A window of opportunity 1905

[575]

Mar 7, 2021 12:37:24 GMT stevep said:

Mar 7, 2021 10:09:20 GMT 575 said:

18. September 1905

Blockading Sweden:
Reacting to the Swedish declaration of war the Danish mobilization took place during that week and by the third week of September the Fortress of Copenhagen had been manned by 50.000 troops moving by regular train services and the Danish Navy had taken to sea.

Captain Kofoed-Hansen, head of the Navy Ministry received mobilization orders taking up position as Commander Naval forces Kattegat/Skagerrak.
As such he would detail the operations of the blockade that was declared on Sweden.

Blockading the opponents ports and lines of communications across the waters was a mainstay of Danish Naval strategy that had been employed with success during both First and Second Schleswig Wars. It was more or less the first plan in the drawer of the Navy Ministry though of course the anticipated adversary were Germany. At this time Danish resources wouldn't match German ones but with Norwegian alliance Sweden fitted into the scheme.
Besides the ships used to enforce the blockade the Danish Navy also commanded Mine Ships which would lay mines to restrict traffic in blockaded waters.
Mines could be laid as controlled or non-controlled fields; controlled fields would necessiciate more time to lay as each mine would be wired to a Mine Station set up on land that would control the arming of the minefield.
The advantage of this type of minefield of course being that it would remain unarmed and thus not dangerous to own or other ships until decided to arm.
The non-controlled minefield would of course be armed at the time of laying thus endangering any vessel that should enter it.

By closing the straits to Swedish merchantshipping by the stationing of warships at the northern and southern entries of these with mineships being held ready as well as mobilization of the Danish Navy in general would of course provoke the maritime nations.
To enforce the blockade dispatching of a force of the Elswick Cruiser Valkyrien and three mini-Elswicks to blockade the Swedish Kattegat ports and a joint Norwegian Danish Squadron of modern Coastal Armoured Ships would be blockading Göteborg which was seen as the major Swedish Naval Base on the Kattegat coast and where during the crisis the Swedish Navy Coastal Squadron of eight modern armoured ships had been deployed at Kalfsund.

For the time being the Swedish protested the blockade as did Germany and Russia as well as a number of countries whose merchantmen would prowl the waves to enter the Baltic.
No other ships than Swedish would be stopped from entering the Danish straits and the Swedish Kattegat ports.
The Swedish merchantmen would be convoyed by Danish or Norwegian Torpedoboats to either Danish or Norwegian ports for unloading goods and internment.

  575 ,

  Just to clarify does that mean that 3rd party flagged ships are still able to sail into Swedish ports?  Is so Sweden can, albeit possibly with some additional costs, continue commercial trade but would be restricted from military use of the waters and their flagged merchant ships are being interned.

  There will be an issue if a 3rd party ship, especially from a major power [say Britain, Germany or Russia] hits a mine due to say navigation error either by them or the mine-layer or a mine working loose of its cable say.  If that happened have to see how everybody handles it.

  Steve

Absolutely we are just Scandinavian small-fry and no pirates and even with the blessing of father in law Edward 7, we certainly don't want to step on some major Powers sore toes.

This will of course serve to lessen the effect but I'd figure this only is going to have an effect if war drags out. Everybody wants it to stop so that major issues such as Morocco may be attended to.

I'd expect Denmark and Norway counting the hours until somebody major steps in mostly of course to tell the Swedes "naughty, naugty" and the Swedes counting the hours hoping for this to happen AFTER their troops march up the Carl Johan in Kristiania/Oslo!

The Danish minefields are not armed until ships not wanted should enter them - Danish policy even during WWI. I don't expect them do so here. Of course night is such a dark time where unwanted events may unfold due to low visibility. Not that it may happen necessarily ITTL.

[575]

Swedish decision:
Facing a stand-off at sea the Swedish General Staff decided on the plans of assaulting the Norwegian border fortification though the Amphibious force was kept ready at Strömstad to keep the opponents in doubt as to what would be happening.

