Inferno (25 page)

‘War, sire? The English have not yet—'

‘War, Generalløjtnant Bielefeldt. I have it from an impeccable source that their fleet is here in the nature of a threat, to secure a preferential pledge of security to the British nation in violation of our neutrality. I intend to resist that demand with all the force at my disposal.'

‘Sir, are we sure that the fleet is not intended for the Baltic as we are expecting?'

‘No. Why do you think it lies idle at anchor in the Sound when it should be pressing on to face the Russians? It is at us that it's intended, be certain of that, sir.'

‘Er …'

‘Generalløjtnant?'

‘There are military transports attached. There are those who believe that the English are picking a quarrel that will allow them to capture Sjælland for use as a base in a Baltic war.'

‘That's as may be, sir. Do attend to what I say. The urgent business of this convening is to mount a defence of the city of Copenhagen should they assault it. To resist strongly has three most valued objectives. The first, that our sacred honour is sustained in the face of intolerable provocation, the highest cause of all. The second: Bonaparte will see we defend our neutrality strictly, with no fear or favour to any, and therefore
can have no reason to intervene. The third, and most immediate, is that the English will see we mean to repel any assault and thus any descent will be contested hotly, causing them many casualties.'

‘Your Royal Highness knows that his loyal army will do its duty, but these are grave odds, sir.'

‘I know that, damn it! Have you not the wit to see that if we hold out for a little longer we'll have the autumn gales as will scatter their armada, and then the ice will come? Time is not on their side.'

‘Sire.'

‘Then to business. General Pike being indisposed, I hereby appoint Generalmajor Peymann to supreme command of the defence of Copenhagen.'

There was a stir around the table. An engineer officer in his seventies who, as far as anyone knew, had never heard a shot fired in anger.

‘Can't even ride a horse!' muttered the young major next to Krieger.

‘Enough!' snapped the Crown Prince. ‘The general is chosen because he has closest knowledge of the defensive works, having constructed many of them himself.' He turned to the old man. ‘Well, do take your place, Generalmajor.'

Peymann lifted himself heavily from his seat and went to the other end of the table, his face lined with anxiety.

‘And under him shall be Generalløjtnant Bielefeldt in command of all land forces – and Kommandør Steen Bille, the sea defences. I leave subordinate appointments to these officers.'

Bille's eyes glowed in anticipation and Krieger grinned. He was a masterly seaman with a fine record. If the English wanted a fight they'd get one.

‘I shall be back in one hour to hear your dispositions.'

All heads turned to Peymann, who hesitated. Then, with a nervous twitch of his collar, he said, ‘You heard His Royal Highness. It's to be expected the English will make a sally in force at the harbour entrance as will gain them entry to the city. I'll give half an hour to the commanders of the land and sea forces to confer and plan separately against this event, after which we will come together to give outline to our strategy of defence, which will be submitted to our commander-in-chief, the Crown Prince.'

Bille found a room and sat down with the naval officers.

‘So! If the English think to force the
havnen
they'll get a bloody nose,' he growled, tracing out the defensive lines around the harbours on his campaign map.

Things had changed much since Nelson had closed with the city and cannonaded its defences to a standstill. The harbour itself was formed by the Strait of Kallebo narrows between the mainland of Sjælland and the outer island of Amager. Stout bastioned city walls enclosed Copenhagen and its harbour, and on the Sjælland side at its entrance the massive Citadel was armed with heavy mortars and guns. Opposite were the Sextus and Quintus batteries. Working together they could lay down a merciless rain of fire on any who dared make to enter.

Further out to sea was the fearsome seventy-gun Trekroner battery, sited to dominate the deep-water approaches, and firmly on the two-fathom line further south another, the Prøvesten fort with ninety cannon, defied any attempt to fire into the city from down the coast. Two blockships were in place athwart the entry channel, while up and down the wall and ramparts countless guns bristled outward.

Bille straightened. ‘I dare to say we're impregnable. But I was here when we last faced them and it's not a good idea to underestimate the English. Krieger, I want you to set up a defence in depth with cutters, rafts and, of course, gunboats.'

The Swedish wars in the Baltic had left all players respectful of the gunboat design evolved for the conditions of that sea – sudden calms, short seas, multitudes of islands for concealment. The boats were pulled by up to eighty oarsmen and with a gun of size mounted fore and aft, which would normally be found in a ship-of-the-line, and fully manoeuvrable, they were a formidable threat in any kind of numbers.

