Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

It seems that the situation within France has been understood for a long time, and the Bismarck government launched a more powerful attack in eastern France.

On September 20, 1869, due to the opposition of the Paris government and nobles, French Emperor Napoleon III changed his original plan to retreat to eastern France, stopped the retreat of his troops, and decided to defend the city of Metz in western Lorraine at all costs.

On September 22, 1869, the Second Army led by Prince Carl Friedrich of Prussia mobilized 110,000 Prussian troops to confront the Rhine Army led by Napoleon III with 100,000 troops centered on Metz.

With the occupied Alsace as the center, Crown Prince Frederick led a Prussian army of 200,000 men to threaten Belfort, France.

In the north, the province of Namur is already in danger. The 130,000-strong army commanded by the Prussian First Army, Carl Friedrich von Steinmetz, is threatening there. The French are breathing heavily.

Seemingly weak on all three sides, Napoleon III, who was suffering from illness, finally couldn't bear it anymore. On September 25, 1869, he handed over the command of the Army of the Rhine to Marshal Bazin.

On the same day, the navies of the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden formed a combined fleet to gather in the port of Zeeland in the southern part of the Romport waterway in the Netherlands. The Dutch military announced that it would conduct a naval battle in the Strait of Dover from September 26 to the end of October. The same exercise is conducted in the northeast, near the coast of West Flanders, Rotterdam, and the sea off Amsterdam. It will be off the coast of Denmark in early November, in the Norwegian Sea in the United Kingdom of Sweden-Norway in mid-November, and in the Swedish coast of the Baltic Sea in late November.

The public purpose of the trilateral exercise is not only to deter piracy, but also to safeguard the maritime interests of the three countries and to counterattack actions intended to harm the national interests of the three countries.

It is said that this time, in addition to the steam battleship Rotterdam, the Netherlands also dispatched four first-class sailing battleships named after the province: Zeeland, Noord Brabant, West Flanders, and East Flanders to escort them. . In addition, there are 10 second- to sixth-level sailing warships of various levels named cities, towns, and villages.

The Netherlands dispatched a total of 15 warships.

The Danish fleet includes two first-class sailing battleships, Northjylland and Southjylland, and five sailing battleships of other classes, for a total of 7 ships.

Sweden dispatched three first-class sailing battleships: Stockholm, Oslo, and Gothenburg, as well as second-class sailing battleships Malmö and Bergen, and five sailing battleships of other classes, a total of 10 ship.

The combined fleet composed of the three countries actually reached 32 ships, with a tonnage of 67,000 tons, which is enough to be half of the current size of Denmark and Sweden.

reached one-third of France. However, France now deploys one-third of its troops in the Far East. The remaining half of the French mainland fleet has been deployed in the Mediterranean. Therefore, the scale currently deployed on the coast of France on the Atlantic is only about the same size as the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark. Moreover, due to the size of the French fleet The location is different, and the English Channel is equally divided with the Bay of Biscay, so the French fleet in the English Channel is only half of the combined fleet of the Netherlands and other three countries.

This news swept through Europe like a tornado, even surprising the countries in the Americas that had been paying attention to the war in Europe.

Today, under the leadership of William IV, the influence of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe has begun to take shape. It is no longer the country that had no resistance, no power to choose, and no strength in Belgium a few decades ago when facing the major European powers. The problem is that the Kingdom of Three Nothings is at the mercy of others.

With the rise of the Netherlands in the past 10 years, news about the Kingdom of the Netherlands has shocked and envied all countries. The Netherlands has expanded its territory in the Far East, and its economic progress has surpassed 6 and 5. (The top five are Britain, France, Prussia, Austria, the United States), their military technology is on par with Britain and France, and even better than Prussia. In terms of record, they used the Boers to defeat the powerful British in South Africa in 1862, and defeated the all-powerful British in Mozambique, Angola, Congo and other places in Africa. The Kingdom of Portugal, these have confirmed the Netherlands' status as a European military power.

In terms of naval size, the Netherlands has surpassed Spain and is almost the same as France in terms of published naval tonnage. It is catching up with France and looking forward to Britain.

Therefore, every move of the Netherlands has actually been watched by the top leaders of European countries.

This time, the members of the Nordic Alliance of the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden chose the Franco-Prussian War period to conduct exercises in Belgium, which was close to the warring country France and the Sea. What did the Netherlands mean?

What exactly does William IV mean?

Since the three Dutch countries are able to send warships to the French border this time, and that is the sea east of the British Isles, does it mean that the Netherlands can also send warships to other places for intimidation?

Therefore, many people are trying hard to guess the thoughts of William IV and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in order to make countermeasures.

Why did Sweden and Denmark choose to stand with the Netherlands at this time?

Obviously, this exercise was headed for France. The Prussian sea is mainly in the Baltic Sea, and the current war is also taking place in France.

At the foreign minister level meeting just held in London, these countries all chose the Prussian side. Combined with the current military exercises, everything is clear. The question is, what exactly do they get? This is what all other countries think.

Even one of the most powerful countries in Europe, Alexander II of the Russian Empire, Queen Victoria of the British Empire, and Franz Joseph I of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were very puzzled by the actions of the three Dutch countries.

Only Bismarck and William I, who were far away in Berlin, understood that this was a precautionary measure taken by the Netherlands to protect themselves.

Bismarck: "The Netherlands has three advantages in doing this. First, it further consolidates the dominance of the three countries of the Nordic Alliance; second, it allows the Nordic Alliance to make a greater military voice in Europe openly; third, that is, Prussia will The agreement with the Netherlands means that we are prepared to shock the world. Prussia is about to pass through the Duchy of Luxembourg in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

When the world thought that Prussia was following the rules and attacking the French mainland at the current pace, no one could have imagined that we had signed an agreement with the Netherlands to borrow the Duchy of Luxembourg a few months ago.

Look at the Franco-Prussian War, which is divided into three major battlefields in the north, middle and south. The Principality of Luxembourg is a natural barrier for France. If this barrier is suddenly lost, hey, His Majesty Napoleon III, who has been suffering from a long illness, will probably get worse. Bar"

William I said with a smile: "It is said that Prime Minister Bismarck was one of the suitors of Queen Eugenie at first, but Queen Eugenie was a beauty who could rival the current Queen of Austria-Hungary, Princess Sissi, so it is no wonder that she is so fascinating.

Come to think of it, if Napoleon III of France knew about this, maybe he would not let Queen Eugenie be the regent."

Bismarck said: "Maybe, but Queen Eugenie's desire for power is something that many people cannot afford, including His Majesty Napoleon III."