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Nice aggressive start. Prussia is one of my favourite countries.
BTW Do you use OHgamer's unofficial hotfixes? Without those you might notice that German unification events give you too much bad boy.
BTW Do you use OHgamer's unofficial hotfixes? Without those you might notice that German unification events give you too much bad boy.
Olaus Petrus said:
No, I'm just using plain old Revolutions. Guess I'll have to expect some badboy then.
Hardraade said:
You could say that. Last time I tried without hotfix I ended up reducing badboy manually, because I got tired of fighting after 25 years of non-stop bad boy wars.
If you want to take a look it's here. Only way it affects to game is that it fixes some broken events and bugs.
Olaus Petrus said:
Thanks for the link. However, would installing the hotfix cause problems for a game in progress?
King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia
As the winter of 1836-1837 ended, Prussia braced itself for a renewed British invasion. Spring would, however, quickly gave way to summer without any sign of British aggression. Many in Berlin took this as a sign that the British would be receptive to peace negotiations and pressed the King to put together a diplomatic mission and attempt to end the war. King Friedrich Wilhelm III, realizing that the war was a useless and wasteful endeavor, agreed to put together a peace commission. As he sent them off to London, the King gave his diplomats very specific instructions. The only peace that he (and therefore Prussia) would agree to was a cessation of hostilities only. There would be no reparations, no admission of fault, and the idea of withdrawing from conquered Hannoverian lands was absolutely out of the question.
While the diplomats sailed to London, debate began to rage about how to best continue the war should the peace mission fail. There were many, led by the King's nephew Prince Heinrich Wilhelm Adalbert, that began to press for the creation of a true Prussian Royal Navy. Only with a powerful navy, they insisted, would Prussia ever be able to truly threaten Great Britain. In addition, such a naval force would transform Prussia form a continental power to a world power. Their opponents, led by the Chief of the General Staff Generalfeldmarschall Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Müffling, pressed for an expansion of Prussia's army. They argued that developing a fleet large enough to challenge the British Royal Navy was a longterm project and that the plan was, therefore, irrelevant to the present situation. Von Muffling, in fact, expressed his doubts about the proposed naval building by saying, "It would take a hundred years of non-stop construction to build a fleet large enough to contest the British for control of the seas."
Generalfeldmarschall Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Müffling
Though an exaggeration, his comments did have a ring of truth to them. Building such a large fleet would take years and would put a serious strain on the treasury. What Prussia needed instead, he argued, was a larger land army to better secure the coastline. In addition, he wanted the King to guarantee funds to upgrade the equipment that the army carried into battle. He said, "We cannot bring the war to England. Therefore, we must make the English sorry that they brought war to us. Continued defeats at the hands of our superior forces will bleed them dry and cause the British people to cry out for peace."
The King sided with the Chief of Staff. By the time word reached Berlin of the peace mission's failure, the King had already ordered the creation of several new divisions and announced to the country's leading arms manufacturers that the military would be reviewing designs for a new, muzzle-loaded rifle. The chosen design would be put in production to completely replace the smooth-bore weapons being carried by Prussia's soldiers at that time. After several new models were tested by the General Staff, the contract was awarded to Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse at the end of 1837. His rifle, dubbed the "Needle Gun" for the long needle that fired the percussion cap, went into full production and was in the hands of most of Prussia's soldiers by the beginning of 1839. Though the weapon was highly regarded by the Prussian military, von Dreyse could easily imagine a more efficient weapon and almost immediately got to work on upgrading the weapon's design.
As if trying to set itself apart from the quiet of the previous year, 1838 was a year that saw extensive political and military action. The year opened with a crisis in the Middle East. Egypt and the Ottoman Empire were at war over control of Syria, the cause of the conflict reaching back to the Greek Rebellion of 1821. Having suffered several setbacks to the revolutionaries, Ottoman Sultan Mahmoud II requested aid from his Egyptian vassal, Mehmet Ali Pasa. Being a dutiful vassal, Mehmet Ali would send thousands of troops as well as his entire navy to back up the Ottoman war effort.
