Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2438 Great Northern War ([-])

October 1701, 10, Pskov Fortress.

Tsar Peter I has lived here for several months. He distributed supplies to the more than 100 troops of the Russian Empire who were fighting on the front line, and gave the Russian army a lot of support. It is completely different to have Peter as the general logistics officer. Now those Greedy officials need to refrain, or they may be in the company of more than [-] deserters who Peter has just hanged outside his window, and no one dares to take that risk.

Last year, the main force of the Russian army attacked Narva, and the result was a disastrous defeat. More than 145 soldiers and 8000 artillery pieces were lost. Even the commander-in-chief, Duke Chloe from France, was captured, which completely embarrassed the Russian Empire.Fortunately, Peter left the front line after appointing the commander-in-chief and arranging a series of matters, because Moscow was brewing a conspiracy against him, and he had to rush back to deal with it as soon as possible.As a result, not long after Peter left, the crazy Swedish King Charles XII dropped tens of thousands of his main force and rushed forward with a mere [-] soldiers. The Russian army launched a surprise attack.

The raid turned out to be perfect.At that time, it was snowing heavily and the cold wind was raging. The Russian army had suspended its offensive on Narva, and nearly 5 people huddled in the camp, their spirits relaxed.Moreover, they did not expect that Charlie XII was so crazy that he dared to bring a small number of elite soldiers to make a surprise attack in the heavy snow. As a result, the tens of thousands of troops collapsed in an instant, not only losing more than half of their troops, but even the commander-in-chief became someone else. captive.

The retreating Russian army lost all its supplies and technical weapons, and at the same time lost manpower continuously due to enemy pursuit and blizzards.It was not until a few days later that two nearby friendly forces came to rescue them after hearing the news, that they came to their senses, and at this time there were not many people left.Peter I re-appointed Sheremetev as the commander-in-chief to lead the front-line Russian army. At the same time, he transferred [-] reinforcements and a large number of technical weapons from the mainland. The Russian army quickly recovered its strength.

Sheremetev is a relative of the Tsar's family. He once served as an attendant to Tsar Alexei and is familiar with the conditions of Western European countries. He cut off his beard when he was young.Peter didn't like him very much before, because this person was "dull and boring", which was completely opposite to the dissolute Peter and his minions.Moreover, Sheremetev is cautious by nature. Peter believes that he is too stable in the military and is not a "modern famous general."

But it happened that this commander-in-chief, who was seeking stability, took office in a crisis, commanded tens of thousands of demoralized Russian troops, and dealt with the [-] Swedish troops who rushed over, and managed to stabilize the situation.Although a little passive, he was not defeated after all, nor was he completely driven out of the Swedish land, sticking there like brown sugar.

Seeing that the Russian army could not be defeated quickly, Charles XII lost his patience and led his troops to turn around and go straight to the Poles.He first defeated the Polish and Saxon coalition forces under the city of Riga, and rescued the city of Riga, which had been besieged for a long time.By this point he had achieved a brilliant victory, defeating the Danes on the Western Front and forcing them out of the war.In the first battle on the Eastern Front, the Russian army was severely defeated, making it terrified and temporarily unable to attack; in the second battle, the Poles were defeated, the siege of Riga was broken, and August was ashamed.

But the long-term raids-many times were completely forced marches, or in the case of bad weather-also caused the Swedes to suffer a lot of casualties, and the cumulative number has so far exceeded 6000.Please note that these 6000 people are not cats and dogs, but carefully selected elites from the 12 Swedish Army, otherwise it would be impossible to carry out such high-intensity marches and battles for a long time.

The loss of these 6000 people was an important price, so big that Charles XII, a militant, had to rest for a while to recover his strength.In addition, although the Swedish army continued to win, the battlefield was always in its own country. Poles, Saxons, and Russians came in droves, looting and massacring everywhere, causing the Swedish lands on the south and east coasts of the Baltic Sea to fight and suffer heavy losses—to this day The Russians also held much of Swedish territory on the eastern Baltic coast.

This is the current situation.Charles XII fought everywhere, with brilliant results, but it seemed that they were all active defensive operations on their own land.If we want to really reverse this situation, we still have to choose a strategic direction, completely kill one side, and remove the threat of two-front warfare.Perhaps it was because Sheremetev left a deep influence on Charles XII before, and in the end he chose Poland.So, after several months of rest, Charles XII took tens of thousands of troops and a new batch of weapons and equipment sent by the Dutch, crossed the Dvina River, invaded the Polish territory, and prepared to kill Augustus in one go. special.

With the main force of Sweden gone, the pressure on the Russians will be much less.Peter I did not waste the opportunity. He first wrote a letter full of praise to Sheremetev, and then ordered him to organize his troops, attack decisively, attack the scattered Swedish garrisons, and occupy as much land as possible.

Peter I also arrived in Pskov with a large amount of supplies. While supervising the construction of the fortress, he distributed supplies to the frontline ministries.Well, he, the general logistics officer, has done a good job. At least the situation of the Russian army starving is much less, and the warehouse supervisors of various warehouses no longer use the lack of stock as an excuse to default on military supplies. Everything is running well. This made the Russian army on the front line very comfortable, and their combat effectiveness has also increased a lot.

