I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 445 I'll Add to the Fire

General Leo, who was used as a bargaining chip, was now in tears.

When he was in the Southern Netherlands, he was able to win battles every time with General Lefebvre, which gave him the illusion that "I could do it too."

At this moment, looking at the Prussians to the west, north and east - with the Sudeten Mountains to the south - he had regained a clear sense of himself.

The enemy was not in a hurry to attack, but instead formed lines of infantry on all major traffic routes, with cannons deployed on both sides and cavalry providing mobile support between the defense lines.

During these five days, Leo has launched more than ten charges, but was beaten back every time.

At this time, a strong sense of pessimism was prevalent in his legion. If it were not for his reputation as the "Lance of the Southern Netherlands", the morale would have collapsed long ago.

Seeing through the telescope that the cannons that tried to sneak up on the enemy line were driven back by the Prussian cavalry, Leo slumped in the chair, unable to understand why the cannons of Lefebvre's Corps could bombard the enemy in the face and then leave calmly, while he himself could not do that at all?
"If I had known, I wouldn't have left so many soldiers in Wałbrzych..."

Leo was feeling sad when his staff officer suddenly ran over and said loudly:

"General, it seems that an army has appeared west of the Prussian line."

"Great!" Leo stood up and rubbed his hands excitedly, "It must be Lieutenant Colonel Lefebvre who saved me.

"Quick, tell the soldiers this good news, and let everyone hold on a little longer!"

However, more than three hours passed and there was still no movement from the "French reinforcements".

Leo suddenly became nervous and kept asking the staff officer:
"Could it be that the Prussian reinforcements are gathering to attack us?"

"I don't know..." the staff officer pondered, "The enemy's line formation has not moved, so they shouldn't be launching an attack."

If reinforcements arrive, the original infantry line must make room for the extra troops.

Leo breathed a sigh of relief, and then he heard the sound of cannons coming from the northwest.

He was suddenly startled and quickly ran to the highest point of the command post - his command post was located on a low hill - and looked through a telescope in the direction where the artillery sound came from, and saw smoke rising in the distance.

"Aren't they the Prussians who are surrounding us?" He looked at the staff officer beside him in surprise. "Who is fighting whom?"

About ten kilometers away from Erwin's encirclement, where the smoke was rising, Blücher was shouting at the cavalry battalion commander:

"Idiot! You can't tell the difference between the uniforms and you don't even look at the flag carefully!"

Just an hour ago, he led his army to the west of Ratibor and was about to meet up with Erwin, but unexpectedly discovered that an Austrian army was less than 3 kilometers away and was quietly deploying its battle formation.

He was so angry that he nearly shot the commander of the Hussars.

In fact, this cannot be entirely blamed on his scouts - the military uniforms of various countries in this era were in a mess, and some officers would even customize uniforms for soldiers based on their personal preferences. After all, they paid for it themselves, and their superiors would mostly turn a blind eye.

The Prussian Hussars had indeed spotted the Austrian army, but seeing the green uniforms, they thought they were Hanoverians—there was indeed a Hanoverian army stationed in Ratibor. So they didn’t come forward to talk and just hurried past.

Fortunately, the messenger sent by Blücher to contact Erwin was killed on his way back, so he noticed the presence of the Austrian army, otherwise he would have almost fallen into the latter's ambush. He hurriedly found a more suitable area nearby and ordered the troops to deploy a formation defense on the spot.

On the other hand, when Wurmser saw that the Prussian army suddenly stopped moving, he immediately guessed that the enemy had discovered him, so he immediately ordered a surprise attack.

Blücher's cavalry saved his corps - probably to make up for the mistakes in the previous reconnaissance, they bravely harassed and restrained the Austrians. Although they suffered considerable casualties, they finally delayed the infantry to complete the formation.

Soon, tens of thousands of Prussian and Austrian soldiers began to exchange fire in various parts of the battlefield. The roar of cannons and the wailing of soldiers intertwined, ushering in the arrival of night.

Blücher and Wurmser, the old rivals who had recently fought in the Southern Netherlands, did not finally figure out whose troops they were encountering until the next morning.

The two men immediately realized that it was impossible to defeat each other in a short period of time - they had confirmed this many times when they were in the Southern Netherlands - so they immediately sent out messengers to "call for help" from the commander-in-chief.

……

Austrian Silesian Front Headquarters.

Joseph flicked the bulletproof insert he had just brought in his hand, carefully placed it in the "pocket" on the front of his uniform, and said to the Chief of Staff with some dissatisfaction:
"Only 5 people? Isn't Lacy too stingy?"

Berthier said, "Your Highness, Prussia has not mobilized too many troops, so Marshal Lacy believes that 5 reinforcements should be able to solve Ratibor's problem."

He had just attended Lacy's combat meeting and learned that, as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had expected, a fierce battle had broken out between the Prussian and Austrian reinforcements at Ratibor, and that General Wurmser had requested reinforcements.

Joseph stood up and jumped. Well, with four inserts, the weight barely affects the movement. Judging from this, an adult should have no problem carrying five.

He tapped the patch on his chest and said to Berthier, "Please distribute the patch to the soldiers as soon as possible."

"Yes, Your Highness. In fact, they were assigned to the various companies at noon."

"You are always so meticulous in your work." Joseph nodded and praised, then walked out of the tent. "Now, I have to go and add fuel to the fire in Ratibor. Otherwise, with Marshal Lacy's stinginess, I don't know how long it will take for the opportunity I want to appear."

20 minute later.

Marshal Lacy stared at the young French prince with wide eyes and said in surprise:
"Your Highness, you really don't need to do this. It's meaningless to deploy so many troops in Ratibor..."

"No, Marshal, General Leo is my old friend. We have a deep friendship." Joseph said seriously, "He may be killed by the Prussians at any time. This makes me unable to sleep or eat."

"But there is no need to mobilize General Kellermann! Your Highness, this may affect the situation in Liegnitz."

Kellermann was the commander-in-chief of 3 old French troops in Silesia.

Joseph thought to himself, I just want to break the deadlock in Liegnitz.

He looked at Marshal Lacy and said firmly:
"General Kellerman will lead an army of 2 and rescue General Leo in about a week. During this time, you defend with all your strength. Liegnitz will definitely be fine."

(End of this chapter)