"Send someone to clean the battlefield." Outside a village north of Ruhrmond, the East Coast people had just ended a small-scale battle, killing and injuring dozens of French cavalry, while only three people on their own were killed and ten people were injured.

The cause of the incident was that a small French cavalry attacked on their retreat. Fortunately, the East Coast people who were on the battlefield for a long time reacted very quickly. The infantry quickly formed a formation under the command of the officers and fired guns on the incoming enemy cavalry. Then, the baggage troops and engineers also acted quickly. They piled up some vehicles and baggage to stop the enemy cavalry from their strong attacks, and then took out rifles from their luggage to fight.

It is worth mentioning that even the so-called non-combatants such as baggage troops and engineers will conduct shooting training in daily life. They also have guns in their organization, which looks like 2-3 people per gun. However, because it is during wartime, some additional firearms are transferred, which can basically be achieved by one person per shot.

The high qualities of the East Coast Army caused considerable losses to the enemy. In addition to being caught off guard at the beginning, a small number of French cavalry were released, causing a little casualty, they calmly responded to the battle and quickly defeated the enemy's attempt to expand the results of the battle. After seeing the raid failed and the cavalry of the East Coast people also boarded the horses, the French wisely gave up the attack and retreated and disappeared behind a forest.

The East Coast people have experienced too many battles these days, but they are mainly fighting with the Germans. To be more precise, they are the French vassal army from Cologne. They are not advanced in terms of equipment or tactics, and their training is difficult. Even the fighting will is average, so the East Coast people did not encounter too much challenge and defeated their attacks many times.

However, the situation changed last year (1690). As Louis XIV re-activated the Duke of Luxembourg Buttville, who had been on the bench for many years, the French began to gradually gain an advantage in the South Netherlands. At the end of June and early July, Buttville led his troops to defeat the German coalition with fewer and fewer at Fleurus, and defeated the German coalition. Prince Valdeck was severely injured. His subordinates died more than 6,000 people, more than 8,000 were captured, and more than 200 military flags. A large amount of baggage and almost all artillery became the trophy of the French army. France's situation in the South Netherlands was immediately revived.

You should know that before that, under the command of Marshal Mier, they were almost retreating to the French border. At that time, Prince Valdek was so energetic that his subordinates had many elite troops transferred back from Turkey on the eastern front, which was no worse than the French army. In addition, the Dutch supported them all, and various materials and soldiers (some from the Netherlands, but more from Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the local mercenaries from the South Netherlands) continued to send forward, which made Prince Valdek feel confident and planned to capture the last ten French-occupied towns in the South Netherlands, and then push them into northeastern France to establish immortal merits.

But the wish is beautiful, but the reality is cruel. Butwell, the Duke of Luxembourg, was ordered to lead the French army at a disadvantage, and won a great victory. Although they killed and wounded less than 15,000 German troops, they were all elite soldiers who could fight, so the coalition was still very painful. After the disastrous defeat of the Battle of Fleurus, the Van Boyningen government of the Netherlands immediately panicked. They immediately took action and transferred the troops stationed in Limburg-Brabant, Utrecht and some German towns to the south to enter important towns such as Brussels and Namur in the South Netherlands to guard against the French army's next attack.

Because Prince Valdek's subordinates lost a large amount of baggage and heavy weapons, the Dutch opened their own warehouse and allocated the stock of baggage, cannons and other military funds to them in order to restore their combat effectiveness as soon as possible. After reducing their inventory to the Germans, the Dutch naturally could not leave the warehouse empty. So, they placed large orders in North Germany, England, and other places with developed manufacturing industries. At the same time, the East Coast people did not leave the purchase requests for 400 artillery types, one thousand heavy carriages, 15,000 rifles, and a large number of various materials including tents, engineer shovels, medicines, bandages, kettles, leather boots, and saddles have been sent to Cai Zhenguo's desk.

United Province is now a traditional ally, so the East Coast people will naturally not be vague. Therefore, Cai Zhenguo quickly ordered to mobilize inventory in four large storage bases, Cadiz, Ceuta and Vianaburg, to gather the parts needed by the Dutch, and then send them urgently. The Dutch were also more adept, and the payment did not delay for a period of time as before, but paid instantly, which was very satisfactory. Because of the special nature of the East Coast artillery, the Portuguese, who imported many East Coast machinery and equipment to produce supporting tools and ammunition, also got an order, which was a small profit.