Ottoman Sultan Mahmoud II
Though the campaign began well for the Egyptians, disaster soon followed when Britain, France, and Russia entered the war on the side of the Greeks in 1827. On October 20th of that year, a combined British, French and Russian fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Edward Codrington met and destroyed a combined Ottoman and Egyptian fleet in the Battle of Navarino.
The Battle of Navarino
The complete destruction of his navy left a bitter taste in Mehmet Ali's mouth. As compensation for the losses he suffered in service to his Ottoman master, Ali demanded that control of Syria be turned over to him. His request was not so much refused as it was completely ignored by the Ottomans. Mehmet Ali then decided to take Syria by force and invaded the region in 1831. Ottoman forces suffered disastrous defeats and Egyptian forces were poised to march on Istanbul until Russia stepped in and mediated a peace agreement in 1833 in which roughly half of Syria would go to Egypt.
Now, five years later, Mehmet Ali had decided that half of Syria was not enough and had invaded Ottoman territory yet again in February 1838. As was the case previously, Ottoman forces were beaten badly and European forces intervened. This time, however, it was not just Russia that stepped in but all of Europe's great powers. Though initially favoring diplomatic intervention on behalf of the Ottomans, Russia would end up maintaining neutrality in the conflict. By contrast, the Austrian Empire immediately guaranteed military support to the Ottomans. Britain and Prussia, strangely coming together once again despite their conflict, also supported the Ottomans, though their support was diplomatic and not military in nature. France would be the only one of the European powers to support the Egyptians, pledging them full military support.
Mehmet Ali Pasa receiving French delegates in his palace
The ramifications of these decisions would run deep. The Austrians were once again infuriated by the failure of Prussia to follow their lead, and began to view the obstinacy of the Prussian "upstarts" with concern. Due to the French guarantee of military support to the Egyptians, Austria risked war with the French if they carried through on their promise of military support to the Ottomans. Such a war would risk Austria's territories in northern Italy, which they and the French had long fought over. Without the military support that they had expected the Prussians to provide, the Austrians lost their nerve and signed a peace agreement with Egypt.
The Ottomans would not forget the broken promises of the Austrians, nor would they forgive despite the fact that the Austrians convinced the French to likewise sign a quick peace without providing military aid to their ally. Prussia, by contrast, rose high in the estimation of the Ottoman Empire. Though no Prussian armies marched to back up the Ottomans, funds and military advisers arrived in great quantity. Under the guidance of Prussian officers and with Prussian funds, the Ottoman Army was reformed into a modern fighting force and the Ottomans were soon pushing the Egyptians completely out of Syria.
In July of 1838, Prussian attention was turned from the Middle East and back home. After nearly two years, British forces had returned to Prussia. Strangely, the British divided their 50,000 man force into two different armies and landed them hundreds of miles apart: one in Danzig and the other in Stettin. It was to prove to be a terrible mistake. Each British force was outnumbered locally and each of them were easily destroyed separately. It was a total defeat for the British. Their entire force of 50,000 was either killed, wounded, or compelled to surrender by the middle of August.
With the British reeling from the horrible defeat, Prussia seized their chance to finally bring the British to the peace table. However, they were not going to rely on their victory alone to force peace. This time they would give the British some more incentive. In September 1838, Prussia offered to increase their ties with the Ottomans in the form of a military alliance. The Ottomans quickly accepted and declared war on Britain on September 20. Having just suffered a humiliating defeat and now facing war with the Ottoman Empire as well, Great Britain finally agreed to Prussian peace terms and ended the war.
While Prussia celebrated the end of the war, Austria reacted to events with alarm. Prussia was growing stronger, both militarily and in standing among the German Confederation. And, to make matters worse, they now had a powerful ally that bordered the Empire! If Austria attempted to press their claims in the Balkans, they risked Prussian invasion and vice-versa in the event of a war in Germany. It was too much to bear. Austria began working to undermine Prussia's position in the German Confederation all throughout the end of 1838 and the beginning of 1839. In addition to this political sabotage, Austrian agents, often working through some of the Confederation's smaller states, began attempting to destabilize Prussia at home by putting money and weapons into the hands of dissidents within Prussia. The Prussians were well aware of this and began to secretly mobilize the army in November.
