1636: The Saxon Uprising — Snippet 19:
Eric could figure out the rest for himself. He already knew from filling in fairly obvious blanks in Jeff’s letters that the Hangman Regiment had been left behind in Tetschen so that Stearns could bring his whole division back into Saxony in a hurry, if need be. The most likely cause of such a maneuver would be an impending battle in or around Dresden.
A battle with whom?
Eric smiled. General Stearns was nothing if not canny. If anyone ever pressed him on that matter, he’d have a ready-made explanation there also.
After being defeated at Zwenkau in August, the Saxon general von Arnim had withdrawn what was left of his army into Leipzig. There, he’d prepared for a siege while he began negotiating surrender terms with the Swedes. But the negotiations had dragged on for weeks, since Gustav Adolf had been pre-occupied with driving forward his offensive into Poland. The Elector of Saxony was killed in September, and thereafter Gustav Adolf wasn’t particularly concerned with the situation in Leipzig. Von Arnim and his soldiers were mercenaries. With no patron left, von Arnim certainly wasn’t going to launch any campaigns, even after Gustav Adolf took almost all of his forces out of Saxony.
And then the king of Sweden had been severely injured at Lake Bledno, in October, and was now out of the political picture altogether — with von Arnim and ten thousand or so mercenaries still camped in Leipzig. So, if pressed, Stearns could always claim that he was seeing to it that in the event von Arnim resumed hostilities he could bring his Third Division back into Saxony in a hurry.
The CoC had gotten word in Dresden from their compatriots in Leipzig that the Swedes had resumed negotiations with von Arnim. But while no one in the CoCs was privy to those discussion, no one thought any longer that the Swedes were simply seeking von Arnim’s surrender. They were almost sure that Oxenstierna was trying to hire von Arnim himself — not to fight the Poles, but to serve the Swedish chancellor as another repressive force inside the USE. He couldn’t rely on the USE army still besieging Poznán to serve that purpose. In fact, everyone thought that he’d insisted on continuing the war with Poland precisely for the purpose of keeping the USE’s army out of the country. He’d use mercenaries in the pay of Sweden instead. He already had Báner and his fifteen thousand men marching into Saxony. If Oxenstierna could add von Arnim and the ten thousand men he had in Leipzig, he probably figured he could overawe or if need be crush any opposition in Saxony.
“Interesting times,” he murmured, thinking of the Chinese curse Jeff had once mentioned to him.
“Is that a ‘yes’?” Tata asked.
Eric made a face. “I guess.”
He started moving around the tower, which was built like a large turret, with Tata trailing in his wake. When he got to the other side, he leaned over the railing and began studying the walls which protected Dresden on the south. Most of the city was on the southern bank of the Elbe.
“We’re not going to be able to protect all of it,” he said. “Have to let the northern part go. Even then, it’s going to be a lot of work to build up those walls.”
“And you said you didn’t know anything about sieges,” Tata said. She wasn’t arguing the point, just doing her usual best to squash any further protests on his part.
“Just common sense,” he grumbled. “I’m still not an engineer.”
She came close and slid an arm around his waist. “You’ll do,” she said.
That statement had a very expansive flavor to it. Eric felt full of good cheer again.
****
Eddie Junker studied the boulevard to the south. Then, swiveled and studied it to the north.
Boulevard, he told himself firmly. That sounded so much less suicidal.
An uncharitable soul might have called the thoroughfare a “street.” A particularly surly specimen might have added “crooked” to the bargain.
In truth, the thoroughfare wasn’t really crooked. It just… jiggled around a bit.
Standing next to him, Denise Beasley stretched out her hand and made a slow, swooping motion. “You oughta be able to pull it off, Eddie. It’s a pretty straight street. Ah, avenue.”
“The lack of straightness by itself isn’t the problem.” He stretched out his arms, pointing simultaneously to the buildings on either side of the street. “What would you say the width is?”
