The northern front: The swedish heir Charles Gustav was sent to Livonia together with 12,000 men to move south into Courland and help Poland. King Charles XII landed with 35,000 men at Stralsund and intended to strike at Berlin. Prussia had mobilised two strong armies and intended to link up with Austria and defeat Poland. The new king Fredrick II would lead the army to face the poles with 55,000 men. General Berlin would face Charles XII with 40,000 men.
Austria moved an army under general Shumascher to link up with the prussians. It counted 30,000 men.
Poland had learnt a thing of two from the previous war and tried to make their soldiers better. They had started an experiment and tried and failed to implement the swedish karolinersystem. They mobilised a army of 70,000 men led by king Stanisław Leszczyński to stop the prussians and Austrians.
Charles XII belived he had the same swedish force he had 40 years ago, he forgott that just as he grew older so did his army and his force lacked the veterans from the Great Nordic war. Many of them was dead in unmarked graves and many more were mustered out as they werent fit for military service anymore. Charles himself was 58 years and showing signs of old age. The swedish army had training but hadnt fought a war for 15 years and nobody knew exactly what to expect from it.
Charles moved from Stralsund in September. His opponent General Berlin stood at Wolgast so Charles moved towards him. Charles tried to manouver past Berlin, but on the 25th of September the first skirmishes began as the cavallery screens bumped into eachother at Torgelow and both armies gathered there.
General Berlin positioned his cavallery on his right flank and had built up fortifications to shield his position. Charles sent 2 regiments of infantry and 2 squadrons of cavallery to manouver south of the prussian army and attack them in the flank. During that time the swedish artillery opened up to shield the advance. Berlin reacted when he saw the threat and weakened his center to meat the new threat because he thought Charles would make the strongest attack to his left. Unfortunally for Berlin Charles had other plans and had the infantry charge the center. On the swedish came in the old karolinerfashion(pikes was now gone from the swedish army, the last pikeformation had left the swedish army in 1722) with attacking the enemy head on and not fire until the last second. It had worked many times before, and it worked now. The swedes advanced throught the prussian bombardment and shot one wolley at point blank range and then threw themselves at the prussian center. Then Charles unleashed the cavallery, most against the prussian cavallery, but some against the center. General Berlin now realised he had been tricked and had the left wing weakened since the attack there had not materialised. Berlin retreated after a few hours, but Charles army was to tired to follow. It had been a costly battle, Sweden lost 2,400 men dead or wounded plust 100 men captured. Berlin lost 9,000 men dead or wounded plus 1/3 of the artillery and 2000 men captured. Most importantly, the swedish army had shown that it was almost as good as the men at Narva.
Fredrick II of Prussia had during that time moved his force into Poland towards Posen to link up with the Austrian army and then move toward the polish capital. King Stanislaw himself led the main polish army of 60,000 men moving to stop such a event taking place. Fredrick II upon hearing about the battle of Torgelow a week after it had happened had to divert 15,000 men to face Charles and stop him from taking the capital. This however left him with 40,000 men to face Poland. The prussian king was a better tactician and strategist than the king of Poland and reached Posen fastest. The austrian army led by general Schumascher was at Breslau when the poles arrived on October the 10th. October 11 saw rain as both sides tried to figure out what do to. October 12 Stanislaw struck. He opened with a bombardment that wasnt to effective since the rain had made the ground muddy. Fredrick was cool and waited for the poles to come to him. Around noon the polish infantry struck at the prussian center.
They had trained in the karolinerfashion and tried to use the same tactic, unfortunally they were less disciplined that the swedish army and were stopped cold by accurate prussian defensive fire. The poles began showing signs of collapsing. Then the polish king rode forward and calmed the troops down and led another charge.
This attack was even more disatrous for the poles as king Stanislaw was hit and thrown of his horse and had to be carried wounded of the field. The polish attacks faltered and then Fredrick counterattacked and the polish army melted away only saved by darkness. Prussia lost 2,000 men, Poland lost 10,000 men dead or wounded and 5,500 men POW. King Stanislaw is revealed not to badly injured. He is saved by a notebook that absorbed most of the impact of the bullet. He suffers a concousion and a broken arm from the fall of his horse but the leadership of the polish army goes even so to Fieldmarschal Walecha.
In Livonia Charles Gustav commanded 12,000 men and moved into Courland seeking to link up with a polish army(8,000 men) commanded by general Pipeka standing near East Pussia. Was like his father in the way that he liked to command a force, but unlike his father he didnt want to be in front of his troops leading an attack but rather stay behind and command the entire battle than just one section. During the same time as the poles and prussians faced eachother at Breslau the swedes and poles joined forces and Charles Gustav took command of the allied army and moved it towards Konigsberg. The movements were slow due to much rain and in late december they stopped arount 50 kms from Konigsberg by the endemi. The prussians had assembled a small army of 8,000 men to defend the province and Charles Gustav wanted to avoid a large battle in december and studied the enemy positions for a while before acting like his father had done during the polish campaign in the great nordic war. Charles Gustav moved his forces so that they surrounded the prussians from 3 directions and started a minisiege wanting to let hunger do its work.
War on the oceans: A week after war was declared the brittish royal navy in a daring operation sailed into the main port of the french atlantic fleet and destroyed a big portion of the fleet. September 11 a big transport fleet assembled to bring french reinforcements to other parts of the world was sunk before leaving port. Brittain now had the upper hand and used it. A brittish army counting 11,000 men was sent to brittish north America to be commanded by general Marshall. Another army(15,000 men) led by general Howe was sent to India.
