Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On October 26, 1864, Austria's 30,000-strong army rushed toward Eckenförde, where Austria finally tasted failure.

It turned out that as the public memorial day had just ended, when the Danish military and civilians were most united, Prussia did not launch an attack in Husum first. Obviously, they had already expected such a result.

But the Austrian side had no such scruples, so on the first day of the war, 30,000 people had just begun to arrive here. The Danish army dared to ambush a surprise force early and used cavalry to surprise them. In a hurry, , the Danish army in the city of Eckenförde even sent troops to fight. In the end, the Austrian army paid more than 4,000 men before it was able to get rid of the Danish army in its retreat.

This made the Prussian army on the Husum side feel lucky.

However, Austria's retreat does not mean retreat.

Because just when the Austrian army on the front line was defeated, Austria and various countries in the German Confederation began to spread the news crazily, creating the illusion that Austria was inferior to Prussia, and jokingly saying that the Austrian empire was inferior to Prussia. The kingdom of Prussia should take off its imperial hat and so on.

This made Vienna officials furious and even somewhat dissatisfied with the Austrian troops on the front line.

Franz Joseph I and Archduke Rainer Ferdinand both asked the Austrian troops on the front line to hold on, and at the same time step up the counterattack to capture Eckenförde to rectify Austria's imperial prestige.

It was under the near pressure of Vienna that when Prussia attacked Husum from the west, the Austrian army also launched an attack, this time with full firepower. However, I don't know if it was Prussia's intention to send out a navy. Provide support to Austria in the Baltic, but the Austrian army in the Atlantic cannot enter the Baltic Sea, because the entire country of Denmark guards the major straits of the Atlantic and Baltic Seas, including the Kattegat Strait and the Oresund Strait opposite Sweden. , Langeland Strait, Great Bell Strait, Sams Island Strait, etc. surrounded by Denmark itself.

In particular, the Kattegat Strait and the Oresund Strait in front are both guarded by the Danish navy. The smallest part of the Oresund Strait is less than 4 nautical miles, which is within the range of artillery fire from the Danish shore.

Based on your miserable discovery in Austria, there are only one of the top ten navies in the world that are stronger than Prussia, but there is no Eckenförde to support them.

They were resentful about this, because under the cover of Denmark's navy, they were repelled again, and they retreated miserably.

25,000 people left behind more than 6,000 corpses and more than 2,000 wounded soldiers of varying degrees. In just two days of offensive battle, even if they lost 8,000 people, they lost one-third of their combat strength.

The remaining 16,000 people could only stare at Eckenfeld in a daze.

The Prussian army in the west of Austria only paid a price of 500 people in the first round of the battle, but it caused huge losses to the Danes in Husum. The specific data is not known, but it is definitely more than 6,000 soldiers and civilians who died. The army's Casualties, the Prussian army's telegram sent to Berlin estimated, was conservatively at more than 2,000 people.

The completely different results of the war between the East and the West are exactly in line with the saying that there is no harm without comparison. The gap is too big.

Vienna was even more furious, and the Austrian frontline troops became the target of ridicule from the Viennese people to vent their dissatisfaction.

Compared with them, everyone in Berlin is full of pride.

Other German Confederations were born as a result of this; all kinds of strange thoughts fell into the eyes of Bismarck, who had already calculated.

"Lowering Austria's defense, damaging Austria's alliance, ruining Austria's reputation, and damaging Austria's combat power."

William I looked at Bismarck with a smile on his face and praised: "Now that everything is going according to our plan step by step, Austria will be in dire straits now."

"Yes, I think Joseph I also has a headache now," Moltke also sighed beside him.

Army Secretary Ron sighed and said, "What should we do next?"

After hearing this, several people looked at Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck.

Bismarck enjoyed being noticed by the highest-level powerful people in these countries, because this was the sense of accomplishment he wanted.

He said: "Denmark has begun to send representatives to various countries, and they have taken action."

Bismarck said to several people: "Denmark has a population of less than 2 million. This is destined to make them unable to survive in a protracted war. Therefore, although they resisted us, they have begun to be overwhelmed and cannot fight to the end. Let all the men come on stage."

Moltke and others all nodded in approval. Thinking about it this way, it is understandable that Denmark would send special envoys to ask for support from various countries at this time.

Moltke asked: "Will all countries turn a blind eye this time?"

Bismarck shook his head: "I think they have now found out our details and have consumed the strength of several of our countries. They should think that they can pause."

He said with a wry smile: "Obviously, our war of attrition has been considered by them to be over. Especially when Denmark is about to be unable to support itself, the UK will not want Opp to accept the Oresund Strait, because that would be too difficult for them. It is a nightmare, and Alexander II of Tsarist Russia would not agree. With Denmark’s size, it is safest for the strait to fall into the hands of Denmark, a country that poses no threat.”

Russian Empire, St. Petersburg.

"Denmark can be at the mercy of other countries, but Prussia or Austria cannot. We will not allow the Oresund and Kattegat to fall into the hands of these two great powers. Therefore, we agree with Denmark to support them."

Alexander II said to Gorchagov.

The latter nodded in understanding.

Watching him leave, Alexander II murmured: "Denmark actually made such a request, haha, it's a strange idea, obviously there is guidance from an expert."

On November 1, 1864, Husum, west of Schleswig, was captured by Prussia. After losing more than 3,000 troops and 5,000 civilians, Denmark retreated to the city of Schleswig.

After Austria added another 20,000 troops, Eckenförde in the east finally won it after 10 days of hot fighting, but at the cost of another 9,000 troops.

Austria also reached the eastern part of Schleswig on November 5.

It formed an equilateral triangle with Prussia in the west and the city of Schleswig.

At this time, a piece of news came out that surprised all European countries. Even the news from Tsarist Russia caused Schleswig to stop the war because they all received suspension orders from Berlin and Vienna. .

"Denmark actually chose to marry the Russian Empire!"

This news immediately shocked Europe!