Napoleon II Reborn

Chapter 369: The 'Right Hook' Plan (Part 1)

"Generals, Russia has declared war on France. Millions of Russian troops are launching a fierce attack on the French army. The Russian Southwest Front Army is rushing to Vienna. There is still a week at most before they can reach Vienna. It's time for us to fight back. But before that, we must defend Vienna. Now, the French army has assembled nearly 500,000 people to surround Vienna, but a large part of them are the French slave troops with low combat effectiveness. There are not many French troops. So we don’t have to be afraid. Now, Austria has reached the moment of life and death. As long as we can resist the French attack, Austria’s revival will start from now. If we cannot resist the French attack, then we It will be difficult for Austria to have a bright future. Therefore, everyone must use all their energy to resist the attack of the French army." Grand Duke Charles mobilized all the generals of the Austrian army before the battle. In order to boost everyone's morale, he intentionally concealed the fact that the Russian army's attack was not going well and the true strength of the French army, all in order to keep the French army outside Vienna, gain time, and allow the Russian army to rush to the battlefield as soon as possible .

And outside Vienna, the commanders of the three armies of the French army also met. Now they have all received the telegram from Paris, and they are very aware of the current situation. Therefore, they decided to implement Xiao Jie's order as soon as possible, capture Vienna, and eliminate the main force of the Austrian army.

"Now, our army has surrounded Vienna, and a total of more than 300,000 Austrian troops are surrounded in Vienna. As long as we can eat up all these Austrian troops, Austria will be greatly damaged." General Mike, the head of the 1st Legion, said with a smile that he was very optimistic. Although the number of Austrian troops was relatively large, he believed that it would not be difficult for them to eliminate them.

"Although the Austrian army has more than 300,000 people, we have more than 400,000. We also have a great advantage in terms of military strength. Besides, there are more than 100,000 mobs in the Austrian army, and the regular army is only about 200,000. Under such conditions, we can say that we are sure to win." Admiral Kurt, head of the 3rd Iberian Army, also agreed.

"But everyone, don't forget that there are more than 100,000 soldiers from slave countries in our army. The combat effectiveness of these troops is much worse than that of the regular Austrian army." Admiral Tice said that he was not as optimistic as the previous two.

"Yeah, although we now have many advantages, don't forget that there are still 200,000 Austrian troops coming soon, which determines that we have to end the battle in Vienna as quickly as possible. And , Vienna, as the capital of Austria, has been operated by Austria for so long, and there are countless defensive affairs, and it may not be so easy to conquer Vienna." Besières, the head of the French 2nd Army, also said with some concern.

"Then what should we do? Can't we just wait like this? His Majesty the Emperor wants us to solve Austria as soon as possible so that we can concentrate on dealing with Russia." Kurt asked.

"Of course we can't wait any longer. No matter how difficult the difficulties are, we can't shrink back. Although Vienna is almost an iron barrel managed by Austria, we have to trample it down. Everyone, go back and prepare well. April 19th, that is, The day after tomorrow, launch a general attack on Vienna at the same time." Bessière said, as one of the oldest marshals, Besière was appointed as the temporary commander of the three armies.

"Okay, Your Excellency the Marshal." The other three legion chiefs took orders one after another. Go back and make the final preparations. To capture a city like Vienna that has been operated like a fortress, you must concentrate enough firepower, such as bombing with the air force or conducting large-scale shelling, and then attack by fighting Engineers open the way in front, in this case, the speed of attack will increase a lot. However, due to Russia's sudden entry into the battle, the main force of the air force has already begun to shift to Poland. There are not many airships they can use at the moment, and it is impossible to carry out large-scale bombing. They can only focus on a certain area. It has to be done by the artillerymen. But this undoubtedly requires a large number of shells, which puts a lot of pressure on the logistics, especially the poor road conditions in Austria, which makes the French army's logistics supply line even more fragile. Finally, there is the combat engineer. In the British war, the combat effectiveness of the combat engineer was very good. After the war, it became one of the arms that the legions prioritized. Relatively rare, generally speaking, each legion also has 1 regiment of combat engineers. Therefore, the French army still faces many difficulties in conquering Vienna in a short period of time.

