I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 444 Focus - Ratibor (please follow up)

Headquarters of the Austrian Silesian Front.

Berthier looked away from the map and looked at Lefebvre with some uneasiness: "Do you think it is possible for General Leo to really defeat Ratibor's Prussian army? After all, he has absolute military strength. Advantage."

The latter smiled: "If we change the command to another officer, even an ordinary regiment commander, we may really have to worry about this. But now the commander is Leo, please believe me, what he is best at is to make soldiers appear in A place where it shouldn't be.

"And his ability to train soldiers is also very... ah, average. Therefore, his legion only has less than 2,000 soldiers left by General Wilmser with any combat effectiveness. The rest can't even do a volley."

"Now I'm a little worried that he will be defeated by the Prussians..."

Joseph continued: "General Leo has a strength advantage and can hold on for at least five or six days. I have sent Major Masson to meet him near Latibor."

He looked towards the Prussian position in the distance: "Now it depends on when the Duke of Brunswick will take action."

While several people were talking, the sound of horse hooves was heard outside the tent. Soon a messenger walked in quickly, raised his hat and saluted Joseph:

"Your Highness, General Leo failed to attack Ratibor and is now surrounded by the Prussian army."

Masson sent hussars to keep an eye on Latibor's battle situation at all times, and this messenger was sent by him.

The messenger continued:

"According to the scouts, it was because General Leo did not notice the movement of the Prussian army's flanks and insisted on using the main force to attack the front. As a result, the Prussians bypassed him to the rear. Then he mistakenly withdrew the attacking force, and the enemy forces on the front were Then he pressed out and finally formed a pincer attack."

Joseph immediately cast a complimenting look at Lefebvre and said with a smile:

"You were right, he's really good at making mistakes."

Lefebvre sighed: "12,000 people were actually surrounded by 7,000 Prussian troops. His performance this time was a bit 'extraordinary'."

Berthier looked at Joseph: "Your Highness, do you want Major Masson to reinforce you immediately?"

Joseph shook his head and said: "We have to believe in General Leo. His army is the best equipped in the Austrian army. Even if it is surrounded, it should be able to hold on for a few days.

"Go immediately and tell Marshal Lacy and the Duke of Brunswick about the situation of Leo's Legion."

Joseph said to an officer next to him: "Please send someone to inform Potsdam that we can start taking action."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The officer was the Intelligence Bureau's liaison officer with the Crown Prince, and he immediately left with Berthier.

…

East of Lignitz.

In the Prussian headquarters, the Duke of Brunswick looked at the map in surprise, shook his head and said:

"What do these damned Austrians want? There is no point in attacking Latibor."

Just half an hour ago, he had just received a report from Austria. More than 12,000 Leo Legion soldiers suddenly attacked Ratibor. However, Colonel Aylwin, who was in charge of the defense, responded quickly and took advantage of the Austrians' negligence. Carelessly, they surrounded them on the outskirts of Ratibor.

(Oil portrait of Blücher)

Blücher had been fighting with Leo for a long time in Liege. At this time, he was not willing to let go of the good opportunity to add insult to injury, and immediately shouted:

"Master Marshal, the Elwin Army only has 7,000 troops. I'm afraid it will be difficult to annihilate the enemy. I think we should increase the number of troops immediately!"

General Driesen on the side suggested:

"Latibor has no strategic value at all. As long as Colonel Aylwin can hold it, there is no need to force the enemy to be annihilated."

The Duke of Brunswick lowered his head and thought for a moment, then suddenly said: "No, we should reinforce Aylwin immediately."

"But……"

"Although Ratibor is worthless, Leo is extremely prestigious in the Austrian army." The Duke of Brunswick stood up with his hands on the table. "If we can capture or kill him, it will be a great blow to the Austrians." A huge blow to morale.

"The national finances are already very difficult. If we can end the war as soon as possible, we should try our best."

He looked at Blücher: "You immediately lead 10,000 people to Ratibor, first cut off the Austrians' return to Ostraau, and make sure to kill or capture Leo."

Blücher was immediately overjoyed: "Yes, Your Majesty the Duke!"

On the other side, there was also a dispute in Marshal Lacy's tent.

Naundorf said loudly: "Just dispatch two regiments to rescue the Leo Army. We should not invest too many troops in Ratibor."

Berthier on the side immediately shook his head: "General, you must consider that if the Prussians also send troops to Ratibor, then this small amount of reinforcements will not be enough."

Wilmser has a good relationship with Leo and expresses his support:

"Latibor is also our country's territory, so it's better to take the opportunity to take it back. General Leo has the advantage in strength, but he accidentally fell into the siege. When his troops get out of trouble, it should be very easy for us to recapture Ratibor. "

Seeing that Lacy was still hesitating, Berthier added fuel to his fire: "Marshal, if the news that 'the spears of the Southern Netherlands successfully regained their homeland' appears in the newspapers in Vienna next week, it will definitely make everyone People are very excited.”

Marshal Lacy frowned upon hearing this. What he heard from the French chief of staff was that if the "Lance of the Southern Netherlands" was captured in Ratibor, it would be a nightmare for Austria.

And if this famous general had an accident, His Majesty the Emperor would definitely blame him as the commander-in-chief.

Thinking of this, he no longer hesitated and turned to Wurmser and said, "You will lead 10,000 soldiers to Ratibor to reinforce immediately."

"Yes, Marshal!"

At the same time, in Potsdam, the political center of Prussia, the streets and alleys were discussing the victory of the army in Ratibor.

All the front pages of newspapers were "The Austrian army invading Ratibor was defeated by the Erwin Corps, and Leo will be captured", "Ratibor's great victory, 12,000 Austrian invading troops were surrounded" and so on.

As for the pamphlet, it directly raised the number of enemies killed to 30,000, and the pride of the Austrians - Leo has been captured. At present, the Austrian army is desperately trying to stop him from being sent to Potsdam for public trial.

Of course, these are the rhythms set by the French Intelligence Agency's spies in Potsdam. Spreading this kind of news that the Prussians like to hear is simply the easiest job for spies.

In the Palace of Souci, William II was also very excited. Although various news were flying around and it was not certain what the situation was in Ratibor, it was a foregone conclusion that Leo was surrounded.

The Silesia war situation had been deadlocked for so long, and finally there was a major breakthrough.

After a brief discussion with Prince Heinrich, he immediately drafted a commendation order, promoted Alwin to major general, and praised the Duke of Brunswick.

Just three or four days later, the eyes of the entire German region were all focused on the inconspicuous province of Ratibor.

A total of 40,000 troops from both Prussia and Austria are heading there, ready to fight to the death with Leo as the stakes...