St. Pölten is a new industrial city in northeastern Austria, located on the banks of the River Treisen between the Danube and the pre-Alpine hills, just 66 kilometers from Vienna, the capital of Austria.

On the map, St. Pölten is the gateway city from west to east into Vienna, which is as important as the relationship between Brandenburg and Berlin. With a population of more than 30,000 since its founding as a town in 1858, St. Pölten has gradually become a transport hub and industrial city in northeastern Austria, however, like Vienna, it is an unfortified city without walls.

On February 2, 1916, 850,000 German troops brazenly crossed the German-Austrian border, and the Austro-Hungarian border troops in Bohemia and Austria were caught off guard.

In such an embarrassing situation, the Austrian veteran General Offenberg stepped forward, a veteran of the army who had fought with Archduke Friedrich in the Galician, Polish and Belarusian campaigns, and personally sat in St. Pölten, and in just one afternoon, he gathered dozens of border guards withdrawn from the front, plus his own troops and horses, and by the time the German vanguard approached, nearly 130,000 Austrian troops had been under his command.

As an experienced corps commander, Offenberg was well aware that the Austrian army gathered in St. Pölten, despite its large numbers, was a group of frightened, demoralized and declining soldiers, and worse still, their original strength had become disorganized during the retreat, many soldiers could not even find their own companies, and the loss of equipment was just as bad.

With Germany and Austria still not officially declaring war, and with the arrival of the German army, General Offenberg had to let his men hurry up and set up a ring of defense around St. Pölten. By dusk, the outer trenches at St. Pölten had begun to take shape, and a lot of trenches had been dug to keep the German tanks out, but the time was short and the logistical supply could not be supplied, and Offenberg's troops were seriously short of barbed wire, mines, machine guns, and heavy artillery. The military rations were not even enough to feed the B0,000 men for a dinner, and they were able to "borrow" some from the city government, grain merchants, and residents of St. Pölten, so that they barely managed to get into disarray due to hunger before the German attack.

At about 5 p.m., the main force of the German 2nd Panzer Corps, commanded by General Fleming, arrived in front of the St. Peltendeo line, along with the German 1st Army, which had previously been commanded by the famous General Kluk. However, the general was already 68 years old at the time of the last war, when the war ended in a complete victory for Germany. The veteran was honorably relegated. Now the command of the 1st Army is in the hands of another outstanding general, 63-year-old General Bernhard Karl Adolf von Dimlin.

Compared with the thunderous names of Kluke, Bülo, Hausen, and Hindenburg, the general von Dimlin was not very well-known in Germany. He joined the German Army in 1871, barely caught the last train of the Franco-Prussian War, and later served in the German General Staff, was transferred to the German colonies in West Africa in 1904, returned to China in 1907 and was awarded the rank of major general, and in 1914 when the war broke out, he served as the commander of the First Army under Kluke, fought bravely and commanded decisively in the war, and was personally awarded the rank of army general by the Kaiser himself in 1915.

The sunset in winter is a little earlier than usual. Therefore. By 5 p.m., it was already dusk, and most of the officers and men on the Austrian line were still reinforcing the fortifications, while the German troops were more than 10 kilometers away from them. There was no shelling from both sides. There was no verbal attack, so they confronted each other silently.

With his back to the setting sun, General Fleming and his men climbed to a small hill west of St. Pölten. Here he met Admiral von Dimlin, who had come to observe the situation.

"General!" Fleming saluted and said, "The speed of your troops is astonishing, and they have caught up with my armored troops!" ”

Although he did not have much friendship with this major general of the armored corps, Admiral Dimlin did not put on a show. In terms of qualifications, he is far stronger than this young major general, but in terms of ability and courage, he may not be much higher than him. As for the potential, Dimlin has no way to compare with Fleming.

"When we were fighting with the French, our 1st Army relied on these two legs to complete the important task of outflanking the right flank! Even if the war is over, we will not dare to forget this advantage! ”

As he spoke, Dimlin's entourage had set up a tripod with a pair of high-powered telescopes on it. St. Pölten, 10 kilometres ahead, will have to wait until tomorrow if you don't take advantage of this last opportunity before dusk to see the Austrians in person.

Although Fleming only used the ordinary telescope he carried with him, he also watched with relish.

Observed for a while. Fleming was the first to express his observations, and took over:

"Such a line of defense wants to stop us, it seems that the Austrians do not know the situation very well! Do they think we still have the slow, small 'Stone 1' in our hands? My monsters were able to easily break through their anti-tank trenches and spin in circles around their positions with ease! ”

Dimrin also spoke, but he still praised the opposing general a little first: "Well, although the fortifications are a little simple, after all, they are built according to the standard positional defense mode, and the temporary construction of fortifications after collecting the routed troops can reach this level from noon to now, which shows that the opposing commander is not an ordinary person!" ”

"Unfortunately, if we give them more time and equipment, they might be able to stop us a little bit! Admiral, let's strike now! Frye was visibly confident, his Panzer Corps had 72 of the latest No. 3 tanks, and the 70 of them were staggering to the point of impact, excluding the two that had failed to arrive due to mechanical problems. In Fleming's opinion, the General Dimlin may not know enough about the performance of the No. 3 tank, and perhaps he will oppose an immediate advance because of this.

