Chapter Summaries

Joseph’s aggressive plan for the Silesian campaign met resistance from Marshal Lacy and the Austrian officers, leaving the allied armies deadlocked. Joseph decided that General Leo’s prestige might help overcome Lacy’s opposition.

• Joseph discussed his plan for Silesia with Leopold II, who agreed to urge Marshal Lacy to cooperate.
• Baron Walter saw Camellia at the ball, renewed his grudge against her and Joseph, and left in frustration.
• Marshal Lacy rejected Joseph’s proposal to concentrate Austrian artillery at Fehr-Rabi, while Würmser and Naundorff warned that it would leave the front vulnerable.
• At a later staff meeting, Joseph learned that Lacy planned to attack Karpacz with one hundred thousand troops, which Lefebvre called dangerously predictable.
• Joseph proposed using General Leo’s standing as Austria’s “Spear of the Southern Netherlands” to break the deadlock, despite Lefebvre’s doubts about Leo’s command ability.

General Leo’s French friend Lefebvre persuaded him to capture Ratibor to earn the merit needed for promotion to Marshal. Leo led an Austrian force to attack the town, and the chapter ended as his troops advanced on its first defensive line.

• General Leo welcomed Lefebvre to the Austrian command post in Wałbrzych and celebrated his promotion to general.
• Lefebvre told Leo that Marshal Lacy had left him idle at Wałbrzych and suggested he capture Ratibor to gain enough merit for a Marshal’s promotion.
• Leo agreed to attack Ratibor with twelve thousand troops while Lefebvre stayed behind.
• Leo’s artillery bombarded Ratibor, and Austrian infantry advanced against the Prussian defenses.
• The Austrian soldiers reached the first defensive line and began forming into horizontal ranks under their officers’ commands.

After Leo’s failed attack on Ratibor left his twelve thousand soldiers encircled, both Austria and Prussia sent major reinforcements, turning the town into the focus of the war. Prussian propaganda proclaimed Leo’s capture before the battle’s outcome was known, while tens of thousands of troops converged on Ratibor.

• A messenger reported that Leo had been encircled after his mistaken withdrawals let the Prussians form a pincer, and Joseph ordered the situation reported to Lacy and the Duke of Brunswick.
• The Duke of Brunswick ordered Blücher to take ten thousand men to Ratibor, cut off Leo’s retreat to Ostrau, and capture or kill him.
• Berthier persuaded Marshal Lacy to send Würmser with ten thousand soldiers to reinforce Ratibor.
• French Intelligence Bureau spies spread exaggerated reports in Pozztan claiming the Austrians had suffered a crushing defeat and Leo had been captured.
• William II promoted Elwin to Major General and praised the Duke of Brunswick as up to forty thousand Austrian and Prussian troops rushed toward Ratibor.

Leo remained trapped by Prussian forces near Elwin, while Blücher and Würmser unexpectedly fought each other near Ratibor and called for reinforcements. Joseph used the crisis to persuade Marshal Lacy to send Kellermann and twenty thousand troops to rescue Leo, hoping the deployment would break the deadlock at Liegnitz.

• Leo's repeated attacks failed to break through the Prussian lines, and he initially mistook a force to the west for French reinforcements.
• Blücher's army encountered Würmser's Austrian troops near Ratibor, and the two armies fought through the night before realizing who they were facing.
• Blücher and Würmser each sent messengers to request reinforcements from their commanders-in-chief.
• Joseph received a Bulletproof Insert, confirmed Berthier had distributed inserts to the companies, and decided to intensify the fighting at Ratibor.
• Joseph persuaded Marshal Lacy to let Kellermann lead twenty thousand troops to rescue Leo while Lacy concentrated on defending Liegnitz.

As Austria and its allies rushed toward Ratibor to rescue Leo, Joseph led the Royal Guard Legion deep into Silesia to intercept the approaching Prussian army. The Prussians arrived, and the Royal Guard Legion began its attack.

• The Duke of Brunswick declined to attack the Austrian main front and instead sent General Drissen toward Ratibor with nearly thirty thousand soldiers.
• General Maurice agreed to march to Ratibor after an official urged him to seek glory by helping capture Leo.
• General Ernst led the Bavarian Army toward Ratibor, hoping that rescuing Leo would help Bavaria leave the war in Silesia.
• Joseph and Berthier marched the Royal Guard Legion to a chosen battlefield near Breslau and waited for the Prussians.
• A Chasseur reported that at least twenty thousand Prussian soldiers were approaching, and Joseph ordered the Royal Guard Legion into action.
• The Royal Guard Legion's horse artillery rode ahead of its infantry, screened by cavalry, and charged toward the Prussian Army.