War in the colonies: As soon as the word about the war spread around the world the forces defending different colonies was drawn up, but until New Year nothing major had happened.
The big joker: Russia was an undknown factor and nobody knew how they would act. Russia knew and they had plans on their own.
Austria moved an army under general Shumascher to link up with the prussians. It counted 30,000 men.
Poland had learnt a thing of two from the previous war and tried to make their soldiers better. They had started an experiment and tried and failed to implement the swedish karolinersystem. They mobilised a army of 70,000 men led by king Stanisław Leszczyński to stop the prussians and Austrians.
Charles XII belived he had the same swedish force he had 40 years ago, he forgott that just as he grew older so did his army and his force lacked the veterans from the Great Nordic war. Many of them was dead in unmarked graves and many more were mustered out as they werent fit for military service anymore. Charles himself was 58 years and showing signs of old age. The swedish army had training but hadnt fought a war for 15 years and nobody knew exactly what to expect from it.
Charles moved from Stralsund in September. His opponent General Berlin stood at Wolgast so Charles moved towards him. Charles tried to manouver past Berlin, but on the 25th of September the first skirmishes began as the cavallery screens bumped into eachother at Torgelow and both armies gathered there.
General Berlin positioned his cavallery on his right flank and had built up fortifications to shield his position. Charles sent 2 regiments of infantry and 2 squadrons of cavallery to manouver south of the prussian army and attack them in the flank. During that time the swedish artillery opened up to shield the advance. Berlin reacted when he saw the threat and weakened his center to meat the new threat because he thought Charles would make the strongest attack to his left. Unfortunally for Berlin Charles had other plans and had the infantry charge the center. On the swedish came in the old karolinerfashion(pikes was now gone from the swedish army, the last pikeformation had left the swedish army in 1722) with attacking the enemy head on and not fire until the last second. It had worked many times before, and it worked now. The swedes advanced throught the prussian bombardment and shot one wolley at point blank range and then threw themselves at the prussian center. Then Charles unleashed the cavallery, most against the prussian cavallery, but some against the center. General Berlin now realised he had been tricked and had the left wing weakened since the attack there had not materialised. Berlin retreated after a few hours, but Charles army was to tired to follow. It had been a costly battle, Sweden lost 2,400 men dead or wounded plust 100 men captured. Berlin lost 9,000 men dead or wounded plus 1/3 of the artillery and 2000 men captured. Most importantly, the swedish army had shown that it was almost as good as the men at Narva.
Fredrick II of Prussia had during that time moved his force into Poland towards Posen to link up with the Austrian army and then move toward the polish capital. King Stanislaw himself led the main polish army of 60,000 men moving to stop such a event taking place. Fredrick II upon hearing about the battle of Torgelow a week after it had happened had to divert 15,000 men to face Charles and stop him from taking the capital. This however left him with 40,000 men to face Poland. The prussian king was a better tactician and strategist than the king of Poland and reached Posen fastest. The austrian army led by general Schumascher was at Breslau when the poles arrived on October the 10th. October 11 saw rain as both sides tried to figure out what do to. October 12 Stanislaw struck. He opened with a bombardment that wasnt to effective since the rain had made the ground muddy. Fredrick was cool and waited for the poles to come to him. Around noon the polish infantry struck at the prussian center.
They had trained in the karolinerfashion and tried to use the same tactic, unfortunally they were less disciplined that the swedish army and were stopped cold by accurate prussian defensive fire. The poles began showing signs of collapsing. Then the polish king rode forward and calmed the troops down and led another charge.
This attack was even more disatrous for the poles as king Stanislaw was hit and thrown of his horse and had to be carried wounded of the field. The polish attacks faltered and then Fredrick counterattacked and the polish army melted away only saved by darkness. Prussia lost 2,000 men, Poland lost 10,000 men dead or wounded and 5,500 men POW. King Stanislaw is revealed not to badly injured. He is saved by a notebook that absorbed most of the impact of the bullet. He suffers a concousion and a broken arm from the fall of his horse but the leadership of the polish army goes even so to Fieldmarschal Walecha.
In Livonia Charles Gustav commanded 12,000 men and moved into Courland seeking to link up with a polish army(8,000 men) commanded by general Pipeka standing near East Pussia. Was like his father in the way that he liked to command a force, but unlike his father he didnt want to be in front of his troops leading an attack but rather stay behind and command the entire battle than just one section. During the same time as the poles and prussians faced eachother at Breslau the swedes and poles joined forces and Charles Gustav took command of the allied army and moved it towards Konigsberg. The movements were slow due to much rain and in late december they stopped arount 50 kms from Konigsberg by the endemi. The prussians had assembled a small army of 8,000 men to defend the province and Charles Gustav wanted to avoid a large battle in december and studied the enemy positions for a while before acting like his father had done during the polish campaign in the great nordic war. Charles Gustav moved his forces so that they surrounded the prussians from 3 directions and started a minisiege wanting to let hunger do its work.
War on the oceans: A week after war was declared the brittish royal navy in a daring operation sailed into the main port of the french atlantic fleet and destroyed a big portion of the fleet. September 11 a big transport fleet assembled to bring french reinforcements to other parts of the world was sunk before leaving port. Brittain now had the upper hand and used it. A brittish army counting 11,000 men was sent to brittish north America to be commanded by general Marshall. Another army(15,000 men) led by general Howe was sent to India.
War in the colonies: As soon as the word about the war spread around the world the forces defending different colonies was drawn up, but until New Year nothing major had happened.
The big joker: Russia was an undknown factor and nobody knew how they would act. Russia knew and they had plans on their own.