However, General Dimlin's answer somewhat surprised him:

"It's not the best time yet, we have to wait a little bit for the Austrians to eat!"

"Open dinner?" Fleming lowered his binoculars and looked at the veteran next to him.

"Come on, look here!" Dimlin said as he relinquished his high-powered telescope.

Fleming walked over to him with confusion and confusion, and when he approached the telescope in a fixed position, it turned out that Demling saw several soldiers who seemed to be setting up stoves and preparing firewood next to an Austrian fortification.

"Oh! I thought they only had canned food and dry food! Fleming was a little disappointed that he had missed such an important detail. This also corresponds to an old saying: ginger. It's still old and spicy!

After he finished reading, Dimlin asked: "General, how many tanks and armored vehicles can your troops put into it now?" ”

"Uh......," Fleming calculated in his mind, "about 180 tanks and 270 armored vehicles, about 3,000 assault infantry!" Because some troops have just arrived, in another half an hour, these numbers can be increased! ”

"That's enough!" This time it was Dimlin's turn to be confident, "Half an hour later." My troops can put in 54,000 to 56,000 energetic soldiers, and we will ......"

The two of them muttered together for a moment, then both smiled contentedly.

"By the way, it's time for our plane to get rid of those balloons!" Before leaving, Fleming pointed to several yellow orbs on St. Pölten's side and said that they were the Austrian army's aerial reconnaissance balloons.

"That's right, we want to make sure the Austrians don't see what we're doing!" Dimrin said as he walked down the hill, although the air force of the group army was not very strong, it was enough to deal with these Austrian detection balloons.

Less than ten minutes later, a small group of monoplanes flew in from the west. These light and nimble "hummingbirds" did not fire directly. Instead, they shuttled back and forth around the Austrian balloons, driving the wind to make the balloons swing left and right, and the Austrian soldiers under the balloons who were in charge of observation had already slid to the ground.

Soon. The Austrians honestly took them back to the ground one by one.

After that, the German fighters were not in a hurry to leave, but circled over and over again on the Austrian positions, although the two armies were already in a state of confrontation, but neither the Austrian nor the German troops were willing to fire easily, coupled with the lack of anti-aircraft weapons, the Austrians could only let them hover overhead.

After a while, puffs of cooking smoke rose from the German side, and although it was only a breeze, the smell of rice still wafted far away.

It seems to have been influenced by the German army's preparation of a meal. Plumes of white cooking smoke soon rose from behind the Austrian position, and the smell of food wafted from the air made every hungry Austrian soldier feel hungry, some of them had not eaten since the morning, some had just eaten some cold canned dry food and the like, in short, from top to bottom, most of the Austrian officers and men's minds suddenly shifted from building fortifications to dinner.

At this time, the commander of the Austrian army, General Offenberg, was standing on a four-story building in St. Pölten and observed the situation in front of him. He was very conflicted, should the Germans eat and camp on the spot, or should they prepare to attack after dinner?

After thinking about it, Offenberg summoned his chief of staff, "Send the order down, let our soldiers eat in batches, continue to strengthen the fortifications after dinner, send outpost alert troops at night, and all departments must not let their guard down, especially when it is close to dawn!" ”

When the sun was about to sink into the horizon, the whole land was orange-red, the wind blowing from the Austrian side brought a faint smell of rice, and on the German side, tanks had entered the departure area, and the assault infantry had entered their respective armored vehicles. Behind the huge armored queue, the black-pressed infantry sat on the ground, no one moved, no one made noise, and the whole scene was solemn.

A few minutes later, another group of biplanes flew in from the west, taking over the monoplanes that had been circling over the Austrian positions for a while. Now, the Austrian officers and men can no longer care about these annoying "big flies".

"It's time to eat! It's time to eat! In the excited shouting, the Austrian position suddenly became lively. On the side of the German position, the stove was blazing on the cooking cart, and the smell of bread, sausages, and vegetable soup was already exuding, but there was not a single soldier waiting to receive food around the cooking cart.

"Prepare to attack!"

The officers conveyed orders back and forth, and the tanks and armored vehicles were started one after another, and puffs of green smoke filled the flat land at once, and the infantrymen sitting on the ground all stood up, and everyone began to make final preparations before and after departure.

The sun had set over the western horizon, and the whole world had not yet been shrouded in darkness, but with each minute of time, the vision blurred for a minute.

It was at this time that three shiny flares rose into the air, and after that. The roar from the German camp was like a flood bursting an embankment, and it was like a thousand horses galloping, in short, the earth began to tremble slightly, and the birds in the sky were already frightened without a trace.

"There is a situation! There is a case! The observation post in front of the Austrian position was the first to sound the alarm, and the light gradually dimmed, and they could only see from a distance countless black spots on the snow over there, large and small, which spread quickly to this side like a tide.

