SYW Wargame Campaign Report: Week 7

Prussian troops approach Torgau from the South, under the command of the
 Prussian General Konstantin von Salenmon

Dear Reader,

Today, I am reporting on the seventh week of the Seven Years War Campaign which I have been umpiring over the last two months. You can find links to previous weeks at the bottom of the post. Beginning in the middle of March, the campaign is ongoing and still in progress. The period of time for today's post is roughly April 29th to May 5th. Below is a map for those dates. As stated before, the campaign switched to a new map to allow for in the inclusion of a few more players.  I have first included the new map, followed by an update from the old map.

The new map showing the maneuvering in Brandenburg, Saxony, and Silesia

The old map showing the maneuvering in just Silesia

In general terms, as usual, we will proceed from north to south. In the Pomeranian theater of war, the Swedish General Hamilton had retreated to Stralsund, where he remained blockaded by the Prussian forces of Dohna and Manteuffel.  In Brandenburg, the Russians were threatened by the forces under Zieten, the Hussar King, who attempted to make his small force of ~25,000 appear more numerous in the face of ~35,000 Russians at Meseritz. Zieten is the sort of player who attempts play to the max: he leaves no avenue unexplored. Ordering his men to set up their blankets to appear like more tents (an order which met with some grumbling on the part of the gemeine soldaten) he put on a bold show that his army was twice as numerous as it appeared.

This type of scheme would normally be hopeless, but events conspired to make Zieten's ruse more believable: the Russian General Tchernychev, who had departed on a mission to raid military targets in the area, sent back an undated message that Zieten's force was moving to Meseritz. This message made the Russian commander in chief, Buturlin, believe that another 25k men had crossed the Oder in his front. This message, combined with the arrival of a small Prussian column of reinforcements, added weight to an otherwise flimsy ruse. The tense standoff at Meseritz continued for the week, the Prussians could not believe their luck.

Speaking of General Tchernychev: let us turn to his dramatic role this week. Having departed from Schwibus and crossed the unguarded bridge at Crossen (come on, Prussians), Tchernychev received a non-committal order from Buturlin to return to the Meseritz area if possible, Tchernychev chose to ignore this message: his moment of glory had come. He immediately headed for, in his words, "the ultimate prize": the area of Berlin.

Reaching Berlin on the 4th of May, Tchernychev burned out a series of villages south of the city. Realizing that his force of 5,000 could not contend with the garrison of 7,000, he turned towards Potsdam. I will allow the report of Lt. General Hans Friedrich von Rochow, to convey the particulars:

Report on the Raid of Potsdam and Berlin, May 4-6th, 1758 

Russian General Zahkar Tchernychev reached Berlin on the morning on May 4th. Having found the city possessed of a strong garrison, he departed south in the direction of Potsdam. His force, numbering 2,000 Dragoons and 3,000 Cossacks, burned the villages of Seglitz and Zehlendorf on May 4th. On May 5th, his troops moved southwest to Potsdam,  fought against the Potsdam garrison and civic militia, defeating them soundly. His force then burned the city of Potsdam itself, and after looting Frederick’s palace at San Souci, burned that to the ground as well.  Tchernychev and his men carried off everything of value from the palace, including 3 of Frederick’s prized whippet hounds.  In the course of the looting and burning, Tchernychev’s cossacks committed numerous depredations, killing over 1,000 civilians. Leaving Potsdam the next day, May 6th,  Tchernychev approached Charlottenburg palace, where he was confronted by the larger portion of the garrison, and as a result, he and his raiding force waived off, retreating to the northeast in the direction of Freyemwalde. Berlin, Spandau, and Charlottenburg are safe. Potsdam and San Souci have been badly damaged. The fire destroyed millions of Thaler’s worth of state and private property.  Approximately  half of Potsdam’s 25,000 inhabitants are now homeless. 

Von Rochow 

Charting Tchernychev's raid on Berlin, on a 1765 map of the city

Tchernychev published his own justification for the raid:

Brandenburgers:

Your unjust and destructive war has reaped what it has sown.  The spoliation of Saxony visited by the "enlightened" Frederick has been repaid on his own palace at Potsdam.  You may only expect further destruction if you continue to support him and to defy peace and the Imperial Ban.  Should he abdicate in favor of his brother, who is a far more enlightened man, you will find much amity on the part of the beneficent Russian people.  Choose wisely.

