Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne Chapter 24

The signing of this bill obviously means that France and the Netherlands have officially announced their alliance. This is a shock to Europe that breaks the balance. It has a subtle impact on the current situation in Europe and even in Europe as a whole. The change.

Although the Netherlands is small in size, even 10,000 square kilometers smaller than the Portuguese Kingdom in southern Europe, the impact of its alliance with France cannot be underestimated, especially for the German Confederation in Central Europe. It is basically controlled by this alliance from the south of Denmark to Spain, and it controls the important port routes of the sea route.

It could even be that apart from the British Empire, there are only solitary Belgian ports in it. For the Baltic countries, this is no less than a double-kill of maritime hegemony, and they need to be cautious in choosing teams on both sides of the English Channel.

Whoever offends you will have a hard time at sea in the future.

In 1830, the British Empire showed its abominable evil face and promoted the independence of Belgium, but Europeans still remember it vividly. It was only when the British Empire's warship sailed directly to Amsterdam that they forced the Netherlands and France to admit defeat without a fight, but many people They didn't make any mockery of the Netherlands for making such a result, because the strategic space of the Netherlands is too small. As long as the guns on the British Empire's battleships are lightly lit, they can make the living space of the country go ahead. Huge squeeze.

Much of the Netherlands is a low-lying land that is almost at sea level, or below it.

If there is a real fight, the Netherlands will also face the risk of dykes bursting on its own territory.

But France is different. The territory of France is several times that of the Netherlands, and the strength of France is only one line weaker than that of the British Empire. With the addition of the "Mutual Defense Act", it means that the Netherlands used to have no reserve strategic space, so A large number of army troops set up to relieve France's mutual defense can be removed, and these vacated soldiers can be used on other battlefields.

And the sudden appearance of the rear facing the UK is very important for the Netherlands, and it is not only against the British Empire, but now Prussia in the east is getting stronger and stronger. Many people speculate that the Netherlands is also guarding against Prussia.

As for what the Netherlands has gained and lost, many people are helping them calculate.

"What can we get? I know a lot of people are thinking about this question. After all, the alliance between the Netherlands and France has put us on the opposite side of the British Empire. We will suffer the possible anger of the British Empire. Now I ask you , are you afraid?"

"Not afraid"

"Be louder"

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid"

"Okay, very good, very good, Prime Minister Tolbeck, tell us about the situation we are going to face. Let everyone be mentally prepared."

On the left are civilians, and on the right are military personnel.

The civil service was headed by Prime Minister Tolbeck, followed by Jonrell, Minister of the Interior, Jane von Capello, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Haysbert von, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wem Cotter (1829-), Minister of Industry, Education Minister Ruud Bells (1831-).

The military is the chief of staff of the two armies, Mark Rudd (1813-), the Minister of the Navy Jan Peter (1820-), the Minister of the Army Pete de Jong (1816-), the Chief of the Naval Staff Joseph Karls (1824-)., Army Chief of Staff Jopp. Ill (1823-), and Minister of Armaments Louis Bell (1833-).

"Yes, Your Majesty." Tolbeck looked at the characters in the Privy Council in front of him, and his blood boiled. The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy, but more than a decade ago, it was still a monarchy. The king is the world of the Dutch people, just like the national anthem "William Ode", the king is a ruler sent by God, and his subjects must submit to him and remain loyal.

The king is the highest commander of the army. Of course, although the government uses his prime minister as the highest leader and the highest official in the cabinet, the most recognized leader of the country is the king. He is at most the king's deputy, just like the military chief of staff Mark .Like Rudd.

Another point is that although the Minister of Defense and others are also members of the cabinet, just like the other cabinet members here, these people are members of the Privy Council approved by the king.

In other words, it is directly under the direct control of the king. But if you talk directly to King William IV, the Prime Minister still can't restrain these people. This is what the theory says.

"What we have now is that our country's population is one-fifth the size of the British Empire, which means that we are only equivalent to 20% of the population of the British Empire.

In terms of comprehensive national strength, we are even less powerful than them, because their industrial development is faster than ours, so we are still catching up.

In terms of military, the army is almost the same, but the navy is not on the same level as the UK on the surface. The tonnage ratio is less than half of others, 9:23.

According to the competition of strength, the first-class battleship with the most powerful firepower is 10 to 3 compared with ours. The entire army, the British Empire has 600,000 people, and we have 200,000. A third, more than that, is where we are now in the Netherlands.”

Speaking of which, Tolbeck was also a bit confused, why?

Because even up to now, he still doesn't understand the reason why His Majesty William IV did this, but he won't ask you, because she understands the boundaries of what should be known and what should not be known.

"Have you heard everyone?" William IV's face has been surprisingly good recently. Even the guards and maids in the royal palace are very curious. It's not like I heard that when a national event is imminent, when you are anxious, your skin will be bad. Has the appetite also become smaller, why is it different when it comes to William IV?

"I won't say much about the potential enemies we will face. Everyone knows that the British Empire has become stronger and stronger since it replaced our maritime position, but"

As soon as his tone changed, the smile on his face just now became serious. At this time, he felt like the majesty of a king.

"However, let's not underestimate ourselves. Prime Minister Tolbek's words are unpleasant and uncomfortable, and even more so, but don't forget that the British Empire's navy is indeed larger than ours, and its firepower is stronger and more violent. , but their navy has more to take care of than us.

We are more concentrated, mainly in mainland China, Guyana, East India, and the South Pacific islands that are being rapidly occupied under the leadership of Lyndon. Although we also need to divide our troops to go to many small islands in the southern Pacific Ocean, don't forget, these small islands don't need to fight, just send people to garrison on them, and now the Netherlands has only 200,000 regular troops, but we are also We learned about the military system of Sweden, a powerful Nordic country, and the two-year military service system for all men, and our reserve army has reached 300,000.

In this way, we can put these reserve troops on the islands in the South Pacific, which indirectly saves the dispersion of the regular army. "

"Also, we have a new secret weapon"

"Secret weapon? I don't know what it is?" The first thing that occurred to Yang Peter, Minister of the Navy, was that it should still be for the Navy. After all, I was talking about the British Empire. What is the most famous thing in the British Empire is the Navy. Think, it was not wrong.

However, although he shouted like other colleagues just now that he was not afraid, he had to say that although he said he was not afraid, in today's world, there is no other country's navy who dares to say that they are not afraid of the Royal Navy of the British Empire. They are powerful or not. , Jan Peter, who is the Minister of the Navy of the Netherlands, knows a lot about it, but he doesn't understand why His Majesty William IV still looks like he doesn't need to worry.

Could it be that we really have a secret weapon that we don't need to be afraid of the British Imperial Navy?

Actually, it wasn't just Jan Peter, other generals such as Chief of Naval Staff Joseph Karls looked at him with anticipation.

However, William IV looked at Louis Bell, Minister of Arms, who stood up knowingly.

"Your Majesty is right, we now have a lot of secret weapons that are enough to make the British and even other European countries dare not act rashly.

Under the leadership of His Majesty in recent years, our armament department has changed from what it used to be, and various new weapons have emerged one after another. It is the epoch-making firearm named by His Majesty himself, the Mauser, which is a rear-loading single-shot gun with a rotary locking bolt based on the French Chasebo rear-loading gun..."

Chapter end