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In the early 17th century, the Netherlands was the country that reaped the most dividends from the Thirty Years' War in Europe. The dream of a unified German region in the Holy Roman Empire was ended, Spain was pulled down from the altar of the empire, and the Habsburgs, who had once been in power in Europe, went into decline; Denmark stole chickens and rice, lost his wife and lost his army, and has since become a third-rate country in Europe; Sweden fought for many years and occupied a huge territory, but it eventually allowed the Russian Empire to rise in the Baltics......

Although England and France also suffered a lot of benefits, the two countries also shed a lot of blood in this war, which is a kind of income from labor. On the other hand, the Netherlands, using the big stick of money to lead the countries to war, not only completely got rid of Spain, but also obtained a lot of wealth in the protracted war, and the war ruined Europe, so that the Dutch merchant ships almost dominated the entire sea, and even took the opportunity to bite off the Far East trade line of Portugal, and established a monopoly position in oriental trade for nearly a hundred years. But the Netherlands was really overfed, so that England and France, two countries that had been "fooled" by the Netherlands, gritted their teeth and hated them, and regarded them as a major problem, which eventually led to several large-scale bloodletting by Britain and France against the Netherlands in the mid-to-late 17th century.

Wednesday, December 11, 1624, Port of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

In the sails of the port of Amsterdam, countless merchant ships eager to tie their masts to their goods slowly puff in and out with snow-white sails, and the porters on the docks sweat even in winter, and the well-dressed merchants mingle with each other. It's hard to believe that it's just one or two hundred kilometers away. It is a piece of German ruins that have been broken after the flesh and blood have flown off. In contrast, the war between the Netherlands and Spain has been as intermittent as a family in recent years, and it has basically nothing to do with the word tragic.

A small flying clipper merchant ship flying the flag of the American Republic of China docked at the dock with amazing grace and speed. This is an improved Feiyun-class diplomatic liaison ship, with a displacement of 400 tons without reducing its speed, and is currently a merchant ship belonging to the "Atlantic Trading Company" on the surface. But in essence, it is an intelligence liaison ship attached to the Department of Homeland Security and the European Intelligence Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Fan Li, dressed in a suit and trench coat, was like his companion in the Kingdom of Spain, Mi Valley, stinky and stinking with a cigar in his mouth. Standing on the edge of the dock, he watched without blinking as his clipper threw a cable at the dock workers on the shore, with a faint scar on his face. I don't know when it was left behind.

The planks of the boat were released, and more than a dozen hardcover men in ordinary clothes walked ashore in turn, and the leader was Zhu Xiaoli, who had not been seen for a long time.

"It's a great honor, Mr. Fan, for this visit of your Chamber of Commerce, I believe that everyone will be satisfied!"

The owner of a shipyard in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, who was guarding Fan Li's side, was now smiling and squinting. In front of him, the big American businessman who spends a lot of money in Amsterdam will bring a big order to Amsterdam, that is, he is about to order several large ocean-going sail galen ships in the Netherlands, and now he and Fan Li are coming to meet the shipyard inspection team of American customers.

The Netherlands was the most technologically advanced shipbuilding technology in Europe in the 17th century. Relying on their well-designed and well-built ocean-going ships, they made great contributions to the domination of the seas by their own merchants, and provided a solid material foundation for the rise of the Dutch Navy. But the self-confidence of the bosses of the Dutch shipbuilding industry began to falter a few years ago, as they suddenly discovered another strangely rising maritime state of the New World.

If the pre-1623 thousand-ton short shirt-class flying clipper merchant ships were still acceptable, when the Aoguang-class large flying clipping merchant ships with a full load displacement of 2,500 tons appeared for the first time in the Azores last year. Almost the entire port was overwhelmed by European merchants, including the Dutch merchants, who had already made Anglo-Herosmo an important trading partner.

The long, behemoth-like sailboat, which was indescribably beautiful, sailed at almost as fast as "flying" in the eyes of the Dutch. Rumors about American shipbuilding began to enter the Netherlands, and the Dutch, who were good at capturing details, quickly began to observe and ponder from all sides, and the sharp, triangular clipper bow first came into the attention of the Dutch.

In England, Portugal, France and the Netherlands, it is unstoppable to secretly study and imitate this strange sailboat with a length-to-width ratio of more than 6:1. In the end, however, most of them came to the same conclusion: this slender sailing ship with a sharp triangular bow, which was widely used by the Americans, was complex and difficult to build, and its cargo capacity could not match its displacement at all, and usually could only reach one-third or even one-quarter of its full load displacement.

