Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1654 Struggle and Preparation ([-])

Jacob van der Grave's heart was filled with uncontrollable anger. Although he was only a young man, who was only cannon fodder driven by the lackeys of the Prince of Orange, he still hated this arrogant attitude. The heathen army is angry: This is the great and glorious union is the United Provinces, not a place where you can run wild!

The emotions of the surrounding mobs were already extremely enthusiastic, and they hadn't dared to rush over due to some reasons before, but this time the mercenaries on the east bank directly hit people with gun butts, and they were fully armed to protect John DeWitt The sinner went to the prison to find his brother, and they were immediately ignited with anger, and then some people who cared - Vandergrave even saw a few familiar faces - shouted and rushed Come out, or with bare hands, or with something casually, rushed towards the prison gate.

Lan Fei was also a little surprised when he saw this. He underestimated the violence of these onlookers. He didn't expect that these residents of The Hague, whose total number would never exceed [-], would dare to act in front of the heavily armed soldiers of No. [-].He had no doubt that his subordinates were underestimated by the other party because they were too immature—in fact, the officers and soldiers of the No. The pain I faced in my life was all thrown on the head of DeWitt who had stepped down, not to mention that there must be someone with a heart to instigate it. When there are many people, emotions are always easily ignited.

Speaker John DeWitt was also a little suspicious, but he didn't stay at the door for too long. Several personal guards who had served the family for many years surrounded him and entered the Gwanganport Prison.Around them, there were three full rows of infantrymen from the east coast. They were holding well-loaded rifles, and the bayonets on the barrels were shining brightly. The few guards who came out subconsciously lost their legs when they saw it, and they couldn't resist the idea of ​​resistance at all.

Several officials from the Dutch Provincial Court and The Hague City Court bravely came forward, and when they were about to say something, they were directly driven aside by Qiu Ba with rifles.However, Speaker DeWitt stopped the soldiers' next move and asked the judges about his brother's cell. He didn't want to waste any more time.

And when Chairman DeWitt was looking for his brother in the prison, Lan Fei, the commander of the First Mixed Battalion outside the prison, had no choice, because the mob who rushed over first had already entangled with dozens of soldiers on the outermost edge together.The officers and soldiers on the east bank were a little caught off guard, and they didn't get the order to shoot, so they were scattered all at once, and dozens of figures in dark blue military uniforms were submerged in the rioting crowd.

"Ah!" A heart-piercing scream resounded from the crowd, and a second lieutenant officer from the East Bank stumbled out of the crowd with a short dagger stuck in his chest.A Dutchman dressed as a sailor pounced on him with a ferocious face, trying to snatch the saber and gun from his waist.

This scene was seen by many people at the same time, and Lan Fei was no exception.But before he could give an order, twenty soldiers rushed over with their bayonet-loaded rifles, and then stabbed the shining bayonet into the sailor's body fiercely. The residents of The Hague who came over stared angrily at the bayonets on their chests and lower abdomen, as if they couldn't believe that these heretics dared to do anything to themselves.

"Killed!" Jacob Vandergrave's mind exploded, and he knew exactly what it meant!Although he is an assassin and has tried to assassinate big figures like DeWitt, it doesn't mean that he has no brains and doesn't know how to be afraid.On the contrary, he knows too well what it means for both sides to see blood, which means that both sides will lose their minds, and then until one side is completely defeated.

Obviously, although there are nearly [-] residents of The Hague here, they are not well-trained soldiers, and they are not very united. It is human nature to be greedy for life and fear death. It is clear at a glance who loses.Therefore, Jacob van der Grave avoided the turbulent crowd and quietly turned towards the periphery, trying to leave this square that he guessed would soon become a "slaughterhouse".

The crisp sound of horseshoes sounded not far away, and Van der Grave's mind was agitated, and he stopped immediately, hiding behind the sturdy guillotine, barely avoiding a group of cavalry rushing towards him.

Pagan cavalry!Vandergrave clenched his lips, fear, horror, anger, shock and other emotions gathered together, making him almost out of breath.

"What the hell are these East Coasters doing? Do you know what it means to do this?" Vandergrave growled silently, holding a flintlock pistol, but at the same time cowardly did not dare to look at him from his side. The galloping east bank cavalry shot because he didn't want to die yet.

The screams sounded again and again. Van der Grave originally thought he would be calm, but he found that he really couldn't.Especially when the living beings were knocked into the air by the vicious East Coast cavalry and cut down by sharp sabers in front of him, he found himself trembling faintly, which was a sign of extreme fear.

Let's turn our attention to another corner.After the beginning of the incident, Major Lan Fei, the battalion commander of the No. [-] Mixed Battalion who had been standing at the gate of the prison before, was stunned, because everything that happened in front of him obviously exceeded his expectations, and things were slowly becoming unstoppable. tidy.However, at any rate, he is also a Mesozoic officer on the east bank. He quickly realized that he immediately dispatched all the staff around him, and asked them to go to various places to contact, gather, and command the company and platoon leaders. Also avoid causing too much damage-although this seems like a whore and erecting a torii, but the death of one person and the death of a hundred people are indeed two completely different things, aren't they?

Unrest continued, but it did not appear to be a vicious event sweeping the entire neighborhood.Because under the command of the staff officer and the middle and lower rank officers, the [-] soldiers on the east bank only picked out those mobs who screamed the most and jumped the highest, especially those with weapons in their hands. The mob was beaten to pieces by bullets and bayonets, and ran away with their heads in their arms.And once these people are cleaned up, there is actually not much to worry about. A mess without organization is nothing to worry about, and it can be easily settled.

