"Boom, boom, boom......"

Raging shrapnel swept across the battlefield, dusty clouds of orange fire and black plumes of smoke rose from the orange firelight.

This is a 10cm field howitzer of the Skoda model 1909 rattling. 100mm caliber, up and down firing angle: +8 degrees ~ +50 degrees, the maximum firing range of 7600m, and the weight is only 1350 kg. It doesn't need to be pulled by a car, and a few pack horses can easily pull it around.

The level of equipment of Austria-Hungary was generally inferior to that of the Germans, such as their bizarre self-propelled artillery, but there was still a lot to be desired. The Škoda Arsenal is one of them, with its large-caliber artillery and armored vehicles that are unique in Europe.

The army with these 100mm cannons was a wave of Austro-Hungarian troops - 200,000 Austro-Hungarian troops!

This is not a lot of numbers, compared to the scale that the Ottoman Empire has reached in this war, compared to the size of the army that the Ottomans urgently expanded, 200,000 is an absolute decimal. But the Austro-Hungarian Empire had the all-round support of the German army behind it. Feng. On the side of Colonel-General Boroyevich, the head of the German Military Observer Mission, Otto. Liman. Feng. Lieutenant General Sanders, who is leading a staff group of more than fifty people, is fully involved in the command of the battle.

The battle information was quickly fed back to the command, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire attacked in two directions, but the battle of the Austrian army on both sides was not going well.

The Ottomans were mentally prepared for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's entry into the war, and built a solid defensive line in front of the Austro-Hungarian army, although the Austro-Hungarian army had the advantage in numbers and firepower. But if you want to take the position quickly, it is unlikely. But this did not mean that the participation of Austria-Hungary in the war was worthless. If these 200,000 people were the troops of Serbia, Bulgaria and other countries, the Ottomans would certainly not bother to build defensive fortifications. They would only hit back with the same condensed fist.

It was the 'prestige' of Austria-Hungary that forced the Ottoman army to choose defense. Is this a clear distinction?

Austria-Hungary could not blame anyone else, they had been entangled with the British for too long, and their involvement in the war simply could not achieve the unexpected suddenness. Naturally, the Austro-Hungarian army was waiting for the Ottomans.

It's just that the Ottoman defense line was harder than the Austro-Hungarians and Germans imagined. Large-scale attacks could only leave countless corpses in front of the Ottomans' positions, and the indiscriminate bombardment did not do much damage to the Ottomans.

The Ottoman line consisted of five zigzag trenches, connected by a number of lines of communication [trenches]. The connection point between the line of communication and the front trenches was a vital strategic point, and strong fortifications were generally built. The front line of the trench had only a small number of guarding troops, which entered the trench only in the early morning and late afternoon. After 70 yards to 100 yards there are support trenches (or transfer trenches). When the front trenches are bombarded or shelled, the troops inside can be withdrawn here. After 300 to 500 yards were reserve trenches, which contained a large number of reserves.

The Ottoman trenches were all in line with the Wehrmacht, and the zigzag trenches made it impossible for any soldier to see anything ten meters from inside the trench. This shape of the trench protects the infantry inside from the enemy's flank and protects against shell fragments - if unlucky, a shell will fall neatly in the trench.

The side of the trench facing the enemy is called the breastwall, and the side facing away from the enemy is called the back wall. The back wall prevented the soldiers' backs from being injured by shrunnel from shells that fell behind the trenches. If the enemy captured the trench, then the original back wall became a breastwork. The sides of the trench would be reinforced with sandbags, wooden frames and barbed wire. The ground inside the trench is usually covered with planks.

The soldiers' shelters were located in the rear of the support trenches. Shelter holes in the UK are usually two to five meters deep. IDF shelters are generally deeper, with the closest to the ground being 3.5 metres, and sometimes even more than 8 metres. The soldiers walked up the stairs to the top.

In order for a soldier to observe the outside of the trench without exposing his head, there will be some perforations in the breast wall of the trench. The perforation can be as simple as a notch in a sandbag. But it can also use steel plates to protect soldiers. The Ottomans were also equipped with periscopes that could be viewed from the outside of the trenches, in their simplest form, requiring only a stick and two mirrors.

