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The news from the Netherlands arrived in Madrid with the winter of 1556, the worst of which had not been seen since the unification of Spain as a single kingdom.One-third of the land of this southern European country is now covered by snow, and the cold winter is like a ferocious monster roaring in front of the gates of thousands of households.

The dignitaries hid in their luxurious mansions, enjoying their fur coats, eiderdowns and carriages with heaters. For them, the cold winter was nothing but the window grilles hanging on the window panes and the branches outside. The hanging snow meant that it was time to go skating on the ice with sleds and skates, all in all a harmless and poetic embellishment.

But for millions of their fellow citizens, these suffering people have no intention of admiring the beauty covered in silver. The beauty of nature, like most things in life, is only for the right to The powerful appreciate it, just as the boxes at the opera are reserved for those who can afford them.In the past few months, farmers throughout central Spain have been driven by the cold wind and heavy snow, and fled towards various cities. More than 6 people have poured into the capital alone, which is four times the permanent population of Madrid. many.Like wolves or black bears who are forced to go to the village for food in winter due to lack of prey, these refugees also look forward to getting the shelter, fuel and food they need in the capital of the kingdom.

Unfortunately, these people's hopes will be in vain. Although the central government in Madrid has been reported weeks before that the cold snap hits various places, these short-sighted and incompetent officials are completely unprepared for it. .So when refugees flooded into the capital, they were horrified to find that they hadn't made any reserves, whether it was food or firewood, let alone providing shelter for tens of thousands of people.

The poor occupy the streets and alleys, huddling and embracing each other, sheltering from the bitter cold wind in the arcades of the buildings on both sides of the road, and being scattered from time to time by the houseowners who hate to see these inferior people.During the day, the pale sun that occasionally pokes its head out from the leaden clouds can still sprinkle a little warmth on their bodies, and melt away the snow that has become thicker and thicker without sweeping. small portion.But when night comes, the melted snow freezes into ice again.The dots of stars in the sky, in the eyes of the homeless people, have also become lanterns in the hands of the god of death at this time, heralding their imminent death.

Whenever morning comes, one after another carriages begin to collect remains from the streets and alleys. Each heavy four-wheeled carriage is pulled by horses that sway and fall down from time to time, on the icy road. The trucks moved cautiously, each carrying dozens of stiff, livid corpses, most of them dead from the freezing cold, others from broken necks on the ice, or from fighting for food and firewood. His head was smashed with a stone.In the first few days of December, more than [-] corpses were pulled from the city every day and buried in mass graves outside the city.

In the royal castle a few blocks away, Philip II also received relevant reports, but the Spanish king was not interested in it, and only signed a few documents for the ministers below to worry about. There are more important things to care about.Since the news from the Netherlands, Philip II has been busy discussing various possible responses with his advisers, some of whom have insisted on an iron fist, but most realists have proposed various forms of détente in the Netherlands. hostility to the proposal.

In mid-December, the reluctant Philip II finally made concessions to the nobles of the Netherlands, and a compromise was sent to Brussels. However, the compromise came too late, and the The concessions made were too small: Philip II only agreed to reduce the taxation amount in the taxation decree promulgated on October 50.00 by [-]%. In preparation for the election of the Dutch Parliament, Philip made only very limited concessions.The powers of the Inquisition will be partially limited, and the death sentences they sentence must be executed with the royal assent; the three-level council will not be held, and will be replaced by ten representatives of the Netherlands and ten representatives of Spain The Spanish government will no longer directly collect taxes from the Netherlands, but this committee will tax itself according to the amount apportioned by Madrid. Madrid only guarantees that the opinion of this committee will be taken into account when setting the amount. .

Since the end of October, before Madrid could respond to the petition of the nobles of the Netherlands, the Viceroy and her advisors have begun trying to impose military control in the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands. For these, Philip II People of character, they expressed pessimism from the beginning on the prospect of a peaceful solution to the dispute between the Netherlands and Spain, and the only solution to the Netherlands issue was military means, in their view, rather than waiting here in Madrid, it was already predictable It is better to take advantage of the time of waiting for the order to take precautions before suppressing the situation until the situation is out of control.