The situation came to a head on December 31 of 1839 when Prussian troops intercepted a shipment of money and weapons that had come through Anhalt. The smugglers were immediately hanged and their cargo seized, which caused an uproar in the state of Anhalt that soon spread throughout the Confederation. Far from being unnerved by the outcry, Prussia defended it's actions and demanded that Anhalt apologize. The tension in Germany was palpable as sabers rattled in Berlin and the Austrians urged Anhalt to stand firm, pledging the support of the entire Confederation in the event of Prussian aggression. To the Austrians, the situation was win-win. If the Prussians backed down, they would be humiliated in front of the Confederation and the international community. If they did not back down, Austria would then get an excuse destroy their rivals in a war that it would seem as if Prussia had started. Though it was possible that the Ottoman Empire would support the Prussians, the Austrians considered the risk to be low as they believed that they had good relations with the Sultan. Even if they did declare war, it was judged in Vienna that the Ottoman Army, most of which was still fighting the Egyptians, could easily be held at bay while Prussia was overwhelmed. This tense atmosphere only needed something to set it off, and that something would come on the morning of January 9, 1840. On that fateful morning, the Prussian ambassador to Anhalt left the embassy to meet with Leopold IV, Duke of Anhalt. As he walked toward his coach, he was gunned down by unknown assailants who then escaped on foot.
A photograph of Duke Leopold IV of Anhalt taken in his later years.
Prussia responded to the assassination by declaring war on Anhalt the following day, though many believed that the assassins were acting under orders from Austrian agents hoping to spark a war. The Austrian Empire immediately came to the aid of Anhalt by declaring war on Prussia and demanding that the rest of the German Confederation follow suit. Eighteen of the states of the German Confederation answered Austria's call and began to mobilize their armies, the rest choosing to remain neutral. Though Prussia would stand alone in Germany, their Ottoman friends renounced all ties to what they called the "treacherous Austrians" and joined the war on the side of Prussia. All of of Central Europe was at war and the prize was Germany itself.
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Well now, this is indeed a war of destiny.
A fortunate peace with Britain, sometimes they can be incredibly obstinate.
A fortunate peace with Britain, sometimes they can be incredibly obstinate.
Bold move to start war against Austria so soon, but with Ottoman allies victory should be easy to achieve.
It shouldn't cause any troubles, although if you're in doubt you can install just the events. Those don't affect to anything else besides effects of the said events.
Hardraade said:
It shouldn't cause any troubles, although if you're in doubt you can install just the events. Those don't affect to anything else besides effects of the said events.
Good update, destroy those treacherous Austrians! Glad the limeys got the point that the war was unwinnable.
so it begins.. hopefully strengthening your armies to fight the British has left you strong enough to beat the Confederation.
stnylan: Yes it is. Everything sort of came together. The war with Britain ended, I got an ally that could divert Austrian attention, and game events helped too. I got the "foreign smugglers" event which was followed closely by the "political assassination" event. All the excuse I needed to show Austria who's boss.
Olaus Petrus: Good thing that Bold is my middle name. Well, it's actually Robert but I'm sure you get the idea.
Kampf_Machen: I couldn't wait for the Brits to agree to peace. All those enemies ripe for attack all around me, I couldn't stand it.
robou: I'm sure that I can knock most of the smaller German states out of the war before they can mobilize. I'm also expecting the Austrians to have trouble fighting on two fronts.
Olaus Petrus: Good thing that Bold is my middle name. Well, it's actually Robert but I'm sure you get the idea.
Kampf_Machen: I couldn't wait for the Brits to agree to peace. All those enemies ripe for attack all around me, I couldn't stand it.
robou: I'm sure that I can knock most of the smaller German states out of the war before they can mobilize. I'm also expecting the Austrians to have trouble fighting on two fronts.
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Show those egotistic Southerners with their incoherent nasaly accents who's boss. Make then suffer a pre-mature Königgrätz. You have the Zündnadelgewehr (needle gun) that proved the deciding factor of the day after all.
Kampf_Machen said:
That is the plan. One beat down for the Austrian Empire coming up(hopefully).
