On 27 January, Field Marshal Hausen, commander of the German 3rd Army and commander of the Austro-Hungarian front, gave the order to attack.

After two days of rest, the German officers and men who had traveled long distances had regained their energy. Both physically and mentally, they have recovered to their peak. Coupled with the fact that the logistics troops had brought in a large amount of war supplies, the time had come for the troops at the front to launch a general offensive against Vienna.

"Fire!"

As soon as 8 o'clock in the morning arrived, the artillery commander gave the order to open fire. 4 army groups, 40 infantry divisions and 4 armored divisions, the artillery of those infantry divisions alone is very strong. 720 150-mm heavy howitzers, 1440 105-mm light howitzers, 2160 75-mm field guns, a total of more than four thousand cannons, began shelling Vienna.

However, Vienna is also a world historic city with a splendid history. However, the Germans did not care at all about the historical significance of the city. In the eyes of these German artillerymen, it was nothing more than a target that they were about to destroy. Again, the Germans had already done a lot. For example, Paris, for example, London, was also bombed into ruins by the German army.

The artillery strength of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was still not weak, and the Skoda heavy artillery was famous all over the world. Unfortunately, the Škoda plant is not located in Austria, but in the Kingdom of Bohemia. As soon as the Germans entered the Kingdom of Bohemia, they occupied the plant. After the end of the war, the Krupp factory will be annexed here, so that the German army's artillery production capacity and technology will be upgraded to a new level.

Although, the Austrian army was also armed with some heavy artillery. It's just that most of these heavy artillery pieces are deployed on the border, not in Vienna. Although the heavy cannon is powerful, it is also bulky, which is not conducive to transfer. Especially when retreating, those bulky heavy artillery are even more difficult to take away. When the Austrians retreated in a hurry, they didn't even have time to take away the logistics materials, let alone those weapons and equipment. This allowed the heavy artillery to fall into the hands of the Germans.

Qin Tian had long intended to set up a heavy artillery brigade in each group army to further strengthen the artillery strength of the troops. However, because the heavy artillery is too cumbersome, unless it can be self-contained, otherwise, it is too laborious to be dragged by trucks or mules and horses.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

Orange-red flames erupted from the muzzles of the German guns, and one shell after another whistled and smashed into Vienna.

Accompanied by the raining of shells, a dense explosion sounded in Vienna. Whether it was the Austrian positions outside the city or inside the city, the key targets of German artillery shelling were outside the city.

The fortifications of the Austrian army outside the city were not strong in the first place. Digging trenches and building fortifications has never been something that the Austrians are good at. Most of the fortifications they built were slag-like projects. It is obviously unrealistic to expect such fortifications to withstand the heavy shelling of the Germans.

Under the heavy shelling of the German army, these fortifications of the Austrian army were destroyed one after another. Even the Austrian officers and soldiers who hid in the anti-artillery shelters were directly buried alive inside.

The fierce artillery bombardment of the German army made the Austrian soldiers on the defensive line even more frightened and silent, and the morale of the troops was falling rapidly. Even if Emperor Karl I had encouraged them before. But on the battlefield, watching their comrades being buried alive or blown to pieces by artillery shells is undoubtedly a great test for the spirit of the soldiers. Even well-trained troops may not be able to hold out, let alone these Austrian officers and soldiers who are not elite in the first place. They would have even wanted to turn around and run away if they could.

However, on the one hand, for this battle, the Austrian army formed a lot of warlords. Those warlords even set up heavy machine guns directly behind the position, and those who retreated without orders would be strafed by the heavy machine guns of the group. Rather than die at the hands of his own people, it is better to fight with the German army. Therefore, most of the Austrian soldiers still stayed in the anti-artillery hole, struggling to support. On the other hand, the German artillery bombardment was too intense. If you escape from the bomb hole, you may die faster. Therefore, even if you want to escape, it is better to wait until the German shelling is over, in which case it will be relatively safer.

The buildings in Vienna were also in ruins under heavy German shelling. Although, there are quite a few buildings with a long history. However, now it is also in ruins, and there is no difference.

Fortunately, after the German army arrived in Vienna, the ordinary residents of Vienna fled from here. They knew that if war broke out here, they would lose their lives. After all, human life is undoubtedly very fragile in war.

Even the families of the Austro-Hungarian ministers fled Vienna first. The empress and children of Karl I were among them. They had already made their way to Trieste. When the time comes, he will leave Austria-Hungary in advance on a freighter and go to the United States. Karl I then rushed to the United States to join them. After the inhabitants fled, almost all that remained in the city of Vienna was the army. This also made the German army have no worries when they launched an attack.

The German shelling, which lasted four hours. The positions of the Austrians outside Vienna had become a mess. Even the buildings in the city have been destroyed.

The artillery of the Austrian army, too, tried to launch a counterattack. However, on the one hand, they are outnumbered. On the other hand, the artillery quality of the Austrian army is far from being comparable with the German army. This made the Austrian artillery completely inferior in the battle, and the losses were very large. In order to reduce losses, the Austrian commander, Grand Duke Friedrich, had to order the artillery to stop this act of sending people to death.

When the German shelling stopped, the German soldiers, who had already prepared and had lunch in advance, immediately attacked.

Four army groups, each with two infantry divisions, as well as armored divisions of various army groups. More than 200,000 German soldiers, like tigers descending from the mountain, pounced on the Austrian positions.

And those frightened Austrian soldiers who had just walked out of the anti-artillery hole, saw those black tanks and German soldiers like wolves, and they were immediately frightened, even the overseers could not prevent them from retreating. It took only one attack for the Germans to take the Austrian positions on the outskirts of Vienna.

Genius site address:. Mobile version reading URL: m.