Opportunities for encirclement and interpenetration had to be won
Marshal Lacy was unable to dissuade the Crown Prince of France, as the prince was not under his command and held a much higher status. He had no choice but to immediately write a letter to Vienna to report the situation.
The following morning, General Kellermann led his army in a grand procession past the Prussia positions, paying respects to their opponents before proceeding to Ratibor.
On the Prussian Army, the Duke of Brunswick, watching the receding French Army through his Telescope, frowned and muttered to himself:
"A force of over 20,000 men, judging from their direction, are definitely heading towards Ratibor."
He suddenly put away his Telescope and said to General Drissen beside him:
"We seriously underestimated Leo's importance to Austria! Lacy was even willing to sacrifice troops on the main battlefield to rescue him."
Prussia cavalry commander General Krokov said:
"My Marshal, this is the perfect opportunity for us to concentrate our forces and break through the Austria defenses!"
The Duke of Brunswick remained silent for a long while before shaking his head and saying:
"Launching a large-scale offensive on the main battlefield is too risky. I believe the success rate of killing Leo is clearly much higher; all we need to do is deploy more troops than the Austria!"
Meanwhile, in the tent of General Maurice, commander of the Silesian Front Army in Saxony, an official who had come from Dresden to deliver supplies was earnestly offering him advice:
"Did you know that all over the country is news about Leo being captured? It's said that Leopold II is going crazy with worry!"
He had just received money from a businessman the day before yesterday. It was said that the businessman had a grudge against Leo, so he paid him a large sum of money to persuade General Mosley to kill that Austria bastard.
Of course, the so-called Saxony merchants were actually people from the French Intelligence Agency.
He was obligated to accept a bribe, and besides, it wasn't a big deal; he was just relaying a message. General Maurice's decision was his own business.
"But I heard that Leo was only surrounded, not captured." He smiled. "All of Europe is watching Leo's situation. If you can help in capturing him, you'll be famous throughout the world."
As he was speaking, an officer entered the tent and whispered a few words in Maurice's ear.
The latter narrowed his eyes immediately. The officer told him that at noon that day, the Duke of Brunswick had sent General Drissen with nearly 30,000 soldiers to Ratibor.
Maurice quickly made a decision and said to his official friend:
"You're right, I should go to Ratibor."
That afternoon, the Duke of Brunswick, unable to resist the Saxony commander's persistent pleas, agreed to send 7,000 Saxon Army to reinforce General Elwin.
On the other side, Bavarian Army commander General Ernst looked at Berthier and nodded, saying:
"Indeed, as you said, General Leo's situation is extremely dangerous."
After the Southern Netherlands Rebels was suppressed, Grand Duke Karl Ottodor of Grand Duke of Bavaria had no intention of exchanging the region— the Southern Netherlands was ravaged by war, and at the same time, France interests had become involved in Wallonia, making it seem no longer a viable option for establishing Burgundian Dynasty.
Therefore, Ottodor has always wanted to withdraw from the Austro-Bavarian Alliance, or at least not to continue getting involved in the mess between Prussia and Austria, but he is also worried about offending Austria, so he still maintains an army of more than 6,000 men fighting in Silesia.
General Ernst naturally understood his King's intentions and saw Ratibor as a good opportunity.
If I could participate in rescuing Leo, an important figure in Austria, and get him to put in a good word for me with Leopold II, Bavaria might be able to extricate itself from Silesia.
Early the next morning, he personally led the main force of the Bavarian Army to Ratibor quietly. In this era of extremely poor communication, as long as he kept a low profile, leaving the base for a week or two would not alarm Marshal Lacy.
At this time, the only group in the entire Silesia region that did not focus their attention on Ratibor was Joseph and his Royal Guard Legion.
"Your Highness, Breslau is just ahead." Berthier tightened the reins and pointed to where the river disappeared into the hills in the distance. "Look, that's the Bur River."
Joseph didn't have a strong impression of the terrain of Silesia, so he took out a map to check it before nodding and saying:
"Let the Chasseur expand the search area; the Prussia might not necessarily take the shortest route."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Berthier gave a few instructions to the Orderly Officer, then spurred his horse to catch up with the Crown Prince and his entourage.
Yes, they are inspecting the battlefield at this moment.
The Royal Guard Legion left the Liegnitz front the day before yesterday and Forced March to the junction of Oberon and Breslau on the east side in less than two days.
Although this is Prussia territory, almost all available Prussian Army have been transferred to Ratibor, and they have not encountered any enemies along the way.
Of course, Joseph's actions were also extremely risky.
This is the heart of Silesia. If Duke of Brunswick reacts now and immediately sends troops to cut off the Royal Guard Legion's retreat to the west, they can be surrounded in less than half a day.
But Joseph knew that the Prussia ' attention was focused on Ratibor, and their remaining energy was also on the Liegnitz front. His rapid incursion was definitely risky but safe.
Most importantly, the Royal Guard Legion is extremely mobile, given the current efficiency of the Prussian Army.
Even if the garrison discovers signs of the Royal Guard Legion, by the time they report to the Duke of Brunswick and the latter sends troops to intercept them, the Royal Guard Legion may have already "finished their job" and withdrawn.
After carefully examining the pre-arranged battlefield, Joseph and the officers of the General Staff Headquarters returned to their Camp and repeatedly deliberated on the specific battle plan. By dusk, the Prussian Army still had not arrived.
The Derrison Corps left Liegnitz three days ago, while the Royal Guard Legion departed a little over half a day later but arrived first and has been waiting for them here for half a day.
The next morning around 10 a. m., the rapid hoofbeats of the Chasseur stopped outside the General Staff tent. One of the riders Saddle Tax and addressed the approaching legion:
"Prussian Army have been spotted 4 kilometers to the Northeast. There are at least 20,000 of them."
It wasn't that the Royal Guard Legion's reconnaissance capabilities were insufficient; the main reason was that, to avoid being discovered by the Prussia, the Chasseur were not sent out too far.
Inside the tent, Joseph and Berthier exchanged a smile, "You've finally arrived."
"Yes, their marching speed is really slow."
The combat orders were quickly issued to each company, and then the entire Royal Guard Legion sprang into action.
Unlike other European Continent army raids, the Royal Guard Legion ' Horse Artillery, under the cover of cavalry, bypassed the Infantry and charged straight at the Prussian Army.