Daming 1805

Chapter 538 There is no more country like Denmark in the world
In the morning of the Ming Dynasty, it is early morning in Western Europe.

After Zhu Jingyuan's imperial meeting ended, Honglu Temple drafted an official document to Prussia and Lucia according to Zhu Jingyuan's request.

After the eldest uncle, Shen Fu, read it, he sent it out at two o'clock in the afternoon, Ming Dynasty time.

It was just past eight in the morning in Berlin at this time.

This was originally a fairly normal morning, and there was no need for them to get up early in the morning.

However, the main decision-makers in Prussia and Lucia have not rested since yesterday.

The war has just begun. An army that has not fought in more than ten years will definitely have various problems when fighting under brand-new strategies and tactics.

They must continue to pay attention in the early stage and respond to and solve these problems during the combat process at any time.

After the follow-up questions gradually decrease, they don't need to keep staring.

Originally, after the first day's battle started, they should have started taking turns to rest.

It's just that they also attach great importance to Daming's reaction, so they have been waiting for news.

Not even King William III himself slept.

Now the news is finally here.

The telegraph operator hurried into the conference room and handed several telegrams to Prime Minister Stein.

Stein, who was already in his 60s and felt a little drowsy after taking a look, tried to cheer up and took a look, but he immediately became energetic:
"Daming's response, Daming just asked us and the Lucians to protect the personal safety of several monarchs!
"Then it's time to once again ask us to abide by those rules set by the Alliance in war."

Others immediately cheered up when they heard the news.

William III took the telegraph newspaper from Stein, read it carefully with his eyes wide open, and muttered with a little excitement and anxiety:
"This...is a good thing!"

Stein said directly:

"Of course it's a good thing. Ming's performance on this matter seems extremely weak compared to its previous attitude towards peace affairs.

"We are only required to protect the personal safety of the monarchs of the three countries, but we would not directly harm them personally.

“It’s impossible that the emperor and ministers of the Ming Dynasty didn’t understand this logic, but they still talked about it specifically.

“It seems like they feel they need to say something to us, but they can’t find a more appropriate topic.

"In other words, it is very likely that there are some things and requirements that I want to say, but I didn't say them out of concern."

At this time, Gneisenau also finished reading the telegraph newspaper and said with a dry smile:
"Da Ming can use the meaning of returning from the Great Ming Emperor's Enthronement Ceremony as an excuse to directly and brutally demand that we send the monarchs of the Three Kingdoms back to their countries.

"But Daming didn't say that.

"It seems that they are completely unaware of the bad impact of the monarchs of the Three Kingdoms being kidnapped by us on their way back to their homeland after participating in Ming Dynasty activities.

“Or maybe you are aware of it but don’t show it.

"This is highly consistent with our original expectations."

William III took a deep breath and tried to calm down his excitement:

"So, what we can do now is continue to 'increase efforts'."

Several ministers and staff officers smiled at the same time.

William III nodded slightly and said:
“Okay, in that case, we can all relax a little.

"Everyone should take turns to rest now, just leave two people here on duty.

"If there is any special situation or news on the front line, go and call out others."

Stein reminded:

"Your Majesty, please go and rest too."

William III nodded seriously:
"Yes, I'm going to take a nap. I hope that when I wake up, I can hear the news that the boys have taken over the whole of Denmark!"

Gneisenau thought about the situation on the front line:

"You should get your wish, and the king of Denmark, the former king, should also arrive at the same time..."

William III laughed, then stood up and waved to his ministers, stretched and turned around to leave the scene.

William III planned to sleep until dark, but he only slept for more than six hours, and was woken up by his servant at two o'clock in the afternoon.

The servant told Wilhelm III that Chancellor Stein and Chief of the General Staff Gneisenau were waiting outside.

William III was a little surprised and immediately got up and came to the living room.

Stein and Gneisenau congratulated William III together:

"Congratulations, Your Majesty, there is no more country like Denmark in this world."

William III was overjoyed, then subconsciously glanced at the clock on the wall, and said with an unbelievable expression:
"So fast? Even if our chariot is running at full speed, it can barely reach the northernmost part of Denmark!"

