by Smith, Skye
"And you opened them?” Mick asked and pulled away from the man by scuttling backwards on his bum. "Don't you fear being struck down by lightning?” Like most uneducated Englishmen, he had grown up believing that kings and queens were descended from the gods and had god like powers and they shat sweet cakes.
Rob explained, "Charlie has agreed that if the Prince of Orange and the King of France help him to regain his throne, that he will cancel all of his peace treaties with Spain and Portugal, and will enter into the anti-Hapsburg treaty that the Dutch Republics have with France. He will declare England the enemy of Spain and Portugal."
"But England is already the enemy of Spain and Portugal,” Mick pointed out.
"The English people, yes,” Rob corrected him. "Not the royal government. Officially Charlie has been at peace with Spain and Portugal for most of his reign. Where was I, ah yes, the taking of Kingston-upon-Hull plays large in their plans. This invasion convoy is just the first or more to come. Henrietta's brother has agreed to send a larger French invasion force. Before the Frenchies sail, two things must be in place. The Dutch must promise the French fleet safe passage through the channel and all the way to the Humber; and Charlie must promise them safe anchorage in the Humber. It's bad enough that Henrietta is about to unleash a thousand blood thirsty mercenaries on our folk, but with this new treaty she will unleash ten thousand French bastards."
Daniel said nothing. There was nothing to say. Rob had said it all. He shifted some of the rush mats around so that they were three deep as a bed, and then he crawled onto it and hid under his winter cloak. As an after thought he pried off his sea boots, and then grabbed for a pillow and a blanket. Behind him he heard the other men making their beds. Hopefully they would get two uninterrupted hours of sleep before the change of the watch. He tried to think of pleasanter thoughts. Of his wives, of the simple village life that he grew up with, of the freedom he felt when on the tiller of a small ship.
"Daniel, are you still awake?” Rob asked in a hushed voice.
"Aye,” came a voice muffled by blankets.
"Before we left Chichester you told me that the biggest problem this rebellion had was that the officers could not be trusted. The men, yes, the officers no. You argued that they all seemed to be sitting on the fence waiting for the best offer. At the time I dismissed your warning as foolish. I was wrong. I've been trying to decide who I should hand this diplomatic pouch to. The obvious man would be Vice-Admiral William Batten in Newcastle, since we have to warn him of van Tromp's presence in any case. But can I trust him not to change sides? If he did that not only would the invasion land safely, but Kingston and the Humber would be lost to us, and perhaps the whole bloody war. Charlie would be very generous with Batten. A barony perhaps, or a knighthood and the rank of Lord High Admiral once the fleet is once again the king's."
"The same thought has crossed my mind,” Daniel replied softly. "Kingston is everything, but who can we trust to secure it and keep it out of Charlie's hands? The only leaders I still trust are all directors of the Providence Island Company, and they are all fully busy in the south."
"Kingston! Providence!” Rob exclaimed. "Can it be that you have heard my words but have not fathomed the meaning?” He reached into the pouch beside his sleeping mats and pulled out one of the letters and held it up. "Kingston is nothing. This scrap of paper is everything."
"And we must get it to Robert Rich, or to John Pym, or to one of the other directors of the Providence..."
"Daniel, stop talking and think. Why is the Providence Company so strongly against Charlie? Why? Because twenty years ago Charlie made peace with the Spanish and Portuguese. With one signature on a letter like this, Charlie turned the fortunes of the Providence Company upside down. No longer were they allowed to prey on Spanish ports and ships. No longer were they allowed to colonize lands claimed by the Spanish.
And why did so many wealthy men rally to the Reform Party when they rebelled against Charlie? Because they also hated the Spanish Empire, and wanted to join with the Dutch in stealing that empire away from Spain and yes, Portugal as well. Not only their sugar lands, their spice islands, their New World gold mines, but most of all their trade routes.
