The War Process of the Second Anglo-Dutch War

The first stage (June1665 ~ June 65438+February)

Main entry: Battle of Los tofte

trait

The British navy has an advantage. After Britain and the Netherlands declared war, they did not immediately go into battle. Mainly because it was winter and the weather conditions were not conducive to naval battles, it was not until spring that the war was officially launched.

Battle of Los tofte

1665 On June 3rd, the British and Dutch fleets launched a naval battle in Los tofte on the east coast of Britain.

Since De Knight didn't come back from the expedition in Africa, the Dutch side was commanded by Watson Nall and Aubdin. There are about 103 warships,165,438+0 arson ships and 7 communication ships, with a total of 4,900 guns and 2 1 0,000 people.

The commander-in-chief of the British fleet is charles ii's brother, Duke York, who owns 109 warships, including 35 battleships with 50 to 90 guns, 2 armed merchant ships, 2 arson ships and 7 small ships, with a total of 4,200 guns and 22,000 people. However, the British navy is superior to the Dutch navy in terms of ship size and artillery power.

At the beginning of the war, the Netherlands was at a strong disadvantage, but the command system failed to seize the opportunity to attack actively. (It is speculated that it may be caused by uncoordinated high-level command. After the wind changed, Dutch ships attacked against the wind. Shortly after the volley, the formation began to disperse and then turned into a melee.

In the fierce battle, the Dutch flagship "Ian Denahert" was hit by an ammunition depot and exploded, killing two fleet commanders Watson Nair and Odin. Only five of the 409 people on the flagship were rescued. Later, the Dutch ship "Oranc" was captured and burned. Dutch ships fled one after another and suffered heavy losses: at least 17 warships, 3 naval generals and more than 4,000 soldiers. The British only lost two warships and more than 800 sailors. The failure of the Dutch command system and the premature loss of the flagship gave Britain a chance to win, but the long-range range of its artillery and the high tactical level of its navy could not be ignored.

After the Battle of Los tofte, the British fleet headed for northern Europe in an attempt to capture 70 Dutch merchant ships anchored in Bergen, Norway, but was repelled by the Dutch. 1665 On August 6th, De Knight returned to the Netherlands and was appointed to command the national navy. He led the Dutch fleet to Norway and escorted the merchant fleet anchored in Bergen Port back to China, among which only 10 ship was captured by the British navy because of too much wind and waves.

1665 In the second half of the year, De Knight swam across the English Channel and patrolled outside the mouth of the Thames, effectively protecting the foreign maritime trade of the Netherlands. However, Britain's strategic advantage still exists, and the Netherlands is only in a passive position that can only maintain traffic lines.

The second stage (1665 65438+February ~ 65438+September 0666)

Main items: Goodwin naval battle,

trait

The expansion of the war is at odds with the strategy. After the winter truce, the two sides resumed fighting at the turn of spring and summer, but the situation at this time has changed.

14-/kloc-The Black Death (that is, the plague), which raged in the 5th century, made a comeback and invaded Britain again in 1664- 1665. Within six months, it expanded from West End of London to the East Side. 1665 From May to September, the number of deaths in London increased rapidly from 43 to 3 1 159, an increase of 724 times! It broke out in summer and became popular after September, and the death toll increased sharply. It is said that the population of London14, about 65,438+10,000 people died in this disaster. This caused confusion in Britain.

166 1 year, 1 year, the Netherlands successively formed an anti-British alliance with France and Denmark. France and Denmark began to provide various kinds of assistance to the Netherlands. Although France did not actively participate in the war, it forced the British fleet to allocate 20 warships to deal with it, which weakened the overall strength of the British navy. As a result, Britain's strategic advantage gradually lost.

At this stage, in just a few months, the two sides launched five naval battles in a row. Unprecedented efforts, both sides have won and lost, which can be said to be a seesaw of strength.

As a result, Britain's strategic advantage gradually lost.

Four-day naval battle (June 1666+0-4)

1 June 6661day, De Knight led a fleet of 84 warships, 4,600 cannons and 22,000 officers and men to sea. It is said that it took the Netherlands 1 1 ten thousand guilders to build it. Monk (who was already the Duke of Albee Mabire at that time) led a British fleet consisting of 78 warships, 4,500 guns and 2 1000 officers and men.

Before the war, because of intelligence mistakes, Britain was convinced that the French fleet was coming to provoke, so it sent Prince Rupert and 20 warships to intercept it. Monk's forces are only two thirds, as a reserve to support Prince Rupert. But unexpectedly, the Monk fleet hit the Dutch main fleet head-on, so fierce fighting was inevitable.