Derrison’s Prussian column was ambushed by the French Royal Guard Legion and struggled to organize a defense as French infantry advanced. After repeated failed charges and a counterattack by French Hussars, the Prussian cavalry broke, leaving Derrison to face the approaching enemy with his troops still in disarray.

• Derrison halted his column after hearing cannon fire, then learned that the French had scattered General Brecht’s two vanguard regiments.
• Derrison ordered the Fenn Legion to hold the French while the rest of the Prussian force gathered, and sent Krokov’s Hussars to delay the advancing French infantry.
• Krokov’s cavalry repeatedly charged the Royal Guard Legion’s disciplined infantry line and suffered heavy losses.
• Joseph sent seven hundred Royal Guard Legion Hussars against the weakened Prussian cavalry, splitting their formation and driving most of them into flight.
• Derrison questioned routed soldiers and realized the French were close while his own infantry remained in disarray.

The Royal Guard Legion ambushed Derrison’s Prussian force near Ratibor, and its bulletproof inserts made its soldiers seem impossible to kill. Davout’s troops then fired lethal volleys that shattered the Prussian line and sent most of the survivors fleeing.

• Joseph sent the Royal Guard Legion to intercept the Prussian reinforcements on the road to Ratibor.
• Derrison ordered his partially formed troops to engage the approaching French, believing they could hold out until his larger force arrived.
• Second Lieutenant Olive shot a French drummer and then an officer, but both men rose again after their bulletproof inserts stopped the shots.
• The Prussians fired on the advancing French, only to see most of the wounded get back up and throw their ranks into confusion.
• Davout confirmed that an insert had stopped a bullet, then ordered his troops to fire Percussion Cap Guns into the Prussian line.
• The French fired a second volley, causing all but two Prussian Grenadier regiments to flee.

The French Royal Guard Legion routed Derrison’s Prussian force in under half an hour, while Napoleon’s Horse Artillery and Hussars turned a harassment mission into a surprise attack that sent more Prussians fleeing. Joseph arrived at Derrison’s former headquarters as the French pursued the enemy toward Jagerfur Village and the Rangers intercepted the Brecht Legion.

• General Drissen sent Boer’s and Carus’s regiments to reinforce the Grenadiers, but the French Royal Guard Legion shattered the Prussian lines and drove the reserves into flight.
• Derrison ordered the Prussian corps to retreat in successive echelons and withdrew as the French closed in.
• Colonel Duden tried to form his troops on the eastern slope, but Napoleon persuaded the Horse Artillery commander to attack the retreating Prussians from the east.
• The Horse Artillery and Hussars opened fire on Duden’s disorganized troops, while the French infantry advanced north and found the Prussian defensive line broken.
• Berthier sent the French infantry to support the Horse Artillery and ordered it recalled, then reported to Joseph that the vanguard had pursued the enemy near Jagerfur Village and the Rangers had caught the Brecht Legion.

After defeating the Derrison Legion, Joseph ordered the Royal Guard Legion to abandon pursuit and hurry toward Ratibor, making Prussia and Austria believe rescuing General Leo was their priority. His plea for help convinced Marshal Lacy to send two major Austrian legions to Oberon, weakening the Austrian front against Prussia.

• Joseph rejected Berthier’s plan to pursue the fleeing Prussians and ordered the Royal Guard Legion to march toward Ratibor to draw Prussia and Austria into the conflict.
• The Royal Guard Legion marched south ostentatiously, then turned west and accelerated through wasteland near the lower Bur River.
• The Duke of Brunswick sent General Andreas and nearly 10,000 troops to reinforce Derrison, then learned the French force was heading toward Ratibor and considered whether to send more troops there.
• Joseph sent Marshal Lacy a message claiming that 30,000 Prussians had surrounded him and that he was in danger of capture.
• Marshal Lacy ordered General Davydov and General Conrad to take more than 30,000 Austrian troops to Oberon to rescue Joseph, then prepared to write to the Emperor.

Duke of Brunswick recognized that Austria had weakened its Liegnitz front by sending troops to Ratibor and prepared a surprise general offensive. The chapter ended as Heine heard war drums approaching the Austrian lines.

• Heine learned that nearly half his battalion’s cannons had run out of ammunition because Lieutenant Colonel Marcus had delayed the shipment after agreeing to exchange supplies with the French.
• Duke of Brunswick learned that Davydov’s Corps had left Liegnitz and calculated that his forces now outnumbered the Austrians on the front.
• Duke of Brunswick ordered a surprise offensive after noticing that the cannons in Davydov’s former sector had fallen silent.
• Heine dismissed his dog’s alarm until he heard dense war drums approaching from the north.

