[POTN] 3.15 - Who braves of Denmark's Christian, the stroke?

Beginning in late 1668, King Christian in Bergen started mobilisation throughout Norway. Despite not being directly in war, many still feared the possibility of a sudden Swedish invasion, and the preparation was largely supported by the population.

Without having to pay the heavy taxes mandated by Copenhagen anymore, coupled with the chaotic wartime, the Norwegian government managed to improve their finances, and were able to fund a small but functional army to defend against any threats.

Meanwhile, the Swedes suffered another devastating defeat in the Baltic. On 31st May, 1669, the Danish Navy, led by Niels Juel, again devastated a Swedish fleet near the island of Møn. That battle conformed Danish naval supremacy at sea during the war, and caused Stockholm to panic further, with King Gustav worried about prolonged Danish naval dominance causing the Danes to open a second front somewhere else.

Just as peace was concluded with Brandenburg, the Swedish Navy faced a large Danish fleet, again led by Admiral Niels Juel, at the Køge Bay, on 1st July, 1669. The battle was far greater in scale than the battle a month ago, potentially the largest naval engagement ever happened in the Baltic thus far. The Danes had 34 ships and close to seven thousand men, while the Swedes had 47 ships and over nine thousand men, with King Gustav ordering Admiral Henrik Horn to "go all out" to destroy the Danes.

While the Swedes had the advantage in numbers, the genius and tactical expertise of Niels Juel proved totally overwhelming for the Swedes. After two days of battle, the Swedes lost half their ships, with the Danes losing practically none. The Swedes, in total, suffered over three thousand casualties, with the remaining fleeing back to Stockholm. The Danes, in contrast, only had 100 men dead, and suffered less than 400 casualties in total.

The victory was so decisive that Swedish naval presence in the Baltic was practically wiped out entirely, barring the tiny fleet under Duke Karl's command by the coasts of Pomerania. Many Danes would soon consider this the greatest naval victory ever achieved by Denmark. Niels Juel was hailed as a national hero, with many in Denmark and Norway both believing a Swedish defeat was imminent and King Gustav would be forced to sue for peace soon.

King Gustav was utterly enraged by the defeat. Unwilling to cause a drop in morale, he did not blame the responsible admirals, and instead took responsibility for the defeat before the returning, defeated fleet. Yet, he believed it was time to finally knock Denmark out of the war. In mid July, he wrote to Duke Karl, who just returned to Stettin, and asked him to "finish Denmark off for once and for all".

Karl was already preparing for this operation.- it was evident that the warfare in Scania had no end, and he had long decided to deal to Denmark a great blow just like what the Swedes did in 1644 and 1657. Without any prior notice, Karl suddenly marched his army into Mecklenburg on 24 July, only telling the Duke of Mecklenburg afterwards, asking him to "cooperate". Mecklenburg had no means to resist, and thus Karl rapidly marched through its territory, straight towards Danish-controlled Schleswig-Holstein.

In early August, Karl's army attacked Danish fortresses in Holstein. The operation was made far smoother with the collaboration of Christian Albrecht, the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, also the younger brother of Karl's own wife, Hedwig Eleonora.

Karl's forces used the city of Kiel, under Holstein-Gottorp rule, as their operation base, and began sending more and more forces to the North to test Danish resistance.

After discovering that the Danish defense was scarce due to King Frederik's focus on the grinding Scanian front, Karl decided to launch an all-out invasion before Copenhagen could even react. From mid August on, the Swedish forces, led by Karl, swept through Danish-ruled Holstein and Schleswig in no time. The major port city of Flensburg was occupied on 29th August, and Karl forced the occupied subjects to swear loyalty directly to the Swedish crown so to break their morale.

For loyal Danish subjects in the countryside, Karl did not uphold military discipline because they were fellow Lutherans. Crimes were widespread, and Karl often looted Danes in the Schleswig countryside to fund the operation and pay the mercenaries in his army.

In early September, Karl pushed into Jutland, facing little resistance. The Danes, still fighting thr Swedes in the bloody war in Scania, was simply unable to mobilise enough men to fight against Karl's invasion in time.

