Immediately after the capture of Aalborg, Dessau ordered the 9th Division and the army of the Duke of Schleswig to go to Skagen, the northernmost point of Jutland and the last Danish city in Jutland.
After leaving the Eighteenth Infantry Regiment of the 5th Division to defend Aalborg, Dessau led the rest of his army south, this time to Fredericia, and Blucher informed Dessau that Fredericsia had been conquered, much to Dessau's delight, because it meant that Prussia had a bridgehead to attack the island of Funen and even Sealand.
On 20 December, Dessau led the allied forces to Frederisia, where the 3rd and 5th Prussian divisions and the army of the Duke of Holstein were gathered, and the whole army numbered nearly 20,000 men.
At the same time that the Prussian army was gathering in Fredericia, Wilhelm's handwritten letter was sent to the commander of the Royal Navy Support Fleet, in which William recalled the great friendship between Prussia and Great Britain and reaffirmed that the Anglo-Prussian alliance was the most beneficial guarantee for the whole civilized world.
As an ally, William hoped that the British Royal Navy could help Prussia annihilate the main Danish navy, or that it would take care of the Little Belt Strait in addition to the blockade of the Kattegat Strait.
After receiving William's letter, Charles Couge of the Royal Navy support fleet shrugged his shoulders, and in Charlesko's opinion, it was obviously impossible for the British Royal Navy to annihilate the main force of the Danish Navy.
Although the size of the Danish Navy is not very large, it is only slightly inferior to the British naval support fleet this time, if the British Navy is allowed to help Prussia destroy the main Danish naval force.
Then this support fleet will also suffer great losses, which is obviously unacceptable to Charles.
The British fleet suffered heavy losses.
How do you ask Charles to face the British parliament when he returns home, the British did not pay for the fleet to help Prussia in the war, even if Prussia was an ally of Britain, and Charles had received George IV's secret instructions before coming to the Kattegat Strait.
In general, although Britain and Prussia are allies, it is obviously not in the interests of Britain to have a Prussia that is too strong, and you must know that there is another title on the head of the British king, that is, the Elector of Hanover.
Hannover's location is not far from Prussia.
The British king was obviously willing to threaten his territory from the Prussians at any time, so he could help, but he didn't even think about annihilating the main Danish navy.
In fact, William also knew that the British would not help Prussia annihilate the Danish navy, so the reason why he still said this was that he wanted the British to help blockade the Little Belt Strait.
As far as an ally is concerned, since you have already rejected the first proposal, it is not easy to refuse the second proposal, and if you refuse again, it will not cause a great rift in the alliance relationship.
That's a little trick Situation in Jutland.
William also knew that in such a situation, most of Jutland had fallen into the pocket of Prussia, so could a Jutland peninsula satisfy Prussia's appetite?
The answer was no, and in this case, the Prussian army would have to fight against the islands of Funen and Sealand.
The Danish navy was undoubtedly a threat, so William asked the British navy to send in to make the Danish navy throw a mouse.
In this way, before attacking Zealand, presumably the Danish Navy will not jump over the wall before it is forced to the bottom line.
After six years of construction, although the Prussian navy has not developed by leaps and bounds, it has made great progress compared to six years ago.
At the very least, the navy already has one third-class, three fourth-class, and eight fifth-class ships, although this size is not comparable to that of the Danish navy.
Not to mention the Russian Navy, even the support fleet drawn from the British this time is not comparable, but at least it is much better than the few frigates six years ago.
But these are all William's heart, William is reluctant to use the Prussian Navy's belongings to fight the Danish Navy for the time being, but the contest between the two navies is inevitable, so before that, William hopes to let the Danish Navy cause some losses, such as the capture of Odense.
Odense is not only the capital of Denmark on the island of Funen, but also an important station of the Danish Navy, not only that, but also the port of Odense is also the shipping hub of the whole Denmark.
Frightened to learn that most of Jutland had been swept away by Prussia, Frederick VI said in disbelief to his government officials: "How did those Prussians do it, we have more than 20,000 troops deployed in Jutland, and it has only been two months, are we Denmark going to give up Jutland to the Prussians!"
