Chapter 209

The situation in Schleswig was further tense when it became colder and colder from November 2, 1861.

Danish Prime Minister Monrad declared that the Prussian army is likely to take the entire Schleswig within a week, and may even attack the Danish mainland.

Some Danish officials said that more than 100,000 Prussian and Austrian troops were assembled in Schleswig, Denmark, and these troops were all under attack, posing a huge threat to Denmark. "

On November 5, the Austrian army launched another attack on the same day after the Allied Prussian and Austrian forces added firepower outside the city of Schleswig.

And Prussia also chose to follow in the west.

Behind the Danish army is Flensburg, which is the northernmost city in Schleswig, and it enters the mainland of Denmark to the north, so this battle can be called a "last battle".

The Danish army is aware of this and has the mentality of defending the country. It made them more determined to fight against the invasion of the Aopu coalition.

However, it still seems to be in vain.

Because the strength of the Aopu coalition was too strong, under the mutual coordination of the two countries, the first round of siege by the heavy artillery of the two countries caused the Danish army to suffer heavy losses.

With 5,000 casualties in Prussia and 8,000 casualties in Austria, Schleswig fell, Denmark lost more than 15,000 troops, and more than 40,000 civilian casualties.

With the fall of the city of Schleswig, in the city of Schleswig controlled by Denmark, the entire Schleswig was left with Flensburg near Denmark in the north and Nibier in the west.

To the west, off the coast, the Austrian and Danish navies began a sea battle.

As the only main force of the Austrian Navy, the Austrian Mediterranean Fleet began to travel north from the Mediterranean Sea at the beginning of the war, but the defeat of the previous naval battle caused heavy losses to Austria.

But Austria naturally will not give up the role of the navy in the sea.

So after the defeat, the Austrian Ministry of Defense sent another navy to the Beihai Sea, which consisted of a fleet of 8 sail battleships including a first-class sail battleship and two second-class sail battleships.

Arrived at Cuxhaven, Hanover, in the Deutsches Bay on November 4th.

And after the correction was completed on the 6th, it headed north to confront the Danish navy assembled there in the archipelago in the western sea of ​​Schleswig. And regardless of the land war at that time, the two countries actually did not want to have a head-on conflict of war.

Austria does not want its navy from the ocean, which does not have an advantage in the number of armaments, to suffer heavy losses because it faces Denmark alone. After all, the Prussian navy is still trapped in the Baltic Sea.

This fleet is almost half the strength of the Austrian navy, and if it were to be damaged, it would be a nightmare for the Austrian sea power.

Especially when Prussia saw that it was an ally but was a competitor. Before coming, Prime Minister Reina urged the navy to preserve its strength.

Denmark, on the other hand, does not want the Danish navy to face the Opal coalition, because it may lose this advantage in this battle, so it is very cautious, but then again, if the result of sending troops can be guaranteed to be beneficial to itself , then of course both of them are willing to attack.

However, the rationality of the navies of the two countries was no longer maintained with the fall of Schleswig.

On November 10, after the Austrian navy raided the South Island Beach under the jurisdiction of Denmark, it copied the model and took Pellworm Island.

The Danish Navy who reacted was naturally unwilling to have its own territory robbed.

So the Danish navy south of the Atlantic Ocean went south, off the island of Pelverm, and engaged in a naval artillery battle with Austria.

But Denmark was reckless this time. It turned out that the Austrian Navy quickly deployed heavy artillery after taking South Island Beach and Pellworm Island, and then lured the Danish Navy into the range of the land artillery. After the loss of two battleships 5, 6 and Sail, in a sudden burst of cannons, they retreated from the range of the shells.

Austria naturally pursued the victory, and they were not willing to let the tiger go back to the mountain.

However, what the Austrian navy did not expect was that the Danish sailing battleships were so powerful that they were able to quickly stabilize the situation under the circumstances. In the face of the Austrian attack, they began to maintain their formation and face Austria. navy.

The process of the Deutsche Bight therefore did not develop according to the Austrian plan. Fortunately, the Danish army did not launch a **** battle.

It seems that the Austrian Navy took South Island Beach and Pellworm Island by default.

However, Denmark itself strengthened the shore defenses and fleet expeditions of the North Island Beach, Amrum Island and the large northern island of Fell.

