Chapter 316 The Fourth Silesian War
Chapter 317 The Fourth Silesian War
"Yes, the war has just begun." William II slammed the table beside him.
"The Austrians attacked Silesia several times before, but they were defeated miserably. This time will be no exception!
"Even, they will taste the bitter fruit of Leuthen again!"
He was talking about the Battle of Leuthen, which was a fierce battle between Austria and Frederick the Great's Prussian army during the Seven Years' War when Austria tried to retake Silesia.
That time, Frederick used all his military talents, using only a little more than half of Austria's troops, and through brilliant tactical command, he defeated the Austrians miserably - 22,000 of the 90,000 Austrian troops were directly killed and 14,000 were captured. The Austrian defenders in Breslau were affected and surrendered almost without a fight, and gave Frederick another 17,000 prisoners.
After this battle, Prussia was completely certain. The ownership of Silesia can be regarded as Frederick the Great's peak battle.
However, William II overlooked that Prussia no longer had a military warrior like Frederick the Great.
Moreover, after Frederick's death, Prussia's military was in disarray, and the Junker nobles began to become lax, and the overall combat effectiveness dropped by more than one level compared to Frederick the Great.
Although Prince Heinrich knew that it would be difficult for Prussia to replicate the glory of the Battle of Leuthen, he could not affect the morale of His Majesty the King at this time, so he also clenched his fists and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, we will teach the weak Austrians a lesson again!"
After saying words to encourage the army, he immediately mentioned the specific plan: "Your Majesty, we must use this period before the Austrians attack to make full preparations.
"I suggest that we should immediately form an alliance with Saxony to deal with the Austrians."
"And Hanover," William II added, "as well as Hesse-Kassel and Mecklenburg. We need to gather an army that will shock Austria."
Prince Heinrich was startled when he heard this. Saxony is adjacent to the Silesia region, so it is not surprising that it participated in this war, but His Majesty the King wants to bring in the British.
In fact, William II was able to say this with some confidence.
Hanover is actually a British enclave in the German region, and King George III of the United Kingdom is the Elector of Hanover. Britain has always been committed to weakening the power of Austria and France with the help of Prussia, so it is very likely that Hanover can be persuaded to join the war.
Hesse-Kassel is different from Hesse-Darmstadt, which joined the Seine-Rhine trade agreement. It belongs to Lower Hesse and is politically pro-Prussia. Mecklenburg is right next to Prussia and dares not disobey Prussia's demands. As long as these two countries give some benefits, they should be able to join the coalition.
"Your strategy is very good, Your Majesty." Prince Heinrich praised and continued, "Before we use diplomatic means, we should do two things.
"First, immediately send General Driesen and General Krokoff to lead the Guards to Liegnitz and Ratibor to garrison, and try to delay the Austrians' offensive in the early stages of the war and wait for our main forces to complete the assembly.
"Second, recall the Duke of Brunswick as soon as possible. His command will be the key to our victory."
William II was not very good at war. He just pretended to think seriously when he heard it, and then handed over the military affairs to Prince Heinrich for specific implementation.
However, when the latter was about to salute and leave, he saw William II's manservant walking quickly, bowing his head and handing an urgent report to the king.
William II opened the letter and quickly scanned it, frowning and said to his uncle: "It was sent by the Duke of Brunswick. He found that the Austrians had transferred the troops from the South Netherlands back to their homeland. Luxembourg currently has less than 5,000 troops, so he is preparing to launch a general attack on the Austrian army in the next few days.
"But you just said that you need him to return to Silesia, so..."
Prince Heinrich pondered for a moment, then nodded and said: "Your Majesty, perhaps the Duke of Brunswick is right.
"The achievements that his 20,000 soldiers can achieve in the South Netherlands will be far greater than the role of him rushing back to Silesia.
"He will be able to completely cut off Austria's control over the wealthy South Netherlands, and at the same time, he will win a beautiful victory before the battle in Silesia breaks out. This will be a great encouragement for our soldiers in Silesia.
"Before that, we only need to defend the two fortresses in the west and south of Silesia and wait for the Duke of Brunswick to return in triumph. His 20,000 troops plus the Dutch army will not take too much time to deal with the 5,000 defenders of Luxembourg."
"But..." William II was still a little hesitant.
Prince Heinrich took two steps forward and whispered: "Your Majesty, if we can drive the Austrians out of the Southern Netherlands, if our army is in a bad situation in Silesia, we can still use the Southern Netherlands as a bargaining chip."
The Southern Netherlands is Austria's only outlet to the Atlantic Ocean. In terms of economy, it is also relatively developed due to overseas trade. Its area is comparable to that of Silesia, and at least half of Silesia can be exchanged.
William II also fell into thought: "If we can influence the Southern Netherlands, Britain will also do more to support our battle in Silesia."
Britain regards the Low Countries as a springboard for the European countries to advance into the Atlantic Ocean, and it is also a strategic location that can threaten Britain, so it has always regarded this place as a strategic focus [Note 1]. If Prussia had a military presence in the Southern Netherlands, Britain would certainly be willing to offer generous benefits in exchange, 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 50,000 troops to support Austria, but until the Austrian army began to march towards Silesia, only 30,000 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 50,000 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 400,000 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 Wumtz's lips curled up 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 25,000 Austrian troops, 10,000 French troops and 3,000 Bavarian troops.
A powerful army of nearly 40,000 people broke into undefended Silesia. Perhaps the battle was basically over before Marshal Lacy's main force arrived.
He immediately shook his head: "You see, 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 Lignitz 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 5,000 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 team delivered the topographic map near the Liegnitz Fortress to General Wurmtz's tent.
Yes, although Austria has controlled Silesia for more than a hundred years, it has not even done a detailed topographic survey. It was not until it was 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, Wurmtz pointed to a high ground on the northeast side of Liegnitz and said to the French commander General Kellerman: "General, please 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.
"From here, we can directly bombard the fortress range.
"When the Prussian defenders are driven out by the artillery, I will hold them back in front, and General, you will rush out from their flank and rear, and you will surely defeat the Prussians in one fell swoop."
He turned and asked the staff officer beside him: "How many soldiers are defending Liegnitz?"
"According to our previous intelligence, there should be no more than 8,000 people, General."
"Very good." Wurmtz nodded, "Victory will definitely belong to us."
Before dawn the next day, the French army packed up their tents and rushed to the northeast of Liegnitz in the first ray of morning light.
However, they had just walked less than 3 kilometers when the cavalry responsible for reconnaissance in front hurried back and reported to Kellerman: "General, a large number of enemy troops were found on the high ground in front, with at least 7,000 to 8,000 people, and they have already formed a line."
General Kellerman's heart tightened. He was still in the marching formation. Fighting with the Prussians who were close in number and had already formed a line was almost the same as sending himself to death.
He still remembered the scene in Westphalia more than ten years ago when his army was hit head-on by Frederick.
"This is probably the main force of the Prussian army of Liegnitz."
He made a judgment and immediately ordered a regiment to defend on the spot, and the others retreated in an orderly manner, and sent someone to notify Wurmtz to come to reinforce.
However, what he did not expect was that the Austrian vanguard encountered more trouble than him and was already in a bitter battle. Wurmtz also sent cavalry and asked the French to support him immediately.
[Note 1] Low Countries: Low Countries is the name of the coastal countries in northwest Europe, because the altitude here is very low, so it is named. It includes the Netherlands, Belgium (called the Southern Netherlands in the 18th century), and Luxembourg.