After William defeated Marshal Laudon, he sent Marshal Dessau to lead the cavalry to attack Prague. His order to Dessau was to lead the army to surround Prague and detect whether Austria sent reinforcements to support him.
After receiving William's order, Dessau marched toward Prague with the entire army of 14,000 cavalry early the next morning, while William stayed with Prince Henglin to deal with these prisoners of war, search and rescue, and reorganize the scattered Prussian soldiers.
them.
Marshal Laudong was in the cathedral in Prague. At this time, the cathedral was talking gloomily. The ground was full of wounded soldiers, and the medical staff were too busy to touch the ground. Looking at these soldiers with low morale and scars, Laudong's
He blamed himself endlessly in his heart. Although no one thought that there was anything wrong with Laudon's command, because they were about to win, and the reason for the defeat was just because they did not find that Prussia still had a large army behind them, Laudon still blamed himself.
Marshal Laudong, who participated in the Seven Years' War and achieved many major results, had seen many wars more tragic than this battle, but he was old after all, so he asked Vienna for help. If it was during the Seven Years' War
Laodong didn't even know what asking for help was. He would only despise those generals who kept asking for help.
Laudong's personal guard came to Laudong and said something in his ear. This sentence made Laudong's heart beat violently. This sentence was: A large number of Prussian cavalry appeared outside the city.
Laodong quickly led the officers in Prague to the city wall. Standing on the city wall, Laodong saw a sea of cavalry. Even though there were still several kilometers away, the neighing sound of the horses under the Prussian cavalry could still be heard.
to Laodong's ears.
Looking at the cavalry all over the mountains and plains, Laodong knew that he had only one way to go and that was to stick to Prague. He ordered the officers:
"Order the soldiers to monitor closely around the city gate and report immediately if there are any signs of Prussian siege. Everyone must cheer up. Bohemia is the brightest pearl in the Queen's crown. Once Bohemia is lost,
, the queen’s anger will annihilate all of us here, and she will send people to Vienna for help and urge the reinforcements to come as soon as possible.”
All the subordinates responded one after another, and then took action according to Marshal Laodong's instructions.
Looking at the unscrupulous Prussian cavalry outside the city, Laudong seemed to be back to his youth again. It had been a long time since he had fought a fierce battle like today.
After William rested for two days, the entire army left 10,000 men to guard the prisoners of war, and then led the army with Prince Henry to approach Prague. At this time, Austrian reinforcements also came towards Prague.
Looking at the Prague City Wall that gradually appeared in the distance, Prince Henry was filled with emotion. Prussia finally came to Prague City again. The mission that was once unfinished will be realized today.
As usual, William took Prince Henry and a group of personal guards around Prague to watch the Austrian defensive measures. Dessau reported from the side:
"Prague's garrison strength is initially estimated to be around 20,000, including the remnants of the Bohemian Army and Prague's city garrison. In addition, according to reports from spies, Austrian reinforcements from Vienna have already set off and are expected to appear in another week.
Here, the reinforcements are estimated to be around 40,000 people."
After listening to Marshal Dessau's introduction, William nodded and said:
"What you said in Dessau is very good. Now we have two options. One is to encircle the point and provide reinforcements, and the other is to capture Prague as soon as possible. Which option do you think is better?"
Prince Henry and Dessau fell into deep thought after listening to William's words.
"Your Majesty, I think it is better to encircle the point and call for reinforcements. Now the Austrians have no strength advantage over us. Our short-term goal is to eliminate the Austrian forces as soon as possible, so I think that some of our troops should leave some people to monitor the movements of the defenders in Prague.
A large force went to destroy the Austrian reinforcements." Prince Henry thought for a while and provided his answer.
"Your Majesty, I don't think so. Our army has just won a great victory and it is time to go all out. At this moment we should take advantage of the high morale of the army to attack Prague and strive to complete our victory in one battle. After taking Prague, I want the Austrian reinforcements
It should shrink back.”
Facing the two completely different answers from Prince Henry and Dessau, William was caught in a dilemma. Each of these two choices had its own advantages, but William thought for a while and said to Henry and the others:
"I think our army should attack Prague immediately. Bohemia is the land that Frederick the Great dreams of. I must capture Prague to announce to all Prussia that I am the best successor to Prussia. At the same time, I also want to comfort Philip.
The spirit of Emperor Trey in the sky. Send the order, and the whole army will rest for a day. Starting tomorrow, you all will move forward bravely. You must capture Prague before the Austrian reinforcements arrive."
Although Henry did not agree with the attack on Prague, he had no choice but to comply with the order William had issued.
The next day, Marshal Laudong walked to the top of the city. A soldier had just informed him that the Prussian army had dispatched.
Laudong frowned as he looked at the dark cloud composed of Prussian soldiers getting closer and closer below the city.
The Prussian army stopped outside the range of the artillery at the head of Prague. The Prussian artillery was pushed to the forefront. Under the command of the artillery commander, the Prussian artillery roared.
Prague's city wall was crumbling under the bombardment of artillery. Laudon ordered the artillery on the city wall to counterattack immediately, and the artillery from both sides began to bombard.
Unfortunately, Prague's old city wall did not last long under the bombardment of Prussian artillery. The city wall made bursts of roaring sounds, and finally one part of the city wall was overwhelmed and collapsed.
Marshal Laudong immediately ordered the Austrians who were waiting under the city wall to carry the stones that had been prepared under the city wall and immediately go to seal the gap.
However, the results of Prussian artillery were not limited to this city wall. Several other walls were destroyed by artillery. The Prussian army, which had been prepared for a long time, began to advance at William's wave. Their goal was those gaps.
Before Lao Dong could react, a cannonball landed not far from him. Although there were many guards in front of him to resist, the explosion of the cannonball still affected him, and one of his arms was blown apart.
The Austrians and Prussian troops in the city fought desperately at several gaps in the city wall, but how could these newly defeated Austrians resist the attack of the Prussian army with high morale.
Laudon fell into a coma after his arm was blown to bits, and the Austrian army had no commander.
Without a command, although some veterans of the Austrian army resisted desperately, they were still breached by the Prussians.
William watched the Prussian army continuously marching into Prague through the gap in the city wall. He laughed heartily and said:
"Prague and Bohemia are already in the palm of my hand"
This station was full of killings. Although the Austrians were forced into the city and launched street battles against the Prussians, the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Prussian army made it impossible for the Austrians to make a comeback.
In the evening, William ignored Prince Henry's persuasion and rode into Prague with a group of officers. In Prague, William could see the trembling Austrians in the house through the windows. William ordered to send people to
Every house proclaimed that Prague had become Prussian territory.
At night, the gunfire in Prague had stopped. William sat in the city hall in Prague and looked at Marshal Laudon who was still unconscious on a stretcher. He sighed: Time makes people grow old, and those who were brave back then were unstoppable.
Laodong is also old.
ps: I’m asking for support for the newbie’s new book. I actually didn’t expect it to be on the Sanjiang potential list. Thank you for your support.