At this point, Hans seemed to have entered that magnificent epic again.
"More bad news came. The Austrian army recaptured most of Silesia. A small detachment led by Lieutenant General Hadik broke into Berlin. There were rumors that the French and Swedish armies were moving towards this place. Once Berlin fell, our families, weapons and ammunition would fall into the hands of the enemy. His Majesty hurried back to his capital to rescue him.
On the way, His Majesty received new news that the French and Swedish troops showed no signs of moving, and that Haddick's Austrian cavalry had only 3,400 people. The local garrison was unaware of the situation and did not dare to resist, allowing the Austrian army to extort a large sum of money and then leave.
Soon another good news came. For unknown reasons, the Russian troops occupying East Prussia retreated without any reason. Now they only had to deal with the French troops and the imperial coalition forces entering Saxony. At that time, this was undoubtedly a severe blow to the morale of the entire army.
His Majesty, who was worried, changed his marching route and led our army to Rossbach, west of Leipzig.
At this place, His Majesty's exhausted army of only 21,000 men finally came face to face with the 41,000 French and Imperial coalition forces. Although the coalition forces had an advantage, Soubise knew that his troops were disorganized, and most of the Imperial troops were Protestants who had no enthusiasm for fighting Prussia. Therefore, he did not plan to engage in a battle.
Soubise planned to use the most popular military art of the time, the cordon tactic, to threaten His Majesty's rear traffic lines, forcing His Majesty to retreat without a fight, and eventually be squeezed into a small space, surrounded by three armies and surrender. In the constant change of positions, the coordination between the French and Imperial armies became problematic. The Imperial Army's flanking troops under the command of Marquis Joseph of Saxe-Hildhausen failed to receive close cover from the French army, and the action became disjointed. His Majesty, who was watching the battle on a rooftop in Rossbach, seized the opportunity and ordered Seydlitz's 3,800 cavalry to attack, which immediately broke through the coalition's right wing. Before the enemy could reorganize, His Majesty ordered Prince Henry's 7 infantry battalions to break into the center of the French army. Within 90 minutes, the Battle of Rossbach was over. The coalition lost 7,000 people and our army had only 550. His Majesty ordered the prisoners to be treated well and invited the captured officers to dine with him at the same table. His Majesty asked everyone to forgive the lack of dishes, because His Majesty's original words were: Gentlemen, I didn't expect you to come so quickly and in so many people.
Britain was also happy for His Majesty the King and had confidence in us. Fireworks were set off on the streets of London to celebrate His Majesty's birthday, and some devout believers called His Majesty the King the only savior.
William Pitt the Elder, who had returned to the British government on July 29, was a staunch supporter of His Majesty. He condemned the armistice signed by the Duke of Cumberland and persuaded Parliament to allocate funds to defend Hanover and help Frederick II. Previously, Parliament was only willing to allocate 164,000 pounds to establish a spectator force in Hanover. This time, under the influence of the Rossbach victory and the instigation of Pitt the Elder, it was decided to allocate 1.2 million pounds a year to establish a war force.
Pitt the Elder and His Majesty the King jointly chose Prince Ferdinand, the Duke of Brunswick's younger brother and His Majesty's brother-in-law, as the commander-in-chief of this new army.
Ferdinand was only 36 years old. He was a handsome, well-educated and brave man. He also played the violin very well. Berni once said: "He may have a bright future with these conditions." Prince Ferdinand was the second most important person in our army at that time, second only to His Majesty the King.
But his Majesty had little time to rejoice: a French army under the command of the Duke of Richelieu still controlled most of Hanover.
On the same day as the Battle of Rossbach, 43,000 Austrians surrounded Schweidnitz, the Prussian supply center in Silesia; His Majesty the King had left 41,000 men there to defend it, reduced to 28,000 by desertions and deaths; these troops were commanded by the Duke of Bevern, who failed to lift the siege, and on November 11 the fortress surrendered, leaving in the hands of the Austrians 7,000 prisoners, 330,000 silver coins, and enough supplies to support 88,000 troops for two months. The victors, after joining forces with the Prince of Lorraine and Marshal Daun, increased their number to 83,000 and continued to advance towards the Silesian capital.
On November 22, they defeated the remnants of the Duke of Bevern's troops and Breslau fell. From then on, most of Silesia returned to the Habsburg family.
His Majesty felt that he had reason to think that his victory at Rossbach was not worth this defeat. But that victory had restored his courage and his army's vitality. The plunder of the French army in Saxony had helped him a lot in boosting morale. His Majesty ordered his soldiers to march 270 kilometers in 12 days, across the muddy country to join the remnants of Silesia.
