(Chapter to)

Night, Munich Palace.

"General Hillier, now that the French 88th Army has arrived in Ulm, I'm afraid it won't be long before they launch a new attack on Munich. Can we hold Munich with this little force?" the King of Bavaria asked anxiously. road. Bavaria now has only 4 corps of the Austrian army and 100,000 remnants of the Bavarian army. With such a force to fight against the famous French 88th corps, he knows the final result without thinking about it.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty the King. Grand Duke Charlie has already led four legions and is on their way." As the current highest military officer of the Austrian Army in Bavaria, Hillier persuaded, but in fact he himself was also very uncertain. In Austria, he was probably the officer who had dealt with the French army the most except for the Grand Duke Charles. Although the results made him very frustrated every time, he had to admit that the French army was indeed very powerful, especially Known as the 88th Legion of the French Emperor's Personal Guard.

"But France still has one legion in Bavaria. The eight Austrian legions may be able to withstand the attack of the French 88th legion, but the rest of our army will definitely not be the opponent of the Iberian 2nd legion." The King of Bavaria was frustrated. Said. He made no secret of the incompetence of his army.

"Your Majesty, you must be clear that we will not fight the French army head-on this time. Maybe we are not the opponent of the French 88th Army in terms of attack, but it is still very possible to defend Munich with such a large force. As long as the war can Keep procrastinating, and we will basically win after Russia starts its full-scale attack on Prussia." Hillier persuaded again.

"If that's the case, then I'm relieved." The King of Bavaria was relieved. The 8 Austrian legions have a total of 320,000 people, plus the Bavarian army, the total can reach more than 400,000. With so many people guarding Munich, he did not believe that the French army could easily conquer here. It's just that he still seems to have missed one point, that is, the other four corps of Austria are still on the way, and the attack of the 88th corps is just around the corner. Now, the 88th Army is fully capable of destroying the Austrian and Bavarian armies individually. According to the time difference, separate them to annihilate them.

On the last day of March, the French 88th Army's attack on Austria and Bavaria began. It was the 88th Army's attack on Augsburg that opened the battle. An Austrian Army and 50,000 Bavarian troops stationed here became the first targets of the 88th Army.

"The 2nd and 3rd Divisions moved forward halfway between Augsburg and Munich. The 2nd Division was responsible for preventing the Munich army from rescuing Augsburg, while the 3rd Division was responsible for attacking Augsburg from the east. The 1st and 4th Divisions, as well as the units directly under the Legion, took on the main task of attacking Augsburg, and must take Augsburg and annihilate the defenders there in the shortest possible time. For this combat mission, Is there anything you don't understand?" Mike issued an order to the division commanders of the 88th Army. Similarly, he is also very nervous and excited now. He was nervous because the first official military operation of the 88th Army was about to start in more than 10 years. He was afraid that under his leadership, the 88th Army would not be able to achieve the same record as before. He was extremely proud of a powerful army.

Everyone shook their heads, expressing that they already understood the combat mission this time. Similarly, these teachers are also very excited. Each division of the 88th Army has a strength of nearly 40,000 troops, which is equivalent to an army in other countries. The division commanders of the 88th Corps are all lieutenant generals, while the division commanders of other regiments are only major generals.

"Well, the attack starts at 9:00 am, everyone go back and get ready." Mike waved his hand.

Everyone left Mike's headquarters and went back to make pre-war preparations.

At 9 am on March 31, the attack of the 88th Army began. First came the 2nd and 3rd Divisions, which bypassed Augsburg and successfully cut off the link between Augsburg and Munich. After the 2nd and 3rd Divisions set off, the 1st and 4th Divisions and the troops directly under the Legion also launched a fierce attack on Augsburg.

The Heavy Artillery Brigade of the 88th Army and the two artillery regiments of the 1st Division and the 4th Division shelled Augsburg for an hour, turning the entire Augsburg into a sea of ​​​​flames. After the bombardment ended, there was not a single intact house in Augsburg. Strong firepower has always been a characteristic of the 88th Army. Under the blow of the powerful firepower of the 88th Army, the Austrian army and the Bavarian army guarding Augsburg suffered heavy losses. Except for the Austrian Army who still had the power to fight the first battle, those Bavarian troops had already lost their courage. How can there be any morale? Combat? After the bombardment, the infantry of the 1st and 4th Divisions attacked. The artillery had cleared the way for them, and it was up to them to do the rest.

