Who is the victor in the war?

In 1667, the nations of Europe were all concerned to varying degrees about the war between England and the Netherlands, which had been going on for two years, and who was the victor?

Although at the beginning of the war, the Dutch, who had been preparing for many years, seemed to have done a good job, but in the Battle of Rostov at Vågen; the Four-Day Naval Battle; the Battle of St. James's Day; In successive battles such as the Holmes bonfire, the two countries can be said to have won and lost.

Judging from the course of naval warfare since the beginning of the war, Britain is still stronger than the Netherlands, but it is not good in the financial aspect, although the Netherlands was once militarily inferior due to the financial collapse of the "Holmes Bonfire" and the blow of the Battle of "St. James's Day", but the main force of the Dutch fleet still exists, and the domestic revenge mood is high. By contrast, Britain had not yet fully recovered from Cromwell's fiscal problems, and in the end God was not even on Britain's side – the plague and the Great Fire of London had further deteriorated British finances.

It was precisely because of the further deterioration of the finances that the British hoped to end the war through negotiations, and for the Dutch, in the face of the olive branch of the British, they had to hit the British again in order to gain an advantage at the negotiating table.

With the intervention of the Ming Dynasty, the situation became more delicate, and reality forced the Dutch to end the war and get the British to accept their terms before the British could form an alliance with the Ming.

In the end, it all fell on Reut, the commander of the Dutch navy, who was born into a family of old sailors in the southwestern province. At the age of 11, he followed his father as a trainee sailor on a ship. Later, with his resourceful ability, he was promoted step by step. In the Anglo-Spanish War, he fought many times against pirate ships and privateers. During the First Anglo-Dutch War, as a fierce general under Admiral Marton Trop, he repeatedly fought against the British Navy at sea and made many achievements. After the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1665, Reut, Tropp's successor, became the new commander-in-chief of the Dutch navy and was awarded the rank of admiral.

It was also after he became the commander of the Dutch naval fleet that he summed up decades of experience in naval warfare and believed that escort alone could not defeat the British, and that the main naval forces must first be concentrated to defeat the British naval fleet in order to win the war. To this end, he took advantage of the temporary truce in winter to train sailors and rebuild the fleet, so that the Dutch navy could rise rapidly.

In last year's "Four-Day Naval Battle," Reut led the reorganized Dutch fleet to defeat the British fleet, sinking 17 British ships, including the "Prince," to the bottom of the sea, and as many as 8,000 officers and men were killed or captured.

As the most prestigious admiral in all of Europe, Leut was of course well aware that now the Netherlands had reached a very critical moment.

"We're going to beat them here!"

A few months ago, in the face of the Speaker's request, in order to deal a heavier blow to the British, Reut carefully drew up a plan for a sneak attack on the Thames. In fact, he had already begun to formulate this plan a long time ago.

Despite the defeat of the Dutch Navy in the Battle of St. James's Day, the main force of the fleet remained alive and did not suffer a fatal blow. It was through this practice of fighting near the British mainland that Leut recognized the possibility of a night raid. He then spent several months using spies to obtain information on the tides, levels, and routes of the Thames, as well as the economic intelligence of the military river in the London area, and trained Dutch sailors in night combat.

However, the implementation of this plan requires the consent of the speaker, "everything is in place, only the east wind is owed", and in the face of the situation that Britain was about to form an alliance with the Ming Dynasty, and the war might continue indefinitely, Witte finally agreed to his plan. With Witt's authorization, Leut immediately began to implement this bold and rare battle plan.

As was originally planned, the Dutch fleet of 59 warships of all types set sail, and Reut led the fleet to assemble outside the island of Texel on an emergency basis, and then waited for the right moment.

"Michelle, how can we guarantee that the British fleet will be in Chatham?"

Even in the final stages of the plan, there were still people who opposed the surprise attack and the risk factor was very high, but because the intelligence and reconnaissance work was done well in advance, Reutt was already well aware of the situation on the British side, so he was full of confidence in the success of this battle.

"They have no choice but Chatham! Actually, we should thank God! ”

Reut said with a smile.

