In the evening, when our little William sat down with Prince Henry for dinner, I couldn't help but think of the legend of His Royal Highness the Prince in the Seven Years' War, described by Earl Hans: In the Battle of Rossbach, Prince Henry personally led seven infantry battalions into the disorganized French army, laying the foundation for the final victory of the battle.
In January, Henry and Frederick the Great met in Dresden, the capital of Saxony, and participated in the Battle of Hokzi.
At the beginning, Henry's surprise army successfully burned down the Austrian army's grain and grass stockpile, and later in the Battle of Kulesdorff, 40,000 Prussian troops attacked behind the Austrian army, destroying its lines of communication, so that the Austrian army had to retreat back to defense.
What really made Henry famous in Europe was that Henry dealt with Daun's 60,000 troops in Saxony with only men, not only did not lose an inch of land, but tightly suppressed Marshal Daun's main Austrian force, winning the most precious time for Prussia.
Later, at the end of the Seven Years' War, Henry led the Prussian army to victory at the Battle of Freiburg, forcing Austria to withdraw.
It can be said that Henry was the Hohenzollern family, and it can also be said that he was the second most famous general in Prussia after His Majesty King Frederick.
At this time, Prussia was slowly recovering with the end of the Seven Years' War.
The Young Zhuang faction of the military began to raise its head, and these Young Zhuang factions believed that Prussia had not lost the Seven Years' War.
They believed that only one of Austria and Prussia would survive, and they were convinced that Prussia would have the last laugh.
Since Frederick the Great had no heirs, he chose his nephew Frederick Wilhelm II as the crown prince, but when the emperor asked Frederick Wilhelm II to handle political affairs, domestic politicians found Frederick Wilhelm II weak-willed and lacking assertiveness, and his interests were more focused on literature and art.
And Frederick Wilhelm II was obedient to his mistress, Wilhelm Minnie Chtner.
What is even more unacceptable is that the mistress is an Austrian.
This made the nobles, who had followed Frederick the Great through the Seven Years' War, doubt whether Frederick Wilhelm II would be able to lead Prussia.
This year, the health of Count Byrne of Bavaria of the Wittelsbach dynasty deteriorated, and the Count of Byrne had no heirs, which made Prussian people of insight realize that it might not be long before Prussia and Austria would meet again.
"Little William, you did well today, you are a good boy" At the dinner table, Prince Henry did not hesitate to praise William's performance today.
Today our little William caught eleven pheasants, seven rabbits, and in the evening he seized the opportunity to kill a wild deer that had lost its way away from the herd, which made Prince Henry look at William differently.
"All this was taught by Count Hans," Wilhelm said, taking up a handkerchief, wiping his mouth, and modestly saying.
"Haha, William, your talent is good, that's the main thing," Count Hans complimented happily.
"Hans, how is the harvest in your realm this year," Henry asked Hans after hearing Hans's words.
"It's not bad, thanks to God's blessing these days, everyone's rì is doing well," Hans replied.
The Earl's health is really worrying, and if something goes wrong, we Prussia will be pulled into the whirlpool again," said Count Henry, worried.
"Your Royal Highness, are the Austrians moving again?"
wondered Hans "Let's eat first, and when you're done, go to your study," said Prince Henry, and bowed his head and ate again, while Hans and Wilhelm ignored it and began to eat as well.
After a while, the maids cleaned up the table, and William followed Henry and Hans into Hans's study.
As for our Dolly and Carlo, they were led down by the attendants to wash up and go to bed.
In the study, after the three of them were seated, Henry spoke first "The Austrians are actively courting the Elector Karl Théodor of the Palatinate-Sulzbach in the hope of gaining Lower Bavaria, and the Elector responds positively to the Austrians' overtures, but Bavaria has always supported our Prussia, and His Majesty will not tolerate a pro-Austrian man in charge of Bavaria, let alone allow the Austrians to occupy Lower Bavaria.
So the situation is very not optimistic."
Henry said as he put his hand on his forehead "What do you think, then, Your Highness," asked old Hans "We have not recovered from the losses of the Seven Years' War, and it is good that the war with Austria has gone smoothly at this time, but if it doesn't go well, France and Russia will definitely pounce on us and bite us, and Poland has not been stable lately, so to speak, there are enemies on all sides, and it would be a disaster if the powder keg was detonated," Henry replied When our little Wilhelm heard this, we couldn't help but think of the historical Bavarian Succession War.
There were no major combat operations on either side in this war, both sides were content to confront each other and were busy harvesting potatoes in Bohemia.
The War of the Bavarian Succession was representative of the era of online strategy, in which the goal of strategic operations was not to destroy enemy armies, but to capture their territory, supply bases, and fortresses.
Although 10 months elapsed between the declaration of war and the signing of the peace treaty, there was no fighting during this period.
Both sides avoided resolute action and resorted to complex maneuvers in an attempt to force the enemy to retreat by maneuvering their forces to cut off their supply bases.
In the end, the Austrians did just that.
They won the war by driving Prussian troops out of their territory step by step and occupying several parts of Bavaria.
Henry's fears proved to be justified, but it was precisely because of Henry's negative attitude during the war that Frederick the Great was angry and asked Henry to resign from his post and leave the political core of Prussia.
"Your Royal Highness, I think that while Prussia has not yet recovered from the wounds of the Seven Years' War, it must be affirmed that Austria has not fully recovered either.
Coupled with the ethnic diversity of Austria, the old and stiff aristocracy also gave us some chances of winning against the Austrians again.
It is impossible for Your Majesty to tolerate the misdeeds of the Austrians, so I do not think that you should face this matter passively, but with the fortitude and courage of our Hohenzollern men," William, who sat on the sidelines, exhorted himself to prevent Henry from angering Frederick the Great over this matter.
Is that how you see it?
Little William" Henry looked at William with glowing eyes after hearing William's words.
"Yes, Your Highness, Europe today is not the Europe of the Seven Years' War, and Empress Catherine II of Russia has her eyes on Turkey.
Although the new emperor of France, Louis XVI, inherited his grandfather's empire, there were many contradictions between the various factions in France, and I heard that France had an empty treasury and high debts, but our French Emperor and his wife often held balls, renovated villas, and arranged gardens.
So that even if we were to clash with the Austrians, Russia would not act against us in order to concentrate its forces against Turkey.
As for the French, I don't think they will be in a position to intervene until their majesty, Louis XVI, has pacified the country," said William confidently