And why did the captains of our navy ships accept Robert Rich, the founder of the Providence Company, as their admiral, and agree to do his bidding? Why? Because our navy was created first and foremost to protect us from the Spanish. They hated that Charlie had made peace with their historic enemy. Three years ago they hated being ordered to protect the Spanish Armada from the Dutch fleet at the Downs. You know that better than anyone. You were there.
And now with one signature on this letter, Charlie has stolen the very life breath away from the rebellion. By agreeing to enter into the Dutch-French treaty, Charlie is again the enemy of Spain. The navy will desert the rebellion. The wealthy merchants of London will desert the Reform Party. Even the Providence Company may make peace with the king. The rebellion will die. Charlie will reclaim his palaces and command of the army and will forgive everyone. At least until he has a firm grip again on the kingdom, but then, one by one, he will execute as a traitor every officer who ever raised men against him. The rebellion will die first, and afterwards all the rebels."
Daniel didn't know what to say, so he said nothing for a long time. Then, "So nobody must see those papers. Nobody except maybe John Pym. But all this just proves that I am right and that Kingston is everything. If Charlie can't capture Kingston, he doesn't control the Humber. If he doesn't control the Humber, then France won't send the next invasion convoy. If France doesn't send the invasion, then there will be no treaty with France. If there is no treaty with France, then Charlie must keep his treaty with Spain. If he keeps his treaty with Spain then ..."
"Go to sleep,” Rob told him irritably. He didn't need to be told what he already knew, and especially not by an uneducated cottager from the Fens. Daniel was a good man in a fight, and knew the politics of his clan, but talking the kingdom's politics with him was always so frustrating. The fool truly believed that all wealth and privilege should be earned, not inherited. "The key is not Kingston, but our Catholic queen. Because of her, thousands of good Presbyterians may be hung. Without her there is no support from her brother, the King of France. Give me half a chance to kill Henrietta, and I will do so."
His threat was answered with snores.
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The Pistoleer - Invasion by Skye Smith Copyright 2013-15
Chapter 28 - The Invasion lands at Bridlington in February 1643
Vice-Admiral William Batten was not hard to find once they found the Tynemouth through the fog. His four ships, the Rainbow, the Expedition, the Providence, and the Greyhound were strung out to block the mouth of the River Tyne. Despite the wealth of secret information that Rob knew when he went aboard the flag ship to brief the admiral, he was very sparing in what he reported.
The number of ships and the rating of the Dutch warships escorting the convoy.
The fluyts carried a thousand mercenaries, thirty cannon, small arms for ten thousand, and two hundred kegs of gunpowder.
The convoy was going to land at Bridlington not Newcastle.
Battan was not pleased by this news. All of his own information had confirmed that the landing would be at Newcastle, which was why he was here blocking the Tyne.
For a full day he refused to believe what Rob had told him about Bridlington, but on the second day a nor'wester blew the fog away. Against a nor'wester the invasion convoy would have a hard time sailing all the way north to Newcastle, so even though he still didn't quite believe in the Bridlington landing, he did order his ships to sea. The same nor'wester would give his squadron the weather helm over the Dutch when they found the convoy, so it made the venture more palatable to him.
The crew of the Swift had used the spare day to rest and sleep and feast. They needed it after all the fast sailing they had done this week, and they enjoyed the time off, that is,
all except for Robert Blake who was frothing at the mouth at the delay. When the Swift set out at the more sedate pace of Batten's tall ships, it was almost a relief. Sedate because the ships were effortlessly ploughing ahead of the cold, but dry wind. Coming north from the Humber to Newcastle had taken the Bermuda rig twelve hours, but it would likely take this squadron twenty four hours to reach Bridlington running before this cold wind from Scotland.
What a difference in weather across four days. From the frigid nor'easter, to the sopping wet sou'wester, to the stillness of fog, and now the cold dry nor'wester. At least it was now staying above freezing and not dripping water down their necks.
