King of German Mercenaries

The old Sten Stuure is the ruler of Sweden and has ruled Sweden and Finland for a long time. Sweden had long been controlled by Denmark and was under the rule of the Kalmar Union. However, Sweden admits that it has always refused to accept the rule of Denmark. The independent faction headed by the old Sten Stuure has always sought to break away from the rule of the Kalmar Union, making Sweden an independent country.

To this end, the old Sten Sturley once supported the native Swedish nobleman Karl VIII as the king of Sweden, declared independence and withdrew from the Kalmar League.

However, Charles VIII died in 1470, leaving no legitimate heir. Thus, after the death of Karl VIII, Stern Stuure the Elder became regent of Sweden (including Finland), ruling Sweden until 1497.

However, there is also disunity within Sweden. Among the native Swedish nobles, many nobles have always been inclined to join the Kalmar Union and accept the joint rule of Denmark. In addition, Sweden does not currently have a legal monarch, and the old Sten Stuley is just a regent. Therefore, Sweden is not united, and it is divided into the independent faction headed by the old Sten Stuure, and the "Kalmar Union" faction that supports the Danish rule.

Originally, under the strong rule of the old Sten Stulay, the Alliance faction was at a disadvantage and could not compete with the independent faction. However, after the Danish King Hans from the Oldenburg family took the throne, he adopted a clever political trick to win over the native Swedish nobles, and secretly supported those Alliance aristocrats who opposed the old Sten Stuure, instigating them and the old Ten. Stoley confrontation. As a result, Sweden was divided internally and its strength was weakened.

In 1497, King Hans of Denmark took advantage of the serious internal division of Sweden and sent a large army to invade Sweden. Although the old Sten Stuley is very capable, the domestic alliance faction is willing to act as the leading party for the Danish army, and has repeatedly opened the city gates to welcome the progress of the Danish army. In desperation, the old Sten Stuley had to give in, officially recognized Hans as the king of Sweden, and held a coronation ceremony for him.

Originally, that's what happened. After all, the Danes are powerful, and even if old Sten Stulay wanted to be independent, but his authority was deprived, he would not be able to turn the tide.

However, it just so happened that the mighty Danish king Hans killed himself, causing Denmark to suffer serious losses, which made old Sten Stulay see the hope of Sweden's independence again.

The thing is, King Hans of Denmark, in addition to being the king of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, is also the duke of the Duchy of Schleswig and the Duchy of Holstein in the German region.

And on the seaside in the southwest of the Principality of Schleswig, near the Elbe River along the North Sea, there is an area called Ditmarschen (later Ditmarschen County), which is affected by the neighboring Hanseatic Free City of Hamburg and Lübeck. The influence of the Hanseatic Free City led to self-government, refusing to recognize the rule of the Principality of Schleswig, and planning to learn from Hamburg and Lübeck, and also set up a Hanseatic Free City.

Where would King Hans agree? Dittmarschen is a big area. Therefore, after winning the Swedish throne, Hans, complacent, decided to conquer the disobedient Dietmarschen by force.

So, on February 17, 1500, King Hans of Denmark, and his younger brother, Duke Frederick, led 4,000 elite Dutch mercenaries, 2,000 plate knights, 1,000 artillerymen and 5,000 levies... a total of 12,000 troops, The mighty wanted to kill Dittmarschen.

At the same time, in the Dittmarschen area, there are only 1,000 militiamen who are good at fighting, and 3,000 people who are auxiliary...

No matter how you look at it, King Hans of Denmark has won...

However, the commander of the Dietmarschen Resistance, Wulf Isebrand, was a very crazy and clever commander.

Woolf Esbrand knew that if they faced each other, Dietmarschen's 1,000 militiamen and 3,000 strong people would not be able to resist the attack of the Danish army.

So, he thought of a crazy way - "Flooded Seventh Army"... Well, let's use this title to describe his plan...

Dittmarschen is located on the North Sea, with the Elbe River to the south. The river here is vertical and horizontal, but the terrain is not flat, there are ups and downs. Locally, there are reservoirs that are much higher than the horizon.

In order to resist the Danish army, Woolf Esbrand decided to dig a dam and flood the Danes to drown them. To this end, he specially selected the village of Hemmingstedt downstream of the local reservoir as the battlefield.

Although the village of Hemmingstedt is located downstream of the dam, it is a highland downstream of the dam. Even if a flood occurs, the village will not be submerged. But the surrounding area is flat, and the floodwaters remain, but they cannot be stopped.

Woolf Esbrand built a defensive position on the heights of the village of Heimingstedt, and then brought 1,000 militiamen, quietly waiting for the arrival of the Danish army.

