Chapter 450: Duke of Brunswick's Opportunity
Two days later.
Silesian main battlefield, Liegnitz front.
Lieutenant Colonel Heine, commander of an Austrian infantry battalion, lay casually on a soft chair. Accompanied by the continuous roar of cannons, he turned his head to watch his hunting dog, "Mast," tear at a tree root nearby.
For the past few months, both the Prussians and Austrians had been hunkering down behind their defensive lines, blindly firing cannons at each other. The dog had long since grown accustomed to the sound.
Suddenly, the northwest sector fell silent, and soon after, the cannons on Lieutenant Colonel Heine's side also ceased fire.
Heine immediately frowned and stood up. His hunting dog, too, began barking repeatedly towards the artillery position.
Before he could send his aide to inquire about the situation, a Major military officer rushed over, saluted him, and said, "Battalion Commander, sir, the gunpowder still hasn't arrived. Almost half of our battalion's cannons are out of gunpowder."
Heine hadn't been paying much attention to the battalion's affairs lately, as there wasn't much to manage. Cannons fired precisely at dawn each morning, and work stopped precisely in the afternoon, with little care about what they hit. He asked, puzzled, "Wasn't it supposed to arrive yesterday morning?"
"It was, but yesterday the quartermaster said it would definitely arrive today, but as you can see..."
By the time he arrived, the tent was already packed with people. Lieutenant Colonel Marcus, sweating profusely, explained to the officers questioning him, "The supplies from Vienna were intercepted last week by General Berthier, the French Chief of Staff. He said at the time that a shipment of French ammunition would arrive yesterday afternoon. He was in a hurry to reinforce General Leo in Ratibor and wanted to swap supplies with me.
"But to this day, there's been no sign from the French side..."
Of course, he wouldn't mention that he had received a 10,000 Florin bribe from Berthier at the time; otherwise, who would agree to such a troublesome exchange.
"But the frontline shelling is about to stop!" Heine exclaimed anxiously.
This daily shelling was indeed useless, but it was a symbol of the Empire's valiant struggle in Silesia, so it couldn't simply be halted.
"Please wait a little longer, everyone. I've already sent someone to the French camp to hurry them up," Lieutenant Colonel Marcus said with a grimace. "Tomorrow, the ammunition will definitely arrive tomorrow. You can borrow some from other battalions for now."
Austria had over 200 cannons along the entire Liegnitz front; only about 30 cannons from 8 regiments were affected. Most of the surrounding artillery units likely had some reserves.
After dismissing the officers who had come to demand ammunition, Marcus cursed with a dark expression, "Damn those Frenchmen!" After a moment's thought, he grabbed his cane and personally headed to the French camp.
In the Prussian command post.
An aide stood ramrod straight, reporting to the Duke of Brunswick, "Marshal, it has been confirmed that the Austrian Davidoff Corps, numbering over 30,000 men, has left Liegnitz. They are likely heading towards Ratibor."
An officer nearby immediately said, "In that case, we can confidently redeploy forces to encircle and eliminate Leo."
The Duke of Brunswick was about to nod, but then suddenly remembered something. He looked at another aide and asked, "Has Driesen's corps safely withdrawn?"
"Yes, Marshal. General Auguste's troops have already reached their station this morning. The rest are no more than two days' march from here."
Hearing this, the Duke of Brunswick narrowed his eyes. 'That old man Lacy, for the sake of Leo, didn't hesitate to draw away so many troops to Ratibor.'
He quickly made some calculations in his mind. 'Leo's corps had over 10,000 men. Wurmser later brought another 10,000-plus. The French sent 45,000 men in two waves. And this time, Davidoff took another 30,000...'
'Plus the Bavarian army. Altogether, the Austrian Coalition Forces had committed nearly 100,000 troops to Ratibor. Austria had fewer than 150,000 troops in the Silesian sector. With the French and Bavarian armies combined, their total strength was between 190,000 and 200,000 men.'
This meant that currently, only half of the Austrian army was defending the Liegnitz front.
On his side, the forces sent to Ratibor totaled only about 20,000 men. This included the Saxon army, which had acted on its own initiative. Driesen's 30,000 men, after an unexpected encounter with the French, had already turned back.
So currently, he commanded approximately 100,000 national troops, 27,000 Hanoverian troops, and over 20,000 Saxon troops, for a total strength of 150,000.
In other words, on the Liegnitz front, he now held a temporary advantage of over 50% in troop strength against the Austrians!
"'It seems Lacy has made a grave error,'" A smile appeared on the Duke of Brunswick's lips. "'He was so preoccupied with Ratibor that he overlooked the main battlefield right here.'
"'Even if we suffer a defeat at Ratibor, the worst that can happen is we fail to capture Leo.'"
He suddenly clasped his hands together in front of his chest. 'This must be God's will,' he thought to himself. 'Though Driesen suffered a defeat, it ironically bolstered the forces at Liegnitz.'
Upon this realization, he immediately made a decision and ordered his aide to summon all senior officers for a meeting to discuss the operational deployment for a surprise attack on the main front.
That afternoon, as the Duke of Brunswick, full of triumph, finished assigning operational tasks to each corps, he suddenly noticed something unusual around him.
He cocked his head, listening intently, then looked at an aide with a puzzled expression. "'The enemy's cannon fire seems to have lessened considerably?'"
Soon, an officer rushed in to report that cannons along a long stretch of the Austrian defensive line, specifically on the western flank, had ceased firing.
The Duke of Brunswick quickly looked at the map. It appeared to be precisely the area that Davidoff's corps was responsible for defending.
And his troops had been transferred to Ratibor by Lacy just days earlier.
'His sector must have developed problems because its commander had left!'
The Duke of Brunswick was immediately overjoyed. He clasped his hands together once more and declared loudly, looking up, "'Thank God for this blessing! Now those damned Austrians will be driven out of Silesia!'"
He turned and surveyed the assembled officers. Tapping Davidoff's defensive sector on the map with his cane, he stated gravely, "'Everyone must complete battle preparations before tomorrow afternoon.'
"'Our plan needs to be revised. We will launch a full-scale assault from this very point!'"
The next day.
Lieutenant Colonel Heine was idly playing with his beloved dog. He yawned leisurely and reckoned it was nearly time for lunch.
The ammunition still hadn't arrived. He had borrowed a small amount of ammunition from a neighboring regiment yesterday, allowing his cannons to hold out for another day or two. At this moment, although the cannon fire from the position was much sparser than usual, he didn't pay much attention to it.
Having lived through such monotonous days for so long, his alertness and sense of responsibility had been significantly dulled.
Very abruptly, his hunting dog stopped its playful antics, stared blankly northwards, then wrinkled its nose and began to bare its teeth.
"'Relax, old boy,'" Heine patted its head and followed its gaze. "'Did you see a squirrel? Or a fox?'"
But the next moment, he too froze, because he faintly heard the sound of drums—a rapid, dense military drumbeat.
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