Gneisenau explained with a smile:
“On a purely operational level, we have not actually occupied the entire territory of Denmark.

“Not even the full capture and control of Copenhagen.

“However, the King of Denmark has expressed his willingness to surrender.

"Willing to take the initiative to order the remaining defenders in the territory to give up resistance, he expressed his willingness to pledge allegiance to His Majesty.

"But he has some basic qualities."

The expression of surprise on William III's face gradually became shallower:
"What conditions does he have? What conditions did you agree to him?"

Stein explained the situation to William III:
"Without His Majesty's permission, we did not promise him any conditions.

“He originally asked to remain the Grand Duke of Denmark.

“But our troops have occupied most of Denmark and it is impossible to give him such conditions.

“So I directly rejected his request.

“Then he was willing to settle for the next best thing, and wanted to obtain the title of Margrave of Copenhagen.

“Give up all the land on the mainland and keep only the islands in the strait.

"Now it's up to Your Majesty to make a decision."

William III did not respond directly, but asked:
"In simple combat, how long will it take us to take down the entire territory of Denmark? Is it only a day or two according to the plan?

"So why give him a fief? No other feudal lords are allowed in Prussia!

"Tell the Dane that at most I will give him the title of Earl of Joy.

"He will not be allowed to retain any fiefdom.

“If he doesn’t agree, then keep fighting.

"It's just a waste of a few days at most."

Traditionally, various titles in Taixi have corresponding place names, and the original titles are the feudal lords in the corresponding areas.

Even if the authority of the feudal lords was later reduced, most of the land became the territory of the king.

The titles of various nobles continued to use place names.

For example, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York in the UK, the Duke of Orleans and the Duke of Normandy in France, etc.

Now William III wanted to give the Danish king a "happy count".

This is outrageous.

Although it is indeed a "good word", it actually has a certain insulting meaning.

Just like the titles of "Anle Gong" and "Gongshun Hou" in the history of China, they are special titles given to the monarchs of enemy countries who surrendered.

William III obviously learned from China's historical experience.

The king of Denmark was completely ignored.

Gneisenau and Stein listened to the king's order and both bowed and agreed.

No one expressed any opinions.

They also looked down upon the King of Denmark.

If it was before the war started, they would have been a little worried.

The other party is a king after all.

Moreover, Denmark was once a hegemon in Northern Europe in history, and it could also be regarded as an early colonial enemy.

But after the war began, the crushing power of the Prussian army against Denmark was directly exposed to these military and political personnel.They have realized that with the wheel of history rolling forward and the continuous development of the military and technological revolution, the old almanac in history has no meaning.

Denmark is a third-rate country.

The Danes themselves understand this, otherwise they would not have surrendered so happily.

William III went to have a meal, and then at three o'clock in the afternoon, he received the Danish king who was in a captive state.

But William III did not ask anyone to arrange a seat for him.

William III himself sat at the top and did not even speak to the other party in person. Instead, he asked Stein to explain his conditions.

The Danish king was now desperate.

Of course the Danes have long heard of what the Prussians did in the past.

There are so many feudal lords, large and small, in Shenluo, and they let them annex one by one by force.

I don't know how many traditional feudal noble titles were directly abolished by them.

Now this fate has finally befallen him.

I couldn't resist at all.

The news sent by local generals and ministers made the Danish king realize that times had changed.

Now Denmark is simply vulnerable to Prussia.

Not to mention rebuilding the glory of the great empire that ruled the entire Northern Europe in the past, it is already very difficult to maintain his status as a feudal monarch.

He was willing to surrender and be loyal to Hohenzollern, but the other party was still so tough.

Reserve no fiefdom for yourself at all.

He can only enjoy a nominal earl title that is meaningless and even insulting.

The King of Denmark struggled painfully for a long time:

"If you can't keep Copenhagen, can you keep Lorraine Island in the strait? My name is Earl Lorraine..."

Stein glanced at William III, who showed no reaction.

So Stein said directly:

“This is His Majesty’s order, not any further bargaining with you.