Sure enough, after dozens of cavalrymen dispersed the crowds gathered in the last two groups, there was only an empty space left in the huge square at the gate of Gwanpot Prison.There were not many people standing in the place that was still crowded with people, and even if there were, they stood shivering like quails, waiting for their unknown fate.

"The irrational mob, that's all!" Lan Fei frowned and left the prison gate, while looking at the corpses, pools of blood and wounded everywhere on the ground, he sighed and said: "But this time it might be a little too much Ah, even though it was the opponent who made the first move on us..."

In fact, on the day that the DeWitt brothers were killed in history, these mobs gathered at the gate of Gwankenport Prison were not in such a mess!At that time, these people were clamoring outside the prison, demanding that the DeWitt brothers come out immediately.At four o'clock in the afternoon, some militiamen rushed into the prison, invited the DeWitt brothers out, and headed towards the guillotine.

Before they could get there, however, Cornelis DeWitt was badly wounded by a sailor with a knife, and John DeWitt was struck in the head with the butt of a pistol in the back by a notary.Then, another large group of people rushed over and shot at the two who had been knocked down to the ground—these people were basically militiamen from The Hague, and they shot all the ammunition they brought over on the DeWitt brothers.

After the DeWitt brothers were killed at the gate of the prison, the violent rioters hung the bodies of the two brothers on the gallows, and then carried out cruel dismemberment.Even according to an eyewitness record, the mob actually ate some parts of the DeWitt brothers' corpses, which is somewhat similar to Yuan Chonghuan who was executed by Ling Chi during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty and was eaten by everyone. Very tragic.

In the end, it was the victim's family who sneaked over to collect the remaining corpses of the two when no one was around at night, and buried them hastily. Since then, it was not until many years later in modern times that the Dutch government admitted that the DeWitt brothers did not commit any acts of treason. , considering the background of the Dutch royal family, it can be seen how difficult it is to rehabilitate the two brothers.

As for the killing of the DeWitt brothers at that time, whether the Prince of Orange was involved or not is a matter of opinion.Anyway, on the day of the murder, the Prince of Orange came to The Hague himself, and some of his men spread rumors everywhere, slandering the de Witt brothers and inciting the violent emotions of the people.Moreover, after the incident, he also publicly appointed Peter, the brother of Jacob van der Grave, who had previously participated in the assassination of De Witt, to a wealthy port city in his hometown of Friesland, which seemed to be a reward. .

Of course, the above are all things that have happened in the history of later generations, but in this time and space in the 17th century, things seem to have changed a lot that shouldn't have happened: John DeWitt still went to Gwanganport Prison to pick up his brother Cornelis was released, but this time he was not alone, but accompanied by three hundred elite soldiers from the East Coast.

Facts have proved that the officers and soldiers of the No. [-] Mixed Battalion directly "shattered" history with bayonets and bullets!The mob, who were originally instigated by people with serious intentions, tried to harm the DeWitt brothers, but were beaten up by well-trained professional soldiers, leaving behind dozens of corpses and even more wounded lying on the ground moaning.In particular, many of the Hague militiamen who came with weapons received intensive care, and the casualties were extremely heavy. I don’t know that the notary who hit the speaker’s head with the butt of his gun in the back and took the lead in shooting was in history. It's not in it, and if it was, it would be interesting.

Speaker DeWitt received the news not long after the riot broke out, but he still insisted on finding his brother Cornelis before he walked out of the prison under the escort of officers and soldiers.At this time, the unilateral killing at the gate of the prison was coming to an end.

John DeWitt watched all this with a pale face, but he blamed no one, as if no one was at fault in this matter.He understands that what the East Coast people do is for their own personal safety. In today’s scene, the gallows, the guillotine, and the mob have been waiting for a long time. A terrible bad thing—the same thing was done outside Amsterdam 20 years ago by William III’s father, Frederick. When he ruled the United Provinces and met people who blocked him on the road, this guy clearly ordered the German mercenaries to kill him.Now that the east bank mercenaries protecting Speaker DeWitt fought back out of helplessness and killed some people, it doesn't seem so difficult to understand, not to mention that they didn't make the first move, which is better understood.

Of course, both Speaker DeWitt and Lan Fei, the commander of the First Mixed Battalion, knew in their hearts that today's matter is not that simple.The Prince of Orange couldn't directly go through legal procedures to kill the DeWitt brothers—he even had to hypocritically release Cornelis because the evidence was obviously insufficient—then he would definitely use other means to act, today Gewangen The mob gathered at the gate of Potter Prison was also one of his methods.

In other words, asking John DeWitt to pick up his brother Cornelis from prison was originally a trap set up by Prince William III of Orange, a trap intended to kill the two DeWitt brothers.In fact, the plan was quite perfect. The instigating crowd in the mob and the militia at the gate of the prison were all in place, ready to launch a fatal blow at any time.But who would have imagined that the soldiers on the east bank were too domineering and detonated the emotions of the mob outside the prison in advance, resulting in a conflict between the two sides with dead and wounded people, and finally ended with the mob fleeing. The original plan, Naturally, the miscarriage occurred, and the DeWitt brothers survived in a daze and fear.

"Immediately escort us out of the city and live in my village in the suburbs. In addition, please contact your country's plenipotentiary envoy Mr. Li Qing as soon as possible. Today's matter is very serious, but it is not the end of the world. I hope to discuss with him to see how we can Minimize the negative impact of today's events." John DeWitt stood in front of Lan Fei and said anxiously: "Finally, in my own name, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you. Without you today, our brothers The two of them are probably already dead. Since the Prince of Orange has gone to this point by any means, of course we can't sit still. Some things should be prepared in advance. Well, I heard that you captured a man named Vandergrave sneaky fellow?"

(End of this chapter)