After capturing Aalborg, Dessau immediately ordered the 9th Division and the Duke of Schleswig's army to go to Skagen, which is the northernmost point of the entire Jutland Peninsula and the last Danish city on the Jutland Peninsula.
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After leaving the 18th Infantry Regiment of the 5th Division to guard Aalborg, Dessau led the rest of the army back south. This time their destination was Fredericia. Blücher informed Dessau of Frederick.
The news that Western Asia had been captured made Dessau very happy, because it meant that Prussia had a bridgehead to attack Funen and even Zealand.
On December 20, Dessau led the allied forces to reach Fredericia. At this moment, the Prussian 3rd Division, the 5th Division and the Duke of Holstein's army gathered in Fredericia. The entire army was
The number of people reached nearly 20,000.
At the same time that the Prussian army was gathering in Fredericia, William's personal letter was also delivered to the commander of the Royal Navy's support fleet. In this letter, William reviewed the great friendship between Prussia and Britain and reiterated the British-Prussian friendship.
The alliance is the most beneficial guarantee for the entire civilized world. As an ally, William hopes that the British Royal Navy can help Prussia annihilate the main force of the Danish navy or take care of the Little Belt Strait while blocking the Kattegat Strait.
After receiving William's letter, Charlesko of the Royal Navy's support fleet shrugged his shoulders. In Charlesko's view, it was obviously impossible for the British Royal Navy to annihilate the main force of the Danish navy. Although the size of the Danish navy was not very large,
Large, but only slightly inferior to the British naval support fleet this time. If the British navy is allowed to help Prussia eliminate the main force of the Danish navy, then this support fleet will also suffer great losses, which is obviously unacceptable to Charles.
of.
If the British fleet suffered heavy losses, how would you ask Charles to face the questioning of the British Parliament after he returned home? The fleet that the British paid for was not used to help Prussia fight, even if Prussia was an ally of Britain, and Charles
Before coming to Kattegat, I had received secret instructions from King George IV.
Broadly speaking, although Britain and Prussia are in an alliance, an overly powerful Prussia is obviously not in the interests of Britain. You must know that the British king also has a title on his head, that is, the Elector of Hanover.
Hanover is located not far from Prussia. The King of England obviously wants his territory to be threatened by the Prussians at any time, so he can help, but there is no need to think about annihilating the main force of the Danish navy.
In fact, William also knew that the British would not help Prussia annihilate the Danish navy, so the reason why he said this was because he wanted the British to help blockade the Little Belt Strait.
As an ally, since the UK has already rejected the first proposal, it would be hard to reject the second proposal. If you refuse again, wouldn't it cause a huge rift in the alliance relationship? This is a little trick
William also knew the situation of Jutland. Under such circumstances, most of Jutland had fallen into Prussia's pocket. So could Jutland satisfy Prussia's appetite? The answer is no.
, As a result, the Prussian army must fight against the islands of Funen and Zealand.
The Danish navy is undoubtedly a threat, so William will ask the British navy to dispatch to make the Danish navy a deterrent. In this way, before attacking Zealandia, the Danish navy will not jump over the wall without being pushed to the bottom line.
After six years of construction, although the Prussian navy has not achieved leapfrog development, it has made great progress compared to six years ago. At least the navy already has one third-class ship and three four-class ships.
-class ships and eight fifth-class ships, although this scale is not comparable to the Danish Navy, let alone the Russian Navy, and even the support fleet mobilized by the British this time cannot compare, but at least six years
There were only a few frigates before, which is already a lot better.
But these are all William's pet peeves. For the time being, William is reluctant to use the Prussian Navy's possessions to go head-to-head with the Danish Navy. However, the contest between the naval forces of the two sides is inevitable, so before that, William hopes to cause the Danish Navy to cause some problems.
Losses, such as the capture of Odense.
Odense is not only the capital of Denmark on Funen Island, but also an important station of the Danish Navy. Not only that, Odense Port is also the shipping hub of the entire Denmark. Capturing Odense not only has the purpose of weakening the enemy, but also has a more important purpose.
strategic significance.
After learning that most of the Jutland Peninsula had been wiped out by Prussia, Frederick VI was horrified. He said to his government officials in disbelief:
"How did the Prussians do it? We have more than 20,000 troops deployed in Jutland. In just two months, are we in Denmark going to hand over the Jutland Peninsula to the Prussians?