The officers were shocked. Some tried to re-raise the observation balloon, but the German planes bravely pounced low again and again, forcing the Austrians to abandon the attempt.

At this time, the Austrian soldiers lining up in front of the cauldron were at a loss, and hot food was readily available, but the Germans refused to let people live in peace. After a while, all the officers could hear shouting: "Enter the position!" All in position! Get ready for battle! ”

After weighing the food and their lives, the Austrian soldiers threw down their lunch boxes and ran towards the trenches and fortifications.

A few minutes later. As the distance closes. The Austrian officers and men were finally able to see the enemy's ground sights - hundreds of German tanks lined up in columns, each separated by more than ten meters, a total of about forty teams. A wide front of five or six hundred meters is formed. Each team of tanks was followed by an equally large number of armored vehicles, and although this formation was not absolutely straight, it maintained a large phalanx as a whole.

Behind the armored phalanx, the black-pressed infantry seemed to have come out of the chaos, and there was no edge in sight!

With white snow against the backdrop, the number of Germans looks staggering.

Where have the Austrian officers and soldiers seen such a formation, and the people are already panicking, many people are so frightened that they want to run away at this time.

"Fire! Fire 2000 meters in front of the position! ”

In this situation, General Offenberg could not care about his previous worries, and he let his artillery group fire in front of the German array. Attempts to deter the Germans from advancing with artillery.

Just two minutes later, the artillery on St. Pölten's side was bursting loudly, and hundreds of artillery pieces deployed by the Austrians in the rear opened fire on the wilderness between the German and Austrian positions!

As... Rumble......

The deafening sound of artillery continued, and the people of St. Pölten prayed in fear, while the Austrian officers and soldiers in the trenches watched with trepidation. With every minute of the shelling, their confidence and morale seemed to regain a little.

Eventually, the smoke and fire from the explosion of the shells formed a thick wall, and the advancing German columns completely disappeared from the sight of the Austrian officers and soldiers.

Did the Germans retreat?

Not only the Austrian officers and soldiers in the trenches, but even their commander, General Offenberg, were looking forward to it. At the very least, he hoped that the Germans would stop.

However, the shelling has not stopped, one after another German tanks have broken through the Austrian artillery fire, in the smoke and fire, the German No. 3 tank has become more hideous, the steel body, the mighty turret and artillery, the empty momentum, everything is shocking the hearts of 130,000 Austro-Hungarian people!

Five hundred meters!

Four hundred meters!

Three hundred meters!

Two hundred meters!

One hundred meters!

Fifty meters!

When the tracks of the German tanks rolled in, the tense emotions of the Austrian officers and soldiers finally broke out, and the way of catharsis was not to fight, but - "Wow...... Run for your life! ”

Ordinary people may not have seen the scene of tanks driving people, but if you think about the scene of riding horses and driving sheep, you can more or less understand the refreshing mood of the German tankers at this time.

When digging anti-tank trenches, the Austrian soldiers were not lazy, and the trenches dug out fully met the requirements of their superiors, but as Major General Fleming said, their trenches were only used against light tanks of eight or nine tons like "Stone 1", and this time the German armored forces took the lead in the 15-ton medium assault tank! The 1.5-meter-wide trench was easily crossed by the No. 3 tank during the test, and after improvement and mass production, the width of the No. 3 tank was close to 2 meters.

Of the 70 "Monster 1" tanks, that is, No. 3 tanks, only 5 were lost from departure to entering the Austrian position, of which 2 were unfortunately directly hit by the Austrian artillery fire. Three of the other vehicles were very upside-down and had shrapnel damage to their tracks, and they were immediately returned to combat after emergency repairs. The remaining 65 became wild beasts out of the cage, and the Austrian defensive line, which had only trenches and some civil fortifications, did not stop them at all, and they went on a rampage one by one, and the fruits of the hard work of the Austrian officers and men in the afternoon were ruined by them.

Some reluctant Austrian soldiers opened fire on the German tanks, and some threw grenades, but to no avail. In response, German tanks opened fire into the clearing, and what little resistance the Austrians had had was broken.

The German "Stone 2" tanks and armored vehicles were more lost when passing through the area barred by Austrian artillery fire, but fortunately, the Austrian artillery group ceased fire before even greater losses were suffered. Before the German No. 3 tank arrived at the artillery position, the Austrian artillerymen quickly retreated in the direction of Vienna with the remaining more than 100 cannons, but these cannons were too heavy, and the road was crowded with routs, so that when the Germans advanced to Vienna, they "picked" many good or bad heavy artillery along the way.

In just one hour, Austro-Hungarian Army General Offenberg and his 130,000-strong army collapsed under the onslaught of less than 60,000 German troops.

In this battle, the Germans lost only a few hundred men and a small number of tanks and armored vehicles, the Austrians fled for their lives in northeastern Austria, and only more than 20,000 people retreated to Vienna in panic under the leadership of Offenberg.

At this point, the gates of Vienna to the west have been opened.