On January 3, 1689, the day after the glorious surrender of the mercenaries of Nijmegend, Prince William III of Orange, who had just visited Westminster Abbey, received the latest news from the other side of the sea in his carriage.

The most important thing in the news is undoubtedly the joint statement issued by the third-level parliament in The Hague. After taking over the regime, the third-level parliament ordered the navy not to leave the port, and at the same time, the news was delayed for several days and finally sent to London through an armed merchant ship loyal to the Orange family. The ship delayed for a few more days to wait for the goods, so the news was delayed until ten days before it was passed to William III. At this time, there were already sporadic rumors about the Dutch incident on the streets of London, which was also drunk.

William III read the news very quickly, then pinched the letter paper into a ball, and the expression on his face was distorted for a long time before it finally calmed down. To be honest, what happened in United Province gave him a great shock! Although he expected that with the help of the East Coast pagans, the people of the Third Level Parliament would definitely cause huge waves in the country, what he did not expect was that the energy of this huge wave was too huge, so that he overturned the ship left in the Netherlands, which was far beyond his perception.

Originally, William III thought that there were still many officers in the army who finally had their own family, and the 20,000 German mercenaries would also play a role in stabilizing the morale of the army at critical moments. After he had dealt with the matter in London, he returned to the United Provinces and used people's expectations and various secret tricks to reverse the current slightly unfavorable situation.

But who would have thought that the third-level parliamentary Speaker Van Boyningen was so decisive. He directly controlled the members of the seven provinces through soft and hard skills, allowing the resolution to remove his position as a ruling in the United Provinces to be passed, and completely pushed himself into a deeper abyss. If this is the case, it would be fine. He still had a way to find opportunities slowly. But under the instigation of the East Coast pagans, they brought a lot of mercenaries from Switzerland, the South Netherlands and other places. With the cooperation of the damn East Coast mercenaries, they actually controlled the situation in the Netherlands and Zelan provinces, and then used the resources of these two richest provinces to recruit officials and troops from other provinces, and completely laid the victory.

There is no doubt that the Republicans cannot play this operation method. Since the Dewit brothers stepped down and died in a foreign land, the Republicans have lacked tough elements and have always been known for their weakness. They may be good at engaging in economy, trade, and political conspiracy, but they have made no achievements in the military field and lack relevant talents. Therefore, William III despises them more or less.

Now the facts gave him a loud slap. The Republicans not only achieved political success, but also achieved great military success through a series of dazzling military mobilizations. They first controlled the troops around the Hague (it was not difficult to be honest), and then took over the Breda Fortress, gaining a large amount of weapons, ammunition and support from local soldiers.

Of course, things can still be recovered at this point. If William III adjusts its deployment and deals correctly, it should be able to recover the situation. But he shouldn't have left Union Province at this time and heads to Britain to compete for the throne. This behavior, which in many people's eyes is almost "betrayal", was naturally taken to the Republicans for a big book, which further damaged William III's reputation. If combined with the pamphlets widely distributed nationwide by the Republicans a while ago, and the scandal of misappropriation of funds that had just been revealed, William III's reputation will really fall to a historical low.

At this time, the republicans followed the trend and used their power to fight hard, using the authority of the central government and using money to open up the way. It was naturally not difficult to recruit a large number of troops for their own use. Moreover, they were quite sober and sent many envoys to the German region quickly, dispersing countless money and promising countless conditions, successfully dismantling some German princes who originally supported William III, successfully stabilizing the external environment, and extinguishing the risk of foreign armed intervention.

It can be said that things have come to this point, and William III is already in a desperate situation. The remaining suspense is how long the supporters of the Orange faction can last and whether a civil war will break out in the Netherlands. If a civil war breaks out, although it is harmful to the country, it may not be a bad thing for Prince Orange himself, because it means he has a chance to turn the tables. However, Van Boyningen made a quick decision under the strong suggestion of the East Coast intelligence officials and signed more than a dozen orders in one day, mobilizing the most troops to surround Nijmegen at the fastest speed. East Coast intelligence officials believed that soldiers were very fast. The more decisive the actions at this time, the faster the speed, the easier it was to minimize the risk of civil war. If they bargained with Friesland, Groningen and other provinces according to their original ideas, things would inevitably become out of control after a long time of delay.

The final result also proves that the East Coast intelligence officials analyzed well at all. Nijmegen's German mercenaries chose to compromise under strong pressure, and after glorious surrender, they scattered with severance payments. If they were given enough time to allow the Orange faction to raise enough funds and contact more external relations, things might be different.

Therefore, William III is now hating the people of the East Coast to the core. They destroyed his plan and made him feel as uncomfortable as if he swallowed a rat shit on the festive day when he was about to ascend to the throne of the King of England. Although the position of the United Provinces is not as good as the throne of England, it is also one of the most popular thrones in Europe. But now it has been thrown away. How can this prevent William III from being angry and crazy?

William III felt that his anger was already uncontrollable. He almost wanted to return to Union Province desperately, and then summoned those old subordinates who had betrayed him more or less - in his opinion, not standing up at the critical moment and still remain silent was betrayal - ask what they were thinking! How could the republican gang of nonsense literati seize power!

However, William III is also a rational person. After his anger slowly subsided, he began to think about the current situation again. United Provinces must have a large number of people who support him. There is no doubt about this, but they chose to remain silent under the general trend and chose to protect themselves. They did not stand up firmly to safeguard the interests of the Orange family. If they returned to United Provinces under the right circumstances, these people might not have jumped out and become their wings again.