In the south a Regiment of the Bohus Detachment would move on Halden and Sarpsborg in front of the main Norwegian fortressline. A reduced 3. Fordelning would go west across the border from Töckfors heading for Örje.

The main effort would be undertaken by 1. Army now less one Fördelning guarding Scania in crossing the border further north at Charlottenberg heading for Kongsvinger Fortress to cross the Glomma River there or north of it and then turn west to mach on Kristianstad.
The force comprised the 2. and 4. Fordelning and parts of 3. while 5. and the Cavalry Fordelning's would make up the Army Reserve.
Advancing along the railway from Charlottenberg the about 50km to Kongsvinger should be possible to cover within a couple of days.



Kongsvinger had a dominating feature; above the town the fortress towered upon a hilltop at a bend in the river Glomma. The fortress was a depot for Norwegian troops in the area and as such well stocked with ammunition and other supplies. It had also during the days of tension had two new artillery batteries added to increase its defences.
The position of these hadn't been revealed to the newly created Swedish military intelligence unit which initially had to rely on British officers contracted to do the job in Norway.
Their main objective had been the Norwegian Navy base at Melsomvik as the Swedes themselves felt information on the older Norwegian fortresses such as Kongsvinger were adequete though Dressner, one of the British officers had been at Kongsvinger during summer and made a plan of the surrounds; though the new build batteries weren't on his plan.

The Fortress commanded the area and the crossing of river Glomma which included two bridges – an old road and a newer railway bridge.
There had been a proposal of commandeering trains from Charlottenberg for a rush up the railwayline to capture the bridges at Kongsvinger before the Norwegians would react.
That sounded too daring for the Swedish commanding officer of 1. Army.

The axis of advance had to great extend been dictated by the question of supply!
Railways from Sweden crossed the border at Kornsjö and went on to Halden and at Charlottenborg to Kongsvinger.
Of course smaller detachments, the most important being a Brigade of 1. Army moving cross country from Charlottenberg across a few forested ridges to be able to march on Kongsvinger from the east, would use local roads for the march and haul of supplies on wagons but the main route had to be along the railways to secure a steady flow of supplies.
That would of course dictate the axis of advance but would serve to make for fast movement of supplies in quantity to the front line.

If the Swedes and Norwegians didn't have much experience in the sphere of intelligence work the Danish Army was another kettle of fish; the Danish General Staff had a long history of intelligence work at home and in neighbouring countries mainly German States.
By 1904 captain Berthelsen head of General Staff Tactics Department would get a young First Lieutenant With married to Norwegian Gustava placed within General Staff 2. Bureau and soon sent abroad to work in intelligence building up networks in neighbouring countries including Sweden.

Besides supplying intelligence information to their Norwegian brothers the Danes also shipped off an Infantry Battalion the 26. Reserve Battalion of Fyn Liferegiment to bolster the defences of the Norwegian capitol. Along came a Cavalry Squadron of the Guards Hussar for reconnaisance duties.

[stevep]

  575 ,

  Sounds like the Swedes are in for a very bad time.

  I assume those 'British officers' are acting in a private capacity, possibly their been on holiday there and have been offered some payment for this task?  Even under those circumstances this would kick off a storm in Britain and probably elsewhere.  If their actually on duty while doing this its a breach of British neutrality so would expect they would end up cashiered at least if not facing a courts martial.

  Steve

[lordroel]

Mar 12, 2021 12:28:32 GMT stevep said:

  575 ,

  Sounds like the Swedes are in for a very bad time.

  I assume those 'British officers' are acting in a private capacity, possibly their been on holiday there and have been offered some payment for this task?  Even under those circumstances this would kick off a storm in Britain and probably elsewhere.  If their actually on duty while doing this its a breach of British neutrality so would expect they would end up cashiered at least if not facing a courts martial.

  Steve

If that is the case that there are some 'British officers' on holiday then i assume the Germans might send some of their officers on holiday as well.

