Chapter 450: When fighting, we must not forget our original intention
Berthier took the summary data from a staff officer and continued: "Based on statistics, our army killed more than 1,200 enemy soldiers and captured nearly 1,200 enemy soldiers. 3,000 people.”
He said with a rather proud smile: "Of course, our gains must be far more than this."
Joseph nodded. There are still many numbers of people killed and captured that have not yet been reported. In addition, although many of the escaped Prussian soldiers are still free for the time being, they can basically be counted in the number of prisoners of the Guards Corps - the cavalry has to catch up. And catching them is very easy.
The chief of general staff continued: "Your Highness, we plan to rest in the town of Keheren tonight and continue the pursuit at noon tomorrow."
Joseph shook his head and said: "Your Majesty General, we fought very well in this battle, but now we have to ask you to withdraw all the troops. Tomorrow we will march in the direction of Ratibor."
Berthier's eyes suddenly widened: "Your Highness, these few days are the best time for us to reap the results of the battle. Why..."
During the rout stage, the enemy troops must be constantly harassed to prevent them from gathering and reorganizing. This is usually several times greater than what can be achieved in a frontal battle.
Joseph smiled and said: "Please keep our strategic goal in mind. Even if the Driesen Army is completely annihilated, it will only be 30,000 people, and you know, this is basically impossible to achieve."
In this situation of defeat on their own territory, the retreating troops can obtain supplies at any time and anywhere, and can disperse and escape. If you can kill half of the enemy troops in pursuit, you are very lucky.
"Strategic goal?" Berthier nodded thoughtfully, "You mean to mobilize Prussia and Austria as much as possible?"
"That's right." Joseph said, "We must make the Prussians think that today's battle was just an accident. Our goal is always to save General Leo."
"So, we want to show that we don't hesitate to leave the victory that is right in front of us and rush to Ratibor?"
"Yes." Joseph came to the map and pointed to the lower reaches of the Bull River. "Let's do this first, and then..."
At noon the next day, after a short rest, the Guards Corps began to march southward with great fanfare, picking out villages and towns along the way. Military music soared into the sky accompanied by the singing of "Glory and Victory".
A day and a half later, when they arrived near the lower reaches of the Bull River, they immediately turned westward, greatly increasing their marching speed, and only walked through wasteland along the way...
Lignitz.
In the headquarters of the Prussian Silesian Front, the Duke of Brunswick looked at the officer sent by Driesen to ask for help, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.
Fortunately, the French's pursuit efficiency is low, so Driessen's losses are not huge so far, and the main force is still there.
He planned the troops at hand, and finally asked his attendant to call an officer and ordered: "General Andreas, please immediately take your people, plus 10 squadrons of cavalry, to Oberon to meet Driesen. ”
Andreas's legion has more than 8,000 people, including nearly 10,000 cavalry.
The Duke of Brunswick always believed that Driesen was defeated because he was ambushed, rather than how strong the French army was. Therefore, there should be no problem for these 10,000 people to cooperate with Driessen's troops to intercept more than 10,000 French troops.
After Andreas left, the Duke of Brunswick hurriedly summoned senior military officers and began to rearrange the troops of the Lignitz defense line. In order to capture Leo, he had sent too many troops to Ratibor, which made him worry that there would be insufficient troops on the main frontal battlefield with Austria.
However, as soon as his military meeting ended, the staff officer in charge of battlefield intelligence entered the tent and handed a report into his hand: "Your Majesty, Oberon discovered that a French army was heading south. Probably the troops fighting General Driesen."
The Duke of Brunswick quickly read the report and narrowed his eyes.
No wonder Driessen was not pursued. It turned out that the French were heading south, and the only strategically valuable target in the south was Latibor. He handed the report to the officer on the side: "The French did not hesitate to let go of the Driesen Army, but also rushed to Ratibor, which shows that the Austrian side attaches great importance to Leo far beyond our imagination."
The officer looked at the report and nodded: "It seems that if Leo dies or is captured, it will cause a serious blow to Austria's morale."
Someone immediately suggested: "Your Majesty, Duke, should we continue to send more troops to Latibor?"
The Duke of Brunswick frowned when he heard this.
To be honest, he is also very interested in Leo now, but the Prussian army is smaller than the Austrian army. If this is the Austrian conspiracy, when he invests too many troops in Ratibor, La Sina Lao It would not be good if the guy launched a fierce attack on himself on the front battlefield.
at the same time.
In the Austrian headquarters opposite, Marshal Lacy was handing a letter to the officer beside him with a pale face.
The latter glanced at the letter and was immediately shocked: "The French Crown Prince..."
As if he was afraid of being heard, he glanced towards the entrance of the tent and lowered his voice: "Why did he run to Oberon?"
He looked at Lacy again and said urgently: "Marshal, he is surrounded by the Prussians now, we must do something!"
Marshal Lacy looked at the tip of the tent, his hands trembling slightly.
He had already learned from the informant on the Prussian side that the Prussian Drison Army had just had a fierce battle with a French army in Oberon not long ago.
Now combined with this distress letter, the French army should be the French Crown Prince's army.
Yes, after the battle with Drison, Joseph sent someone to ask Marshal Lacy for help, saying that he was surrounded by 30,000 Prussian troops and might be captured at any time.
After a long time, Lacy sighed and said to the officer: "General Davydov, you and General Conrad rush to Oberon immediately to rescue the French crown prince..."
These two legions are his main force, with a combined number of more than 30,000 people. Sending them to Oberon will inevitably seriously affect the strength of Lignitz's front line, but he can only do this.
If something happened to the French Dauphin in Silesia - if not better, he died - France might launch a full-scale war against Prussia.
But if he is captured, France will most likely evacuate Silesia in exchange for his crown prince.
And he will bear the wrath of France for not taking good care of the reckless young man, and he will even become the scapegoat for the defeat of Silesia.
After General Davydov left, Marshal Lacy immediately tiredly signaled to his attendants:
"Bring paper and pen, I want to write a letter to His Majesty the Emperor..."
(End of chapter)