To achieve the same cargo capacity as a sail galen, its displacement is almost one to two times larger, which is obviously extremely uneconomical from the point of view of shipbuilding costs. In the same amount of cargo transported in the same time, the number of ships and sailors of the American flying scissors merchant ships is also one to two times more than that of the sailors, and the cost performance is extremely low.

In the application of ocean transportation for civil bulk trade, flying scissors merchant ships are indeed not a cost-effective object. Historically, flying scissor merchant ships were only used for special trade with strong timeliness, such as going to the Far East to grab the first batch of spring tea on the market, and were not suitable for the ocean transportation of bulk materials. Unable to understand the paranoid view of the Chinese American Republic that time is life, the budget-conscious Dutch shipbuilders suddenly despised this kind of behavior of having too much money to spend.

Then the navies of the European naval powers also quickly lowered the heat on this extremely fast sailing ship. There is no other reason, because this low and slender ship type simply cannot arrange two gun decks, and even one gun deck with a smaller displacement cannot do it. Naval guns can basically only be arranged on the upper deck in the open air, and the width is not enough to ensure that both sides are arranged at the same time.

Even if the cannon was forcibly assembled according to European naval standards, the unbearable yaw performance could hardly guarantee the normal conduct of naval warfare. Except perhaps the Americans were able to use their peculiar madman-like naval guns, which could not be used as a battleship at all!

It's an embarrassing time. The navies of various European countries love and hate the flying shear warships of the Chinese American Republic that are rampaging across the Atlantic. The Americans are adamantly refusing to export their advanced naval guns, and perhaps apart from being used as maritime liaison ships, it is difficult for European admirals to find a place where they can really use their clippers for military purposes.

In any case, the fact that the Americans are now going to the Netherlands to order sail galen boats shows that the Americans also know their biggest shortcomings. This time, the contract intention includes three large sailing ships with a cargo capacity of 1,000 tons, and if it falls into the hands of the Juneau shipyard, the contract value will be as high as 800,000 guilders. As long as the other party inspects the shipyard and is satisfied. The construction deposit will be obtained immediately, and the other Dutch shipbuilders are even more eager for a bigger move from the Americans.

In the "Huamei Atlantic Trading Company Commercial Pavilion" near the port of Amsterdam, Zhu Xiaoli and his party finally carried all their luggage.

One by one, the boxes were opened. Black special operations uniforms, helmets, and weapon parts were removed, and the special operators began to assemble their guns with ease.

The costly Type 23B revolver rifle and Type 22A2 sniper rifle used to be the main equipment of special combat personnel. Today, it has been installed by the regular army units.

"What are you doing?"

As soon as Fan Li, who had gone out to greet the food and drink, returned to the living room, he saw a room of soldiers, several of whom were still checking the scope of the sniper rifle.

"Just checking the equipment." Zhu Xiaoli smiled and asked his subordinates to take off their military uniforms, and put the revolver in his hand back into his pocket.

"Acclimatize to the climate first, and in a few days, I'll let you get acquainted with the terrain there." Fan Li clapped his hands, and a young man walked in outside the living room, and at first glance he was a clever master, "Elson, it's an agent sent by the Local Intelligence Department." I've been living in Amsterdam since I was a kid and I'm very familiar with it, and he's going to coordinate your specific actions this time. ”

"Mr. Captain, it is an honor to serve you!" The Dutch-born agent smiled at his clean white teeth, looking confident about carrying out such a heavy mission.

"Tell me about the situation. I'm afraid something will be missed. Fan Li nodded slightly, and took out the intelligence map that had been transmitted back from here from his pocket, "Especially the defense of the Dutch there in the past few months." ”

"Yes, Captain, Duke Frederick still lives in that manor, but the news is tight now. Denmark and England are said to intervene in the war next year, and Spain and the Empire are also stepping up their preparations, so the Dutch guards have also increased. And there were rumors that the joint council of Dutch governors might return Duke Frederick to the Empire. Elson quickly checked and compared the map, and then added the latest information to the map.

"Aren't the Netherlands also supporting Denmark, and they have been sheltering and supporting Frederick V for a long time!" Now Zhu Xiaoli didn't understand the situation again.

"The fact that the Dutch mix so well shows that they are not fools, they know how to take advantage of the situation in advance. Although the Dutch also made a lot of moves behind their backs this time, they were also preparing for the worst, after all, the war between Spain and the Netherlands had not stopped. If the war was unfavorable, the Dutch could excuse themselves and sell Frederick V, who was no longer worthless, in exchange for an understanding from the imperial side. ”

Fan Li added an explanation while Elson continued to draw the latest picture.

