Bohemia is an ancient place name in Central Europe. It is located in the central and western region of what is now the Czech Republic. It is a multi-ethnic area in history and a settlement of Gypsies. Its area is about 52,065 square kilometers. After the Thirty Years' War, Bohemia
Mia was always ruled by the Habsburgs, but remained an independent kingdom with its own government. Until 1743, Bohemia became a province under the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty.
Queen Maria Theresa, who was ridiculed by Frederick the Great as one of the three petticoats of Europe, owned three crowns, one of which was the crown of the Queen of Bohemia.
When Frederick the Great swore to go out for war, the Austrians also responded quickly. They reached an agreement with the Turks and submitted notes to Britain, France, and Russia, requesting each country to send troops to Prussia.
As William said, the Russian Empress Catherine II only had the Black Sea outlet in her eyes, and Prussia had a peace agreement with her husband Peter III, so he rejected the Austrian proposal.
Louis XVI of France was overwhelmed by the continuous reforms in the country. The emptiness of the national treasury left him no energy to deal with Prussia.
George III of Britain, most of his energy was restrained by domestic political forces, and coupled with the friendly relationship between Britain and Prussia during the Seven Years' War, it was impossible for Britain to help the Austrians.
Under such circumstances, although there are people in Prussia and Austria who are opposed to a large-scale war at this time, because the power of the major European countries has been restrained, many people also believe that this is the best time for Prussia and Austria to fight it out.
moment. Whoever wins can dominate Germany and even aspire to the throne of Holy Roman Emperor.
The Prussian army was divided into two groups. A force of 30,000 men was led by Prince Henry and moved south from Silesia to attack Bohemia. The main force of 80,000 men was personally led by Frederick the Great and was looking for opportunities on the Saxon front.
After Joseph II learned that the Prussians were sending troops, he immediately ordered the commander-in-chief of the Austrian army, Marshal Franz Moritz von Lacy, to command the Elbe Army to block Frederick on the border between Saxony and Austria, while Marshal Lacy's army
There were 70,000 people. In addition, the Second Army, commanded by Field Marshal Ernst Gideon von Laudon, went to Bohemia to stop Prince Henry. The Second Army had 20,000 people.
Field Marshal Franz Moritz von Rasch participated in the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, and served as Chief of Staff to Field Marshal Leopold Joseph Daun during the Seven Years' War, together with Ernst Guidi
Eng von Laudon was also the Marshal's right-hand man.
It can be said that Marshal Lacy and Marshal Laudon were the two main arms of Austria at this time, and they were also the old rivals of Frederick the Great and Prince Henry. As for the Bavarian Front, it was led by Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany, the younger brother of Joseph II.
Led by De II.
In June 1778, the Elbe Army under the command of Marshal Lacy suddenly encountered Frederick's main army in a hilly area on the Austrian border. Both sides immediately set up a warning posture and sent out scouts to spy on local intelligence.
The Austrian army on the opposite side took a guarding posture. The Austrian army concentrated more than 400 cannons on an artillery position set up on a small high ground on the left wing. There were about 10,000 cavalry guarding these cannons. The center and right wing were traditional
There are line infantry, more than 4,000 cuirassiers and about 10,000 reserve troops at the rear.
The Prussian army had 546 cannon, 23,000 cavalry, 10,000 of which were cuirassiers, and 45,000 line infantry.
Frederick decided to order Prince Ferdinand to lead 10,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry to cross the Elbe River eastward and attack the Austrian Army from the north. Both routes aimed at the Austrian Army, carrying out pincer attacks, and then cutting off the Austrian Army's rear.
road, and surrounded and annihilated it in this area.
In order to implement this plan, Prince Ferdinand led the army to quietly move towards the Elbe River. On June 6, the Prussian army defeated the scattered Austrian troops guarding the Elbe River, set up a pontoon bridge upstream, and crossed to the south bank of the Elbe River.
During this period, Frederick the Great ordered his troops to conduct small-scale contact battles with the Austrian army to confuse the Austrian army, while the large army used shovels and all the tools at hand to dig what William taught him called trenches.
Marshal Lacy, who was on the opposite side from east to west, immediately understood Frederick the Great's intention after receiving the news of the loss of the Elbe River, and he immediately ordered the entire army to prepare for a decisive battle.
When in the early morning of the next day, Frederick discovered that the Austrians on the opposite side were no longer passively defending but had mobilized their entire army. Frederick knew that the enemy had taken the bait. Frederick was convinced that even in the fierce attack of the Austrian army, he would not be able to defeat him.
They could hold out until Ferdinand's army arrived on the battlefield.
Frederick ordered the Prussian troops to enter the first-line position. The Prussian position was dug into a large zigzag trench. In order to accommodate the backward flintlock guns of this era, the trench was dug very wide to accommodate three rows of people.
Shoot alternately front and back, and the depth is to the chest so that you can rely on the trench to shoot.
But to the Austrians on the opposite side, it looked very strange. The Prussians on the opposite side looked like rabbits, with only a big head and neck exposed, and they couldn't see anything else, let alone aim.
Marshal Lacy decisively ordered the artillery to open fire. Upon hearing Marshal Lacy's order, four hundred cannons rumbled into a concerto, but the strange thing was that the artillery's accuracy was very poor. In fact, we cannot blame the artillery's accuracy for that era.
The firearms used by other countries do not have rifling. In addition, although the trenches are wide, aiming is very difficult. There is land in front and behind, so many enemies cannot be killed.
After hearing the report, Lacy felt that it was not possible to continue like this, so he ordered the cannon to be fired closer to increase the damage. But just when he gave the order, the Prussian cannon in the middle position of the Z-shaped trench opened fire. The Prussian cannon could
There was no such concern. Just as the artillery on both sides was unleashing its power, soldiers from both sides entered the firing range at night. Judging from the muskets at the time, the firing range was about 300 meters, but the Austrians were stunned. The Prussians were behind the trenches and it was difficult for them to aim.
ah.
On the contrary, for Prussia, the Austrians were simply the best targets. A volley fired from the trenches was much more accurate than when they stood and fired.
Marshal Lacy was furious when he saw this. He ordered the Austrian cavalry to prepare, cut into the battlefield from the left wing, drive out the Prussian rats, and at the same time ordered the reserve troops to enter the battlefield.
Upon seeing this, Frederick the Great decisively ordered the cavalry to launch a countercharge against the Austrian cavalry from the right wing, and ordered the artillery to ignore the opponent's cavalry and bombard the infantry with all their strength. Under the bombardment of powerful firepower, the Austrian line became loose.
At this moment, Prince Ferdinand's reinforcements arrived on the battlefield. The 10,000 cavalry allowed their horses to gallop, waving their sabers and slashing at the Austrian rear reserves. However, the cavalry on both sides of Austria's left wing were so entangled that the Austrians were unable to rescue them.
When Frederick saw Ferdinand's army entering the battlefield, he decisively ordered the entire army to launch a counterattack. The Prussians crawled out of the trenches one by one and launched a charge towards the Austrians. Under the attack of the Prussian army from the front and back, first an infantryman
The company could no longer hold up and began to collapse, and then the collapse spread to the entire army like panic. The Austrians began to flee in a great rout, but there were Prussian troops in front and behind, and the Austrians could not escape.
In this battle, the Austrians suffered more than 8,000 casualties and 40,000 were captured. Marshal Lacy, the commander of the Elbe Army, retreated to Austria with only more than 10,000 defeated troops.
On the other hand, the Prussian side achieved a brilliant victory with more than 3,000 casualties. Frederick the Great looked towards the south ambitiously, where there was Vienna, and there she was.