Qualla: Battle of the Slaak https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-slaak en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:32 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Battle of the Slaak https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-slaak Battle of the Slaak: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-slaak/ The fog rolled in off the Eastern Scheldt on the night of 12 September 1631, and ninety Spanish barges crept through it without lights, hoping to vanish. Aboard them were 5,500 men - veterans of the Eighty Years' War sent by the Infanta in Brussels to cut the Dutch Republic in two. They had been spotted hours earlier. The Zealandic admiral Marinus Hollare let them pass anyway, his fifty smaller ships hanging back in the dark. He wanted them deep in the Slaak before he closed the door.

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]]> Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/4/v/battle-of-the-slaak-wp/u14v-battle-of-the-slaak-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of the Slaak: An Empire's Last Gamble https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-slaak/ Spain's hold on the Low Countries had been slipping for half a century, and the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia knew the arithmetic. If she could seize the islands of Goeree and Overflakkee, Spanish guns would command the Volkerak strait, choke the Dutch naval base at Hellevoetslu...

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]]> Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/4/v/battle-of-the-slaak-wp/u14v-battle-of-the-slaak-an-empires-last-gamble.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of the Slaak: Through the Shallow Water https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-slaak/ Secrets do not keep in the Scheldt. Word reached the Dutch before the barges cleared Antwerp's harbor, and Vice-Admiral Marinus Hollare moved his Zealandic squadron into the Eastern Scheldt to block the route north. Finding the channel sealed, the Spanish swung south for the isla...

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]]> Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/4/v/battle-of-the-slaak-wp/u14v-battle-of-the-slaak-through-the-shallow-water.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of the Slaak: The Door Closes https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-slaak/ Hollare's nerve held. He watched ninety barges glide past in single file, men crouching to keep their silhouettes off the water, and he did not give the order. Not yet. He waited until the Spanish were fully committed inside the Slaak channel - that narrow ribbon of water between...

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]]> Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/4/v/battle-of-the-slaak-wp/u14v-battle-of-the-slaak-the-door-closes.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of the Slaak: The Prince Who Said No https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-slaak/ What happened next reveals something about the Republic at its best. The Admiralty of Amsterdam, following standard practice, recommended throwing every Spanish prisoner into the sea - the official Dutch policy for enemy combatants captured at sea, intended to deter future attemp...

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]]> Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/4/v/battle-of-the-slaak-wp/u14v-battle-of-the-slaak-the-prince-who-said-no.mp3 0:06 5 full