I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 444 Focus - Latibor (Seeking follow-up reading)
Austrian Silesian Front Headquarters.

Berthier turned his eyes away from the map and looked at Lefebvre with some concern: "Do you think it is possible for General Leaud to defeat Ratibor's Prussian army? After all, he has an absolute advantage in terms of military strength."

The latter smiled and said, “If we had another officer in command, even an ordinary regimental commander, we might really have to worry about this. But now the commander is Leo, believe me, what he is best at is making soldiers appear where they shouldn’t be.

"And his ability to train soldiers is...ah, average. So, in his army, only the less than 2 soldiers left by General Wilmser have any combat effectiveness. The others can't even fire a volley."

"Now I am a little worried that he will be defeated by the Prussians..."

Joseph continued, "General Leo has the advantage in manpower and can hold out for at least five or six days. I have sent Major Masson to meet him near Latibor."

He looked towards the Prussian position in the distance: "Now it all depends on when the Duke of Brunswick will take action."

As they were talking, the sound of horse hooves was heard outside the tent. Soon, a herald officer walked in quickly, raised his hat to Joseph and saluted:

"Your Highness, General Leo failed in his attack on Ratibor and is now surrounded by the Prussian army."

Masson sent hussars to keep an eye on the battle situation in Ratibor at all times, and this messenger was sent by him.

The interrogator continued:
"According to the scouts, it was because General Leo did not notice the movement of the Prussian army's flank and insisted on using the main force to attack the front. As a result, the Prussians bypassed the flank and rear. Then he mistakenly withdrew the attacking force, and the enemy troops in the front pressed out, eventually forming a pincer attack."

Joseph immediately gave Lefebvre a look of praise and said with a smile:

"You are right in your prediction. He is really good at making wrong moves."

Lefebvre sighed: "1 men were surrounded by 2 Prussian troops. He performed a little bit 'extraordinarily' this time."

Berthier looked at Joseph and said, "Your Highness, should we send Major Masson to reinforce us immediately?"

Joseph shook his head and said, "We have to trust General Leo. His army is the best equipped in the Austrian army. Even if they are surrounded, they should be able to hold out for a few days.

"Go and tell Marshal Lacy and the Duke of Brunswick about the situation of the Leo Corps immediately."

Joseph said to an officer next to him, "Please send someone to inform Potsdam that we can start the operation."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The officer was the intelligence agency's liaison officer to the Crown Prince, and he immediately left with Berthier.

……

East of Liegnitz.

In the Prussian headquarters, the Duke of Brunswick looked at the map in surprise and shook his head:

"What on earth do these damned Austrians want? There's no point in attacking Ratibor."

Just half an hour ago, he had just received a tip from Austria that more than 1 Leo Legion soldiers suddenly attacked Ratibor. However, Colonel Elwin, who was in charge of the defense, reacted quickly and took advantage of the Austrians' negligence to surround them on the outskirts of Ratibor.

(Oil portrait of Blücher)

Blücher had fought with Leo for a long time in Liege, so he would not miss the opportunity to take advantage of someone's misfortune. He immediately shouted:

"Marshal, the Elwin Legion only has 7 men. I'm afraid it will be difficult to annihilate the enemy. I think we should send more troops immediately!"

General Drissen on the side suggested:
"Ratibor has no strategic value at all. It's enough for Colonel Aylwin to hold on there. There's no need to forcefully annihilate the enemy." The Duke of Brunswick lowered his head and thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "No, we should reinforce Aylwin immediately."

"But……"

"Although Ratibor is worthless, Leo is extremely prestigious in the Austrian army," the Duke of Brunswick stood up with his hands on the table, "If we can capture or kill him, it will have a huge impact on the morale of the Austrians.

"The country's finances are already in great difficulty. If we can end the war as soon as possible, we should try our best."

He looked at Blücher and said, "You will lead 1 men to Ratibor immediately to cut off the Austrians' route back to Ostrau. You must ensure that Leo is killed or captured."

Blücher was immediately delighted: "Yes, Your Excellency the Duke!"

On the other side, a dispute also broke out in Marshal Lacy's tent.

Nauendorf said loudly: "Just dispatch two regiments to rescue the Leo Legion. We shouldn't invest too many troops in Ratibor."

Berthier on the side immediately shook his head: "General, you have to consider that if the Prussians also send troops to Ratibor, then this amount of reinforcements will not be enough."

Wilmzer and Leo have a good relationship and he quickly expressed his support:

"Ratibor is also our territory, so we might as well take it back. General Leo has the advantage in military strength, but he was surrounded by mistake. Once his troops are out of trouble, it should be very easy for us to take back Ratibor."

Seeing that Lacy was still hesitating, Berthier added fuel to the fire: "Marshal, if the news that 'the spearmen of the Southern Netherlands have successfully recaptured their homeland' appears in the newspapers in Vienna next week, it will surely make everyone very excited."

Marshal Lacy frowned when he heard this, but what he heard from the French Chief of Staff was that if the "Spear of the Southern Netherlands" was captured in Ratibor, it would be a nightmare for Austria.

Moreover, if something happened to this prestigious general, His Majesty the Emperor would definitely blame himself as the commander-in-chief.

Thinking of this, he no longer hesitated and turned to Wilmser and said, "You will lead 1 soldiers to Latibor to reinforce him immediately."

"Yes, Marshal!"

At the same time, in Potsdam, the political center of Prussia, the streets were full of heated discussions about the army's victory in Ratibor.

All the front pages of newspapers were about "The Austrian army invading Ratibor was defeated by Erwin's army, Leo will be captured", "Great victory in Ratibor, 1 Austrian invading troops were surrounded" and so on.

As for the pamphlet, it directly increased the number of enemies killed to 3, and the pride of the Austrians - Leo had been captured. Currently, the Austrian army is trying its best to prevent Leo from being sent to Potsdam for public trial.

Of course, these were all the work of the French Intelligence Agency's spies in Potsdam. Spreading this kind of news that the Prussians loved to hear was simply the easiest job for the spies.

In the Sanssouci Palace, William II was also very excited. Although various news were flying around and it was still uncertain what the situation was like for Ratibor, it was a foregone conclusion that Leo was surrounded.

The Silesian war had been at a stalemate for so long, but there was finally a major breakthrough.

After a brief discussion with Prince Henry, he immediately drafted a commendation order, promoted Elwin to major general, and praised the Duke of Brunswick highly.

Just three or four days later, the eyes of the entire German region were focused on the inconspicuous province of Ratibor.

A total of 4 troops from both Prussia and Austria are heading there, ready to fight to the death with Leo as the stakes...

(End of this chapter)