Chapter 533: 444 I'll Add Fuel to the Fire

Chapter 533: Chapter 444 I’ll Add Fuel to the Fire

And General Leao, the bargaining chip in these proceedings, was on the verge of tears.

Back in the Southern Netherlands, he had managed to emerge victorious in battle after battle alongside General Lefebvre, which gave him the delusion that “I could do just as well on my own.”

Now, facing the Prussians to the west, north, and east—with the Sudeten Mountains to the south—he had come to a clear realization of his own capabilities.

The enemy was not in any rush to attack, but instead stretched lines of infantry across every major thoroughfare, placing cannons on either flank, and positioned their Cavalry to move between the lines for support.

In the last five days, Leao had launched more than ten charges, all of which had been repelled.

At this moment, a heavy air of pessimism pervaded his corps; if not for his reputation as “the Netherlands Spears,” morale might have collapsed already.

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Seeing through his telescope that a cannon attempting to approach the enemy lines quietly was being chased back by Prussian Cavalry, Leao slumped into his chair, unable to fathom why the Lefebvre Corps’s cannons could bombard the enemy’s face and then leave calmly, while he himself couldn’t achieve the same.

“If only I hadn’t left so many soldiers behind in Wrocław…”

While Leao was wallowing in self-pity, his staff officer suddenly ran over and announced loudly:

“General, it seems there is a force appearing on the west side of the Prussian lines.”

“That’s great!” Leao stood up swiftly, excitedly rubbing his hands, “It must be Colonel Lefebvre coming to my rescue.

“Quick, spread this good news to the soldiers, tell everyone to hold on a little longer!”

However, after more than three hours, the “French reinforcements” still hadn’t made a move.

Leao became anxious and repeatedly asked his staff officer:

“Could that be Prussian reinforcements gathering to prepare an attack on us?”

“I… I don’t know…” the staff officer pondered, “The enemy’s lines haven’t moved; they’re probably not about to launch an attack.”

If reinforcements were arriving, the existing infantry lines would need to make room for the additional forces.

Leao finally breathed a sigh of relief, only to hear the sound of cannon fire from the northwest.

He jolted and hurriedly ran to the highest part of his command post—situated on a low hill—and peered through his telescope in the direction of the cannon fire, only to see smoke rising from a great distance.

“It’s not the besieging Prussians?” he asked his staff officer in surprise, “Who on earth is engaged in battle then?”

Ten kilometers from the encirclement of Erwin, where the smoke rose, Blucher was barking at the commander of his Cavalry Camp:

“Idiot! You can’t even distinguish uniforms or take a close look at the flags!”

An hour earlier, he had led his forces to the west of Ratibor, preparing to meet with Erwin, only to accidentally discover an Austrian Army less than 3 kilometers away, silently deploying its formation.

He was so furious he almost executed the Hussars’ commander on the spot.

In fact, this was not entirely the fault of his scouts—in this era, military uniforms were a mess across various countries, with some officers even customizing soldiers’ uniforms based on personal preference, generally with their own money, and the higher-ups tended to turn a blind eye.

The Prussian Hussars indeed spotted the Austrian Army but, seeing them in green uniforms, they mistook them for Hanoverians—in fact, there was a Hanoverian Army stationed in Ratibor. So without going forward to engage in conversation, they passed by in a hurry.

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Fortunately, Blucher’s courier, who had been sent to liaise with Erwin, was killed on his return, which alerted him to the presence of the Austrian Army. Otherwise, he almost fell into their ambush.

In a hurry, he found a suitable area nearby and ordered his troops to deploy into defensive formation on the spot.

On Wilmze’s side, seeing that the Prussian Army had suddenly halted, he immediately guessed that the enemy had discovered them and ordered an assault without delay.

Blucher’s Cavalry saved his corps—likely to compensate for their earlier reconnaissance failure, they bravely harassed and restrained the Austrians with continuous attacks, suffering significant casualties. Still, they managed to hold off until the infantry completed their formations.

Immediately, tens of thousands of Prussian and Austrian soldiers began to exchange fire across the battlefield, with the roar of cannons and the agonizing cries of soldiers mingling as night fell.

Blucher and Wilmze, old adversaries who had recently clashed in the Southern Netherlands, did not realize whose forces they were facing until the next morning.

Thus, both quickly understood that it was impossible to resolve the conflict with each other in a short time—a fact they had confirmed multiple times in the Netherlands—so they both immediately sent couriers to “shake people up” at the commanding general’s headquarters.

…

Austrian Silesian Army Headquarters.

Joseph flicked the newly delivered bulletproof insert in his hand and carefully placed it in the “pocket” on the front of his uniform, expressing some dissatisfaction to the Chief-of-Staff:

“Just sending 5,000 men? Lacy is being too stingy, isn’t he?”

Bertier replied, “Your Highness, the Prussians have also not mobilized too many troops, so Marshal Lacy believes that 5,000 reinforcements should be able to resolve the situation at Ratibor.”

Having just attended Lacy’s war council, Bertier knew that, as the Crown Prince had expected, reinforcements from both Prussia and Austria were engaged in fierce battle at Ratibor, and that General Wilmze had requested reinforcements.

Joseph stood up and jumped a little; hmm, four inserts, the weight hardly affected movement. By this assessment, it wouldn’t be a problem for an adult to carry five inserts.

He tapped the insert on his chest and said to Bertier, “Please issue the inserts to the soldiers as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, Your Highness. In fact, they’ve already been distributed to each company by noon.”

“You always handle things with such attention to detail,” Joseph nodded in praise. Then he headed outside the tent, “Now, I need to add fuel to the situation in Ratibor. Otherwise, waiting for the chance I want could take forever, with Marshal Lacy being so miserly.”

Twenty minutes later.

Marshal Lacy’s eyes widened as he beheld the young Crown Prince of France, exclaiming in surprise:

“Your Highness, you really needn’t do this, pouring so many troops into Ratibor is pointless…”

“No, Marshal, General Leao is an old friend of mine. We share a deep friendship,” Joseph said earnestly, “He could be killed by the Prussians at any moment, which keeps me from sleeping peacefully.”

“But there’s no need to move General Kellermann! Your Highness, this could very well affect the situation in Legnica.”

Kellermann was the commander of the 30,000 traditional French Army troops in Silesia.

Joseph thought to himself, that’s exactly what I’m aiming to do—to break the stalemate at Legnica.

He looked at Marshal Lacy with a resolute tone:

“General Kellermann with 20,000 troops can relieve General Leao in about a week. In the meantime, you focus on defense, and Legnica will definitely be fine.”

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