On the first day of fierce fighting, the Dutch fleet not only seized the upper hand, but also gradually surrounded the Monk fleet, dealing a heavy blow to the British fleet in the headwind state. However, the continuous fighting did not keep the Dutch fleet victorious. By dusk, both sides lost several warships, which can be said to be equally divided. The British "Suiftixiuer" was captured, and the commander of the fleet, Beckley, was killed. The British ship "Henry" was seriously injured and fought hard. Iverson, commander of the Dutch advance fleet, was killed in a torrent shelling.

The next day, the British fleet pre-empted. The Dutch defender fleet tried to get the upper hand, causing confusion. However, because the British fleet was at a disadvantage in number and could not seize the fighter plane to attack the Dutch side, the two sides still did not break the deadlock.

On the third day, there were only 30 warships left in Britain, and Monk was forced to retreat to the west. The flagship of the British vanguard fleet, the Royal Prince, was surrounded by the Dutch fleet and ran aground. Admiral Ayers surrendered in autumn, and the ship was burned by the Dutch. But on this day, the war situation changed again: Prince Rupert's fleet, which was originally sent to intercept the French fleet, returned to meet the remnants of the Monk fleet because it could not find the French fleet.

On the morning of June 4, the two sides launched a decisive battle. The vanguard of the British fleet did not master the sailing speed well, leaving a gap with the main fleet and being cut by the Dutch fleet. The defenders of the British fleet made a detour for Trop Jr. (according to the story: the son of veteran Trop). De Knight led the main force to storm the center of the British fleet. The British fleet was in chaos, but it persisted in resisting. In order to destroy the British fleet, the Dutch side invested 30,000 people and 6,000 guns, but it did not achieve its goal. When night fell and the fog filled, Britain took the opportunity to quit the battle. The Dutch army also failed to pursue because of ammunition exhaustion and weather factors. The four-day naval battle ended here. Britain lost 17 ships (including three flagship ships), and 8000 officers and men were killed and captured (according to statistics, 8000 were killed and 3000 were captured), including 2 generals and 2 captains 12 killed. The Dutch side lost only six warships, with 2,500 casualties, including three generals. This battle is the largest naval battle in the Anglo-Dutch War and one of the few defeats in the history of the Royal Navy, but this four-day naval battle is not a decisive battle.

Battle of Goodwin (1666 July 1-4)

Although De Knight blocked the Thames for a period of time after the four-day sea war, Britain, with a strong industrial base, quickly repaired its fleet and reappeared in the ocean. 1 In July, Monk led 60 warships under the command of George W. Trop and about 100 warships, of which 7 1 was a battleship, and the two sides fought fiercely for two days. On the 3rd, Dutch reinforcements arrived and Monk withdrew from the battle. But on the 4th, Prince Rupert arrived with another reinforcement. Monk attacked, but was repelled by the Dutch fleet. The scale of this movement is not large. The British army lost 10 warships, killed or injured 1700 people and captured more than 2,000 people. The relative loss of the Netherlands is relatively light.

Battle of St. James' Day (1666, August 4-5)

De Knight will lead the Dutch fleet up the Thames and attack the British capital London. The British sent 90 warships and 20 arson boats to meet the attack. The Dutch side is quite strong, with about 89 warships and 20 arson boats. However, this time it was an array operation, so the advantages of accurate shooting and long range that the British side could not play in the previous melee were reflected in this battle. Shortly after the start of the war, the Dutch vanguard fleet lost three of its seven generals, and the vanguard fleet escaped. And George W. Trop suddenly went into battle to intercept the British defenders and pursued them, making the central fleet commanded by De Knight besieged by the British avant-garde fleet and the main fleet. Dennett used mobile tactics, fighting and withdrawing.

Until the morning of August 5th, Trop Jr. was still out of sight, and De Knight could only use eight warships to cover the stragglers on the shallows along the Dutch coast. Later, Trop Jr. was lucky enough to return to his own country safely, without being blocked by the cover of shallow water. In this battle, the British army won a great victory. Only/kloc-0 warships and 2-3 arson ships were lost, with less than 300 casualties (including 5 captains). The Netherlands lost 20 warships, with 7,000 casualties and 4 generals killed.

