Speaking of this, Hans seemed to have entered that magnificent epic again.
"More bad news came. The Austrian army recovered most of Silesia. A small detachment led by Lieutenant General Hadik broke into Berlin. There were rumors that the French and Swedish troops were moving closer here. Once Berlin fell, our
Family, weapons and ammunition will fall into the enemy's hands, and His Majesty rushes back to support his capital.
On the way, His Majesty received new news, saying that the French and Swedish troops showed no signs of movement, and that Hardik's Austrian cavalry only had 3,400 people. However, the local garrison did not know the truth and did not dare to resist, allowing the Austrian army to extort heavy sums of money.
And leave.
Soon another good news came. For some unknown reason, the Russian army that occupied East Prussia retreated for no reason. Now they only had to deal with the French army and the imperial coalition that entered Saxony. At that time, it was undoubtedly a severe blow to the morale of the entire army.
Take a breath.
His Majesty, who was worried, changed the march route and led our army to the vicinity of Rossbach, west of Leipzig.
In this place, His Majesty had only 21,000 troops left. The exhausted army finally encountered 41,000 French and Imperial coalition forces face to face. Although the coalition forces had the advantage, Subitz knew that his troops were disorganized, and the Imperial troops were even more numerous.
He was a Protestant and had no enthusiasm for the Prussian war. Therefore, he did not intend to fight.
Subitz planned to use cordon tactics, the most popular contemporary military art, to threaten His Majesty's rear lines of communication and force His Majesty to retreat without a fight. He was eventually squeezed into a small space and fell into the encirclement of three armies.
Surrender. In the constant changing of positions, there were problems with the cooperation between the French army and the Imperial army. The Imperial Army's outflanking force of Lord Joseph of Saxe-Schildhausen failed to receive close cover from the French army, and there was a disconnect in the operation.
His Majesty, who was watching the battle on a rooftop in Rossbach, immediately seized the opportunity to attack and ordered Seydlitz's 3,800 cavalry to attack, which immediately overwhelmed the right wing of the coalition. Before the enemy could regroup, His Majesty ordered Prince Henry's 7 infantry battalions to break in.
In the center of the French army, the Battle of Rosbach was over within 90 minutes. The coalition lost 7,000 people while our army only had 550. His Majesty ordered the prisoners to be treated well and invited the captured officers to dine at the same table with him. His Majesty asked everyone to forgive the lack of food.
, because His Majesty’s actual words were: Gentlemen, I didn’t expect you to come so fast and in such large numbers.
Britain is also happy for His Majesty the King and has confidence in us. Fireworks are set off in the streets of London to celebrate His Majesty's birthday, and some devout believers call His Majesty the King the only savior.
Old William Pitt, who had returned to the British government on July 29, was a staunch supporter of His Majesty. He condemned the armistice signed by the Duke of Cumberland. He persuaded Parliament to allocate funds to defend Hanover and help Frederick II. Previously, Parliament was only willing to
164,000 pounds were allocated to establish a spectator force in Hanover. This time, under the influence of the victory of Rossbach and the instigation of Old Peter, it was determined to allocate 1.2 million pounds per year to establish a participating force.
Peter the Elder and His Majesty the King jointly chose Prince Ferdinand, the Duke of Brunswick's brother and his Majesty's brother-in-law, as the commander-in-chief of this new army.
Ferdinand was 36 years old. He was a handsome, educated and brave man; he also played the violin very well. Bonny once said: "He may have a good future with these conditions." Ferdinand
Prince Nan was the second most powerful figure in our army after His Majesty the King at that time.
But His Majesty the King did not have much time to be happy. A French army commanded by the Duke of Richelieu still controlled most of Hanover.
On the same day as the Battle of Rosbach, 43,000 Austrian troops surrounded Schwednitz, the Prussian supply center in Silesia; His Majesty the King left 41,000 men there for defense, but due to flight and death, they had already
reduced to 28,000 men; these troops were commanded by the Duke of Beffen, who was unable to lift the siege, and on the 11th of November the fortress surrendered, leaving in the hands of the Austrians 7,000 prisoners of war, 330,000 silver coins, and enough for 88,000 troops
Two months of supplies. After the victors joined forces with the Prince of Lorraine and Marshal Daun, the force increased to 83,000 men and continued to advance towards the capital of Silesia.
On November 22, they defeated the remaining troops of the Duke of Befein and Breslau fell. At this point, most of Silesia returned to the Habsburg family.
His Majesty felt that he had reason to feel that his victory at Rossbach was not worth this defeat. However, that victory restored his courage and his army's vitality. The French army's plunder in Saxony was increasing.
It helped him a lot in terms of morale. His Majesty ordered his soldiers to march 270 kilometers in 12 days, crossing the muddy areas and joining forces with the remaining troops in Silesia.