To be completely accurate, I don't have "the" needle gun. I have it's muzzle loading predecessor. The breech loading model that devastated the Austrians historically will come later. Still though. it's a fine weapon that will be put to good use.
I've been wanting to get this AAR going again for some time and, as can be seen below, I have done so. I decided to break the update into two parts due to length. Part 2 will follow momentarily.
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The Austrian Empire and it's allies entered the war against Prussia in a state of supreme confidence. Prussian forces faced a coalition of twenty nations and it was expected that the Prussian Army, stretched thin in order to face the numerous threats, would be completely overwhelmed before it could be fully mobilized. The Prussians, however, had been preparing for this war for some time and their reserves were ready to enter the field of battle immediately upon the declaration of war on January 10. Rather than a small and thinly stretched force, the Prussian Army numbered in excess of 400,000 men at the onset of hostilities, and was poised not only to nullify the smaller German states immediately, but to launch a massive invasion of the Austrian Empire as well.
The opening stages of the conflict within Germany itself saw little actual fighting. Most of the smaller German states had no standing military to speak of and were quickly occupied by Prussian forces. The only major conflict during the opening days of the war in Germany occurred near Dresden when the 40,000 strong Prussian V. Korps attacked and defeated a Saxon force of 20,000. While the Saxons lost their capital to Prussian occupation, their army was able to withdraw in good order and retreat west to continue the fight.
As pivotal as subduing the free German states was to the overall war effort, the varied campaigns against them were viewed as a side show in Berlin. Prussia's chief interest was the defeat of the Austrian Empire and the removal of Austria from the realm of German affairs. To that end, four Prussian armies numbering over a quarter of a million men combined crossed into Austrian territory immediately upon the declaration of hostilities.
The Austrian Army was far from prepared for such a large scale attack. At the time that the war began, Austria had a standing army of around 120,000 men. This force was largely scattered throughout the Empire, both to quell disturbances within the Empire's borders and to protect against foreign aggression. Directly arrayed against Prussian Armies were various Austrian formations totaling about 40,000 men and they were completely incapable of handling the invading forces. The Austrian Army was forced on the defensive and settled on a strategy of fighting delaying actions against their numerically superior foe in hopes of holding them back long enough for the reserves to be mobilized and put in the field. What followed over the next month was a series of skirmishes that saw Austrian forces briefly engage Prussian troops before falling back to their next prepared defensive position.
This chess match continued until late February when Prussian General Yorck, hero of the wars against Hannover and Great Britain, was able to slip past Austrian forces near Plzen with his I. Army. On February 20, the same day that Bremen would surrender to Prussia and accept annexation, General Yorck received reports from scouts and spies that indicated that there were no Austrian forces between him and Vienna. Seizing the opportunity, Yorck began pushing his force toward the Austrian capital with all speed. As Yorck and his men closed in on Vienna, the only major battle that would be fought between Prussian and Austrian forces during this war was taking shape near the old Moravian city of Olomouc.
Throughout the month of February, Austrian defensive positions along the border with Russia had been emptied and the garrisons marched west to meet the Prussians. In addition, several divisions were also sent north away from the border with the Ottoman Empire as there seemed to be no indication of an attack from that quarter. By the beginning of March, a force of nearly 70,000 men had been organized and put under the command of Field Marshal Josef Graf von Radtzky.
Austrian Field Marshal Josef Graf von Radtzky.
Radtzky marched his army against the Prussians with two goals in mind. First, he would add to his army the various scattered forces that were still fighting delaying actions against the Prussians. Once he had joined their strength with his own, he would then drive the Prussians back over the border. Despite the fact that he would be outnumbered by his opponent, Radtzky was confident of success. In an attempt to both move past the Austrian blocking forces and capture as much territory as possible, the invading Prussian armies had been split into several semi-autonomous forces of varying size. Radtzky's army, though outnumbered by the Prussian force as a whole, would enjoy numerical superiority against most of the separate Prussian commands and Radtzky hoped that he would be able defeat them piecemeal if he moved quickly enough. There was even the possibility that he could completely destroy some of the Prussian formations if he could manage to cut them off.
