Subsection 3: Estonia (Battle of Järve)
In 1721, Polliet and The Cossack Hetmanate had officially dropped out of the Germanic Wars as per the Treaty of Berlin, although manpower went to Sweden for the duration of the war. Charles XII had brought his forces back to the Peninsula to resist the intense focus of Britain, Prussia, and newly liberated Denmark.
One Regiment left in Swedish Estonia, the Estland Livregementets husarer(lit. Estonian Life Regiment Hussars) was left behind to defend the Baltic land against Russia. The ELRH became famous during the Battle of Järve (1721).
Russian forces, over the course of the war, had seized Ingria and Karelia, symbolically razing Narva to the ground. Russians were making major inroads on Finland proper and Estonia.
The Estland Livregementets husarer was stationed in Järve, and received word of Ingrian capitulation and Russian Army pillages. Word of the Rape, burning, and plundering reaches ear of ELRH commander Carl Gustav Armfeldt, and lit a fire in the man’s soul [1A]. An Ingrian, Armfeldt’s hatred of Russians became an undying passion, proclaiming if the Russian army wanted to march into Swedish Estonia, “They would need the power of the fiery sun itself to defeat my forces” (Sieges and battles of History III, p.176).
Carl Gustav Armfeldt: Badass
As Russian forces approached the city, Armfeldt positioned his men in a wall in the centre of the Town. Armfeldt sent several messages, to Tallinn, Riga, Stockholm, and Helsinki, begging for reinforcements to replace himself and his ‘lost’ regiment. Mikhail Golitsyn offered for the Swedes to capitulate and ‘Save you some men’. Armfeldt responded with “Well, if these are mere men, than you have brought mice to this, our last encounter” (Sieges and Battles of History III, p. 178).
Mikhail quite nearly strangled his messenger. He ordered his forces to charge. Armfeldt 'retreated' to the walls of the city, where he used urban combat to his advantage. While the Russians were only just adopting the Wheelock pistol, the Swedish had that and traditional swords to combat. As fighting dragged from dawn till dusk, often hand-to-hand, Golitsyn was stabbed several times in the chest. Before Russians could carry away his body, Armfeldt stood over it gazed down, and laughed. With that, a stray bullet struck the Swede below the spinal chord, in the tail bone[1B].
By the end of the battles, All the Swedes, and most of the Russian forces had perished in smoke and dust arisen from the fight. Though the Russian force of over 9000 [2] beat the 1400 Swedes stationed in Järve, they were leaderless, lost a good 2000 men, and were sure Swedish forces would be coming soon. Russian progress slowed, and was finally halted by the end of the war.
This Battle marked the end of Russian attacks on Sweden before the Crisis of Moscow. *Demitri Mikhaylovich would use this, his father’s death in his manifesto as the thing that pushed him to Radical groups [3].
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Well, I've been busy lately, so yeah. I hope this is acceptable for such a long wait.
1a.From this point on has been cluttered by popcultural osmosis ITTL. A Dramatic retelling of the Battle of Järve has become so popular, many accept it as the truth, ie George Washington's 'I cannot tell a lie'
1b. And so our story ends, although ITTL: Mikhail is stabbed through the throat, and struggles around until Armfeldt finds him. Armfeldt spits on Mikhail, and bids him 'Adieu', and walks away. A Russian soldier proceeded to assault Armfeldt. Glorious...
2....Teehee...Statistics taken from Armfeldt and Golitsyn's other meeting
3. Foreshadowing. I love it ^^.
In 1721, Polliet and The Cossack Hetmanate had officially dropped out of the Germanic Wars as per the Treaty of Berlin, although manpower went to Sweden for the duration of the war. Charles XII had brought his forces back to the Peninsula to resist the intense focus of Britain, Prussia, and newly liberated Denmark.
One Regiment left in Swedish Estonia, the Estland Livregementets husarer(lit. Estonian Life Regiment Hussars) was left behind to defend the Baltic land against Russia. The ELRH became famous during the Battle of Järve (1721).
Russian forces, over the course of the war, had seized Ingria and Karelia, symbolically razing Narva to the ground. Russians were making major inroads on Finland proper and Estonia.
The Estland Livregementets husarer was stationed in Järve, and received word of Ingrian capitulation and Russian Army pillages. Word of the Rape, burning, and plundering reaches ear of ELRH commander Carl Gustav Armfeldt, and lit a fire in the man’s soul [1A]. An Ingrian, Armfeldt’s hatred of Russians became an undying passion, proclaiming if the Russian army wanted to march into Swedish Estonia, “They would need the power of the fiery sun itself to defeat my forces” (Sieges and battles of History III, p.176).
Carl Gustav Armfeldt: Badass
As Russian forces approached the city, Armfeldt positioned his men in a wall in the centre of the Town. Armfeldt sent several messages, to Tallinn, Riga, Stockholm, and Helsinki, begging for reinforcements to replace himself and his ‘lost’ regiment. Mikhail Golitsyn offered for the Swedes to capitulate and ‘Save you some men’. Armfeldt responded with “Well, if these are mere men, than you have brought mice to this, our last encounter” (Sieges and Battles of History III, p. 178).
Mikhail quite nearly strangled his messenger. He ordered his forces to charge. Armfeldt 'retreated' to the walls of the city, where he used urban combat to his advantage. While the Russians were only just adopting the Wheelock pistol, the Swedish had that and traditional swords to combat. As fighting dragged from dawn till dusk, often hand-to-hand, Golitsyn was stabbed several times in the chest. Before Russians could carry away his body, Armfeldt stood over it gazed down, and laughed. With that, a stray bullet struck the Swede below the spinal chord, in the tail bone[1B].
By the end of the battles, All the Swedes, and most of the Russian forces had perished in smoke and dust arisen from the fight. Though the Russian force of over 9000 [2] beat the 1400 Swedes stationed in Järve, they were leaderless, lost a good 2000 men, and were sure Swedish forces would be coming soon. Russian progress slowed, and was finally halted by the end of the war.
This Battle marked the end of Russian attacks on Sweden before the Crisis of Moscow. *Demitri Mikhaylovich would use this, his father’s death in his manifesto as the thing that pushed him to Radical groups [3].
---------
Well, I've been busy lately, so yeah. I hope this is acceptable for such a long wait.
1a.From this point on has been cluttered by popcultural osmosis ITTL. A Dramatic retelling of the Battle of Järve has become so popular, many accept it as the truth, ie George Washington's 'I cannot tell a lie'
1b. And so our story ends, although ITTL: Mikhail is stabbed through the throat, and struggles around until Armfeldt finds him. Armfeldt spits on Mikhail, and bids him 'Adieu', and walks away. A Russian soldier proceeded to assault Armfeldt. Glorious...
2....Teehee...Statistics taken from Armfeldt and Golitsyn's other meeting
3. Foreshadowing. I love it ^^.