The winter sun is warm and soft, and Central Europe in January is being ruled by the kingdom of snow. Fields, forests, and cities all sleep under white cover until the spring breeze blows......

In the cold wind, the Grand Duke of Bohemia stood facing west, and in that direction a large number of formidable invaders had recently crossed the border, and at this time, the advance of the invaders was less than 20 kilometers away, and he could almost hear the footsteps of the marching troops.

The Duchy of Bohemia and Austria were two adjoining states in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with Austria located in the western part of the empire and bordering Bavaria in Germany; Bohemia was located in the northwestern part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, bordering Saxony and Bavaria in Germany.

As the capital of Bohemia, Prague is located just 70 kilometers from the German border.

With the road covered with snow, it took 2 hours for the cavalry to get from the border to Prague, and the infantry may have taken longer, but in the face of war, this depth is too short.

Thankfully, the Grand Duke of Bohemia was not facing war.

On February 2, 1916, at the request of the Grand Duke of Bohemia, more than 200,000 German troops entered Bohemia from both the Erzmountain Mountains and the Bohemian Forest Mountains to assist the local government in "quelling the army rebellion and rescuing the trapped nobles". The more than 50,000 Austro-Hungarian soldiers guarding the Bohemian border were panicked and did not organize any effective defenses, and after the German armored units ran over their checkpoints and barbed wire, most of them "surrendered" to the Germans on the spot. As a reward for this cooperation, the Germans confiscated their weapons, separated their officers and brought them under control, and provided them with delicious meals and drinks.

In such a strange situation, Bohemia's more than 300 kilometers of border adjacent to Germany fell to the Germans in just half a morning. The Austro-Hungarian soldiers retreating from the border and the invading German ** team quickly marched in the direction of Prague, but at this time, the surrounding area of Prague was surprisingly calm.

"Attention, attention, the troops of the German Empire, at the request of the government, have entered the territory of our country, and will soon enter the city. Please go home, close the doors and windows, close the doors and windows! No one is allowed to attack the German team, and to reiterate, no one is allowed to attack the German team, otherwise they will be severely punished by the government! ”

The sound of the radio echoed through the empty streets of Prague every five minutes, and the city's residents were already hiding in their homes, as the authorities had been. Although they did not understand what was really happening, and even less why they did not resist the invasion of the Germans.

It was not only these citizens who were unaware of the situation, but the Bohemian inhabitants on both sides of the Bohemian country roads watched the procession of the invaders with curiosity. Long before entering Bohemia, German officers and soldiers had been strictly ordered not to attack the local population unless they were attacked, so the German officers and soldiers on the march did not drive away the local residents, and the two sides even greeted each other very friendly.

"His Royal Highness! Major Herbert is here! ”

At some point, the attendant had already walked to his side, and the Grand Duke of Bohemia turned his head a little distractedly, "Huh? Oh! Let him in! ”

Soon. A man in the uniform of a German major walked in through the door. The chamberlain cautiously closed the door.

"It's Major Herbertst, you're here!"

This relaxed tone suggests that the two are familiar with the relationship, actually. The major had come to Prague half a year earlier and had been working on secret contacts between Berlin and Prague ever since.

However, the Grand Duke decided to turn to the German side only after the Austrian Emperor sent troops to take control of Bohemia, and the major conveyed this intention to Berlin on his behalf at the first time. If it weren't for the Bohemian aristocracy switching to the camp, the German army might have encountered great resistance to sending troops to Bohemia, and now, the Bohemian nobility and local government not only came forward to maintain law and order, but the nobles even sent their subordinates to lead the way for the German army, which greatly saved the German army trouble. According to optimistic estimates, it would have taken a week to fully occupy Bohemia, but now it will take only about two to three days. After that, the 1st Assault Group, commanded by Admiral Mackensen, would wait for an opportunity to enter Austria, Moravia, or Hungary.

"Your Highness, oh no, you will soon be called Your Majesty!" The major politely bowed to the Grand Duke, and judging by this sentence, the terms of this political deal between the two sides were obvious - Bohemia became independent and accepted the patronage of Germany.