On December 3, our army of 43,000 men met the Austrian army of 72,000 on the land leading to Breslau. That afternoon, His Majesty the King addressed his officers:
You will not be ignorant, gentlemen, that while we were busy holding back the French and the armies of the Holy Roman Empire, misfortunes befell us. Schweinitz fell; the Duke of Bovern was defeated; Breslau was lost, our supplies of food and ammunition were all gone; and a great part of Silesia was lost.
To be honest, my present predicament would be difficult for me to cope with if it were not for my infinite confidence in you and your qualities, which you have repeatedly demonstrated as warriors and sons of your country.
There is hardly anyone among you who has not fought with distinction. I know all you have done for my country and for me, and I shall never forget it. That is why I have great faith in this campaign. My country has a right to expect courage from you, and you will not lack it.
The decisive moment has come. If I allow the Austrians to continue to march across Silesia, I will achieve nothing.
I tell you that Prince Charles has twice as many troops as I do, but I will break the shackles of the art of war and attack wherever I find the enemy. It does not matter how many of them there are, or whether they are in a favorable position.
We can succeed with courage and careful planning. I must take risks, otherwise, everything will be in vain. We must defeat the enemy, otherwise, let us die for our country under the enemy's artillery fire.
This is how I view this campaign, and this is how I will act. Let me convey my determination to all officers and soldiers. Let them prepare for the coming test.
Tell them I demand that they obey my orders to the letter. As for you, I think you are Prussians, and do I think you will not live up to the name? If any of you are afraid to share all the risks with me, he can leave the army tonight without any reprimand.
I know that none of you will betray me. Then I will rely on your help and believe that I will win. In this battle, once the order is given to attack, if the cavalry does not charge the enemy with all their strength, I will ask him to dismount immediately after the battle and let him serve as the remaining troops; if the infantry shows the slightest hesitation, cowardice or inability to hold the saber in the battle, I will cut off the flower ornaments on his military uniform!
Well, good night, gentlemen! It won't be long before we either defeat our enemy or never see him again.
Up to this point, the Austrian army had been following a Fabian tactic and had not engaged the King's army head-on, but now, encouraged by his superior numbers and recent victories, the Prince of Lorraine decided to ignore Marshal Daun's advice and avenge his defeat on the battlefield. The soldiers of the two rival dynasties, 43,000 to 73,000, headed for each other, entering into each other's sword array and fire net.
Your Majesty saw from the high ground that the Austrian army was in two long horizontal columns, while our army was approaching in a column, perpendicular to the Austrian line. Your Majesty sent his vanguard troops to deploy in front of the Austrian army to conceal their troops turning right and moving towards a point on the extended right wing of the Austrian line. Your Majesty's column was transformed into a horizontal column here, advancing at a 45-degree angle, and directly inserted into the extended part of the enemy's line, just like the famous general Epaminondas of ancient Thebes, forming a typical oblique tactic, and defeating the enemy's main force before they could react at all; 20,000 Austrian soldiers were captured in the chaos, which was unprecedented, and our army only paid the price of 6,300 casualties.
As soon as the war ended, His Majesty took advantage of the opportunity to pursue the victory. The next day, our troops surrounded Breslau. The Austrian commander who was defending the city posted a notice in the city, stating that anyone who mentioned the word "surrender" would be killed immediately. But half a month later, he himself surrendered with 17,000 men. Soon, almost all of Silesia returned to our hands except for a small fortress.
At this time, Berni and several other French leaders all urged Louis XV to negotiate with Prussia. But Madame Pompadour refused and replaced the foreign minister, Bishop Berni, with the Duke of Choiseul. However, most French people could not help but suspect that they were sacrificing their colonies to fight for Austria, so they were extremely discouraged about the prospect of war.
Richelieu of France behaved in the same way in Hanover, so he was also replaced in February 1758. He was replaced by Count Clermont, a priest. Under the firm pressure of Prince Ferdinand von Brunswick, the French finally withdrew from Hanover; in March, they gave up Minden; soon after, they gave up Bavaria. Prince Ferdinand continued to advance westward. On June 23, he defeated the main force deployed by Duke Clermont in Krefeld on the Rhine with half of his troops. Clermont gave up his power and gave it to Prince Soubise, who returned from Rossbach, to stop Ferdinand's surging offensive.
At this point, the sky was already dark. Old Hans stood up and asked Little William:
"What do you understand?"
"I understand that perseverance, courage, innovation and victory will always belong to those who persevere to the end," little William answered seriously.
Old Hans nodded after listening.
"It's good for you to understand these things at your age. You must remember that you have the same blood as the King, and its name is Hohenzollern. Now let's go eat." After saying that, he turned around, as if he had entered the days of war and iron cavalry again.
"Teacher, what happened next?" William asked doubtfully.
"I will continue to tell you tomorrow afternoon. You go first now." Old Hans entered into meditation again.
Little William shook his head and turned and walked out.