After this battle, the Bohemian Legion led by Marshal Laudong was seriously injured. That day, Laudong and his bodyguards escaped overnight. Later, more than 10,000 people fled back one after another, but these people
Having abandoned their armor and lost their combat effectiveness, Laudon had no choice but to flee back to Prague with these defeated soldiers and ordered the city gates to be closed tightly.
Inside the meeting hall of the Royal Palace in Vienna
Joseph II took Marshal Lacy's battle report and his face was livid, and he said angrily:
"Lasi, you loser, you have lost your power and humiliated the country. My army of hundreds of thousands has been defeated in your hands. I will kill you alive."
Queen Teresa, who was sitting next to Joseph II, saw Emperor Joseph II's disrespectful curse. She coughed several times. Joseph II stopped cursing after hearing Queen Teresa's cough and turned to
And looking at Queen Theresa.
Teresa glanced at the ministers at the foot of the steps and slowly said:
"Marshal Lacy is not responsible for the defeat of this battle. No one knew that the Prussians were so vicious. Of course, Lacy is also responsible. He did not realize Prussia's intentions in advance. This was his dereliction of duty. Your Majesty the Emperor.
Don't be angry, just give him another chance to make up for his mistakes."
Seeing Queen Teresa say this, Joseph II had no choice but to say yes.
After hearing Joseph II's promise, Queen Theresa asked Austrian Prime Minister Wenzel Anton First von Kaunitz-Rittberg:
"Your Excellency Kaunitz, how many people have our conscripts trained?"
"Your Majesty, we have trained 30,000, no, 70,000 people, but their training is not in place and their combat effectiveness is really limited. I'm afraid these troops will not pose much of a threat to the Prussians," Kaunitz thought for a while and said.
While they were talking, they heard a quarrel outside the chamber, and then the door of the chamber was opened, and a royal guard trotted up to Queen Theresa holding a letter.
The queen picked up the letter in front of her and opened it. Her face turned red and white. After reading it, she handed the letter to Emperor Joseph II, who had been coveting it for a long time.
His Majesty the Emperor couldn't wait to pick up the letter, but after reading it for a while, his face turned pale, and he tremblingly returned the letter to Queen Theresa.
The queen stood up and looked at the ministers at the foot of the steps. She felt sad in her heart and said:
"This is the battle report of Marshal Laudon on the Bohemian front. Do you know what it says? Let me tell you that the Bohemian Army was severely damaged by Prussia. Laudon asked for support, otherwise he might not even be able to defend Prague.
Stay. Tell me, everyone, what should we do next?"
The ministers at the bottom of the steps were noisy for a long time, but still could not come up with any good solution. Queen Teresa became impatient and said:
"Don't we usually all have ideas? Why can't we remember them now? Okay, stop arguing, let me tell you. This batch of conscripts is divided into two batches, one batch of 40,000 people
Go to Prague to support Laodong, and send someone to tell Laodong that if he loses Prague, he will not have to come back to see me. Another group of 30,000 people will go to support Marshal Lacy and let Lacy build a defense line in place, and he will not hesitate to order him.
All costs must be paid to me. In addition, Duke Green, please go and convey my will and recruit an army of 100,000 people."
After hearing Queen Theresa's order, Duke Greene hurriedly knelt down and said loudly:
"Your Majesty, if we recruit another 100,000 people, we won't be able to get that much money from the treasury. Your Majesty, please think again."
When Queen Theresa heard that Duke Greene opposed her will, she said angrily:
"I don't care what method you use, I will definitely see 100,000 people in the military camp in a month. In addition, I will allocate a sum of money from the royal warehouse to you. If you can't do this, I will keep it for you."
What’s the use?”
When Green heard that Queen Theresa had made up her mind, he had no choice but to stand up and say yes.
"Your Majesty, I have an idea that can change our current unfavorable situation. I don't know if I should mention it or not," Kaunitz said hesitantly.
"If you have any ideas, please tell me, Your Majesty Kaunitz. His Majesty the Emperor and I will not blame you," Queen Teresa said decisively. After hearing what Her Majesty the Queen said, Kaunitz expressed his thoughts:
"Your Majesty, I would like to ask for reinforcements from various princes in the empire, especially Charles of Bavaria. Now the news of our army's defeat on two fronts must be known to various princes, and I believe these people will not be willing to have Prussia attack.
The empire is dominated by one family, so they will definitely make the right choice."
After listening to Kaunitz's words, Theresa asked with interest:
"Kaunitz, how confident are you?"
"Your Majesty, I am 70% sure to convince the princes within the empire," Kaunitz replied without thinking.
"Very well, I will leave this matter to you. Ministers, the empire has reached its most critical moment. We must defeat the Prussians, and the empire is entrusted to you." Teresa said loudly to the ministers, and
All the ministers also responded in kind.
"Your Majesty, there is one more thing. The Prussians sent envoys to offer us a ransom in exchange for prisoners of war," Kaunitz said.
"If you have any opinions, can you tell me?" Teresa asked the ministers.
But when they heard the issue of prisoners of war, the ministers below all smiled bitterly. Because at first they believed that the Austrian army would win, they sent their proud sons to serve in the army. But now that most of them have been defeated and captured, of course they want to
These disciples were redeemed, but there was no money in the treasury to pay the ransom.
Teresa gritted her teeth. She thought of her son Leopold. If she did not redeem Leopold safely, how could she be worthy of her husband who loved her deeply?
"Your Majesty, I have an idea. It is better for the families whose nobles have been captured to pay the ransom themselves. This can not only redeem the nobles, but also reduce the pressure on the national treasury." Green looked at the silent nobles and said.
He had to be impatient, as he himself had a son and two nephews captured.
"This is a way. Green will let you negotiate with the Prussians about the prisoners of war. Remember to keep the ransom to a minimum. We can't let the Prussians add a lot of military expenses." Theresa had no choice but to agree to this method and
Send Greene to negotiate with the Prussians.
After the ministers left the meeting hall, Queen Theresa looked at her son and sighed leisurely. She understood that with the defeat of Lacy and Laudon, Austria's situation may become even more passive than during the Seven Years' War.
.Because during the Seven Years' War, Theresa had a large, battle-experienced elite army and a large number of outstanding generals left by her father, Charles VI. But now Austria, hey, lacks successors.
.
But she cannot fail. Once she fails, the seemingly friendly tigers and wolves around Austria will definitely show their ferocious fangs towards Austria and the Habsburg family.
PS: It hurts, but when I typed this chapter and uploaded it, there was a network error. Damn it, I typed it again. End of complaining.
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