Chapter 446: You have to fight for the opportunity to make detours.
Marshal Lacy could not persuade the French Dauphin no matter what. After all, he was not under his command and his status was much higher than him, so he had to write a letter to report the situation to Vienna immediately.
Early the next morning, General Kellermann led his army to pass in front of the Prussian positions with great ceremony, and after paying polite salutes to their opponents, they marched towards Ratibor.
On the Prussian side, the Duke of Brunswick looked at the French army's retreating figures through the telescope. He couldn't help but frowned and said to himself: "The army of more than 20,000 people must be heading towards La La. Tibor’s.”
He suddenly put away his telescope and said to General Driesen:
"We still seriously underestimated Leo's importance to Austria! Lacy even sacrificed his troops on the front battlefield to rescue him."
General Krokov, commander of the Prussian cavalry, said: "Marshal, we can take advantage of this opportunity to concentrate our forces to break through the Austrian defense line!"
The Duke of Brunswick was silent for a while, then shook his head and said: "The risk of launching a large-scale attack on the frontal battlefield is too great. I think the success rate of killing Leo is obviously higher. We only need to deploy more than 100 Austrians." Just more troops!"
At the same time, in the tent of General Maurice, the commander of the Silesian Front in Saxony, an official who came from Dresden to deliver supplies was giving him advice very seriously:
"Did you know that there is news all over the country about Leo being captured? It is said that Leopold II was going crazy!"
He had just received money from a businessman the day before yesterday. It was said that the latter had a grudge against Leo, so he paid him a large sum of money to persuade General Mosley to kill that Austrian bastard.
Of course, the so-called Saxon businessmen were people from the French Intelligence Service.
He was short-handed, and it didn't matter. He just had a message. What General Morris decided was his own business.
"But I heard that Leo was only surrounded and not captured." He smiled, "Now the whole of Europe is paying attention to Leo's situation. If you can help in capturing him, you will become famous all over the world. ”
As he was speaking, an officer entered the tent and whispered something in Morris's ear.
The latter suddenly narrowed his eyes, and the officer told him that at noon today, the Duke of Brunswick sent General Driesen to lead nearly 30,000 soldiers to Latibor.
Morris quickly made a decision and said to the official friend:
"You're right, I should go to Latibor."
That afternoon, the Duke of Brunswick could not withstand the Saxon commander's constant pleading and agreed to send 7,000 Saxon troops to reinforce General Aylwin.
On the other side, General Ernst, commander of the Bavarian Army, looked at Berthier and nodded: "It is indeed as you said, General Leo's situation is very dangerous."
After the rebels in the Southern Netherlands were suppressed, the Archduke of Bavaria, Karl Otterdoll, had no intention of exchanging there - the Southern Netherlands was devastated by the war, and at the same time, the Walloon region was involved in French interests. How could It no longer looks like it can build the Burgundian dynasty.
Therefore, Otedol has always wanted to withdraw from the Austrian-Palestinian alliance, at least he does not want to continue to get involved in the troubles between Prussia and Austria, but he is worried about offending Austria, so he still maintains an army of more than 6,000 people fighting in Silesia. .
General Ernst naturally knew what his king meant, and at this time he felt that Ratibor was a good opportunity.
If he could participate in the rescue of Leo, an important figure in Austria, and let him help speak a good word in front of Leopold II, Bavaria might be able to withdraw from Silesia.
Early the next morning, he personally led the main force of the Bavarian army and quietly rushed to Ratibor - in this era of extremely backward communications, as long as he kept a low profile, leaving the station for a week or two would not alarm Marshal Lacy at all. At this time, in the entire area around Silesia, the only one who did not set his sights on Ratibor was Joseph and his Guards Corps.
"Your Highness, Breslau is ahead." Berthier reined in his horse and pointed to the place where the river disappeared into the hills in the distance. "Look, that is the Bull River."
Joseph was not too impressed with the terrain of Silesia, so he took out a map and compared it, then nodded and said: "Ask the Chasseurs to expand the search range, the Prussians may not take the shortest route."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Berthier gave a few instructions to the herald, then urged his horse to follow the pace of the Dauphin and others.
Yes, they are inspecting the battlefield at this time.
The Guards Corps left the Lignitz front line the day before yesterday, and it took less than two days to rush to the junction of Oberon and Breslau on the east side.
Although this is Prussian territory, almost all the Prussian troops that can be mobilized have been transferred to Ratibor, and they did not encounter any enemies along the way.
Of course, Joseph's actions were also extremely risky.
This is the heart of Silesia. If the Duke of Brunswick reacts at this moment and immediately mobilizes troops to cut off the Guards Corps' westward retreat, it won't take half a day to surround them.
But Joseph knew that the Prussians' attention was all on Ratibor, and the rest of their energy had to focus on the Lignitz front. His quick cut was definitely risky but not dangerous.
Most importantly, the Guards Corps could maneuver very quickly, with the efficiency of today's Prussian army.
Even if a garrison discovered signs of the Guards Corps and reported them to the Duke of Brunswick, who then sent troops to intercept them, the Guards Corps might have "finished their work" and evacuated.
After carefully checking the situation on the preset battlefield, Joseph and the officers of the General Staff returned to the camp and repeatedly reviewed the specific combat plan. Until dusk, the Prussian army still had not arrived here.
The Driesen Corps left Lignitz three days ago. The Guards Corps set out half a day later than them, but arrived first and waited for them here for another half day.
Around 10 a.m. the next morning, the rapid hooves of the Chasseurs stopped outside the staff tent. A cavalryman jumped off the saddle and said to the oncoming regiment:
"The movement of the Prussian army was discovered, 4 kilometers northeast. There are at least 20,000 people."
It's not that the Guards Corps didn't do enough reconnaissance, it was mainly to avoid being discovered by the Prussians, so they didn't disperse the Chasseurs too far.
In the tent, Joseph and Berthier looked at each other and smiled: "We are finally here."
"Yes, their marching speed is really slow."
Combat orders were quickly issued to each company, and then the entire Guards Corps took action.
Different from the raid mode of other European armies, the mounted artillery of the Guards Corps, under the cover of cavalry, crossed the infantry group and rushed directly towards the Prussian army.
(End of chapter)