Before dusk

Both Prussia and Austria tacitly sounded the gong to withdraw their troops, regardless of whether the Austrian Left Wing Corps was only one line away from collapse, and the big thing will be discussed tomorrow.

After dark

Dozens of fires were lit in the direction of the victorious Prussian army, and the eerie smell of roasted meat was in the air.

This is the aftermath of the Prussian army, the enemy and us after a day of bloody battles after huge casualties, these corpses can not be dug up and buried, there is no way to bury them in coffins, the number is too large.

Due to the hot weather at the beginning of summer, even if a noble officer was killed, there was no way to transport it to the rear by carriage, so he could only save the relics and burn them.

The winding roads in the Erzgebirge, now filled with a large number of mule carts and wagons, have long since become crowded, and the journey of the wagons from five or six days is now impossible to complete in ten days.

On some narrow roads where only one carriage can pass, if a wagon carrying grain and baggage has to give way first, the return wagon is even more uncertain.

It can well be imagined

The horse-drawn wagons that carry the remains of fallen aristocratic officers can turn into stinking biological bombs on mountain roads, breeding for epidemics and bringing many unpredictable risks.

The best thing to do is to burn it down.

There happened to be a large number of sheaves of wheat, and the soldiers each carried a bundle and spread it out, on which the corpses were placed, and then continued to cover it with a layer of sheaves, and so on and so forth......

The chaplains of the army prayed collectively and presided over the Mass, in which case everything could only be kept simple.

The flames rose and turned into dozens of huge fires......

This is the most urgent matter at the moment, and there can be no delay.

Otherwise, tomorrow, the entire two major Prussian armies will be overwhelmed by the ubiquitous stench of corpses, and they will be in disarray to withdraw from the current fortified areas.

The smoke obscured the sky in the flickering firelight, and both Prussian and Austrian soldiers held mass for the dead under the leadership of the chaplain, all bowed their heads in the direction of the fire and prayed sincerely that the deceased would ascend to heaven.

The prayers of hundreds of thousands of people eventually converged into a huge whisper echoing through the fields, accompanied by the sound of an obsessive organ and a strange smell in the air, and in the background dozens of raging fires rising into the sky, deducing a sacred religious picture.

Richard was far away on a high post, bowing his head to his chest in greeting, praying in a low voice; "May all the departed rest in peace, may the deceased ascend to heaven and there will be no more suffering, may peace eventually come, may historical entanglements and national grievances be dissolved with the weather, and may the world be in harmony ......"

On the endless wilderness

Dozens of piles of blazing flames carried the black smoke that soared into the sky, and if you distinguish it carefully, the thick black smoke is not the entangled and flying of tens of thousands of dead souls, with full reluctance to melt into the night sky.

It's a moment of reverence for everyone.

A few hours later

In the middle of the night, the moonlight was obscured by the thick black clouds that had formed after the burning, making the wilderness even darker, barely visible.

After the defeat, large black shadows poured out of the camp of the Austrian Left Wing Corps, forming several assault forces, which broke through in the darkness of night to the southeast.

It didn't take long

The noise and gunfire rang out, countless torches were lit one after another, and the neighing of horses and people resounded through the heavens and the earth.

This operation could not escape Richard's sharp eyes.

He was sitting cross-legged on the broad back of the bald eagle at the moment, looking down from a high altitude, and clearly saw that the Austrian left wing corps had broken through into four units, and was now in a melee with the Prussian army.

The Prussian army was not completely unprepared, all the officers and men slept with their guns in their hands, and the cavalry guard post was released for a distance of six or seven kilometers, and the Austrian corps' attempt to break through was detected early.

But it was useless, under the big breakthrough of the Austrian Left Wing Corps, which jumped over the wall, any blocking was like a stab of paper paste.

Feeling the strong attack of the Austrian Left Wing Corps, some Prussian commanders chose to retreat wisely, and a few gritted their teeth and persevered to the end.

It can well be imagined

Just like the migration of tens of thousands of wildebeest herds on the Serengeti savannah, the torrent formed by the rush will trample all those who stand in the way under the iron hooves, and there is no physiology at all.

The chaos of the late-night battle lasted for about two or three hours, and the fleeing Austrian Left Wing Corps was like a swarm of flying locusts sweeping across the wilderness, until the first glimmer of morning light appeared on the horizon.

For such a long time

The main forces of the Elbe Corps and the 1st Corps of the Prussian Army remained unmoved, and this decision was undoubtedly very correct.

It is impossible to distinguish between friend and foe in night battles, and large corps battles can especially fall into the nightmare of cannibalism, and the slightest carelessness can cause irreparable heavy losses.

It's better to be still than to be still, and wait until dawn to talk about anything.

Especially the cavalry, the war horses in the middle of the night could not see anything, and could only rely on the instigation of the cavalry to charge and kill the enemy formation.

If it is better to fight at night in the flat Gobi Desert, at least you will not break your horse's legs by stepping on the air.

In this kind of wheat fields, hills, rivers, and villages in the complex terrain of fighting, the soil is soft and different, the terrain is high and low, and the consequences of a horse stumbling in the gallop are very serious, and there is a high probability that the cavalry will be reimbursed together with the war horse.

"Huh...... The Austrian commander also knew that it was not stupid to break through at night. ”

In Richard's view from above

After the breakout, the camp of the Austrian Left Wing Corps was in a mess, discarded debris everywhere, such as tents, carriages, artillery, blankets, barrels, etc., as well as a large number of lodging corpses and some wounded who had straggled.

