Iron Cross Fire

On March 24, the 16th Austro-Hungarian Mountain Infantry Regiment led by Vasalla climbed the eastern part of the Greater Caucasus. The terrain here is very rugged, and every step forward requires a high price.

His superiors asked him to make a gap to prepare for the attack of the mobile force.

It is very difficult to fight in complex terrain. But fortunately, he has a powerful father.

Kuster gave him the support of an entire artillery battalion and enough artillery shells for several days. If the battle is not going well, Vasalla can request support by radio.

In the evening of the same day, the infantry regiment was waiting at the foot of the hill.

They had made sufficient preparations before, and they successfully saw all the details of the Russian army, whether infiltration or reconnaissance.

The complex terrain forced them to choose only two routes to attack:

One of them is relatively wide, but very steep; the other is narrow, with a very high altitude, and it is so cold that it is difficult to pass.

Even though it was already midsummer, the ice and snow on the surface began to melt, but there was no change in the frozen underground. The result was that the road became extremely muddy and difficult for the troops to pass.

The high-altitude mountain roads were also full of snow and could not support large-scale marches.

Fortunately, most of the Austrians in the infantry regiment were born and raised in the Alps and could adapt to this harsh environment.

Vasalla made a decision quickly. He split the original infantry regiment of more than 1,800 people into two halves, taking 1,600 people to take the wide road, and the remaining 200 people tried to take the small road.

The march lasted until the early morning of the next day, about 6 hours later.

In such a long time, the infantry regiment only marched 1.7 kilometers.

Finally, before the Russians on the high ground got up, while it was still dark, Vasalla fired the first shot.

The Russians caught off guard did not even have time to light a bonfire, and they just grabbed a gun and fired out of the house.

The Austrian skirmishers outside the house had been prepared for a long time, and they shot when they saw a Russian coming out of the door.

As a result, their shooting skills were too accurate, and they killed one by one, so that the Russians dared not leave the house.

The rest of the infantry also took the opportunity to climb up the heights and throw grenades at the houses.

"Bang, bang, bang" a series of explosions resounded through the sky. The roof collapsed, crushing the desperate people inside.

The Austrian army rushed into the house, captured the surviving Russians alive, took them away, and then began to clean up the battlefield.

The entire conflict lasted only more than ten minutes, 140 Russians were captured alive, and there were 80 relatively intact bodies, and people who died without even a trace of dregs left.

The Austrian army had basically no losses because of the preemptive strike, except for those who were injured in the fight during the capture.

The captured Russians said that there were a total of eight Russian divisions in the entire Greater Caucasus Mountains, a considerable part of which were deployed in the west; there were only two divisions in this area.

Vasalai passed the news to his father through the radio. Establish contact with the Austrian army on another road, and then continue to advance without stopping.

At noon, the infantry regiment encountered another group of Russian troops.

The Russians came prepared this time. After they lost contact with the outpost, they hurried here.

Now they met the Austrian army, and they were like enemies meeting each other with envy, so they took up their weapons and started fighting.

The snow-capped mountains were full of dense figures. Judging from the naked eye, there should be no less than 1,000 Russians on the opposite side.

The Austrian army was at a disadvantage at this time. They were in the lowlands and the soldiers were tired from the long march.

However, these veterans quickly dug out one trench after another. After ensuring their own safety, they pulled the trigger of the new semi-automatic rifle or submachine gun in their hands.

The Russians on the high ground thought they had the advantage and fired randomly.

They had the common problem of the Russian army: the guns liked to shoot at high places. This made the Austrian army in the rear die from bullets falling from the sky far more than the Austrian army on the front line.

Even with the unified command of officers and concentrated firepower to pour ammunition on the Austrian army, there was no great killing, not to mention that these were the elite of the Austrian army.

With the help of firepower cover, Vasalai asked the engineers on the side to place sandbags around him. During this period, none of the Russian bullets hit here, because all the Austrian engineers on the battlefield were doing this.

After the sandbags were laid, Vasalai began to command affairs.

He established contact with the various battalion-level troops through the radio and learned about their current situation.

After a brief exchange of fire, the losses of the three infantry battalions were not large, and it was estimated that only 11 people died.

Vasalai was relieved and ordered the machine gun company to deploy quickly to suppress the enemy.

The sandbags built by the engineers before were prepared for this. After the fortifications were prepared, the machine gunner who was originally at the back quickly ran up.

After setting up the machine gun, they began their unique roar.

The Austrian MG34, known as the "Infantry Death God", has been included in the official equipment of the Empire since its release and has been given the number M1914.

In areas where only infantry fought, its strength was reflected:

The terrifying rate of fire suppressed the enemy, making them dare not raise their heads, and then they were shot down one by one by the fine rifles.

Soon, there were basically no Russians standing on the battlefield, except those nailed to the hillside.

After ensuring that the Russians would not move, the Austrian army showed another killer weapon.

The mortar designed by Kuster has been well received by the Austrian army on the front line since its production, and was later included in the Imperial War Department and named r M.14.

The infantry regiment from Vasa was equipped with 12 mortars. At this moment, it kept firing shells at the Russians, killing one group after another.

Logically speaking, Kuster had developed these two weapons the previous year, and the Russians should have a way to counter them.

But in fact, these weapons could only be dispersed into the troops because of insufficient production, so that the enemies on the battlefield did not pay any attention to them.

Even though the Austro-Hungarian Empire later concentrated all its equipment on elite troops, the Russians laughed at their own industry and thought that they could not produce much such equipment.

Such mistakes must be paid for. But it was not the Russian high-level officials in the rear who borne it, but these ordinary peasants who were conscripted.

After continuous artillery fire, the Russian camp was full of wailing, and the ground was full of broken arms and limbs.

"Suddenly there was a bang, and an arm flew to my side, with blood on it. I knew it was a Russian, and it tried to intimidate me, but I was not afraid at all, but was full of fighting spirit." This is what an Austrian soldier who participated in this battle said in his memoirs.

The scene was extremely scary, but it seemed that only the Russians were afraid. The Austrian soldiers at the foot of the mountain were all excited. They used their rifles as sleds, inserted the barrels into the ground, leaned the butts against their shoulders, and climbed up the snowy mountain step by step. They wanted to capture the remaining Russians and win credit.

Vasara ignored them. After carefully inquiring about the casualties, he set up camp and prepared to rest.

At the same time, he also confirmed that the Austrian troops on the trail had no obstacles. Their commander also said:

"Here, our enemies only have harsh terrain."

Looking into the distance, he looked back at the Austrians who were preparing to rest. He hoped that after losing 124 people, the next action would be as smooth as that sentence.

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