>>14248715>Lest we assume Gustavus Adolphus was an unstained knight looking to defend Protestant Europe from the scourge of popery, we must consider that his motives were more practical than spiritual. He fought against the Catholic HRE, Protestant Denmark, and Orthodox Russia in pursuit of his strategic aims to put Sweden firmly in control of northern Europe and break out of encirclement.With a mere 13k troops, he arrived in Pomerania in 1632 and offered his services to the Protestant princes of Germany. He wanted a while for additional reinforcements to come from the homeland, and also for a few thousand Scottish mercenaries, swelling his ranks to 40k men. He drilled and disciplined them well, and equipped them with modern flintlock muskets in place of the old matchlocks, and mobile light artillery pieces.
>While the German armies were followed by swarms of tag-along prostitutes (Wanderndehuren), the Swedish king forbade this in his command (exception being that married men could be visited in camp by their wives). Soldiers had army chaplains administer morning prayers and services every Sunday, and Gustavus did not seek to convert German civilians by force; all were left to practice their religion freely in areas occupied by the Swedish army. 