At this point, the empire began to crumble. In 1675, Swedish Pomerania and the Duchy of Bremen were taken by the Brandenburgers, Austrians, and Danes. In December 1677, the elector of Brandenburg captured Stettin. Stralsund fell on October 15, 1678. Greifswald, Sweden's last possession on the continent, was lost on November 5. A defensive alliance with John III of Poland was rendered inoperative on August 4, 1677, by the annihilation of Sweden's sea-power; the Battle of Öland, June 17, 1676; the Battle of Fehmarn, June 1677, and most notable on July 1 – July 2 the Battle of Køge Bay. The difficulties concerning the Polish king continued. The Scanian provinces (Scania, Halland and Blegind/Blekinge), once eastern Denmark, became the centre of intense fighting between Swedes and Danes, with a large scale confrontation between the main armies near Lund in December 1676. After that, Scania was divided into Danish and Swedish enclaves centering around the main cities for the rest of the war. The remaining territories in Scania were mainly a no man's land where a fierce "little war" took place, with Swedish troops on the one side and Danish official and semi-official troops (freeshooters etc.) in conjunction with armed locals.