Dutch Military Reforms

Dutch Military Reforms

My lords this war against the Spaniards is a calamity that will claim us if we do not mitigate it. It was started due to religious conflicts and detest for the Spanish authority. They have imposed heavy taxes on us and King Philip bears little consideration to our wellbeing.

The state general of the ruling council of Netherlands, I Ludowyk van Oranj the general of the United Netherlands army beseech thee my lords to permit a new formation of our troops to counter the Spanish . My lords the tercios are the military elites of renaissance Europe. Time and again we have endured as the Spanish soldiers obliterated our troops making a mockery of our battle tactics. It is evident that we need to improve our infantry performance if we wish to win this war. I have been observing their tactics and have come up with a battle plan that will help us achieve this.

Tercios are the infantry or combat force of the army they comprise of about 3000 soldiers divided to ten or twelve smaller companies (Art of warre, 2013). They have great leadership led by a Maestro de Campo of noble blood chosen for his superiority in battle. There was a second in command to take over duties when the need arises. There are three types of soldiers among them including: the pikesmen arranged in square formation with long spears protecting other soldiers from infantry charges. Harquebusiers use firearms and a great number of companies belonged to this group to counter their short range ability. Swordsmen placed close to pikesman for when close range combat is required.

The units do not appear to have any weaknesses and are legendary due to the weaponry and tactics that they use. Spanish commanders impose strict fire discipline and that no soldier fires without command. The procedure was for the front rank to deliver a single massed volley on command, and then to retire to the rear to reload. The second rank would then step forward, aim, fire on the order, and retire. And so on, such that the Spanish soldiers could deliver hit after hit against an advancing formation.

I endeavor to impose military reforms by founding an academy. Here our soldiers will be trained with emphasis on drill and discipline. I would prefer us to switch from the battle square formation popular to the Spaniards adopting a linear formation. The roman soldiers to conquer their adversaries mostly use the linear formation. This will help us to maximize the use of our fire power since each round fired counts to weaken our enemies. The military reforms will also entail: intelligent leadership as is the case with the Spanish soldiers. Our soldiers need to obey without questions all orders given and their loyalty should be to their unit. (Erenow, 2020).

The shortages in manpower will require us to fill our battalion units by hiring foreign mercenaries from either German, French or Scottish soldiers. I am pleased to inform you that queen Elizabeth is also willing to send some of her soldiers to help us fight this war.

We need to ensure all our soldiers are sufficiently compensated to avoid any complaints and distractions on their part. I observed that the Spanish soldiers although disciplined delays in their wages made them act out in protest. We also need to develop new transportation methods such as the river craft so we can maneuver the rivers to help capture all the Spanish forts including Rheinberg.

I am certain that you would all like to win this war, authorizing this new reforms will strengthen our soldiers ascertaining dominance in the battle fields.

References

Olaf Van Nimwegen (1609). The tactical military revolution and Dutch army operations during the era of the twelve years truce (1592–1618). The Twelve Years Slave, 13 (6). 121-151. Retrieved from https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004274921/B9789004274921-s008.xml