[stevep]

Mar 12, 2021 12:32:42 GMT lordroel said:

Mar 12, 2021 12:28:32 GMT stevep said:

  575 ,

  Sounds like the Swedes are in for a very bad time.

  I assume those 'British officers' are acting in a private capacity, possibly their been on holiday there and have been offered some payment for this task?  Even under those circumstances this would kick off a storm in Britain and probably elsewhere.  If their actually on duty while doing this its a breach of British neutrality so would expect they would end up cashiered at least if not facing a courts martial.

  Steve

If that is the case that there are some 'British officers' on holiday then i assume the Germans might send some of their officers on holiday as well.

  I can't see if being an official action sponsored by the British government but as tension has risen you might have seen a number of nations sending military officials to see what happens, as observers.  That's a long running tradition for centuries now, to see what sort of weapons and tactics work or don't, as well as possibly looking over both sides as potential future enemies or allies.  There might be some underhand actions by some nations.  Mind you since Denmark and Germany are at odds and Germany has I think looked towards Sweden as a possible ally against Russia if anybody was 'unofficially of course' helping the Swedes I would have expected it to be the Germans.

[575]

Its a bit difficult to decide but seems those British officers were not in place in an official capacity though I may be wrong.

[575]

Great Powers react:
By now the Great Powers and the world as such was beginning to react to news from Scandinavia. What the bloody heck was going on among the peaceloving Scandinavians would be the general question posed.

The Great Powers began applying pressure to have the Swedes fold to the realities of Norwegian independence with a Danish Royal head of state who was the son in law of the British King; and the Danes to stop the Naval silliness on the straits.
The first applied by the British and French the second by the Germans.

Russia wasn't really aboard having enough to fend off at home but the problems might escalate if the Finn's would take advantage of the situation wanting universal suffrage or even independence.

The Powers realized that they had to make the Swedes understand what they were up against and back down unless the Scandinavian crisis should overshadow events relating to Morocco.
First however the Powers had to decide to act in unison; at the moment they wasn't in a state to do so.

[lordroel]

Mar 12, 2021 14:09:05 GMT 575 said:

First however the Powers had to decide to act in unison; at the moment they wasn't in a state to do so.

You mean England and France getting Germany aboard in making a joint statement.

[575]

Mar 12, 2021 14:21:21 GMT lordroel said:

Mar 12, 2021 14:09:05 GMT 575 said:

First however the Powers had to decide to act in unison; at the moment they wasn't in a state to do so.

You mean England and France getting Germany aboard in making a joint statement.

Indeed and possibly the Russians and Austrians too though the major players being those neighboring the Scandinavians.

[lordroel]

Mar 12, 2021 15:08:18 GMT 575 said:

Mar 12, 2021 14:21:21 GMT lordroel said:

You mean England and France getting Germany aboard in making a joint statement.

Indeed and possibly the Russians and Austrians too though the major players being those neighboring the Scandinavians.

So everybody who has a interest in and around the Baltic Sea. 

[575]

Mar 12, 2021 15:10:28 GMT lordroel said:

Mar 12, 2021 15:08:18 GMT 575 said:

Indeed and possibly the Russians and Austrians too though the major players being those neighboring the Scandinavians.

So everybody who has a interest in and around the Baltic Sea. 

Quite - and may only exclude the Austrians..

[575]

Assault, 20. September 1905:
Feeling what was brewing among the powers the Swedish command launched the attack on the Norwegian border fortifications preceded by a heavy artillery barrage which consumed an unexpected amount of artillery shells.
The Norwegian border fortifications mainly earthworks supported in some places by field guns was in most places overrun by superior Swedish numbers though it would take more than one attempt in quite a number of places.
The amassing of Swedish artillery proved its worth as it would take out quite a lot of Norwegian artillery in counterbattery duels but also consume precious amounts of shells. Still the depots were containing more which would be shipped up front.
The logistics had its hand in the axis of advance of the Swedish Army; the railways crossed the border in the south af two places at Kortsjö south of Halden and at Charlottenberg south of Kongsvinger. In the center to the east of Trondhjem and of course in the far north east of Narvik.

