Free up iCloud storage for new iPhone

Once I had an iPhone 13 with iCloud photos turned on with some 130 GB photos synced to iCloud. Then I switched to iPhone 14 but had never turned on the iCloud sync (I didn't use iCloud to set up the new iPhone). The photos on iCloud were obsoleted as all my photos are now physically stored on my iPhone 14.

Here's my uncertainty:

Can I delete the photos on iCloud using desktop computer to free up the storage space. Then turn on the iCloud sync function on the iPhone 14. Will the photos on iPhone 14 be synced on the "clean" iCloud? I am just afraid my iPhone 14 photo album would be wiped clean as there's nothing on the iCloud...

Thank you!