The Scandinavian - Hanseatic War of Heresy
October 31 1511 - June 13 1519
Part One:
The Scandinavian - Hanseatic War was the bloodiest war in Danish history and would have disastrous consequences.
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The war began upon the coronation of Emperor Erik, recently having come of age to lead the Scandinavian Empire in his own right. Scandinavia had long sought after the opportunity to go to war with Hansa and capture its rich territories every since their betrayal of Scandinavia some decades ago. Hansa's profession of Reformed Catholicism was just the excuse Scandinavia needed to attack the Republic. Scandinavia declared war on All Hallow's Eve in commemoration of the works of the Christian Saints that was now being undone by the reformation.
Alone Scandinavia outmatched the Hanseatic League. Hansa was allies with the Anti-Papacy in Munster, also professing Reformed Catholicism, and the Kingdom of Holland. With all of those allies Scandinavia could still have went to war and comfortably fought the Hanseatics alone, even if Great Britain and Lithuania insisted on taking part in the conflict. The one thing that Scandinavia did not account for was the Kingdom of Hesse, currently the seat of the Holy Roman Empire.
Bohemia's sovereigns had held the title of Holy Roman Emperor for generations and had used this title to form a massive empire. It had appeared as though Bohemia would retain the title forever until the unthinkable occurred, the Reformation. Bohemia's inability to deal with the reformation had lead to their losing of the crown of the Empire. With Bohemia gone there was some debate on who should succeed them. The top two contenders, the Kingdom of Austria and Burgundy, battled for influence over the crown and the electors. This conflict almost brought the two nations to the brink of war. This war was averted with the election of a tertiary, neutral, candidate: Hesse. The Kingdom of Hesse was a rather powerful state, but even within the Holy Roman Empire it was rarely ranked above the level of "regional" power. It was expected that Hesse would later lose the crown in the next election to either Austria or Burgundy. So when Scandinavia invaded the Hansa, they were not expected the Catholic Kingdom of Hesse, new to the throne and firmly set in the secondary leagues, to go to war with them. They were
wrong.
Erik sent general Alfred Hahn personally lead a regiment of 12,000 soldiers to Holstein. He was not expected to do battle with the enemy, just to hold position while Erik lead a much larger host of men from the capital to attack the Hansa. Because of this he was unprepared when Statthalter Valentin lead a far larger host to invade the Holstein. Caught completely unprepared, Alfred and the entire Scandinavian army was routed in a matter of days.
With the loss of the entire army, Erik decided not to make landfall on mainland Denmark and waited out the conflict. Valentin was not alone, tens of thousands of Hesse, Munster, and Dutch soldiers poured into the region. The Holstein fell in 56 days, Slesvig in 24, and Jylland in 45.
Erik watched this play out safe in the capital, protected by a vast navy of ships. Seeing how the war had turned against him so quickly he decided to bide his time. The Kingdom of Hesse was willing to return to the status quo, but Erik wasn't. The war wasn't finished, not yet. He wanted Lubeck's territories. Eventually both Munster and Holland would agree to a peace believing the conflict was over. With their retreat Slesvig and Jylland were returned to the Scandinavians, this was the moment where Erik struck.
Leading an army of 15,000 of Scandinavia's finest soldiers he crossed the Baltic sea to attack the entrenched positions of Statthalter Valentin in Slesvig. Due to unfavorable weather, crossing a sea, and attacking a fortified position the battle ended with a Scandinavian defeat, this was obvious from the very beginning. Erik didn't want to defeat the Statthalter, he wanted to weaken him. He succeeded, though at the cost of over 20,000 lives.
Erik fled to Jylland, where he was able to recover over the next few months. In June he was ready to try again, this time scoring a massive victory over the Hanseatics, who still felt the effects of the last offensive.
Erik pursued the fleeing remnant army of Valentin to Holstein, where he completely routed Valentin's army. By a stroke of dumb luck, the Statthalter himself managed to flee.
Erik then besieged the province, liberating it in just four months. With Scandinavia free from foreign occupation Erik marched towards Lubeck, the seat of the Hanseatic League. The city was only lightly defended by a small regiment of soldiers as Valentin had not yet been able to regroup his forces. Easily sweeping those soldiers aside Erik laid siege to the trading center. Eventually Erik overcame the cities defenses and captured it, but not before over 200 days had passed and all of the mainland holdings were once again under siege.
Once Erik had began to move towards Holstein an army of 18,000 Hessian troops appeared in his path. In a panic, Erik halted his advance and returned to Lubeck. Another 16,000 Hessians arrived in Hamburg. In a sense of the word, he was surrounded. Erik could not move from Lubeck, not without causing serious harm to his unit and dooming it to defeat. Faced with an impossible situation, Erik sent word to Magnus Wrangel, leader of the Finnish Regiment (and the only other significant force in Scandinavia proper), to come to the mainland and relieve his forces from what would certainly be complete destruction. Wrangel, fearing for his Emperor's welfare, immediately began the months long trek to Slesvig.
Upon arrival Wrangel was able to defeat a Hessian army and make moves towards Erik's forces. Time, however, was already beginning to run out. Erik had just defended against an army of Hessians. If he was in home territory, Erik could replenish his forces, but here in Lubeck reinforcements came slowly. Left with no choice, Erik moved to Hamburg.
Hamburg was defended by General Wenzel Pollnau, an intimidating nobleman. The two armies clashed, but even battered Erik was able to defeat Wenzel's forces. As Wenzel fled to Holstein, Erik pursued and routed the unit entirely. With Magnus right above him in Slesvig, Erik set out to meet up with the second army.
While Erik moved north he was forced into battle with the pursuing Hessian Army. This army, unlike the others, was headed by the Holy Roman Emperor himself, Ludwig II von Hessen. Desperately, after the egagement began Erik tried to flee. Tried to meet up with Magnus. After a weeks worth of fighting he fled to Slesvig after a devastating defeat to Scandinavia. It was at this moment where Hesse would no longer accept a return to the status quo.