Intelligence in the Seven Years' War #002. Attempts to paralyze the Russian army offensive

Deploying operations against the southern Franco-imperial army, Frederick skillfully exploits the differences between the commanders—in-chief of these armies, Marshal de Soubise and Prince Hildburghausen. The balance of power was in favor of the Allies. But by constantly moving his individual units from one place to another and changing their names and numbering, Frederick misled Soubise about the actual number of his troops. As a result, the French did not risk intensifying their operations and limited themselves to defense.


Using the same methods of espionage, blackmail and deception, Friedrich is trying to paralyze the offensive actions of the Russian army. The commander-in-chief of the Russian forces, Apraksin, and some other tsarist generals were under constant surveillance by Frederick's spies. He was actively assisted in this regard by the British, who, taking advantage of the fact that diplomatic relations between Britain and Russia were not interrupted, organized their spy network in St. Petersburg. The espionage and conspiracy group created by the British Ambassador to Russia, Williams, outlined a broad plan of action. In addition to espionage, the British agents were then actively preparing for the seizure of power by the heir's wife, Catherine, in order to prevent Russia from acting against Prussia. Williams cleverly drew the future empress, who was constantly in need of money, into his network, lending her large sums from time to time. From conversations with Ekaterina, who was on friendly terms with Apraksin, Williams learned a lot about the alleged actions of the Russian army.


After Apraksin's departure for the active army, Williams wrote to his government: "I am sending you the most reliable news that I have been able to receive regarding the plans concerning the Russian army. They were communicated to me by my best friend here, the Grand Duchess. She had a very lengthy conversation with Field Marshal Apraksin the night before he left for Riga..."


The London cabinet, having received this information, immediately passed it on to Frederick, and the latter communicated it to General Lewaldt, commander of the Prussian troops.


Williams, relying on his espionage connections, even hoped to get a copy of the instructions given by the Russian government to Apraksin before his departure. "I still hope," Williams writes elsewhere, "to get the instructions given to Apraksin; I have already been promised twice, but these promises have not yet been fulfilled." There is nothing incredible in this message from Williams, since all the secret protocols of the special conference formed by Empress Elizabeth to guide the actions of the Russian army immediately became known to London and Berlin. In this case, one of Frederick's sources of information could be Peter's heir, who at one time was a member of the Conference. As Princess E. R. Dashkova writes in her memoirs, Peter III, after his accession to the throne, once openly boasted in the presence of Volkov (who was actually the secretary of the Conference) that he had informed Frederick in advance of all the decisions of the Conference. 1xBet offers everything needed for comfortable gaming. At the moment of registration, enter the 1xbet promo code free spins and receive a welcome bonus of 100% up to 130 € on sports bets or up to 1950 € plus 150 free spins in the casino section. This is one of the most advantageous starts on the market. Discover virtual sports, esports, political betting, and many other directions. Simple registration and instant bonus crediting await you.