King Frederik was still celebrating the naval victory when he was told of the fall of Schleswig and Holstein and the invasion of Jutland. He immediately ordered mobilisation, trying to organise a force able to halt Karl's advances. After all, Frederik still remembered the horror in 1658, when Karl crossed the frozen Belt and besieged Copenhagen, leading to the humiliating peace that he had to sign. Nonetheless, if he pulled out of Scania, all previous gains would be wiped out, and Frederik was unwilling to give up the possibility of recovering Scania.

The city of Aarhus was captured by Karl in late September. By that point, Frederik had successfully conscripted an inexperienced army, and sent it to defend to port city of Aalborg, seeking to keep a Danish foothold on Jutland, so to prevent the Swedes from crossing the Belt. Karl, recognising the lack of Swedish naval protection in the Belt, did not wish to cross the straits to threaten Copenhagen yet. Instead, he sought to occupy all Jutland, and to put pressure on Denmark, in an attempt to force King Frederik to pull out from Scania and defend the capital.

The newly assembled Danish army crossed the Belt and landed on Aalborg in early October, to defend the city in principle. Yet, the lack of supply soon became apparent - this army was practically entirely untrained, lacked resources, with some resorting to violent behaviours against local Danes for food and money. With such poor discipline, Karl knew the army stood no chance to his professional force. He thus slowed down the offensive and allowed conflicts to break out between Frederik's army and local civilians for weeks, before finally marching north in late October to defeat the Danes.

On 3rd November, 1669, the Danes and Swedes fought outside Aalborg. Despite the Danish army being marginally larger, it was extremely ill-supplied, with many supposed musketeers not even having functional muskets. That, coupled with the poor discipline and morale of the Danes, caused them to collapse almost instantly to the Swedes. Karl managed to occupy Aalborg with few casualties, and would soon move on to occupy all of Jutland in a couple of weeks.

The massive Swedish victories brought much worry not only to Copenhagen, but also to Bergen as well. Everyone knew Karl was a commander known for his aggressive streak, and the fact that Norway was situated right north of now-occupied Jutland worried many in the Storting a lot. Many Norwegians also believed that, while King Frederik certainly had no good will to the nation, the country of Denmark had always been a friend and ally to Norway, and they, as Norwegians, must not watch Denmark fall while Norway possessed the ability to change the dynamics of the war.

On 19th November, Karl sent several military ships to the north to test Norwegian defenses. A skirmish would occur at the season outside the fjords of Christiania two days later, with several Norwegian civilian ships sunk by the Swedes. That evidently caused the Storting to panic, with many believing the incident was a warning that Karl's army was planning an invasion of Norway. Thus, many nobles began pressuring King Christian to intervene, believing if Denmarks fell, Norway would be Stockholm's next prey.

Heavy debates in the Storting followed, with many urging for a declaration of war against Sweden. Some believed that, as winter approached, Karl could look the repeat the March on the Belt again, and a renewed Swedish conquest of Copenhagen could lead to a total Swedish annexation of Denmark. While Christian didn't truly believe Stockholm would be able to annex all Denmark, the continued Swedish victory in the south did worry him. If Frederik was forced to sue for another humiliating peace, Denmark could very well lose the capability to defend against any further Swedish aggression.

In that scenario, Denmark could, in the long run, be forced into a puppet state of Stockholm, which would leave Norway as the sole remaining target in Scandinavia for Sweden. With Sweden promoting expansionism for so long, there was absolutely no guarantee that a recovered Sweden after a few years would not invade Norway to annex it permanently.

It was in early December that Christian announced an operation to the Storting "to ensure stability in Scandinavia". While he did not specify details, it was assumed that the operation was about assisting Denmark in the possible defense of Copenhagen. Christian then communicated with the Danish navy, signaling Norwegian's willingness to send a reinforcement force, led by him personally. The Danish Navy, led by Niels Juel, agreed to protect the Norwegians so to ensure they could reach Denmark safely.