With the occupation of Schleswig, the Danish side knew that it would be unfavorable to fight again, and King Christie of Denmark, who was at the center of the crisis of the Schleswig war and was also the excuse for the German Confederation to enter Holstein and Schleswig An IX, with the Allied Forces of Opus and Schleswig after all, has long lost the self-confidence on the surface.

In his newspaper speech in the early hours of November 12, he made a personal speech in the newspapers of various European countries, making an emotional appeal to the people of the German Confederation, asking them to help prevent a further war from breaking out, because, Christian IX claimed It is dangerous to perceive that Opp seems to be interested in Denmark itself.

At the same time, he appealed to the Danes in Schleswig to remain calm: "You have no reason to lose sleep over this, we are in our own land, we fear no one or anything, we give no one anything."

Including the original words of the "European Times" will be:

"Behind me you can see the Danish and internationally recognized borders, and despite a series of declarations and responses from the German Confederation, these border declarations remain unchanged as long as we maintain our confidence and calm.

During this period of war, the support of the people is very important, and for that, I thank everyone.

Our people have proved once again that Denmark is smart and wise and united.

After all that happened, our people remained calm and responded calmly and thoughtfully in an adult manner.

There is no reason for you to lose sleep over this, we convened a meeting of the Danish National Security and Defense Council and Denmark believes that the latest action of the German Confederation is an affront to our Danish sovereignty and territorial integrity.

All responsibility and consequences of this decision are related to the decision made by the top political leaders of the German Confederation, who recognized that both Schleswig and Holstein belonged to Denmark, but now they intend to deprive this Denmark of its rights, A war was waged for the puppet they supported to come to power and become their power.

This means that they have long since intentionally withdrawn from the London Protocol, ignoring the framework.

It's just that by forcing Denmark to reach that critical point in advance to seize morality. I know this, I know Prime Minister Bismarck and Archduke Rainer Ferdinand very well, and I have a clear understanding of William I and Joseph I. "

The decision of the two-led German Confederation to invade Holstein and Schleswig undermined peace efforts, cost all parties dearly, and destroyed previous forms of negotiation and settlements. "

After that, everyone saw that after Christian IX criticized the entire German Confederation again, he changed his tone to appeal to the people under the German Confederation to remember the exchanges and cultural exchanges between Denmark and the German Confederation over the years to avoid another war.

He said that he had tried to send an invitation to William I and Joseph I to hold talks between the kings of the three kingdoms directly in Copenhagen, and even sent a few telegrams for this, but they were all in vain, and all the results were silence and no response. Hence the appeal directly to the Germans.

Christian IX said that the newspapers of the Germans were probably closely controlled, so his words might not be read, but he stressed that Denmark and the German Confederation were in fact apart from Schleswig and Holstein. Besides, there is no resentment, and Denmark is not meant to be a member of the older brother of the German Confederation.

Christian IX also made an emotional appeal to the German people: "Many of you have been to Denmark, many of you have traveled in Copenhagen or have relatives in southern Denmark, and some are still in college in Denmark, you know Denmark "

He appealed: "Listen to your own voices, to the voice of reason."

In the face of the current Opp two who have just captured the city of Schleswig, Christian IX said that Denmark and the Danes would not back down in self-defense, saying: "We do not need war, we will not attack. In self-defense, you will see our faces, not our backs, yes, our fronts."

The words of Christian IX made people's eyes shine. The middle-aged king who inherited the Danish throne is currently facing a situation that has caused many people from all countries to sweat for him. UU reading www.uukanshu. com

Especially now that they are under the pressure of their opponents in Schleswig, the Austrian Empire and Prussia, who are the most powerful in the kingdom.

When many people were unsure of what to say in this letter to the world from Christian IX, with the following series of actions, it was only when people realized that it had a profound meaning.

At the time when people from all over the world were pondering the words of Christian IX.

On November 18th, the Danish government held a press conference on the same day. Prime Minister Monrad announced that Tsarist Russia and Denmark will have a marriage, the object is the second daughter of His Majesty Christian IX Princess Dagmar and Tsarist Russia Crown Prince Niku. Grand Duke La Alexandrovich.

Monrad also announced that Crown Prince Frederik of the Kingdom of Denmark will marry Princess Louise of King Carl XV of Sweden. Because Princess Louise is now only 14 years old, the engagement The ceremony will take place in 1868, when Princess Louise comes of age.

At the same time, Monrad, the Danish, also announced that King Christian IX's second son George will be engaged before Christmas, and his object is to finally feel that Austria and Prussia should stop attacking, because ,She is.....