The Ottoman army's fourth trench was further and further apart from the fifth, in the front-line combat zone at a distance of thousands of yards. It was not an easy road, and the Ottomans built a series of isolated positions between the three trenches of 3-4-5. Not a continuous trench. Rather, it is a separate defensive position, each of which can provide fire support to its adjacent positions.

Moreover, the Ottomans, who were under the Chinese Defense Forces, also paid great attention to the hygiene of the trenches. The Arabs were always very tidy, and the Ottomans did much better than their opponents in this regard. If you don't pay attention to hygiene in the harsh trench environment, the chance of disease infection will increase exponentially. The chances of being infected after an injury are also greatly contested. It was still a time when medical treatment was quite primitive and life-saving penicillin had not yet been discovered. Even in the Wehrmacht, which has the best medical conditions, after years of significant investment in money and manpower, soldiers who have suffered leg injuries and arm injuries on the battlefield have a mortality rate of 8 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. The actual number of soldiers who died from wounds in this era was no less than that of those who died in direct battle.

The Ottoman army met the Austro-Hungarian army on two sides, and the war has been going on so far, and there are only 5,000 Ottoman soldiers on the battlefield who have died directly, but the overall number of dead has exceeded 8,000, and there are still a large number of wounded soldiers waiting to die. Three-fifths of the more than 13,000 wounded were killed by artillery fire. Injuries from shrapnel from artillery shells are usually more severe than those caused by bullets. Shrapnel from artillery shells can carry some dust into the wound, which can multiply the chance of infection. And this has been proven by the fact that the death rate of a soldier with shrapnel in the chest is three times that of a soldier with a bullet in the chest, that is, more than 40%. The explosion of a shell can also be fatal by causing a concussion. In addition to the physical damage, the shelling can also cause psychological damage. Prolonged shelling often led to shock on soldiers. However, these Ottoman doctors did not fully understand it. I only saw the result, but I didn't know the cause.

The defending Ottoman army had already paid nearly 20,000 casualties. The Austro-Hungarian troops on the attacking side suffered more casualties.

Austria-Hungary also threw hundreds of tanks and self-propelled artillery into the attack. But the Ottoman army had been prepared for this, and they dug wide and deep anti-tank trenches in front of the position. As well as an anti-tank cone cast from concrete that delays or hinders the advance of tanks.

A triangular pyramid, similar to a pyramid, a half-meter-high obstruction. A triangular pyramid arranged at a certain distance to form a large network position, but it is not necessary to pursue a regular triangular pyramid. These things can be used very well to hinder the advance of tracked tanks. The principle is that when the tracked tank touches the anti-tank cone, because the front end of the land is slippery and the power of the tracked tank is fierce, the tank car can easily slide from a plane of the anti-tank cone to the low top of the anti-tank cone. When the tank car slides to the top. Because the bottom of the tank is not slippery, it is easy to get stuck on it. At this point, the anti-tank cone is like a jack, and even if you knock it down, it still has a sharp cone pointing upwards, hindering the tank's progress, and the only way to remove it is by blasting. So when encountering these things, the tanks have to turn around and avoid them, which can buy more time for the defenders. It is similar to the thistle terrestris in ancient Chinese wars.

The Wehrmacht has not experienced a large-scale war for some time. Although they have achieved a lot of results, they will not be able to test them on the battlefield unless they are put on the battlefield. This Balkan war. It can be said that it is a good platform to showcase.

The completely superior armored forces of Austria-Hungary were helpless in the face of anti-tank trenches and anti-tank cones. The Ottomans were not the Chinese army of the Anti-Japanese War, and although they did not have large-scale tank armor and airships, they had powerful artillery and anti-aircraft firepower.

The Austro-Hungarian ground offensive failed. began to try to form a striking force in the air, but in front of the Ottomans' dense anti-aircraft fire and searchlights. It's not that there are no results, but there is not much progress. Their airship troops. Now the greater role is to take advantage of the darkness of the night to fly behind the line of defense and drop paratroopers and spies to make trouble.

Istanbul, Chinese Embassy.

Outside Luo Shunqiang's room, a young officer was knocking on the door in a hurry. "What's going on? Has the front line changed? The buttons didn't have time to be fastened, so Luo Shunqiang ran to open the door.

