Chapter 33
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Chapter 33: The Battle of Sennerburg
On December 20th, the final stage of the Battle of Sennerburg began, with the German coalition army of 47,000 facing off against the Danish defenders of 55,000. Prior to this, the German army had already captured Cenne, Süderbrarup, and Oeversee.
If Sennerburg falls, the Danish army will be completely expelled from the Schleswig-Holstein region.
To most people, the root of this war lies in the Schleswig-Holstein issue. If the Danes are driven out, the war should end, right?
The commander-in-chief of the German coalition forces, Marshal Wrangel, confidently declared:
"Capture Sennerburg, force Denmark’s surrender, and everyone can reunite with their families before Christmas."
The young soldiers were filled with joy upon the old marshal’s promise, while a few experienced veterans remained indifferent.
Liszt had long understood from experience not to fantasize about when a war would end. By not believing the old marshal’s tales, disappointment would be avoided. If the war did unexpectedly end before Christmas, it should be seen as a pleasant surprise, but one should not get too excited as there may be another one.
For the Ninth Division’s Dragon Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, there was both bad news and good news.
The good news is that Princess Erika Mia has left to inspect the artillery unit. Liszt feels relieved that he no longer has to serve this important person. It’s inconvenient for a girl to be in the military camp… Although the princess is friendly, it’s nerve-wracking to be around her.
The bad news is that Princess Erika Mia has left, and the Ninth Division of the Defense Army has been assigned to the first wave of the attack. The Dragon Cavalry Reconnaissance Squad is also dismounting to join as skirmishers. If the princess were still here, the higher-ups wouldn’t have ordered us to do such dangerous tasks.
"Boys, this is your first major battle. Don’t be nervous. As skirmishers, we won’t be targeted by the enemy’s firearms; we’ll only be targeted by their cavalry. The horsemen’s swords come quickly, and you’ll hardly feel anything before you die. Don’t worry about the pain."
"After the battle, remember to pick up your own heads if possible."
"Oh, by the way, did you guys get health insurance? Those with insurance go ahead."
Captain Liszt told a few jokes to his subordinates, making the soldiers burst into laughter. Beside them were the Austrian troops standing in line, unable to understand the Prussian sense of humor.
The sound of whizzing started filling the sky. Everyone looked up, and a few seconds later, they heard a series of dull cannons firing, indicating that the battle was about to begin…
"Captain, how many cannons do you think they’ve gathered?"
"With so many cannons bombing, we won’t even have to go into battle. The Danes should surrender."
"With big cannons, there’s nothing to worry about for us soldiers."
Liszt was looking up at the sky, bombs kept on passing over his head. He estimated there were around three to four hundred cannons, maybe even five hundred.
This was much less intense than the siege of Crimea. Half a year ago, the European coalition bombarded Sevastopol with over a thousand cannons, but it had little effect.
Liszt stopped looking at the sky and started explaining to the soldiers. He said that shell bullets with sparks were not very effective. The solid ones we are using now don’t produce sparks and have very little impact on fortifications.
Don’t relax; get ready for battle. These old weapons from decades ago aren’t very useful.
"Lieutenant, why do shell bullets produce sparks?"
"Have you seen a wine cork? The fuse of a shell bullet is like a big wine cork. It’s lit before firing, and when it lands, it explodes as the cork burns down."
"Lieutenant, we haven’t had wine before…"
"Then show me your bravery on the battlefield. If you earn an Iron Cross, the bonus will be enough to buy some wine."
Liszt took off the knight’s iron cross from the collar of his military uniform, waved it in front of everyone, then took out a small box from his pocket and carefully placed it back inside.
Wait, wait for the attack orders to be given.
The soldiers went from being excited and thrilled at the beginning to quickly becoming anxious and uneasy. The constant sound of shells passing over their heads was really annoying, and the continuous distant artillery fire was disturbing their state of mind.
Their formation became a bit loose, with many people nervously fidgeting and feeling very tense.
Liszt paid no attention, he stood straight in front of everyone, his gaze fixed on the nearby Ninth Division.
The main troops started to move, Liszt raised his sword and shouted, "Forward!"