Peter I lived in the Pskov fortress for several months, and basically heard news of victory.For example, a certain town was captured on a certain day, a certain Swedish army was defeated on a certain day, and so on.In short, after Charles XII led the main force of Sweden to go south to Poland, the Russians still danced happily. Relying on their huge force superiority, they kept attacking the city and conquering territory, making the remaining Swedes miserable, and the defense line retreated again and again.

This is exactly what Peter wanted to see.After a year-long fierce war, the originally immature Russian army gained valuable experience and its combat effectiveness was greatly improved.These things can never be learned on the training ground.To sublimate the combat effectiveness of the army, it still has to rely on the tempering between life and death.

Peter now divided the army into three groups, one to attack the Neva Valley and Finland, one to attack Livonia, and one to deploy to the west of the Pskov Fortress, with the largest number and best equipment, led by Sheremet The husband personally commanded, ready to break through the Swedes' defenses and enter Poland.

In all fairness, Peter I was quite righteous.Instead of leaving his allies alone, he has been working to save them.This is certainly because he wants to leave a good reputation in the eyes of the Western monarchs, but more importantly, he does not believe that August can independently block the fierce offensive of Charles XII.Peter still understands the truth of cold lips and teeth. If August is defeated and withdraws from the war, the pressure from the Russians will be too great. Peter is very worried about this, and he doesn't know how to face such a situation. Maybe he will be humiliated and begged and it.

Although he is in the north, Peter I will also care about the situation in the south from time to time.His beloved fleet has been formed in Tambov. Although it is only a small inland river fleet, it is equipped with a large number of advanced artillery imported from foreign countries. The combat effectiveness is still good enough to have a great impact on the future attack on the Azov fortress. Positive meaning.The hard-working Russian infantry, the Cossack cavalry who come and go like the wind, plus the well-equipped navy, should be able to take down the Azov fortress, right?

Well, well, that might be enough for the Turks.But what if the East Coasters got involved and interfered?That situation can become extremely complicated.Peter is now a little afraid of the East Bank, not only afraid of their wealth, but also afraid of their vast diplomatic influence, which is more effective than a [-] army in many cases.Peter is already very convinced that the people on the east bank will protect their lackeys Kalmyks and Crimean Tatars-yes, in Peter's mind, the Tatars are more like puppets of the people on the east bank than they are A vassal of the Turks - this is contrary to his strategy of going south to the grasslands and drinking horses in the Black Sea.

Obtaining a port has been a long-cherished wish of the Russians for centuries.Since the defeat of the last war and the loss of the Baltic Sea outlet, the Russians have been working hard for this.Whether it's a port on the Black Sea or a port on the Baltic Sea, fuck me first!The Russian Empire has waited for too long, and they don't want to stay in Arkhangelsk, which will be frozen for more than half a year!

This attack on Sweden and the initiative to provoke the Great Northern War are actually the product of this kind of thinking.But Peter never expected that the greatly improved Russian army was still inferior to Charles XII's army, so that tens of thousands of people were lost in the Battle of Narva, which almost made Peter lose all his confidence.What is even more frightening is that according to the top-secret information just obtained, King Charles XII of Sweden has been in secret contact with the people on the east bank, intending to hand over the free city of Gdansk to the east bank in exchange for a sum of weapons worth hundreds of thousands of yuan , Military aid.

August was very angry about this. He recalled the envoys who were seeking loans from the people on the east coast—but he did not close the door to dialogue with the east coast. Several envoys with extremely high authorizations still stayed in the Principality of Courland , ready to contact at any time - intending to rely on Poland and Saxony's own strength to fight the Swedes to the death.

Peter didn't quite agree with August's arrogance.In fact, he feels that the money and weapons held by the people on the east coast can largely determine the outcome of a war. At this difficult time, he is even willing to sacrifice other interests in exchange for the people on the east coast to stand on their side—— At least, don't take the Swede's side-he already knows Charles XII, he knows that he is cruel, belligerent, ruthless, and he will die if he gets entangled.

After provoking this powerful enemy, unless the Russian Empire completely defeats Sweden, there is no possibility of escape at all. In fact, after the fiasco of the Battle of Narva last year, Peter once sent someone to sue for peace, but was rejected by Charles XII. At this time, Peter Just know that there is no good relationship between Russia and Sweden!

Peter has already made up his mind and plans to send envoys to the people on the east coast, first to ensure the independence of the Principality of Courland, and secondly to agree that the free city of Gdansk should be managed by the people on the east coast (anyway, this port is also used by the people on the east coast, so donate to others Why not), and finally recognized the Oirat Mongolian Khanate in the North Caucasus.

Speaking of it, the first and second items are nothing, but the third item can be regarded as a great concession. This also shows from the side that Peter lacks confidence in the war with Sweden and urgently needs help from external forces.However, just as Peter's envoy was carrying his personal letter and was about to set off for Courland (where Zhao Gui was hiding from the military disaster), a piece of news that shocked the whole of Europe came, causing Peter to quickly change his mind.

King Carlos II of Spain is dead!

(End of this chapter)