King Hans of Denmark, because he conquered the mighty Sweden, so proud. In addition, the strength of the two sides is extremely asymmetric, so Hans never felt that the Dietmarschen resistance army had any chance.

Therefore, during the march, Hans did not order the scouts to inquire about the local situation carefully. After hearing that all the Dittmarschen resistance troops were in Hemmingstedt Village, they immediately surrounded Hemmingstedt Village with an army of 12,000 troops.

However, just after the Danish army surrounded the village of Hemmingstedt, the 3,000 Dietmarschen that had been prepared for a long time arrived at the dam and used agricultural tools according to the instructions given by Woolf Esbrand. , dug a dam...

For a time, the rolling water rushed downstream, and it was menacing. The Danish army is storming the village of Hemmingstedt, and they didn't expect a flood to come...

As a result, a large number of Danish soldiers were swept away by the flood and flowed directly to the North Sea...

In this battle (Battle of Hemmingstedt), a total of 7,000 fighters in Denmark were directly drowned and 1,500 fighters were injured...

In this way, the incomparably powerful Danish army was defeated and fled by the local militia resistance army of Ditmarschen, and its vitality was severely damaged. If not for the desperate protection of his men, Hans himself would have almost drowned. And Hans's 2,000 plate armor knights, because they were wearing heavy plate armor, could not float at all when they were washed away by the flood. Many people drowned directly. Only a few people who were lucky enough not to be swept away by the flood survived. . In this era, the plate knights were an important strategic force in European countries. Most of them were drowned in this battle, which can be regarded as a serious injury to Denmark.

Seeing that Denmark's vitality was severely damaged, the former Swedish ruling old Sten Stuley immediately became active. It is clear that there is now a severe shortage of Danish officers due to the loss of a large number of plate knights. Therefore, old Sten Stuley secretly sent people to Lübeck, Hamburg, and the Teutonic countries and other countries and forces that were hostile to the Kalmar Alliance to seek help, hoping that they would help him, recruit resistance troops, and seek Swedish independence again.

The fact that Old Sten Stuley sent someone to the Teutonic State to ask for help could not be concealed from Marin's second uncle, Jules. After all, Jules was now an important civil servant under Philip, head of the Teutonic Congress. Jules knew that Denmark would become unstable, and his nephew Marin's fleet had to pass through the Sond Strait or the Great Belt Strait under Danish control. Once Sweden launched the War of Independence, in order to raise military expenses, Denmark would have to impose a toll tax on merchant ships passing through its waters. Therefore, Jules secretly brought this news to Marin through a secret letter through the merchant ship under Marin's command...

"Old Sten Stulay? It seems to have some impression..." Marin began to recall the European history he had learned...

From the corner of his memory, Marin finally recalled who this person was...

"Looks like... this guy is quite good, he seems to be independent next year... Should I support this guy? However, this guy seems to have died in 1503..." Marin was very distressed.

According to memory, Marin knew that old Sten Stuley was also a good guy, but this guy didn't have a long lifespan. After gaining independence from Denmark again in 1501, it was only two years later, in 1503, that the man died. You know, this guy was born in 1440 and is only 60 years old now. In later life, the revised retirement age of 65 has not yet been reached. So, he died so early, apparently because of illness.

After the death of the old Sten Stuure, Sweden lacked a strong leader, so the anti-Denmark activity fell into a low ebb, and in 1509 was forced to recognize Hans's king status again.

Marin thought about it for a while and decided to subsidize old Sten Stulay a lot of money so that he would have enough strength to fight against Denmark. In addition, Marin also planned to send someone to the Golden Horde to hire a good Mongolian doctor to serve as old Sten Stulay's personal doctor to protect his health.

As for whether old Sten Stulay will accept the Mongolian doctor? This is very easy, Marin intends to sponsor the old Sten Stuley 100,000 Gold Gold Coins. If old Sten Stulay is unwilling to accept the Mongolian doctor as his personal doctor, Marin will not give the 100,000 gold coins...

And the reason why Marin wants to support old Sten Stulay in his rebellion against Denmark is because Marin and the Danes also have a grudge...

With the support of Denmark, Oldenburg became arrogant and interfered in the internal affairs of East Friesland. The Gevre region, which Marin has yet to control.

Marin's plan was that after the old Sten Stuley launched the War of Independence, he would contain Denmark's energy after all. At that time, Marin directly sent troops to capture Yevre and wipe out Yevre's resistance forces in one fell swoop.

At that time, when Denmark was unable to support, Marin could completely ignore the Earl of Oldenburg. Because Oldenburg County is just relying on the might of Denmark. Without the support of the Danes, in front of Marin's army, if the Oldenburgers dared to send troops to intervene, Marin wouldn't mind giving him a hard lesson...