Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 424 The Second Battle of Craignitz (Part 2)

The Prussian soldiers were initially stunned by the sight, but quickly recovered and began firing their needle guns, mowing down a large number of Austrian soldiers in an instant. However, this did not stop the Austrians. They continued their advance over the bodies of their fallen comrades, using their numerical superiority to drive the Prussian 7th Division out of the woods. At this critical moment, the Austrian 2nd Corps also joined the attack.

The hot-tempered King William I refused to provide any support to the 7th Division, which was under heavy attack from the Austrian army. In fact, this was a deliberate arrangement by Moltke the Elder. He firmly believed that the 7th Division could withstand the enormous pressure and hold the line, leaving the reserves in more important places. "As long as we still have the 3rd Corps as a reserve force, we have no need to worry about the risk of the collapse of the left flank. At this moment, our task is to wait for the Austrian army to exhaust all its resources in the offensive."

The commander of the 7th Division was well aware that he had to defend this position to the death before the Crown Prince's 2nd Army arrived on the battlefield, but where were his men? If the 7th Division were completely annihilated, the entire Prussian left flank would collapse. At that point, the Austrian army could launch a fierce attack on the flank of the 1st Army without any scruples, causing Prussia to lose this decisive battle completely! Therefore, he had to hold his line at all costs. Ignoring the fact that his forces were dwindling, he ordered them to hold out to the bitter end.

As afternoon approached, the nobles and generals in the command post anxiously raised their binoculars, hoping to seize an opportunity to turn the tide. Suddenly, someone noticed a row of densely packed, moving black dots appearing on the ridge on the flank of the Austrian army in the distance, while the Austrian army on the opposite side was shelling the black dots.

Their reinforcements have arrived!
As early as four o'clock in the morning, after receiving the order, the Second Army immediately abandoned its redundant supplies and marched towards the battlefield. However, the heavy rain that had fallen overnight made the roads extremely muddy and slippery, and the slow-moving infantry and various vehicles exacerbated the congestion on the roads.

Around 9 a.m., an urgent request for reinforcements arrived from the 7th Division. The entire army responded immediately, with officers ordering their troops to advance at full speed. As more and more artillery fire, smoke, and news from the front arrived, they increasingly realized that this was no ordinary battle; it would be a decisive battle that would determine their fate.

At 11:30 a.m. that day, a significant number of troops from the 2nd Army had appeared on the right flank of the Austrian forces. The newly arrived troops announced their arrival by firing artillery at the Austrian troops. While the main Austrian force and the Prussian 1st Army were locked in fierce combat, the Austrian artillery in the rear was completely exposed, and the soldiers of the 2nd Army easily destroyed many Austrian artillery positions.

The Austrian army successfully withstood the massive offensive of the Prussian Third Army. When the general saw the Prussian offensive stalling and the troops gradually becoming exhausted, he sensed that the time for a counterattack had come. Shortly after 1 p.m., Albrecht, with the Royal Guard Brigade and several brigades transferred from the Austrian army in coordination, prepared for the counterattack.

Just as Albert was preparing to launch a new offensive, the commander of the Third Army received an urgent letter from Moltke, ordering him to immediately attack the left flank of the Austrian army. Urged by Moltke, the general, who had been delayed for several hours in the previous battle, had no choice but to issue the order to attack, and the front-line troops launched a successful renewed offensive.

A brigade of Austrian troops at the forefront, utterly demoralized, began to flee, but were quickly stopped and forced back onto the battlefield. This force intercepting the Austrian army was a special supervisory unit composed of Iranian mercenaries. The Emperor had granted them high-ranking treatment and ordered them to drive back the fleeing soldiers. The Iranian mercenaries' scimitars gleamed coldly in the afternoon sun, the Persian inscription "Mandate of Heaven" etched on their backs stained crimson with blood. Supervisory leader Qasim kicked a fleeing Austrian lieutenant to the ground, the bloodied tip of his blade pressed against the man's Adam's apple: "Turn around, or I'll teach you how to be a man for your mother!" Behind him, three hundred Persian mercenaries formed a crescent formation, all their guns pointed at the retreating Austrian troops—these desperados from Tehran had become the Habsburgs' last bastion.

In Grand Duke Albrecht's command post, news arrived from the front: "The left wing has collapsed, and the Persians are reorganizing the Third Brigade." The staff officers turned pale, but the Grand Duke stared at the Persian gold coin on the map—Naser al-Din Shah's "parting gift" was placed on the site of the village of Knigretz. "Give the order," he suddenly smashed a wine glass, "to move all reserves to the right wing, including that Persian cavalry regiment."

The tide turned, and all sorts of weapons came into play—artillery shells, bullets, and cocktails were used against each other. The Austrian army not only began to mow down the Prussian forces relentlessly but also launched a flanking maneuver. The Prussian commander was forced to order a retreat. He managed to organize a cover retreat, averting a major rout. Meanwhile, the Prussian right flank collapsed entirely, and their ambition to end the battle was utterly thwarted.

The Austrian Second and Fourth Armies, still locked in a bloody battle with the Prussian First Army, brought the Austrians a final victory with their bravery and unwavering resolve. Although the Prussians received reinforcements, the gaps were filled by large numbers of cocktails and Nadir machine guns. This time, it was the Prussian soldiers who became targets for the Austrian army. The morale of the Prussian army completely collapsed; this was their first collapse.

Austria launched a full-scale offensive, or rather, a pursuit. Prussia, in its retreat, still tried to reorganize and launch a defensive counterattack, but the enemy gave the remnants no chance whatsoever, and all their efforts to recover were destroyed.

Despite the Prussian soldiers' crushing defeat, some units displayed remarkable courage amidst the rout. One Prussian brigade turned and launched a bayonet charge against the pursuing troops, successfully forcing them back into a village through hand-to-hand combat. The Third Army's artillery even deliberately brought their guns within 130 meters of the village, completely exposing themselves to enemy fire to cover the retreat of friendly forces; within five minutes, the guns fell silent.

At this time, William I was still in command at the headquarters. When news of the complete defeat came, he hysterically tried to personally organize the remaining troops to salvage the situation, but Moltke desperately stopped him. In the end, he had no choice but to mount his horse and begin to evacuate the horrific battlefield with his entourage.

At 3:30 PM, the elite 4th Regiment of Vienna, renowned as the "Noble Champion Infantry Regiment of All Germany," joined the battle. The Prussian army, under Moltke's leadership, regrouped and began a crossfire retreat, while the Austrian army sounded the retreat. Buglers blew the evening dismissal, officially marking the end of the day's combat operations. The weary soldiers concluded this unusual day with intermittent strains of the ancient hymn "Blessed God."

(End of this chapter)