[POTN] 2.10 - War of the Three Powers

On the last day of 1655, Grand Hetman Janusz Radziwiłł passed away at just 43 in a small Lithuanian town his supporters gathered in. His constant pleas for an alliance with Sweden ultimately came to nothing, with Sweden still occupying a quarter of Lithuania, and Russia the remaining parts.

He was succeeded by his cousin, Bogusław Radziwiłł, 35, as Grand Hetman. Bogusław, wary of the possibility of a Russo-Swedish war, quietly moved towards the south with his supporters, towards Galicia, the stronghold of the remaining royal power.

During this time, however, King Jan II had launched some minor but successful counter-offensives against the Swedes near Galicia, taking advantage of the rugged landscape and the winter cold. Still, Gustav was unwilling to engage the Poles, and ordered to fortify the existing frontlines instead. Amidst the increasing tension with the Russians on the frontlines, Gustav also ordered the mobilisation of the famed Finnish cavalry, to be positioned on the Russo-Swedish border, ready for any confrontations. Russia, having occupied vast lands of the Commonwealth, sealed a temporary truce with the Lithuanians in late 1655, and sought to conclude a peace treaty with the Commonwealth to ensure focus in any conflicts against Sweden.

As Sweden failed to subdue the Polish King, both Stockholm and Berlin became very reluctant for a peace between Russia and the Commonwealth to be concluded, as it would inevitably lead to the Commonwealth focusing on retaking territories from Swedish occupation. The Swedish government spent much time trying to stop such peace from happening, but Tsar Alexei was also increasingly in favour of a war against Sweden, as he deemed the weak Commonwealth far less of a threat than the victorious Sweden. Meanwhile, the Poles were also gaining ground in northern Galicia. Prince Karl offered to lead an army to defeat the Poles for once and for all, but Gustav was more wary of the Russian threat building in the east.

By March, the Swedes had lost their momentum in Poland. It became obvious that Sweden could not hold on their occupied territories forever, and the Poles could wage a counter-offensive anytime.

On 13th March, Gustav issued a decree in Warsaw, authorising the "complete decimation" of "all Polish population, institutions, resources, settlements, and potential hazardous objects" in Masovia and Greater Poland, in order to prevent giving the Polish King any advantage even in the event of him retaking the regions. Countless Polish towns and villages were set to fire in the following months, not only as the implementation of the scorched earth policies, but also aimed to break the morale of the Poles. Hundreds of thousands were starved to death, with even more dying due to the plagues spreading through the damaged cities by the mercenaries.

Almost every single occupied Polish settlement was looted to the ground, with tonnes of Polish gold, treasures, and artifacts shipped back to mainland Sweden every single day from the ports of Stettin, Königsberg, and sometimes Riga. In May, Gustav and Henrietta finally left Warsaw with several thousand men after months of occupation, and Prince Karl and Wittenberg were put in charge of the occupation armies.

Prince Karl pursued an extremely brutal ideal, mobilising every Polish man, and even many women, in the occupied regions, in order to assemble enough manpower for his desired offensive into Galicia. Hundreds of thousands of Poles were mobilised into Karl's army through the following year, many dying before any combat in the terrible conditions of the rough barracks made for these forces enlists. Karl, however, was never deterred, and kept planning the offensive with Wittenberg, even resorting to use the conscripted Poles as cannon fodders in case of a stalemate.

Gustav, after entering Stockholm with Henrietta in a victory parade, left Stockholm with his troops again after spending a few days with Kristina and Henrietta. He headed to the Karelian border with the Russian, where the Finnish cavalry had already manned and fortified. Several incursions already occurred, with Russian reserve units crossing the border and launching failed attacks on Swedish fortresses. Moscow, after being notified of the defeats, sent more men to the border, apparently ready for a war.

By June, Gustav had mustered a significant force by the Livonian border, mostly elite Finnish and Karelian cavalry forces. However, by that point, Gustav still hoped for a peace, and only wished to threaten Russia into a settlement. However, a piece of news that reached Gustav in early July changed his mind. In an incursion into Karelia by Russian forces on 30th June, 1656, involving dozens of men, was engaged by the Swedish forces under Prince Valdemar Christian, the half-brother of King Frederik III of Denmark.

A stray bullet hit Prince Valdemar in his head, and he was killed immediately. This was a great blow to Gustav's plans - he had planned to use Valdemar as a potential candidate for the Danish throne, who would be under heavy Swedish influence should he be installed. The accident sent Gustav into fury, and a sudden, unexpected invasion was launched on 7th July by Gustav's forces, totalling almost fifty thousand, into Russian territories.

By Gustav's order, the Swedish forces burnt everything in their path, decimating all Russian settlements in the way. By late July, the Swedes had laid siege to the city of Pskov, utilising brutal tactics, burning every buildings they could get their hands on, in order to starve the city. The city fell on 24th August, and the Swedes burnt the city to the ground after a round of looting. However, as Russian reinforcements were marching west, Gustav decided to retreat just a few days after entering the city.

Meanwhile, the Russians advanced in Ingria and captured the fortress of Nyen by the Baltic in July. However, they had been unable to enter Swedish Karelia, with the Finnish cavalry holding the frontline, even making slight incursions into Russian Karelia. In order to support the war effort, Gustav became more willing to concede to the Dutch, seeking to eliminate the Dutch threat in the Baltic and utilise the Swedish Navy more thoroughly against Russia. The Chancellor, Erik Oxenstierna, was made in charge to negotiate a treaty with the Dutch, seeking for a peace that both sides could accept.

Dutch diplomats were invited to Stockholm, and negotiations were made to ensure the safety of the Dutch merchants trading in the Baltic. After more than a month of negotiations, a treaty was finally signed on 1st September between the Dutch Republic and Sweden, ratified soon afterwards. Sweden promised Dutch merchants free passage to the occupied Polish port of Danzig, as well as free and safe trading and navigation in the Baltic. Sweden also granted the Dutch Republic the status of a "most favoured nation", declaring mutual friendship between the states.

While Russians achieved temporary access to the Baltic with the capture of Nyen, they were unable to capitalise on it, due to their lack of a Navy. The captured fortress was blockaded by Swedish vessels by October, stopping the Russians from entering the Baltic. Still, the Russian reinforcement, even though poorly armed and trained, retook Pskov in early September after Gustav's abandonment. Gustav's army retreated all the way to the city of Narva, on the border of Estonia and Ingria.

The Russians, numbering over thirty thousand and led by Prince Ivan Khovansky, besieged Narva in late September. They expected a few thousand Swedish defenders inside the city - but in fact, Gustav himself led over forty thousand men, mostly well-trained elite units of the Finnish cavalry or infantry that fought in Poland, along with a war fleet providing naval support from the rear.