Denise looked back and forth. Her friend Minnie Hugelmair, always given to direct methods, walked over to the building on the left side of the street. Then she paced off the distance.
“Thirty-five feet,” she announced.
Eddie nodded. “About what I figured.” He gave Denise a fish-eyed look. “And what is the wingspan of the plane?”
Denise waggled her head. “I’m not sure. Twenty-five feet?”
“Ha. Thirty-two feet. Leaving me three feet of clearance in the street — the very-not-straight street — if I have to come down into it.”
“But you’re not planning to,” protested Denise. “Exactly.”
“‘Exactly,'” Eddie mimicked. “No, I would simply be following it toward the square while — not quite — coming below the surface of the roofs. That would — hopefully — allow me to come into the landing area with a lower altitude than if I had to hop over the big buildings surrounding it. But if anything goes wrong…”
Hoo boy. I place my bets on something highly entertaining going wrong when eddie lands that plane – but nobody getting killed.
I’ve done a lot of hang-gliding, and when you are landing there is this ‘ground’ effect that keeps your bird in the air longer. Add a bit of turbulence around the rooftops and from sidestreets, and it’ll be a bitch of a landing, with or without an enigine. What was the old saying amongst skydivers when talking about someone elses bad landing? Oh yes: the nearer you are to the hole, the better the souvenirs you find.
3. Never mind the landing. It’s obviously a big risk. How can Eddie possibly take off from the square and gain enough altitude to clear the buildings on the street, er, avenue? Any ideas on this, or why he would want to land but not take off again? Maybe if he talked to Gretchen or Tata,they could get enough space cleared for him to make a decent field.
note: the plane he’s flying is a Dauntless designed by Kelly Aviation as a warplane. I don’t think that design specs were mentioned anywhere, but I think its the same kind of three seater Denise used to bomb Eddie previously.
If Col. Doolittle, Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck could lift from that CV, so can Eddie!
On the plus side, he doesn’t need to use only the square. He can start in the alley and gain speed there.
@3 IIRC he’s flying a Dragonfly not a Dauntless. From what I understand it has got about the same postage stamp capabilities as a Piper Cub. You can get a better idea looking up the OTL version (also called Dragonfly).
At least we know what Baner is bringing to the party now! 15K of mercenaries with a possible (IMO not probable) 10K additional from Von Arnim against maybe 16K of 3rd USE, maybe 2-3K inside Dresden (CoC, 3rd USE recovered wounded, and legacy Dresden and Saxon troops), and at most 3-4K of irregulars (Kresse’s force, the ex-bodyguard calvary, and tagalong militias). Worst case scenario 25K experienced mercenaries (half of which got spanked by 3rd USE) against 21K of the good guys (2/3 of which is very good, the remaining 1/3 very enthusiastic). Baner is a very good General. Von Arnim is so-so. Mike has a very good staff and has done well so far. Kresse is very good small unit tactics, but battlefield is whole new ballgame. CoC militia units (Krystallnacht forces), 1st and 2nd USE, Von Thurn’s Swedish forces enlarged with G2A’s remainder, reactionary noble’s personal forces, Horn’s and Brahe’s forces and the different USE provincial militias all seem out of it for one reason or another. Ox and CoCs IMO have about equal chance of reinforcing in Saxony.
Less than 3 feet of total clearance on a non-linear unsmooth path with various wind interrupts, IMO either authorial fiat or he’s one of the luckiest ***s on the planet if he can safely take off and/or land!
@4
Yes, he can, just as soon as we get the town square up to 30 knots with a good headwind.
The more spectacular of these was the English Navy’s first vertical-take-off airplanes, in about 1946.
With full speed ahead and a good head wind, the wind speed over the deck of — one of their carriers — was larger that the stall speed of a now captured Fiesler Storch, which took off straight up, flew slowly backwards off the stern of the carrier, and went on its way.