On December 3, 43,000 of our troops met 72,000 Austrian troops on the land leading to Breslau. In the afternoon of that day, His Majesty the King made a speech to his officers:
Gentlemen, you will not fail to know that while we were busy blocking the French and Holy Roman Empire armies, there was a sudden and unfortunate fall here. Schweinitz fell; the Duke of Bervern was defeated; Breslau fell, and we
All the supplies of food, grass and ammunition were gone; most of Silesia also fell.
To be honest, if it were not for my unlimited trust in you and your qualities, which you, as warriors and sons of the motherland, have demonstrated many times, my current embarrassing situation would have been difficult for me to cope with.
There are almost none of you who have not achieved outstanding military exploits. I know everything you have done for the motherland and for me, and I will never forget it. Therefore, I also believe in this battle. The motherland has the right to expect you to show courage.
, you will not lack courage.
The moment of decisive battle has arrived. If the Austrian army continues to march across Silesia, I will achieve nothing.
Let me tell you this: Although Prince Charles has twice as many troops as I do, I will break through the constraints of the art of war and attack the enemy wherever I find them. The problem is not the number of the enemy's troops, or the advantageous position they occupy.
.
We can succeed by relying on courage and careful planning. I must take risks, otherwise, everything will be in vain. We must defeat the enemy, otherwise, we will die for our country under enemy fire.
This is how I view this battle, and I will act in this way. Let me convey my determination to all the officers and soldiers. Let them prepare to accept the upcoming test.
Tell them that I require them to carry out my orders to the letter. As for you, I remember that you are Prussians. Do I think that you will live up to this title? If any of you are afraid of sharing all the risks with me, he
You can retire from the army tonight without any reprimand.!
I know that none of you will abandon me. Then I will rely on your help and believe that I will win. In this battle, once the order is given to attack, if the cavalry does not rush towards the enemy with all its strength, I will
After the battle, ask him to dismount immediately and ask him to serve as the remaining troops; if the infantry shows the slightest hesitation, timidity or inability to hold the saber during the battle, I will cut off the floral decorations on his uniform!
Well, good night, gentlemen! Before long, we will either have defeated our enemy, or we will never see him again.
Up to this time, the Austrian army still followed a Fabian tactic and did not fight directly with His Majesty the King's army. But now, encouraged by their superior numbers and several recent victories, the Prince of Lorraine decided to
Ignoring Marshal Daun's advice, he was determined to avenge his disgrace on the battlefield. The soldiers of the two rival dynasties, 43,000 versus 73,000, moved toward each other, entering each other's sword formations and fire nets.
Your Majesty saw on the high ground that the Austrian army formed two long lines, while our army approached in a column, perpendicular to the Austrian army's line. Your Majesty sent his vanguard troops to spread out in front of the Austrian army to conceal their troops turning to the right.
, moving towards a certain point where the right wing of the Austrian line extends, where His Majesty's column converted into a horizontal line, approached at a 45° angle, and penetrated directly into the extension of the enemy's line, just like the famous ancient Theban general Epaminon.
In this way, a typical oblique tactic was formed, and the enemy's large forces were defeated before they could react at all; 20,000 Austrian troops were captured in the chaos, which was unprecedented, and our army only paid
The cost was 6,300 casualties.
As soon as the war ended, His Majesty took advantage of this opportunity to pursue the victory. The next day, our troops surrounded Breslau. The Austrian commander who defended the city posted a notice in the city, stating that if anyone mentioned the word surrender, he would
They were killed immediately without mercy. But half a month later, he led 17,000 people to surrender. Soon, except for a small fortress, almost all of Silesia was back in our hands.
At this time, Berni and several other French leaders unanimously persuaded Louis XV to negotiate with Prussia. But Madame Pompadour refused and replaced the foreign minister, Bishop Berni, with the Duke of Choiseul. However,
Most people in France could not help but suspect that they were fighting the war for Austria at the expense of their colonies, so they were extremely discouraged about the prospect of war.
France's Richelieu performed the same in Hanover, so he was removed in February 1758. He was replaced by Count Clement, a priest. The French army faced Ferdinand von Braunschweig.
Under the firm pressure of Prince Ferdinand, they finally withdrew from Hanover; in March, they abandoned Minden; and soon gave up Bavaria. Prince Ferdinand continued to advance westward. On June 23, he defeated the Croatian army with half of his strength.
The main force deployed by the Duke of Le Mans at Krefeld on the Rhine was blocked by Ferdinand's tidal wave of offensives.
At this point, it was already dark. Old Hans stood up and asked little William
"What did you understand?"
"I understand that perseverance, courage, innovation and victory will always belong to those who persevere to the end," little William replied seriously.
Old Hans nodded after hearing this.
"It's good to understand this at your age. You must remember that the same blood as His Majesty's is flowing in your body, and its name is Hohenzollern. Now go and eat." After saying that, he turned around and seemed to enter again.
It reminds me of the days of fighting and fighting.
"Teacher, what happened next?" William asked doubtfully
"Tomorrow afternoon, I will continue to tell you, now you go first." Old Hans fell into meditation again.
Little William shook his head, turned around and walked out.