Chapter 1,336 The Night Before the Storm

Chapter 1336 The Night Before the Storm

On February 15, 1913, the continuous roar of artillery finally slowly kicked off the war. On a front line of hundreds of kilometers in the west and southwest directions of Russian Poland, the Austro-Hungarian Army and the Army undertook a feint attack. The Bavarian Army launched the first round of offensive this year! After one to two hours of artillery preparation, the German troops, who had rested for the whole winter, rushed towards the target through the snow in early spring.

"The Germans have taken action. Telegrams for help have been sent from Lodz, Tomaszow and other places. The Third Army is under great pressure. The outermost defense line has been broken through. General Macaro has begun to invest his troops one by one. Reserve." In Warsaw, in the center of the Russian frontline base camp, Borusinov, who serves as the chief of general staff, reported the latest battle situation to the frontline commander, General Nikolayev.

"Let's take a look at the sand table and analyze the current situation." Nikolayev led everyone to the huge sand table. From the sand table, everyone could clearly see the current form. After a winter of integration, , although the number of group armies on the front line has been reduced to 5, the strength of each group army has been greatly enhanced. A group army has about 300,000 troops, which was unimaginable at the beginning of the war.

The reason for this situation is that in addition to the opponent being too powerful and requiring more and more efficient concentrated forces, another reason is that equipment is given priority. Although the size of the group army has generally increased by more than 60% compared with before, the number of equipment has not. Corresponding improvement, if the original organization is still maintained, the equipment will be too scattered. Centralized firepower is the only way to capture a large number of weapons and equipment that should be assigned to lower-level units to higher-level units when the density of heavy equipment is insufficient. , in order to launch a decisive offensive at the critical moment, but the price is that the lower-level units will be very, very miserable when they confront the enemy at the same level!

At present, the deployment of Russia's five armies is as follows. The defense core of the First Army is East Prussia. The strength of this army is not strong, only about 280,000 people, but in the eyes of the Russians, it is the safest and most consolidated. , because this force relies on the defense line built before the war began, and although it is a plain, there are many woods, and there are fortresses in easy-to-pass places. Relying on the reinforced concrete fortifications and the artillery and machine guns inside, senior Russian military officials, including Borusinov, believed that this place was safe.

Then deployed along the border between the two sides were the Second Army and the Third Army. The Second Army had 350,000 troops, and they were better equipped. Their location happened to be in the confrontation between Russia and Germany. According to the plan, it was used for Defend Mackensen's East Prussian Army, as well as part of the Bavarian Army. The Third Army was located near the border of what would become Czechoslovakia. This unit had only 300,000 troops. Its main role was to defend the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Because the combat effectiveness of the Austro-Hungarian Army was very poor, the Russians did not care much about their opponents. . It is certain that the military strength and combat effectiveness are slightly weaker.

After a quick circle counterclockwise, in the area from Lublin to the south of Brest, here is another heavy troop group of the Russians. There are 400,000 Russian troops concentrated here, and the strength is the highest among the five armies in Russian Poland. ! And the equipment is also the best,

All division-level rapid-fire artillery are almost full, and the full rate of heavy artillery is over 70%! This force is personally commanded by Kuropatkin, and is even equipped with a specialized air force and more than 30% of Russia's current truck anti-tank gun units.

There is a reason why the Fourth Army has such a strong force, because the Russians determined that the main force of the Bavarian Army would be in this position, because last year the Bavarian Army was deeply wedged into the Russian position from here, and in the winter, Li Prince Opode has secured Romania again. At least 6 divisions of troops are still here. The Russians also realize that the Germans may stab them again from the back of their heads. Therefore, no matter how difficult the situation is, Next, the defenders here are still the strongest! This huge organization can be called an army group! Even at the beginning of the war in history, the two armies on the northwest front that launched the offensive against Germany together were far inferior to this last elite Russian regiment!

"This army group has been able to gather up to 1,800 artillery pieces so far. I really underestimate the Russians. I am under a lot of pressure." In a German telegram, Prince Leopold once said this semi-seriously He said half-jokingly.

The remaining troops were concentrated in the Warsaw area as the general reserve for the entire theater. The total strength of this force is about 250,000, with average equipment and a rear position. It is personally commanded by Commander-in-Chief Nikolayev. It is the last safety rope of the Russian army on the entire front. In the Russian plan, most of this force will be used to support the southern front.

"The situation faced by the Third Army is not serious. It is normal for the front line of defense to be breached, because this is originally a warning line and is only used for warning." Nikolayev paused and said. "On the main position, they will be beaten to death. Just let the Third Army deal with it on its own."

"What's the situation like with the Second Army?" Nikolayev then asked.

"It's very bad. Mackensen's army has launched an attack. Under the guidance of a large number of tanks, it has laid several wedges on our defense line. The two sides are fighting around these wedges. The reserve troops began to move forward, hoping to Control the breach," said an officer nearby.

"Very good, now we can at least play vigorously with each other, which is good." Nikolayev said with a sigh of relief. You know, in last year's battle, the German armored forces may have been stopped, but they would never stop any shallower and deeper. Therefore, although the defense line has been opened several breaches, Nikolayev must also use To describe it as a good fight. Because the fight was really good….

"Everyone, haven't you discovered a very strange problem that can even be described as serious? The opponent's attack this time was too scattered, too disorganized, and too weak!" Borusinov hesitated again and again. Still expressed his point of view.

"There are only two possibilities. The first possibility is that the Bavarian Legion did not participate in the battle. The second possibility is that they have some conspiracy." As he spoke, Borusinov quickly walked forward and picked up the putter next to the sand table. Said, "To the southeast of us, there is a vast plain, which is perfect for a large corps assault, but this line of defense is not solid. After all, we have only built it for less than 3 months!"

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