@ 5
I expect no more than 1-1,5 k armed forces in Dresden (500 USE soldiers, rest COC or militia). Why? Dresden’s population was at 15k in 1630, but in 1632/1633 it was struck by plague and famine that reduced the population to 7,6 k in 1633 and only came back up to 16k in 1648 (people fled into town when the Swedes came to Dresden area in 1639 and 1643). The economy and the trade were in a sorry state at 1635/36, construction activity suspended. I’m not sure, whether the intervention of the uptimers concerning epidemic control came in time, though… somoone mentioning ‘butterfly effect’? :)
Despite Eric’s (Krenz) implications, the fortifications were modern and in a good shape, especially in the ‘old’ town. In addition they were quite formidable at the Elbe too. One shouldn’t forget that Dresden is the capital of Saxony and therefore was well defended. With the city fallen a war would have been lost according to the common rules of war. (Though there were exceptions. When Munich was seized by the Swedes 1632, Max of Bavaria didnt sue for peace but fought on in the later stages of the war, backed up by the Austrian Emperor.)
Using the numbers above, Baner would have a 10:1 superiority until reinforcements from 3rd Division could arrive. Using radio and barges on the Elbe, Hangman Regiment could make it to Dresden within a day (distance Tetschen – Dresden is about 70 km by road and about 85 km on the Elbe) leaving aside the possible blocker at koneigstein.
The 10:1 superiority would depend on how fast Baner got all his troops to Dresden and when Mike/Jeff felt Baner’s actions justified a move.
If Baner is marching all 15,000 together, they will be slower than Hangman, plus starting further away. That plus the communications advantage (if the ‘airfield’ works) should let Jeff get Hangman into the city to stiffen the resistance — pending whatever happens witn Koenigstein.
Baner’s chance for a rapid reaction forces will be von Arnim. Starting from Leipzig, theose troops will be closer but still slower and maybe not enough to try storming Dresden outright (I think vA is more cautious, anyway). I suppose technically vA can give orders to the Koenigstein garrison and slow Jeff to maybe equal time to the Leipzig troops (Given what Mike did at the Wartburg, I expect Koenigsteing to resist about 3 days, ‘negotiation’ or plain old attack).
Once the initial force are in place, Hangman+Kresse+CoC vs. Von Arnim might give a rousing initial battle that the good guys can “surprisingly” win.
That would be followed by Baner’s campaign with Mike ‘hurrying’ from Bohemia to help Jeff. I’ve been waiting for one of Eric’s patented ‘you can tell the better soldiers because they can march further and faster’ moments (check out Belisarius series and the Arkansas War. Or go all the way back to Mother of Demons).
The possibility of using von Arnim also gives a nice sequence to the political developments. Saxony is now an ‘open’ province because the elector and his immediate family are dead. CoC will argue for a republic or at least for the Saxon estates to meet. Ox will argue for the next heir as appointed by him in GA2’s name and give von Arnim a reason to support Baner.
Where is Kristina? I want Kristina snippets now! (Channeling my inner 9-year old).
The reasons that I could see for Baner to launch a premature attack on the city without his whole army would derive from underestimating the defending forces (CoC firebrands, shabby militia) or form the concern of pending substantial reinforcements for Dresden.
I can’t imagine that Kresse will be in place, he’s still in the Vogtland. Plus his lot isn’t battleready IMHO. ‘Saxon’ army has to cross less than 100 km from Leipzig to Dresden and could also use the Elbe upriver (towpaths available). If Koenigstein is able to block the downriver passage, Jeff has to cross hardly practicable mountain roads to reach Dresden.
A possible scenario could be: vA taking swedish coin and going for Dresden, 3rd Divisiom coming up from Bohemia in time claiming to stop saxonian forces, Baner slowed down by Kresse, Dresden holds.
