August 16, 1666 AD, The Hague, Grand Chancellor's Residence.

An emergency meeting in the United Provinces of the Netherlands is being held!

This is the tenth or eleventh emergency meeting since the outbreak of the war. However, the situation faced by the United Provinces of the Netherlands has not been alleviated by so many emergency meetings. Instead, it has become increasingly serious.

It has become more and more critical, and now it has reached a critical point. The atmosphere at the emergency meeting of the Grand Council has also become more and more gloomy, reaching the point where everyone feels breathless.

In the conference room, everyone was livid and looked at the silent Speaker John de Wit.

This great politician who was resourceful and good at dancing in the past is now like a defeated rooster, slumped in his chair, his eyes are dull, and he can no longer think of any clever ideas that can save the Federal Republic of the Netherlands.

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Oh, it’s not that he can’t come up with clever ideas. John de Wit’s brain is full of strategies, such as wooing Britain to send troops, wooing Sweden to send troops, wooing Austria to send troops, and wooing Brandenburg to send troops. All it takes is the Dutch guilders in the Bank of Amsterdam.

The amount of silver is still guaranteed, and John de Wit can find a country willing to bleed and fight for the Netherlands.

But the problem now is that all these countries need time to mobilize their military!

The French's 100,000 troops (actually only 70,000) have passed through the Ardennes Forest, the Bishopric of Cologne and the Bishopric of Münster in the southern Spanish Netherlands at lightning speed, and invaded the Netherlands with thunderous momentum.

The southeastern part of the Republic of Llan Province.

A large number of scattered vassal states of the Holy Roman Empire bordering the southeastern part of the United Provinces of the Netherlands are too divided and cannot pose any threat to the wealthy and powerful United Provinces of the Netherlands, so there is no need to waste money.

A lot of money was spent on building a lot of useless forts.

But who would have thought that the French would first use the "Turin Wedding" as a cover to make a surprise attack (undeclared war was nothing in the 17th century, almost all wars started first and then declared war), and then another 100

With Farley's great detour, the 100,000-strong army crashed directly into the southeastern part of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, which is the weakest defense!

The speed of the French's actions was jaw-dropping. When Prince Condé's army passed through the Ardennes Forest and arrived in the Bishopric of Cologne, only six days had passed since France launched the war. Durenne attacked from the front.

The Legion did not even capture a Spanish fortress. The upper-class Dutch figures in Amsterdam and The Hague were still considering which country to unite to restrict Louis XIV's ambitions. As a result, the Dutch envoys had not yet left The Hague, and Prince Condé's

An army of 100,000 troops has entered Dutch territory.

Realizing that they had become the number one target of the French, the Grand Council, which had been confident in its plans, was immediately thrown into disarray and could only hastily mobilize the armies of various provinces to form a coalition to resist.

However, the hastily organized Dutch coalition was in great chaos, without a unified command and lack of qualified generals. Because after the death of William II, Prince of Orange, the Netherlands did not have a unified army, but each province established its own defenses. By 1666

By that time, the Netherlands had not had a unified army for 16 years!

And during these 16 years, the veterans who used to follow the Orange family in their conquests were either unemployed, died of illness, or went abroad to work. In a hurry, there were not many who could fight!

And Prince William III of Orange, who was able to control these followers of the Orange family, was only 16 years old. It was impossible for the Grand Council to hand over the fate of the Netherlands to a 16-year-old boy!

Moreover, even if they did this, the 16-year-old William III would not be able to stop the invasion of Prince Condé who commanded 70,000 new French troops.

Therefore, the hastily organized coalition forces of the Dutch were completely unlucky to improve Prince Condé's record. The two sides held two main battles in Deventer and Utrecht, and 40,000 Dutch provincial coalition troops fought in these two battles.

It was destroyed in ashes, more than 20,000 people were captured, and the rest were either killed or seriously injured. The casualties of the French army were only a few thousand!

It was only then that the Dutch, who had not managed the army well for 16 years, suddenly woke up. The Dutch army was completely behind the times!

They are no match for the powerful French New Army!

After the Battle of Utrecht, the spirit of the Dutch began to collapse. The citizens of Utrecht first lost the courage to resist and surrendered on August 12!

Utrecht is no ordinary city, it is the place where the Treaty of Utrecht, established by the Federal Republic of the Netherlands, was signed, and it is also the gateway to the most elite province of the Netherlands in the Federal Republic of the Netherlands!

Two days after Prince Condé occupied Utrecht, a French infantry division led by the Vicomte Rochefort advanced to Meden south of Amsterdam. Meden is only 3 miles (12 kilometers) from the center of Amsterdam.

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Now there are only two options left before the Dutch Grand Council. One is to surrender to France and accept a humiliating and costly peace!

The second is to dig up the seawall around Amsterdam and use water instead of troops to temporarily block the French army and win a little breathing time for the Netherlands.

However, the time gained by digging the seawall is also limited, because the winter in the Netherlands is very cold at this time, and the floods will freeze. If the Netherlands cannot regain its strength in just three or four months, the end of the country will come.

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But what can we do in these three or four months?

Can the 16-year-old William III train an army that can compete with the New French Army in three months? If not, can the troops of the German princes who were bribed be able to fight against as many as 100,000 French New Army?

I feel desperate just thinking about it!

In the midst of the silence, I saw a secretary of the Grand Council running into the conference room panting, holding a wax-sealed envelope in his hand. Judging from his expression, the envelope contained should be good news!

"Mr. Speaker, the special envoy of the King of France has arrived at The Hague Port on a British merchant ship, and has also brought a personal letter from King Louis XIV."

This is indeed good news!

The Dutch Grand Council has not yet selected the peace envoy, but the victorious French have sent an envoy first. This shows that Louis XIV has not considered the issue of destroying the Netherlands.

"Come here quickly and get the envelope!"

John de Wit quickly called the secretary to him, then took the envelope, tore off the wax seal, and took out the letter inside. All the members of the Grand Council looked at him intently. The members discovered that their Grand Speaker's hand had been

Trembling non-stop!

There was silence in the hall, and everyone's heart was in their throats.

At this moment, John de Wit suddenly let out a deep breath and said: "Thank Christ, the goal of the King of France is to form an alliance with us."

What? Alliance?

The King of France sent Prince Condé with 100,000 French troops to fight outside Amsterdam just to form an alliance?

John de Wit was in tears at this time. He said: "His Majesty the King said in the letter that he believes that France is the first army power in Christian civilization, and the Netherlands is the first naval power in Christian civilization. Therefore, the two

The capital of the country has the mission to defend the glory of Christian civilization!

The world empire of the Eastern civilization is rapidly rising to become the world's leading empire because of its extremely vast territory and hundreds of millions of people. Unlike our powerful countries in Europe, the Eastern world empire is not only a country, but also an Eastern empire.

All of civilization! From the steppes of Central Asia to the east, all the way across the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of America, they are all under the rule of this great country that calls itself the Celestial Empire.

If France and the Netherlands cannot unite to deal with this Celestial Empire, one day the entire Christian civilization will lie at the feet of the great powers of the Eastern world forever!"
Chapter completed!