I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 317 The Fourth Silesian War

"Yes, the war has just begun." William II slammed the table next to him,
"The Austrians have attacked Silesia several times before, but they all failed miserably, and this time will be no exception!

"They will even taste the bitter pill of Leuthen again!"

He was talking about the Battle of Leuthen, a fierce battle between Austria and Frederick the Great's Prussian army during the Seven Years' War when Austria tried to recapture Silesia.

That time, Frederick used all his military talents, using only slightly more than half of Austria's troops, and through brilliant tactical command, defeated the Austrians miserably - 9 of the 2 Austrian troops were directly killed. 2 people were captured. The Austrian garrison in Breslau behind was affected and surrendered almost without a fight, and gave Frederick 1 prisoners.

After this battle, Prussia completely determined its ownership of Silesia, which can be called the pinnacle battle of Frederick the Great.

However, William II ignored that Prussia no longer had the military might of Frederick the Great.

Moreover, after Frederick's death, Prussia's military equipment was depleted, and the Junker nobles began to become disorganized. The overall combat effectiveness dropped by more than one level compared to that of Frederick the Great.

Although Prince Heinrich knew that it would be difficult for Prussia to replicate the glory of the Battle of Leuthen, it must not affect the morale of His Majesty the King at this time, so he also clenched his fists hard: "Yes, Your Majesty, we will teach the weak Austrians a lesson again." !”

After speaking the words to inspire the troops, he immediately mentioned the specific plan: "Your Majesty, we must use the time before the Austrian attack to make full preparations.

In fact, William II can say this with a certain degree of confidence.

Prince Heinrich pondered for a moment, then nodded suddenly and said: "Your Majesty, maybe the Duke of Brunswick is right.

"The success his 20,000 soldiers can achieve in the Southern Netherlands will be far greater than the effect of his rush back to Silesia.

"And Hanover," Wilhelm II added, "and Hesse-Kassel and Mecklenburg. We are going to raise an army that will shock Austria."

William II also fell into thinking: "If we can influence the Southern Netherlands, Britain will also contribute more to support our fight in Silesia."

William II was not very good at war. When he heard this, he just pretended to think seriously, and then left all military matters to Prince Heinrich for specific implementation.

Prince Heinrich was startled when he heard this. Saxony is adjacent to the Silesia region. It is not unexpected to participate in this war, but His Majesty the King wants to involve the British.

Prince Heinrich took two more steps forward and whispered: "Your Majesty, if the Austrians can be driven out of the Southern Netherlands, in case our army's war situation in Silesia is unfavorable, the Southern Netherlands can be used as a Exchange chips."

"But you just said that you need him to return to Silesia to help, so..."

Hesse-Kassel is different from Hesse-Darmstadt, which joined the Seine-Rhine Trade Agreement. It belongs to Lower Hesse and is politically pro-Prussian. Mecklenburg was right next to Prussia and did not dare to disobey Prussia's requirements. As long as these two families are given some benefits, they should be able to join the coalition.

However, just as the latter was about to bow and leave, he saw William II's manservant coming quickly, bowing his head and handing an urgent report to the king.

"Before that, we only need to hold on to the two fortresses in the west and south of Silesia and wait for the Duke of Brunswick to return in triumph - his 2 troops plus the Dutch army will solve the 5 defenders of Luxembourg. It won’t take much time.”

"But..." William II was still hesitant.

“The first is to immediately send Generals Driesen and General Krocoff to lead the Guards to Liegnitz and Ratibor to garrison, trying to delay the Austrian offensive in the early stages of the war, waiting for our main force to complete the assembly.

William II opened the letter and scanned it quickly, frowned and said to his uncle: "It was sent by the Duke of Brunswick. He found that the Austrians had transferred their troops in the direction of the Southern Netherlands back to the mainland. Luxembourg currently has less than 5 Thousands of troops are preparing to launch a general attack on the Austrian army in the next few days.

"I suggest that we should immediately form a coalition with Saxony to deal with the Austrians."

Hanover is actually a British enclave in Germany, and the British King George III himself is the Elector of Hanover. Britain has been committed to using Prussia to weaken the power of Austria and France, so it is very likely that it can persuade Hanover to join the war.

