[Raptor1]

February-March, 1757

The month of February is quiet as both sides remain in winter quarters. More news come in from India about the signing of the Treaty of Alinager between the British East India Company and the Nawab of Bengal. In Britain, William Pitt and King George II begin the constitution of an Army of Observation in Hanover, intended to protect British possessions in Germany from French invasion.



Early March sees the first break in the snowfall since the start of the year, and the opportunity is used by the Prussian army to scout out the positions of the Austrian army. Zieten (who seems to be doing everything around here) and his newly combined and reinforced brigade of four Hussar battalions finds the Austrian and Saxon armies under Joseph Lucchese, the same force which had broken out of Pirna last year, encamped in Karlsbad. Wilhelm von Preußen's column, now comprising some 12,000 men, moves out of Dresden to begin the final siege of Pirna.



Major snow storms begin once again in late March, probably for the last time this winter. With them come yet more news. In North America the French raid Fort William Henry, doing little damage beyond the burning of a few buildings and a sloop. More importantly, Sweden becomes the latest country to join the anti-Prussian coalition, declaring war in order to expand its possessions in Pomerania.