Background
For 1760, the Prussian Lieutenant-General Heinrich August de la Motte Fouqué, at the head of approximately 13,000 men, was assigned to the defence of the Silesian frontier. He had his headquarters at Landeshut (present-day Kamienna Góra). On the Austrian side,Feldzeugmeister Ernst Gideon Baron Loudon was stationed on the Moravian border with 32,000 men.
Around mid March, Fouqué assembled his force at Steinau and Oberglogau.
At the end of May, Loudon assembled his army at Rothkosteletz (present day Červený Kostelec). On May 29, Loudon quit Rothkosteletz and broke in upon Silesia, a long way to eastward of Fouqué. Fearing for Schweidnitz (present-day Swidnica) and even Breslau (present-day Wroclaw), Fouqué hastened down into the plain to manoeuvre upon Loudon. The Austrian seized this opportunity to capture Landeshut. On June 11, Frederick II sent order to Fouqué to recapture Landeshut which was done by June 17. However, he was now occupying a large area with insufficient troops. Loudon manoeuvred to encircle his positions. By June 23, he was ready to launch an attack on the Prussian positions.
Since 1758, the Prussian had fortified the position of Landeshut. A line of entrenchments ran southward from the Leuschnerberg to the Mummelberg. Behind these entrenchments, a star redoubt had been erected on top of the Thiemberg. Furthermore, small redoubts crowned the Mummelberg and the Buchberg further south. This line of entrenchments was extended southward by several flèches along the hills of Tielgberg, Preisberg, Rabenberg and Ziederberg.
Immediately to the south of the town of Landeshut, there were other fortified positions: on the Kirchberg, Galgenberg, Hahnberg and Blasdorferberg.
Loudon, with 31,000 horse and foot, advanced in 4 columns on Fouqué’s positions. The first column (A on the map), under Loudon’s direct command, marched on Vogelsdorf to turn the Prussian left wing. The second column (C on the map), under Müffling, was charged to conquer the Mummelberg. These 2 columns were supported by General Campitelli (B on the map) with 14 bns. The third column, under Gaisruck (D on the map), attacked the Buchberg. Finally, the fourth column (E on the map) under Jahnus and Wolfersdorf, planned to attack the Prussian right towards Blasdorf. Thus the Austrians were attacking the Prussian southward front, both flanks and the rear.
http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=1760-06-23_-_Battle_of_Landeshut
Game
Scenario Rules:
- Prussian Amy is defender and is deployed on the table.
- Austrian Army is the attacker and enters the table from historical march positions.
- Prussian forward and flank units deployed in redoubts. All Prussian formations on defend or support orders.
- All Austrian formations are on attack orders.
- First side to break their opponent is the winner.
Forces:
- Prussian forces include 19 Infantry battalions, 2 Grenadier battalions, 3 Cavalry regiments and 3 large Artillery batteries.
- Austrian forces include 31 Infantry battalions, 8 Grenzer battalions, 14 Cavalry regiments and 3 batteries of Artillery.
Austrians march to the sweep the Prussians from the field.
Austrian forces attempt to swing around Prussian left flank, but get into a bit of a traffic jam.
Austrians begin frontal assaults on the Prussian redoubts.
Prussian center redoublt hold on for dear life, while forces on the left attempt to re-anchor line.
Austrian right stalls awaiting clearance of Prussian center redoubt.
Prussians reinforce their center, while the Austrian cavalry attempts to outflank the center redoubt.
Thin blue line continues to hold as reinforcement push Austrian cavalry back across the river defense line.
Prussian reinforcements unhinge Austrian center columns. Austrian right attempts to break into Prussian positions, but is rebuffed. Austrian forces in the center are routed, while the right is exhausted.
Austrian left flank begins to sweep against Prussian right redoubts.
Austrians manage to clear one Prussian redoubt and begin to work on the next hard point. Unfortunately, their frontal assaults are costly and result in total exhaustion of the Austrian left column.
Outcome: Due to the heavy losses suffered in making frontal assaults on the Prussian redoubts and traffic jams caused by counter marching Austrian cavalry column, the Austrian attack proceeds too slowly and finally runs out of steam. The outnumbered Prussians are able to use their redoubts as anvils and use their remaining forces to completely outmaneuver and exhaust the Austrian army. The game ends as a counter-factual Prussian victory!
– Manteuffel