August 16, 1666, The Hague, Residence of the Speaker.

An emergency meeting is taking place in the United Republic of the Netherlands!

It is not known whether this is the tenth or eleventh emergency meeting since the outbreak of war, and the situation facing the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, which has not been alleviated by so many emergency meetings, has become more and more critical, and has now reached a precarious point. And the atmosphere at the emergency meeting of the Great Council has become more and more somber, to the point where everyone feels breathless.

In the conference room, all the people turned pale, looking at the speaker of the council, John, who was speechless. Morality. Victor.

The resourceful and long-sleeved statesman of the past was now like a defeated rooster, slumped in his chair and glazed over, unable to think of any more ways to save the Republic of the Netherlands.

Oh, and it's not like I can't think of a clever idea—John. Morality. Werther's brain was full of strategies, such as getting Britain to send troops, Sweden to send troops, Austria to send troops, and Brandenburg to send troops...... As long as the silver content of the guilder in the Bank of Amsterdam is still guaranteed, John. Morality. Werther would be able to find countries willing to shed blood for the Dutch.

But now the problem is that all these countries need time for military mobilization!

The French army of 100,000 (only 70,000 in fact) had already lightningly penetrated the Ardennes Forest, the Episcopal States of Cologne, and the Bishopric of Münster in the southern part of the Spanish Netherlands, and had thundered into the southeastern part of the United Republic of the Netherlands.

The scattered vassal states of the Holy Roman Empire, which bordered the southeastern part of the United Republic of the Netherlands, were too divided to pose any threat to the rich and powerful Republic of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, so there was no need to spend a lot of money on a large number of unused bastions......

But who would have thought that the French would first use the "Turin wedding" as a cover to come with a surprise attack (undeclared war was nothing in the 17th century, almost all wars were fought first and then declared), and then a 100-far-mile detour, with 100,000 troops crashing directly into the southeast, where the Netherlands was the weakest defense!

The French moved with astonishing speed, and by the time the army of Prince Condé crossed the Ardennes Forest and reached the territory of the Bishopric of Cologne, only six days had passed since the French went to war, and the Dutch elites in Amsterdam and The Hague were still considering which countries to unite to restrain Louis XIV's ambitions...... As a result, the Dutch envoys had not yet left The Hague, and Prince Condé's army of 100,000 had already entered Dutch territory.

Finding that he had become the number one target of the French, the Great Council, which had been in full swing, was suddenly in a state of confusion, and could only hastily mobilize the provincial armies to form a coalition to resist.

But the hastily organized Dutch coalition was very disorganized, with no unified command and a lack of qualified generals. Because after the death of William II, Prince of Orange, the Netherlands did not have a unified army, but was fortified by the provinces themselves, and by 1666, the Netherlands had no unified army for 16 years!

And in the past 16 years, the veterans who followed the Orange family in the past have either been idle, died of illness, or went abroad to work, and there are not many who can fight in a hurry!

And William III, Prince of Orange, who was able to harness these Orange followers, was only 16 years old...... It is simply impossible for the Grand Council to entrust the fate of the Netherlands to a 16-year-old boy!

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

Therefore, the coalition army that the Dutch hastily organized became completely unlucky to brush up on the achievements of Prince Condé. Two main battles were fought at Deventere and Utrecht, in which 40,000 Allied Dutch troops were wiped out, more than 20,000 were captured, and the rest were either killed or seriously wounded. And the casualties of the French army were only in the thousands!

Only then did the Dutch, who had not run an army properly for 16 years, wake up from a dream - the Dutch army is completely behind the times!

They are no match for the mighty French New Army!

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

Utrecht is no ordinary city, but the place where the Treaty of Utrecht was signed by the Republic of the Netherlands, and it is also the gateway to the best of the Netherlands provinces in the Republic of the Netherlands!

Two days after the capture of Utrecht by Prince Condé, a French infantry division led by Viscount Rochefort advanced to Maiden, south of Amsterdam...... And Maiden is only 3 fats (12 km) from the centre of Amsterdam!

Now there are only two options left before the Grand Council of the Netherlands, one is to surrender to France and accept a humiliating and costly peace!

The second is to dig up the seawall around Amsterdam and replace the army with water, temporarily blocking the French army and buying the Netherlands a little respite.

However, the time gained by digging the seawall is limited, as the winter in the Netherlands is very cold and the floodwaters will freeze. If the Netherlands can't regroup in just three or four months, then the end of the country is coming.

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

Will 16-year-old William III be able to train an army that can compete with the French New Army in 3 months? If not, will the armies of the German princes who had been bought off against the 100,000-strong French army?

It's desperate to think about!

In the silence, I saw a secretary of the Great Council running into the conference room panting, holding a wax envelope in his hand, looking at his expression, it should be good news in this envelope!

“...... Mr. Speaker, the envoy of the King of France has arrived in the port of The Hague on an English merchant ship, and has brought with him a personal letter from King Louis XIV......"

That's good news!

The fact that the victorious French had sent an envoy to the Dutch Council for peace had not yet been chosen, suggesting that Louis XIV had not considered the destruction of the Netherlands.......

"Come here, get the envelope!"

John. Morality. Witte hurriedly called the secretary to him, then took the envelope, tore off the wax envelope, and took out the envelope inside...... All the members of the Grand Council looked at him intently, and the members noticed that their Grand Speaker's hand was shaking incessantly!

There was silence in the hall, and everyone raised their hearts to their throats.

It was at this moment that John. Morality. Witte suddenly let out a deep breath and said, "Thank you Christ, the goal of the King of France is to ally with us......"

What the? Ally?

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

John. Morality. Witte burst into tears at this time, and he said: "His Majesty says in his letter that he considers France to be the first land power in Christian civilization, and the Netherlands to be the first naval power in Christian civilization...... Therefore, both countries have a 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 incomparably vast territory and hundreds of millions of people. Unlike our great powers here in Europe, the world empire of the East is not only a country, but also the whole of Eastern civilization! From the steppes of Central Asia to the east, all the way across the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of the Americas, all under the rule of this great nation that called itself the Celestial Empire.

If France and the Netherlands do not unite to deal with this Celestial Empire, then one day the entire Christian civilization will be prostrate at the feet of the Eastern world powers...... Forever! ”

The Speaker of the Netherlands wiped his tears and looked at the parliamentarians in the hall: "Gentlemen, the Netherlands is saved...... We are saved! ”