This same wind gave Daniel his answer as to what to do with the crew of the Ella. He set the crew and the Ella adrift well off shore of the Tyne, with but one small scrap of sail cloth and two oars. He estimated that in this wind it would take them all day to reach the safety of any port and that port would be in the middle of nowhere to the south of Newcastle. Any warning they could send to the king's men at Bridlington would arrive there days too late to warn of Batten's approach. As an added safety precaution against such a warning, they had kept Captain Metham bound and aboard the Swift.
It was almost midnight as they approached Flamborough Head from the north. Batten had been hugging the shore in hopes that they could round the great headland and surprise the port of Bridlington. It was not to be. A Dutch brigantine was patrolling off the headland, and immediately changed courses to stay in front of them as they made their way south. Batten ordered his small squadron further out to sea so that his ships would not be trapped between van Tromp's larger, more powerful squadron and the shoreline. Once out further from the headland they could see the lights of Tromp's squadron standing off Bridlington harbour. Some of the warships had sails aloft as if they were already preparing to do battle with them.
Batten's flagship, the fifty year old galleon Rainbow, signaled to the Swift to come alongside. Once bumping against the Rainbow's hull, Batten asked to be invited aboard so he could use the Swift to scout the situation. Almost as soon as he was lowered down onto the deck in a bosun's chair, he made his way up to the small aft castle that served as the Swift's bridge, and told Rob, "Let's go and have a chat with Admiral Tromp, shall we?” He then handed Mick a navy parley flag and asked him to hoist it. "I think it better that my squadron keep their weather helm and stay well clear of Dutch guns for the time being. I hope you don't mind."
Neither Rob nor Daniel minded in the least. They both knew van Tromp personally, though Daniel had spent far more time with the man than Rob. In truth, it had been Admiral Tromp who had given the Swift to Daniel's as reward for blowing up the Dutch hellburner at the Battle of the Downs back in '39. That inferno had caused the Spanish Armada to break from their battle line and run.
As they sailed towards Tromp's flagship, the Aemelia, they scoured the port of Bridlington with their lookers to see what was happening ashore. "We are too late,” Rob spoke out in anger. "The buggers are all ashore. See, the last of the fluyts is at the pier and being unloaded while the other fluyts are already amongst the warships and they are floating high.” An empty cargo ship always floated high.
"Even if we had been here earlier it would have made no difference,” Batten pointed out. "My ships are no match for these Dutch man'o'wars so those fluyts and their cargo were always safe from us. We may have delayed the landing, but stopped it? Never."
"Bridlington is actually two towns,” Daniel told them. "The upper and the lower. The lower is the fishing port and it runs along the quays. The new town was built up on the hill around the old priory.” By new town he meant that it had been founded only 500 years ago. "That tall roof and the remains of the church tower mark the priory, or what is left of it. King Henry the Cock didn't leave much standing. The new town is built from the stones of the ruins."
"From the number of lights along the quays and the absence of lights up on the hill, I would say that the invasion force is camped at the port,” Batten pointed out. "So they must not yet have the carts that they need to move the cargo. That means the supplies also will be at the port.” He stopped speaking to them because the Swift was almost on the Aemelia and he needed to hail van Tromp. Tromp was quick to invite him aboard the Aemelia, but Batten refused, as Tromp undoubtedly expected.
"My Englisch not so goodt,” Tromp called down to them from the quarterdeck. "Daniel, that is you, yes? Please translate for us."
Since Daniel could think in both languages, his translating duties were easy enough and instantaneous. They exchanged pleasantries, and spoke of the weather until Batten finally asked the question that van Tromp was expecting. "By what right do you land an invasion army on English soil?"
"My orders were to provide an escort to ensure that this convoy of chartered Dutch bottoms and Dutch crew came to no harm."
"Harm from the English navy?” Batten asked.
"Harm from any source,” Tromp countered. "The specific order was to escort this convoy, however our navy has a standing order to protect Dutch bottoms from all comers, just as your navy has a standing order to protect English bottoms. We have not threatened any English bottoms. Are you here to threaten Dutch ones?"