However, this requires an opportunity, and he has not found this opportunity yet. Thinking of this, even Prince Orange, who has experienced a long time, William III had to sigh and wait slowly.

On this same day, in the Dutch barracks outside Nijmegen, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun of the East Coast Army was also writing a letter to the plenipotentiary Gao Wengang.

The German mercenaries in the city had received gold and silver coins worth 200,000 ruts from nearby areas urgently raised - it was amazing that the Dutch could raise so much money overnight - as the first fee to dismiss them. It can be seen that these mercenaries from Prussia, Saxony and the South Netherlands were in a good mood and were discussing whether to buy some scarce supplies in the Netherlands and take them back to their hometown in the countryside. The entire barracks were filled with a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.

Don't let everyone go on their belts and go thousands of miles away from home to become mercenaries. Isn't it just to make money? Since Prince Orange's people have cut off the source of funds, the so-called employment agreement before has naturally been invalidated. Fortunately, the new Dutch government is still quite generous and is willing to pay them a severance fee equivalent to three months of military pay, so that they can return to their hometown with weapons. This is really a good thing. There are even some German mercenary officers asking whether the new Dutch government is willing to hire them, and they promise to serve the new government. However, the Dutch are still a little afraid of them and finally declined, which makes many people feel very regretful.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao was not interested in these Germans, but his affairs also reminded him of how important it is to master an army that can be completely controlled and will not be easily bought by the enemy, especially for the new Dutch government in front of him. Lieutenant Colonel Mao suggested to Special Envoy Gao Wengang in his letter to take advantage of the opportunity of the Netherlands to purify the army and help the Dutch Republican government form a new army that is completely obedient to them.

The officers of the new army should be promoted from sympathy and support the Republican soldiers. Even if they have a lower background, it doesn’t matter. What they want now is loyalty, and lower military qualities will not affect the overall situation. Unreliable officers will ask him to go home and take his children. The unstable troops can be slowly sacked in batches, and then the saved funds will be invested in absolutely loyal troops. If you persist like this for a few years, you should achieve miraculous results and greatly reduce the influence of the Orange family in the army.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun believed that this matter was very important and must be handled as soon as possible. William III seems to be no longer harmful, but if the situation changes drastically in the future - for example, in the lowlands of France today - he may still return to the Netherlands to rule, because the people are very awe of his title of anti-French hero, believing that only he can lead the Dutch people out of the quagmire of war, rather than those republican governments that will only get rid of the navy.

When it comes to the republicans and the navy, we must not miss the trends of the current joint provincial navy. Since the Hague's third-level parliament issued a joint statement to announce the whole country, most of the navy have basically accepted the facts and announced their leadership by the new government. Especially after William III took away most of the naval ships and officers and soldiers loyal to him, the rest were either sympathetic to the republicans or neutrals, and the new government was effortless to control it.

The current Dutch Navy is only about 70% away from its peak, which makes people a little worried. However, considering the Netherlands' deep navigation tradition, strong financial strength, and the current situation of a large number of talent reserves, it should be possible to restore its peak strength.

It is reported that the new Dutch government has now officially invited the East Coast Navy Task Force to leave Bruges and enter several major military ports in the United Provinces to better block the North Sea and deal with the possible surprise attacks by the British, although the possibility is a bit low. The East Coast Navy has agreed in principle to the invitation of the Dutch, and they will work with the Dutch Navy for the next period of time to closely monitor the movements of the English Navy (including some ships following William III to London) to prevent William III from jumping over the wall. You must know that now can be said to be the most vulnerable moment for the new government. They need some time to stabilize the floating people's hearts and establish their own stable ruling order. Therefore, there must be no accident at this time.

"...The United Province has a great complementary relationship with our country's economy. The new government of Van Boyningen intends to sign a series of procurement contracts and trade agreements with our country, which is of great significance to the development of our country's industry and commerce. Therefore, at this important juncture, we need to pay special attention to the counterattack of Prince Orange's reactionary forces and shake the overall situation of the United Province. I suggest that 300 smart and capable soldiers can be selected from the Portuguese garrison, 10,000 soldiers with strong physical and no bad habits from the existing Dutch army, and form a modern new army unit.

Equipment can be allocated nearby inventory from the Vianaburg base, and it is not too late to train the army. Once the new army is trained, it can suppress the whole country, consolidate the situation, and cut off the delusion of the reactionary forces' restoration." Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun sat at the desk and wrote quickly, and he continued to write: "The naval fleet should continue to stay for more than six months to stabilize the situation in the North Sea and maintain trade freedom. The huge military expenditure required can be resolved by the new Dutch government, and at the same time, it can also exercise the skills of naval voyage, search, and combat, which will benefit many future development."

After writing the above, Lieutenant Colonel Mao thought about it and finally added some speculations about the recent situation. He learned through various channels that the French are now ready to move again, wanting to take advantage of the great opportunity of the chaos in the Netherlands and England and the favorable situation to launch an aggressive war of aggression to the outside world with the main purpose of annexation of land, so as to achieve Louis XIV's purpose of pushing France to the "natural border" (the so-called natural border, namely the Alps, the Rhine, the sea, etc.).

Based on the current route of the French hoarding food and war preparations, Mao Jun initially judged that the direction of the French's military use was the Rhine River, which was probably inseparable from the Ottomans' repeated urging. Once the French moved, the situation in the continental region would add variables. At this time, the East Coast people should stand with the new government of the United Provinces that they had just made a heavy bet, and work together to solve the internal or external problems they may face and protect their own interests.

Of course, this does not seem particularly urgent at the moment, because the French have just begun diplomatic preparations before the war, and it is about some time before the actual war begins.
Chapter completed!