I Am Louis XIV

This article starts from the starting point, and I hope everyone can support it.

Written before the main text (the text in this paragraph is not counted in the word count of charge - modify and supplement after publication)

Because some readers mentioned in the comments that there are some questions about the Battle of Sol Bay, I originally wanted to answer them below the comments, but I thought that some readers might have the same doubts, but did not raise them, so I will answer them here together.

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1. The ship brought back by Mr. La Rochefoucauld, the Merry Duke, should indeed have three decks that can carry a hundred cannons. For the errors pointed out in the comments, I will contact the editor to unban and correct them one by one.

2. As for the problem of breech-loading guns mentioned by some readers, in fact, breech-loading guns appeared a long time ago, but there is no way to solve the problem of airtightness, so the range is not far, so although it can save time for installing shells, So for a while, the front-mounted artillery with better integrity was the mainstay, but in the 18th century, that is, around 1700, screw-type breech breech and wedge-type breech breech appeared. When the battle took place around 1670, we A little adjustment has been made here. After all, there will still be a period of transition and experimentation before it is widely used.

3. The next step is to explain why an adult cannot understand why the gunpowder should be poured from the top of the barrel. Weakened - let's put it this way, first of all, the breech gun here uses a screw breech breech, you can imagine a very long round tube with thread*female at the back, breech*male - like you Of course, before screwing it on, the shell must be fed first, then the gunpowder (packaging), and then after the breech block is screwed on, someone will take the match from the front of the breech block and above the barrel. A chisel was inserted into the hole, and the tip of the chisel crushed the top of the gunpowder pack (the gunpowder pack was under the matchlock hole), and then they put in half-grain and half-powdered black powder as the primer, and finally inserted a matchlock To start a fire.

Hmm...so, as you can see, there are about two hundred words here...

4. In addition, some adults just directly accused the author of not being accurate enough in describing the war, because it is too general, and I don’t quite understand where the mistakes are, because I have not participated in naval battles in the 17th century, so the descriptions in the book are basically Referring to physical materials and Internet materials, including movies, documentaries and pictures, plus some imagination, in a painting depicting the battle inside a ship, you can see that a cannon is erected on the deck (in the cabin), and the cannon There are ropes fixed on the body (when the battle is not in progress, to prevent the artillery from sliding around, the deck cannot withstand the impact of such a heavy metal block, after the war, it is to prevent the artillery from hitting the deck due to recoil), above the artillery , you can see the matchlock hole I mentioned earlier, but that picture probably already has a flintlock firing mechanism, but still needs to pull a rope. Because the recoil force of the artillery is huge, when the artillery fires too close, it will cause personal injury-the current artillery still has such a device.

There are about four or five topless sailors in the picture, ready to go, and a man in a full suit is observing, which is the observer I mentioned.

5. There is another adult who mentioned how solid cannonballs can lift half of the stern of a ship. This is due to the vanity aesthetics of people in that period. The stern of a warship in the 17th century has a great feature, that is There was a huge, lofty stern, richly decorated in the Baroque style--that is, from the pictures I found, it looked like the walls of a palace suite, with reliefs, piercings, and statues abounding, magnificent Gorgeous, according to the information, it is like a stern sail that cannot be stowed, and even affects the ship (the bow is easy to deflect to the wind), so it was gradually abandoned after decades...

6. Oh, I still think of a reader who questioned that naval battle ships should only attack the enemy from one side at that time, um, sorry, I didn’t describe it too clearly, yes, at the beginning of the war, both fleets would Desperately fighting for the T-head position to attack the enemy, that is to say, the ships of the same fleet will line up in a horizontal line, but after a period of fighting, the fleet that is downwind will not just be beaten so stupidly, they will also It will desperately destroy the enemy's advantage, so it is normal to intersperse and detour. Looking at the oil paintings of naval battles, except when going out or returning, the ships are interspersed with each other during the real battle. There are enemies, does it still only stubbornly use the artillery on one side? If this is the case, why arrange the guns on both sides of the hull and on the stern and bow?

However, it may be that I did not write clearly, so readers misunderstood that all the artillery of a ship was aimed at an enemy ship at that time, sorry.

Finally, I would like to reiterate that the starting point of this article is the starting point. The author works tirelessly, dares not to be perfunctory, and never dares to let down any readers. I also hope that readers can give me some support and encouragement! Nine Fish bowed here...

text:

This is the last battle of France against the Netherlands, and it is also a battle of annihilation. This is the last chance of the Dutch and the last chance of the French.

