Prussian Preparations
Information from captured Austrian soldiers allowed Frederick to determine the exact location of Neipperg's forces and position at Mollwitz. The morning fog and snow allowed Frederick's army to advance undetected all the way to within 2000 paces of Neipperg's army camp. Most commanders would have then given the order to charge the camp and rout the Austrian army, but since Frederick had never fought a campaign or a battle before, he instead decided to deploy his army in a battle line. There was very heavy snow on the ground which caused snow-blindness and so Frederick miscalculated the distance between the river on his right. He deployed several of his units behind a bend in the river where they would be unable to take part in the battle, and several more units were deployed perpendicular to his two battle lines on the right side. It is said that Schwerin commented early on that Frederick made a mistake in his calculation of the distance but was ignored.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Mollwitz
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“The most evident difference between man and animals is this: the beast, in as much as it is largely motivated by the senses and with little perception of the past or future, lives only for the present. But man, because he is endowed with reason by which he is able to perceive relationships, sees the causes of things, understands the reciprocal nature of cause and effect, makes analogies, easily surveys the whole course of his life, and makes the necessary preparations for its conduct.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)