"Not the regimental commander. It's the Sultan, Abdul. Hamid II, who promised to dispatch the Guards Tank Brigade...... "The young officer's eyes were full of excitement, and the delegation presented a message to Abdul. How many times did Hamid II suggest, and this guy was finally willing to spit out the Guards Tank Brigade. Although not the entire Guards Division, there was no shortage of Ottoman troops on the infantry front, what they lacked was tanks for counterattacks.

Luo Shunqiang clenched his fists tightly. It's too good for him. With the armored brigades of the Guards Division, he was sure of a complete crushing of the main forces of Bulgaria and Serbia in the Macedonian direction. After the intervention of Austria-Hungary in the war, these two countries immediately boosted their fighting spirit - Britain and Germany imported a large amount of military funds and munitions for them, and reorganized four army groups to attack Macedonia! However, because there were many new recruits in the new army and the combat effectiveness was not strong, it was firmly rejected by the Macedonian group of the Ottoman army.

Luo Shunqiang did not think that it was the right choice to defend all the time, and he worked with the deputy chief of the general staff of the Ottoman army, Mohammed. Talat Pasha had deliberated that it was time to launch a counterattack, not against the Austro-Hungarian army, but first to eliminate the Austro-Hungarian army, the Serbs, the Bulgarians, and the Negro army. Once you've dealt with these small countries, concentrate your forces to defeat Austria-Hungary or defeat the Austro-Hungarian army to win the war!

In a more understandable phrase - it is 'persimmon picking up soft pinch'!

"Commander Luo, the Sultan has passed the order to the Guards Division. Ziapasa sent his own lieutenant! The Counsellor of the Embassy also came over at this time. Ziapasha's movements were fast, and as soon as the embassy was notified, his adjutant arrived.

"Convener, let's rush to the Guards Division at once!"

Ottoman Sultan Guards Division, which is Abdul. One of Hamid II's most trusted troops, the division commander Ziapasa was a close branch of the Ottoman royal family. Brother or brother of Hamid II.

Over the years, the Ottoman Empire has been working hard to expand its own army, but limited to military spending, the Ottoman Army's armored strength is still very weak, and the maximum number of limited armored units is only an armored battalion, but the armored unit in this Guards Division is not only a complete armored brigade in terms of formation, but also equipped with an additional mechanized infantry battalion, with a total number of 12,000 people, and the actual number of tanks and armored vehicles has also reached 170, not counting reserve vehicles, that's all, It was enough to be proud of the entire Ottoman army.

The entire Guards Panzer Brigade consists of five battalions, two armoured battalions, an artillery battalion with anti-aircraft firepower, and two mechanized infantry battalions, plus a brigade headquarters, an engineer brigade, and a scout battalion. More than 500 trucks were distributed to the brigade.

If such an organizational configuration were to be replaced by the Wehrmacht, the entire brigade would have at least 15,000 officers and men. But the Ottoman Empire now decided that it was a luxury and a luxury for their army to reach the same staffing level as the Chinese National Defense Force. Abdul. Nor could Hamid II change this.

Naturally, the Guards Panzer Brigade also became the Guards Division, and it became Abdul. Hamid II's top heart. If you can, Abdul. Hamid II did not want to send this deterrent force out of Istanbul at all.

It is the best in the entire Ottoman Empire, the best equipped in the whole army, the best in the whole army, including the commander Gordon Pasha, many elite commanders of the Ottoman Army who studied in the Chinese military academy and even interned in the Chinese armored forces served in this brigade, and the combat capability of this armored brigade can be imagined.

During the two years of the attack, the Guards Panzer Brigade appeared in the confrontation exercises of the Ottoman Army, and its reputation was so powerful that even Europeans knew the status of this army in the Ottoman Empire. It was the first trump card of the all-Ottoman army. Many of the junior officers and non-commissioned officers who have come out of here have been sent to serve as junior officers in other armored mixed units. There are also many artillery, engineer, mechanized infantry officers, and leaving the Guards Panzer Brigade means promotion. It can be said that in a certain sense, this brigade is a small military school of the Ottoman army!

It is for this reason that the Guards Panzer Brigade itself is burdened with a huge burden. Once they play, they have to win. Otherwise, the morale of the entire Ottoman army would have been greatly demoralized.

The Guards Panzer Brigade, which was highly anticipated by the Ottomans as a whole, would sweep through everything like a tiger as soon as it moved. (To be continued.) )