"Your strategy is very good, Your Majesty." Prince Heinrich praised it and continued, "Before using diplomatic means, we should do two more things.

The Southern Netherlands is Austria's only outlet on the Atlantic Ocean. Economically, because overseas trade is relatively developed, its area is comparable to Silesia, and it can be exchanged for at least half of Silesia.

"The second is to recall the Duke of Brunswick as soon as possible. His command will be the key to our victory."

"He will be able to completely cut off Austria's control of the wealthy Southern Netherlands, and at the same time achieve a beautiful victory before the fighting in Silesia breaks out. This will be excellent for our soldiers in Silesia. Encouraging effect.

Britain regards the Low Countries as a springboard for European countries to leave the Atlantic Ocean, and as a strategic location that can threaten Britain, so it has always regarded them as a strategic center of gravity [Note 1]. If Prussia had a military presence in the Southern Netherlands, Britain would definitely be willing to exchange generous benefits, such as sending troops to participate in the war in Silesia.

But he immediately became worried and said: "But who will command the Silesian battlefield? Or, my dear uncle, you can show your former glory again."

Prince Heinrich once followed Frederick the Great in the north and south, participated in the Silesian War and the Seven Years' War, and was also a fierce general.

Prince Heinrich thought for a moment, but shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, I am really no longer young. Perhaps we can transfer the Duke of Brunswick back to Silesia and let the Margrave of Wallstatt lead the army in the Southern Netherlands. "There are very few Austrians there and he can handle it."

The Margrave of Wallstadt he was talking about was Blücher, who was currently the deputy to the Duke of Brunswick and a Prussian marshal who would later rise to prominence in the anti-French alliance.

……

Craignitz, northwest Austria.

This is the only way to the Gnitz Fortress on the southwest side of Silesia.

Beside the trail, General Dagobert Sigmund von Wumtz, the former commander of the Austrian army, put down his telescope and signaled his staff to speed up the march.

After a while, intensive drum beats sounded in the several-kilometer-long queue beside him, and the soldiers' pace suddenly accelerated a bit.

General Wumtz knew very well that the current marching speed of the Austrian army was almost equivalent to the result of the victory - if he could reach Silesia one day earlier, he could capture an extra piece of land before the Prussians were unprepared.

Immediately, he turned his head and looked at the hazy white "thin line" behind the queue.

That was the French reinforcements. The French were not only marching slowly, but also with great style, as if they were coming to save Austria.

"There are only 30,000 soldiers." General Wumuzi exhaled dissatisfiedly, "This will reduce our original strength advantage by half."

According to the original agreement, the French would send at least 5 troops to support Austria, but until the Austrian army began to march towards Silesia, only 3 French troops arrived.

General Naundorf, the cavalry commander on the side, also shook his head: "France's financial situation is very bad. It is said that they have not even been able to gather the logistics supplies for 5 soldiers, so they can only send troops in batches.

"I heard the news from Vienna. In order to urge the French, His Majesty the Emperor also allocated 40 florins in military expenses to purchase supplies for them. If nothing else happens, the rest of the French army will be able to join the battle in half a month. ”

"Half a month?" General Wumuzi curled his lips slightly, "We may have captured Breslau in half a month, and those French people can just be the embellishment of our entry ceremony."

Breslau is the capital of Silesia, located in the heart of Silesia. It is also a strategic location guarding the north-south passage of Silesia. It can be said that capturing this place will basically establish the victory for the entire Silesia.

Of course, in history, the Austrians also occupied Breslau, and then were beaten by the military genius Frederick the Great and driven back to Bohemia.

But now the Austrians tacitly believe that Prussia without Frederick will no longer be able to prevent itself from the humiliation of the previous three defeats in the Silesian War.

While the two were talking, they saw two cavalrymen galloping towards them from the northeast. Not far from them, they reined in their reins and reported loudly: "General, our forward has crossed the Lignitz border. We are not ready yet." Discover the Prussian Army."

