It was thought, therefore, that he must have some good ground for
his insistence; and Daun sent off the reserve of horse, and several
other regiments drawn from the left wing, and himself went off at a
trot, at their head, to see what was the matter.

It was just as he started that the Prussians--with their music
playing, and the men singing:

Gieb dass ich thu mit fleiss was mir zu thun gebuhret
(Grant that with zeal and strength this day I do)

had passed Radaxford and reached Lobetintz, and were about to
advance in an oblique line to the attack. The king saw with delight
the removal of so large a body of horse from the very point against
which his troops would, in half an hour, be hurling themselves.
Nothing could have suited his plans better.

At a rapid pace, and with a precision and order as perfect as if
upon level ground, suddenly the Prussians poured over the swells on
the flank of Sagschuetz. Nadasti, who commanded the Austrians
there, was struck with astonishment at the spectacle of the
Prussian army, which he believed to be far away, pouring down on
his flank. The heads of the four columns, the artillery, and
Ziethen's cavalry appeared simultaneously, marching swiftly and
making no pause.

Being a good general, he lost not a moment in endeavouring to meet
the storm. His left was thrown back a little, a battery of fourteen
guns at the angle so formed opened fire, and he launched his
cavalry against that of Ziethen. For the moment Ziethen's men were
pushed back, but the fire from an infantry battalion, close by,
checked the Austrian horse. They fell back out of range, and
Ziethen, making a counter charge, drove them away.

In the meantime the Prussian infantry, as they advanced, poured a
storm of fire upon the Austrian line, aided by a battery of ten
heavy guns that Prince Maurice, who commanded here, had planted on
a rise. A clump of fir trees, held by Croats in advance of the
Austrian line, was speedily cleared; and then the Prussians broke
down the abattis that protected the enemy's front, charged
furiously against the infantry, and drove these before them,
capturing Nadasti's battery.

In ten minutes after the beginning of the fight, the position of
the Austrian left was already desperate. The whole Prussian army
was concentrated against it and, being on its flank, crumpled the
line up as it advanced. Prince Karl's aides-de-camp galloped at the
top of their speed to bring Daun and the cavalry bac