Batten looked towards the fluyt at the pier. The wooden pier stretched out into water deep enough to dock a ship the size of the fluyt. She had loosed her lines and was drifting away from the pier. There was no point to making trouble for the Dutch ships, which were now empty; especially when that may mean trouble for his own ships. "I make no threats against the Dutch. I have a great respect for you, admiral, however I must ask that you leave English waters as soon as possible.” He wiped the Scotch mist from his face. The difference in heights of the two ships meant that to speak to Tromp's face, he had to face up.
Unbeknownst to Batten, Daniel had interpreted an extra phrase on the end of Batten's words, "as soon as possible and before the rest of our fleet arrives.” This gained him a sly look and a nod from Rob but erased the smirks from the faces of Tromp's officers.
"It will be a relief to be finished with this army, sir,” Tromp replied, "and get these fluyts back to Rotterdam. We shall be gone in the morning, certainly before noon, wind allowing."
While Batten was wondering what to ask next, Rob called out in Dutch. "Admiral Tromp. With two squadrons so close to each other we need to ensure that hot heads do not begin a battle by accident. Shall we agree on the usual accord. Before any ship fires upon another, they must first fire an empty gun. If that is not heeded then a ball into the water. If that is not heeded then a ball through a top sail."
"Yes, of course,” Tromp replied. "Need you ask?"
Batten was about to speak again but Rob tugged on his elbow and whispered into his ear, "Leave it as it is, William. These terms are in our favour. Do not push your luck."
Batten looked towards Daniel, who was nodding in agreement, so he said some polite fare-thee-wells to the most powerful admiral on the seven seas, while Rob had the crew loose the lines and use their oars to push the two ships apart. The Aemelia was perhaps only forty feet longer than the Swift, but in every other way she was gigantic in comparison. When she had been founded, she had been the largest ship in the Dutch Navy, and purpose built for speed and war. There were at least twenty-six gun ports on this side facing the Swift. She had two full decks of heavy guns including 36, 24, and 18 pounders, and on every other deck there were lesser guns. She was a floating fortress and crewed by men who knew their business.
The Swift sailed the long way back to the Rainbow to be close to the shore so they could inspect the pier and the quays and the building stretched out along them. Despite being the middle of the night men were everywhere working under torchlight. The word must have reached the army ashore that there were English warships off the coast, for it seemed like every man had been rousted from their beds and put to work unloading the last of the fluyts. By the number of lit windows it seemed that they had made their headquarters in the large stone bui
lding nearest the pier.
As they closed on the Rainbow the differences between the two flagships were all too apparent. The Rainbow was actually the larger of the two ships, but she was of a Spanish galleon design and decades older than the Aemelia, and after being alongside the Dutchman everything about her seemed to be ungainly and clumsy. She had been built as a fortified trading ship rather than a fast moving fortress, but through the years she had been adapted to turn her into a floating fortress. Additional cannons had been added by fitting new gun decks, but her hull would not do well under a barrage from the Dutchman for she was outgunned by the Aemelia by number of cannons and by the quality of those cannons. She was heavier than the Aemelia, yet carried less sail. She was longer than the Aemelia, yet slower and less nimble.
"Why did you cut short my discussion with the admiral?” Batten eventually asked of Rob.
"Because in the way of the Dutch, Tromp had told us the simple rule by which he will judge our actions,” Rob replied. "I did not want him to expand on that rule by adding exceptions."
"What rule?"
"That so long as we do not threaten Dutch ships or Dutch crews, that he will take no action against us. And he will keep to that rule as best he can, because the Dutch have a great respect for simple rules. That is why I asked that there be good warning before our ships fired on each other. Don't you see. He as well as gave you permission to blast the army and their supplies.. Even if he changes his mind, he will give you fair warning before he takes action to force you to stop."
"Or he is lying, hoping that I will sail my ships under his guns?” Batten asked.
"Dutchmen like Tromp don't break their promises,” Daniel told him, "however it is true that you must be wary of the loopholes they leave in what they promise. That is why Rob broke off the discussion, so that he would not add some tricky loopholes."