Because of the large number of troops stationed in the southern Netherlands to transfer south, the country was a little empty. In addition, there are calls for welcome back Prince William III of Orange and support him to become the commander of the Dutch army to resolve the border crisis. Therefore, the Speaker of the Third Parliament Van Boyningen was a little worried and decided to transfer the most trustworthy mercenaries from the Portuguese garrison from the east coast to the Lieutenant Colonel Maojun, the troops of the Portuguese garrison from the east coast to garrison the Lieutenant Colonel Maojun from the Lieutenant-Brabant area, and secretly told them that if there is anything, please be prepared to enter The Hague at any time. At that time, everything will be handled by the third Parliament, just do it.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao had no objection to this, in fact he was also squatting in Maastricht. In that place, their biggest task was to ensure the safety of the transportation lines and to combat the enemy's sneak attacks - most of them were Germans from Cologne, and a small number were French cavalry. To be honest, this was not his ideal war. The weather in Masutricht has always been very bad, cold and humid, and the soldiers from the warm and dry prairie of the East Coast hated everything here, and they vented their anger on the coming Germans. But those people were timid guys, and their equipment and organization were not satisfactory, and they were not very satisfied with fighting. In fact, they were only one level better than the Spanish army in South America.

The real threat was the attacks from the French cavalry. But their number was too small, at most only more than a thousand cavalry at one time. It was not a problem for the East Coast army with fixed fortifications, and they were all moving targets. Therefore, after a while, the French rarely came to find the bad luck of the East Coast people. After all, their main goal was to stalemate with Prince Valdek's German coalition in the South Netherlands, and Maastricht was actually a secondary battlefield.

Before retreating and leaving Maastricht, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun discussed with his subordinates and suddenly advanced eastward and together with the Swiss mercenaries stationed nearby, he invaded the German city of Aachen. The Germans who defended the city were caught off guard and were 7,000 soldiers in total - 2,000 soldiers from the East Coast, and 5,000 Swiss troops attacked - defeated, and the ancient city was immediately in a catastrophe.

The people of the East Coast occupied important targets such as the city hall, vault, and arsenal, and moved away most of the gold, silver, ammunition, artwork and a batch of archives. The Swiss robbed the residents of the city and captured a large amount of wealth. More than 7,000 people raged in the city for a full two days, and then under the order of Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun, the entire army turned to the northwest to retreat.

The angry Germans pursued, but suffered a crushing defeat in the wilderness southeast of Sitard, with more than 2,000 people killed in battle and more than 2,000 captured. The East Coast people continued to go north with their captives and goods. After handling a batch of bulky goods in Ruhrmond, they continued to go north, but were soon attacked by the enemy. The attack was much smaller, but it was suddenly defeated by the East Coast people. The French cavalry was unwilling to fight for the Germans at all, and they retreated soon. Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun estimated that this was probably the last time the enemy pursued, after all, it was far from the front line.

"How is the Navy?" Sitting on an empty gunpowder barrel, Mao Jun took out his pipe and stuffed cigarettes into it, while asking the staff officer beside him.

To be honest, he was still very concerned about the movements of the navy. Last year, Louis XIV's fleet made a big splash in the Northern Ocean, repeatedly defeating the fleets of two old naval powers in Britain and the Netherlands. The most important battle was undoubtedly the Battle of Ireland in July. This naval battle broke out half a month after the Battle of Fleurus. The deputy commander of the French Navy and commander of the Eastern Fleet (Mediterranean Fleet), Turville, led 72 warships to the coast of Ireland, encountered 60 British-Dutch warships, and a war broke out on the spot.

The war lasted for 10 hours. The French did not lose any warship. Instead, they sank and captured 15 British and Dutch warships, which was a great victory. If we count the victory achieved by the French Navy in more than a year ago, they had already sunk nearly 50 British and Dutch warships in total, and their own losses were only 10, which was greatly advantageous.