His campaign began in Trencin on March 1, where he attacked and drove off a small Prussian force. The Prussians retreated toward Olomouc with Radtzky in pursuit. Radtzky arrived in Olomouc on March 8, and again dispersed a smaller Prussian force after a brief engagement. Though he had been successful in his initial moves against the Prussians, Radtzky found himself in a precarious situation. Prussian forces, under the overall command of Field Marshal Hans Ernst Karl von Zieten, seemed to be massing along his flanks with the apparent intention of encircling his force which had swollen to 90,000 men by this time. So sudden and strong were the Prussian moves against his flanks that Radtzky was forced to wonder whether or not his earlier victories might have been due to an attempt to draw his forces forward into a vulnerable position. He knew that his options were limited and that he had to act quickly. Radtzky's inclination was to meet the Prussians aggressively and continue to attack, but there were those on his staff that advocated an immediate withdrawal in order to guarantee the safety of the Army. It was while he was pondering his next move that Radtzky was informed that Vienna was under siege. His hand forced, Radtzky prepared to abandon his offensive and move to Vienna's relief on March 10.
Prussian Field Marshal Hans Ernst Karl von Zieten
He turned his army south toward Brno, but found his path blocked by the 60,000 man Prussian III. Army under the command of General Karl Friedrich von dem Knesebeck. While Radtzky could have attempted to batter his way through the Prussian force, he knew that any such attempt would take a substantial amount of time and would leave him vulnerable to an attack by the other Prussian armies in the area. Withdrawing away from the Prussians in Brno, Radtzky turned his forces toward Trencin in hopes of slipping through and finding an open path to Vienna. Even as the new marching orders were being drawn up, however, it was already too late.
By the time that Radtzky was ordering his army to retreat toward Trencin, the jaws of the Prussian pincer movement that was designed to trap him had slammed shut. The two separate wings of Field Marshal von Zieten's force had met at Trencin and driven a small Austrian force north toward Radtzky's position. It was these retreating troops that brought word to Radtzky of his encirclement.
Radtzky acted quickly. With the addition of the troops that had retreated from Trencin in order to join him, Radtzky's force now numbered just over 110,000. He divided his army into four separate parts: the main body and three "holding forces". The first holding force would consist of 10,000 men who would protect his rear by occupying and holding the old fort in Olomouc. The other two holding forces, each consisting of 15,000 men, would protect his flanks by moving to hold the areas around Prostejov to the west, and Prerov to the east. While these three forces kept the Prussians at bay, Radtzky planned to take the main force of 70,000 toward Trencin and break the encirclement. Once he had broken through, the remainder of his army was to then break off from any engagements with the Prussians and follow him south.
Against him and moving north from Trencin was a force of 40,000 Prussian troops commanded by General Friedrich von Wrangel. Advance elements of Wrangel's force encountered Radtzky's army near the small town of Kojetin on the morning of March 12. Wrangel arranged his forces in a defensive posture around the town and what would later become collectively known as the Battle of Olomouc began.
General Friedrich von Wrangel.
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The Austrian Empire and it's allies entered the war against Prussia in a state of supreme confidence. Prussian forces faced a coalition of twenty nations and it was expected that the Prussian Army, stretched thin in order to face the numerous threats, would be completely overwhelmed before it could be fully mobilized. The Prussians, however, had been preparing for this war for some time and their reserves were ready to enter the field of battle immediately upon the declaration of war on January 10. Rather than a small and thinly stretched force, the Prussian Army numbered in excess of 400,000 men at the onset of hostilities, and was poised not only to nullify the smaller German states immediately, but to launch a massive invasion of the Austrian Empire as well.
The opening stages of the conflict within Germany itself saw little actual fighting. Most of the smaller German states had no standing military to speak of and were quickly occupied by Prussian forces. The only major conflict during the opening days of the war in Germany occurred near Dresden when the 40,000 strong Prussian V. Korps attacked and defeated a Saxon force of 20,000. While the Saxons lost their capital to Prussian occupation, their army was able to withdraw in good order and retreat west to continue the fight.
As pivotal as subduing the free German states was to the overall war effort, the varied campaigns against them were viewed as a side show in Berlin. Prussia's chief interest was the defeat of the Austrian Empire and the removal of Austria from the realm of German affairs. To that end, four Prussian armies numbering over a quarter of a million men combined crossed into Austrian territory immediately upon the declaration of hostilities.