At the place where the Prussian army was encircled and stationed, the traces after the fierce battle were even more obvious.

The corpses of soldiers on both sides lay lying on their backs, some stabbed each other's bayonets into each other's chests and hugged each other to death, some were trampled by horses, and some were shot in the back and died, and I don't know whether they died at the hands of enemy or friendly soldiers, which shows the haste and bloodshed of the night battle at that time.

In Richard's heart;

The evaluation of the Austrian Corps has been raised by 0.5 points, almost 6.5, which is much higher than the evaluation of 4.6 points in Italy.

Fleeing at night was the only chance of life for the Austrian corps, and if it continued until dawn, it could be the end of the entire army.

It's totally worth paying some price for this.

If the Austrian corps jumps out of the encirclement and leaves behind a strong and powerful force, relying on favorable terrain such as streams and hills to intercept the pursuers layer by layer, so as to gain time for the large corps to get out of danger, it can also get an additional 0.5 points higher evaluation.

Unfortunately, the Austrians did not do it, or the corps commander arranged a blocking force, but the implementation was not effective.

At a time when everyone is running for their lives, who wants to be a substitute for the dead?

Richard believed

If the place is changed, the armies of the Tang Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia will resolutely carry out their orders, and the armies of the British and French powers will also be able to do it. Even if all the troops die in battle, they will not leave the position without permission, this is the difference between a strong army and a weak brigade.

Okay, don't look at it.

At this time, the Prussian army camp was full of smoke, and the second and fifth divisions of the Prussian Kingdom Cuirassiers, who had taken the lead in eating breakfast, were ready to go, and the cavalry were feeding the horses black beans and other essences, preparing to pursue.

The Austrian rearguard troops that broke through the encirclement stumbled and fled in the night, and they could not walk fast at all in the fields, and they had only escaped more than 10 kilometers so far.

The cavalry pursued along the road, and it took at most half an hour to catch up.

It is impossible to completely annihilate the left wing corps of the Austrian army, after all, this is within the territory of the Austrian Empire, and the Austrian army is fighting on the inner line. It is very convenient to escape, block the pursuers or get closer to the main force of the right wing corps.

But it is still possible to tear off a large piece of meat, nothing more than how much.

Richard couldn't help but feel a little uneasy when he saw a general army heading in the direction of the small town of Billlum, about five or six hundred people.

These days

The small town of Billum left him with a good memory, as well as the beautiful and lovely little Emma, the happy faces in the bonfire, and the melodious chitel sound, gathered into a warm picture.

Once these wolf-like Prussian soldiers break in, they will definitely break the quiet situation of the town and set off a bloody storm.

The violence of war needs catharsis, and the carnival of the victors is always accompanied by the bitter wails of the losing side, which is a recurring image of European wars for thousands of years, and it is a ritual for the victors to swear their rights.

The heavy cost of all this will undoubtedly be borne by the civilians who have no quarrel with the world.

Perhaps, something should be done?

This reflects the protective side of Richard's character, although the empire has been decisively killed in the past 20 years, the imperial army has slaughtered the country and slaughtered the city at every turn, and exterminated all the foreign races, especially the Indians, and appeared ruthless.

But Richard has enough generosity and tolerance towards Chinese compatriots, friends and relatives who have the same blood flowing.

Now the dawn has just dawned, the light between the sky and the earth is dim, and the heavy night is gradually fading.

A tall lieutenant colonel of the Prussian army had just finished washing in the tent and was about to raise his hand to get his uniform, when he was hit the back of his head and collapsed to the ground in the dark.

A few minutes later

Richard was wearing a straight colonel's uniform, and he was looking through the documents of this unlucky lieutenant colonel, and the testimony was Lieutenant Colonel Stadt-von Schmelin, the commander of the Münster musket regiment of a division of the 4th Army under the 1st Corps of the Prussian Army, as well as his age, the place of belonging of the infantry regiment, and so on.

Needless to say, this is again a Junker military aristocrat.

Richard also had a reason to choose this unlucky man, Lieutenant Colonel Stadt von Schmelin was a tall man with thick dark brown hair and almost black hair, which no one could tell in a military cap.

According to the other party's appearance, Richard's facial muscles squirmed slightly, and soon transformed into the general appearance of Lieutenant Colonel Stadter-von Schmering, almost eight or nine without leaving ten, and the process seemed to be very magical.

Richard was also quite satisfied with his disguised appearance, and he strode out of the tent with his horsewhip in hand, and shouted to the soldiers who were hurrying by; "All of them move faster for me, and the Guards Cavalry will assemble and go on a mission with me."

"Yes, sir."

Soon the guards brought in the sturdy horses, and Richard turned on his horse, and galloped away with a hastily assembled group of 10 or so cavalry, in the southeast direction of the Austrian army.

Both the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire were rich in fine horses, and it was only after the conquest of the North German states by the French Emperor Napoleon who rose to power at the end of the 18th century that he solved the problem of a good source of military horses.

Richard followed the Tang Empire's high-level military observation group in the Prussian Kingdom for so long, and knew its military system, strength and subordinates well, knowing that the Prussian infantry regiment had cavalry guards ranging from forty or fifty cavalry for noble officers to drive.

The Horse Guards were the equivalent of the nobles' personal cavalry or knightly servants, which also originated in the tradition of the Teutonic Knights.

About half an hour later

About 2 kilometers from the town of Billum, the cavalry led by Richard caught up with this Prussian army of five or six hundred men......

(End of chapter)