The British and Dutch navy, which had suffered heavy losses in more than a year, entered a crazy preparation period. The ship platforms of major shipyards in both countries were covered with warships. They learned from their mistakes, abandoned all kinds of armed merchant ships, and formed a fleet of all professional warships like the French, and many of them were heavy warships in order to avenge their previous shame in the next naval battle. But accordingly, before the new fleet was prepared, the sea could only be handed over to the French, and they firmly controlled the sea control most of the time.

In this way, King James II of England and a large number of followers set out from the port of Brest in France. The French fleet escorted them, and then landed in the offshore of Ireland where the Catholics had an absolute advantage, officially starting his efforts to retake the throne of England. In order to fund James II, King Louis XIV of France not only generously helped him hire an army, provided a large amount of arms and daily necessities, but also gave James the armor he had worn for many years. At that time, Louis XIV said to him: "I hope we will never see you again..."

Of course, based on the current situation, Louis XIV's words may be disappointed. Although James II had a coalition of French, Ireland and German (mercenary) with a population of 21,000, the organization was not strong and the command was chaotic, and the first battle was not very smooth: the siege of Londonderry, his army took four months and never broke through the city wall. Although his casualties were not very large, he wasted four precious months, which was very deadly.

When Lieutenant Colonel Mao heard this news, he concluded that James II was in trouble. It had been two years since William III and his wife entered London, and the situation had basically stabilized, and the power of the pro-kings in China was also cleared. At this time, James II landed in Ireland, but the foundation was not very large. Even in Ireland, which is mostly Catholic, the nobles hesitated a lot about him. Therefore, James II was conducive to quick victory this time, rather than spending several months on siege wars. This could only reveal his weakness and incompetence, and it was simply too unfavorable for him to control Ireland and then enter England.

William III used the precious months to organize a huge army to head to Ireland to fight James II. James II also lost his courage at this time. Faced with William III's army, he lost again and again. I don't know what the situation is, but he should not be very optimistic.

However, Louis XIV has not given up. There is news that he plans to draw an elite force of about 20,000 people from France and then send it to Ireland to help James II stabilize the situation. The Netherlands and England also received this news, so they now urgently hope that the East Coast Navy can be dispatched to help them attack the French and prevent this landing.

The East Coast Fleet is currently stationed in multiple ports in the United Provinces Zeland, the Netherlands and Groningen, responsible for maintaining the security of the Netherlands' offshore. To be honest, this task is relatively easy. The Dutch also paid for the East Coast to maintain the naval expenses, and the domestic finances were relieved. The Dutch took out a large amount of employment fees this time and asked the East Coast Navy to dispatch two major military ports in Dunkirk and Brest, defeating the French navy's sea control and preventing Louis XIV from sending troops to Ireland for the second attempt.

However, neither Mo Liei nor Cai Zhenguo could make this important decision. The East Coast fleet is the essence of the country. If you fight against the French, you should win, but your own losses will definitely not be small. After all, they also have several super warships with tonnage of more than 1,000 tons, and they are not targets that can be bullied at will. Not to mention, the East Coast Navy has been in the country for several years, and everyone is homesick and wants to set sail and return to China now. At this time, it is indeed a bit inappropriate for you to force them to fight against the French Navy without hatred for a little money.

"The navy shows no sign of being dispatched, maybe everyone is in a difficult situation. I went to Amsterdam once before, and the navy said that everyone has been away from the country for several years and they all want to go home. The English navy was severely damaged, and the UK and the Netherlands have temporarily resolved their past grudges. The possibility of William III returning to the United Province is getting lower and lower. It is not much meaning for them to stay here anymore, so they all clamored to go home. Commander Molierey Ethmore should be in a difficult situation. I heard that there are naval forces every day in Amsterdam.

He was drunk on the street and caused trouble. He locked up more than a dozen people in a confinement, which was really a headache." The intelligence consultant approached Mao Jun and lit his pipe. Then he replied with a little teasingly: "Those guys from the Navy are just spoiled. They can't stand it in just a few years! And they are still basking in the sun at the port, so comfortable and comfortable. Like our army, they rolled in mud every day, and they still did not change their original intentions for a few years. Hehe, this shows the difference."
Chapter completed!