Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Two days later.

The main battlefield in Silesia, the front line near Legnica.

Lieutenant Colonel Heine, the Austrian infantry battalion commander, was leisurely lying on a soft chair, accompanied by the intermittent booming of cannons, as he watched his hunting dog "Mainmast" tear at some tree roots nearby.

For the past few months, the Prussian and Austrian forces had been hunkering behind their lines, blindly firing at the opposite side with their eyes closed, and the dog had long since grown accustomed to the noise.

Suddenly, the northwest side fell silent, and soon the cannons on Lieutenant Colonel Heine's side ceased firing as well.

Heine immediately frowned and stood up, while his hunting dog also began barking incessantly towards the artillery position.

Before he could send an attendant to inquire about the situation, a major hurried over and saluted him, saying, "Commander, gunpowder has not been delivered, and nearly half of our battalion's cannons are now lacking gunpowder."

Heine had not been paying much attention to the affairs of his battalion lately, since there wasn't much to manage, the daily routine consisting of firing the cannons on time in the morning and ceasing in the afternoon without caring about hitting anything. He asked, confused, "Wasn't it supposed to have arrived yesterday morning?"

"It was supposed to, but the quartermaster said yesterday that it would definitely arrive today, yet look at this..."

Heine quickly mounted his horse and hurried to the tent of Colonel Markus, who was responsible for the logistics and supplies of his battalion.

By the time he arrived, the tent was already crowded with people, and Colonel Markus, sweating profusely, was explaining to the officers questioning him: "The supplies coming from Vienna were requisitioned en route last week by the French Chief of Staff, General Bertier. He said that the French Army had a batch of ammunition that could arrive yesterday afternoon and that he urgently needed to go to Ratibor to reinforce General Leao, so he swapped supplies with me.

"Who knew that there has been no sign from the French side until now..." Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire

Of course, he wouldn't mention that he had accepted a bribe of 10,000 florins from Bertier at the time; otherwise, who would want to go through such trouble.

"But the firing at the front has to stop!" exclaimed Heine anxiously.

This routine shelling indeed wasn't very useful, but it was a symbol of the Empire's valiant struggle in Silesia, so it couldn't just be stopped randomly.

"Please wait a bit longer. I've already sent someone to hurry the French Army's camp," said Colonel Markus with a pained expression. "Tomorrow, the ammunition will definitely arrive. You may borrow some from the other battalions to use for now."

The Austrian forces had over 200 cannons on the entire Legnica line, and only about 30 cannons from 8 battalions were affected, as most of the surrounding cannons still had some reserves.

After sending away the officer who had come to ask for ammunition, Colonel Markus cursed with a dark face, "Damn the French!" After thinking for a moment, he picked up his cane and personally hurried to the French Army's camp.

…

Inside the Prussian command.

A staff officer stood erect and reported to the Duke of Brunswick, "Marshal, we have confirmed that the Davydov Corps of the Austrian Army and more than 30,000 men have left Legnica, and they are likely headed toward Ratibor."

Another officer immediately said, "With that being the case, we can confidently allocate troops to encircle Leao."

The Duke of Brunswick was about to nod, but suddenly thought of something and turned to another staff officer, "Has the Delrisen Corps safely withdrawn?"

"Yes, Marshal. General Auguste's troops have already entered their quarters this morning, and everyone else is no more than a two-day march from here," the staff officer replied.

Upon hearing this, the Duke of Brunswick squinted his eyes. That old man Lacy, to support Leao, actually dared to divert so many troops to Ratibor.

He quickly calculated in his mind. The Leao Legion had over 10,000 men, Wilmze followed with another 10,000, the French sent a total of 45,000 men in two dispatches, and now Davydov had taken another 30,000…

There was also the Bavarian Army; altogether, the Austrian Allied Forces had deployed nearly 100,000 troops to Ratibor. Austria had less than 150,000 troops in the Silesian direction, and together with France and the Bavarian forces, that made just under 190,000, not quite 200,000.

In other words, currently, only half of the Austrian Army was defending the Lignitz Defensive Line.

On my side, the troops sent to Ratibor totaled only about 20,000, and this number included the independently acting Saxon Army. The 30,000 men at Delrisen, due to an unexpected encounter with the French Army, were already on their way back.

Therefore, I presently held about 100,000 of my own country's troops, 27,000 from the Hanoverian Army, and over 20,000 Saxons, amounting to a total force of 150,000.

That meant, in the short term, on the front near Legnica, I had amassed a force surpassing the Austrians by 50%!

"It seems Lacy has made a serious mistake," the Duke of Brunswick's lips curled into a smile. "He was only preoccupied with Ratibor, actually neglecting that this is the main battlefield.

"Even if we were to fail at Ratibor, at most, it would mean losing Leao."

Suddenly, he crossed his hands over his chest and silently thought: This must be the Lord's arrangement; Delrisen might have been defeated but it has, in fact, strengthened the forces at Lignitz.

With this in mind, he immediately made a decision, instructing his attendant to summon all the high-ranking officers for a meeting to discuss an assault plan on the main battlefield.

That afternoon, as the Duke of Brunswick confidently arranged the combat tasks for each corps, he suddenly noticed something unusual in the surroundings.

He listened intently, then with a puzzled look, turned to his staff officer: "It seems the enemy's cannon fire has died down quite a bit?"

Soon, an officer hurried over with a report that on the western side of the Austrian line of defense, a long stretch of cannons had stopped firing.

The Duke of Brunswick quickly glanced at the map; it appeared to be the area that the Davydov Corps was responsible for defending.

And his troops had been redirected by Lacy to Ratibor a few days prior.

It must be that his defensive sector was experiencing issues due to the absence of its commander!

The Duke of Brunswick was instantly overjoyed, crossing his hands again and looking up he exclaimed loudly: "Thank the Lord for His blessings! Those damned Austrians will be rolling out of Silesia now!"

He turned to gaze at the gathered officers, tapping the map where Davydov's sector was located, and said in a firm voice: "By tomorrow afternoon, everyone must complete their combat preparations.

"We need to modify our plan, launching the all-out assault from here!"

…

The next day.

Colonel Heine was idly playing with his pet dog, yawning leisurely and thinking it was almost time for lunch.

The ammunition still hadn't arrived, and just the day before, he had borrowed a small amount from a nearby unit so the cannons could barely hold out for another day or two. Although the sound of artillery from his position was much sparser than usual, he didn't pay it much mind.

After living through such monotonous days for so long, his vigilance and sense of responsibility had been considerably dulled.

All of a sudden, his hound stopped its frolic and stared towards the north, then wrinkled its nose and started baring its teeth.

"Ease up, old pal," Heine patted its head, following its gaze. "Did you see a squirrel? Or perhaps a fox?"

But the next moment, he too was stunned, for he faintly heard the sound of drums, a very dense roll of military drums.