But unfortunately, for the female governor and her advisors, the resources in their hands are really limited: the Flanders Legion stationed in the southern Netherlands is the largest military force in Spain, but this only The command of the army is firmly in the hands of Philip II, and the female governor has no right to call it. In addition, the war with the French is at its climax, and the Flanders Legion has no time to care about him. What the female governor can do The total number of military forces used does not exceed 7000, of which 2000 are stationed in the seven northern provinces where anti-Spanish sentiment is the most intense, where Spanish rule has shown signs of collapse, while the remaining 5000 are stationed in the ten southern provinces. It is near the capital Brussels.

The scarcity of resources calmed the governor, and she turned to her advisors for help.Baron de Matisse, with his usual cautious attitude, tried his best to dissuade the female governor from taking any force action, but most of the remaining advisers expressed contempt for the nobles of the Netherlands. One of the advisers, Charlie de Baron Limon, uttered the famous words to the female governor: "Don't worry, madam, they are just a bunch of beggars." It seems to them that the Dutch are just bluffing. Once the Spanish regular army really If they are dispatched, they will retreat without fighting when they see the military flag.The army only needs to carry out some punitive military operations, such as "burning a few small towns with a population between 3000 and 5000 people", and these Dutch people will calm down and quietly accept the amount allocated by His Majesty the King. any taxes on them.

Mr. de Balimont's bad attitude angered the nobles of the Netherlands. On November [-], the nobles of the Netherlands held a grand banquet with a demonstration nature at the Küllenburg Hotel in Amsterdam. At the banquet, Count Biediro spoke as a representative of the nobles, declaring that "for the cause of the Netherlands, if necessary, we are willing to become real beggars."The nobles attending the meeting announced the establishment of the "League of Nobles", and at the same time readily accepted the derogatory name "Beggar Army" given to them by the Spaniards as the unofficial title of the alliance.Their insignia is two clasped hands, with their motto written on the ribbons wrapped around them - "clothes in rags, to be loyal to the king", and members of the alliance use begging belts and bowls for begging as ornaments Wearing it on their hats and belts, this practice soon became popular throughout the Netherlands, and the streets and alleys of major cities were crowded with people with begging bags on their waists.

Realizing that the risk of war is increasing, the citizens of various towns in the Netherlands and the surrounding farmers have begun to respond to the call of the noble alliance to collect and hoard weapons and ammunition.Merchant ships sailed to England loaded with wine, cotton and various raw materials. However, what they carried on their return voyage was no longer the usual textiles and handicraft products imported from England, but whole ships of munitions. The gunpowder was kept in bottles marked "alcohol," and the guns in wicker cases marked "fine linen," and as for the heavy cannon, they did not even bother to cover them, but to cover them with a piece of coarse cloth. Cover it and put it in the bottom bin to finish.These merchant ships transporting arms are all docked in northern ports, such as Amsterdam and Utrecht, where the Spanish customs officials are hiding in the customs building and shivering, not daring to control the ships entering the port. What exactly is loaded.

According to King Edward's oral order, the Dutch could buy anything they wanted in England as long as they could afford it.The blacksmiths throughout the southern Netherlands have pushed back the original orders and concentrated on producing the high-profit orders of the Dutch people-compared to paying taxes to King Philip, the Dutch people obviously pay when buying arms Much more refreshing.The Royal Armories in London and Chatham were busy day and night, and every night the light of the molten iron and flames in the cannon foundry almost dyed the sky and the Thames red.

From the end of October to the beginning of December, the Kingdom of Britain delivered munitions worth 200 million pounds to the Netherlands, including 150 cannons alone. Due to the very tight deadline for delivery, many of the weapons were licensed by King Edward. Drawn directly from the armory of the British Army to the Netherlands.According to Cecil's estimate, these 200 million pounds of weapons are enough to arm an army of 5000 people. If you consider the weapons that have been hoarded and are being produced in the Netherlands, this number will be even higher.

