Iron Germany

"General, your Excellency Commander's order to retreat has been issued, and we are required to retreat overnight tonight." The commander and staff officer of the Russian 3rd Front reported to General Rusky.

"Okay, order the troops and start preparations. After two hours, the whole army will retreat." Admiral Rusky nodded with a dark face.

The 3rd Army also suffered heavy losses in this battle. In the battle against the Austrian defenses, they lost more than 100,000 people. When Lvov was attacked by the Germans, Admiral Ivanov ordered the 3rd Caucasus Army under the 3rd Army to be transferred to reinforce Lviv, so that the troops under the 3rd Army now numbered just over 100,000. .

"How did the cowards of the Austro-Hungarian Empire become so powerful? It's incredible!" Admiral Ruski couldn't figure it out. Why overnight, the combat effectiveness of the Austrian army has undergone a radical change. Otherwise, how could the Austrian army, who were easily defeated by them before, be able to fight to the death in the face of their powerful attacks?

However, even if you don't want to believe it, the fact is the fact, which cannot be changed. The Russian army has failed in this attack. After Lviv was captured by the German army, they were even more mortally threatened. Therefore, we can only retreat. Otherwise, the last hundreds of thousands of troops may also be lost here.

Two hours later, the remaining hundreds of thousands of troops of the Russian Third Army withdrew from the battlefield and fled eastward.

At the same time, the Russian Eighth Army and the Eleventh Army were doing the same. Having suffered heavy losses, after receiving the order from Admiral Ivanov, they directly organized their troops to retreat without stopping.

Hundreds of thousands of Russian troops retreated overnight. In this regard, the Austrian army confronting the Russian army did not know.

It was Qin Tian who mentioned this when he was talking with Marshal Herzendorf.

"Your Excellency Marshal, the 8th Army has completed the scheduled combat mission. However, in order to prevent the Russian army from fleeing. Tomorrow morning, the main force of the 8th Army will continue to attack south, seize more important node cities, and block the Russian army. The way to escape. However, the 8th Army has limited strength, so it is very difficult to say how many Russian troops can be blocked." Qin Tian said.

"His Royal Highness, the 8th Army was able to wipe out a group army of the Russian Army in such a short period of time. It also captured an important logistics base of the Russian Army. This is already extremely difficult. If it were the Austrian Army, any group army, It is impossible. In this battle, we have wiped out half of the Russian Southwest Front Army. This is already a rare victory. Next, no matter how many Russian troops are eliminated, we have already won. If It would be great to be able to eliminate more Russian troops." Marshal Herzendorf said with a smile.

Indeed, for the Austrian army, this battle was already an extremely rare victory. Even if this battle ends like this, Marshal Herzendorf is already very satisfied. However, what Qin Tian wanted was not just such a victory.

In this battle, Qin Tian was preparing to wipe out the main force of the Russian army in one fell swoop and completely gain the absolute advantage on the Eastern Front. Therefore, he hopes to eliminate the troops of the Russian Southwest Front Army as much as possible. Compared with the troops being formed in Russia, the troops of the Russian Southwest Front Army, which has experienced the baptism of war, are undoubtedly more powerful in combat effectiveness. After solving them, the strength of the Russian army will drop to a higher level. This will be very beneficial to both Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

"Your Excellency, Marshal, we still need to eliminate as many Russian troops as possible. Therefore, once the Russian troops retreat, I hope that the Austrian troops will pursue them with all their strength. Only in this way will we be able to maintain our long-term advantage on the Eastern Front. Don't forget, the mobilization of the Russians is almost complete. At that time, they can easily send another two million or more troops to the front. Therefore, we must seize this opportunity to mobilize the Russians in one fell swoop. Get down!" Qin Tian said solemnly.

A trace of hesitation flashed in the eyes of Baron Herzendorf. The loss of the Austrian army in this battle was close to 200,000. This is undoubtedly a heavy loss for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If they continue to pursue the Russian army, it will inevitably cause them to pay greater losses. However, he had to admit that what Qin Tian said was very reasonable. This is an excellent opportunity for them to severely damage the Russian army and consolidate their advantages on the Eastern Front. If you give up this opportunity, you don't know when you will have such an opportunity in the future.

Although the troops are now suffering heavy losses, the mobilization of the Austro-Hungarian Empire will soon be completed. Lost troops can be quickly replenished. It is even possible to form new troops to bring their military strength to a higher level. In this case, this opportunity to severely damage the Russian army cannot be let go.

"Okay, Your Royal Highness. Tomorrow morning, I will send a force to launch a tentative attack. If the Russians do not resist, the Austrian army will attack across the board, striving to achieve the greatest results in this battle." Baron Herzendorf said.

"Hmm!" Qin Tian nodded, it would be the best if the Austrian army could attack across the board and pursue the Russian army. This can further expand their results and cause greater losses to the Russian army. Useful for the next battle.

Of course, it would be great if the domestic situation in Russia could be changed accordingly. This is really great news for Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

On the morning of October 12, Marshal Herzendorf ordered the 2nd and 3rd Austrian Army to send an infantry division each to attack the Russian positions.

When the officers and soldiers of the two infantry divisions of the Austrian army launched an attack tremblingly, thinking that the vicious Russians were about to rush out and wipe them out. What they couldn't believe happened happened. On the Russian position, it was quiet and there was no movement at all.

When these Austrian soldiers plucked up their courage and rushed to the Russian position, they realized that there was no one in the entire position. There are scattered weapons and ammunition everywhere. Obviously, the Russian army was in a hurry when they withdrew.

Marshal Herzendorf was even more surprised when he heard the news. He immediately issued an order, asking the Austrian 2nd Army, 3rd Army and 4th Army to attack across the board and pursue the fleeing Russians. !