The oriole lay in wait behind

Marshal Lacy was momentarily bewildered. Hadn't the entire French Army gone to Ratibor to reinforce Leo, and their Crown Prince still besieged by the enemy in Oberon? So where did these people come from?

Even more perplexed than him were the Prussia cavalrymen in charge of the pursuit.

They were so engrossed in chasing and killing the fleeing Austria troops that they hadn't bothered to scout the surrounding area at all—with a staggering 15,000 men routed and countless dead and wounded, who could have imagined that the Austria Allied Forces would be lying in ambush behind their own rear?

Yes, Joseph had indeed positioned the Royal Guard Legion behind the Austria defenses.

After defeating Derrison, he immediately led his troops back to Austria- controlled territory in Liegnitz. To avoid being discovered by Lacy, his troops lay in wait in the mountains for several days until Lacy sent out Davydov's more than 30,000 men. Only then did he quietly return and wait less than 15 kilometers southwest of the Austria defense line.

Today, after the Prussia launched their general offensive, the Royal Guard Legion also sprang into action.

The main force was divided into two parts. One part quickly infiltrated to the north of the Prussia attack point and deployed a defensive formation based on the terrain. This part had about 4,000 men.

Another group of 10,000 soldiers moved to the south of the Prussia attack point. Once the Austria defenses collapsed, they waited for the Austria soldiers to lure the Prussia into their own territory before suddenly cutting off the Prussian Army's retreat from the flank.

This was tantamount to using 15,000 Austrian Army on the defensive line as bait. And this bait was played out very realistically, because they were genuinely routed.

Of course, the basis for this tactic was Joseph's belief that the Royal Guard Legion, with 14,000 troops, could cut off an enemy several times their size and hold out for at least three days.

The Prussia Hussars, who were excitedly pursuing the fleeing Austria soldiers, suddenly found their flanks under attack and were immediately thrown into chaos.

In movies and TV dramas, cavalrymen are often depicted as charging forward in massive numbers, easily routing the enemy. However, in reality, cavalry is a branch of the military that places even greater emphasis on formation than Infantry.

When a large cavalry force attacks, the horizontal and vertical spacing between the horses is subject to very strict requirements. If they are too far apart, they cannot form a combined force; if they are too close, they will interfere with each other, and even if one person falls, it will cause a large number of horses to fall.

Therefore, it is very difficult to train qualified cavalrymen. Just the ability to control distance alone requires years of riding on horseback. Maintaining formation in battle relies even more on subconscious control, because the main focus must be on one's Saber or lance.

This means that cavalry formations can only charge towards their initial target. To change targets, they must first maneuver to a distance, regroup, and charge again. Otherwise, a sudden change of target would cause problems with the spacing between the front and rear of the formation and the length-to-width ratio of the formation. Of course, some highly trained elite cavalry units can switch targets freely, but they are a very small minority.

At present, the Prussia Hussars ' objective is to intercept and kill the fleeing Austria troops, so they have no chance to fight back against the sudden attack from their flanks.

Their commander reacted quickly, immediately ordering them to disengage from the Austria and retreat to a distance in order to regroup and launch a counterattack.

The France cavalry, however, completely ignored the Austria soldiers—the entire battle line was very long, and this was only a section of it; large numbers of the Austrian Army were still being pursued by enemy cavalry to the east and west—they focused solely on the Prussia cavalry, chasing them until they were all scattered before moving on to their next target.

Seeing a gap appear in the Prussia cavalry's encirclement, Marshal Lacy hurriedly ordered the officer beside him to gather the deserters.

Around 3 p. m., thousands of Austria soldiers had regrouped around Marshal Lacy, and a valiant French cavalry unit happened to pass by, leading a slightly overweight, curly-haired Cavalry Company French Army commander, who raised his sword in greeting.

A moment later, Lacy's attendant returned after a brief exchange with the cavalry and reported to him, "Marshal, they say they are from the 2nd Company of the 3rd Hussar Battalion, 2nd Company of the France 1st Royal Guard Legion, specifically sent to cover our retreat."

"The Royal Guard Legion?" Lacy exclaimed in surprise. "That unit that's with the Crown Prince of France? Aren't they besieged in Oberon?"

"The company commander said he didn't know anything about being surrounded. They fought a battle with Derrison Corps and then came here."

Lacy: "???"

On the western side of the Austria defenses, the Austria- controlled side, large numbers of Prussia soldiers were pouring in through the gaps in the lines, while two other forces were advancing north and south to widen the breach.

Not far from the Austria defenses, the Rangers of the Royal Guard Legion galloped up and shouted to the officers in the command post:

"Report: Prussia Infantry have arrived at Wolfenster Town, with an advance force of approximately 11,000 men. The enemy's main force is still being tallied, but it should exceed 30,000."

Berthier nodded upon hearing this and said to the advisor beside him:

"The enemy has penetrated deep enough; order the attack to proceed as planned."

The Wolfenster Town is located in the heart of the Austria -controlled territory, more than 6 kilometers from the defensive line between Prussia and Austria.

"Yes, General!"

Because this battle involved a smaller force and was extremely risky, the officers of the General Staff Headquarters unanimously requested that His Crown Prince remain at a distance from the battlefield. Therefore, Berthier was to command the battle. However, Joseph had already made detailed arrangements with his staff beforehand, so it wouldn't really matter who commanded.

Soon, the Melodious signaling the legion's advance rang out, and Berthier looked at his assistant beside him. "Where is General Kellermann?"

"The news from last night has already crossed the lower reaches of the Bur River."

According to Joseph's plan, Kellermann's 30,000 French Army were never intended to reinforce Leo. When they arrived at Ratibor, they only fired a few symbolic shots, and upon receiving orders from the Crown Prince, they immediately rushed back to the front in Liegnitz. However, given the marching speed of this old-style army, it would probably take another three days to arrive.

Berthier then instructed, "Go and contact Marshal Lacy, and ask him to cooperate with us as much as possible in launching a counterattack against the enemy forces that have entered the western flank of the defensive line."

"Yes, General!"

At the breach in the Austria defenses, Saxon Army commander General Maurice stood with a frustrated expression, holding up his Telescope.

The Prussia were chasing after the fleeing Austria troops to gain merit, while they themselves were here tearing apart the Austria defenses.

Although the Austrian Army's morale was low, there were still quite a few heavy artillery pieces on the defensive line, which was definitely not a good task.

When he saw his Skirmisher Battalion charge up a high ground and capture the Austrian Army Artillery position there, before he could even rejoice, a neat Infantry Line suddenly appeared behind the low hill.