The Rise of the European Emperor

Inside the Royal Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark, there is a gloomy cloud. At this time, the Kingdom of Denmark has reached the moment of life and death...

"My dear gentlemen, what can you do? The Kalmar Union is at stake, what can the gentlemen teach me?" Hans, the once mighty Danish king, was now in a state of utter dread and no one at all.

"Hmph, Thomason, it's your fault for bewitching Your Majesty to provoke East Frisian counties. Now, their revenge is coming!" The War Minister Simonsen and the Navy Minister Thomason have always been at odds. So, with a mouth, Simonson put the pot on Thomason's head...

Where would Thomason be happy? Wasn't it a unanimous decision to send a fleet to scare East Frisian and extort...

"If your army wasn't too bad, we would have lost the Principality of Holstein and the Principality of Schleswig?" Thomason couldn't help but retort.

"The army is too bad? My army has been put into the Swedish battlefield. How did I know that the little thief in Marin would join Lübeck and Hamburg to attack us? I would like to withdraw the main force, but now the Swedes and the glue Just stick to us, don't let us withdraw!"

Seeing that the two ministers were about to quarrel, King Hans immediately came to the rescue:

"Don't be arguing, two Aiqings, let's think of a way! We can't draw the army now, and the naval strength is less than half left. What do you think we should do now?"

"Your Majesty, I think that the enemy's next step will definitely be to unite the warships of the three families to destroy our remaining 80 warships. Therefore, I think that the remaining 80 warships should be retreated into Copenhagen Bay, Let the Army's artillery and projection vehicles protect them together." Admiral Thomasson thought for a while and said.

Now there are only 80 warships left in Denmark, and the opponent's warships add up to two hundred and dozens. If they fight recklessly, they will definitely not be their opponents. It is better to hide in Copenhagen Bay and protect them. If these 80 warships are gone, Denmark will immediately become a weak country at sea. Moreover, Copenhagen Bay is very peculiar. It is a long bay, like a wide canal, cutting Sealand. The warship retreated into Copenhagen Bay, as if hiding in a canal. Then, you can make full use of the catapults and the small number of artillery on both sides to protect the warships in the bay.

"What about on land? I can't just watch the enemy army take over all of my land, right?" King Hans said worriedly.

"Your Majesty, I also want to resist the enemy army. However, the enemy army has a total of 30,000 troops. Even if all the infantry on the Swedish battlefield are withdrawn, it will only be 15,000 people. If you fight face to face, you will not be the opponent's opponent. . That Marin, but relying on 10,000 troops to defeat the 26,000-strong army of the Principality of Saxony. What's more, now the Swedes are holding us firmly." Simonsen looked depressed.

"Is there no other way?" King Hans asked with dismay. If he was given a chance to do it all over again, he would definitely not choose to offend the evil star Marin. For the benefit of 100,000 gold coins, Denmark is in a dangerous situation.

"Your Majesty, I have some thoughts..." Foreign Minister Erickson stood up.

"Aiqing, speak quickly!" King Hans is now at the end of the road, and he doesn't want to let go of any possibility.

"Your Majesty, we can ask other countries for help!"

"For help? But now, who has the ability to save us?" said King Hans dejectedly.

"France, Your Majesty, France is the most powerful country in Europe! I am willing to go to France in person and ask the King of France to send troops to support Denmark."

"But, Aiqin, what reason does France have to rescue Denmark?" King Hans asked in confusion. There is no love for no reason in this world, and there is no hate for no reason. If you want someone to save you, you have to have an excuse to make them tempted.

"Your Majesty, I heard that the French once had a grudge against that Marin. The last king was defeated by Marin. Although, the current king and Marin have no major grudges.

However, I definitely don't want to see Marlin's little thief any better. "

"You mean to take advantage of the feud between France and the counties of East Friesland?" King Hans seemed to understand something.

"Yes, to exploit their feud. But that's not enough. We need to do something else. For example, to pay for their troops."

"There is no problem with this. As long as they are willing to send troops, I will be able to sell iron, and I will be satisfied."