On April 18, the three corps of the Central Front Army of the Russian Army arrived at the front line, and Kutuzov immediately threw them into battle without reservation. The Russian Central Front Army is worthy of being the most elite army in Russia. Their combat effectiveness is not much different from that of the French army. Because of their participation, the French army's defense line has become very tense. Especially the Rheszow area, under the fierce attack of the Russian army, was actually broken through by the Russian army. More than 200,000 Russian troops entered southern Poland, and the French defense line almost collapsed. Fortunately, on April 20, the 3rd and 4th Divisions of the 88th Army arrived on the battlefield. Their appearance immediately stopped the Russian attack, and combined with the remnants of the Polish and Prussian armies, they attacked the Russian army. A counterattack was launched, and the Russian army was driven out of Poland step by step, returning the front to its original state. In the Bialystok and Lublin areas, the arrival of the 88th Army also made the line of defense more stable.

Seeing this situation, Kutuzov was very disappointed and had to ask Nicholas to increase his troops again. The reason was that the French ace troops had already been dispatched, so there was no reason for the Central Front to stay in the rear. I don't know if it was because of helplessness or fear of defeat. This time, Nicholas didn't make any excuses, and very readily sent the remaining 180,000 Central Front Army to the front line.

During this period of time, the French and Jewish state coalition forces also made great progress in the war in Turkey. Now, the coalition forces of the two countries have attacked the coast of the Aegean Sea, and with the help of the Mediterranean Fleet, they once again defeated the Turkish army in the important city of Izmir on the east coast of the Aegean Sea, annihilating nearly 200,000 Turkish troops. It's just that, since the entire French energy is now focused on the war in Europe, not many people pay attention to the war in Turkey.

On April 19, the French army's general attack on Vienna also kicked off. The French air force and army artillery units launched an intensive fire attack on Vienna, intending to clear the way for the infantry to advance. Although the Austrian army suffered heavy losses under the intensive firepower of the French army, almost 30,000 people died directly from the bombing and shelling, and many fortifications were destroyed. However, this did not make them lose their muscles to the point of being injured. The Austrian army still has a strong combat effectiveness, and they also understand the importance of this battle, and their morale is also very high.

The French army stormed Vienna from four directions: east, south, west, and north. Among them, the French 1st Army attacked the northern part of Vienna, the Iberian 2nd Army attacked the west of Vienna, and the main force of the Iberian 1st Army plus more than 10 The 10,000 servant army attacked the south of Vienna, and the remaining eastern part of Vienna was under the responsibility of the Iberian 3rd Army. Compared with the other three directions, the army attacking the south of Vienna is the largest, but their strength is the weakest.

The attack methods in the four directions are basically the same, with a combat engineer regiment opening the way in front, followed by a large number of infantry. When encountering Austrian strongholds, barricades, or small fortresses, the infantry always provided cover for the combat engineers, and the combat engineers carried out blasting, and the two sides cooperated to pull out these Austrian strongholds. If you really encounter a more difficult fortification, you will call the headquarters to shell the target or bomb it by the air force. Under the combination of these offensive tactics, the attack speed of the French army is still very fast~lightnovelpub.net~ However, Vienna is a very large city. Although the attack speed of the French army is very fast, compared with The speed has to be accelerated.

The Austrian army's will to resist is very tenacious, and they also performed very bravely in the brutal street battles. The French army must expend a lot of power to compete with the Austrian army for positions. And these positions may be a street, a house, or even a ruin.

The battle on the first day ended quickly. After a day of fierce fighting, the French army lost almost 30,000 people, but only occupied about one-tenth of Vienna's area. If this ratio is followed, wouldn't it cost 300,000 people to completely occupy Vienna? This is absolutely unwilling to see the French army. In addition, there was not enough time, so the French army had to intensify their attacks in the future, otherwise they might not be able to complete the tasks stipulated by Xiao Jie.

That night, the atmosphere at the headquarters of the Austrian Army was also very oppressive. Grand Duke Charlie's face was very ugly, no doubt, it was because of today's battle. He didn't expect the French army's offensive to be so fierce. You must know that in order to curb the French army's offensive momentum, he placed the most elite troops on the outskirts of Vienna. However, all the outer positions in Vienna are now lost, and more than 50,000 elites have also been lost. According to this ratio, what will he use to resist the French army's attack in the next few days.