Frederick VI's panic is not unreasonable, in the Norwegian region, after the initial adjustment, Denmark and Sweden have entered a stage of strategic stalemate, of course, the reason why they can hold each other is because Norway has been captured by Sweden for a small part, and Sweden needs time to digest these newly occupied areas.
And now there is no longer a single available force in Denmark except for Copenhagen and Odense, but there are only 3,000 Danish troops in Odense, and even Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, has less than 6,000 troops at the moment.
Such a force did not pose much of a threat to Prussia at all, but Frederick VI had no choice, and after the reinforcements were sent, the defenses of the islands of Funen and Zealand had fallen to an extremely dangerous level, and such a force could not even deter some ill-intentioned nobles.
In the face of Frederick VI's concerns, the government officials below did not have a way to share their worries, and even some officials quietly suggested to Frederick VI that peace talks be proposed to Prussia and Sweden, but such a suggestion was the same for Frederick VI.
Now that the Prussians and Swedes had the upper hand, Denmark would have to pay a great price for such peace talks, and Frederick VI believed that Sweden and Prussia would not spit out the fat that had been put in their mouths.
Frederick VI had asked St.
Petersburg for help dozens of times, but the empress had been coping with it, and Austria and Denmark had made some attempts, but Joseph II had been blinded by the Bohemian region that the Prussians had wished for.
Didn't Joseph II see that this was just a delaying tactic by the Prussians?
No, of course, Joseph II could see it, but he couldn't do it now, and the maintenance of the various Habsburg domains had already consumed most of Joseph II's energy.
Moreover, Joseph II had just learned that in northern Italy, the city-states of Milan and Naples were also planning some small actions against Austria, and it was not a day or two that the northern Italian city-states wanted to get rid of the influence of the Habsburgs.
Frederick VI felt a little hopeless about the current situation, but the matter had to be solved after all, and seeing that the officials below did not respond to him for a long time, Frederick VI gritted his teeth and said: "At present, Denmark has reached an extremely dangerous point, as the regent of Denmark, I cannot turn a blind eye to the current unfavorable situation in Denmark, and now pass on my order: immediately conscript all young men of appropriate age in Copenhagen to serve in the army, and all nobles must contribute their private arms to the state without compensation, of course, after the end of the war, the state will make some Russian compensation for this!"
Frederick VI's words caused a huge ripple among the officials, and everyone knew about the unfavorable situation in Denmark, and now it was obvious that Frederick VI was ready to make a last stand, but it was a fatal move for the nobles to recruit all the nobles' private armies!
"Your Majesty, I don't think the government's finances can be sustained!"
In the eyes of the officials, the Danish Chancellor of the Exchequer had to stand up and speak for this vested interest, and hearing the Chancellor's words, Frederick VI immediately shouted: "Regardless of whether the financial support is supported or not, my orders must be carried out, I know your thoughts, but now Denmark has reached this point, if anyone dares to give me some thoughts that I dare not have, I will let his family come to the funeral!"
Frederick VI's words shocked everyone, and seeing his determination, the Chancellor of the Exchequer had to back off.
On December 22, 1788, under Dessau's orders, the 3rd Division and the Duke of Holstein's headquarters, totalling nearly 10,000 men, began to board the ships, which were to cross the Little Belt Strait as quickly as possible and land on the opposite island of Funen.
The scale of ships required for nearly 10,000 people to cross the river is undoubtedly huge, but fortunately, Kraunz raised a lot of ships in the local area when he was stationed in Fredericia, and also requisitioned a number of ships to Mecklenburg, and now stationed in Mecklenburg is the second division, although the second division did not participate in the offensive on the front, but in the face of Kraunz's request, the second division commander Gary still chose to cooperate.
Standing on the highest point of Fredericia, the scenery on the sea is clearly visible, and even the island of Funen on the opposite shore can be roughly outlined, and Dessau is now leading the generals of the Prussian army to stand on the highest point of Fredericia.
On both sides of the strait, warships flying the British Navy flag were cruising non-stop, and looking at the large number of British warships, a thought was born in the hearts of the Prussian generals When, Prussia will be able to have its own navy of its own size.