Your ears are only accustomed to the language of flatterers; Daun didn't flatter you, and you see the aftermath.
Daun is the Austrian general who capitalized on the botched Prussian retreat from Bohemia. So you see the shade-throwing here.
He wasn't the only one finding himself in this position. The Prince of Bevern in Breslau, Schmettau in Dresden and Finck at Maxen had all, by following the King's orders against their better knowledge, experienced a fiacso. They were all punished with disgrace, with a casheering.
What the verb tense doesn't make it clear here is that all of these were in AW's future, so this is a commentary on Fritz's leadership style, not a list of examples that AW would have had in mind. AW was one of the first victims of Fritz's scapegoating during the Seven Years' War.
Heinrich: I will do both! I will be cautious and also decisive and never make mistakes of action or inaction. Cashier THAT, Big Bro!
Fritz: Well done! You never made a mistake. Just think if you had.
Meanwhile, the following year (1758) at Hochkirch: Fritz's most experienced generals: We're camped in a really vulnerable position! "If they don't attack us here, they deserve to be hanged." Fritz: "It is to be hoped that they fear us more than the hangman." [Actual quotes.] It'll be fine, everyone. Unsaddle your horses, settle in, go to sleep. Fritz: *goes to sleep* Generals: Unsaddle your horses, men, since the fucking King isn't listening. But resaddle them at midnight, because the Austrians are going to attack tonight, I guarantee it. Austrians: *attack at night* Prussians: *are semi-prepared, no thanks to Fritz* Prussian generals: Somebody wake up the fucking King and tell him the battle's on. Fritz: *is chronically sleep-deprived and very hard to wake up* Prussian army: *stops just short of being totally annihilated* In part because Fritz, once awake, does manage to pull together a decent defense and retreat with great personal courage. But it's still a catastrophic defeat*.
After the catastrophic defeat: Fritz: Mistakes were made.
This is where I'm like, "Fritz! It's okay if you're not the greatest tactician ever, there are tactical specialists and you're a polymath, but the hypocrisy about mistakes has got to stop! It's okay to make mistakes. Learn from your mistakes, make new mistakes. Let your people learn from their mistakes!"
* Enough that Lehndorff (wrongly) thinks it will overshadow Wilhelmine's death for Fritz. Wilhelmine dies the day of this battle. The news reaches Fritz a few days later. He takes her death much harder than the defeat. He spends his life wrestling with the rational belief that his defeat couldn't have killed her, and the emotional sense of guilt that it did.
Re: Brotherly Conduct III: The Aftermath
A couple additional historical notes for
Your ears are only accustomed to the language of flatterers; Daun didn't flatter you, and you see the aftermath.
Daun is the Austrian general who capitalized on the botched Prussian retreat from Bohemia. So you see the shade-throwing here.
He wasn't the only one finding himself in this position. The Prince of Bevern in Breslau, Schmettau in Dresden and Finck at Maxen had all, by following the King's orders against their better knowledge, experienced a fiacso. They were all punished with disgrace, with a casheering.
What the verb tense doesn't make it clear here is that all of these were in AW's future, so this is a commentary on Fritz's leadership style, not a list of examples that AW would have had in mind. AW was one of the first victims of Fritz's scapegoating during the Seven Years' War.
Heinrich: I will do both! I will be cautious and also decisive and never make mistakes of action or inaction. Cashier THAT, Big Bro!
Fritz: Well done! You never made a mistake.
Just think if you had.Meanwhile, the following year (1758) at Hochkirch:
Fritz's most experienced generals: We're camped in a really vulnerable position! "If they don't attack us here, they deserve to be hanged."
Fritz: "It is to be hoped that they fear us more than the hangman." [Actual quotes.] It'll be fine, everyone. Unsaddle your horses, settle in, go to sleep.
Fritz: *goes to sleep*
Generals: Unsaddle your horses, men, since the fucking King isn't listening. But resaddle them at midnight, because the Austrians are going to attack tonight, I guarantee it.
Austrians: *attack at night*
Prussians: *are semi-prepared, no thanks to Fritz*
Prussian generals: Somebody wake up the fucking King and tell him the battle's on.
Fritz: *is chronically sleep-deprived and very hard to wake up*
Prussian army: *stops just short of being totally annihilated* In part because Fritz, once awake, does manage to pull together a decent defense and retreat with great personal courage. But it's still a catastrophic defeat*.
After the catastrophic defeat:
Fritz: Mistakes were made.
This is where I'm like, "Fritz! It's okay if you're not the greatest tactician ever, there are tactical specialists and you're a polymath, but the hypocrisy about mistakes has got to stop! It's okay to make mistakes. Learn from your mistakes, make new mistakes. Let your people learn from their mistakes!"
* Enough that Lehndorff (wrongly) thinks it will overshadow Wilhelmine's death for Fritz. Wilhelmine dies the day of this battle. The news reaches Fritz a few days later. He takes her death much harder than the defeat. He spends his life wrestling with the rational belief that his defeat couldn't have killed her, and the emotional sense of guilt that it did.