From the very beginning, Viscount Turenne didn't think that the war would end as easily as before. He was prepared, but when he encountered a desperate resistance, he still couldn't help but feel sad—Amsterdam is a city on water, Everyone knows that, looking down from the sky, the city is like a half-cobweb. The city hall, the grand square, the stock exchange, the church and the prison are like spiders entrenched in the web, surrounded by layers of man-made structures. Surrounded by waterways, the Amstel River is like a branch between the square and the inland of the Netherlands, connecting Amsterdam with the outside world, but this is not the only external channel in Amsterdam. Above it is the Ai River, the Ai River It leads westward to the North Sea and eastward to Markensee. Upward from Markensee is the Ijsselmeer. The Ijsselmeer can also be said to be the inland sea of ​​the Netherlands—the Nasu Sea, which is called a sea dam by the people of Amsterdam. Just between the River Ai and the city.

After the Viscount Turenne led his army to accept Muyden, he knew that there was a sluice connected to Lake Markon in Muyden. The city was destroyed together with the enemy, and he had to thank God—maybe the king's blessing? After all, the way they got the cities of Muiden and Vesp is too bizarre. But now that the French have acquired Muiden, another importance of Muiden has also been highlighted. Now the only channel in Amsterdam is the Ai River in the west. If the British fleet can do what Louis expected Beat Holland's Luyter like that, and Amsterdam will truly be a bird in a cage.

It is a pity that, according to the news sent back by General Estres, the coalition forces at sea can only be in a stalemate with Leuter, and it is not the coalition forces that have the upper hand, but Leuter has the upper hand-the British navy has lost its face. The courage of the Dutch, and the French, well, to be honest, they are indeed, as the Dutch say, a group of "hillies who can only swim in the bathtub", and Luyter is very cautious, always in the offshore Swimming everywhere, the Dutch fleet only has a small number of three-deck ships, and the average waterline is shallower than the coalition fleet. No matter how the coalition forces try to lure them, they will never enter the North Sea. The Allied forces far outnumbered the Dutch fleet, the last bargaining chip the Dutch had, and Luitt couldn't believe what the Netherlands would end up with if they lost it.

Viscount Turenne shook his head, leaving this little pity behind him. The roar of the artillery has become more and more intensive. Because of the special geography of Amsterdam, the French have to face a full five moats, and most of the bridges have been destroyed. The Amsterdammers dismantled them, and they used the buildings by the river as fortresses and fortifications to confront the French, but their artillery was completely incomparable to that of the enemy—Prime Minister Witte must have never imagined that when he cut down the military expenditure of the army, His targeting of the House of Orange turned out to be Holland's Achilles' heel.

"Keep the rhythm!" shouted an officer, who was in charge of an artillery team. Listen carefully, the sound of the guns is indeed rhythmic, and the rhythm is even quite beautiful. The sound was accompanied by the soldiers' shouts, not only to ensure the safety of themselves and their companions, but also to ensure the frequency required by the officer—the officer put a hand on his forehead and looked forward to observe the results of the bombardment. Suddenly, A black shadow occupied a part of his field of vision. It was an enemy artillery shell. A solid iron ball rolled and jumped from the side of the fort into the ditch. Two soldiers were knocked down by it and fell silently. The impact caused the trajectory of the iron ball to change. The officer only felt that he was grabbed from the ground by an invisible giant. He flew into the air and then fell. Before falling to the ground, he lost consciousness.

When he got out of the darkness, the officer found himself shaking up and down. He opened his eyes and could only see a blurry shadow. He was in pain all over and couldn’t move. The voice was also weak and frivolous, and the officer shouted with all his strength, "Someone replace me!" He shouted so loudly, but in fact his voice didn't come out at all, and the man still guessed the meaning from the movement of his lips of.

"The general has done that."

said the man.

Viscount Turenne did send another person to replace him when he found the officer down. The shelling continued, and more and more soldiers were transported down on stretchers. Some of them were as conscious as the officer, and could Speaking, there are still some people, such as the two soldiers who fell silently, their chests were horribly sunken, and it was obvious at a glance that there was no way out. After they were moved out of the trench, they were put aside Compared with the quietness of this tent, the tent on the other side is much noisy-it belongs to the unfortunate but also lucky survivors, in those who wear masks, robes, or aprons. , Many of the medical staff wearing turbans are wizards. The potions they concocted have given real doctors a lot of help. After all, amputations are no different from slaughtering animals at this time, and wizards' potions are effective in paralyzing and Pain relief and hemostasis are impeccable.