The Austrian Army was far from prepared for such a large scale attack. At the time that the war began, Austria had a standing army of around 120,000 men. This force was largely scattered throughout the Empire, both to quell disturbances within the Empire's borders and to protect against foreign aggression. Directly arrayed against Prussian Armies were various Austrian formations totaling about 40,000 men and they were completely incapable of handling the invading forces. The Austrian Army was forced on the defensive and settled on a strategy of fighting delaying actions against their numerically superior foe in hopes of holding them back long enough for the reserves to be mobilized and put in the field. What followed over the next month was a series of skirmishes that saw Austrian forces briefly engage Prussian troops before falling back to their next prepared defensive position.
This chess match continued until late February when Prussian General Yorck, hero of the wars against Hannover and Great Britain, was able to slip past Austrian forces near Plzen with his I. Army. On February 20, the same day that Bremen would surrender to Prussia and accept annexation, General Yorck received reports from scouts and spies that indicated that there were no Austrian forces between him and Vienna. Seizing the opportunity, Yorck began pushing his force toward the Austrian capital with all speed. As Yorck and his men closed in on Vienna, the only major battle that would be fought between Prussian and Austrian forces during this war was taking shape near the old Moravian city of Olomouc.
Throughout the month of February, Austrian defensive positions along the border with Russia had been emptied and the garrisons marched west to meet the Prussians. In addition, several divisions were also sent north away from the border with the Ottoman Empire as there seemed to be no indication of an attack from that quarter. By the beginning of March, a force of nearly 70,000 men had been organized and put under the command of Field Marshal Josef Graf von Radtzky.
Austrian Field Marshal Josef Graf von Radtzky.
Radtzky marched his army against the Prussians with two goals in mind. First, he would add to his army the various scattered forces that were still fighting delaying actions against the Prussians. Once he had joined their strength with his own, he would then drive the Prussians back over the border. Despite the fact that he would be outnumbered by his opponent, Radtzky was confident of success. In an attempt to both move past the Austrian blocking forces and capture as much territory as possible, the invading Prussian armies had been split into several semi-autonomous forces of varying size. Radtzky's army, though outnumbered by the Prussian force as a whole, would enjoy numerical superiority against most of the separate Prussian commands and Radtzky hoped that he would be able defeat them piecemeal if he moved quickly enough. There was even the possibility that he could completely destroy some of the Prussian formations if he could manage to cut them off.
His campaign began in Trencin on March 1, where he attacked and drove off a small Prussian force. The Prussians retreated toward Olomouc with Radtzky in pursuit. Radtzky arrived in Olomouc on March 8, and again dispersed a smaller Prussian force after a brief engagement. Though he had been successful in his initial moves against the Prussians, Radtzky found himself in a precarious situation. Prussian forces, under the overall command of Field Marshal Hans Ernst Karl von Zieten, seemed to be massing along his flanks with the apparent intention of encircling his force which had swollen to 90,000 men by this time. So sudden and strong were the Prussian moves against his flanks that Radtzky was forced to wonder whether or not his earlier victories might have been due to an attempt to draw his forces forward into a vulnerable position. He knew that his options were limited and that he had to act quickly. Radtzky's inclination was to meet the Prussians aggressively and continue to attack, but there were those on his staff that advocated an immediate withdrawal in order to guarantee the safety of the Army. It was while he was pondering his next move that Radtzky was informed that Vienna was under siege. His hand forced, Radtzky prepared to abandon his offensive and move to Vienna's relief on March 10.
Prussian Field Marshal Hans Ernst Karl von Zieten
He turned his army south toward Brno, but found his path blocked by the 60,000 man Prussian III. Army under the command of General Karl Friedrich von dem Knesebeck. While Radtzky could have attempted to batter his way through the Prussian force, he knew that any such attempt would take a substantial amount of time and would leave him vulnerable to an attack by the other Prussian armies in the area. Withdrawing away from the Prussians in Brno, Radtzky turned his forces toward Trencin in hopes of slipping through and finding an open path to Vienna. Even as the new marching orders were being drawn up, however, it was already too late.