Marshal Lacy’s Austrian forces suffered a disastrous defeat when Duke of Brunswick’s Prussians broke through their defensive line and encircled more than ten thousand soldiers. As Lacy watched the trapped troops, he spotted white-uniformed cavalry charging toward the Prussian flank.

• Heine spotted Prussian troops massing and sounded the alarm as their artillery overwhelmed the Austrian guns.
• Duke of Brunswick attacked Davydov’s former sector, and Marshal Lacy hurried to defend it with a thin Austrian line.
• The Austrians held off the first Prussian infantry assault, but repeated attacks wore them down until nightfall.
• Duke of Brunswick renewed the attack the next morning, and Prussian Hussars broke through the Austrian left flank, collapsing Lacy’s line.
• Prussian cavalry trapped more than ten thousand Austrian soldiers, while Lacy escaped the encirclement.
• Lacy saw white-uniformed cavalry racing toward the Prussian flank.

Joseph’s Royal Guard Legion sprang its ambush against the Prussian forces, rescuing Austrian soldiers and trapping Prussian cavalry. Berthier then ordered the legion to attack the Prussians who had penetrated the Austrian line, while General Maurice faced a fresh Austrian formation at the artillery position.

• Joseph had hidden the Royal Guard Legion near the Austrian line and sent 10,000 soldiers to cut off the Prussian retreat as the Austrian defense collapsed.
• The Royal Guard Legion’s cavalry struck the Prussian Hussars from the flank, scattering them and allowing Marshal Lacy to regroup several thousand Austrian soldiers.
• A French cavalry company told Lacy it belonged to the 1st Royal Guard Legion and had come to cover the Austrian retreat after fighting Derrison’s corps.
• Royal Guard Legion Rangers reported that more than 30,000 Prussian soldiers had penetrated deep into Austrian territory, and Berthier ordered the planned attack to begin.
• Berthier asked Lacy to coordinate a counterattack and learned that Kellermann’s 30,000 soldiers were still three days away.
• General Maurice saw an Infantry Line appear behind a hill just after his Skirmisher Battalion seized the Austrian artillery position.

Berthier’s Royal Guard Legion routed the Saxon Corps and then defeated the Prussian forces sent to stop them, aided by mobile artillery and the legend of French soldiers’ healing medicine. By chapter’s end, the Legion had returned to the Austrian defensive-line breach and cut off the Prussian Corps inside Austrian-controlled territory.

• The Royal Guard Legion used Horse Artillery to disrupt the Saxon ranks, then advanced and drove the Saxon Corps of more than thirteen thousand soldiers into a rout.
• Duke of Brunswick ordered General Andreas and the August Corps to intercept the French force at the breach.
• Berthier assembled his army southwest of the breach to meet the Prussians, choosing the strategic goal of destroying the Prussian main force over holding the defensive line.
• The Royal Guard Legion’s artillery and infantry routed Andreas’s men and crushed the August Corps, whose soldiers feared the French had an “Undying Divine Medicine.”
• Berthier declined to pursue the retreating Prussians and returned to the breach to deploy Cannons and block key routes, leaving a Prussian Corps cut off in Austrian-controlled territory.

Duke of Brunswick faced the prospect of losing more than 50,000 Prussian and Saxon troops trapped west of the Liegnitz Defense Line. An envoy for the Crown Prince of France offered a route for their escape in exchange for two million Florins, leaving Duke of Brunswick to consider the deal.

• Duke of Brunswick ordered every available unit in Liegnitz to prepare to rescue the troops cut off west of the defense line.
• Three days later, as Duke of Brunswick prepared to attack the Austrian and French positions, a staff officer brought him word that an envoy from the Crown Prince of France had arrived.
• The French envoy proposed moving the French regiments guarding Zare so the Prussians could escape north toward Glogau, while Prussian forces drew the Austrian Army's attention with a feint.
• The envoy asked Duke of Brunswick for two million Florins in return for the assistance, and Duke of Brunswick agreed to arrange payment after his troops escaped.
• Joseph had chosen to take money rather than seek political concessions, aiming to preserve the military balance between Prussia and Austria while allowing the war in Silesia to intensify.

Joseph joined Marshal Lacy’s war council after the French Crown Prince’s forces helped the Austrians defeat the Prussians west of Liegnitz. He challenged Lacy’s plan to besiege the Prussian defense line and hinted that he could draw its defenders away while keeping the isolated Prussian army from interfering.