Psst: area of operations in lower right hand corner!!!

When the advance beyond the border began the difficulties began too.

The Norwegian troops were darn good marksmen; at 3. Fordelnings crossing of Öymark Sø to Örje the Norwegians effective rifle fire kept the Swedes low until arrival of artillery in numbers.
Several hours passed before the artillery had arrived, unlimbered and found the range to hit the Norwegians.
According to Clausewitz – called the armchair general by the Danes who had defeated him at Sehested 1813 – once operations began plans began to fall apart.
Once the artillery made itself felt the Norwegian defenders were driven back according the Swedes – preserving precious manpower according to the Norwegians.

In the south the Bohus Detachment Infantry Regiment moved up on Halden and then began digging in according to plan; waiting for the 3. Fordelning to deliver the blow on the Norwegians at Halden and open the advance on Sarpsborg along the railway.
At Strömstad on the coast the main force of Bohus Detachment waited for orders to board the barges and the warships that would carry them up Oslo Fiord for the amphibious assault.

Further north 1. Army columns advancing upon Kongsvinger Fortress on the river Glommen - which river further south was no small part of Norwegian defences in Østfold - made good progress having brushed aside the border guard; though being annoyed by numerous Norwegian franc-tireur/guerrillas long range rifle sniping on the march column as it proceded ahead.
Regularly squads or platoons of troops had to be detached to get rid of the annoying snipers who would be shot or hanged when found.
The terrain was hilly and forested with boulders strewn making for excellent terrain for a guerilla to operate in; difficult for a diciplined Army to traverse except in column if any speed were to be maintained. Speed being essential to the operation was going down.

The forward units of Norwegian troops had occupied all road and railway bridges making determined stands which time and again necessiated the deployment of artillery to the front of the advance guard to brush the defenders off the bridges.
The idea of running trains up the railway line to capture the bridges at Kongsvinger was becoming more and more of a pipe dream.

[lordroel]

Mar 13, 2021 8:31:36 GMT 575 said:

Assault, 20. September 1905:
Feeling what was brewing among the powers the Swedish command launched the attack on the Norwegian border fortifications preceded by a heavy artillery barrage which consumed an unexpected amount of artillery shells.
The Norwegian border fortifications mainly earthworks supported in some places by field guns was in most places overrun by superior Swedish numbers though it would take more than one attempt in quite a number of places.
The amassing of Swedish artillery proved its worth as it would take out quite a lot of Norwegian artillery in counterbattery duels but also consume precious amounts of shells. Still the depots were containing more which would be shipped up front.
The logistics had its hand in the axis of advance of the Swedish Army; the railways crossed the border in the south af two places at Kortsjö south of Halden and at Charlottenberg south of Kongsvinger. In the center to the east of Trondhjem and of course in the far north east of Narvik.

View Attachment

Psst: area of operations in lower right hand corner!!!

When the advance beyond the border began the difficulties began too.

The Norwegian troops were darn good marksmen; at 3. Fordelnings crossing of Öymark Sø to Örje the Norwegians effective rifle fire kept the Swedes low until arrival of artillery in numbers.
Several hours passed before the artillery had arrived, unlimbered and found the range to hit the Norwegians.
According to Clausewitz – called the armchair general by the Danes who had defeated him at Sehested 1813 – once operations began plans began to fall apart.
Once the artillery made itself felt the Norwegian defenders were driven back according the Swedes – preserving precious manpower according to the Norwegians.

In the south the Bohus Detachment Infantry Regiment moved up on Halden and then began digging in according to plan; waiting for the 3. Fordelning to deliver the blow on the Norwegians at Halden and open the advance on Sarpsborg along the railway.
At Strömstad on the coast the main force of Bohus Detachment waited for orders to board the barges and the warships that would carry them up Oslo Fiord for the amphibious assault.

