Chapter 608 Legion of Hell
Although Vasily and Andrei failed to return to Adrianople to attend Polis's wedding, George did not forget the officers and soldiers on the Tisza River front line. On this occasion, we sent condolences to frontline officers and soldiers.
The World War had just broken out, and the Russian Empire was still very rich in supplies. The front lines were supplied smoothly and the supplies were relatively abundant. Even the front-line officers and soldiers could eat fresh vegetables and meat every day.
The condolence gifts for the frontline officers and soldiers were prepared by Anne. Each person had a pack of cigarettes, a bottle of wine, a box of chocolates wrapped in red silk, a pair of brand new leather gloves, and a woolen hat. .
The total value of these things is about 15 rubles.
George's men, together with the soldiers who had just been mobilized in the rear, totaled 1.9 million.
The Tisza River has frozen in December. The 4th Baikal Rifle Regiment, which belongs to the Second Siberian Army, is located at the forefront of the 12th Army.
Fovilia, commander of the 4th Rifle Regiment, graduated from the Vladivostok Army Academy and participated in the Russo-Japanese War and the Balkan War. As a veteran who has served for more than 10 years, Fovilia Working diligently, he would patrol the front line every day and use binoculars to observe the movements of the German troops on the other side.
Opposite the Fourth Rifle Regiment is the defense line of the German Ninth Army.
After the stalemate formed on the Tisza River front line, although the German and Russian troops reduced ground contact, shelling continued every day.
After the Serbian campaign, Conrad transferred the Skoda 305 Army Howitzer to the Tisza River, posing a huge threat to the Russian positions.
The 305 shell is so powerful that it does not need to hit the fortification directly. Even if it lands near the fortification, the officers and soldiers inside the fortification will be harmed by the shock wave.
Vasily is not a character who only takes beatings but does not fight back. Three days ago, the Russian army used rocket launchers to carry out carpet strikes on the German camp. Although it is not sure how much damage it caused to the German army, since then, the Austrian army has The 305 howitzer never fired again.
Fovilia feels bad. The front line is too quiet and it is not a good thing to die. The German army may be planning a big move.
“If the Germans attack, we will teach them a lesson!”
Second company commander Firsov is Fuvilia's junior student and just graduated from the Army Academy last year.
Firsov's confidence stems from the solid defense of the Russian position.
The density of machine guns on the Tisza River front line reaches 30 meters, and every machine gun fire point is protected by bunkers.
The trees and houses on the banks of the Tisza River have been cleared, and the officers carefully arranged crossfire. In some special areas, combat anti-aircraft guns were even deployed. Even if the Germans used armored fighting vehicles, they could not break through the fourth The line of defense of the rifle regiment.
There are three such lines of defense. Between the second line of defense and the third line of defense is the artillery position. The field airport is 60 kilometers behind the front line. It only takes 15 minutes for bombers to reach the battlefield.
"Don't take it lightly, the Germans are not Austrians."
Fovilia raised the telescope in his hand to observe, and there was nothing but white snow in his sight.
Fovilia stayed at the second company position for a meal at noon. The cooks brought hot meals over in a carriage. Today's meal was white bread and radish stewed with mutton.
“Why is it stewed with mutton again? Isn’t there any other meat that can be stewed?”
Some picky guys complained that their mouths have been tricked.
"Better than horse meat——"
After the Battle of Transylvania, for a few days, the entire 12th Army ate horse meat.
“Asshole, where is your lunch box?”
The officer scolded the guy with the helmet.
“Not found——”
"Why didn't you lose your head?"
The soldiers laughed loudly. The lunch box can not only be used for eating, but also for changing things.
There is no need to queue in Fovilia, Firsov has the food delivered to him.
"Shell attack——"
The sentry suddenly exclaimed.
Fovilia and Firsov immediately squatted down and held their heads to guard against the shock wave of the shell.
When a cannonball explodes, lying down is not the correct posture. The shock wave of the cannonball will shatter all human internal organs. The correct posture is to squat down and hold your head.
However, this posture can be used to defend against small-caliber artillery shells.
If a 305 shell explodes nearby, then any posture will be useless.
The earth-shattering explosion did not appear. The shells fired by the Germans were like dumb bombs, and the explosion was not loud.
But after the shell cracked, green smoke was generated.
A soldier walked near the smoke to check, but suddenly he hunched over and coughed violently. Then he fell down, covering his neck and rolling and struggling on the ground.
"What the hell is this?"
Fiersov was shocked, he still didn't have enough experience.
As the green smoke spread, the entire position was shrouded in smoke, and more and more soldiers fell. Their expressions were very painful, blood overflowed from their noses and mouths, and some even coughed up bloody Offal pieces.