The soldiers of the Dragon Cavalry Reconnaissance Company nervously swallowed their saliva, following their captain step by step. The snow from the past few days had not yet melted, covering their ankles. They listened to the sounds of their footsteps in the snow, feeling even more restless and fearful.
Suppressing, suppressing to the extreme.
They were all new recruits who enlisted for the Danish-Prussian War, with an average age of only 22. Although they had carried out many reconnaissance missions and even engaged in two minor battles during this time, the feeling of reconnaissance was completely different from the current battlefield.
The bombs kept falling overhead, and everyone was worried that they might be hit by mistake by their own allies. The Danish cannons hadn’t started firing yet, and they were concerned about how to handle the incoming bombs.
On the left side, the majority of the Ninth Division’s troops, over seven thousand soldiers in black coats, marched forward in orderly lines. Occasionally, some soldiers tried to flee but were caught and brought back by officers.
The reconnaissance team began to hear crying sounds.
Liszt noticed some strange noises behind him. He kept walking forward steadily and glanced back, only to see some soldiers in his team starting to cry.
"We’re far from the enemy, why cry now? Save your tears for later."
It was over a thousand meters from the starting point to the first defense line of the Danish army. It would take about ten minutes to reach the fighting range at a normal pace.
"Bang! Bang!"
The faint sound of cannons came from the Danish position, startling the soldiers in the reconnaissance team. Liszt told them to stay calm and not worry about their own safety.
It was the sound of short-barreled mortars, and the bombs were flying quite slowly, giving them a chance to dodge once they saw them. Besides, the Danish wouldn’t shell them, as they were just a small group of around a hundred soldiers.
Hmm, the Denmark people’s cannonballs are flying towards the large group, and the densely packed infantry line is the main target.
The soldiers all turned their heads to see the situation of the large group.
Those unlucky ones hit directly by solid iron balls are in bad luck. In one line at the edge of the large group, someone was hit by a cannonball, yes, hit and gone.
The figure of that unlucky one disappeared instantly from everyone’s sight, the big iron ball almost came straight down and turned him into a mess.
Because the reconnaissance team was more than three hundred meters away from the large group, everyone couldn’t see clearly. It was the people in that line who were scared, especially a few soldiers near the unlucky one who were scared to collapse mentally, screaming and pushing others to run away, causing chaos in the whole line. The military police rushed over to restore order.
Liszt sighed helplessly, telling his soldiers not to look around, but to focus on what’s ahead.
The Ninth Division of the Defense Army was not like this before. The Ninth Division was a regular army, but before the war started, all the veterans were transferred elsewhere, leaving only new recruits at the grassroots level.
Now the combat effectiveness of the Ninth Division is not much different from the Austrian army they encountered a few days ago, even worse.
The Prussian army was getting closer to the Danish defensive line. Mortars and 3-pound cannons were firing from their front line positions. The Prussian troops watched as the artillery fire erupted, the iron balls flew over, and the unlucky ones were killed by the impact.
Closer, the Danish people on the high hill also started firing their six-pound cannons, using grape shot which is a type of shotgun shell, very effective against line infantry as long as they are close enough.
The majority of the troops were collapsing, the gendarmes and officers running around trying to maintain order, causing a lot of confusion.
Liszt’s reconnaissance platoon did not face any attacks, but their morale was almost broken by the collapsing troops. Liszt shouted for everyone to go kill the Danish people, and the soldiers’ emotions gradually shifted from extreme fear to anger.
Across a straight distance of seventeen hundred meters with no cover, the Ninth Division of the Defense Army marched forward and were hit by cannon fire and bullets, dying all the way without even encountering the enemy, leaving over eight hundred bodies on the battlefield.
The main troops had reached a distance of one hundred and fifty meters from the enemy defense line, with more intense enemy gunfire and higher killing power, but the Prussian military officers did not order the soldiers to fire.
They couldn’t stop shooting back because the enemy had breastworks and low trenches, stopping to shoot back would be pointless.
They couldn’t charge in loose formation, they had to advance in tight formation, because if they ordered these new recruits to spread out, they would immediately flee and be completely uncontrollable.
They couldn’t advance in a running pace, because if they ordered a run, the new recruits wouldn’t control their pace or formation, they would sprint ahead in a chaotic manner, quickly tire out, and then be slaughtered by the Danish people in hand-to-hand combat.