In considering the odds, the people in Dresden will be defending fortifications, not fighting in the field. The town militias are trained for it. The COC will also be more effective in that role. Put a man behind a ditch and he can fight off two or three enemy, even if he’s not a very good soldier. (quoted from memory).
The garrison at Koenigstein, if they haven’t left when they stopped being paid are orphans. Their employer is dead. I suppose it’s possible that Oxenstierna has made contact with them, but I don’t believe it. More likely, IMO is that Mike buys them and adds them to his division. Remember how quickly the cavalry joined with Kresse. Why should another batch of mercenaries be different?
One wonders if the Good Guys are also in negotiation with vA.
The Vogtland irregulars would be perfect for slowing down Bahner’s advance. A Division sized force would have to travel by road, leaving them open to constant harrasment. Given thier proven penchant for roadside IED’s along with thier new mounted force, small as they are, they could easily turn a one week march into a months
long craw. Add to that foraging denial tactics in the middle of winter and you’ll end up with a lot fewer (and more demoralized) troops to attack with than you expected.
@11 I doubt that the good guys are negotiating separately with vA.
(1) They have no real money (on the scale of money needed to hire 10,000 mercenaries, alot of them are personally rich). They have fiat money, which is only good if they win. Mercenaries tend to want something shiny.
(2) It’s really hard to conduct such separate negotiations without them being obvious treason if they leak. And vA is a mercenary, and there’d have to be multiple intermidiaries, only a fool would assume that such negotiations CAN’T leak.
About 10 seconds after the shooting starts legality becomes a dead letter, but HOW the shooting starts matters a LOT. If it starts when Mike resists an order recalling him for trial for provable treason then you’ve just converted your just war against oppression to an unjust war to keep Mike from being justly executed.
This means Mike can’t even pledge his personal word in any negotiations or mention the target, without that the risk exceeds any likely reward.
Note also: Mike has no idea if GA will recover or not, he doesn’t know where Kristina is or what she’s doing. These both constrain his reasonable options. If GA recovers and Mike has been engaging in obvious treason then he’s screwed. Conversely if Mike knew Kristina was disobeying Ox he could try to claim to be acting on her behalf.
The counterballance to all this is that Sweeden OUGHT to also be nearly bankrupt by this time, I’m not just sure where Ox is supposed to get the money for 10,000 more men. If GA had had that much money sitting arround he’d have invaded Poland with 10,000 more men, and Ox doesn’t have noticably more cash available than GA did.
Five seconds AFTER the shooting starts Our Heroes can start negotiating with mercenaries, but their options are limited till then to at most opening lines of communication.
@13 Doug, one must ask the question: have any of the USE Dresden “wounded” received orders from Ox or any of his puppets about what their actions should be when Baner arrives? Don’t think so. So if Baner demands entry into the city and is denied (name a pretext-disease or what you will) and then attacks them, and they defend themselves, “asking” their commander for assistance, how is Mike committing treason? Baner, for all Mike knows, is committing mutiny. And he won’t even be tried for it because he will be dead.
It is all way too complicated and Eric will make it simple by waking up GA.
@14 Why would I have to ask ANY of that about Mike negotiating NOW with Von Arnim? Which is what I was discussing?
Your post is totally irrelevant to mine! Seriously. I SPECIFICALLY and CLEARLY said that legality goes out the window ten seconds after the first shot is fired. Which includes EVERYTHING Mike is doing in your ENTIRE scenario! So legally Mike is fine in that case. But that doesn’t let him negotiate NOW with Von Arnim!
Did you even read my post and the one I was replying to?
@15 etc, would Mike even *want* a whole bunch of mercenaries under his nominal command? He wants a professional army, not a bunch of freebooters who are going to ignore his discipline unless it suits them and probably create chaos among his ranks.
Now, of course if a mercenary company genuinely wants to be part of a modern fighting force and will do what it takes to fit in, I doubt Mike would turn them away.
