77 Trap

I was going to set the ambush on the south-west side of Lake Arreso. Thanks to this, in the event of failure, my army was able to escape to the northwest.

"Ilya, take some of the prisoners and let them start digging fortifications and trenches here... Ivan, you take the rest and let them dig the ditches towards the lake... We will flood this land. Saddat send your men to scout, if they see a small squad or a group of people they can attack them." (MC)

I don't know how much time we had, but I was sure it was not enough ... it always is. I estimated that 8,000 to 12,000 soldiers were currently stationed in Copenhagen, including mercenaries, so I decided to flood as much area as possible. It will not stop the Danes, but it will surely tire their army, and if I am lucky, it may even immobilize their cannons.

The days passed, and every day Saddata's people brought new prisoners, mostly civilians, but sometimes there was a Danish scout or a small squad of soldiers. Of course they were immediately actively interrogated ... I was active in these interrogations, they were mostly tied up. In this way, I was able to obtain some information, though not always of much importance. According to their testimony, the atmosphere in the capital of the Kingdom of Denmark was not too cheerful, they were not short of food, or anything like that ... it was just that my activity had a negative impact on their morale.

"Lord, a large army has left Copenhagen. At least a few thousand men, infantry and 70 cannons, no cavalry." (Saddat)

"Have you seen them?" (MC)

"Yes." (Saddat)

"How are they marching? What speed? When will they get here?" (MC)

"Steady step, well trained. Two or three days at the most, but only because their march is slowed down by the cannons. My people are watching them, if anything changes they will let us know." (Saddat)

"That's good, very good." (MC)

I will wait one more day and send the Tartars and most of the Cossacks north to encircle the lake and, when the time is right, to attack the enemy's rear... We will bind the prisoners, gag them and turn them into an army that will attract the first attack of the Danes... together with the captives, I will leave a hundred Cossacks and spare horses, thanks to this our fortifications will look more natural ... more authentic. They only need to buy us time, nothing more.

Two days later, a few kilometers from our fortifications, I saw the Danish army approaching ... but they were not doing well. Although they did not have more than 50 kilometers to cover, they looked as if they had been marching for several weeks ... They looked tired, their uniforms had traces of dirt and mud...

...Five hours later I was sitting on the shore of the lake, gasping for breath, all sore, I guess there was no part of my body that didn't hurt ... the blood was dripping from my face, the left side of my head had burns from gunpowder and I had a gunshot wound to my left arm, luckily the momentum of the bullet was not too great and the wound was not serious... This battle has taught me a few things, my life is not a movie, and I am not an action hero. I tried to remember all the details ...

First the Danes opened fire from their cannons, I expected that. The Cossacks and I were well hidden and the only victims were ours Danish prisoners, they destroyed some fortifications, but it was nothing serious. When the troops of Christian IV, after several cannon salvos, saw that the firing was not bringing the expected results, their infantry launched an attack... When they were already 100 meters from our fortifications, 50 Cossacks opened fire, then retreated to reload and another 50 Cossacks took their place ... The casualties among the enemy troops were not large, but we stopped their attack, at least for several dozen seconds... Then everything was more chaotic, the Danes, seeing that our firepower is not great, started running towards us. The first group of Cossacks had already reloaded their muskets and made another salvo ... as the distance was shorter, the accuracy was better, more Danes fell to the ground... but there was no time left for fourth salvo, so I ordered my people to use the grenades ... their effectiveness left something to be desired ... either it was a defect in the product or because of the high humidity, a third of our grenades turned to be misfires... Twenty meters in front of the fortifications, the Danes fell into the last of my traps ... they were shallow wolf pits no deeper than half a meter with pointed sticks.

After that, we had nothing else to do but try to repel the attacks and wait for my remaining troops to attack the rear of the Danes ... I took the sabre out of the scabbard, the Cossacks did the same and we set off for the Danes ... A golden glow appeared on my hands, but after a while I stopped paying attention to it.

I was slashing right and left ... my strikes were strong, brutal and merciless ... after a few minutes there was an empty space around me. Christian IV's soldiers were afraid to come close to my saber ... there were several bodies of dead Danes lying around me, some of them had their arms, heads and even legs cut off. The ground was slippery with blood, the air tasted metallic and salty... Suddenly I heard a bang behind my back and felt a blow to my left shoulder ... it wasn't strong, but it was unexpected and knocked me off balance.

As soon as I regained my balance, not thinking much, I moved in the direction from which the shot was coming ... in front of me I saw the face of a scared boy, he was not more than seventeen years old... My saber plunged into his body, not encountering much resistance, the blade pierced the boy right through, hitting another soldier standing behind him... and I felt a blow to the head ...