• Austrian soldiers welcomed Joseph and thanked the French for saving them from the Prussian breakthrough.
• Joseph told Marshal Lacy that he had escaped encirclement by a stroke of luck before arriving at Liegnitz and attacking the Prussians.
• At the war council, Lacy said he planned to gather his forces, defeat the more than fifty thousand Prussians west of the line, and then advance toward Breslau.
• Joseph warned Lacy that the delay would let Duke of Brunswick reinforce the defense line and make a prolonged siege likely.
• Lacy objected that the Prussian troops behind him could strike the Austrians from the rear, and Joseph hinted that he had a way to prevent both problems.

Joseph persuaded Marshal Lacy to concentrate the Allied Forces and attack the weakened southern Prussian defense line while the Prussian troops withdrew toward Glogau. After the Austrians began their assault, the Duke of Brunswick realized he had been outmaneuvered and ordered his remaining forces to retreat toward Liegnitz.

• Joseph outlined a plan to attack the southern defense line after Prussian forces shifted north, and Marshal Lacy agreed to carry it out.
• Andreas received the Duke of Brunswick’s order and led more than fifty thousand Prussian troops north to Glogau, where they joined Brunswick’s forces.
• The Duke of Brunswick learned that the Austrians had attacked the southern defense line with more than eighty thousand troops and decided to abandon it and retreat to Liegnitz.
• Joseph arranged bonuses for the Austrian troops leading the assault and directed four hundred thousand Florins toward Royal Guard Legion medal recipients and wounded soldiers.

Joseph considered using the remaining gold to acquire and reform military academies, then urged Marshal Lacy to advance on Breslau instead of Liegnitz. In Vienna, Basel overheard Baron Walter threaten Camellia and resolved to protect her after believing Joseph had been killed or captured.

• Joseph ordered the remaining gold deposited in the French Reserve Bank so he could use it to acquire military academies and open them to commoners.
• Joseph joined Marshal Lacy, who reported that Austrian forces were breaking through the Prussian defenses near Balde Village.
• Joseph advised Marshal Lacy to attack Breslau rather than march on Liegnitz, arguing that Duke of Brunswick would fear losing the fortress and much of Silesia.
• At a Vienna salon, Baron Walter claimed that Joseph had been surrounded by Prussians and mocked his supposed capture or death.
• Basel heard Walter threaten Camellia and resolved to protect her himself.

Joseph’s forces neared Liegnitz while Marshal Lacy’s army reached Breslau, bringing Joseph close to completing his mission and setting up a renewed Prussian-Austrian standoff. In Vienna, Basel confronted Baron Walter in a brothel and shot him.

• Joseph praised Murat’s bravery and considered promoting him after learning of his actions during Marshal Lacy’s rescue.
• Berthier received a report that Lacy’s forces had reached Breslau and that the Prussian army was rushing to reinforce the fortress.
• Joseph expected his Royal Guard Legion to capture Liegnitz and planned to hand the city to Lacy, leaving Austria and Prussia to continue fighting.
• Duke of Brunswick learned that the enemy vanguard had entered Liegnitz and feared the consequences of losing the city.
• Basel watched Baron Walter’s room with help from a prostitute, confronted Walter as he left, and shot him for mistreating Camellia.

Basel’s failed first shot led to his death after he tried to assassinate Baron Walter, who suspected the Crown Prince of France had ordered the attack. Meanwhile, Joseph planned to withdraw French troops from Silesia, and James Fox urged Parliament to honor Britain’s military obligation to Prussia.

• Basel’s pistol initially failed, but he wounded Walter before Walter’s bodyguard killed him with a dagger.
• Joseph II woke long enough to celebrate the recapture of Liegnitz and praise Marshal Lacy before losing consciousness again.
• Ludovica told Walter that French forces had helped Marshal Lacy at Liegnitz, and Walter concluded that the Crown Prince of France had sent Basel to kill him.
• Joseph told Berthier to delay reinforcing Breslau and secretly ordered General Kellermann to prepare the French Army to return to France.
• James Fox declared that France had entered the war and called on Parliament to fulfill Britain’s military obligation to Prussia.

Britain voted to prepare for war in Silesia, but Joseph II’s death gave France a chance to withdraw from the conflict. In Vienna, Leopold II moved to suspend Joseph II’s reforms as the emperor’s funeral procession passed through the city.

• Fox persuaded Parliament to pass a bill preparing Britain to enter the war in Silesia with at least sixty thousand troops in three months.
• General Leo thanked Joseph for rescuing him at Ratibor and presented him with jewelry and luxury goods.
• An officer announced that Joseph II had died, prompting Joseph to return to Vienna and Marshal Lacy to shift the Austrian army to full-line defense.
• Leopold II listened to ministers and Kaunitz urge an end to Joseph II’s reforms, then ordered a decree suspending them to be drafted.
• Court Guards carried Joseph II’s coffin through Vienna as clergy followed in a funeral procession.