"One day they will be punished for their tightrope tricks......" Zhu Xiaoli, who is not too familiar with Dutch history, just smiled slightly, and began to ask Elson carefully, "How are your preparations?" ”

"It's almost time for a Danish merchant ship to be hired by us, and our men are watching over the farms around the estate. The evacuation route has been arranged to ensure that a whale can be safely transported to the boat. The Dutch-born agent actually made a joke, and it seemed that his life in China made him feel very identified.

"There is another most important arrangement." Fan Li suddenly spoke at this time, and touched his hair as he spoke, "I will visit Frederick V with a Dutch noble parliamentarian on the day of the operation, so you will find me and Frederick V in the living room at the same time as you act...... This operation, codenamed 'Windmill', hopes to make everyone dizzy. ”

"Well, I'll have you beaten up too. Hey, boys, stop what you're doing, see clearly, and treat Mr. Fan well! ”

Zhu Xiaoli's half-truth joke immediately caused a room of European special operators to laugh.

December 26, 1624. On the first day after Christmas, after nearly half a month of environmental adaptation and on-the-ground reconnaissance, Operation Windmill officially began.

Zhu Xiaoli could not participate in the action in person, but went to attend the dinner of the Dutch shipbuilders as a "representative of American businessmen", and announced to the Dutch who were full of expectations the next day that the regrettable result was that "the construction period was not very satisfactory", and the shipbuilding contract was reduced to 1.

What made Zhu Xiaoli feel a little bad before was that these days were close to the full moon. The night lights up throughout Amsterdam would make the whole operation less stealthy. But what made him feel fortunate was that just before dusk, the heavy snow that had stopped for a while came again. Make the whole night the best time to act.

At the banquet, the local governors of the Netherlands were seated, and the entire shipbuilding community in Amsterdam was delighted that the American Chamber of Commerce could look at the Dutch shipbuilding technology. What's more, Zhu Xiaoli also expressed great interest in the trade of other goods in the Netherlands.

Holding wine, Zhu Xiaoli's tall and handsome image aroused the pursuit of Dutch nobles and celebrities on the scene, and the consequence of the influx of gorgeous goods into the Netherlands was that almost every Dutch daughter used luxury goods produced in China and the United States, and was full of interest in any topic about China and the United States.

At the staggered banquet, Zhu Xiaoli tried to make himself look more relaxed, and from time to time he would secretly look at the table below, expressing his anxiety about whether the European team members who had joined the special combat team for less than two years would be able to complete the task smoothly.

Just when Zhu Xiaoli was absentmindedly entertaining a few Dutch noblewomen, far away in a riverside forest in the southern suburbs of Amsterdam, more than a dozen Chinese Army special combat soldiers wearing white cloaks took advantage of the cover of heavy snow. Quietly approached the country manor among the woods.

In the living room, which was unusually warm by the fireplace, Fan Li was chatting and laughing with a Dutch official, while the owner of the manor, Frederick V, who was essentially under house arrest, still looked listless and unlucky.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, rest assured. With the help of American merchant friends, the Danish allies of the Netherlands will surely teach those stupid Catholic diehards an unforgettable lesson in the near future! The Dutch official nodded politely and deliberately put Fan Li at the front desk.

"I'm just a businessman, and I don't understand this war in Europe. Faith is so sacred in our country, and the people of the same noble god should not hate each other so much, but on the basis of my long-standing friendship with my Dutch friends, I personally support the cause of His Excellency the Duke! ”

"But those despicable fellows have stripped me of my realm and the glorious title of Elector! God, they don't have that power! ”

Frederick V drank in frustration and was already utterly disillusioned with the future. The former Duke of the Palatinate of Germany, who is only 28 years old, now looks almost as old as a 40-year-old middle-aged man.

He knew the root cause of this war, religious conflicts and everything was a pretense, and the struggle for control of Bohemia and even the entire German region was the real goal of both the enemy and us, not to mention the French and the English who had been shouting in secret, and even the Dutch, Swedes and Danes who directly supported themselves may not really help themselves, and the fact that the German region was beaten into ruins is the best proof that Sweden and Denmark covet northern Germany.

Looking at each other, Fan Li could only shrug helplessly. For now, at least, Fan Li has been very natural, and has even chatted with Dutch officials about Shakespeare's operas.

Outside the living room, where the door was closed, there seemed to be a strange noise, and then suddenly, a few gunshots broke the silence of the snowy night.

The faces of all three people in the living room changed at the same time, especially Frederick V, who was already trembling with fright.

After a German word, the door was slammed open, and the body of a Dutch guard flew in like a scarecrow, and fell heavily in front of the three men, fainting on the living room floor, and then several European men in ordinary attire jumped in, each with a sword in his hand.

