123 THE SEVEN YEARS WAR, 1756-63Kolin, then descended in the path of his hussars. He had to scamper
back at some speed when powerful forces of Austrian cavalry were
detected beyond Zdanitz, but Frederick resumed the march later in
the day, and at Malotitz he was joined by Bevern's army and four
detached battalions under the command of Lieutenant-General
Tresckow. In order to complete his concentration Frederick sent word
to Prince Moritz to bring up all the disposable troops from the
neighbourhood of Prague.
The reassembled Prussian army rested at Malotitz on 15 June,
and Frederick still could not bring himself to believe that Daun's
main force was in the immediate vicinity. The countiy round about
was a small-scale landscape of hillocks and steep-sided bushy hol-
lows, and the Capitaine des Guides Gaudi accordingly climbed the
church tower of Ober-Krut, from where, in the afternoon sun, he had
a clear view of the white tents of part of the left wing of the Austrian
army just three miles away. Frederick at first gave no credence to this
report.
In an atmosphere of rising tension the army waited in the
Malotitz camp throughout the 16th. There was now little doubt that
Daun's army was in the offing, and that the Prussians were facing the
prospect of a new battle less than five weeks after the carnage of 6
May. Frederick's reader Catt learnt afterwards from 'personnes sfires'
that Bevern advised the king against launching a new assault on the
Austrians. While he was speaking, the reinforcements from Prague
arrived at the camp, and Frederick drew Moritz into the conversa-
tion. That intelligent ignoramus cried out: 'Your Majesty, your
presence alone is worth 50,000 men! You must attack!' (Catt, 1884,
237). In gross physical terms Frederick probably had little more than
35,000 troops under his command, and he was going to commit them
in battle against about 53,000 Austrian effectives (Hoen, 1911, 28).
The Austrian infantry alone was probably equal in number to the
entire Prussian army.
A convoy of carts from Nimburg arrived on the morning of 17
June carrying bread for six days, and in the afternoon the army moved
to the left in two columns in the direction of the Kaiser-Strasse. This
was the finest road in Cental Europe, and it might offer possibilities of
turning the Austrian army from the north. During the march, how-
ever, Frederick looked east across the pond of Swojschitz and caught
sight of the Austrians drawn up on the rounded hills on the far side. In
other words Daun had sensed his intention, and had shuffled the
enemy army north during the night. The Prussians encamped near
Kaurschim, and at 8 p.m. the outposts espied great clouds of dust from
the Austrian camp. Daun was on the move again. He had abandoned
most of his original westward-facing position, and he was now