The next day, Henry and Ferdinand still did not reach a unified opinion, but today there was no fierce argument between them, because in the evening there were a total of thirteen thousand people from Brandenburg and Bohemia.
Thousands of reinforcements have arrived outside Königsberg.
That night, Henry and Ferdinand held a grand welcome ceremony for the reinforcements. At the ceremony, Henry did not inform the reinforcements that the Russian army had been dispatched. He only expressed condolences to the troops thousands of miles away on behalf of the Prussian royal family.
Reinforcements came from afar.
After the welcoming ceremony that night, a dispute broke out again between Henry and Ferdinand because they needed to determine the command of the army. Although the nominal supreme commander of all Prussian armies in East Prussia was Prince Henry,
However, because of Ferdinand's special status, Ferdinand had the command of most of the army. Now Ferdinand asked Henry to divide all the incoming armies under his command. Of course, Henry did not agree to Ferdinand's request.
.
At this stage, Ferdinand's opinions are completely contrary to Henry's. Henry believes that if most of the command of the army is given to Ferdinand, then Ferdinand will definitely do something that he did not expect.
thing, so Henry did not agree to hand over command of the army to Ferdinand.
Of course, after several failed attempts, Ferdinand had no choice but to accept his fate, because at least in name, Henry was still Ferdinand's superior, and there was nothing left to argue in private. If the conflict was put on the table, then the first person to be unlucky would definitely be
Ferdinand.
After arguing to no avail, Ferdinand left the tent angrily, but Henry, who was standing in the tent, did not feel happy. Discord between generals was a taboo in war.
The day after the reinforcements arrived, Ferdinand appeared in the military tent as promised. Although he and Henry broke up on bad terms last night, on this occasion, Ferdinand had to take into account the impact.
After seeing Ferdinand's arrival, Henry nodded secretly. Henry quite admired Ferdinand's general knowledge, but appreciation was appreciation, and it was impossible for Henry to give up his bottom line.
At the meeting, Henry discussed the current situation with all the officers present. Due to the arrival of reinforcements, the Prussian army already had an overwhelming advantage over the Russian army not far away. Under such circumstances, Henry seemed to remember what happened some time ago.
Cossack mercenaries, so Henry said:
"Right now, our Prussians have formed an overwhelming advantage over the Russian army not far away in terms of military strength. In this case, I think it is necessary to clear our rear. There is a total force of three thousand troops in Bialystok.
Cossack cavalry, this cavalry was originally hired by Morak, but for some reason, outside Biavisk, these Cossack cavalry betrayed their employer, but no matter what, these Cossacks have already formed a certain influence on our army's next move.
threat, so I decided to send troops to destroy this Cossack mercenary army."
As soon as Henry finished speaking, there was a huge dispute inside the tent. Indeed, if this Cossack mercenary army was allowed to exist behind the Prussian army, it might cause immeasurable losses.
But then Henry changed the topic and asked the officers in the tent:
"Who is willing to lead the army to destroy those Cossacks who are in trouble?"
As soon as Henry finished speaking, the tent instantly became quiet, and people looked at each other, obviously not very willing to take on this task.
You must know that the current situation is that there will be a battle between Prussia and the Russians. At this time, no one wants to be transferred to the rear to encircle and suppress a group of Cossack cavalry. Moreover, those Cossack cavalry still come and go like the wind. Although due to the arrival of reinforcements,
The cavalry power in the Prussian army has also been greatly enhanced, but anyone who thinks about it will know that at the critical moment when the war with the Russians was about to begin, Henry would never deploy so much cavalry power to destroy the Cossacks.
.
Without cavalry, infantry alone would not be able to completely annihilate the Cossack cavalry led by Plivsky. In this case, it is better to stay in the camp and wait in peace when fighting the Russians.
The dedication to meritorious deeds is real.
Seeing that the atmosphere in the tent became colder, Henry's brows frowned unconsciously. Henry didn't know what those officers were thinking. Originally, Henry planned to assign this task directly to a certain general, but after Henry
During his unintentional exploration, he discovered that officers had a natural resistance to leading troops to exterminate mercenaries.
Almost everyone thinks that instead of working so hard to clear out those mercenaries, it is better to stay here honestly. After all, the credit gained from the war with the Russians is not as good as the credit for wiping out those mercenaries.
of.
"Of course I will send a cavalry force of 1,000 people under the command of a general who is willing to lead an army to destroy those mercenaries, and the infantry force of 3,000 people in the rear will also be under his jurisdiction."