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Frederick VI's panic was not unreasonable. In the Norwegian region, after initial adjustments, Denmark and Sweden had entered a strategic stalemate. Of course, the reason for the stalemate was because less than half of the Norwegian region had been captured by Sweden.
Because of this, Sweden needs time to digest these newly occupied areas.
Now, except for Copenhagen and Odense, there is no available military force in the entire Denmark. However, there are only 3,000 Danish troops in Odense. Even Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, currently has less than 6,000 troops.
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Such a force did not pose much of a threat to Prussia, but Frederick VI had no choice. After the reinforcements were sent out, the defense strength of Funen and Zealandia dropped to an extremely dangerous level.
To such an extent, such a force cannot even deter some nobles with evil intentions.
Faced with Frederick VI's concerns, the government officials below had no way to share their worries. Some officials even quietly suggested to Frederick VI that peace talks be proposed to Prussia and Sweden. However, such a suggestion would not be beneficial to Frederick VI.
For Redrick VI, it was the same whether or not this suggestion was mentioned.
At present, the Prussians and Swedes have all the advantages. Denmark will inevitably pay a huge price for such a peace negotiation, and Frederick VI believes that Sweden and Prussia will not spit out the fat they eat.
Frederick VI has asked St. Petersburg for help no less than dozens of times, but the queen has been hesitant to deal with it. Austria and Denmark have also made some attempts, but nothing about Joseph II
The Bohemian region, which had been promised by the Prussians, was enchanted.
Couldn't Joseph II see that this was just a delaying tactic by the Prussians? No, of course Joseph II could see that, but he couldn't take action now. The maintenance of the various territories of the Habsburg family had already consumed Joseph.
II spent most of his energy. Moreover, Joseph II had just learned not long ago that city-states such as Milan and Naples in Northern Italy were also planning some small actions against Austria. It was not a day since the city-states of Northern Italy wanted to get rid of the influence of the Habsburg family.
It's been two days.
Frederick VI felt a little desperate about the current situation, but the matter had to be solved. Seeing that the officials below did not respond to him for a long time, Frederick VI gritted his teeth and said:
"Right now, Denmark has reached an extremely dangerous situation. As the regent of Denmark, I cannot turn a blind eye to Denmark's current unfavorable situation. Now I am passing on my order: Immediately recruit all young and middle-aged men in Copenhagen to join the army. All nobles must submit themselves to the army."
The private armed forces contribute free of charge to the country. Of course, after the war is over, the country will make certain compensation for this!"
Frederick VI's words caused a huge stir among the officials. Everyone knew about Denmark's unfavorable situation, and now it was obvious that Frederick VI was preparing for a last-ditch effort, but the private members of all the nobles were recruited.
Arming this is simply a fatal move for the nobles!
"Your Majesty, I think the government's finances may not be able to support it!"
As the officials looked at each other in disbelief, the Danish Finance Minister had to stand up and speak for this vested interest class. After hearing the words of the Finance Minister, Frederick VI immediately shouted loudly:
"Regardless of whether the financial support can support it or not, my order must be implemented. I know your thoughts. But now Denmark has reached this point. If anyone dares to give me some thoughts that I dare not have, I will let his family come."
Buried with him!"
Frederick VI's words shocked everyone, and after seeing his determination, the finance minister had to step back.
On December 22, 1788, under the order of Dessau, nearly 10,000 people from the Third Division and the Duke of Holstein's command began to board the ship. They needed to get through Little Bell as quickly as possible.
Pass through the Strait and board the Funen Island on the opposite side.
The size of the ships required for nearly ten thousand people to cross the river is undoubtedly huge. Fortunately, Clausenz raised a lot of ships locally when he was stationed in Fredericia, and also recruited a group of ships to Mecklenburg. Now,
The Second Division was stationed in Mecklenburg. Although the Second Division did not participate in the front-line attack, in the face of Klaunz's request, the commander of the Second Division, Gary Hunter, still chose to cooperate.
Standing at the highest point of Fredericia, the scenery on the sea is clearly visible. Even the outline of Funen Island on the other side can be roughly seen. Dessau is leading a group of Prussian generals to stand in front of Frederick.
The highest point in Western Asia.
On both sides of the strait, warships flying the flag of the British Navy were cruising non-stop. Looking at the large number of British warships, the Prussian general had an idea in his mind