Before deciding to march across the Belts, Charles X Gustav and his army faced a potential catastrophe. The army was isolated and could face imminent encirclement should an Austrian-Polish army attack from the rear. If the ice on the Great Belt had not settled, the king's army might have been captured in the middle of the Danish kingdom without the opportunity to escape. The king's decision averted the impending catastrophe, thanks to a combination of luck and boldness. A similar analysis can be made of the ice marches themselves, during which two cavalry squadrons fell through the ice on the Little Belt and drowned. If the bulk of the army had perished, posterity would likely have condemned the decision to cross the ice. This did not occur, however, and a potential catastrophe turned into a huge military success, which in turn resulted in the most profitable peace treaty Sweden has ever signed. For Denmark, the peace treaty became a disaster that severely mutilated the kingdom.