General Wumtz was secretly happy. It seemed that as predicted before the war, this would be a surprise attack that caught the Prussians off guard.

General Naundorf came over and said, "Should we report the situation here to Marshal Lacy? The main force led by him should be still one day away."

General Wumtz glanced at his mighty forward troops-including 2 Austrian troops, 5 French troops and 1 Bavarian troops.

A powerful army of nearly 4 people broke into undefended Silesia. Perhaps the battle was basically over before Marshal Lacy's main force arrived.

He immediately shook his head: "Look, there are no Prussians here at all, and the fighter planes never wait for us.

"While we are waiting for the marshal, the enemy may have discovered something strange."

General Naundorf frowned: "What is your plan?"

"Speed ​​up the march and deploy the troops on both sides of the Lignitz Fortress." General Wumtz said confidently, "On one side, cut off the connection between them and Breslau, and on the other side, beware of the Saxons."

The west side of Liegnitz is Görlitz in Saxony, and the east side is close to Breslau. It is not only a bridgehead for attacking Silesia, but also a threat to Saxony after occupying it.

General Naundorf hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded: "Your deployment is reasonable, but I think it still needs to be reported to Marshal Lacy."

"Yes, it is necessary to report the military situation. And we should speed up the pace of attacking Lignitz."

At noon the next day, the forward march of the Austrian coalition forces could already see the Lignitz Fortress in the distance.

When the French at the end of the team finally arrived at the front line, General Wumtz barely allowed the troops to rest. He immediately followed his pre-planned plan and sent the Bavarian Army and 5 Austrian troops to the west to defend Saxony, while he led the main Austrian force and the French. The army stormed Lignitz from the east.

Although the French like to show off and their movements are a bit slow, Wumuzi knows that their combat effectiveness is still very good. At least not worse than the Austrian army.

In the evening, the surveying and mapping team sent the topographic map near Lignitz Fortress to General Wumtz's tent.

Yes, although Austria has controlled Silesia for more than a hundred years, it did not even conduct detailed topographic mapping. It was not until after being beaten by Frederick the Great that it realized that it was not as familiar with Silesia as the Prussians.

In front of the battlefield map, Wumtz pointed to a high ground northeast of Lignitz and said to the French commander General Kellerman: "Your Excellency, General, I will ask you to lead your troops to garrison here early tomorrow morning."

He pointed to a gentle slope next to the fortress: "I will lead the main force to deploy here and set up artillery positions here.

“You can directly bombard the fortress from here.

"When the Prussian defenders are driven out by artillery, I will hold them in front, and General, you will rush out from behind them from a high position. You will definitely defeat the Prussians in one fell swoop."

He turned to ask the staff officer beside him: "How many soldiers are there defending Lignitz?"

"According to our previous intelligence, there should be no more than 8 people, General."

"Very good." Wumuzi nodded, "Victory will definitely belong to us."

Before dawn the next day, the French army put away their tents and took advantage of the first ray of morning light to rush northeast of Lignitz.

However, as soon as they walked less than 3 kilometers, the cavalry in charge of reconnaissance in front hurriedly returned and reported to Kellerman: "General, a large number of enemy troops were found on the high ground directly ahead, numbering at least seven or eight thousand people, and they have completed their formation. ”

General Kellerman's heart tightened. He was still in marching formation. To fight against the Prussians who were close in number and complete the formation was almost the same as committing suicide.

He still remembered the scene when his army was attacked head-on by Frederick in Westphalia more than ten years ago.

"This is probably the main force of the Prussian army in Lignitz."

He made a judgment and immediately ordered one regiment to be left to defend on the spot, while the others retreated in an orderly manner. At the same time, he sent someone to notify Wumuzi to come for reinforcements.

However, what he did not expect was that the Austrian forward troops encountered greater trouble than he did and were already in a bitter battle. Wumuzi also sent cavalry and asked the French to support him immediately.

[Note 1] Low Countries: The Low Countries are the name for the countries along the northwest coast of Europe. They got their name because the altitude here is very low. Including the Netherlands, Belgium (called the Southern Netherlands in the 18th century), and Luxembourg.

(End of this chapter)