Amadeus, in preparation for his departure, at…

Prussia begins the 1761 campaign with just one hundred thousand available troops, many of them new recruits, and its situation seems desperate.

However, the Austrian and Russian forces are also heavily depleted and cannot launch a major offensive.

In February 1761 Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick surprises French troops at Langensalza, then advances to besiege Cassel in March.

He is forced to lift the siege and retreat after French forces regroup and capture several thousand of his men at the Battle of Grünberg.

At the Battle of Villinghausen, forces under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick defeat a ninety-two thousand-man French army.

On the eastern front, progress is very slow.

The Russian army is heavily dependent upon its main magazines in Poland, and the Prussian army launches several successful raids against them.

One of them, led by general Platen in September results in the loss of two thousand Russians, mostly captured, and the destruction of five thousand wagons.

Deprived of men, the Prussians have to resort to this new sort of warfare, raiding, to delay the advance of their enemies.

Nonetheless, at the end of the year, they suffer two critical setbacks.

The Russians under Zakhar Chernyshev and Pyotr Rumyantsev storm Kolberg in Pomerania, while the Austrians capture Schweidnitz.

The loss of Kolberg costs Prussia its last port on the Baltic Sea.

A major problem for the Russians throughout the war has always been their weak logistics, which have prevented their generals from following up their victories, and now with the fall of Kolberg, the Russians can at long last supply their armies in Central Europe via the sea.

The fact that the Russians can now supply their armies over the sea, which is considerably faster and safer (Prussian cavalry cannot intercept Russian ships in the Baltic) than over the land threatens to swing the balance of power decisively against Prussia.

In Britain, it is speculated that a total Prussian collapse is now imminent.