Captain Vauban hurried over from the other side of the battlefield, this time he didn't even set up a high platform, and invited the king to come to watch the battle, a trapped beast that still has fighting spirit is the most terrifying.

"How is it?" Viscount Turenne asked.

"We have advanced to the Carriageway Square!" Vauban shouted, "We are building a pontoon bridge!" Because the bridge built on the river before has been demolished, he and his soldiers are rebuilding the bridge, which the Dutch probably did not expect. , Captain Vauban's soldiers are better at engineering than fighting, and the width of the artificial waterway is far less than that of a real river. "We must be synchronized." Viscount Turenne said that the current situation is that they can Go forward without any scruples, but the losses of the soldiers will increase, and the king has always cherished his soldiers-the geography of Amsterdam has hindered them, but it has also given them some help. For example, There is almost no chance for soldiers to fight face to face, because the artificial river cuts the neighborhoods of Amsterdam into parts, and they only need to gradually eat away, destroying everything with artillery instead of soldiers.

Of course, this kind of tactics was also discovered by the Dutch, and those brave people who were willing to stand up to protect the people could not help but feel a little frustrated. The French shells seemed endless. One-tenth of the navy is used to enrich the strength on the road, and they don't have to be so difficult-their artillery and shells are still unloaded from ships under repair. There is no way to compare.

"How many shells do we have?" asked the captain.

"Eight." This answer made the captain grit his teeth, "We will retreat after we knock them out." But before he finished talking, a shell passed through their fortifications and landed between them. The cannonball was not round, it was cylindrical, and there were still a few small holes in the case. A young man cried out in surprise—almost subconsciously, he bent down and stretched out his hand to check it. Before it could be stopped, the cannonball exploded, and the countless projectiles hidden inside were driven by the gunpowder, turning this fortification into a hell on earth in an instant.

Viscount Turenne raised his binoculars to look at it, and sighed. This kind of shell was also inspired by the king's reward, and the craftsmen and scholars researched it. However, after testing, Viscount Turenne and others were very disappointed, because Although it is powerful (for soldiers), it is difficult to control. It may not explode, explode early or be too powerful, but the king still insisted that the craftsmen drive out a batch and brought them to Amsterdam.

Mr. Viscount was planning to use these expensive new toys to destroy the enemy's artillery positions from the very beginning. Although there were also failures, the huge lethality still made Viscount Turenne decide to support craftsmen and scholars to continue after returning to Paris. Develop this - called "pomegranate" shells.

"Pomegranates" constantly create extremely gorgeous pictures in the fortifications and fortresses of the Dutch. Those sticky or hard things make the gray-white stone walls and ground colorful, and at the same time make people who see this scene The man involuntarily held his throat to keep from vomiting. But as the follow-up soldiers came up, these twisted and mutilated remains quickly disappeared from their field of vision - replaced by a carmine-red river.

They continued to re-fortify the Dutch, set up artillery, just as the previous Mr. Captain was deeply jealous of, and more artillery shells were sent up. In the final battle, because of the king's order, let alone consumption Cannonballs, even artillery pieces, exploded due to too frequent shooting. The officers were not stingy. As time went by, the roar of the Dutch positions became less and less, and in the end it was almost equivalent to nothing. Only the French The artillery is still roaring, opening a smooth path to victory for the soldiers.

What the French can't understand is that at this point, there are still people hiding in the house and resisting. Who are they? The answer came after they captured the two waterways, "Huguenots," said Captain Vauban, and the man spat at him in silence: "Hang him and throw him into the river," said Vauban. , these Huguenots should have fled to the Netherlands during the War of Religion. As financiers, businessmen and skilled workers, they can be called ducks in water in the Netherlands. The development of the Netherlands into the world's number one financial and economic center is also inseparable from them However, what they can get in the Netherlands will be deprived of in France. They are more radical than the Huguenots in France. Not to mention, there are no hands and feet behind the black wizards of Flanders. The Dutch, these pagans were more afraid of a Catholic king, and especially a French king once again as their master.

But their resistance is ultimately like a mantis against a cart.

"Why," said a soldier, as he walked into a room, "why did they insist?" Speaking French, she gulped down the gold at once, and when they entered she was still writhing in agony, and the soldiers had to give her a blow to end her misery once and for all.

