Chapter 98 Who Is the Leader?

Franz Leonhard von Mersey was very cautious.

As for the 40,000 troops given to him by the emperor, he could have chosen to march straight in and take Warsaw directly. After all, the strength of the Poles could only be said to be unbeatable.

In fact, Franz Leonhard von Mersey really needed to speed up.

Although the three parties had already agreed on the division of power, once someone was faster than you and took the piece of meat that originally belonged to you into their mouths, it would not be easy for them to spit it out.

But according to the intelligence Franz Leonhard von Mersey received, the Poles had already placed the focus of defense on his side and planned to hit him head-on.

As for who leaked the information, as the head of one of the largest tyrants in Poland, Kamil Czapotoryski finally chose to bet on both sides.

In fact, it was not his fault. After all, most of Poland's resolutions had to be implemented through the Sejm (Parliament). With the influence of the Habsburg family, it was only a matter of time before they knew about this.

In this case, Kamil Czapotorski did not mind doing a favor to the Habsburgs. After all, although his family's power was also great in Warsaw, its roots were still in southern Poland, which was exactly the sphere of influence of the Austrians.

If Poland lost the war, with this pledge of allegiance, the situation of the Czapotorski family in Austria would be much better.

You said that the Czapotorski family was treasonous, but how to say it? Submission to the Habsburgs was simply normal in Europe.

As for Poland, anyway, Kosciuszko's strategy was no different from an open conspiracy. The only loss to Poland by informing the Habsburgs in advance was the loss of an ambush opportunity.

But if there was this opportunity, would Poland definitely win?

Kamil Czapotorski did not think so. With 60,000 people fighting against 40,000 people, it was estimated that when the battle started, the nobles would have already figured out the composition of the armies of both sides.

Kosciuszko tried to defeat the elite troops of the Habsburgs with a newly expanded army, which was a fantasy in Kamil Czapotorski's view.

The reason why he agreed to help Kościuszko recruit soldiers in southern Poland was that he had a glimmer of hope and wanted to remove the unstable factors in the area where the Czapotorski family lived.

Once Austria annexed southern Poland, these former Polish soldiers who were dismissed and sent home because of the first partition would likely disrupt the local order. Now, with the help of the name of conscription, these unstable factors were just cleared out.

Kielce

This place is an important town between Krakow and Warsaw, and it is also the place where Kościuszko chose to intercept the Austrians.

At St. Christ Church, Kościuszko was discussing the situation of the enemy with Alandar-Mustafa Pasha.

According to the normal marching speed, the Austrians should have arrived near Kielce yesterday.

But until noon today, even though the cavalry had been sent far away, they still had not detected the enemy's movements, which made Kościuszko very confused.

But he decided to wait a few more days. It would not be good for Poland to attack rashly.

After another three days, the Austrian army still did not appear, which made Kościuszko more suspicious. According to the information from the spies, the other side had obviously left Krakow long ago.

But he didn't have much time to wait any longer. The Russians were fine, but the Prussians advanced faster than he thought, which was beyond Kościuszko's expectation.

In this case, he had no choice but to take the initiative.

On April 7, 1790, Kościuszko led 40,000 troops to the Krakow outpost.

As for the other 20,000 troops, 10,000 were led by Alexander Francisca Potorski as a detachment, and the cavalry of Alandar-Mustafa Pasha was also among them, and another 10,000 stayed to guard Kielce.

After a rest, Kościuszko launched an attack on Krakow.

Since the other side was unwilling to fight with him, Kościuszko chose to take the initiative. He didn't believe that the other side could bear to lose Krakow.

After all, this is a war with Poland, not with France.

Before the siege began, waves of vibrations were heard on the ground, which was a signal of a large-scale cavalry march.

Kosciuszko understood that the other side could not help it.

Behind the cavalry, Franz Leonhard von Mersey was leading his army towards Krakow. The reason why he did not show up before was to lure the other side out, and now the goal has been achieved.

As for the small number of people on his side, this is not something Franz Leonhard von Mersey needs to consider at all.

As for the newly expanded Polish army, what about veterans? The veterans who have not been on the battlefield for more than ten years still have some strength at this time.

Franz Leonhard von Mersey smiled disdainfully. In his opinion, the Poles could not even stop the first round of cavalry charge.

He picked up the telescope and began to appreciate the massacre that the Austrian cavalry was about to give to the Poles.

Indeed, the Austrian cavalry easily penetrated the right side of Kościuszko's center. They did not linger in the battle, and quickly distanced themselves from the Austrian army after the first wave of charge.

At this time, Kościuszko reorganized the skirmish line into a horizontal formation.

The Austrian cavalry began to harass Kościuszko's troops. The flexibility of the pistol cavalry was clearly revealed at this moment, and the ubiquitous gunfire increased the pressure on the Polish army.

Before Franz Leonhard von Mersey's main infantry arrived, Kościuszko's troops seemed to have already shown signs of collapse.

Seeing this, Franz Leonhard von Mersey immediately ordered the soldiers to change to double-step (a kind of military footwork, faster than normal) marching to speed up the arrival and facilitate the complete defeat of the enemy.

Franz Leonhard von Mersey's army had already approached the Polish army, and the Austrian cavalry that was still harassing quickly returned to the two wings of the Austrian infantry.

Seizing the gap that the Austrian army had not yet deployed, Kosciuszko quickly commanded his troops to launch an attack.

He adopted a rotating attack, turned the army over, and began to compress the activity space of the Austrian army. The Polish artillery in the rear also began to bombard.

Although the Polish army had not seen such a large-scale battle for many years, their performance was still quite satisfactory.

Facing the enemy's attack, Franz Leonhard von Mersey quickly ordered the soldiers to change to a skirmish line to try their best to reduce the damage caused by the enemy's bullets and artillery.

At the same time, Franz Leonhard von Mersey Mersey sent out his light infantry, which was Austria's elite unit, good at free shooting, and had made Frederick of Prussia suffer in the Seven Years' War.

Now, it's the Poles' turn to enjoy it.

Thanks to cyl, Reality Labyrinth, Blood Wing Emperor, Pian Pian Ruo Hong, Xuan Dian Kong Tunnel for their monthly tickets.

For the current Polish plot, I would like to explain that Europe is so small, so there is definitely a connection.

Before, everyone said that there was a sense of separation. I think it might be because I had problems with the transition and wrote it too short, so I specially selected the Polish copy, which is related to the Ottoman Empire and can write a longer plot for everyone to experience.