African Entrepreneurship Records

  Chapter 14 Kingdom Ambition

   It is impossible to stop, the heart of Prussia, everyone knows that Bismarck is about to complete the first step of a major achievement in his life.

  As long as the main Danish force on Ars Island is defeated, the Danes will lose the last bargaining chip in the war.

  June 29, Als Island Fjord.

  Als Island is located in the east of the Jutland Peninsula and is connected by the Alsfjord. The fjord is an extension of the Baltic Sea, and the waters of the fjord are not wide.

  The fjord between Als and Jutland is calm, and the sunny weather gives a wide view of the sea. Under favorable natural conditions, the Prussian army began to march on the island of Ars and tried to cross the fjord.

  Prussian engineers built pontoon bridges on the sea, and the people and weapons on the ferry in the bay began to board.

  With the roar of steam, the ferry headed towards Als Island. Thousands of sails competed, hundreds of boats competed, and the narrow Alsfjord was densely packed with ships.

  The Danish observers observed the sea surface through binoculars. The Prussians were driving towards the coast at a high speed. When they saw this scene, they immediately reported to the chief.

  The Danish army hastily retreated to the island of Als. Under the blow of successive defeats in the war, its morale was low, its organization was far from sufficient, and it was too late to build fortifications on the island of Als in a short period of time.

  The Danish army on the island could only use artillery to interfere with the Prussian landing forces. Sporadic artillery fire could not stop the determination of the Prussians.

  Under the cover of gunboats, thousands of Prussian troops easily landed on the coast of Als Island. The two sides began a fierce battle for the coast.

  Denmark can only rely on simple fortifications to block Prussia, but the Prussian artillery is being continuously transported from the rear through ships and pontoons.

  After the artillery support was in place, the landing Prussians launched an attack, and the Danes soon fell into chaos. The temporary fortifications were destroyed by Prussian artillery fire in just one round.

  As the Prussian infantry rushed to the Danish position, the demoralized Danish army raised the white flag after a little resistance.

  Als Island was the last large-scale battle between the coalition forces and Denmark. With the surrender of the defenders on Als Island, the Second Schleswig War came to an end.

   A few days later on July 3rd. The Battle of Lundby broke out, the coalition forces won, and Denmark lost all resistance.

  The Danish government had to sit at the negotiating table and negotiate with the German countries. As the loser of the war, the Danish government announced that it would give up resistance, and the Prussian and Austrian countries also stopped. All hostile actions on both sides stopped, and the war ended.

   On August 10, 1864, King Christian IX of Denmark signed a preliminary peace treaty, giving up his rights in the two duchies in favor of the Austrian Empire and the King of Prussia.

  In the Treaty of Vienna on October 30, Denmark ceded all these places to Austria and Prussia.

  Second Schleswig War.

Denmark's territory retreated 250 kilometers, lost 40% of its territory, and nearly 40% of its population. The total population decreased from 2.6 million to 1.6 million, including 200,000 Danes in the Schleswig area. Denmark is in Jutland The power on the peninsula has been greatly reduced.

Through this war, Prussia won the dominance of the Principality of Schleswig. The army began to station in the Schleswig area and took over the important port city of Kiel. The Kiel Canal is an important channel for the German region to bypass the Denmark Strait, greatly improving the Prussia's ability to go to sea.

  The Austrian Empire also acquired the Principality of Holstein in this war. The war ended with the victory of Pu-Austria, and the second Schleswig War came to an end.

  (end of this chapter)