In the evening, as our little William sat down to dinner with Prince Henry, he could not help but recall the legend of his Royal Highness during the Seven Years' War as described by Count Hans:
In the Battle of Rossbach, Prince Henry personally led seven infantry battalions into the chaotic French army, laying the foundation for the final victory of the battle.
In October 1758, Henry met with Frederick the Great in Dresden, the capital of Saxony, and participated in the Battle of Hochschweig, making great contributions.
In early 1759, Henry successfully burned the Austrian army's food and fodder storage areas with a surprise attack. In the subsequent Battle of Kullersdorf, he led 40,000 Prussian troops to attack the Austrian army from behind, destroying its transportation lines and forcing the Austrian army to retreat and defend.
What really made Henry famous in Europe was that in 1761, Henry fought against Daun's 60,000 troops in Saxony with only 28,000 men. Not only did he not lose an inch of territory, but he also tightly suppressed Marshal Daun's Austrian main force, winning the most precious time for Prussia.
Later, in the late Seven Years' War, Henry led the Prussian army to a great victory in the Battle of Freiburg, forcing Austria to withdraw.
It can be said that Henry is the most famous general of the Hohenzollern family and in all of Prussia, second only to His Majesty King Frederick.
At this time, Prussia was slowly recovering as the Seven Years' War faded away. The young military began to rise, believing that Prussia had not lost the Seven Years' War. They believed that only one of Austria and Prussia could survive, and they firmly believed that Prussia would have the last laugh.
Since Frederick the Great had no heirs, he chose his nephew Frederick William II as the crown prince. However, when the Great asked Frederick William II to handle political affairs, domestic politicians found that Frederick William II was weak-willed and lacked independent thinking. His interests were more focused on literature and art. Moreover, Frederick William II obeyed his mistress Wilhelmine von Lichtenau. What was even more unacceptable was that this mistress was an Austrian. This made the nobles who had followed Frederick the Great through the Seven Years' War doubt whether Frederick William II could lead Prussia.
This year, the health of Bavarian Count Bern of the Wittelsbach dynasty deteriorated, and the Duke of Bern had no heirs. This made the knowledgeable people in Prussia realize that perhaps it would not be long before Prussia and Austria would go to war again.
"Little William, you behaved well today. You are a good boy." At the dinner table, Prince Henry praised William's performance today.
Today our little William shot eleven pheasants and seven rabbits. In the evening, he seized the opportunity to kill a wild deer that had lost its way from the herd. This made Prince Henry look at William differently.
"All this is thanks to Count Hans' teaching," William said modestly as he wiped his mouth with a towel.
"Haha, William, your talent is the most important thing," Count Hans praised happily.
"Hans, how is the harvest in your territory this year?" Henry asked Hans after hearing what Hans said.
"Not bad. Thanks to God's blessing, everyone is living a good life these days," Hans replied.
"Alas, the health of Duke Bourne is really worrying. If something goes wrong, we Prussia will be dragged into the vortex again," said Count Henry worriedly.
"Your Highness, are the Austrians taking action again?" Hans asked doubtfully.
"Let's eat first. After you're done, let's go to your study and talk." Prince Henry said this and then lowered his head to eat again. Hans and William ignored him and started eating too.
After a while, the maids cleared the table, and William followed Henry and Hans into Hans' study. As for our Mia and Carlo, they were led down by the servants to wash and go to bed.
In the study, after the three of them sat down, Henry spoke first.
"The Austrians are actively trying to win over Elector Karl Theodor of Palatinate-Sulzbach in the hope of gaining Lower Bavaria, and the Elector is responding positively to the Austrians' overtures. However, Bavaria has always supported Prussia, and Your Majesty will not tolerate a pro-Austrian person ruling Bavaria, let alone allowing the Austrians to occupy Lower Bavaria. So the situation is not optimistic." Henry said, putting his hand on his forehead.
"So what do you think, Your Highness?" Old Hans asked.
"We have not yet recovered from the losses of the Seven Years' War. If we go to war with Austria now, it would be good if everything goes well. If things don't go well, France and Russia will definitely pounce on us and bite us. Poland has also been unstable recently. It can be said that there are enemies on all sides. If the powder keg explodes, it will be a disaster," Henry replied.
When our little William heard this, he could not help but think of the War of the Bavarian Succession in history. In this war, there were no major combat operations on either side. Both sides were content to confront each other and were busy harvesting potatoes in Bohemia.
The War of the Bavarian Succession was typical of the era of cordon d'état, when the goal of strategic operations was not to destroy the enemy's army but to capture its territory, supply bases, and fortresses.
Although 10 months passed between the declaration of war and the signing of the peace treaty, no fighting took place during this period. Both sides avoided taking decisive actions and only carried out complex maneuvers, trying to cut off the enemy's connection with its supply base through troop maneuvers, thereby forcing the enemy to retreat.
Finally, the Austrians succeeded in this, driving the Prussian army out of their own territory and occupying parts of Bavaria, thus winning the war.
Facts proved that Henry's worries were not unfounded, but it was precisely because of Henry's negative attitude in this war that Frederick the Great angrily forced Henry to resign and leave the political core of Prussia.
"Your Highness, I think that although Prussia has not yet recovered from the damage of the Seven Years' War, it must be affirmed that Austria has not fully recovered either. In addition, the ethnic diversity of Austria and the aging and rigidity of the nobles also give us some chances of winning against the Austrians again. According to your Majesty's character, it is impossible to tolerate the Austrians' misbehavior, so I think you should not face this matter negatively, but should face the upcoming challenges with the usual perseverance and courage of the men of our Hohenzollern family." William, who was sitting nearby, advised Henry to prevent him from angering Frederick the Great because of this matter.
"Oh, is that what you see? Little William?" Henry looked at William with shining eyes after hearing William's words.
"Yes, Your Highness, Europe today is no longer the Europe of the Seven Years' War, and Empress Catherine II of Russia is eyeing Turkey covetously.
Although the new French King Louis XVI inherited his grandfather's empire, there were many conflicts among the various factions within France. It was said that France had an empty treasury and was heavily in debt, but His Majesty the King and his wife often held balls, decorated villas, and arranged gardens.
In this way, even if we have a conflict with the Austrians, Russia will not take action against us in order to concentrate its forces against Turkey. As for the French, I don't think they will be able to intervene until their King Louis XVI has pacified the country," William said confidently.