Re: The garrison at Koenigstein. I think this is a non issue. It is a small garrison force and if faced with the choice of “surrender or face what happened to Wartburg – you have 10 minutes to decide” there is not much doubt they will surrender or at least remain neutral.
#13 Francisco Nasi is in Prague. Noelle, Eddie, Denise and Minnie are in Dresden. They work for him. So he probably knows how things are going in Dresden. He has all the money he needs to pay (bribe) von Arnim. He is a friend of and loyal to Mike. He has left the USE, to work for Wallenstein, so he can’t possibly be accused of treason by the Ox. Pure speculation on my part, but I haven’t forgotten he’s an actor too.
#14 again. Oh! I forgot to mention David Bartley. He’s probably richer than Nasi by now.
Nasi and Bartley are personally rich (with Gretchen and Jeff midways behind), but not mega-rich. They have access to large (not national size, but not puny) funds (family funds and OPM respectively) though. I doubt either would use those funds to bribe/employ vA and his forces.
OTL Ox’s relatives (brother or cousins, I can’t remember which took what) were installed as Lord High Justicar, Lord High Treasurer, and Governor-General of Ingria, Karellia, and Livonia. Ox himself had been milking Swedish Prussia heavily under Truce of Altmark provisions (expiring late 1635, so long term plans moot). NTL he might have access to more funds than you might think. Not to mention he thinks he has a lock on USE government and can promise funds from that pool as well. And as for G2A not hiring them in the first place, they were already under contract. Outbidding their current employer would be expensive. Now their paymaster is dead and they lost to the USE (much, much cheaper!).
Kresse and the tagalong militias are already snippeted as on the move from Vogtland to Dresden. If he attacks Baner BEFORE Baner crosses the line, he might win the battles (which I doubt heavily) but lose the war for the good guys. Best case is he gets to Dresden before Baner and supports the defense. In open field battle, Kresse would get spanked (baby with a batleaxe spanked). Interdiction AFTER Baner sets seige might be his best bet if Baner beats him to Dresden.
@18 Nasi in Prague would be better utilized as a liason to Wallenstein for Mike. G2A seconded 3rd USE to Wallenstein and he might take exception if the additional forces he was given hared off on their own to attack (different POV) a Swedish force putting down rebellion.
IT MATTERS HOW THE SHOOTING STARTS!
Holk and his forces are looking for an employer also.
3rd USE against Baner without vA in open field battle, good odds for the good guys. Forcing Baner to set seige to Dresden and holding until 3rd USE can get there, IMO even or better odds. Kresse/CoC against Baner or vA in open field, IMO very bad odds even if numbers are equal or favoring Kresse/CoC.
Remember the Abrabanel family does have a nation-sized budget. But I think they would buy an army only as a last resort, because it would put them ‘all in’ on the CoC side. Davey B, otoh, would have enough shiny stuff in hand to sweeten the Koenigsberg garrison, I think.
But that will take more than 10 min, first because they have a reputation to maintain (surrendering too fast meant no one would employ you later) and second because IIRC they are intended to be electoral Saxon troops, not ‘strictly’ mercenaries. So their commanders likely will be a little stubborn.
So I see Jeff with about a 3 day trip down to Dresden — 1 to get to Koenigsberg and set up, another 1 or 2 to take Koenigsberg (probably bombardment with ‘special effects’ of some sort followed by a short negotiation with the garrison commanders being stubborn, more bombardment and then the garrison sergeants might arrange for more intelligent negotiators), then finally another day to move down to Dresden.
VonA, otoh could get from Leipzig to Dresden in 3 days if his troops are ready to go, fast, and enthusiastic, but it’s more likely to take 5 or 6 days with ‘average’ troops and motivation. He will be surprised that a) Jeff reacts as fast as he will (the plane, and other intel sources), b) Koenigsberg falls as fast as it does, and c) Hangman is as strong as it is (additional numbers and heavy weapons as specified in earlier snippets). Whether Jeff offers a field battle (reinforced by some Vogtlanders and the Dresdeners his troop numbers could be close to 5,000) would be an interesting choice. It will also be an interesting choice whether Jeff is better off getting into Dresden or staying mobile to keep things clear for Mike. I’m inclined to the latter.