By the time that Radtzky was ordering his army to retreat toward Trencin, the jaws of the Prussian pincer movement that was designed to trap him had slammed shut. The two separate wings of Field Marshal von Zieten's force had met at Trencin and driven a small Austrian force north toward Radtzky's position. It was these retreating troops that brought word to Radtzky of his encirclement.
Radtzky acted quickly. With the addition of the troops that had retreated from Trencin in order to join him, Radtzky's force now numbered just over 110,000. He divided his army into four separate parts: the main body and three "holding forces". The first holding force would consist of 10,000 men who would protect his rear by occupying and holding the old fort in Olomouc. The other two holding forces, each consisting of 15,000 men, would protect his flanks by moving to hold the areas around Prostejov to the west, and Prerov to the east. While these three forces kept the Prussians at bay, Radtzky planned to take the main force of 70,000 toward Trencin and break the encirclement. Once he had broken through, the remainder of his army was to then break off from any engagements with the Prussians and follow him south.
Against him and moving north from Trencin was a force of 40,000 Prussian troops commanded by General Friedrich von Wrangel. Advance elements of Wrangel's force encountered Radtzky's army near the small town of Kojetin on the morning of March 12. Wrangel arranged his forces in a defensive posture around the town and what would later become collectively known as the Battle of Olomouc began.
General Friedrich von Wrangel.
The field across which the Austrian and Prussian forces faced each other at the onset of the Battle of Olomouc as it can be seen today
After some initial skirmishing throughout the early part of the morning, the battle began in earnest just after noon when Austrian artillery began to shell the Prussian positions in and around the town. General Wrangel, whose own artillery contingent was small, exchanged fire with the Austrian batteries only briefly before ordering the guns withdrawn to be saved for use during the inevitable assault on his position.
After shelling the Prussian positions for two hours without interruption, Radtzky launched an attack against the Prussian right. A force of 10,000 Austrians advanced across a large, open field that separated the two forces. When the Austrians had come within range, Wrangel had his artillery brought back to the front and his batteries began tearing holes into the Austrian line. The Austrians pressed on despite the deadly cannon fire and soon were taking fire from Prussian muskets. Each gap that the Prussian fire ripped into the Austrian battle line was quickly filled in and the Austrians began firing volleys of their own. The two sides exchanged fire for several minutes before the Austrian line began to waver. The Prussians, firing from cover at the exposed Austrians, were exacting a deadly toll and the Austrians finally withdrew. As they ran back across the field they left nearly 1,000 dead and wounded behind them. Prussian losses during this part of the battle are unknown but were certain to have been significantly less.
Radtzky's next move was to reform the retreating force and reinforce it. At around 3:30 pm, Austrian troops again began to advance against the Prussian right. This time, however, the attack was a feint. As Prussian attention was drawn to this presumed renewed attack on their right, two Austrian divisions charged across the field toward the Prussian left. General Wrangel, who had shifted reinforcements to his right, was forced to order these men to turn around and head for the left of the line. The Austrian charge slammed into the Prussian force and began to drive it back into the town. Taking position inside the buildings and homes of the town, the Prussian defenders sought to hold up the Austrian advance until reinforcements could arrive.
What ensued was a bloody and furious affair as house-to-house fighting broke out with the Austrians and their Prussian counterparts grappling with one another in close quarters combat. In the enclosed spaces in which they fought, bayonets and bare hands were the weapons of choice. Prussian reinforcements, led personally by General Wrangel himslef, arrived just after 5:00 pm and the Austrians were driven off once again. With night fast approaching, Radtzky decided to retire for the night and continue the battle the next morning.
As the morning of March 13 dawned over the battlefield, Radtzky began to prepare his next assault on the Prussian positions. His plan for the next phase of the battle called for an attack on the Prussian left which would be immediately followed by an attack on their center. It was his belief that the Prussians would be unable to hold against an attack on such a large part of their line and would crumble. Before he could order the attack to commence, however, word was brought to him that Prussian forces had routed the holding forces protecting his flanks and were advancing on his position. Only the force that he had left at the fort in Olomouc was still reported to be holding it's position against the advancing Prussians. Radtzky pondered his options. His forces were arrayed in battle order and ready to attack, but with two Prussian forces moving against his flanks and another in front of him, he risked being trapped here between the three and destroyed if he failed to break through. Reluctantly, Radtzky ordered his force to retreat northward in the direction of Olomouc. In the fighting near Kojetin the Austrians had lost 6,000 killed and wounded to Prussian losses of around 2,500. It was only a small taste of what was to come.