Vauban stands in front of a painting in which there is no doubt that the couple, the wife in the painting has a bulging belly, "Is there a child here?"

"No, sir," replied the soldier.

"That's all right," said Vauban.

————

The child of the couple in the painting is being hugged by a woman. She is crowded in front of the Amsterdam bank. She has a sad face. The roar of the artillery can be faintly heard here. Her husband is going to the bank to exchange money, and they are leaving Amsterdam. After a few minutes, her husband came back, but his hands were empty, and the woman was startled: "God," she shouted, "is the bank out of money?"

"That's not it," said her husband, although his brows were still furrowed, but he was not as worried as when he left: "The bank is full of gold, yes, they opened the warehouse, and we can exchange money as we please. I also got it, but when I thought we would have to stay outside for so long, I re-deposited the money in the bank, the bill is easier to carry, and it is safe, no one can take it away without my signature."

"But what if the French occupy this place?" the woman asked in fear. Her sister and brother-in-law just refused to leave their homeland, and only let her take their children. There are many people like this, but they leave Not a lot of people—"They can't get Amsterdam," said the man; "look at those people on the embankment, and those people at the locks, the French may get in here, but they can't get out unless they It can turn into a fish," he licked his lips, "but we should go."

"where are we going?"

"Now there is only a boat to the Cape of Good Hope," said the man.

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The Marquis of Loise shook his head. Although he didn't think the terms of the peace treaty proposed by these Dutch parliamentarians would be of any use other than making the king laugh, as a subject, he couldn't overstep at will, especially in such a major event. On the morning, he stood up and took this document with him to the king.

About an hour later, when he came back, the expressions of the Dutch parliamentarians suddenly became ugly-because if the French king intends to negotiate with them, then there will be more time. The Marquis of Loise only said one sentence: "Your Majesty Let me tell you," he looked around, "that my Viscount Turenne is in Amsterdam."

Some of the envoys were pale, but the Marquis of Loise ignored them. He returned the documents to the Dutch envoy, nodded slightly, and left.

The leader of the envoy opened the document and read it again. At this moment, they also knew very well that the King of France would never withdraw his troops without sufficient benefits. Therefore, in the terms, they not only agreed to compensate the French military expenses of 10 million blue shields, but also They are willing to open all ports to French ships, and are willing to form an alliance with France to fight against Britain and Spain. They have also discussed, if the French king is too greedy, where is their bottom line? The final conclusion is that they can give up part of the colonies in America, or share the Spice Islands, but now it seems that they don't know much about this king. This is not greed, but cruelty and viciousness. Give them a little chance, a little hope.

"In that case..." the leader of the envoy said gloomyly, "Let's deal with it as we agreed before."

————

The battle in Amsterdam has been going on from morning to dusk. Firstly, the Huguenots are really tenacious. Secondly, Viscount Turenne cherishes the soldiers enough. In fact, even without the king's order, he would not use them. This is not to say how benevolent this general is, but it is true that this is a war against the Netherlands, but will the anti-French alliance that has been formed be just because they have captured Amsterdam? Is it worthless to let my previous preparations go to waste? It is very likely that they will have to fight a few more vicious battles before they can fully retain the fruits of their victory.

"See," he said to Vauban.

"I saw it," said Vauban, and what they saw was a city hall brightly lit, and the soldiers saw it too, and after the last shot had died away, and without knowing where to start, the French let out a loud cheer, Then there were two more voices, three voices, many voices, and finally these voices came together, "Long live the King! Long live France! Long live Louis XIV!", They rushed to the people in the center of Amsterdam like a tide, As if to engulf them together with the darkness.

A member of the Werther family stood on the pier, with tight lips and frowned eyebrows: "These French..."

"Let them be proud for a while, the sea will punish them instead of us." Another member of parliament said that he didn't seem to care about this matter, even though Amsterdam's fall was a foregone conclusion: "How much time do they have?"

Senator Witt glanced at him: "Who told you to move all the gold and silver?"

"Or else, leave it to the French?" said the other.

"But we're going to New Amsterdam," Councilman Witt said. "Only if we go to New Amsterdam, so how do those people exchange their tickets?"

The congressman seemed to be laughing, but fortunately they were all in the dark, "If they can come to Amsterdam, of course we will exchange them in full, but if they can't, we can't do anything about it—sir, what do you mean by looking at me like that? It was a decision jointly made by the General Assembly, didn't you raise your hand to express your approval?" Congressman Witte remained silent.

