Chapter 79
William Van Orange's escape was not smooth.
Instead of crossing the Rhine to Germany as expected to seek help from relatives and friends and find support from Lutheran, he had to change his identity and flee to the sea.
Besides the Spanish pursuit, the damned Duke of Guise, the defender of Catholicism in France, also led his men to block his path in order to protect his faith, trying to force him into a corner.
Like a clown in a circus, he wobbled along a tightrope, with hungry wolves in front and tigers behind. If he wanted to go south, France was a thoroughly Catholic country that never showed mercy to Protestants. With nowhere to go, William van Orange could only hope to escape to Sweden, which was even further away, and then think about how to organize an army to counterattack the Netherlands.
But misfortune, like a dark cloud, loomed over him, relentlessly pursuing him.
Shortly after William Van Orange boarded the merchant ship, it was robbed by pirates from England.
For the past year, pirates who have been granted letters of marque have been keeping a close eye on ships with connections to Spain, just like hunters following their prey. As soon as the cargo ship left the port, the pirates disguised as ordinary dockworkers had already set their sights on it. Once the merchant ship was deep in the sea, the pirates swarmed it like sharks smelling blood!
Ordinary ships loaded with chests of heavy wool could not outrun pirate ships with their pointed bows and billowing sails. The ordinary sailors on board were no match for the fierce and cruel pirates. Even though the captain desperately ordered his men to row faster and leave, and organized the sailors to fight back desperately after the pirates boarded the ship, they could not escape the pirates' clutches.
On deck, the pirates shouted to their companions, excitedly unloading chests of treasure, and called it a legitimate and justifiable act, shouting "God bless Queen Mary!"
The torches in their hands burned brightly, their light almost illuminating the deep blue-black sea. In stark contrast were the captain and sailors, who had lost all their possessions and were utterly dejected.
At that time, William Van Orange hid in a cabin at the bottom of the ship, hoping to escape unnoticed by the pirates, but unfortunately he failed and became one of the many prisoners.
The pirates didn't kill the prisoners. Instead, they kept them well-fed and cared for them in the ship's hull, planning to release them when they reached a coastal town. For wealthy families, the pirates would even demand an extra ransom. This wasn't out of mercy, but for the sake of long-term business. If they were too cruel and brutal, merchant ships would soon disappear from the waters they frequented, and the kingdom would send in its regular army to wipe them out.
William Van Orange fell ill at this time.
Perhaps it was because the black bread provided to the prisoners was too bad and the drinking water was unclean, perhaps it was because the air at the bottom of the ship was too bad, or perhaps it was because he was too worried about the situation in the Netherlands, he quickly developed a high fever, felt hot and cold, and felt nauseous.
In a daze, William Van Orange saw several pirates whispering to each other around his bed. Then, after a few shakes, his body fell heavily onto the soft sand.
He was abandoned by pirates on a deserted, remote island, like a piece of trash.
...
The cold waves crashed against the shore, and the salty salt seeped into the abrasions on my body, causing an unbearable stinging sensation. Several seagulls flew and circled in the sky. After seeing the motionless black figure on the ground, they swooped down, pecked at it a few times, and then circled away again after realizing it wasn't food.
William Van Orange, feeling groggy and extremely unwell, was awakened by the scorching sunlight. In his half-awake state, he clearly realized that he was about to approach the end of his life, so he began to pray and repent to God intermittently, and began to review the failures of his previous revolution.
At the beginning, when he led his companions, dressed like ragged beggars, to petition the female governor Margaret de Palma, he only wanted to use public opinion to pressure the King of Spain to make concessions, rather than directly overthrowing Spanish rule.
The Netherlands, though wealthy, lacked military strength and was as weak as a rich man adorned with jewels, no match for Spain. He originally intended to negotiate with Governor Margaret while secretly seeking help from England and France, who were enemies of Spain, or perhaps forming an alliance with the Protestant forces in Germany.
Of these countries, William van Orange held the most hope in Britain.
Although Mary Stuart was also a Catholic, she had a feud with Spain and therefore secretly provided him with a lot of gunpowder and muskets from last year to this year.
The Dutch uprising was something no one had anticipated.