Radtzky's would manage to slip past the two advancing Prussian forces and place his army on a ridge between the Prussians and Olomouc. The combined Prussian force that marched toward his position was made up of three combined armies numbering 150,000 men under the overall command of General Karl Friedrich von dem Knesebeck. Despite the fact that he was not able to draw his army up before the Austrians until late in the day, Knesebeck launched attacks all along the line as night fell on March 13. Despite initial successes, the battle became confused during the darkness and the Prussians were unable to completely carry the field. Knesebeck ordered the attacks to cease with the intention of continuing them in the morning.
General Karl Friedrich von dem Knesebeck.
The Austrians clinging to the ridge woke to an amazing sight on the morning of March 14. Arrayed below them in perfect battle order were 60,000 Prussian troops divided into three assault blocks. After a lengthy artillery barrage, the Prussians advanced toward the Austrian line at 10:00 am. From his position atop a nearby hill, Knesebeck watched as a wave after wave of his men climbed upward toward the enemy. Three times the Austrians hurled back the attacking troops, but the Prussians reformed and come on again and again. On the fourth charge, Prussian troops were able to come within range of the summit. Austrian artillery and musket fire ripped into the Prussian ranks, but they continued forward. When they were only a few yards away from the enemy, the Prussian line halted and fired a devastating volley into the Austrian line from point-blank range. After firing the volley, Prussian troops lowered their bayonets and charged forward into the enemy line. Though there were isolated pockets of resistance in some areas, the majority of the Austrian force melted away in the face of the attack and the Austrian Army was in full retreat. Not all of the Austrians were able to escape, however. Many Austrian troops, beyond exhausted by the series of battles, were unable to join their comrades in retreat and surrendered to the Prussians. Many others were killed or captured when they were overrun while attempting to carry out rear guard actions.
General Karl Friedrich von dem Knesebeck (center, on horseback) directing his army during the Battle of Olomouc
Radtzky retreated north toward the fort in Olomouc with what was left of his army. The fighting on the ridge had nearly destroyed his force. Prussian accounts of the battle claim that the Austrians lost in excess of 35,000 men killed, wounded, or captured in the two days of fighting. They gave their own losses at around 11,000 killed and wounded.
Radtzky placed his men in defensive positions around the city of Olomouc and settled in for a siege. He no longer believed that a breakout was possible and pinned his hopes on a relief force coming to his aid. The Prussians, for their part, had no intention of settling in for a long siege and immediately began attacking Radtzky's positions. After enduring six days of attacks, Radtzky finally surrendered what remained of his army on March 20. It was only after he had marched his army out of Olomouc and into captivity that he learned that Vienna had fallen five days previous.
The Battle of Olomouc, as the week-long series of battles became known, was a terribly costly one for both sides. The Austrians had lost an entire army numbering in excess of 100,000 men, while Prussian casualties numbered anywhere from 20- 30,000. Despite the losses, the Prussians could claim a major victory. All Austrian resistance had effectively been destroyed in the north and Vienna had fallen. As Prussian armies pushed deeper into the Empire, an end to the war seemed to be in sight.
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Great update Hardraade. I was hoping ye' might find it in your heart to write some more to this.
Kampf_Machen said:
Thanks. I wasn't sure if I was going to pick this one back up, but the situation with my other AAR led me to continue this one. As I'm waiting until the narrative catches up with how far I've played my HOI2 game, I haven't played in awhile. I was eager to get back to some gaming so I started playing the saved game that this AAR was based on and figured that if I was going to play the game again, I might as well get back to the AAR as well.
Kampf_Machen said:Well that is good reasoning.
Because I agree with it.
Good to hear. Perhaps that just more evidence that great minds do, in fact, think alike.