"This is also a helpless move," the member continued: "We need a lot of money to establish a provisional government in New Amsterdam. If they take away all the precious metals, how can we convince those merchants and envoys? They are all Dutch People, presumably would be willing to give up some trivial personal interests for the Netherlands."

"Insignificant?" said Senator Witt. "It's their life's savings. Maybe they'll starve to death in the Cape of Good Hope, or in Batavia."

"That's not our fault." The congressman opened his hands: "Look, we gave them a chance, but they didn't cherish it. They believed us naively, so they should pay for their mistakes."

"That's because you gave them the promise of incomparable beauty." Promised triple the interest, and a precious franchise.

"That's because they are too greedy, sir. Every Dutchman should know that an oral agreement is just a piece of paper without any legal effect. Only a contract in black and white is the most real," the congressman raised his eyebrows. "But in New Amsterdam, the contract is not the most powerful document, the most powerful are guns, artillery and ships,"

Senator Werther said nothing more until he boarded the ship bound for New Amsterdam, not the Cape of Good Hope or Batavia.

This three-deck ship has no ballast stones, its ballast stones are all gold and silver, cold, but extremely eager, the sea breeze blows over the face of Senator Witt, which is five or six times the same as John De Witt A smile finally appeared on the very similar face, especially since he had seen the flames spreading from the city hall to the embankment and sluice.

"Look," said Senator Witter, "that's what they get when they leave you, Uncle."

—————

On the dikes and locks, there is not a single dignitary who has ever been in and out of the city hall, and there are only one or two merchants among them. The rest are craftsmen, sailors, and retired soldiers. Small boats were prepared, but once the dikes and sluices were opened, the raging seawater would not listen to human control—no one knew how many people would survive here, but they had been keeping a close eye on the City Hall Square and Weiss. Pa Street was the only passage leading to the city hall from the outside world. They had to wait until they saw the enemy stepping in before they could open the embankment. Otherwise, the French might still have the possibility of retreating to a higher place and escaping punishment.

Finally, in the darkness, a little light appeared. An officer held a torch and appeared on the Vespa Street with his head held high. The soldiers behind him held their muskets, suspicious and vigilant. The lantern was shaken to give the signal, and the Dutch, who had stayed behind to deliver the final blow, waited with bated breath—more soldiers poured into the squares and streets, and there should be more elsewhere. Thinking that the distance was not enough for them to retreat, the people sitting in the boat on the Ai River stood up and issued a decisive order.

As long as a dam breaks, other people will join hands and let the sea flow into the city. Two-thirds of Amsterdam's territory is three to fifteen feet below sea level. Once the sea floods in, these soldiers They are bound to die, not to mention it is still night, even Amsterdammers who are good at swimming don't know where they should go to be saved.

One of the crew was in charge of this embankment, a strong young fellow who did not at all think that he would be inescapable, and when he was on board he often played a kind of gambling game with his companions, that is, alone Toss a silver coin into the water on the pier and the other dives in to find it and he always wins - he lights the fuse and watches it hiss towards the powder kegs and his heart beats so fast , When a hand was placed on his shoulder, he thought that someone was worried that he would not be able to escape, so he came to remind him specially.

He turned his head and wanted to say thank you, but what he saw was a mouthful of white fangs.

The werewolf snapped his throat.

—————

According to the records of later generations, this is the largest event that people have witnessed werewolves attacking humans since the Church of Rome recognized the existence of werewolves in 1414. No less than a hundred people saw werewolves chasing humans and running out of the shadows. On the ground, they were torn apart alive. Among them were the Dutch and the French—some said that they saw three or four werewolves, others said that they saw at least seven or eight werewolves, and some said, This group of werewolves is as many as a group of killer whales, and they even kill people for fun, not for food, like killer whales, because they are constantly attacking humans.

Later, some people secretly fabricated that these werewolves were raised by King Louis XIV of France, because the dead were all Dutch, and those French soldiers, even though they were only an arm’s length away from the werewolf, the werewolf did not attack him. This point, of course, the French absolutely do not admit it, they think this is one of the most absurd rumors in hundreds of years, would they think that their glorious Majesty would do such a thing? To harbor and drive werewolves? Ha, why not say he also married a witch and made deals with vampires?