"Poison gas! This is the German poison gas!"
This is the first time that poison gas has appeared on the battlefield.
Fovilia found a towel, wet it with water, and covered his mouth and nose. Firsov did as he was told, but Fovilia ran out of water, so Firsov wet the towel with his own urine.
Fovilia covered his mouth and nose and rushed directly to the machine gun position.
The unsuspecting machine gunner and deputy gunner died painfully next to the machine gun, with blood everywhere on their bodies and on the ground around them.
Fovilia pushed the machine gunner's body away, looked back at Firsov, and found that there was blood seeping out of Firsov's towel.
"Don't worry about me. If you must die, please let me die on the battlefield."
Fiersov staggered and fell next to Fuvilia.
Through the shooting hole, Fuvilia had already seen the German army.
The Germans were well prepared, and everyone wore gas masks. Their gas masks were ugly, like evil spirits who had just burst out of hell.
At this time, the Second Company's position was littered with corpses, and no more than 20 soldiers could still stand up.
Fiersov threw away the towel and blew the whistle on his chest hard.
The sharp whistle sounded immediately throughout the position.
Dong dong dong dong——
Fovilia's heavy machine guns began firing.
The German soldiers who were cutting the barbed wire were caught off guard, like wheat being cut down, being knocked down layer by layer.
Fovilia felt that his lungs were burning and his trachea hurt like being pricked by needles.
Fuvilia beat her chest hard, and suddenly a mouthful of blood came up and spurted out violently.
The whistle finally stopped. Firsov remained motionless, his eyes looking towards Fvelia without focus.
The heavy machine gun was out of bullets, but Fovilia didn't move the ammunition box.
The Germans have already rushed forward and there is no chance to change the bullets.
Fovilia picked up the rifle beside him and installed the bayonet.
"Russia! Attack!"
Fovilia pulled the towel off his face and summoned the surviving soldiers to join him in a countercharge.
A dozen soldiers staggered, stood up from their positions, and jumped out of the trench with Fovilia.
The Germans did not expect that there were still people surviving on the Russian position.
It is even more unbelievable that these soldiers who were already on the verge of death actually launched a counterattack against the German troops who had an absolute advantage in numbers.
At this time, the poisonous gas had not dissipated, and the Russian troops with bayonets rushed out of the green mist. They vomited blood and shouted "Ula". In the eyes of the German troops, they also looked like they had just come out of hell. The demon army breaks out.
Almost instantly, the morale of the Germans collapsed. They dropped their rifles, turned around and ran away.
Subsequently, these fleeing soldiers encountered the second group of attacking German troops.
The second batch of attacking German troops probably mistook these deserters for Russian troops, so many German troops died under their own guns.
The position of the 4th Rifle Regiment was not lost, but Fuvilia died that night. On this day, 6,000 people of the 12th Army were killed.
Vasily was very angry and ordered the artillery to carry out indiscriminate strikes on the German positions. At the same time, Air Force bombers were dispatched to bomb the German artillery positions in the rear.
It was the second day that George received a report that the Germans were using poison gas on the front line.
George was sad. He had considered almost every situation, but he didn't think of poison gas.
In fact, in terms of chemistry, the Russian Empire is no worse than anyone else.
George sent a telegram to Nikolai, asking universities and scientific research institutions in the Russian Empire to immediately start research on poisonous gases. George wanted revenge.
At the same time, George sent a telegram to Amul, asking Amul to produce gas masks as quickly as possible.
In order to avoid greater losses to the troops, George sent a telegram to Vasily and Andrei, ordering the 12th Army and the 13th Army to retreat in an orderly manner and try to avoid contact with the German army.
This order is actually not very necessary. The snow on the front line of the Tisza River is very heavy, almost one meter high in the field. The German army only made partial breakthroughs in the Russian defense line in some areas, and did not penetrate the Russian defense line. This left Vasily and An Andre had enough time to adjust his defense.
Vasily’s confidence lay in the fact that the German army did not produce many poison gas shells, and Mackensen did not have enough troops, so Vasily did not retreat immediately, but used the air force to delay the German attack. footsteps.
The Russian Air Force not only has bombers, but also airships that can stay in the air for longer.
At least for monitoring the battlefield, airships are more useful than bombers.
On December 20, Vasily and Andrei concentrated 150 bombers to conduct intensive bombing of German positions.
On this day, German fighter jets appeared on the battlefield for the first time, and six Russian bombers were shot down.
This is the first time a Russian bomber has been shot down since the war broke out.
(End of this chapter)