"As early as last autumn, Britain was faced with the question of how to finance this year's navy, but the British Parliament was clearly not up to the task, and they had hoped to borrow money from London merchants and bankers, but all was wiped out by the fire in London. The navy had to be financed by Parliament, which had no extra money to support the navy, and the creditors were also skeptical about the navy's ability to repay, and without the money, the British navy would have to stay in Chatham. ”

War is a money-burning thing!

This has always been the case, both in the East and in the West, and even in the last war, the Netherlands was defeated precisely because of the collapse of finances, and this time, despite the financial constraints of the Netherlands, Britain was on the verge of collapse.

"So, we just need to enter the Thames and go up the Medway River to Chatham, the battleship dock of the British fleet, and then sink or burn the British battleship, of course, the chances of burning, after all, we have extra chips!"

Reut smiled mysteriously, and then said no more.

Standing on the bridge, he felt the gentle sea breeze, his eyes stared ahead, whether he could end the war smoothly depended on this adventure!

Despite the risk, Leut was ready for anything, but he still looked confident.

Late at night on June 19, on this day, the Dutch fleet composed of 24 battleships, 20 small boats, and 15 arsonists took advantage of the high tide in the night to quietly come to the mouth of the Thames.

"General, the lead ship has sailed into the estuary!"

Although this news made everyone breathe a sigh of relief, and even a smile appeared on their faces, after all, the real danger is here - there are many sandbar shoals in the Thames estuary and Medway, and only high tide and tailwind can pass, and the slightest negligence misses the tide level or the wind direction is not favorable or the wind is not strong enough, the warship may run aground.

It is precisely because of this that the smooth entry of the pilot ship means that their course is correct, and the wind direction and wind force are also suitable for their attack, and the accurate intelligence in the early stage provides a full guarantee for the success of the operation. It was precisely for this moment that they would wait for a few days to carry out this surprise attack tonight.

"This is just the beginning!"

Putting down the telescope in his hand, Reutt said softly, this is just the beginning, the real test is yet to come, and the reason why this plan is called "bold" is mainly because it has great risks: regardless of the various British defenses along the way.

Finally, there is another problem that needs to be faced - not all the warships of the British Navy have entered the port and cannot fight.

In front of the advance fleet were dozens of sampan rowboats, and the Dutch soldiers with spears and swords stared at the Hillness battery in front of them, and their mission was to capture the battery.

"Be quiet!"

When the paddle was a little louder, Weiss immediately shouted softly, and the paddlemen immediately became light-footed, and after the sampan reached the shore, the soldiers jumped out of the boat, and after wading ashore, they immediately lay down on the river, and Weis's eyes were fixed on the battery, and by the moonlight and the torches on the battery, he could even faintly see the British soldiers patrolling back and forth on the battery.

After a moment of careful observation, seeing that they did not notice this, he waved his hand again, and hundreds of Dutch soldiers with swords in their hands immediately rushed in the direction of the fort with bent waists and light feet. As soon as they arrived at the bottom of the fort, but their bodies were just attached to the stone wall of the fort, there was the sound of the patrol's footsteps, and Weiss, who rushed to the front, immediately swung his sword and killed him, and the British soldiers on patrol did not expect the Dutch to appear here, and even when the sword pierced their necks and bodies, they did not realize that the Dutch had come to the city.

In just a few minutes, Weiss, who led the soldiers to raid the battery, swept away the sentries outside the battery, and two Dutch soldiers immediately rushed at the corner of the battery to swing the artillery, and when they gave the signal, more Dutch soldiers nailed the fire holes of the guns with iron nails, even if they could not successfully occupy the battery, the British could no longer use artillery to attack the fleet.

However, compared with the cautiousness of the attackers, the attackers never thought that the Dutch would suddenly kill their doorstep, let alone that the Dutch would violate the "tradition of naval warfare", they did not even shell, but chose to send marines to occupy the fort by sneak attack, and even when the Dutch soldiers entered the fort, until the sound of muskets rang out one after another in the fort, the British soldiers guarding the fort reacted, but at this time, it was too late.

"I can't imagine it!"

The signal from the Silnes battery made all the officers and men of the Dutch fleet almost let out a cry of joy with excitement, none of them expected that it would go so smoothly. And Leut, who had been waiting for a long time, saw the signal on the battery and ordered loudly.

"Quick, we're going to teach the British a hard lesson this time!"