are much smarter. These guys, who don’t know what happened, actually tied up with the East Coast pagans from the Southern New World, and successfully sent a powerful fleet to the South Netherlands, adding many variables to the current situation.

In addition, the killing East Coast people seemed to have also allocated a large number of army troops to enter the three provinces of Zeland, the Netherlands and the Gelderland. The Republican parliamentarians followed these troops and kept promising to win over Dutch army officers, let them "betray" William III and join the Republican camp. This is really bad!

William III has made up his mind that the United Provinces must not let it go, and must find a way to curb the momentum of the republicans. If it really doesn't work, even if he is fighting for the danger of a civil war, he will order the Dutch army loyal to him and the German mercenaries in Nijmegen to defeat the messy and temporary arms of the republicans in military terms and lay the foundation for the overall situation. After that, he almost sat firmly on the throne. Then if he discussed with the members of Congress, he might be able to mobilize some of the forces of England, and then turn over and interfere with the situation in the Netherlands, completely sweep the annoying republicans into the garbage dump.

"It's better to go to London first and seize the throne. My poor father-in-law may not know that almost everyone around him had betrayed him, even his close friends, daughters, and favorites. Anyone knows his every move, no one listens to his orders, and his future is dark. If I had changed to this position, I would have fought to the death long ago." After reviewing the landed army, William III turned over and thought with great enthusiasm.

He didn't think about doing things. In fact, all he wanted was the throne, not the life of James II. If possible, he was willing to let James II and his family have a way out. Everyone is a relative, so there is no need to do things too much. He will still have to win the support of the royal family in the future - although he and the Congress are so good now, once they become the king of England in the future, as the saying goes, he will also fight with the parliament, and the support of the entire royal family is crucial at this time.

On December 13, 1688, more than 10,000 troops who had a short rest in the landing ground in Lincolnshire were not delayed. They braved the wind and snow all over the sky and rushed to London day and night. Along the way, the number of British nobles who came to surrender after hearing the news increased, and the number of volunteers quickly expanded to more than 5,000. These people, together with the troops directly under William III, had more than 20,000 people, which was already a force enough to change the situation.

On December 18, although due to the influence of bad weather, the army still arrived in the suburbs of London. King James II of England knew that he could not resist and hurriedly ran away with some of his family and property, but was betrayed by his confidant Sunderland and was captured by the English Army in the suburbs of London. After William III arrived in London, he immediately visited his father-in-law, and at the same time he also explained that some other people were informed and gave James II a boat, allowing him to leave London and leave England.

There is no doubt that William's approach has won praise from many people. Everyone believes that William III's cleverness, intelligence, decisiveness and kindness are necessary conditions for a monarch, so he increasingly sang hymns for William III, who had not yet officially ascended the throne. At this point, the situation in England has generally been frozen, and it is unlikely that any change will occur. James II's ship sailed into the port of Le Havre in northern France, officially indicating that he had given up the title of King of England, because no king could live and settle in a place far from England.

The ultimate destination of James II is still France. King Louis XIV of France will give any Catholic who fled from England a new legal identity. This ambitious man will only treat James II as a rare and habitable cargo and leave a good trump card for future interference in the situation in England.
Chapter completed!