The news of the militia organized by the noble alliance means that the outbreak of the war has entered the countdown.Facing the risk of the situation being completely out of control, the helpless female governor could only choose Mr. de Balimont's plan. She ordered the garrisons in various parts of the Netherlands to prohibit the locals from hoarding arms privately, and to punish the illegal British arms that had flowed into the Netherlands. To confiscate.

On December 1556, 12, Baron Don Fernandez, commander of the Spanish garrison in The Hague, received news that a large amount of ammunition had been hoarded in the town of Risvik, which was only four leagues (about 9 kilometers) from the city.The Hague is the furthest north of the cities that still have a Spanish garrison.The hostile city, chiefly inhabited by Protestants, was surrounded by a Spanish garrison of fifteen hundred.

Baron Don Fernandez received orders from the Governor-General to conduct a raid to seize the munitions, while at the same time setting fire to the town of Rithwick "to remind hot-headed beggars of the price of rebellion".Although Baron Don Fernandez felt powerless, he still decided to carry out the order from Brussels as much as possible. He decided to lead an army of 1000 people to the expedition.

If Baron Don Fernandez had known in advance that his every move was under the control of the Dutch, his conduct would have been less reckless.On the night before the Spanish army set off, an early warning signal was given with a light on the bell tower of a church in The Hague, so when the Spanish army dispatched, the villages along the way were already in full swing.

The Spanish army set off at midnight on December 12. At six o'clock in the morning, the army arrived at the village of Hornvik, less than half a league away from the town of Risvik. They were surprised to find that six people from the surrounding villages Hundreds of militiamen have built fortifications here.

Baron Don Fernandez was at the forefront of the army. He rode forward and shouted to the militia soldiers in front of him: "Scatter, you rebels! In the name of the king, I order you to disperse immediately!"

His order did not achieve the effect. The militia still held on to its front line. The situation was in danger, but neither side fired. After all, no one wanted to take the responsibility of firing the first shot.

Under normal circumstances, the big people are the protagonists of history, but sometimes the little-known little people are surrounded by the torrent of fate and play a key role intentionally or unintentionally on this never-ending stage. what happened.Perhaps out of nervousness, a Spanish soldier pulled the trigger with his twitching fingers, and a spark shot from the muzzle of the revolver in his hand, like the first lightning bolt across the black sky.After the lightning, thunder and raindrops followed, and both sides started firing at the same time. In the chaos, the orders of the officers were ignored, and the soldiers began to fight on their own. Lead bullets flew across the air. , reaping life wantonly.

After the chaotic exchange of fire at the beginning of the battle, the Spanish regulars were the first to regain discipline, and they charged, charging with their spears and swords as the Dutch militia reloaded.These temporarily armed citizens and peasants did not lose the wind when they fired muskets against the army. However, they had an instinctive fear of hand-to-hand combat and hand-to-hand combat. It took the Spanish army a quarter of an hour to successfully disperse the militia.In this brief encounter, the Spanish army lost 68 killed and 110 wounded, while the militia lost 127 killed and 276 wounded.

Dispelling the obstacles in front, the Spanish army continued to move forward, occupying the already empty town of Risvik without any effort, but to their disappointment, the residents of the town and the ammunition hidden here had already been successfully transferred .

Realizing that he had fallen into a trap, Baron Don Fernandez set fire to the town, and then led his army to retreat towards The Hague.Contrary to his expectations, those members of the militia that he always despised had already ambushed on the road back to The Hague.They did not choose to confront the Spaniards head-on, but hid behind stone walls, on top of trees and in houses, firing cold guns at the Spanish army. Nearly two hundred bodies were dropped along the way, three times as many as they had lost in the encounter.

In the next two days, the villages and towns around The Hague began to be armed. The remaining Spanish troops of about 1000 or [-] were isolated in the city of The Hague, and the residents of the city were generally hostile to them.In the eyes of most people at the time, this conflict was just a continuation of a series of conflicts that had occurred in the Netherlands recently. Even many people in high positions thought so.However, this brief conflict meant that both sides had taken a decisive step. In the following week, the remaining Spanish ruling institutions in the seven northern provinces were swept away, and all Spanish officials were expelled.More and more people have begun to realize that what is happening today will be the prelude to a long civil war, and the whole of Europe will be involved in this torrent.