Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is heavily guarded by troops, with as many as...600 troops!
Don't laugh, for Sweden, which has a total population of only a few hundred thousand, the king has already taken the main force to attack Norway, and leaving 600 people to garrison is really a heavy force.
According to the Swedish military system, which has not yet been fully formed, a company of 600 people is approximately a company, of which 500 are crossbowmen, and the rest are arquebusiers and axemen. At this time, the Swedes particularly liked long-range troops.
The king tried to introduce pikemen, but the soldiers resisted.
Ten years ago, Sweden had compulsory military conscription. Peasants were recruited to fight in wars. The nobles were responsible for providing military expenses and hiring some foreign soldiers to supplement the military.
However, Sweden's fragile finances could not support the maintenance of the army, so it had to be disbanded after the war. During peacetime, only a few dozen soldiers were stationed in major cities.
But Gustavus I was particularly fond of fighting. As soon as he had money, he would attack local nobles, looting the nobles to make up for military expenses, and at the same time centralize power.
The nobles also had limited money, so they could only exploit the peasants.
Six years ago, farmers bombed and the two-year-long "Dak Uprising" broke out. The peasant rebel army was eventually suppressed and the farmer leader Niels Dak was quartered, but this civil war consumed five members of the Swedish royal family.
annual fiscal revenue.
In order to alleviate public anger, Gustavus I announced military reforms, changing compulsory conscription into voluntary enlistment.
Every ten young and middle-aged peasants must perform semi-permanent military service, farm in their spare time, and fight in wartime. These semi-professional soldiers are tax-free for life and are supported by farmers across the country. As a result, farmers are still generally poor, but Sweden's semi-professional soldiers
They quickly became powerful, and they were eager to gain more benefits through war.
Similar to the Swedish version of the farming and war system, after destroying the domestic nobles, the king must choose to expand outwards. It is almost the officers and soldiers who push him to expand.
Wang Ji landed at the Stockholm pier. Businessmen and citizens fled one after another, while the queen and prince organized troops to defend the castle.
Prince Eric of Sweden is only fourteen years old this year, but he is a genius. He has studied mathematics, music, history, astronomy and the art of war since he was a child.
Historically, after Eric succeeded as king, he carried out major reforms to the Swedish military system. Unfortunately, this guy seemed to be suffering from mental illness. He was cruel and suspicious, and made enemies everywhere. In the end, everyone deserted him and was imprisoned for life by the Parliament. Some people speculated that he was imprisoned.
During this period he was poisoned to death.
It is also possible that he is not crazy, because he was betrayed by vested interests as he carried out in-depth reforms, and was overthrown by his stepmother and his brothers.
Fourteen-year-old Prince Eric actually seemed very excited when facing the enemy's invasion of the capital.
He had learned the art of war since he was a child, and it finally came in handy today.
This guy boarded the castle, commanded the defense in a serious manner, and ordered his stepmother not to interfere indiscriminately.
The queen was very angry at her stepson's rudeness. She took her two sons back to the room, packed up her belongings, and was ready to run away at any time.
Historically, the Teutonic Knights fought against the archbishop. The knights sought help from Russia, and the archbishop sought support from Poland. The archbishop was overthrown by Russia and sold his territory in exchange for Polish protection. The other bishop defected to Denmark. The King of Sweden and Eric
The prince originally didn't want to get involved in bad things, but when the king died, the Grand Duke of Finland, who was born to his stepmother, sent troops without authorization.
The First Northern War began, and Russia, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, and the Teutonic Knights were all involved. Prince Eric, who had just come to power, was deceived by his stepmother and two younger brothers.
At this moment, Prince Eric, who was only fourteen years old, put on his armor and climbed up to the city tower in person. He shouted sternly: "Stupid bandits, you unexpectedly attacked and invaded the Swedish capital. If you don't withdraw your troops immediately, God and the sword in my hand will punish you severely."
you!"
The Danish official sent by Wang Ji to speak replied: "His Majesty, the King of Denmark, severely reprimanded your country for its betrayal. The two countries had formed an alliance five years ago. Why did your country suddenly invade Norway?"
This is indeed an unethical thing done by Sweden. If it unilaterally breaks the treaty, it will be despised.
