Old Hans took a sip of black tea and narrowed his eyes as if he was lost in memories.
"On January 10, 1757, His Majesty the King gave a secret instruction to the cabinet ministers staying in Berlin, "If I die in battle, all affairs must continue without change... If I am unfortunately captured,
It is strictly forbidden to have the slightest concern for me personally, or to have the slightest respect for the scraps of paper I wrote while I was in captivity." In fact, His Majesty the King does not need to do this at all, because once Prussia loses His Majesty the King, Prussia loses everything.
His Majesty the King's only hope is to defeat the enemy troops one by one before they are assembled. At this time, France has not yet completed its war preparations, and the British army sent to Hanover may slow down France's actions. The Austrian army is in Bohemia
The arsenals of Asia and Moravia contain a large amount of weapons and food. His Majesty is determined to obtain these precious supplies first, decisively defeat the Austrian army, and then return to resist the French army. His Majesty personally leads an army from Saxony.
He also ordered Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick to come from Eastern Germany and Marshal Schwerin to come from Silesia to raise their troops into Bohemia, and agreed to meet at the eastern hills overlooking Prague.
It started smoothly, and the arsenal soon fell into the hands of His Majesty. However, this time the Austrian army did not retreat. They fought under the command of Charles, Prince of Lorraine, and evacuated half of the population of Prague to prepare for unfavorable conditions.
Lower the city to defend the city. On May 6, 64,000 Chinese troops and 61,000 Austrian troops met at the gate of Prague and started an unprecedented melee.
The two sides rushed to kill each other. The key to victory or defeat no longer lies in the number of people or the level of strategy, but in the courage of both sides. Under the fire net of the Austrian army, Schwerin's army crossed waist-deep rivers and swamps.
During the attack, they were beaten by the opponent until they lost all their energy and turned around and fled. Fortunately, in order to revive the army, the 73-year-old Marshal Schwerin took the lead, wrapped himself in the military flag, marched forward bravely, and charged the enemy. Unfortunately, he died.
Hit by five bullets, he fell to the ground and died.
Our soldiers were infected by the marshal, so they charged at the enemy angrily regardless of life and death, so they were able to turn defeat into victory. The killings on both sides of the Battle of Prague were very brutal. Our army lost 400 officers and one of its most outstanding generals, while the Austrian army
The remaining 45,000 Austrian troops retreated to Prague Castle, preparing to fight against the siege of our army.
However, His Majesty the King found that the siege was very difficult. Soon he received a report that an Austrian reserve army of 40,000 people was moving towards Prague. Compared with the Austrian standing army in the city, His Majesty felt that it was relatively easy to defeat this reserve army. So.
He left part of the army to blockade the castle and led 22,000 elite troops to march eastward.
On June 16, 1757, His Majesty encountered the oncoming Austrian motley army at Colin. The leader of the Austrian army in the Battle of Colin was Field Marshal Leopold Joseph Daun. His commanding ability seemed to be better than that of His Majesty the King.
It was even stronger. By the evening of the battle, all the infantry and cavalry charges of the Prussian army were repulsed. Moreover, under the strong counterattack of the opponent, several generals disobeyed, which made the situation even more chaotic. His Majesty changed his usual calm color and faced the retreat.
The returning cavalry shouted: "Are you going to live forever?" Our infantry refused to advance due to heavy losses and loss of confidence. His Majesty the King was greatly disappointed. Some generals simply ignored His Majesty's wishes and left the injured and captured 1.4
With 18,000 soldiers and 18,000 remaining troops, they returned to Prague, withdrew the besieging troops and hurriedly retreated to the road back to Saxony.
Three weeks later, on July 2, His Majesty, who was silent in the army, learned of the death of his mother. His Majesty finally collapsed, locked himself in his room, and shed tears for a day. His Majesty suspected that 17 years ago,
The attack made by Silesia was not the last resort to be tempted by the goddess of revenge. His Majesty wrote to his sister, Countess Wilhelmina, telling her of his despair:
"My dear sister, since you have always insisted that you are engaged in a great peaceful work, I beg you to help me and send Mr. Mipola to send 500,000 silver coins to the French King's favorite Madame de Pompadour, who was also known as
Your majesty, that skirt, to seek peace... Everything depends on you... My beloved, not only are your virtues far more perfect than mine, but you are also another me."
When this didn't work, Countess Wilhelmina had to try something else: she wrote to Voltaire, who was living in Switzerland, asking him to use his influence, and he forwarded her proposal to
Cardinal Townsend opposed the Franco-Austrian Alliance. Townsend did as she asked, but failed. The enemy seemed to have smelled the breath of victory, so how could he give up like this?
At this time, a French army has entered our country. Its general is Prince Subiz, a close confidant of Madame de Pompadour, and is on his way to join forces with the Imperial Parliamentary Army stationed in Erfurt. The other army is led by Destre.
Under the command of the marshal, he attacked the Hanoverian army commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, son of George II.
On July 26, 45,000 Hanoverian troops were severely damaged by 100,000 French troops.
On September 8, the Duke of Cumberland, who was being pursued with no way out and nowhere to go, signed a humiliating surrender agreement, disbanded his army, and promised not to take any more hostile actions against France. Immediately afterwards, a Swedish army landed
In Pomerania, a 100,000-strong Russian army, led by Marshal Aprakhin the Younger, invaded East Prussia.
On July 30, the Russian army defeated our army at the Battle of Big Jegersdorf. The successive defeats, coupled with His Majesty's own defeat in Bohemia, almost destroyed His Majesty's hope of defeating the enemy, especially since the opponent's numbers were so large.
There were so many, so many supplies and personnel, and so well equipped, that while abandoning morality and Christian theology, His Majesty actually contemplated suicide.
On August 24, His Majesty sent a letter to Countess Wilhelmina;
"I see that all men are just dolls played by the God of Fortune. He allows a group of despised creatures to continue to multiply here. He puts robbers in crowns and philosophers in chains. He sees our good deeds and
Evil deeds, the horrors of war and plagues sweep across the world, and yet it remains indifferent. My only refuge, dear sister, is the embrace of death."
Countess Wilhelmina wrote back to His Majesty with encouragement:
"I want to look back at what a pitiful situation you put your enemies into before the Battle of Prague. That was the sudden change that fate made to both sides...Caesar also became a slave to pirates for a time, and then finally became the master of the world.
A man of your great genius will find support even when everything seems to be lost; no matter the outcome, hope has not deserted me..."
His Majesty the King regained his courage: "As for me, I must think, live and die like a king under the threat of shipwreck and in the face of storms."