The fight for Køge bugt.


Denmark 1. July 1677 - Køge bugt



-"All men on deck!"
The captain resounded over the dock in Køge bugt, so loud that even the once in the outhere end of the dock could hear his husky voice.



A lot of sailors slowly walked up the planks that would lead them up on their ships, with crying wives and children hanging around their arms and legs. I didn't blame them, I would probably do the same if my dad or husband needed to go to war at sea.
An elder sailor pushed me

-"Be careful kid! This area is only permitted for sailors"
he grumbled.

He was smoking on a pipe with his dry lips and his long stubble. One of his eyes was half pinched together, and a scar was going straight over his jaw. He had a gold ring in his left ear, and had a heavy bag which caused him to sink a little.

-"But I'm a sailor, I'm going to battle against the Swedish" I said a little proud and
straightened me up.

-"Hmmm"
murmured the old sailor and raised one eyebrow.

-"So it is indeed a different matter.
My name is Arnold, and yours?" Arnold asked a bit more friendly.

-"Thomas, I shall stand by the cannons .Where is your post?"



-"I'm also standing by the cannons, I've been there since I started my life as a sailor, and I weren't
much older than you. Is this your first trip? Nervous?"
He asked with a twinkle in his eye.

-"Yes it is. For the first time I'm at sea with a warship"
I said and smiled shyly.


-"Then it is good that you met an experienced sailor huh ..."
Arnold was interrupted by the ship-captain's loud voice.

"All men on board!"
Arnold shook his head.

-"We'd better get going. We got to be ready for when the Dutch comes and makes it all end in chaos... Listen kid if you survive this, it'll remind you for life, That! I can already tell you by now, ha ha"
Arnold hit me hard in the back, but he laughed so loud that people around us sent inquiring glances.


---


Down by the cannons the smell of gunpowder, iron and sweaty men filled the room. It was hot, and the air was moist and heavy.
Arnold walked up in front of me towards a large and muscular man.
-"Svend!"
he shouted through the noise so that it almost sounded like he was talking underwater. But the muscle bound 'Svend' apparently had a great hearing.

-"Thomas this is my son Svend, Svend this is Thomas"

Arnold proudly introduced us


I just didn't know if it was me or Svend he was proud of.


-"Hi Thomas, nice with new strength for the road"
he growled.


I smiled nervously...


The cannon was large and magnificent and I couldn't get my eyes off it.
-"Beautiful isn't it? Yes, if we must lose this war, then we must lose it, but at least with beautiful accessories ha ha, isn't that right kid? "
Arnold said with a smile all over his face, he certainly wasn't afraid to die.

-"Yes, I suppose it is,"
I said, forcing a small smile, even though I didn't thought it was particularly funny.

-"Orh, cheer up kid we ..."
Arnold was for the second time interrupted by a panic stricken voice.

A little sailor yelled and waved his arms and shouted:



-"The Swedish are coming! The Swedish are coming! Get ready!"


All the sailors responded at the time same and the entire lower deck looked like an anthill.


I noticed how the ship swayed as we sailed out of the harbor. The men began to fill bullets of gunpowder in the cannons. Arnold pulled on my sleeve.

-"Come on kid it's now the fun begins, take this"
Arnold handed me a heavy cannonball.


I took it and crumpled to my knees but got me up again. It was way more massive than I thought.
The wind caught hold of the sail and we were shot through the water like a bullet. The bitter smell of salt-water bored into the deck below, it quickly drowned out the stench of sweat. I could hear the first shots from the other
ships and shots were fired from my neighbour cannon.


The smoke poured out and the suffocating smell filled the room. My eyes began to become wet and I had to blink several times before the tears disappeared. A loud bang resounded in the room and another ship crashed into us. The cracking sound of wood that splintered cutted in my ear, but it was not the only thing it cut.
Through the noise and the cries of panic-stricken men who didn't know what they had to do, I heard the piercing sound of something cutting through something soft.

I looked back and saw Arnold looking at his stomach. He looks frightened me. A
splintered wooden plank had pierced his stomach as blood poured out.


-"I never thought that I would die today,"
he whispered, and despite the noise I could hear it as clearly as if he had yelled into my head.

-"I did not ..."
The old man fell motionless down on the floor while blood flowed down through the cracks in the floor.


I knelt beside him and held his head up his eyes were half open and he moaned.


-"You'll be all right, it's all gonna go away" I said, a big lump was in my throat as tears pricked my eyes.


-"I don't want to hear a lie as my last thing"
he said softly.


A tear fell and hit his cheek.


-"You must not say that"
I mumbled.


-"You know it yourself. This is true kid"
he groaned.


-"Thanks for everything,"
I whispered.


Arnold was very weak. He gave me a weak smile and was no longer looking at me. I moved his head away from
me and onto the floor. A tear fell again, my eyes were wet. I quickly wiped the bloody tear
away.


Now this war meant more then anything else to me. I saw a long dagger sit in Arnolds belt. I grabbed it
and ran up, onto the deck. Svend was trying to keep a gun away from his head, while another man of the same size, if not bigger than Svend pushed him into the wooden pole and tried to point the gun at him. I ran there and slipped the dagger into the his back and just managed to pull it out before the big brute man fell with a crash. Svend looked surprised and grateful to me.


And so it continued. I pecked people, stuck the dagger in the back of them, cut their throats and got
blood spattered over my clothes. All the blood got sticky along with my blood covered cloth.


One of the Swedish men were chasing me up on the railing and tried to push me into the dark water. But
I drilled the dagger into his throat. A smile spread on my lips but a sudden pain
filled my lungs. I looked down and the man had managed to stab his sword up between my
ribs and into one of the lungs.
In a split second I was terrified, but then I was happy.
A huge smile spread on my face, and I let go of the railing, leaned back and fell against
the black water. I leaned back and fell against the black water. Because the importen thing was that I managed to make a difference...