Chapter 1141 Study
Austro-Hungarian Empire Command.
At this time, the headquarters has become a vegetable market. Telegrams and phone calls from all directions are ringing in the headquarters. The telegraph receivers and telephone operators are reporting information from all directions at the top of their lungs.
Changes in the front line, troops requesting artillery support, pushback from Serbia somewhere, or urging war from the direction of Vienna, etc., messy information gathered at Potiorek's headquarters .
It can be said that Potiorek is receiving new information every moment, and must make corresponding judgments in a short time, and then issue orders.
The atmosphere in the entire Austro-Hungarian army headquarters was very tense, and the sound of artillery fire coming from time to time made the headquarters even more depressing.
"Report to the general that the 104th Infantry Brigade directly under the Fifth Army has captured the town of Antale and is advancing towards the village of Moka."
Potiolek: "Very good , let them seize the village of Moka before ten o'clock and advance towards Zladipol."
"General, a telegram from the direction of Vienna, His Royal Highness is asking us about the battlefield situation."
Today, the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire’s army is mainly in charge of Crown Prince Rudolf. The situation is very different from that in the previous life. In the previous life, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had to watch the battle in person because of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. Every move he made was obviously unfriendly to an eighty-year-old man.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire in this time and space was much stronger. Crown Prince Rudolf could share the pressure of Franz. Although Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, he was not killed. Although he could not directly participate in the war, he could still participate in military decision-making from the rear.
Potiolek said to the correspondent: "Call back to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Our army is moving unimpeded in Serbia and we guarantee that we will reach Belgrade within three days."
So far, The war was still under Potiorek's control and developing in the direction he expected.
At this time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had all the advantages. In addition to the local legions in Bosnia, Potiorek also had two relatively elite army groups under his command.
They are the Second Group Army and the Fifth Group respectively. The Second Group Army has four corps and five divisions, while the Fifth Group Army has two corps and three brigades.
The weapons, equipment and material reserves of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were far superior to those of the Serbian army.
Of course, there is a big gap between the Austro-Hungarian Empire's Fifth Army and the Second Army, especially when dealing with the Serbian army, which shows an obvious lack of experience.
The commander-in-chief of the Serbian campaign is Marshal Putnik, a traditional Serbian soldier who participated in the Serbian-Turkish War twice and later the Serbian-Bulgarian War. He had just experienced the first battle before. The Second Balkan War had a very impressive record, having gone through several major wars.
In comparison, Potiorek seems a bit unremarkable. The most important thing is that he was favored by Franz and the Chief of General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Conrad. As for the war, first in There was experience on the Staff and later as General of the Imperial Artillery.
He joined the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s General Staff in 1879. At this time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had no war for him to participate in, so this was the first time Potiorek commanded a large-scale war.
Now it seems that Potiorek's performance is quite qualified. With the cooperation of the Second Army and the Fifth Army, the Austro-Hungarian army has entered Serbia and seized some strategic locations.
Potiolek, who was already thirsty, took a sip of the tea on the table and moistened his throat.
The tea used in this cup of tea is obviously imported from East Africa. Since East Africa has produced and exported tea on a large scale, Central European countries such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire have obtained a source of high-quality and low-cost tea. And because of distance advantages and advances in preservation technology, Europe can now drink green tea of quite good quality.
It is August now, which is the summer in Europe. Drinking a sip of sweet and bitter green tea can greatly relieve the inner anxiety and have a very good refreshing effect. The Hungarian army now has a new trend of drinking tea in summer and coffee in winter.
Most of the tea and coffee in the Austro-Hungarian Empire were imported from East Africa. The quality and taste of tea in East Africa was only slightly worse than that of the Far Eastern Empire, and higher than that of India. It was a mid-range product. As for coffee, East Africa has the highest quality coffee origin in the world. , is a hot commodity all over the world, and there is never a shortage of market.
Of course, this is also related to the advertising promotion of East Africa. East Africa controls many newspapers and other news media in European countries such as Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which provides great convenience for the promotion of East African products.
Potiorek put down his tea cup and picked up the flag representing the 104th Infantry Brigade and planted it in front of Moka Village.
At this time, he noticed that the members of the East African Military Observer were still around. He said to Wang Lade: "How do you feel?"
Wang Lade: "I have indeed learned a lot. Knowledge, which cannot be learned in the classroom, or without experiencing a real war, many things are easily ignored.”
Potiorek nodded, looking like a coward and said casually: "War command is not a simple matter, but a complex art. I think you have also discovered through this half-day of observation that light The information to be processed is huge, and the battlefield environment must be mastered in detail, and the place names of every place on the battlefield must be remembered as much as possible. , terrain, fortifications, transportation, the army on the opposite side, etc., if you are not careful, it may cause huge changes in the battlefield situation..."
It must be said that as a person from the General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, , Potiorek's ability is quite good, he handles battlefield information very well, and he can remember a lot of battlefield information relatively accurately.
And through this information, they can think more flexibly about changes in the battlefield situation and make corresponding decisions. This has indeed greatly improved the horizons of the trainees in the East African Military Observation Group.
Of course, to put it bluntly, Potiorek is very good at talking on paper and can explain many issues clearly. This is probably the main reason why he can gain the trust of Franz and Conrad.
However, the young students of the East African Military Observer Corps do not understand this. They are just fledgling students and their horizons are not too broad, so they can be frightened by Potiorek's words.
However, if it were some experienced veterans of the East African army, this problem would not arise. Although what Potiorek said is clear-cut, it does not mean that he can convince many colleagues.
After all, the outcome on the battlefield still depends on the correctness of the decision. Although Potiorek gave reasonable reasons, it may not be the best choice, especially as the Serbian army on the opposite side has rich combat experience, and those Serbian veterans The level of command is very high.
In this case, even if the decision is correct, the enemy cannot be completely led by Potiorek. They can even gain victory on the battlefield through their rich experience and strategic vision. The advantage at this time is not to compare with others who make fewer mistakes, but to compare with others who are better at chess.
The veteran Serbian generals have all passed the test of war and used real military achievements to reach their current position, so there is almost no possibility of being stupid. On the contrary, the Austro-Hungarian army commanders are worse. Quite a few.
Of course, this situation has not yet been reflected on the battlefield. After all, the war has just begun, and the Serbian veterans are so powerful that it is impossible to judge the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s tactical intentions at once, coupled with the strength of the Austro-Hungarian Empire It is powerful and can adopt more radical tactics than the Serbian army.
Of course, these are still relatively far away from the members of the East African Military Observer Mission. The skills shown by Potiorek now are enough for them to learn for a while.
Potiolek said: "Just for you to watch, there is really no sense of experience. The war is going smoothly now, so you can participate, and I can also make more suggestions based on your performance. .”
(End of this chapter)