‘I'll do that, sir. I'll take Lynetten as my base.' This was a smaller sea fort handily placed by the mouth of the harbour. On a sandbank, it would provide good shelter for a swarm of craft.

‘A pity our fleet is laid up – we'd never get them to sea in time. Damned uncivilised of the English not to give us warning of their call. Still, I'm sanguine we've done enough to make 'em think twice.'

They reconvened, and Peymann summoned the military to make first presentation.

Bielefeldt didn't waste words. ‘Sir, this is our disposition. Almost our entire army is in Holstein, too far to arrive here in time. Within the city we have five and a half thousand regular troops and can count on a further two and a half thousand others. Should we call on volunteers for a Copenhagen burgher militia we could probably muster another four thousand, including eight hundred students from the university, a total of some twelve thousand.'

He wiped his brow. ‘However, we have in the country nineteen battalions of
landeværn
to call upon if necessary and
with this force I'm sanguine we can hold the city until our brothers from Holstein arrive.'

‘Very good, Generalløjtnant. Kommandør Bille?'

With hard, thrusting flourishes, the sea officer outlined the situation and his intentions. So forceful was his delivery that several grim smiles surfaced around the table and Peymann's lines of worry eased. ‘Thank you. I can tell you all here that I've established we have sufficient provisions in the Citadel storehouses to withstand a siege of a month or more. Our water supply is secured by pipes from the country and the municipal authorities have been most co-operative in the article of regulation.' He sat back. ‘Then it seems we have something of value for His Royal Highness's consideration. I shall send word.'

It was not for some hours that the Crown Prince appeared, pale-faced and clearly distracted. ‘What is it, Peymann? Have you anything for me?' he said curtly.

Humbly, the elderly officer laid before him plans and preparations, but was cut off in the details.

‘That's good, Generalmajor. I can see I chose well. Then it seems I can safely leave the defence of Copenhagen in your trustworthy hands, sir.'

‘L-leave?' stammered Peymann.

‘Why, yes. I'm preparing my departure from Copenhagen in order to rejoin my troops in Kiel. You are left as paramount leader, and if the English make motions towards the city your duty is to defend it and its loyal inhabitants at all costs. Are my commands understood?'

‘They are, Highness, but—'

‘I have no time to discuss this further. Carry on with your preparations and God be with you.'

A
s soon as the dispatch cutter from Kiel threw lines ashore, Renzi stepped on to the quay, aware of the changed atmosphere of the capital. Everywhere was noise and commotion. In place of stolid placidity, people hurried purposefully, some hailing each other excitedly.

The Amalienborg was close and he quickly found his apartment. ‘Lady Farndon, how is she?' he demanded of Jago.

‘Well, m' lord,' he replied imperturbably, ‘she's stayin' with Frow Rosen at the Frederiksborg Castle.'

It was a relief. Away from it all in the country, with king's guards and friends, she was in no danger.

‘I'll need to bathe and shave this very instant. And set out my court undress.'

As he lay back in the ornate marble tub Renzi reviewed his options.

There was no royal pennon atop the Christian VII palace so he was not in residence there, but where?

He decided to have Jago send out one of the Danish staff to hear the street gossip. If he did not learn anything in that
way, he would go to Joachim Bernstorff, who, no doubt, had received word from his brother by the same dispatch cutter that had brought himself. It reminded him of his late mission to Constantinople with another fleet menacing offshore, but the resemblance stopped there. In Turkey he had had no control over events and had been swept along in a spiral of horror. Here it was another matter: unbeknown to the Danish, the armada would not stir from its anchors unless it received specific word from himself.

He had time to persuade Frederik to another course, but the fleet could not wait indefinitely. The proud regent might by now have had second thoughts about the price of defiance and if he could make a compromise palatable there was a chance. He must be found.

But Jago came back with word that on the streets there were contradictions and rumours that were useless.

B
ernstorff gave Renzi a polite bow. ‘My lord, your visit to Kiel was … not to your advantage, as I understand from my brother.'

Renzi gave a small smile. ‘I'm sanguine, sir, he will have preferred you to phrase it rather that it was not to
our
advantage.'

‘This has to be accepted, my lord. Then what is to be done?'