Re: @12, Baner and his 15,000 have to march *through* Vogtland to get to Dresden. (All alternate routes need to go via Bohemia or SoTF, both of which would be bad for baner). For anyone who has ever visited the former GDR or Berlin in the wall days, this is the old GDR designated travel route that goes via Hof in the OTL land of Bavaria (but without the shoddily maintained so-called ‘autobahn’). So, Kresse is ideally situated to cut supplies, harrass and so on, and can probably slow down Baner even while sending a battalion-sized unit to help Jeff — even if they haven’t started yet, they are not that much farther from Dresden than vA and smaller units move faster.
Re@14: Why would OX even wonder where such insignificant people as wounded line soldiers no longer attached to thir units are? He is a the noble and mighty chancellor of Sweden, who disposes of entire armies with merely a word! And so the the rot of pride and stupidity begin to cause a giant to fall . . .
I want Kristina! :-)
Ed
@20 You are right that it matters how the shooting starts. I’m guessing at some sort of decision by Ernst to keep Baner out of Dresden, or maybe just not loot along the march, which Baner ignores (thus flouting the duly constituted authority and giving cover to the resistance). That’s why all the timing stuff matters — Mike (and Jeff) gant move until they have a reason, but then will come the whirlwind.
@21
Jeff must also worry that that interesting fortress must not be re-occupied after he takes it, and holing up in Dresden may be the wrong solution for that outcome. Otherwise he is in Dresden, and getting out of a besieged town is challenging, because you exit through narrow gates against fortifications, and Mike may have that fortress re-occupied by the enemy and in the way.
On the other hand, treason doth never prosper, and in this period it is a very safe bet that the losers are the traitors. No matter who loses.
As a further thought, we ended up with the USE because the RoF folks needed to be under GAs shield, and at some point — for example, Ox gets away with his stunt but only inside Sweden — we are back where we started more or less.
Perhaps the fortress is protected against siege by Jeff in his city, though the force needed to screen Dresden is fairly modest.
@23 Right, Koenigstein has to have at least a ‘good guy’ garrison when jeff is done with it, though it may be inconvenient for Baner or VonA to march around Dresden just to take it back.. Part of the calculation has to include exactly how long it will take Mike to come through, which depends on where the bulk or 3rd division winds up. Stearns/Wallenstein/Roth/Nasi action coming soon!
But Kristina first, please :-)
@24 Presuming the good guys win (ahem), USE will be in a much stronger position than Grantville was in 1632. Indeed, it used to be a principal of several countries foreign policies that a united Germany is a danger to the rest of Europe, and USE will be close in size and relative advantages to Prussia in the 1850’s. Of course, it has been a long term theme for Eric that ‘Prince Mike’ will not produce the same Germany that Bismarck did in OTL. One reason I am following snippets more now is we are finally at the ‘Wendepunkt’ where Mike accomplishes that.
I think it’s a delusion to think that Ox has some store of money that he can use to buy von Arnim. Uptime, the Swedes depended on French subsidies to stay in the war. Downtime, they may have the resources, due to the banking network of the Abrabanels and OPM. However, this isn’t available to Ox. As a general rule, countries in the 17th century depended on bankers to ADVANCE the money to fight a war. Any suggestions IN THE CANON who would be willing to advance Ox a pfennig? In my opinion, Nasi and/or Bartley could advance money enough to buy von Arnim, with Mike promising (secretly if necessary) to repay them.
@28 It’s not like GA2 spent all of the war fund before the campaign started — there’s still money in the warchest to keep 3 USE divisions in the field, plus the Swedish armies in Germany. So books can be cooked to move moeny from one bucket to another.