Courage and order are everything.
On the battlefield, with steady steps and in neat lines, the soldiers walked towards the enemy despite the chaos of gunfire. They faced casualties and watched their comrades fall one by one. It may seem foolish, but in those times, this was how wars were fought.
Liszt saw that the morale of the troops was crumbling. The new soldiers could not handle their fear and more and more of them started to run away in disarray.
They were only a hundred meters away from the enemy’s position and they couldn’t wait any longer. They had to order a full charge or else the morale would completely collapse.
"Ninth Division! Charge!!!"
His frantic shout echoed in the noisy battlefield as Liszt, leading the reconnaissance unit, dashed towards the enemy’s position from the flank.
"Ah! Ah!!!!"
One by one, terrified soldiers turned into rage and started to move forward. The officers of the Ninth Division raised their swords high and led the charge. Many of them threw off their black winter coats, revealing the Prussian blue uniforms underneath.
The Danish army scattered countless sharp objects in front of their position. They had a steel mill in the city of Sennerburg they were defending, so there was an abundance of iron shavings and slag. These sharp objects were covered by the deep snow, and the Prussian army, caught up in their fervent charge, paid no attention to them.
Liszt stumbled as he felt something under his foot. Looking down, he saw that he had stepped on something sharp, poking through his boot and sock. Luckily, he wasn’t bleeding. He felt fortunate.
Liszt held up his sword and shouted for his soldiers to stop, blocking them from advancing. He asked everyone to lay their winter coats on the ground to create a path.
The scout team could take a break, but the main army couldn’t stop.
Many people were injured or killed by traps, but even more soldiers stepped on the bodies of those in front and charged towards the Denmark fortifications.
"Hurry up and clear a path, we need to quickly support the main army," Liszt urged his soldiers.
The first line of defense at the Denmark fortifications was a one-meter-high wall, behind which there was a shallow trench of about thirty centimeters. Liszt noticed this gap in the defense line caused by artillery fire, and warned the soldiers to watch out for uneven ground when jumping in to avoid spraining their ankles.
However, the Denmark fortifications were poorly constructed, with wooden sandbag walls easily knocked down by angry Prussian soldiers. The soldiers were forced into close combat due to these darn walls, wishing they could have engaged in long-range shooting over several hundred meters instead.
The Prussian soldiers in blue and the Denmark soldiers in black were mixed together on the battlefield. By the time Liszt and his men charged, the entire area had turned into a chaotic melee, with soldiers bearing ferocious expressions resembling wild animals. Some even resorted to biting to tear flesh from their enemies.
Liszt climbed over the wall and fatally stabbed an enemy soldier facing away from him, then noticed a trembling Denmark sergeant.
The Denmark sergeant was surrounded by over a hundred scout soldiers, trembling and barely able to hold his sword steady. He said, "Let’s have a one-on-one duel."
"Die, you scum!" Liszt pulled out his pistol and swiftly ended the lives of the dogs.
The chaos of the large-scale melee battle was unbearable. Liszt didn’t know if his own side was winning or losing, or how far his flanking maneuver was from the main battle line. He simply took advantage of any weak spots with his soldiers, attacking small groups of Denmark men and avoiding larger gatherings.
Liszt focused on achieving victories with his small unit, ignoring the overall outcome of the battle. That was his mercenary mission.
"Lieutenant, listen!" Liszt suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.
From the north came shouts, like the braying of donkeys, the sound of Denmark reserves advancing.
Liszt climbed to a higher vantage point and saw the approaching Denmark reserve of four or five thousand from the northern city. Turning back, he noticed his own Austrian troops still idle at their starting point over a thousand meters away.
Who knew when the battle commander would commit the reserves, or if he would at all. The Ninth Division’s assault was likely doomed to failure, with the main forces possibly meeting a tragic fate on the battlefield.
"Do you see those enemies to the east? Let’s charge at them!" Liszt shouted, leading his troops towards the edge of the battlefield to avoid the oncoming Denmark reserves.
Liszt didn’t lead his troops in retreat; instead, he led them to occupy the flank of the battlefield.