Further north 1. Army columns advancing upon Kongsvinger Fortress on the river Glommen - which river further south was no small part of Norwegian defences in Østfold - made good progress having brushed aside the border guard; though being annoyed by numerous Norwegian franc-tireur/guerrillas long range rifle sniping on the march column as it proceded ahead.
Regularly squads or platoons of troops had to be detached to get rid of the annoying snipers who would be shot or hanged when found.
The terrain was hilly and forested with boulders strewn making for excellent terrain for a guerilla to operate in; difficult for a diciplined Army to traverse except in column if any speed were to be maintained. Speed being essential to the operation was going down.

The forward units of Norwegian troops had occupied all road and railway bridges making determined stands which time and again necessiated the deployment of artillery to the front of the advance guard to brush the defenders off the bridges.
The idea of running trains up the railway line to capture the bridges at Kongsvinger was becoming more and more of a pipe dream.

So the 2nd War of Norwegian independence has begun.

[575]

Mar 13, 2021 8:36:47 GMT lordroel said:

Mar 13, 2021 8:31:36 GMT 575 said:

Assault, 20. September 1905:
Feeling what was brewing among the powers the Swedish command launched the attack on the Norwegian border fortifications preceded by a heavy artillery barrage which consumed an unexpected amount of artillery shells.
The Norwegian border fortifications mainly earthworks supported in some places by field guns was in most places overrun by superior Swedish numbers though it would take more than one attempt in quite a number of places.
The amassing of Swedish artillery proved its worth as it would take out quite a lot of Norwegian artillery in counterbattery duels but also consume precious amounts of shells. Still the depots were containing more which would be shipped up front.
The logistics had its hand in the axis of advance of the Swedish Army; the railways crossed the border in the south af two places at Kortsjö south of Halden and at Charlottenberg south of Kongsvinger. In the center to the east of Trondhjem and of course in the far north east of Narvik.

View Attachment

Psst: area of operations in lower right hand corner!!!

When the advance beyond the border began the difficulties began too.

The Norwegian troops were darn good marksmen; at 3. Fordelnings crossing of Öymark Sø to Örje the Norwegians effective rifle fire kept the Swedes low until arrival of artillery in numbers.
Several hours passed before the artillery had arrived, unlimbered and found the range to hit the Norwegians.
According to Clausewitz – called the armchair general by the Danes who had defeated him at Sehested 1813 – once operations began plans began to fall apart.
Once the artillery made itself felt the Norwegian defenders were driven back according the Swedes – preserving precious manpower according to the Norwegians.

In the south the Bohus Detachment Infantry Regiment moved up on Halden and then began digging in according to plan; waiting for the 3. Fordelning to deliver the blow on the Norwegians at Halden and open the advance on Sarpsborg along the railway.
At Strömstad on the coast the main force of Bohus Detachment waited for orders to board the barges and the warships that would carry them up Oslo Fiord for the amphibious assault.

Further north 1. Army columns advancing upon Kongsvinger Fortress on the river Glommen - which river further south was no small part of Norwegian defences in Østfold - made good progress having brushed aside the border guard; though being annoyed by numerous Norwegian franc-tireur/guerrillas long range rifle sniping on the march column as it proceded ahead.
Regularly squads or platoons of troops had to be detached to get rid of the annoying snipers who would be shot or hanged when found.
The terrain was hilly and forested with boulders strewn making for excellent terrain for a guerilla to operate in; difficult for a diciplined Army to traverse except in column if any speed were to be maintained. Speed being essential to the operation was going down.

The forward units of Norwegian troops had occupied all road and railway bridges making determined stands which time and again necessiated the deployment of artillery to the front of the advance guard to brush the defenders off the bridges.
The idea of running trains up the railway line to capture the bridges at Kongsvinger was becoming more and more of a pipe dream.

So the 2nd War of Norwegian independence has begun.

Indeed - more to follow including Naval action..

[lordroel]

Mar 13, 2021 8:38:43 GMT 575 said:

Mar 13, 2021 8:36:47 GMT lordroel said:

So the 2nd War of Norwegian independence has begun.

Indeed - more to follow including Naval action..

Always like naval action.