Part LI –Late January 1759 – Austria in sorrow !
Early January 1759 was good. Really.
But Late January would prove to be outstanding for Prussia. The plan worked better than expected.
Frederick marched toward Dresden, and first met Kheul. Unfortunately for Kheul, unfortunately for everyone, Nadasdy was nearby and marched to the sound of the gun, taking command with his 5-4-1 stats instead of Kheul’s 4-3-4…
The battle itself was just a minor defeat for Austria, with the Austrians losing 2886 men to Prussia 1614. The Austrian retreat in good orders (6 hits only), I get 1 NM.
On day 8, Von Daun and Kollowrat, who finally are dashing to Dresden, meet Frederick’s army who is marching in the same direction. The result is a clear defeat for Von Daun :
It is quite bad for Von Daun, as he loses 15 units of cavalry, including 2 very elite Guard units. Frederick only lost 1400 men. The retreat itself is disastrous, with an epic 118 hits received ! It is 9 more NM for Prussia.
Then Frederick carries on his march and reach Dresden. Nadasdy is waiting for him :
This is a huge defeat. 9000 Austrian dead to 2800 dead Prussians. Austria loses 52 elements and 10 national morale.
But it is not over. Nadasdy has the reckless trait. This means he did not retreat when he should have (Baris told me he had ordered Nadasdy to retreat if engaged). Instead, he carried on fighting. And when finally he decided to retreat, it was too late : the Prussian columns had enveloped him (you can read this sort of information in the hour-by-hour report on battles). As Nadasdy had not retreated, there was another battle :
3000 dead Prussians, 8000 dead Austrians. 5 elements destroyed, and 9 NM lost for Austria (that much for me).
… and Nadasdy could still not retreat, hence a last battle.
13500 dead Austrians, to 4400 dead Prussians. 137 elements destroyed. The Austrian army is wiped out.
Here is a little Excel to sum up the campaign to “free” Saxony… so far. I only do them when I am winning
The Austrian army should not be a problem for the time being, all the more since I don’t know how much damage the retreat and the frostbite inflicted. I expect my opponent to have at most 40 000 more Austrians ready to fight.
Here is the current National Morale situation. There is a huge gap, which makes my troops fight even better.
The situation can only get better for me : Karl Kheul finally managed to flee (I suppose Nasdady lost so much seniority due to his defeat that he has the worst seniority of all the Austrian 2-stars leader now), but he fled north of Dresden, and is thus trapped in Saxony :
While winter is extremely mild (the mildest I have ever seen), no supply can kill by good weather as well.
I expect Baris to try to breach through Dresden, and I must take the city itself. Only Frederick will be ordered to assault – the other general will be in defense.
Note two things :
- Frederick and his army captured 4 or 5 supply units in the battles. Useful, and it also means the Austrians have that much less supply trains.
- I miss an opportunity to move Bevern to cut the exit through Chemnitz. I am worried that von Daun could defeat him, but it would have been worth a try.
On the other fronts, the news are so-so :
I try to use the good weather to attempt to take Breslau again :
My cavalry has been trapped stupidly by bad weather in some small town West of Silesia, so Ferdinand will be on his own for now.
I received English reinforcement in Bremen.
5000 men – can’t complain.
And I decide to evacuate Hannover with Cumberland, as Baris is massing his troops (3 columns) in Minden :
Early January 1759 was good. Really.
But Late January would prove to be outstanding for Prussia. The plan worked better than expected.
Frederick marched toward Dresden, and first met Kheul. Unfortunately for Kheul, unfortunately for everyone, Nadasdy was nearby and marched to the sound of the gun, taking command with his 5-4-1 stats instead of Kheul’s 4-3-4…
The battle itself was just a minor defeat for Austria, with the Austrians losing 2886 men to Prussia 1614. The Austrian retreat in good orders (6 hits only), I get 1 NM.
On day 8, Von Daun and Kollowrat, who finally are dashing to Dresden, meet Frederick’s army who is marching in the same direction. The result is a clear defeat for Von Daun :
It is quite bad for Von Daun, as he loses 15 units of cavalry, including 2 very elite Guard units. Frederick only lost 1400 men. The retreat itself is disastrous, with an epic 118 hits received ! It is 9 more NM for Prussia.
Then Frederick carries on his march and reach Dresden. Nadasdy is waiting for him :
This is a huge defeat. 9000 Austrian dead to 2800 dead Prussians. Austria loses 52 elements and 10 national morale.
But it is not over. Nadasdy has the reckless trait. This means he did not retreat when he should have (Baris told me he had ordered Nadasdy to retreat if engaged). Instead, he carried on fighting. And when finally he decided to retreat, it was too late : the Prussian columns had enveloped him (you can read this sort of information in the hour-by-hour report on battles). As Nadasdy had not retreated, there was another battle :
3000 dead Prussians, 8000 dead Austrians. 5 elements destroyed, and 9 NM lost for Austria (that much for me).
… and Nadasdy could still not retreat, hence a last battle.
13500 dead Austrians, to 4400 dead Prussians. 137 elements destroyed. The Austrian army is wiped out.
Here is a little Excel to sum up the campaign to “free” Saxony… so far. I only do them when I am winning
The Austrian army should not be a problem for the time being, all the more since I don’t know how much damage the retreat and the frostbite inflicted. I expect my opponent to have at most 40 000 more Austrians ready to fight.
Here is the current National Morale situation. There is a huge gap, which makes my troops fight even better.
The situation can only get better for me : Karl Kheul finally managed to flee (I suppose Nasdady lost so much seniority due to his defeat that he has the worst seniority of all the Austrian 2-stars leader now), but he fled north of Dresden, and is thus trapped in Saxony :
While winter is extremely mild (the mildest I have ever seen), no supply can kill by good weather as well.
I expect Baris to try to breach through Dresden, and I must take the city itself. Only Frederick will be ordered to assault – the other general will be in defense.
Note two things :
- Frederick and his army captured 4 or 5 supply units in the battles. Useful, and it also means the Austrians have that much less supply trains.
- I miss an opportunity to move Bevern to cut the exit through Chemnitz. I am worried that von Daun could defeat him, but it would have been worth a try.
On the other fronts, the news are so-so :
I try to use the good weather to attempt to take Breslau again :
My cavalry has been trapped stupidly by bad weather in some small town West of Silesia, so Ferdinand will be on his own for now.
I received English reinforcement in Bremen.
5000 men – can’t complain.
And I decide to evacuate Hannover with Cumberland, as Baris is massing his troops (3 columns) in Minden :
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