Tchernychev 

While this high drama was unfolding in the area of Berlin, FM Keith was fighting for his life in Saxony. Gen d' Kav Serbelloni, believing that might liberate Dresden by cutting Keith off from the Berlin approaches, marched his army to Torgau, where his army of 25,000 was met by a slightly smaller Prussian force under the noble Keith. 

A early draft of this alternate timeline's Grosser Generalstab map series

Keith launched his smaller force into an attack on the Reichsarmee forces under Serbelloni. Serbelloni's colonels deployed his forces on the crest of a ridge, just south of the villages of Sueptitz and Zinna. Serbelloni, believing that holding the villages as defensive positions was more vital, pulled his men back from the crest of the ridge, allowing the Prussians to maneuver with impunity. 

Torgau: the initial deployment after both commanders gave input 

The Prussians opened a furious bombardment of the villages, which caught both of them on fire in due course (maybe Tchernychev is on to something, here).

The Prussians moved up flanking forces on their right, in order to threaten the Reichsarmee left. Serbelloni moved the cavalry from from his right to his left in order to compensate.

The Prussians began a series of sledgehammer attacks on the Reichsarmee held village of Zinna, and pulled up their guns in something of an artillery charge, dueling at close ranger with Reichsarmee batteries. 

Heavy fighting engulfs the Reichsarmee left

With both villages in flames, and Prussians attempted to envelope his position, Serbelloni began to withdraw, and his cuirassiers broke through the enemy cavalry on their left, buying time for the army to safely withdraw from the action.

The final view at Torgau: Austrian cavalry break through the Prussian right,
sending infantry into a rarely-formed square.

Serbelloni withdrew in the direction of Dessau. All in all, this was one of the most closely-fought battles of the campaign, both sides suffered around 2,000 casualties. 

Finally, on to the main event. When we last left the Silesia theater, the impetuous General Loudon had taken his army into the jaws of the King of Prussia. The Prussian host numbered around 60,000 men, the Austrians under Loudon numbered barely 30,000. Realizing his danger, Loudon left a rearguard and withdrew in the direction of Schweidnitz and the main army. These unfortunates were captured after defending a village outside Landshut. 

The wooded mountainous bordlerlands around Landshut,
the site of a fierce rearguard action by the Austirans

The sudden appearance of the King of Prussia send the Austrian High command into a frantic series of movements. Neipperg speedily moved his force towards Schweidnitz from Neisse. After snatching this rearguard at Landshut, the King of Prussia left his hussars and Frei Infanterie to harrass the enemy at Schweidnitz (with orders to follow him after one day) and then moved south towards Trautenau and Glatz. The Austrians, after beating off these light forces at Schweinitz, moved their forces to Frankenstein (Lacy abandoned the siege of Glatz after realizing that the enemy coming for him in force), and the Prussians marched via Reichenstein to Neisse, turning north towards Grotkau, and escaping the region by a movement towards Brieg and Breslau. The Austrians maneuvered to offer battle to the Prussian King several times, but he declined their invitation. 

Skillfully detaching raiding forces, and using the Kosel garrison to threaten Austrian supply bases, the King of Prussia had conducted a lightning campaign which left the Austrians confused (or perhaps bemused) captured 9,000 prisoners for a loss of 2,500 of his own, and avoided any major battle. In doing so, the Prussians interrupted two major sieges (Glatz and Schweidnitz), removing the threat to Schweidnitz entirely. Despite all this, the Prussian King did not want to try results with the Austrians, and at the end of the movement, led his army north from Breslau. 

The next week would see the Russians resume a major offensive on the Oder line, the Austrians begin a serious siege of Glatz, and move to clear lingering Prussian raiding forces from their supply areas, and a bloody conclusion to the drama of Tchernychev's raid on Berlin.  

Background and Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

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Thanks for Reading, 

Alex Burns