In late April, 40,000 Russian troops, including the Guards, were assembled and began to march towards Courland.

At about the same time, 60,000 Russian troops on the southern route, who had been marching on the Polish plain for more than a month, arrived at the northern foot of the Western Carpathian Mountains and began to rest and prepare to climb the mountain.

Because the entire eastern and northeastern borders of Austria were defended by the Carpathian Mountains, the Russian army had only two roads: the southern and northern fronts. But the Danube River basin on the southern route was under the control of the Ottoman Empire, and it was obviously impossible to pass, so the northern route could only be chosen. But after all, it's still late winter and early spring, and the Carpathian Mountains are still covered with snow and ice, so the trail is very difficult to walk. Even if you attack from Silesia, as Peter says, you have to cross the Sudetenland to enter the Bohemian and Moravian regions of Austria.

In May 1755, the anti-Prussian coalition finally received the first good news that the French navy had captured a small Mediterranean island that had belonged to Spain and was now occupied by the British, the famous island of Menorca.

Menorca, located east of the Iberian Peninsula where Spain is located, is a small island in the Balearic Islands, which controls the western Mediterranean region of southern France. However, due to the British miscalculation, the number of troops defending the island was extremely small, and they did not expect that the French would be desperate to attack the island with half of their naval forces, for which the British paid the heavy price of having to execute their own admiral to appease the anger of the people at home.

In fact, due to the previous French king Louis XIV's successive foreign wars, he built magnificent palaces at home to enjoy luxury, and by the time of Louis XV, the basic situation was similar to that of Russia, and they were facing a serious problem of empty treasury. As a result, France has only 30 standing naval capital warships, while the British have up to 130, which is hardly comparable. In order to attack a small island of only a few hundred square kilometers, the French Navy actually dispatched 13 main warships at one time, which is really exciting. If you count the fact that half of the main warships have to defend the English Channel to prevent the landing of British troops, it is not uncourageous...

At the beginning of May, 60,000 Russian troops on the southern route into Austria from the Carpathian Mountains on the border between Poland and Austria were intercepted by 45,000 Prussian troops at Ceschen, Moravia, in line with Peter's prediction.

"What now? Will Fairmore be able to withstand the attack of Field Marshal Schwering of Prussia? ”

In St. Petersburg, Empress Elizabeth personally presided over the combat meeting.

Faced with the question raised by the empress, all the high-ranking officials lowered their heads and squinted, not knowing how to answer.

"Damn it! Who proposed to attack from the direction of Moravia in the first place? There were only a few mountain passes in the whole of eastern Austria, so why should they attack from the mountain passes occupied by the Prussian army? What a confusion! ”

The empress clenched her golden scepter angrily, as if she wanted to find someone to beat her up at any moment to vent.

"Your Majesty, because last time it was said that if you attack Moravia from the direction of Ceschen, you can go straight to Brno"

Razumovsky looked around at the other people who were pretending to be stupid, and thought that only he could come out of the round.

"And Brno is the most important city to enter Vienna from the north, and if Brno can be captured, it will also cut off the supply lines of the Prussian army attacking Vienna, and thus relieve the siege of Vienna..."

"But the problem now is that maybe you can't even get over it! So how can you break the siege? Who the hell is so brainless to devise such a stupid offensive line? It is a complete waste of time to find out and dismiss him from his position! ”

"Uh..."

Razumovsky was speechless.

"Well... It seems to be an Austrian proposal."

Prime Minister Bestuzhev sighed deeply with a frown.

"Humph! The next time there is a proposal from the Austrian side, we will block it first, and depending on the situation, what is best for us will be done! ”

"Understood, Your Majesty..."

"Also, Courland's side too, to capture East Prussia as soon as possible, tell Marshal Apleksin Jr. to hurry up, don't grind!"

"Yes, Your Majesty..."

"No, wait a minute, what is the attitude of the Swedes now?"

The Empress asked again.

"Back to Your Majesty, the Swedes are still waiting and seeing, because once Vienna is captured, it will be difficult for Sweden to reverse the situation even if it joins"

Bestuzhev replied.

"Then, if we land from Swedish-controlled former Pomerania, will the Swedes agree?"

"Well... It's hard to say, with the current situation, the Swedes are likely to be timid and retreat, and maybe even take the side of Prussia."

"Okay, it's okay, let's do it for now, and see if Fairmore can keep his title of marshal."

The Empress stood up and calmly replied with suppressed anger.