There was not much joy and pride on the face of the Grand Duke, after all, the notoriety of a traitor is not something that everyone is willing to bear.

"How's your team doing in Austria?" It seems that the Grand Duke is now most concerned about whether his political decisions will be able to achieve the ultimate results.

"The question ......"

The major didn't really want to say it. But considering the identity of the Grand Duke in front of him, he ended his hesitation and said with a relaxed expression:

"Generally speaking, our ** team is advancing towards Vienna as planned, and there are battles between the two sides in the border area and some town roads, as for the details of this, you see, I am just a small major liaison officer, and I have no right to know more details!"

The Grand Duke let out an "oh", not knowing whether it was disappointed or expected.

"Your Highness, rest assured, that according to the current progress, our army will occupy the whole of Bohemia in less than three days, and then the officers and soldiers of our captive land will be handed over to you to deal with, and we will fully support you in reorganizing them or rebuilding a new army after being dismissed! In addition, our powerful army will protect you and your land until you feel that your army is good enough to keep Bohemia safe! ”

"I know that!" The Grand Duke still said in a tone that was neither positive nor cold, "It's just that the situation has become too fast, and I can't adapt to it all of a sudden!" ”

The major also understood that at this time, it was the new death of Emperor Franz, and Bohemia was throwing himself into the arms of Germany at this time, and the Grand Duke must have to bear some infamy, maybe even his people would spit on him and despise him, but people would not be destroyed for their own sake, and in the end, the situation would no longer allow him to choose.

"I'll get used to it!"

The Grand Duke was silent, and a group of black dots appeared in the western sky, which gradually grew larger, followed by a noticeable buzzing sound. A few minutes later, the aircraft with iron crosses painted under the wings flew over Prague, hovering and dropping tens of thousands of pieces of paper with the words in Czech:

"Independence! Freely! Long live the Grand Duke of Bohemia! Long live the German allies! ”

Long live the Alps!

A group of Austrian soldiers expressed this sentiment from the bottom of their hearts, if it were not for the majestic Alps. The unstoppable German panzer forces were to advance from the German-Austrian border until the small western part of Austria was cut off from the Austrian hinterland.

Although the Germans were aiming more than just this small area, their tanks and armored vehicles had to make a detour through the northern Alps to continue their advance south, and only a small group of German infantry attempted to cross the foothills, but they had lost their mechanical superiority in their dominance.

For the past half hour, Second Lieutenant Sander and his 18 men have blocked a series of assaults from a German infantry company. The exchange of fire between the two sides was not fierce, and there was no artillery to join, and the rifles were sparse. And a handful of machine guns, that's all there is here.

Although the two countries had not yet declared war, it had come to this point, and Sander and his soldiers no longer doubted the terrible fact that their former allies had become enemies. It's just that because they can't get in touch with their superiors, Sander still has reservations, after all, there are a total of 7 Germans here, including Sander, and the Germans of the same clan as the more than 100 German officers and soldiers below!

Taking advantage of the gap between the battles, Sander shouted down at the top of his voice:

"Hey, Germans. Why are you going to hit us? ”

After a long time. Below came a German voice: "Surrender quickly!" We can keep you safe! ”

Sander didn't move, and quickly repeated the question he had just asked.

"Your country was betrayed, sold to the Russians! Slav! The Germans replied below. We are here to save your land! ”

Second Lieutenant Sander was suddenly blinded, and the country could be betrayed!

His soldiers whispered to him that the new Austrian Empress was none other than the Empress of Russia, but that the Empress was of pure Austrian descent and was the sister of the former Crown Prince Karl, the heir to Habsburg.

"Lie! You aggressors, you intend to annex our country! Sander shouted indignantly, "Get home!" ”

This time, it was a bullet that responded to him!

A few minutes later. Another offensive of the Germans began.

As Austria's most elite army unit, the Alpine Force, Sander and his soldiers were small in number, but with their familiarity with the terrain, they kept the Germans in the middle of the mountain. The Germans were unable to exploit their superiority in numbers and firepower among the jagged rocks and the clutter of trees, and after more than a dozen dead and wounded, they were forced to retreat beyond the range of their rifles.