You must know that even with the cavalry coming from afar, the total number of cavalry in the entire Prussian army did not exceed 4,000. Now Henry decided to send 1,000 cavalry, which already accounted for four percent of the entire Prussian cavalry force.
One of them.
Therefore, the conditions offered by Henry are already very generous. Although Henry can forcefully hand over the task to a certain general, this will inevitably make those generals unwilling. As the commander-in-chief of an army, if he brings
Fighting with such a mentality would be irresponsible to the entire army, so Henry tried his best to provide good conditions so that the generals could willingly do their best.
Some people may ask, how come there are so many Prussian troops with so few cavalry? At this time, most of the Prussian cavalry was deployed in Bohemia and Silesia. Of course, there were also some in Potsdam. These areas were the most important areas for Prussia.
It was so important that William resisted all opinions and did not dispatch those cavalry units with particularly impressive combat effectiveness to suppress Morak's rebellion.
Henry offered what he thought was a generous offer, but it still failed to impress the officers.
The officers believed that the contribution and income were not proportional at all. You must know that there were nearly three thousand Cossacks. Even though the mercenaries were undisciplined, they were still cavalry. In the era of queuing to be shot, the power of the cavalry was still invincible.
Moreover, the opponent was a Cossack. No one thought that they could completely annihilate nearly three thousand Cossacks with just this strength. The Cossack cavalry was known as the strongest in Europe.
What really made the Cossack cavalry fall from the sky was during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. At that time, the famous Japanese cavalry general Akiyama Yoshiko broke through an assault three times his own in the Battle of Fengtian and was known as the world's strongest Cossack cavalry.
The battle completely shattered the reputation of the Cossack cavalry.
Of course, it is said that Akiyama used machine guns to deal with the Cossack cavalry in the ancient times. However, 1781 was an era without machine guns, so the Cossacks were still invincible in Europe.
There was silence in the tent. Everyone here seemed to be staring at their toes. No one took the initiative to ask for help. Ferdinand looked at Henry with helplessness in his eyes.
You can't let Ferdinand go. As one of the few big figures in the Prussian army, wouldn't it be overkill to let Ferdinand deal with those Cossacks personally? And seeing that the war with the Russians was about to break out,
Ferdinand is indispensable now.
Henry's face was so black that it seemed like water could seep out of it. At this moment, a figure who had been sitting behind Ferdinand stood up. Hearing the noise, everyone in the tent turned their attention to behind Ferdinand.
.
"Your Highness, I am willing to lead the troops to destroy those godless Cossacks." Henry looked closely and saw that the person who volunteered was Ferdinand's adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Blücher.
"Lieutenant Colonel, this mission is not that easy to complete. You have to be mentally prepared." Seeing that someone was willing to rescue him, Henry was overjoyed. The more he looked at Blücher, the more he liked him, and he also gave a kind reminder.
Henry was happy, but Ferdinand, who was sitting in the chair, was not happy. Ferdinand said loudly to Blücher:
"Do you know what you are doing? Military and state affairs are something that a little adjutant like you can discuss! And you have never led an army. How can you command an army of 4,000 people?"
Ferdinand's reprimand and Henry's kind reminder did not make Blücher change his opinion. Blücher looked at Henry and said loudly:
"Your Highness, I believe that I can complete this task. Please believe in me as well as all of you here."
With that said, Blücher bowed to Henry. Ferdinand saw that Blücher ignored his words, and his face suddenly turned red. But at this moment, he could not say anything. It was difficult for him to say anything at the moment.
If I am willing to take on this task, everyone in the tent must be afraid that it will be my turn, so they will definitely go with the flow. The same is true for Henry. Someone finally gave him a step. If he doesn't do it now, he will wait until later.
So after Blücher bowed, Henry said:
"Well, in that case, I will give you this glorious and arduous task, but you have to remember that once you fail, military law will be ruthless. You must understand it."
"Your Highness, if I am unable to complete my mission to exterminate those Cossacks, I would rather be dealt with by military law."
Henry's words did not waver Blücher, and he answered decisively.
Henry became more and more satisfied with Blücher's performance, but he still said sternly:
"Okay then, tomorrow I will transfer the cavalry to you, and after joining your men, you can set off. Remember that this battle can only succeed, not fail, and those damn Cossacks must be completely wiped out."
"Yes" Brusiel responded loudly, and then sat back down in his seat with a swish.
Afterwards, the generals in the tent discussed various matters regarding the army, and then decisively adjourned the meeting.
When the meeting ended, Ferdinand didn't even look at Blücher behind him. Seeing this, Blücher could only helplessly smile to himself.