Prince Eric argued: "Sweden has only formed an alliance with Denmark, not Norway. Invading Norway does not constitute betrayal of an ally."
Danish officials said angrily: "The King of Denmark, who is also the King of Norway, invades Norway, which is the same as invading Denmark! You surrender immediately, otherwise we will destroy Stockholm!"
"Archery!" Prince Eric sneered.
Sweden only has crossbowmen, not archers, because the cost of archers is too high.
Nearly five hundred crossbow arrows were fired. The Danish officials were so frightened that they quickly retreated and went back to meet Wang Ji: "Your Majesty, the other party refuses to surrender!"
Wang Ji smiled and said: "Fire!"
Dozens of warships were bombarding the castle, but because they were far away, their accuracy could only be misguided.
"Boom boom boom boom!"
Countless shells fell, but most of them hit residential buildings, and the citizens of Stockholm wailed.
Prince Eric finally began to be frightened. He murmured to himself: "Crazy, he actually fought like this. How rich is the King of Denmark?"
The later Stockholm Castle was built by the grandson of Gustav I. The castle at this time was located near the parliament hall and was an antique from hundreds of years ago. No matter how much it was repaired, it was just like that.
After a burst of shelling, several areas of damage had appeared, and the Swedish soldiers were so frightened that they all hid.
The distance is too far, and continuing the bombardment will probably have no effect.
Wang Ji ordered ten ship-borne guns to be dismantled and carried to the city to find suitable gun positions. However, there were too many buildings nearby, and it seemed that they would be blocked wherever they were placed.
Zhou Fei pointed to the parliament hall: "Your Majesty, why not put the artillery on the roof?"
"Wonderful!"
After getting cables from the ship, Wang Ji ordered the parliament hall to be occupied. Hundreds of soldiers climbed to the top of the building and worked together to pull the artillery up.
Set up a cannon on the roof of the parliament hall and hit wherever you want.
"fire!"
"Boom boom boom!"
Prince Eric almost cried. This is different from the art of war I learned. How can anyone bully someone like this?
The amount of ammunition used by the three Nordic countries combined in hundreds of years of war cannot match the cannonballs fired by Wang Ji in a few minutes.
The old castle, which is about the same age as Genghis Khan, was not very strong to begin with. Faced with the continuous bombardment of ship-borne rifled guns, a section of the city wall collapsed in less than ten minutes.
Moreover, when it came to building the castle, the Swedish king was very poor, and its defensive properties were almost the same as those of Chinese earth buildings.
One city wall collapsed, and there was no second wall inside. Zhou Fei led his troops to rush in directly.
"Form up to meet the enemy!"
Prince Eric had withdrawn to the cloisters with his soldiers, trying to prevent the enemy from occupying the castle.
The Swedish army before the reform was very nonsense. An infantry company of five to six hundred people had less than ten melee soldiers, and the rest were all long-range troops. This is exactly the opposite of Denmark and Norway. Denmark and Norway have a lot of axemen and crossbows.
Hands are a rare type of weapon.
Eight halberdiers protect the prince.
Five hundred crossbowmen and more than a dozen matchlock soldiers began to form formations and prepare to shoot at Zhou Fei.
Upon seeing this, Zhou Fei immediately took a few steps back and ordered: "Everyone aims at it and fires at will."
It has the advantages of strength, range, and rate of fire. It is difficult to lose this kind of battle.
There was a burst of gunfire, and the Swedish soldiers collapsed, putting down their weapons one after another and choosing to surrender.
Prince Eric stood there stupidly. The art of war he learned from his father was not like this, and his father had never taught him how to deal with a large-scale firearms force.
"Your Majesty, we caught a few people and they wanted to escape through the small door on the side!"
The Queen of Sweden, her two biological princes and a princess were brought to Wang Ji, trembling all over.
Wang Ji curled his lips, it was really difficult to kill him easily.
This queen is the king's second wife. She is not yet thirty years old. Her biological eldest son is only ten years old. The remaining two sons and one daughter are children who do not understand anything.
Before Wang Ji could say anything, the queen shouted in horror: "Don't kill me, I know where the king's treasure is!"