Outside the manor, a number of Dutchmen who were on guard had either had their heads shattered by sniper rifles, stabbed to death with daggers in close combat, or unfortunate enough to be sieveed by revolver rifles. In just over thirty seconds, more than twenty Dutch guards were eliminated.

Outside the manor, on the path leading to the Dutch cavalry garrison, several large carts loaded with stones had been abandoned and blocked the road. Even several cars were filled with powder kegs and allowed to detonate in the worst case.

"Your Excellency, please leave with us!" A special operator, speaking German, grabbed Frederick V's arm from the side.

"Germans? You guys are so rude! You should know that His Excellency is the safest place here! Fan Li hurriedly protected Frederick V at this time, and the Dutch officials, who had completely given up resistance on the side, suddenly cast a surprised gaze.

"Nosy guy!" With a sinister smile, the European special combat team raised the flintlock pistol in his hand and pointed it directly at Fan Li's head.

"Oh God. You can't do that! The Dutch official was also frightened at this time, and in his eyes, Fan Li's important Cheng dù was now even more expensive than Frederick V.

A gunshot rang out. The lead bullet pierced Fan Li's thigh just right but didn't hurt the leg bone, and the exploding blood hole made Fan Li let out a miserable scream, and blood splattered all over the ground. Then there was another dull knocking sound, and Fan Li's head was smashed down with the handle of the gun, and the whole person collapsed to the ground weakly.

Frederick V was thus carried out, and the Dutch officials were tied hand and foot and thrown into the drawing-room, inevitably wiped by the blood of Fan Li.

"I'm going to do it, it's really ......" Fan Li felt that the pain from the thigh wound had made his whole body spasm, especially the big bag on his head, which was simply dazzling.

In an abandoned farmhouse, more than a dozen special combat team members took off their clothes one after another, poured kerosene on them and burned them all. All the weapons were broken down into parts and reloaded into packages, and a few long swords and cold weapons were thrown into the river that had been cut through the ice, and the last group disappeared into the snow.

At the same time, under the information of the secret service team, the carriage on the road was also towed. A qiē are restored to their original state.

It wasn't until the next morning, when the Dutch guards who had come from a nearby station to change shifts, discovered that the entire manor had been bloodied. Frederick V vanished, Dutch officials were tied up overnight, and the noble American merchant was dying.

Apart from Dutch officials and American businessmen, there was not a single living mouth left at the scene, not even a single footprint was found.

Monday, December 30, 1624.

this day. Although they were not very satisfied with the construction schedule offered by the other party, the Americans still agreed to keep the contract for one ship in the sincerity of the Dutch, which made the disappointed Dutch finally feel that the efforts of the Dutch for most of the month were not in vain.

On the other hand, local Dutch officials and army commanders were scolded by the governor of the Amsterdam region of the Netherlands, Frederick V was rescued inexplicably, and American business bigwigs like Fan Li almost lost their lives, which annoyed the Dutch governor who had seen American diplomats "protecting his shortcomings" in the Azores.

As to where Frederick V was tied up by the daring German Protestant madmen, the Dutch officials could not guess. Maybe it was Germany, maybe it was Denmark, maybe it was France, maybe it was somewhere else, but no one could have imagined that it would be on some Danish merchant ship on its way to London, England.

In the hall of Huamei Atlantic Trading Company, Fan Li was lying weakly on the hospital bed, and a plainly dressed Dutch girl was cleaning his thigh wound on the side.

"Ouch! I wish Xiaoli you idiot, the person you raise is really fucking ruthless! ”

"I'll do it! A group of rabbit cubs, one day, Lao Tzu will return to China and get it all back! ”

"Be careful, it hurts!"

Fan Li was crying wolf, while the Dutch girl beside him who was treating her wounds only raised her head and smiled every time, and did not speak, but her eyes showed deep concern.

After the wound was retreated and bandaged, the Dutch girl began to wipe the cold sweat on Fan Li's head, and as the other party moved more and more gently, Fan Li finally calmed down, and then gently held the other party's small hand.

"Ah...... Hmmm......"

The Dutch girl opened her mouth, but there were no meaningful words, just simple notes, and she gestured with her hands that only Fan Li could understand.

This is the only person around Fan Li in the Netherlands for more than two years, except for agents of intelligence organizations, a Dutch mute girl, an orphan who Fan Li rescued from the refugee pile two years ago.

"I'm fine......" Fan Li slowly touched the other party's long hair, his eyes were surprisingly gentle.

"Hmm......" The Dutch girl gently put her head on Fan Li's chest, and one hand caressed the young man's face.

"Sir, the boats are gone, and there are no accidents." The door opened, and Elson stood in the door with a smile, only to close the door respectfully after saying this, without disturbing Fan Li and the mute girl snuggling up to each other.