A historical simulation

Por: André Geraque Kiffer

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Poland suffered a series of dynastic crises during the reigns of Kings Vasa, Sigismund III and Władysław IV, and was involved in major conflicts with Russia, Sweden and the Ottoman Empire, as well as a series of Cossack uprisings. With Brandenburg-Prussia remaining neutral, the Swedes launched a surprise invasion in 1626 with the aim of taking Gdansk (Danzig) and the mouth of the Vistula river. The two battles are characterized by the attempts of both armies, endowed with a majority of mobile forces, in being able to involve, surround and eliminate (observation: more in the sense of forcing a surrender) the opponents. Maneuvers of this type have historically ended in an impasse, that is, if there is no provision for one of the Corps (or Wings) of the army to function as an “anvil”, that is, to remain fixed and supported in a center of gravity of the terrain - of preference in an important obstacle; while another Corps (or Wing) acts as a “hammer”, this after casting a “bait” and attracting the opposing army in the desired direction. At the end of our analysis, we decided to work on the following hypotheses in the historical simulations: in Dirschau, we will play with the Poles, in an attempt to escape the historical impasse and obtain at least a marginal Polish victory. In Honigfelde, we will play with the Swedes in an attempt to reverse the historic defeat and get at least a draw.