Bitterly disappointed, Frederick raised the siege of Prague and fell back with his shattered army to Nürnberg. They were obliged to dismount many times on the way to water the horses, and on one of these occasions an old trooper brought Frederick a refreshing draught of water in his steel cap, and handing it to him, said in the heartiest way, “Drink, Your Majesty, and let battles be battles. You are living—that is good. The Almighty also lives, and He will give us victory again.” The King looked at him and replied with a quiet smile: “Do you really think so, old fellow?” The trooper nodded assent, and soon they were on the march again. The King was in an unusually gloomy mood, and at such times no one ventured to disturb him. When they reached Nürnberg he went off by himself without saying a word to anyone, and sat down upon an old waste-pipe, where he remained some time in deep thought, scratching curious figures in the sand with a stick. Observing this, his officers stepped more quietly and watched him with much curiosity. Suddenly he rose and said to those about him, “Gentlemen, it is time for action. We must not loiter.” Without showing any sign of his great disappointment over his defeat, he issued the necessary commands, and his aides were at once busy in distributing them. Even the appearance of his splendid guard, which had been so sorely treated at Kollin that out of a thousand men only two hundred were unharmed in the fight, did not disturb his composure in the least. “Children,” he said with much feeling, “you have had a hard day. But have patience, dear friends; I will make it all right yet.” The King’s enemies were joyful over the news of his defeat at Kollin, and decided it would be wise to attack him on all sides. In the east the Russians invaded Prussia with one hundred thousand men. The Swedes, to prove their bravery, attacked Pomerania, but were driven back by General Belling. General Lehwald, however, was less fortunate in his operations against the Russians, as he had an army of only thirty-two thousand men. He was overpowered in an engagement at Grossjägerndorf and compelled to retreat. The Russians might easily have advanced to Brandenburg had they followed up their advantage, but their General Apraxin fell back still nearer the eastern Prussian frontier. This extraordinary movement can only be explained in one way. Apraxin had received express orders from the warlike Empress Elizabeth to press operations with vigor, but he had also been instructed by Grand Duke Peter to go slow and take matters easily, for he much preferred to have Frederick a good neighbor in the future than an enemy.