Chapter 449: Fighting a war requires not forgetting the original intention

Chapter 450: Fighting a war requires not forgetting the original intention

Berthier took the summary data from a staff officer and continued: "According to the statistics, our army killed more than 1,200 enemy soldiers and captured nearly 3,000 people."

He said with a rather proud smile: "Of course, our gains must be far more than that."

Joseph nodded. There are still many figures of killing and capturing that have not been reported. In addition, although many escaped Prussian soldiers are still free for the time being, they can basically be counted as prisoners of the Guards Corps - it is very easy for the cavalry to catch up and capture them.

The Chief of Staff continued, "Your Highness, we plan to rest in the town of Kheron tonight and continue the pursuit at noon tomorrow."

Joseph shook his head and said, "General, we fought very well in this battle, but now I have to ask you to withdraw all the legions. Tomorrow we will head towards Latibor."

Berthier's eyes widened immediately: "Your Highness, these few days are the best time for us to reap the fruits of the battle. Why..."

When the enemy army is in the rout stage, it is necessary to constantly harass them so that they cannot gather and reorganize. Usually, this is many times more than the results that can be obtained in the frontal battle.

Joseph smiled and said, "Please keep in mind our strategic goal. Even if the Drissen Legion is completely annihilated, it is only 30,000 people, and you know that this is basically impossible."

In this case of defeat on their own territory, the retreating troops can get supplies anytime and anywhere, and can flee in a dispersed manner. It is very lucky to be able to destroy half of the enemy army in the pursuit.

"Strategic goal?" Berthier thought and nodded, "Do you mean to mobilize Prussia and Austria as much as possible?"

"That's right." Joseph said, "We must make the Prussians think that today's battle is just an accident. Our goal is always to save General Leo."

"So, we have to show that we are willing to give up the victory in front of us and rush to Ratibor?"

"Yes." Joseph came to the map and pointed to the lower reaches of the Bull River. "Let's do this first, and then..."

At noon the next day, after a short rest, the Guards Corps began to march south with great fanfare. Along the way, they chose to go to places with villages and towns. Military music accompanied the song of "Glory and Victory" and soared into the sky.

A day and a half later, when they came to the lower reaches of the Bull River, they immediately turned west, the marching speed was greatly increased, and they only walked on wasteland along the way...

Liegnitz.

In the headquarters of the Prussian Silesia Front, Duke Brunswick looked at the officer sent by Driesen for help, his face as black as the bottom of a pot.

Fortunately, the French pursuit was inefficient, and Driesen's losses were not too great at present, and the main force was still there.

He planned the forces in his hands, and finally asked his attendant to call an officer and ordered: "General Andreas, you immediately take your people, plus 10 squadrons of cavalry, to Oberon to meet Driesen."

Andreas's army had more than 8,000 people, including cavalry, a total of nearly 10,000 people.

The Duke of Brunswick always believed that Driesen was defeated because of an ambush, not because of how strong the French army's combat effectiveness was. So these 10,000 people cooperated with Driesen's troops to intercept more than 10,000 French troops.

After Andreas left, the Duke of Brunswick hurriedly summoned senior officers and began to rearrange the troops of the Liegnitz Line. In order to capture Leo, he had already withdrawn too many troops to Ratibor, which made him worry that there would be some shortage of troops on the main battlefield with Austria.

However, just after his military meeting ended, a staff officer in charge of battlefield intelligence entered the tent and handed him a report: "My Lord, Oberon found a French army heading south, which is likely to be the army fighting with General Driesen."

Duke Brunswick quickly read the report and squinted his eyes.

No wonder Driesen was not pursued. It turned out that the French went south, and the only strategically valuable target in the south was Ratibor.

He handed the report to the officer next to him: "The French are willing to let go of the Driesen Corps and rush to Ratibor, which shows that the Austrian side attaches much more importance to Leo than we imagined."

The officer looked at the report and nodded: "It seems that if Leo dies or is captured, it will cause a serious blow to Austrian morale."

Someone next to him immediately suggested: "My Lord, should we continue to send reinforcements to Ratibor?"

Duke Brunswick frowned when he heard this.

To be honest, he was also very interested in Leo now, but the Prussian army was originally smaller than that of Austria. If this was an Austrian conspiracy, when he invested too many troops in Ratibor, it would be bad if the old man Lacy launched a fierce attack on him on the front battlefield.

At the same time.

In the Austrian headquarters opposite, Marshal Lacy was handing a letter to the officer beside him with a pale face.

The latter glanced at the letter and was immediately shocked: "The French Crown Prince..."

As if afraid of being heard, he glanced at the entrance of the tent and lowered his voice: "Why did he run to Oberon?"

He looked at Lacy again and said anxiously: "Marshal, he is surrounded by the Prussians now, we must do something!"

Marshal Lacy looked at the tip of the tent, and his hands couldn't help shaking slightly.

He had already learned from the insider in Prussia that the Prussian Driesen Corps had just had a fierce battle with a French army in Oberon.

Now, combined with this letter for help, the French army should be the troops of the French Crown Prince.

Yes, after the battle with Driesen, Joseph sent someone to ask Marshal Lacy for help, saying that he was surrounded by 30,000 Prussian troops and could be captured at any time.

After a long time, Lacy sighed and said to the officer: "General Davydov, you and General Conrad will rush to Oberon immediately to rescue the French Crown Prince..."

These two corps are his main forces, with more than 30,000 people in total. Sending them to Oberon will inevitably seriously affect the strength of the Liegnitz front, but he can only do this.

If the French Crown Prince has an accident in Silesia - if he dies, it's okay, France may go to war with Prussia.

But if he is captured, then France will most likely withdraw from Silesia in exchange for its own Crown Prince.

And he would suffer the wrath of France for not taking good care of the reckless young man, and even become the scapegoat for the defeat in Silesia.

After General Davydov left, Marshal Lacy immediately signaled to the attendant tiredly:

"Bring me paper and pen, I want to write a letter to His Majesty the Emperor..."