Bohemia is an ancient place name in Central Europe, located in the central and western part of the current Czech Republic. It is a multi-ethnic region in history, and a place where gypsies live. Its area is about 52,065 square kilometers. After the Thirty Years' War, Bohemia was ruled by the Habsburg dynasty, but it remained an independent kingdom with its own government. Until 1743, Bohemia became a province under the rule of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty.
Queen Maria Theresa, who was ridiculed by Frederick the Great as one of the three petticoats of Europe, owned three crowns, one of which was the crown of the Queen of Bohemia.
When Frederick the Great swore to go to war, the Austrians also responded quickly. They reached an agreement with the Turks and sent notes to Britain, France and Russia, requesting them to send troops to Prussia.
As William said, Empress Catherine II of Russia only had eyes for the Black Sea outlet, and Prussia had a peace agreement with her husband Peter III, so he rejected the Austrian proposal.
Louis XVI of France was overwhelmed by the constant reforms at home, and the empty treasury left him with no energy to deal with Prussia.
King George III of Britain was mostly tied up in domestic political forces, and given the friendly relations between Britain and Prussia during the Seven Years' War, it was impossible for Britain to help the Austrians.
In this situation, although there were people in Prussia and Austria who opposed a large-scale war at this time, because the power of major European countries was being restrained, many people also believed that this was the best time for Prussia and Austria to fight it out. Whoever won would dominate Germany and even win the throne of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Prussian army was divided into two groups. A 30,000-man force led by Prince Henry marched south from Silesia to attack Bohemia. The main force of 80,000 men, led by Frederick the Great himself, was looking for opportunities to fight in Saxony.
When Joseph II learned that the Prussians had sent troops, he immediately ordered the Austrian Army Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Franz Moritz von Lacy, to command the Elbe Army to stop Frederick at the border between Saxony and Austria. Field Marshal Lacy's army had 70,000 men. In addition, Field Marshal Ernst Gideon von Laudon commanded the Second Army to go to Bohemia to stop Prince Henry. The Second Army had 20,000 men.
Field Marshal Franz Moritz von Racy participated in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. During the Seven Years' War, he was the chief of staff of Field Marshal Leopold Joseph Daun and was the marshal's right-hand man along with Ernst Gideon von Laudon.
It can be said that Marshal Lacy and Marshal Laudon were the two pillars of Austria at that time, and they were also the old rivals of Frederick the Great and Prince Henry. As for the Bavarian Front, it was led by Joseph II's younger brother, Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany.
In June 1778, the Elbe Corps commanded by Marshal Lacy suddenly encountered Frederick's main force in a hilly area on the Austrian border. Both sides immediately took up alert and sent scouts to gather local intelligence.
The Austrian army on the other side took a defensive posture, concentrating more than 400 cannons on an artillery position set up on a small hill on the left wing, and about 10,000 cavalry guarded these cannons. The center and right wing were traditional line infantry, with about 4,000 cuirassiers and about 10,000 reserves in the rear.
The Prussian army had 546 cannons, 23,000 cavalry, 10,000 of which were cuirassiers, and 45,000 line infantry.
Frederick decided to order Prince Ferdinand to lead 10,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry to cross the Elbe River to the east and approach the Austrian Army from the north. Both routes would target the Austrian Army and launch a pincer attack. Then they would cut off the Austrian Army's retreat, encircle it and annihilate it in this area.
In order to implement this plan, Prince Ferdinand led his army to quietly move towards the Elbe River. On June 6, the Prussian army defeated the scattered Austrian troops guarding the Elbe River, built a pontoon bridge upstream, and crossed to the south bank of the Elbe River. During this period, Frederick the Great ordered his troops to engage in a small-scale contact battle with the Austrian army to confuse the Austrian army, while the large army used shovels and all the tools at hand to dig a trench taught to him by William. Marshal Lacy on the opposite side immediately understood Frederick the Great's intention after receiving the news that the Elbe River had been lost, and he immediately ordered the entire army to prepare for a decisive battle.
In the early morning of the next day, Frederick discovered that the Austrians on the opposite side were no longer passively defending but had mobilized their entire army. Frederick understood that the enemy had taken the bait. Frederick was convinced that even in the face of the Austrian army's fierce attack, he could hold out until Ferdinand's army arrived at the battlefield.
Frederick ordered the Prussian army to enter the front-line position. A large U-shaped trench was dug on the Prussian position. In order to adapt to the backward flintlock rifles of this era, the trench was dug very wide, so that it could accommodate three rows of people to shoot alternately back and forth, and the depth was to the chest so that they could shoot from the trench.
But it looked very strange to the Austrians on the opposite side. They saw that the Prussians were like rabbits, with only a big head and neck showing. They could not see anything else, let alone aim at them.
Marshal Lacy decisively ordered the artillery to open fire. Hearing Marshal Lacy's order, 400 cannons rumbled and played a concerto, but the strange thing was that the artillery's accuracy was very poor. In fact, it couldn't be blamed on the poor accuracy of the artillery. The firearms used by various countries at that time did not have rifling or anything. In addition, although the trenches were wide, it was difficult to aim. There was land in front and behind, so not many enemies could be killed.
After Lacy heard the report, he felt that this was not going to work, so he ordered the cannons to fire closer to increase the casualties. But just as he gave the order, the Prussian cannons in the middle of the U-shaped trench opened fire. The Prussian cannons did not have such concerns. Just as the cannons of both sides were firing, the soldiers of both sides entered the range at night. Judging from the range of the muskets at that time, the range was about 300 meters, but the Austrians were stunned. The Prussians were behind the trenches and it was difficult for them to aim.
On the contrary, for the Prussians, the Austrians were simply the best targets. A salvo fired from the trenches was much more accurate than when they were standing and shooting.
Marshal Lacy was furious when he saw this. He ordered the Austrian cavalry to prepare to cut into the battlefield from the left wing and drive out those Prussian rats. At the same time, he ordered the reserve troops to enter the battlefield.
Seeing this, Frederick the Great decisively ordered the cavalry to launch a counterattack against the Austrian cavalry from the right wing, and ordered the artillery to ignore the enemy cavalry and bombard the infantry with all their strength. Under the bombardment of powerful firepower, the Austrian line began to loosen.
At this time, Prince Ferdinand's reinforcements arrived at the battlefield. The 10,000 cavalrymen let their horses gallop and swung their sabers to attack the Austrian rear reserve. The cavalry on both sides of the Austrian left wing were entangled and the Austrians could not rescue them at all.
When Frederick saw Ferdinand's army entering the battlefield, he decisively ordered the entire army to launch a counterattack. The Prussians crawled out of the trenches and charged at the Austrians. Under the Prussian army's attack from the front and back, first an infantry company could not hold on and began to disintegrate. Then the disintegration spread to the entire army like a panic. The Austrians began a great rout, but with Prussian troops in front and behind, the Austrians could not escape.
In this battle, the Austrians suffered more than 8,000 casualties and 40,000 were captured. The commander of the Elbe Army, Marshal Lacy, retreated to Austria with only more than 10,000 remnants.
On the other hand, the Prussian side achieved a brilliant victory with only 3,000 casualties. Frederick the Great looked to the south with ambition, where Vienna was, and where she was.