"In addition, I remember that His Majesty once formed an alliance with the Grand Duchy of Moscow to deal with Sweden together..." Eriksson suddenly mentioned something.

"Yeah, how did I forget them..." King Hans suddenly realized.

In 1493, King Hans once allied with the Grand Duchy of Moscow and invited the Grand Duchy of Moscow to attack Sweden together from Finland to distract Sweden. Finally, in 1497, King Hans conquered Sweden, which had always been against him. Now, of course, Sweden is rebelling again...

"Yes, I also heard that the Grand Duchy of Moscow has a large number of troops. When they fought against the Golden Horde, they dispatched 200,000 troops!" Minister of War Simonsen also said with a pat on his head.

Indeed, when Ahei Ma Khan led an army to attack the Grand Duchy of Moscow, Ivan III had mobilized 200,000 troops across the country to confront Ai Ma Khan's army across the Ugra River.

Of course, most of the army of 200,000 people in the Grand Duchy of Moscow were peasants who were recruited by force. In the face of tens of thousands of Mongolian cavalry from the Golden Horde, the 200,000 troops of the Grand Duchy of Moscow did not dare to move. In the end, Ahei Mahan was frightened and withdrew. Otherwise, the Grand Duchy of Moscow will become a kingdom.

But outsiders don't know, plus Ivan III's own boasting, people think how powerful the Grand Duchy of Moscow is. As a result, the Danes chose to form an alliance with them and successfully conquered Sweden.

Now, when King Hans thinks about it, it seems that he can use the army of the Muscovites to contain the Swedish army. In this way, the Danish army can withdraw part of the ...

So, after sending Foreign Minister Eriksson to France for help, King Hans of Denmark also sent Deputy Foreign Minister Jansen to Moscow to ask Moscow to send troops to the east of Finland to help contain the Swedish resistance. In return, King Hans allowed the Muscovites' army to loot the Finnish area...

When King Hans had arranged the foreign affairs, Chancellor Dawson stood up:

"Your Majesty, have you forgotten someone?"

"Who?"

"Your brother-in-law, Frederick III the Electoral Marquis!"

"He... This kid is not willing to give his life to help..." King Hans was a little unhappy. As his brother-in-law, when he was in distress, his brother-in-law actually only issued a statement that did not hurt or itch. What was the difference between him and no help?

"Your Majesty, I guess that the last defeat of the Duke of Saxony's army made the Lord Elector terrified..." Dorson said confidently.

"If that's the case, then what do you expect him to do?" King Hans said angrily.

"Your Majesty, as the Great Marquis, Lord Frederick III is still very useful. For example, he can help us recruit mercenaries."

"What do you mean?" King Hans seemed to think of something.

"Your Majesty, levy an additional war tax. If you don't levy it at this time, you may not have a chance in the future. As long as we have money, we can not only pay for the French reinforcements, but also use the money to invite Lord Frederick III. In the German region, recruit 10,000 or 20,000 mercenaries to participate in the defense, and prevent the enemy from easily ravaging our country!" Dawson said sincerely.

Speaking of which, Denmark's finances have been in good shape. However, in order to suppress Sweden's resistance, it cost a lot, and now there is not much left.

However, Dawson said that a batch of war taxes is a good idea. There are no ordinary regular taxes in this era in Europe, only commercial taxes and customs duties are regular taxes. And those nobles and businessmen usually do not have to pay taxes.

But there is a special case, that is, in the event of war, the king can convene a parliament and obtain the authorization of the parliament to levy a war tax to meet the needs of the war.

Usually, it is difficult to get the parliament to agree to impose additional taxes, and King Hans did not think of this for a while. But now it's different. If you don't think about it, Denmark may become a kingdom. In response, Jonathan, the Speaker of Parliament, who was present at the meeting, nodded solemnly and responded:

"Your Majesty, I will try my best to get this resolution passed by the parliament!"

...

In this way, after discussions, the Danish monarchs and ministers decided on three strategies: asking for help, raising taxes and hiring new mercenaries to deal with the desperate situation facing Denmark...