Nor are the Abrabanels the only bankers in Europe. Though if you are looking for sources already mentioned in canon, Spain or Austria will have tame bankers of their own and an interest in quashing the populist wing of the USE.
But why would vA have to be bribed to obey an order to move in the first place? He is General of the army of Electoral Saxony. The elector being dead, government of the region reverts to somebody (Heir, estates, or GA2). Yeah, vA needs supplies to be bought for his army. But getting operational funds is an entirely different (smaller) matter than ‘buying’ a mercenary contract.
Of course, if what you are suggesting is that vA could decide to take his marching orders from Ernst Wettin (GA2’s appointed rep) instead, well thats possible, too. But it seems unlikely to me.
I think some of you are missing the wild-card when it comes to Von Armin and his army. Right now the presumptive heir to the Elector of Saxony is Prince Frederick, Christian’s son by marriage. Given that Christian IV is almost certain to back Princess Kristina and the CoC for his own reasons (namely the regency and authority within the Union of Kalmar), I think it’s quite possible that Christian IV could hire/supply him possibly at Ulrick’s (and Frederick’s) very strong suggestion.
-Polaris
Dresden will be the anvil, Jeff the Hammer
Then mike will get there in time to deal with Ox
@30 The three nobles (all allied to G2A and all Lutheran) married to John George’s daughters (eldest to youngest) are: Landgrave George II of Hesse-Darmstadt (opposed to Hesse-Kassel in inheritance of Hesse-Marburg), Duke Frederick III of Holstein-Gottorp (nephew of King Christian IV of Denmark (as is King Charles I of England and C4’s niece is the widow of the Winter King)), and Prince Christian of Denmark (oldest son of King Christian IV (Prince Frederik administers USE province of Westphalia, Prince Ulrich engaged to Kristina, and eldest kingsdaughter engaged to Eddie Ccantrell)). C4 little need of additional mercenaries as Danish-Norwegian troops of the Kalmar Union have yet to be written into the Eastern War. Nephews from C4’s wife’s side include ducal heirs to Brandenburg-Prussia, Courland-Semgallia, and the late Dukes of Wurttemberg. A sister of C4’s wife was also stepmother to the current Elector of Brandenburg and G2A’s late wife.
@31 Jeff has an upgraded Regiment, Baner has an understrength Division, and vA has a couple of Battalions. The anvil of Dresden will have at most a Battalion (many civilians or poorly trained militia) to defend the Walls. Kresse and company are probably not more than a Regiment (ALL civilians, irregulars, or poorly trained militia). IMO you need 3rd USE to handle Baner (with or without vA joining in). As for Ox, he’s got at least 2 Divisions (less than 1/8 of which is not professional) with him in Brandenburg.
@32
Eric telegraphed the anvil and hammer theme in the Eastern Front. His arguement then was that the anvil, if fighting from fixed fortifications, does not need to be that good of soldiers. And the CoC members will certainly be motivated to stand. With 400 USE troops to use as training cadre/platoon level leadership. It will be enough. For Eric in this book.
@32, thanks for the summary. But C4 may still wind up hiring vA to defend his sons interests in Saxony, if only because his own troops are in Denmark, not Saxony, and vA is only 100 km away. But Hesse-Darmstadt would need to be cleared away before the politics are right.
Re: correlation of forces, I am still wondering if it works better with Jeff inside Dresden, after taking Konigstein and leaving a more CoC oriented garrison there. But Jeff+ vA would make an interesting force against Baner, if that will be made to work.
Re: Mike, who says Mike will bring the rest of 3rd division with him? Its 3rd Div that has been ordered to assist Wallenstein, so it would keep Mike ‘within the law’ for may be some crucial amount of time longer if all he does is take his HQ to visit a detached regiment (Jeff) while still leaving the division where orders put him.
Just some options, but multiple possibilities like this are one reason I really like Eric’s writing.