Homs bonfire (1August 8, 666)

The "Holmes bonfire" incident can hardly be classified as a naval battle, but the losses suffered by the Netherlands exceeded the total losses of the British fleet during the whole war. The story goes something like this: Holmes of England was ordered to lead a small sub-fleet to raid the Dutch island of freeland, but he accidentally discovered a large number of Dutch merchant ships hidden in it. It is said that only two small Dutch warships came to meet the British fleet with little resistance, such as moths, and all of them were burned. ) set fire to the crowded 150 Dutch merchant ships. After that, the British army looted freeland Island and left.

The third stage (September1666 ~ July 1667)

Stage characteristics

The Dutch navy gained an advantage. It has nothing to do with the strength of the fleet or the comprehensive national strength of the country. The naval battle at this stage feels more like Dennett's solo performance. Even if this statement is biased by the so-called heroic historical view, it is hard to deny the personal value to history.

After St. James' Day, although Britain and the Netherlands did not engage in large-scale naval battles, the war did not stop there. The two-year-long naval battle has left the two countries with a deficit in national strength and weakened their vitality. On September 1666, 10, a rare fire came to London. The fire burned for four days and four nights, and the city of London was destroyed by two thirds. The economic loss exceeded 8 million to100000 (calculated according to the cost of two wars with the Netherlands), so Britain was unable to fight again, from 65438+.

The Dutch desire for peace talks is not as strong as that of Britain, and the domestic revenge for the "Homs bonfire" incident is still high. In order to increase the bargaining chip, Dutch head of state Devit secretly authorized military action during the talks in Brayda. Clausewitz believes that "war is just a continuation of national politics by another means", which is also reflected here.

Although the Dutch navy lost in the battle of St. James' Day, the main force of the fleet was still alive and not fatally hit. De Knight realized the possibility of sneak attack at night through the practice of fighting near the British mainland, and used spies to obtain the tide, water level and route of the Thames and the economic information of the London military river, and also trained sailors to fight at night.

Everything is ready, except for the east wind. After being authorized by the Fuehrer, he made a bold and rare battle plan: first assemble the fleet in an emergency outside Tessel Island, then dive into the mouth of the Thames, go upstream along the Medway River, go straight to Chatham, the warship dock of the British fleet, and then sink or burn the British warships. It is called "bold" because this plan is very risky: regardless of whether there are various British defense facilities along the way, only the Thames estuary and the Medway River are covered with sandbars and shoals, and can only pass when the tide is high and the wind is favorable. A little negligence, missing the tide level or the wind direction is unfavorable and the wind is not enough, the warships may run aground, and all the warships of the British Navy may not enter the port and cannot fight.

In addition, the dependence on hardware is also one of the reasons why the British army failed to anticipate this surprise attack: between the Medway estuary and Chatham, there is a large chain of Hengjiang River with a length of 800 yards and a weight of 14.5 tons. No one expected that the Dutch fleet dared to go deep into the enemy's stomach and lead the war to the door of the British Empire. It is said that war is a gamble, so the goddess of victory is likely to patronize those who dare to make huge bets at critical moments, so the miracle in the history of world naval warfare appears.

1667, 19 In June, De Knight led the Dutch fleet (24 battleships, 20 small boats, 15 arson boats) to the mouth of the Thames. At the high tide that night, the advance fleet drifted back to the Thames and shelled all the way. It quickly occupied Hillsborough, England, and seized four or five tons of gold and a large number of materials such as wood and resin stored here. The Dutch fleet went on a rampage, looking for and destroying the found British ships, and some of the best warships were captured and ready to be taken back to the motherland as trophies. The Dutch fleet even shelled London.

On the 22nd, the Dutch fleet marched straight into Chatham Wharf. It is said that at that time, there were 18 great ships moored in Britain, each of which was over 1000 tons. After the Dutch fleet entered, the battery on the shore was silenced, and the landing troops and arsonists cleared or destroyed obstacles on the river. Before long, Britain lost six great ships. Among them, Monk's flagship "Royal Charlie" was brought back to China by the Dutch. Relying on "gentlemanly demeanor", the British people will naturally not be ashamed of such a sudden attack. A British witness wrote: "The destruction of these mighty warships is the most heartbreaking thing I have ever seen in my life. Every real Englishman will cry when he sees it. " The Dutch fleet ran for three days and finally returned safely. After that, De Knight blocked the mouth of the Thames for several months.

The raid caused a loss of nearly 200,000 pounds to Britain and brought great shame to the Royal Navy. Britain suffered this fiasco, and under the double disasters of plague and London fire, it was unable to fight any more. This sudden attack accelerated the negotiation process between Britain and the Netherlands.