Chapter 266: Defeat and Retreat from Vienna
The southern front battlefield has been defeated, and the northern front battlefield has no need to defend, the five cities on the northern front were immediately abandoned, and all the forces were reduced to the vicinity of the central city of Vienna, relying on the mountains and rivers around Vienna to build a new defense line.
After the Saxon Corps helped the Prussian Corps to overcome the defensive line, it accelerated its march directly along the vast plain, heading straight for Vienna, the central city of the Habsburg Empire, leaving the Prussian Corps directly behind.
In fact, there was no problem with General Ike's intelligence, and until now, neither the Duchy of Saxony nor the Duchy of Prussia had been united, and they had maintained an independent relationship with each other.
However, after the start of the war, seeing that time is passing day by day, spring is coming, the land needs to be sown, and the food supply will gradually become tighter.
And with the thaw of the river, the combat effectiveness of the Saxon iron cavalry will be greatly weakened, and the cavalry will not be able to play its full role in fighting where there is a river blocking.
Therefore, the Duke of Billund became more and more anxious day by day, and it was at this time that Duke Friedrich of the House of Hohenzollern contacted him and offered to sign a temporary contract directly between the two sides, whereby his cavalry would assist the Prussian army on the southern front and break through the lines of the Habsburg Corps, while they would not invade each other.
For this proposal, Duke Billund refused at first, after all, both of them started the war for the position of emperor, but in the end, only one person could become emperor, so some conflicts between them would eventually break out.
However, this problem was solved by the words of Duke Friedrich, who proposed that whichever of the two sides first broke through Vienna and entered the city could be emperor, and the other side must bow down.
With this reassurance in mind, Duke Billund happily agreed, knowing that his troops were all cavalry, and he had never heard of infantry being faster than cavalry.
According to Duke Billund's thoughts, the capture of Vienna would be an easy task for him, and he only had to rush to the battlefield first.
So as soon as the battle on the southern front was over, the Duke of Billund led his troops to charge, and the eagle-feathered cavalry swept across the ground like a frenzy towards Vienna.
At the same time, the Saxon cavalry left by Duke Billon on the northern front also began to rush towards Vienna, and he made up his mind to enter Vienna first.
The Prussian army, which was left behind, did not mean to be in a hurry, and under the order of Kyiros, all the soldiers were cleaning the battlefield without hurry, and at the same time had a sufficient rest, and after a long time, the advance of the corps began to move towards Vienna.
In the Prussian camp, Kyilos faced the military sand table, looked at the complex terrain around Vienna, showed a cold smile on his face, and whispered: "Hehe, it's really a reckless man, let you go and consume the remnants of the Habsburg power for me first, and when you're finished, I'll clean up the mess." ”
On the ground next to the military sand table, there were a few scattered pieces of paper, which, if Duke Billund were present, would have recognized them as the provisional agreement he had signed with Duke Friedrich.
After the agreement was signed, it was sent to Kyiros, but Kyiros just glanced at it and tore it to pieces.
In fact, he was not prepared to abide by this agreement at all, and he also understood that Duke Friedrich would never give up the position of emperor, so the duke himself must have thought so.
The first to enter the city is king, this is just a bait to lure the Duke of Billund into the bait, even if the Duke of Billund enters Vienna first, the Prussian legions will never admit it.
What they have to do is to use Duke Billund to consume the last remnants of the Habsburgs, anyway, no matter who wins first, the remaining side will inevitably be weakened to the extreme.
When the time comes, with the tens of thousands of troops of the Prussian Legion, where do you care about what agreement, what agreement, just just eliminate all the rebels, and in the end, the victor will eventually belong to Hohenzollern, and history has always been written by the victors.
By the time the Prussian Legion began to move, the Eagle Feather Legion led by Duke Billund was already approaching the mountains near Vienna, and the forwards could even faintly hear the music in the city.
It was only before they set foot in the city that they were faced with a line of defense formed by the Habsburg army.
Only 10,000 soldiers were left to defend the north of the city, and the rest were mobilized by General Ike to the southern line, plus the defenders who remained in the city of Vienna, General Ike once again gathered 40,000 soldiers to block the road to Vienna.
The Eagle Feather Legion arrived too quickly, and the Habsburg defense line was not yet fully established, but with the favorable terrain and numerical superiority, they were enough to withstand the attack of the Saxon cavalry.
Duke Billund was also hot-headed at first, and he just wanted to attack the city as soon as possible, without thinking too much.
At this moment, when he came to the front line of the battlefield and saw the shadowy Habsburg soldiers in front of him, Duke Billund finally came to his senses and did not rush to attack.
It was at this time that his uncle, the First Chancellor of the Duchy of Saxony, sent him a letter to prevent him from attacking first, and made clear to him what was at stake.
Duke Billund is not a brainless person, when he reacted to the key to this, after thinking about it, he was not in a hurry to attack, he simply led his troops to the north, and first gathered his troops in one place.
At the beginning of spring, logistical food supplies were already starting to become tight, but there were a large number of important grain-producing areas near Vienna, and there were many granaries in the five cities that the Habsburg defenders had abandoned in the north, and the Saxon legions were able to hold out for a long time.
Therefore, Duke Billund was no longer in a hurry to attack, but simply stationed near Viana and quietly watched the situation change.
The warm wind blows the earth, like a pair of gentle palms, softening the cold and hard earth.
The verdant and tender grass sprouts emerge from the broken earth, and the geese returning north land on the banks of the Danube, chirping as if they were singing.
On the surface of the river, where geese stay, a piece of ice floes swims down the current, gradually breaking down in the constant collision with the river bank, turning into a fine ice cube and disappearing on the surface of the river.
The sunlight stayed on the ground for longer and longer, and the soldiers had pulled out a layer of cotton clothing from their armor, and they were able to move more freely.