Chapter 332 Fierce Battle

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

In the eastern part of the Carpathian Mountains, the Russian army and the Austrian army, with more than 1.5 million people on both sides, launched a fierce offensive and defensive battle on the 200-kilometer-long defense line. Whether it is the Russian army on the offensive side or the Austrian army on the defensive side, they have almost used all their strength.

As soon as the battle started, the artillery of both sides engaged in a fierce exchange of fire. The Russian army attempted to use artillery fire to destroy the Austrian fortifications, preferably to destroy the Austrian will to resist. Similarly, the Austrian army also hopes to use powerful artillery fire to cause greater damage to the Russian army, so that they can be in a favorable position in the following defensive operations to complete this combat mission.

"Boom! Boom!"

The 76.2mm artillery shells fired by the Russian army fell on the positions of the Austrian army. The fortifications built by the Austrian army were bombed to pieces, and occasionally Austrian soldiers were killed. The rest of the Austrian soldiers either hid in the anti-gun holes, or lay on the bottom of the trench, hugging their heads tightly, praying to God that the Russian shells would not fall on their heads.

The morale of the Austrian army was relatively low. They held more advanced weapons than the Russian army, but they were defeated by the Russian army in the previous stage of the battle. This was undoubtedly a serious blow to the morale of the Austrian army. Of course, when the Russian army fought, they were not afraid of death, and their fighting will was much stronger than that of the Austrian soldiers.

"God! The Russian shelling is too violent. If we stay here, we will be killed. Should we retreat?" A young Austrian soldier said to his comrades with fear in his eyes.

"Idiot! Run away now? Do you want to be shot by the military police? The officer has already issued an order. In this battle, if you don't get an order, you must not retreat without authorization." An elderly soldier scolded.

The young soldier's heart tightened suddenly. He turned around with a guilty conscience and saw that a team of military police was standing there more than a hundred meters away from their line of defense. In front of the gendarmes, a heavy machine gun was set up. There is no doubt that if they dare to escape this time, those military police will not hesitate to use heavy machine guns to shoot. The young Austrian soldier had no choice but to suppress the idea of ​​fleeing, and continued to squat in the trench.

Baron Marshal Herzendorf, in order to prevent the Austrian army from retreating without taking possession, specially dispatched a large number of military police to the front line. These gendarmes have only one mission, and that is to deter those weak-willed troops and let them be firmly nailed to the front line after the battle begins. The escape of these cowards must not cause the entire front to be defeated.

Under the deterrence of the military police, the soldiers of the Austrian army could only bite the bullet and fight the battle, instead of being easily intimidated by the Russian army as before. In fact, as long as they overcome the fear in their hearts and display the power of the weapons in their hands, not to mention defeating the Russian army, but holding their own defense line, there is no problem at all.

The Austrian artillery, in the fierce counterattack, has achieved a lot of results. Their heavy artillery suppression caused a lot of losses to the artillery of the Russian army.

The front line of Lesko, this is the key area for the attack of the Russian 3rd Army. The 3rd Army has assembled half of its troops, hoping to break through here. After capturing Lesko, they crossed the Carpathian Mountains and attacked the Hungarian Plain.

"General, our artillery has lost a lot. The Austrian artillery fire is very fierce. Up to now, we have destroyed 7 artillery positions and lost more than 100 cannons." The artillery commander reported to Admiral Ruski .

"Damn it, how could this be? The state of the enemy army on the opposite side seems to be different! When we fought with them before, their shelling was definitely not so violent." Admiral Rusky frowned tightly.

"General, do we still want to continue shelling? If this continues, I'm afraid it won't be long before all our cannons will be lost." The artillery commander said.

Admiral Ruski thought for a while, then said: "Ten minutes! Let the artillery hold on for another ten minutes. In ten minutes, the infantry will attack! I hope they can break through the enemy's defense line in one fell swoop."

"Yes, General!"

The Russian artillery withdrew from the battle after ten minutes. The remaining cannons retreated to the woods to hide. The artillery battle just now also made the artillerymen of the Russian army tremble with fear. After all, although the artillery seems to be safe, the artillery battle is still very tragic. No one knows when the enemy's shells will fall from the sky and blow themselves to pieces.

Especially in this battle, the Austrian artillery performed very well, which made the Russian artillery even more worried. Fortunately, the order to retreat was issued, and they finally survived.

When the Russian artillery withdrew from the battle, the Russian infantry immediately launched an attack.

"Come on! Tear the enemy's line of defense and kill them all!"

"Ulla! Ulla!"

Countless Russian soldiers jumped out of the trenches and rushed to the Austrian positions. They chanted slogans and charged forward indomitably, like a gray tide, flocking to the front line of the Austrian army.

"Quick! Get into position, the Russians are attacking."

"My God! There are so many Russians. Can we withstand their attack?"

After many Austrian soldiers entered the position, seeing this scene, their scalps tingled with fright.

"Quick, fire! Stop those Russians from approaching our position. If our position is breached, everyone will die." The officers of the Austrian army ordered loudly.

Even, in order to take care of soldiers who speak different languages, they have to give orders in multiple languages. This is undoubtedly a great test for these officers.

After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was a multi-ethnic country. This dual empire consisted of more than a dozen kingdoms, duchies, and marquises. Each country had its own language. Therefore, it is a severe test for any commander to command such a multilingual unit.

"Fire!"

"Da da da! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Following the commander's order, all kinds of firepower of the Austrian army started shooting one after another. Heavy machine guns and light machine guns all started firing violently. The rifles in the hands of the soldiers also started shooting one after another.

Suddenly, intensive firepower enveloped the attacking Russian army. Countless Russian soldiers were shot and fell to the ground. However, even so, it still failed to scare these Russian soldiers. They passed the corpses of their comrades and continued to attack the Austrian positions.