Sander held his rifle and leaned his back against a boulder, opened the cartridge box at his waist and glanced at it. It was determined that there were only 5 rounds left in the last row there.

Looking at their soldiers again, everyone looked embarrassed.

With sufficient ammunition, Sander was confident that the Germans would never be able to move forward, just as the Austro-Hungarian mountain forces in another world had hindered the Italian army in 1915-1917 – the outnumbered Austro-Hungarian mountain forces made the Italian offensive a laughing stock for the Allies.

"Damn quartermaster, damn command, damn Germans!" After swearing fiercely, Sander could only reluctantly let his soldiers prepare to block one last time, and then fight and retreat south along the foothills.

Perhaps, the fault was not the stingy Austrian quartermaster, nor the poor command of his superiors, the terrible situation faced by Sander and his men was so common among the Austro-Hungarian army that on the first day of the German invasion, the more than 100,000 troops guarding the long frontier of western and northwestern Austria put up only a few feeble resistance in the face of the Germans' iron heels.

Just as Desan and his soldiers were engrossed in waiting for the next wave of German attacks, a few small black dots appeared in the western sky, and Sander raised his binoculars to look at them, and said disdainfully: "Hmph, a few German vultures!" ”

Disdain, on the first day of the invasion of the German ** team, only German fighters could be seen in the airspace near the German-Austrian border. After lunch, a group of Austro-Hungarian planes flew over the border area, and then they were surrounded and expelled by a large number of German fighters, and finally had to flee, much to the disappointment of the Austro-Hungarian soldiers on the ground.

Before the small group of German attack planes made bomb-dropping and strafing movements, Sander did not know that they were coming at him, and the summoner was none other than the ordinary German infantry company below, and a German communications soldier pressed a few times on a large black box, and these terrifying black vultures flew in.

It was at this time that the Germans below lit colorful fireworks, which were signs to guide air support.

As far as this mode of operation is concerned, the German ** team has surpassed the Austro-Hungarian ** team by more than one level.

In a practical sense, the invasion of Austria-Hungary also became a great opportunity for the German Army to practice new equipment.

However, it was not bombs and bullets that fell first, but some white pieces of paper.

Sander didn't even bother to pick it up, because German planes had already dropped countless of these leaflets on this side of the border, with words such as "Slavs plotting to seize the Austro-Hungarian imperial power, German allies came to assist Austria-Hungary in quelling the rebellion." In fact, the invasion of the German ** army was between intervention and war, the two countries neither declared war nor severed diplomatic relations, and although there was an exchange of fire between the armies of the two sides in the border area, it was not a large-scale battle of life and death.

At this time, the diplomats in Vienna were still making their last efforts, and people were still praying for a turnaround.

In contrast, Sander was much more sober in the face of reality, and they unceremoniously raised their guns to shoot at the German planes, and even if they couldn't get away with shooting down one or two, they hoped to drive the annoying group of big vultures away.

However, as ordinary soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Army, Sander did not know the significance of these planes to German and even world aviation, and their bullets were either fired or bounced off by the metal skin of the other side.

That's right, although those three attack aircraft are not very beautiful in appearance and fly a little slowly, they are the world's first all-metal aircraft - J1, also known as Vulture 1. Germany's steel eagle pioneered an all-metal aircraft, with a wingspan of 13.8 meters, a length of 9.2 meters, a height of 3.5 meters, and a weight of 1,800 kilograms, it is definitely the strongest tough guy in the aircraft of this era! The 350 hp sun-haired engine allows it to fly at speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour, and while it is much slower than a lighter fighter jet, its powerful armor defense and ground attack power are unmatched. The J1 was a smooth metal skin on the outside, reinforced with welded corrugated plates on the inside, and was tested in June 1915 and put into mass production in late October, with a total of 126 aircraft currently in active service, mainly assigned to the Luftwaffe and Army Air Forces.