Chapter 76: 76 Snail
Fortunately, it took less time to unload horses and people than to load them ... but no one left ships faster than the Tatars. Two hours later, Capitan set off on his way back to Gdańsk. I summoned Ivan, Ilya and Saddat.
"We use a tactic similar to the one we used in Brandenburg. Ivan and Ilya each take 1500 Cossacks and invade the area. Saddat and the Tatars stay with me ... We have to force the Danish king to give us a battle." (MC)
"How are you going to make him do it, Lord?" (Ivan)
"With fire and saber. When he finds out that his subjects are murdered and the country is burned, he will have only two options ... either battle or not leave the walls of Compenhaga. If he chooses the latter, more country will burn." (MC)
Everyone understood what I meant, but to be sure, I preferred to establish a few rules.
"Only rob gold, silver, jewelry, precious stones and money. Your horses should be fast and agile, not like a pregnant sow, so don't rob anything heavy. We need witnesses, so at least one person has to survive from every settlement or town." (MC)
A few hours later we set off towards Vejby. The attack was swift and merciless, two hours after our arrival, the entire settlement was on fire ... and only one person survived from several hundred inhabitants. Wasting no time, we continued north towards Gilleleje, once quite a large fishing village that has now lost its splendor.
For the next two weeks, me and my people terrorized the north of the island without encountering much resistance, until ... apart from Vejba and Gilleleje, village Asminderød, the newly built castle of Christian IV in Hillerød and the city of Helsingør fell to our prey. Unfortunately, the last two attacks brought heavy losses to my army, I lost over 400 Cossacks and my army shrank to 3,100 soldiers... As in the north it started to get louder and louder about the unknown, cruel army that destroys everything in its path, I decided to change the area of our operation and head south. We retreated again to Lake Arreso, and after a two-day rest we headed south. In order not to risk too much losses, we only attacked villages and small towns ... the life of each of my soldiers was now of great value. Several kilometers beyond Roskilde, my army split into three groups to cover more land and cause more damage ... The next days and weeks passed, my losses grew, and the Danish king did not come out to meet me, and apart from destroying the land, the economy and the civilian population, I have done nothing.
(Christian IV / Jacob Ulfeldt / Heinrich Holk POV)
"Your Majesty, we hear all the time about attacks by an unknown army..." (Chancellor Jacob Ulfeldt)
"I know! I hear about it every day ... Maybe it's the emperor's army? A few weeks ago they tried to get to the island by boats, maybe this time the fleet didn't keep an eye on them?" (Christian IV)
"We don't know, the witnesses say they looked like devils and they behaved like that, and that it was cavalry. They didn't even spare the temples ... if the witnesses were telling the truth, the Empire had to find a way to get around our naval blockade." (Chancellor Jacob Ulfeldt)
"No matter who they are, you better tell me how to stop them! Should I wait for support from England and Sweden or give them a battle ?! You are my ministers and commanders ..." (Christian IV)
"Your Majesty, it will look bad in the eyes of the English and Swedes that you cannot deal with the enemy on your own land ... and you do not even know anything about this enemy. They may think that you are weak and undecided. If you are weak, this means that the Kingdom of Denmark is weak." (Heinrich Holk)
"So you advise a battle?" (Christian IV)
"No, I advise you to be reasonable and show your strength." (Heinrich Holk)
(End POV)
Since the King didn't care about his subjects or the kingdom ... I had to find another way to lure him out. As always, the history and sense of humor of the Cossacks came to my aid, and more precisely the letter they sent in 1675 to Sultan Mehmed IV... I decided to use it to humiliate Christian IV ... all I had to do was edit it.
"O King, danish devil and damned devil's kith and kin, secretary to Lucifer himself. What the devil kind of knight are thou, that canst not slay a hedgehog with your naked arse? The devil shits, and your army eats. Thou shalt not, thou son of a whore, make subjects of Christian sons. We have no fear of your army; by land and by sea we will battle with thee. Fuck thy mother... and fool of all the world and underworld, an idiot before God, grandson of the Serpent, and the crick in our dick. Pig's snout, mare's arse, slaughterhouse cur, unchristened brow. Screw thine own mother!
So our army declare, you lowlife. You won't even be herding pigs for the Christians. Now we'll conclude, for we don't know the date and don't own a calendar; the moon's in the sky, the year with the Lord. The day's the same over here as it is over there; for this kiss our arse!"
The letter was handed to one of the prisoners to be delivered to Copenhagen, and I decided to gather my armies and return north... As my army now only numbered 2,900, I was forced to change tactics towards civilians, I ordered my people to stop killing them and capture them alive.
"Lord, what now?" (Ilya)
"We are going back to the lake and we will prepare for the battle there. That is why I ordered you to seize the prisoners. They will build fortifications, trenches for us and incorporate them into the army." (MC)
"They are peasants, they don't know how to fight, they will run away with the first shot." (Ilya)
"They won't run away, they won't be able to." (MC)
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