"If you don't want to accept it, go back to the prison camp.

“There will be no King of Denmark, and you will no longer be a noble.

"After the war in the north is over, let's go work on the construction site with the other prisoners."

The Danish king was silent for a long time, and finally agreed with pain and unwillingness.

The cruelty of reality left him with no choice.

The Prussians really do what they say.

Although the Happy Earl is weird, he can still have a noble status after all.

To become an ordinary prisoner of war is to fall completely into hell.

The Prussians and the Danes came to an agreement.

Stein immediately had people prepare formal treaty documents.

First came the instrument of surrender and the order of armistice.

The King of Denmark announced his surrender to Prussia, required all military personnel to cease resistance, and required all bureaucrats to accept Prussian orders and jurisdiction.

The Danish king then transferred ownership of the entire Danish region to the Hohenzollern on behalf of his family.

Finally, on behalf of the family, the title of King of Denmark and all related claims were renounced.

After signing these documents, the King of Prussia signed a document conferring the title of Happy Count of the Kingdom of Prussia.

The content of these agreements was immediately disseminated through the new broadcast system.

Including Prussia, Denmark controlled by Prussian troops, and frontline areas where fighting is still ongoing.

Stein also called the major domestic newspapers and asked them to work overtime immediately to produce special editions, which must be sent out directly the next morning.

Once this matter is settled, the war between Prussia and Denmark can be considered truly over.

Now that the monarchs of various countries are still there, many things are much simpler than in later generations.

In a republican country, heads of state such as the president and prime minister are actually just the heads of government agencies.

All they can represent are government agencies.

They cannot even represent all citizens and the country as a whole.

Moreover, in modern republican state institutions, there are usually various power restriction mechanisms.

In most cases, there is no absolute speaker.

It is not uncommon for the president to agree to sign certain treaties, but Congress does not approve them.

But the monarch is not the head of the court, but the owner of the entire country.

Even with the current rapid development of capitalism, the power of private capital continues to expand to a terrifying level.

To a large extent it was enough to keep pace with the traditional nobility.

But at least in name, the monarch is still the legal master of everything in the country.

This is actually a disadvantage of the monarchy.

Once a monarch is captured in a war, the course of the war may be completely out of control.

The emperor in the East can still be changed, and the captured one can become the Supreme Emperor, but the monarchs of the European and Western countries are more rigid.

But for the monarch of a powerful country, this may be an advantage.

The king of Denmark personally signed the instrument of surrender, personally promising to hand over his original territory to the Hohenzollern family of Prussia.

Then this matter is completely reasonable and valid in the Thai-Chinese tradition.

Can quickly eliminate resistance.

A lot of casualties and trouble can be avoided.

Although the combat effectiveness of the Prussian army has an absolute advantage compared with that of Denmark.

In terms of the overall strategic attack, the speed has also reached the level of Zhu Jingyuan's blitzkrieg in his previous life.

However, when it comes to fighting for specific cities and residential areas, various problems may arise.

If the garrison in some places is particularly stubborn, if the people in some places are particularly resistant to Prussia.

Then it is possible that after Prussia nominally occupied the local area, continuous street fighting broke out in large and small cities.

In other words, it is a continuous low-intensity law and order war.

Even if this kind of battle cannot weaken Prussia's power on a large scale, it can still prevent Prussia from getting money and resources from the acquired land.

The monarch's orders can reduce this possibility to the lowest possible level.

Sure enough, the troops on the Prussian front broadcast the Danish King's surrender letter and order to the opposite side through the public address system on the tank.

The firepower of the troops who were still prepared to continue fighting soon diminished.

Prussian troops took the opportunity to attack and quickly controlled these last firepower and resistance forces.

By the next morning, all fighting in Denmark was over.

Prussian troops officially entered Banhagen.

Relevant news spread across the Thai and Western continent, once again shocking most of the Thai people.

In just two days, Prussia conquered a traditional country in the West.

This speed is really too fast.

Of course, what they didn't know was that in Zhu Jingyuan's previous life, Denmark surrendered after only four hours of consideration when faced with Desan's attack.

(End of this chapter)