Christian, nonetheless, chose to bet on the element of surprise. Without a declaration of war, Christian led eight thousand Norwegian elite forces to land suddenly on rural northern Jutland on 22nd December, 1669, without Karl's army noticing. As Karl's forces were still confused, Christian led his army to aggressively engage them, leading to huge casualties for the Swedes. The battle against Karl's still messy army broke out outside the city of Randers on Christmas Day, with the Norwegians fresh and fit, just joining the war.

Karl's army thus faced their largest defeat since the beginning of the war. While their training and professionalism meant they kept order and did not entirely collapse, Karl still had to order retreat to prevent a total decimation, while allowing themselves time to regroup.

That provided Christian and his army a golden window to take advantage of the lack of Swedish occupation forces in northern Jutland, and to sail east to Copenhagen, after successfully halting and harming the Swedish momentum. The Norwegians, under Danish naval support, would gradually leave Jutland, and eventually all land on Zealand near Copenhagen in the first week of January 1670.

Copenhagen thus far was already without a sizeable defense force. Most of the available personnels there were guarding the city pre-war had long been re-deployed by Frederik to fight in Scania. Thus, when the Norwegians appeared on the horizon, many Danes were very relieved that a trustworthy army was finally there. Yet, Christian ordered the units arriving first on Zealand not to enter the city of Copenhagen, but rather camp outside it to wait for his arrival. It was said that Christian, in those days, were uncharacteristically reclusive, often drawing up plans alone or writing in his diary.

As Christian landed on Zealand on 11th January, he was cheered by the Danes on rural Zealand. The news about the "Christmas of Miracle" had spread through most of Denmark, and many saw Christian and his Norwegian army as the saviour against the looming Swedish threat. As Frederik asked them to enter the city gradually on 12th January, Christian did not respond. He instead communicated with the wall guards of Copenhagen, bribing some, preparing "to fortify the Capital against Swedish attacks".

On 18th January, just after midnight, Christian led his army to forcibly enter Copenhagen. Most guards of the city opened the city gates willingly, because of respect, fear, and sometimes bribes. For those unwilling to yield, Christian allowed his army to attack. When King Frederik was still sleeping, Christian already occupied all of Copenhagen's key buildings. Despite essentially a coup d'etat with very little casualties, Christian branded it as "peacekeeping" to confused Danish nobles, claiming that they were simply rooting out traitors in the city collaborating with the Swedes.

Most Copenhagen citizens did not even know that Norway effectively functioned as an independent nation since 1668 due to Frederik's strict wartime ban on press freedom. They saw Christian as a Danish prince returning to save their motherland, many cheering his army on. While skirmishes did happen outside the city, Christian branded them as "pro-Swedish insurgency answering to the Duke of Öland". Upon entering the city, he made sure his army behaved properly, and proclaimed himself "the saviour of this mighty nation".

King Frederik was soon woken by confused advisors. Nonetheless, even the advisors had no idea it was actually a coup d'etat going on, and simply told Frederik that "Prince Christian had led his army into the city to take over the defense". Frederik, however, even with his very ill body, knew it was not right at all. He could still remember his past grievances with Christian - and Christian's pure hatred looking at him when Christian was just a teenager back in 1643. There was absolutely no way he could march his army into Copenhagen with any good will.

Frederik immediately summoned his dozens of palace guards, and inquired the situation in the city. Yet, for the commoners in Copenhagen, it was nothing like an invasion - Christian was their well-loved war hero, especially in comparison to Frederik, who the people had long held distaste for, after the recent defeats in Jutland.

Frederik, despite his illnesses, maintained an iron fist over the populace, which severely exhausted the people especially as defeats began piling. As the Swedes didn't yet reach Zealand proper, Frederik had no chance to show heroism like he did in 1658, and thus Christian became the chief royal war hero for most Danes.

Frederik ordered for his palace guards to put up a "defense" against the "rebellion", but the guards simply found no support in their cause. In public, Christian already falsified a document signed by Frederik to hand them power to control the defense of the city, concurrent with the ongoing martial laws.

