Chapter 351 Big Victory (100 votes plus updates)

Berzani is just a small town. However, after the 32nd Infantry Division of the 11th Army of the German Army entered here, the whole town became a strong fortress under the construction of the German Army overnight. An infantry division plus more than twenty tanks from the 8th Armored Division made them extremely powerful.

This is an important node for the Russian army to retreat eastward. If the Russian army wanted to make a detour, it would have to climb over the mountains with difficult roads, or take away hundreds of kilometers. This is undoubtedly very difficult for the Russian army who wants to escape.

On October 14, the main force of the Russian Eighth Army arrived in Berzani. However, the storm still took a detour, which made Admiral Brushinov a little undecided. Although there were not many German troops in Berzani, Bruschinov did not dare to underestimate him at all. In this battle, the combat effectiveness of the German army has already been tested in actual combat. Even though the Russian 8th Army still has more than 200,000 people, Bruschinov has no confidence in defeating the Germans and capturing Berzani. Especially under the fierce pursuit of the Austrian 3rd Army. If he delays here for a day or two, maybe the Austro-Hungarian Army will catch up. At that time, he will have to face the unfavorable situation of a dilemma.

"Order the ministries to launch an attack in half an hour. Find a way to take Berzani. Otherwise, we will be finished." Admiral Brushinov ordered.

"Yes, General." The adjutant ordered.

Half an hour later, the 26th Infantry Army under the Russian 8th Army, as the vanguard, took the lead in launching an attack on Berzani.

The Russian army prepared for a period of firepower before attacking. However, because many of their cannons and shells were discarded, their firepower preparations only took about ten minutes, and they barely fired two or three hundred shells. This kind of firepower preparation is not a threat at all to the solid position of the German 32nd Infantry Division.

"Ulla! Ulla!"

After the firepower was prepared, more than 20,000 Russian soldiers charged directly against the defense line of the German 32nd Infantry Division. These Russian soldiers shouted slogans loudly and charged forward fiercely, as if they were not afraid of death at all.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The artillery of the 32nd Infantry Division of the German Army started shelling, and the howitzers and field guns poured shells into the Russian army's formation. Shells exploded in the ranks of the Russian army, taking away fresh lives. At the same time, gaps were left in the queue of the Russian army.

However, the large number of Russian troops makes it easy for them to fill these gaps.

"Da da da!"

When the Russian army approached to only a hundred meters away from the German defense line, the machine guns on the German positions began to shoot. A pair of general-purpose machine guns and squad machine guns formed a cross-fire force, blocking the way forward for the Russian army. The dense bullets, like a steel storm, tore the soldiers of the Russian army to pieces.

"Ulla! Ulla!"

The charging Russian army directly hit the dense firepower of the German army, as if hitting an invisible wall. The Russian army was bloodied and suffered heavy losses.

"Damn! Continue to attack!" Despite this, the losses of the Russian army began to soar. However, the generals of the Russian army, as if ignoring the huge casualties, still demanded that the troops launch a fierce attack. In the eyes of these Russian generals, the lives of these Russian soldiers are not important at all, they are nothing but cannon fodder. No matter how many people die, they will be replenished soon. Therefore, there is no need to feel sorry for the death of these cannon fodder.

The Russian 8th Army launched multiple rounds of attacks in Berzani. However, it still failed to break through the Russian army's defense line, and instead suffered heavy losses. At the same time, the Austrian Third Army gradually caught up.

On October 15, the Austrian 3rd Army completed the encirclement of the Russian 8th Army. There was the German army in the front and the Austrian army in the back, which made the Russian 3rd Army fall into a desperate situation.

After the Russian 8th Army was surrounded, it launched several breakouts. However, except for a very small number of troops, the rest of the Russian army failed to break through.

Finally, on the afternoon of October 16, the hundreds of thousands of Russian troops in the encirclement put down their weapons and surrendered to the German-Austrian coalition forces. Of course, General Brushinov, commander of the Russian Eighth Army, was not among the surrendered Russian generals. In fact, it was precisely because General Brushinov, who had a tough attitude, broke through the encirclement that the other Russian generals who remained in the encirclement no longer had to be afraid and chose to surrender. If Admiral Bruschinov was still within the encirclement, they wouldn't have dared to surrender to the German-Austrian coalition with their courage.

The surrender of the main force of the Russian 8th Army made the main force of the Russian Army already exist in name only. They originally had 300,000 troops, but now the remaining troops will not exceed 10,000.

Even if Admiral Brushinov waited for the generals of the Russian 8th Army to escape and get supplements, it would take a long time for the 8th Army to regain its combat effectiveness.

The Russian 8th Army was almost wiped out, which was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the Russian Southwest Front Army. Among the four subordinate armies, two are already dead in name only. Moreover, the remaining two are also at stake.

The 3rd Army of the Russian Army, because the deployment position is relatively north. Therefore, their retreat routes are almost always under the threat of the German army. The main force of the German 8th Army and the 2nd Austrian Army flanked the 3rd Russian Army.

As a last resort, General Rusky, the commander of the Russian Third Army, had to choose to retreat in small groups to avoid being blocked by the main force of the German-Austrian coalition forces.

However, even with this method, the main force of the Russian Third Army still did not escape the pursuit of the German and Austrian allied forces. During the battle, the reconnaissance planes of the 8th Air Force of the German army provided intelligence support for the German and Austrian allied forces throughout the process, making it impossible for the Austrian army to escape.

In the end, the Russian Third Army only escaped tens of thousands of people.

The 11th Army of the Russian Army had better luck. Because they were deployed in the southernmost place, and at the same time pursuing their Austrian 4th Army, their combat effectiveness was the worst. Therefore, the remaining 200,000 people of the Russian 11th Army basically escaped the pursuit and fled back to Russia. But even so, the German-Austrian coalition forces wiped out millions of Russian troops in this battle and won an extremely brilliant victory.