However, some people really looked up the information about Mrs. Louise Lavallière, because they heard that this lady was once scolded by another lover of the king, calling her a beast with a long tail, but They failed to find any clues in the portrait of the lady-like features such as the ring finger and middle finger of the same length. She even gave birth to an illegitimate child for the king. The blood of the Duke has been passed down to this day , apart from inheriting the beauty of the Sun King, there is nothing to be concerned about.

——These are not known by the current Mrs. Louise Lavallière. Her mouth is full of blood and scars—the blood comes from those innocent humans, but the scars come from her and her father Crelan In order to get the accommodation of Louis XIV, Clelain pretended to be dead and asked his daughter to lead the people to submit to the French king instead of him. He couldn't understand his daughter's willful behavior. The benevolent king has allowed their people to settle down in the Forest of Vincennes, which Charles I did not give them. Louise does not have to have a common child with the king.

Louise's heroic face is not in line with people's preferences at this time.

He persuaded Louise that when the right time came, she could step down from the position of the royal lady, go to Wansen, and choose one of her own people to be her husband.

Louise has always used silence to oppose her father, but this time, in front of her tribe, she could no longer hold back, "You are the one who is really stupid! My father!" Realistic expectations, but that was the beginning, father! But after so long, I have been by his side, can’t I still see what kind of person Louis is?! Wan Sen doesn’t have to be a werewolf, no Nowhere is it possible for a werewolf! On the contrary, a werewolf has nothing to cherish about a king—I think you know, think about how Charles I and his son treated us!"

"Louis XIV was different," Clelain argued. "He was a benevolent man."

"It's true for his subjects," Louise said, "but it's not necessarily true for us, even compared to those Bohemian witches... Yes, we may be able to stay in Vincennes, but if it's just out at the mercy of the King—how fragile is the false semblance?"

"Louise!"

"He never touched me," Louise said, "no, I could see it in his eyes, he had yuwang, but he kept himself in check without even having me out of his sight, and He's in the same bed — a guy like that, how much weight do you think we can have on his scale when he thinks he's making a decision?"

"I can……"

"This is the most fortunate thing, father," Louise interrupted her father calmly: "Louis is a king, but he is also a just ruler. Any rewards from him can be exchanged for meritorious service. Yes, if we obey the king's order, it is tantamount to exposing the inner world to the people of the outer world. We violate the law, and we will never be able to return to the inner world, but do you think we should really go back? ?You went back, and the result was that the wizards of Serbia traded them as goods to the wizards of Gajola Island. If it weren’t for Louis, you would have died——werewolves are tools in the eyes of the king, but in the eyes of people in the other world Here, animals and sacrifices, or experimental materials, compared to, I prefer to choose the former."

"I know you have your supporters," Louise continued, "and I have my supporters too, Father, I don't want to see unnecessary self-depletion in the clan, so let's follow the tradition—I To challenge you, leader!"

"As you wish," Crellan said.

—————

Louise closed her eyes. The battle between her and Cleland ended sooner than she imagined. The old and seriously injured gray wolf was quickly pinned down by the strong and young silver wolf, and Louise bit her Cleland's throat, then let go, "Come on, Father," Louise said, "I won't kill you."

Cleland left without a word.

The obedience of the wolves to their new leader gave her a promise from the king that men could not find hidden scourges in the dark, but werewolf eyes and noses could.

The giant silver wolf raised its head and let out a long howl towards the full moon. All the wolves echoed. With a longer and longer howl, the silver wolf jumped down the embankment and ran towards the palace where the king was.

————

Louis had heard the howling of the wolves, stood up, and opened the patio door.

The moonlight shone on him, and he watched the giant wolf running towards him like a wave of water, leaping onto the ten-foot terrace with a light leap, Louise grew taller than the first time in these few years When we met, it was even bigger, and it seemed that one mouth could swallow the king whole. The abundant fur made her look like a snow mound. She gasped softly, and a thick bloody smell rushed to her face: "You Victory," she said: "Your flag has been hoisted in front of Amsterdam City Hall."

"How wonderful," said Louie, "that you have brought me this good news."

"I'm here to ask you to fulfill your promise." Louise said, and then, as if the giant wolf had never appeared, in front of the king was only a young woman covered with a layer of moonlight.

"Do I repel you?" she asked boldly.

"No," Louie said, "it's not like I don't have other options."

Louise's eyes lit up, and she leapt forward, knocking the king down.