I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 457 The offensive and defensive positions have changed

"Really?!" Marshal Lacy was immediately surprised. According to the French Dauphin, he could break through the Lignitz defense line with almost no losses.

"What are your plans?"

Joseph immediately said: "Assist all coalition forces in Lignitz as soon as possible. We are going to take the initiative this time, so we will gather all the legions responsible for the defense line."

Marshal Lacy heard the words and blinked. Why did he feel that these words seemed a bit familiar? Oh, by the way, when the French Crown Prince first came to Lignitz, he suggested calling him like this, but he refused.

After finally going around in a circle, he still had to implement his tactics. Is it your fault?

Joseph showed an unpredictability and continued: "And I can guarantee that if the Prussian troops on the defense line are moved northward in a large amount within a week, the defensive strength will be reduced by about 40%.

“At the same time, the 50,000 enemy troops on the west side of the defense line will leave and go to Gvoguf.

"Then, we can launch a fierce attack on the enemy's defense line on the south side. With a huge advantage in strength, we can quickly form a breakthrough, and then attack deep into Lignitz."

He said, looking around at the Austrian officers in the room: "What Ferdinand did to us before, we will repay him double!"

All the officers looked at each other excitedly, clenching their fists one by one. Two days ago, I was chased and beaten by the Prussians, but in the blink of an eye, I could retaliate in kind. Just thinking about it made me feel happy!

Joseph said to the Duke of Brunswick in his heart: I just promised to let your people go, but I didn't say I wouldn't take the opportunity to attack your defense line, so I definitely didn't violate the deal. The two million florins cannot be withdrawn.

Lacy immediately studied the map with his officers, and within a short time, they confirmed that this tactic was very feasible.

He turned around and saluted Joseph, caressing his chest: "Your Highness, I will implement your plan. You are really Austria's strongest ally!"

Joseph returned the favor with a smile.

He was a little worried that Marshal Lacy would insist on annihilating the 50,000 enemy troops first, which would cause more twists and turns in his plan - he could only let Zare go on the grounds that the enemy's offensive was too fierce and they could not hold on. The Guards Corps gave way to the passage. By then, the encirclement and annihilation campaign would be impossible, and Lacy could only consider his own plan of attack.

However, Marshal Lacy obviously didn't know the saying "If you save people and lose land, you will save people and land." In order to quickly capture Lignitz and then march into the whole of Silesia, he agreed without hesitation.

…

Near the village of Balder, 9 kilometers north of the town of Wolfenst.

The temporary commander of the more than 50,000 Prussian coalition forces, General Andreas, who was blocked here, carefully checked the secret message in his hand and handed it to the staff officer on the side.

After the latter confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the seal on the letter, Andreas looked at the herald sent by the Duke of Brunswick: "So, you arrived here through the French defense line?"

"Yes, General." The herald nodded hurriedly, "The Marshal and the French reached some agreements, and they let me come here. The Marshal asked you to hurry up in case the Austrians discover anything unusual."

"Thank you for taking the risk to deliver this message."

Andreas asked the attendant to take the herald to rest, and then immediately summoned all the officers and showed the secret letter: "According to the order of the Marshal, the entire army will march to Gvogów immediately."

Early the next morning, the more than 50,000 Prussian troops moved north quickly, and indeed, as the Duke of Brunswick said, Zareh's defenders did not attack them.

On the other hand, the Duke of Brunswick also ordered the newly assembled 40,000 troops to rush northwest of Lignitz in order to meet Andreas and the others on the upper reaches of the Bull River.

A week later, the two sides successfully met at the border of Głogów Province, but the Duke of Brunswick did not see the expected tens of thousands of Austrian pursuers.

The hundreds of French cavalry who were "supervising" Andreas along the way looked at them from a distance and immediately rode away.

Although the Duke of Brunswick was a little surprised, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and ordered the herald to go back and inform his men that the 2 million florins could be handed over to the French.

The next day, two messengers rushed into the Duke of Brunswick's camp like crazy and reported anxiously to him: "Marshal, the Austrians attacked our southern defense line three days ago."

"What?!" The Duke of Brunswick was shocked and asked hurriedly, "How is the situation?"

"The enemy assembled more than 80,000 troops and a large number of heavy artillery. The defense line had not been breached when we left, but it was already difficult to hold on."

The Duke of Brunswick suddenly turned pale - he only had less than 30,000 people left on the southern defense line, and he had to be responsible for a range of more than 10 kilometers. He would definitely not be able to stop so many enemy troops.

And this news was already three days ago.

He immediately summoned his officers to discuss and finally decided to abandon the defensive line and retreat to the city of Lignitz to continue holding on.

The distance between them and the city of Lignitz at this time was about half closer than that of the Austrian allied forces. If they rushed there immediately, they should have enough time to set up defenses.

Southwest of Lignitz, near the town of Fordham.

Listening to the rumble of artillery in the distance, Joseph was happily directing the staff officer in charge of military pay to distribute the 2 million florins he received yesterday.

Four carriages worth of gold coins were equivalent to a huge sum of 5 million francs. He couldn't help but sigh: It's better to make money faster by fighting!

He pointed to a small gold coin box: "In addition, 30,000... ah, no, 20,000 florins should be allocated to reward the company that first breaks through the enemy's defense line."

This time, the Austrian troops were responsible for the general attack. The Guards only provided some artillery assistance. The other soldiers were resting.

After all, the force advantage this time was very large. If the Guards still had to take action to win, the Austrian army might as well buy a piece of tofu and die.

Marshal Lacy also agreed with this arrangement. After all, the previous military achievements were almost all the work of the French army, and he had to get more credit.

However, in order to avoid more trouble, Joseph decided to take out a huge sum of money to motivate the Austrian soldiers.

"There should be 400,000 florins left in this car, right?"

Seeing the military pay officer nod, Joseph continued: "All bonuses for soldiers who received medals as members of the Guards Corps, as well as additional subsidies for the wounded. Oh, remember to send it directly to their homes."

400,000 florins is equivalent to 1 million francs. There were less than 100 people who received medals in this Silesia campaign, and there were about 300 wounded.

In other words, the Golden Iris Medal can get a bonus of nearly 10,000 francs! The wounded can also get an additional subsidy of 1,500 francs in addition to the normal pension.

Sending such a large sum of money to the soldiers' homes, the scene will be very grand, which is more direct and effective than any fancy recruitment propaganda.