The premature start of the revolution left William Van Orange helpless, and he could only lead his soldiers to organize guerrilla forces to ambush the Spanish at sea or in the forests.
All the most ingenious tactics are useless against overwhelming strength.
The Duke of Alba of Spain lived up to his reputation as a brave and shrewd marshal who nearly annihilated all of his soldiers, causing him to suffer a crushing defeat.
He failed...
How will the Duke of Alva, nicknamed the executioner, treat the Protestants who remain in the Netherlands...?
Will the Netherlands ever be free from oppression...?
William Van Orange licked his dry, bleeding lips, and, filled with worry and pain for his homeland, once again fell into a coma. He did not see a small boat anchored on the island, nor several British soldiers disembarking from it.
...
When William Van Orange awoke again, he was lying on British naval territory.
He received effective treatment, was given clean clothes, and had ice applied to his forehead to cool him down. After a nutritious meal, he felt much better and even had the energy to walk around the streets.
The British Navy said they treated him during a patrol.
The pirates happened to be offering a portion of their spoils to the Queen, so the island that had abandoned them was only a few nautical miles from mainland England. On a clear day, one could see the cities and harbors along the British coast and the Thames River flowing into the sea from the island.
A tall, bronze-skinned man came to see William van Orange, who was now the Earl of Boswell, the British Admiral.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Boswell said with his arms crossed, "Prince of Orange, Her Majesty the Queen has long wished to meet you and has been waiting for you at Whitehall Palace." Boswell said this somewhat casually.
William van Orange inherited a small duchy with a population of just over ten thousand after his uncle died without an heir when he was young, thus also holding the title of Prince.
William van Orange had no choice but to accept the offer. He was even more relieved that the Queen of England was interested in him and hoped that he could use his excellent oratory skills to persuade the Queen of England to find new opportunities for the Netherlands after this trip to London.
“It is my honor,” William van Orange said with a smile.
What William van Orange didn't know was that the man opposite him, who was more like a pirate than a nobleman, was also loudly praising the good fortune God had bestowed upon him.
Before leaving, Her Majesty instructed him to make sure William van Oren was brought safely to London, as Her Majesty would have great use for this Netherlandish man.
However, he made such a big mistake because of a few pirates, and lost track of the person.
Good heavens, he had to take the navy out to sea to fire on the pirate ships and then follow the clues to find William van Orange, a process that obviously wasted too much time.
It was a close call. If the treatment had been delayed by just a few hours, the guest the Queen was waiting for at Whitehall Palace would have been a corpse!
...
Outside Whitehall Palace, in the lush gardens, tents for shade have already been set up.
Queen Mary of England and Secretary of State Cecil are playing chess.
They weren't playing traditional international chess, but rather a game of Gomoku (five-in-a-row) that Mary had impulsively created. On the neat squares, only black and white circular pieces took turns fighting.
This simple game, influenced by the Queen's hobby, quickly became popular among the nobles of the English court, and even Cecil took time out of his busy schedule to learn a few tricks.
Mary dropped the black chess piece in her hand and said with a hint of regret, "I've already lost."
Cecil's white pieces have already formed a chain of four, so no matter which side she blocks, he can win on the other side.
Cecil adjusted his glasses, which were about to slip off his nose, and flattered the Queen without batting an eye, saying, "I heard that the Prince of Orange is on his way to London. Although you lost this little game, you are about to win a great victory on a bigger chessboard."
“Don’t make any promises. I may not be able to ‘convince’ the Prince of Orange…” Mary hesitated, turning the black chess piece in her hand and calculating the cards she held.
The fact that he was able to resist Spanish rule in adverse circumstances, repeatedly fought and lost, and finally single-handedly supported the Dutch Republic, making him the father of the Netherlands in the eyes of all posterity, is certainly not to be underestimated.
But now should be his most helpless moment. Apart from Britain and Sweden, William van Orange has nowhere to go, and of the two countries, only Britain has both the ability and the standing to intervene in Spain's plea for help.
Yes, only the UK remains.
Because it was she who wrote to her Uncle Giss, in the name of the Catholic faith, imploring him to guard the pass firmly and not allow William van Orange to escape to Germany and make a comeback, just like in the original history.
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