"Bastard! Go to the position, the French attack is about to begin." Lieutenant General Garrod, the commander of the Austrian 5th Army, ran out of the basement, punching and kicking the soldiers who were huddled in the rear and refused to go to the position. The Austrian soldiers were okay, they all entered the position with their guns under his order, but the Bavarian soldiers were killed and were unwilling to go to the battlefield again. In their military career, they have never experienced such a powerful firepower strike. "Immediately request support from Munich." Garrod gave an order to the commander of the communications company. The commander of the communications company immediately sent someone to Munich for help.

But 10 minutes later, he ran back obediently. "General, the French have started to attack, they are everywhere, and our communications soldiers can't get out at all." The commander of the communications company reported to Garrod Hui.

Garrod's face turned cold. He knew that Augsburg was surrounded by the French army now, and the news could not be spread.

At this moment, a division commander came down from the front line with a bandage on his head: "General, the firepower of the French is too strong, and we are almost unable to defend."

"Prepare the troops and break out to the southeast." After observing the situation on the battlefield, Garrod ordered. He didn't want to enter a prisoner-of-war camp, so he was going to gather his troops and break out from the southeast.

Although the news of the 5th Army failed to spread, Munich still learned of the French 88th Army's siege of Augsburg.

"General, the French army is attacking Augsburg. What are you waiting for? Development troops to rescue?" the King of Bavaria said anxiously.

"You can't send troops, otherwise we will be defeated by the French one by one. We don't have enough troops to face the French 88th Army before the arrival of the reinforcements of Grand Duke Charles." Hillier decisively rejected the Bavarian king's offer Require.

"But we have nearly 100,000 people in Augsburg? If we don't go to the rescue, they will die." The King of Bavaria continued. What he cares about is that there are more than 50,000 Bavarian troops there, which is almost the army in his current hands. He doesn't want half of Bavaria's military strength to be destroyed there.

"Don't forget that there is still a regiment of Austrian troops there." Hillier roared with red eyes. He also wanted to send troops to rescue, but he knew he couldn't do this, otherwise he would lose more troops.

After being yelled at by Hillier, the King of Bavaria dared not say anything more. He also knew very well that an Austrian army was much more important than his 50,000 Bavarian army.

In the end, Hillier still did not send troops to rescue Augsburg, but sent someone to contact Archduke Charles and told him the tense situation, hoping that he could speed up his march and arrive in Munich as soon as possible.

The fighting in Augsburg lasted from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. During this period, Augsburg was captured by the French army. Very few people escaped. Unfortunately, Garrod's breakout was unsuccessful. The lieutenant general was still captured by the French army and had to go into the French prisoner-of-war camp. In addition, the total number of captured troops reached more than 60,000, most of whom were Bavarian troops.

Although the battle against Augsburg was considered a complete victory for the 88th Army, it wiped out 100,000 opponents with extremely small casualties. However, for Mike, there was nothing to be happy about. Because such opponents are not challenging at all, especially those Bavarian troops, who have no combat power at all~lightnovelpub.net~ Basically they will be defeated in one blow, or they will surrender directly.

"It's really boring. I didn't expect the Austrians and Bavarians to be so ruthless." Thomas said with some unfinished thoughts.

"Actually, the Austrians still have some combat effectiveness, but they were so driven by the Bavarian army, so they became so vulnerable." Mike said fairly.

"What should we do next? Attack Munich? Then there are 3 Austrian legions and 50,000 Bavarian troops." Thomas became excited again.

"Munich is a fortified city, and there are so many troops defending it. It may not be easy to capture here quickly. In addition, the reinforcements of the four legions led by Grand Duke Charles may also arrive. If they attack Munich rashly If we fail to win, we may be attacked by the Austrian army internally and externally." Mike said with some concern.

"Then what should we do? If we don't attack Munich, should we attack Duke Charles?" Thomas complained. He used to be an artilleryman. In his opinion, Munich, even if it is strong, cannot stop the French artillery.

"That's right, we will attack Duke Charlie's army first this time." Mike said with certainty.