Published at 13th of February 2023 07:00:14 AM

On January 27, Marshal Hausen, the commander of the German 3rd Army, who was also the front-line commander of the war against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, issued an order to attack.

After two days of rest and recuperation, the German soldiers who had traveled long distances have regained their energy. Both physical and mental strength have returned to their peak. Coupled with the large amount of combat supplies brought in by the logistics force, the time has come for the front-line troops to launch a general attack on Vienna.

"Fire!"

Just arrived at 8 o'clock in the morning, the artillery commander gave the order to fire. 4 armies, 40 infantry divisions and 4 armored divisions, the artillery of those infantry divisions alone is very powerful. 720 150mm heavy howitzers, 1440 105mm light howitzers, 2160 75mm field guns, a total of more than 4,000 cannons, began to bombard Vienna.

Although Vienna is also a world-renowned historical city with a splendid history. However, the German army didn't care about the historical significance of the city at all. In the eyes of these German artillerymen, there is nothing more than a target they are about to destroy. Similarly, the German army has done a lot. For example, Paris, such as London, was also bombed into ruins by the German army.

The artillery strength of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not weak, and the Skoda heavy artillery is famous all over the world. But unfortunately, the Skoda factory is not in Austria, but in the Kingdom of Bohemia. After the German army entered the Kingdom of Bohemia, it immediately occupied the factory. After the war is over, the Krupp factory will be merged here, which will bring the German cannon production capacity and technology to a higher level.

Although, the Austrian army is also equipped with some heavy artillery. It's just that most of these heavy artillery are deployed on the border, not in Vienna. Although the heavy artillery is powerful, it is also very cumbersome, which is not conducive to turning in. Especially when retreating, those cumbersome heavy artillery are not easy to take away. When the Austrian army retreated in a hurry, they didn't even have time to take away the logistics supplies, let alone the weapons and equipment. This made those heavy artillery fall into the hands of the German army.

Qin Tian has long intended to set up a heavy artillery brigade in each group army to further strengthen the artillery strength of the troops. However, because the heavy artillery is too bulky, unless it can be self-propelled, otherwise, it will be too laborious to be dragged by trucks or mules and horses alone.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Orange flames spewed out from the muzzles of the German army, and the shells roared and smashed towards Vienna.

Accompanied by shells falling like raindrops, dense explosions sounded in Vienna. Whether it is the Austrian army positions outside the city or inside the city, there are key targets for German bombardment outside the city.

The fortifications of the Austrian army outside the city were not strong in the first place. Digging trenches and building fortifications has never been what the Austrian army is good at. Most of the fortifications they built were bean curd projects that looked like goods. It is obviously unrealistic to expect such fortifications to withstand the fierce German shelling.

Under the heavy shelling of the German army, these fortifications of the Austrian army were destroyed one after another. Even the officers and soldiers of the Austrian army who hid in the anti-blasting holes were directly buried alive in them.

The heavy German shelling made the Austrian soldiers on the defense line terrified and silent, and the morale of the troops was dropping rapidly. Even though Emperor Karl I of Austria had encouraged them before. But on the battlefield, watching one's comrades-in-arms be buried alive or blown to pieces by shells is undoubtedly a great test for the spirit of the soldiers. Even well-trained troops may not be able to persist, let alone these Austrian soldiers who were not elite. They even wanted to turn around and run away if they could.

However, on the one hand, for this battle, the Austrian army formed a lot of supervising teams. Those supervising teams even set up heavy machine guns directly behind the position, and those who retreated without orders will be shot by the heavy machine guns of the formation team. Rather than dying in the hands of one's own people, it is better to fight the German army desperately. Therefore, most of the Austrian soldiers still stayed in the anti-bunker hole, struggling to support. Another aspect is that the German shelling was too violent. If he escaped from the blast hole, he might die faster. Therefore, even if you want to escape, it is best to wait until the German shelling is over. In that case, it will be relatively safer.

The buildings in Vienna were also reduced to ruins under the heavy shelling of the German army. Although, there are many buildings with a long history. However, now it is also turned into ruins, without any difference.

Fortunately, after the German army arrived in Vienna, the ordinary residents of Vienna fled here. They knew that if war broke out here, they might lose their lives. After all, human life is undoubtedly very fragile in war.

Even the family members of the ministers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire fled Vienna first. Karl I's queen and children were among them. They have already rushed to Trieste one step ahead. At that time, they will leave the Austro-Hungarian Empire on a freighter in advance and head to the United States. Karl I will then rush to the United States to join them. After those inhabitants fled, what was left in Vienna was almost an army. This also allowed the German army to have no worries when launching an offensive.

The shelling of the German army lasted for four hours. The Austrian army's position outside Vienna has become a mess. Even the buildings in the city were destroyed a lot.

The Austrian artillery also tried to launch a counterattack. However, on the one hand, they are outnumbered. On the other hand, the artillery quality of the Austrian army is far from being comparable to that of the German army. This made the Austrian artillery completely at a disadvantage during the battle, and the losses were very large. In order to reduce losses, Archduke Friedrich, the commander of the Austrian army, had to order the artillery to stop this death.

When the German shelling stopped, the German soldiers who had already prepared and had lunch in advance immediately launched an attack.

Four group armies, each invested two infantry divisions, and armored divisions of each group army. The 200,000 German soldiers, like tigers descending from the mountain, rushed towards the Austrian positions.

And those Austrian soldiers who were still in shock and had just walked out of the artillery hole saw the black tanks and the German soldiers who were like wolves and tigers, and they were scared to death immediately. Even the supervisor team could not stop them retreat. The Germans captured the Austrian positions outside Vienna in just one attack.