Chapter 10 – Reactions from Various Countries
As the war continued, the battlefield grew bloodier. After Prussia's initial offensive, the Austrian Empire also demonstrated the strength befitting a great power. On just the second day, Austrian forces launched the large-scale Battle of King's Hill. Through a fierce attack, they pushed the front line close to Denmark's defensive positions.
Denmark's defenses suddenly looked unstable. If other German states also joined, Denmark would face even greater challenges. The battlefield was thick with smoke, while the German states kept bringing in heavy weapons. The number of cannons rose steadily. When around a hundred of them fired at once, Denmark's lines came under intense pressure. Artillery flashes lit the night as the weather turned foul.
The Danish positions clearly couldn't fully withstand such a powerful bombardment. Morale dropped under the constant shelling. Realizing the danger of encirclement, Danish commander General Meza began considering abandoning his current position.
On the fourth day, Meza convened an urgent meeting. The officers present looked grim. Unit leaders complained about the hardships of the war, saying the enemy had overwhelming firepower and seemingly limitless troops. Their own men were getting injured by incoming shells before even getting a chance to fight.
They also blamed the government's ineptitude. The British had not moved, and the hoped-for Nordic coalition never formed. Denmark now stood totally isolated. If their army was destroyed here, they might as well surrender entirely.
"All right, I didn't call you here to complain," General Meza scolded. "I understand our predicament, but we have no way out! At this moment, we have two choices in front of us. The first is to hold this position to the bitter end and fight the enemy with all we have."
He barely finished speaking before someone objected: "Fight them? How? This place is obviously indefensible. Even if our numbers doubled, it wouldn't be enough."
Others chimed in, agreeing that relying on this defensive line alone offered little hope. Meza, seeing his men arguing, said sternly, "Enough! We're not here to quarrel. If bickering solved problems, go argue with the enemy!"
The room fell silent. Then Meza continued, "Our second choice is to withdraw from these fortifications and delay the enemy advance in hopes of finding a weakness later. Now it's time to decide. You may speak."
Immediately, an officer said, "Commander, I believe a withdrawal might give us a chance. If our government can later persuade other powers to intervene, we might turn the tables. But if we die holding out here, it's over for us."
Most of the officers nodded. Still, General Meza hesitated to give the order. "What you say is sensible, but retreat also carries risks—especially with winter conditions. Pulling back in good order is no simple task. Still, we have no better options. We'll think carefully and take a vote."
Meza then asked the other generals to vote anonymously. He himself doubted the war's prospects, and he refused to leave room for anyone to accuse him of wrongdoing later. By using a democratic process and secret ballots, any fallout could be blamed on collective decision-making.
When the votes were tallied, everyone supported retreating to save their main force; not a single vote went against it.
That very night, the Danes began retreating—only to be caught off-guard by terrible weather. A sudden snowstorm disrupted their plans. It was already freezing at night, and now snowflakes began to fall from the sky, turning quickly into a gale of thick white flakes that blanketed the ground.
Line after line of soldiers trudged through the snow, forming a dark column against the white drifts. The moon stayed hidden behind dark clouds; the army traveled mostly in the dark. Boots sank into the snow, which gradually became slushy and muddy.
Without railway support, the Danish forces had to make a long march through the blizzard. Their low morale made the journey harder. The once orderly columns grew scattered, drifting out of the officers' control. Confusion spread, and the men's nerves frayed. They cursed as their animals slowed, and whips cracked through the whirling snow while the wind howled around them.
Far behind, still in the fortifications, General Meza watched the raging storm outside with growing unease. He couldn't reverse the order now. The main force had already left some time ago, so calling them back was nearly impossible. Meza could only hope fortune would favor Denmark. Yet his somber face showed he felt no real peace of mind.
By dawn of the next day, the Danish troops took stock of their losses. The storm had forced them to abandon a large amount of supplies in the snow, and the hasty withdrawal caused significant non-combat casualties. Some unlucky soldiers had been separated from the main force in the night and likely would never regroup.
It was a messy retreat, costing them about as much as a minor battle. Even so, by the sixth day before dawn, Denmark managed to pull back most of its troops, keeping the war going for now. Yet General Meza did not escape blame. When news of the failed withdrawal reached Copenhagen, angry crowds marched in protest. Meza, accused of mishandling the retreat, was removed from command.
Still, the Danish government refused to surrender or negotiate for peace. Although they had lost ground at the front, their main force remained. They intended to keep fighting. The remaining Danish troops fell back to Flensburg to resist further advances by the coalition. The war was not over yet.
Despite this resolve, the government felt a chilling sense of despair. Their hoped-for international intervention never came. Britain, with whom Denmark had relied on controlling the Baltic, stayed on the sidelines. Sweden, which should have been a natural ally (since Denmark's fall would put Sweden at risk), also did nothing. Historical issues had strained their relationships, but Denmark was no longer the small yet influential power it had once been, able to stir all of Europe.
By failing to rescue Denmark, the great powers were letting it weaken further. Already panicking, Copenhagen waited in vain for a firm response from Britain, while other nations also watched from the sidelines. Denmark's Foreign Ministry practically moved into the British Embassy, but the British envoy simply sent everything home for review. Meanwhile, London had yet to form a unified position; the royal court, the government, and the military were all at odds.
There was no detailed plan to deploy British troops. All they told the envoy in Copenhagen was to "stall." Though the Foreign Office raced to contact the Nordic countries and the Russian Empire, it accomplished little.
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