Christian claimed to the people that Frederik was too ill to continue directing the defense of the city, and thus handed the job to him, his brother. Frederik's palace was soon infiltrated by Christian's soldiers who confined Frederik to his room. In the past months, Frederik had kept mentioning the horrors Karl did to the Polish nobles in the Deluge, in order to rally them to give Denmark their maximum effort in the defense. With Christian's coup, this backfired entirely on himself, as the nobles believed Christian, with his army, was the only one able to protect them from Karl's brutality should he cross the ice again.

Another group of nobles were still bitter at Frederik about his centralisation policies and early persecution of fellow nobles. They, for obvious reasons, supported Christian immediately, and helped him purge the remaining few noble families loyal to Frederik.

The first week of Christian in charge of Copenhagen was largely bloodless, barring the initial skirmishes outside the city. Frederik's supporters mostly chose to submit to the overwhelming Norwegian forces, especially with Frederik confined and unable to give any orders, which many mistook as approval, believing in Christian's falsified documents. It was on 29th January that Christian, after settling affairs in the city and giving orders about the war in Scania, finally went to see the confined Frederik. Frederik, now ill and dying, simply looked at Christian with an almost hauntingly calm smile, as if expecting him.

"So you came. You finally won, after so many years. I suppose God is always fair, isn't he? Perhaps He dictated that, the one born without a crown shall be crowned at the end of the day."

Christian stared at him for some time... then closed the door, cutting all guards' peeks. Then he laughed, seeming almost actually happy.

"I doubt if you from 26 years ago could have expected you would die this way, huh, Frederik? Learn some respect, learn some fear. You deserve no more than disgrace."

Frederik just laughed, and said,

"You have the victory now. You have the power now. Just... harm not my wife and children. That's all I would ask for, not as your King, but as your brother. They did nothing to you. It is only on me."

"and who do you think you are to make demands of me? Of those bastards, I shall see. I do not need to explain to you even if I decide to chop their heads off."

With that, Christian marched off, leaving a staring and ill Frederik behind.

Frederik, fearing for his family's fate, spent his last days and remaining wealth bribing certain figures in Christian's army so to allow his wife and children to escape the city. It was on 4th February that the Queen, the Crown Prince, and his siblings managed to board a ship towards Lübeck and to seek refuge with different lords on the continent.

On 7th February, Christian visited Frederik one last time on his death bed. There he, by threatening to pursue his family, successfully forced him to sign a decree abolishing hereditary monarchy in Denmark, reverting it back to an elective monarchy with the elective power resting with the Rigsråd.

On 9th February, 1670, King Frederik III of Denmark and Norway finally passed away, aged 60.

Christian feigned grief in public, while praising the late King's decades-long contributions for the country. He then publicised Frederik's last decree, praising it as a wise decision to ensure Denmark would always be led by the most capable men possible.

For apparent reasons, Christian posed himself as the prime candidate as King for the Rigsråd. Yet, he faced almost unexpected hurdles - many conservatives nobles were still unwilling to elect a prince with morganatic roots as King, and gave Christian unrealistic demands trying to tell him to back off.

Christian was furious, but was unwilling to do a Cromwell-style purge during wartime, knowing it would risk a serious harm in national morale if happened. Yet, he and his army still employed different ways to bribe and threaten different members of the Rigsråd, so to force them to vote in his favour.

It was on 13th April, 1670, after long debates, that Christian was finally elected Christian V, King of Denmark, after yielding a lot and signing a pact with the Rigsråd, limiting his royal rights even more severely than the pact Frederik signed in 1648, while promising not to "prioritise Norway over Denmark".

The Rigsråd had serious doubts whether Christian would stay true to the pact after Frederik's extreme disregard and blatantly breaching the pact in 1660, but they were more concerned about the national safety under the continued Swedish offensive. Christian, now Christian V, King of Norway and Denmark, promised to remain in Denmark as long as the war dragged on, and began redirecting war efforts to contain the Swedes more effectively.