End of 1643

The war against the Habsburgs on the European continent brought England and the Netherlands together as allies against the Habsburg bloc, led by Spain and the Holy Roman Empire.

Originally, the two allies on the European battlefield did not coexist in harmony as they seemed on the surface, and they advanced and retreated together when encountering problems.

They could unite against the Habsburg bloc on the battlefields of Europe, but beyond that, they were definitely competitors.

On the North American continent, for example, the Dutch colonies have been snatched up by England or bought indirectly at low prices on more than one occasion, and war has indeed broken out between the two sides.

But everything is okay, the war overseas has not affected the cooperation between the two countries in Europe.

If all goes according to history, at the end of the Thirty Years' War, England will have many naval conflicts with the Netherlands, and finally escalate to the struggle for maritime supremacy.

At this time, the war between the Dutch and Spain had basically come to an end, and although Spain had not recognized the independence of the Netherlands, it had basically become a fact, and there was basically no room for maneuver.

In the face of the strong rise of the Netherlands, Spain, the old empire, is naturally unwilling, since the new weapons of the Australians came out, they began to update, the army is fully armed with Australian goods, and the Spanish Army with Australian goods is glorious again.

The two sides engaged in a large-scale battle in June of this year, and the result of the war was a draw, which did not take advantage of anyone.

Therefore, at this time, Spain did not quickly start another war, but only carried out many tentative attacks in the border area, and the Netherlands only blindly defended.

Faced with this situation, the Dutch hoped that their ally England would join him in launching a counteroffensive against Spain, thus defeating the Habsburg Group once and for all.

But at this time, England, which was no longer monolithic, already had its own ideas, and the biggest beneficiaries of the anti-Habsburg war were actually Spain and the Netherlands. The two countries received the most Australian weapons, and each country was awarded a steamship cooperation project.

The technology has always been coveted by England, who have offered to do the same, but the Australians politely rejected them, even telling them that it was impossible.

Under this premise, the English were unbalanced, and in addition to the war with the Dutch overseas for colonies, they began to come into contact with the Spaniards.

The Spaniards were not stupid and knew that one of the important allies of the Dutch was England, if they succeeded in dividing them. It will have an unprecedented effect on Spain.

With these prerequisites, the cooperation between the Spaniards and England was a natural bridge.

England wanted to get steamships, but the Dutch had to promise to sell them on their own terms.

As for the Spaniards, they knew that it was not so simple to defeat the Netherlands at sea, they had to have new allies, and the traditional allies were no longer enough to compete with the Netherlands, and England, which was also a new seafaring country, was a good choice.

With Australia behind the scenes, secret talks began, and the Spaniards promised to sell ten new ships a year to England. This is a godsend for England and they can't afford to let it go.

After signing the agreement, as a partner, England naturally has to give a little benefit to the small partner. What's more, the Dutch were not as happy as anyone else, so England chose to remain silent when Spain launched a war against the Netherlands.

Even in order to cooperate with the Spanish actions, they launched a colonial struggle in the Far East, and the focus of this struggle was located in the Malay Peninsula. Originally, the only forces on this island were Australians, but the British were a little unwilling to be lonely and also participated.

This blatant scramble. It was simply unbearable, and the Dutch protested strongly, on the one hand, massing forces in Batavia and preparing for a counteroffensive.

England was also fully prepared this time, gathering an army of nearly 1,000 people to attack, and it can be seen that they decided to stay here.

As the other two major powers in the region, Spain and Australia have spoken one after another, hoping that the two sides will sit down for peace negotiations and not escalate the war.

In fact, the arms sold to England by the Viceroyalty of Malacca secretly did not stop, on the one hand, let them stop the war, and on the other hand, they continued to send arms, and on the other hand, I am afraid that only Australians can do this kind of thing.

Spain, as another major power in the region, was naturally not idle, and their warships were constantly cruising towards the Batavia Seas, so that the Dutch aid forces did not dare to engage them easily, delaying the opportunity for the Dutch counteroffensive to a certain extent, and also providing enough time for England to gain a foothold.

The English had had a secret conversation with Australia before attacking the Maliu Peninsula, hoping for Australia's help, preferably military cooperation.

However, Australia has an ally-level relationship with the Netherlands, and said that it will not be involved in their affairs, and that it can provide him with weapons, and the Malacca government can secretly sell some weapons to them as long as they need it.

It is also very beneficial for England to not get the military cooperation of the Australians, but to get weapons, in fact, they have no intention of involving the Australians, they all know that Australia is always an insatiable guy, and once they get involved, it will lead the wolf into the house.

In addition, as long as the Australians do not support the Dutch, England has the ability to take this territory and even gain a foothold directly.

England's confidence comes entirely from Spain's Zengnuo, who promised that as long as the Dutch sent troops, they would unconditionally support England.

The Anglo-Spanish alliance in the Far East led to a fierce debate between the leaders of the two countries in mainland Europe, and in the end both sides had to make concessions, with the Dutch agreeing to the land that England now occupies, demanding that it not expand further, and the English agreeing to return part of the territory to the Viceroyalty of Batavia.

Although the matter is successfully resolved, it does not mean that the competition between the two sides is over, according to Australia's judgment, the competition between the two sides has just begun, because there are both historical reasons and Australia is behind the scenes, there must be a new competition, and the Spaniards are also happy to see this situation. (To be continued.) )