Time is like fine sand, passing between the fingers of the palm; The bustling June is behind us, and the warring sides are ushering in the third month of summer after the declaration of war.

On 2 July, the German 9th Army completed the deployment laid out by the Hing-Lu, and they moved from Allenstein in East Prussia to Krakow in northern Austria-Hungary. Along with the rumbling of the marches were accompanied by a large mobile force of nine separate cavalry divisions: they were drawn from the formations of the armies of the Western Front, and now they had become an indispensable and important force in the hands of the Xinglu.

During the period when the German troops were deploying and gathering, the Austro-Hungarian side was also making intense preparations for the upcoming big war. The Austro-Hungarian 1st Army, consisting of four corps, was massing near the Germans on the southern front, and on the road to the hinterland of Vienna, a large number of mules and horses carrying supplies and roaring trains could be seen every day. Although the software of Austria-Hungary is really soft, its hardware is absolutely hard; With the strong base of the third largest heavy industry in Europe (Austria-Hungary ranks second only to the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom), Austria-Hungary also has a dense railway network that is completely inferior to that of France, and the deployment of troops is quite fast.

In addition, the exaggerated heavy artillery ratio in the Austro-Hungarian army also made the German infantry commanders who arrived first salivate. More than sixty percent of the cannons owned by the Austrians were heavy guns of various types with a caliber of more than 100 mm; And even after the Qing Dynasty vigorously introduced howitzers, the proportion of heavy artillery in its troops could only reach one-third! Looking at the dense jungle-like heavy artillery clusters in the Austrian barracks, even as their allies, the German commanders had the urge to loot.

July 3rd. The German-Austrian forces began to advance all over Poland. In the north wing. Ludendorff led the 8th Army Corps of the 4th Army. Across the battlefield of Tannenberg, of which he was so proud, he reversed the path of Samsonov's invasion of East Prussia more than a month earlier, and directed his troops towards the Polish town of Vostrowinka, 90 kilometers northeast of Warsaw. In the south, Hindenburg, with five corps and a large force of formidable cavalry, unleashed an overwhelming storm of dust on the Polish plain. This was the first time since Hindenburg returned to service that he had been in command of a combat group without the assistance of Ludendorff. For this attack, Hezendorff was apprehensive. Xing-Lu are full of confidence. If the German army's complete victory in the Battle of Tannenberg still had many external factors at play, then the Battle of Lake Masuri half a month ago was enough to prove that the Russian army was completely just a paper tiger with nothing to show for itself!

In the face of the menacing German-Austrian army, Grand Duke Nikolai, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army sitting in Baranoviz, quickly made a deployment. The Russian 5th Army, together with the remnants of the former 1st Army, which had only one and a half corps left, organized a battle on the Northern Front against Ludendorff's division; The 2nd Army and the 4th Army appeared on the left flank and front of the German Southern Army, respectively, in order to delay the offensive of the strongest German army. At the same time, the Russian 9th Army, located in southeastern Poland, rapidly advanced westward and attacked the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army, which was following the German advance, with all its might. And in order to be able to gather enough troops on the Polish battlefield. Grand Duke Nikolai also decisively drew one army from each of the two army groups on the Ukrainian front to devote himself to the offensive against the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army.

In all fairness. This dispatch of Grand Duke Nicholas has been quite famous from a strategic level. In the previous battles, Grand Duke Nicholas had already understood that the Austro-Hungarian army was the weakness of the Central Powers, and had developed a strategy to attack them first. With the superior strength of nearly three and a half armies to pin down the German army, the Grand Duke had every reason to believe that the German army would be in a difficult situation; His left hook would crush the Austro-Hungarian army during this time, and then thwart the German attack with absolute superiority. Even if the two armies drawn from the Ukrainian front line could not be put into battle at the first time, the Russian 9th Army alone, the Grand Duke was fully confident that the Austro-Hungarian army, which was equal in number to himself, would be defeated in one fell swoop!

However, Grand Duke Nicholas had the same fate as the Austro-Hungarian commander-in-chief Hetzendorff. Although they all have commendable strategic concepts in their minds, the fragile wooden sword they hold in their hands is simply not enough to support the strategy they have formulated. The fact that the Russian army was sick and discredited, and that it had been able to defeat the Austro-Hungarian army was entirely because the other side was a fragile confederation of many nationalities, and that it had picked up the softest soft persimmon except for Italy and pinched it, which did not show how powerful the fighting power of this army, which was once called the "steamroller of Europe", could have under the current political system.

In front of the well-trained, well-equipped, and closely coordinated German army, the fragile body of the Russian army, hidden under the seemingly powerful outer skin, immediately appeared under the thunderous and lightning blows of the opponent. In the war on the Eastern Front in history, a German army could be inseparable from a Russian army group in a confrontational battle, and it was still not afraid in the face of a Russian army three times its size; This is the real army power, and the strength gap between Russia and this kind of showmanship. And on the Western Front, even in the early stage of the war when the French infantry tactics were the most unsightly, it was impossible for the German army to defeat one enemy and three in a confrontation battle!

In addition to the huge disparity in hard power, the Germans also had a weapon in their hands that could ensure their invincibility, and that was Russia's terrible wireless telecommunications.

In the previous Battle of Tannenberg, Xinglu relied on intercepting the clear communication of the Russian army and annihilated an entire army group led by Samsonov. In this Polish campaign, although the Russian army fighting on the ground got rid of the lack of telephone lines in the last battle, and the majority of direct communication was carried out by telephone, radio communication sent by the Guò telegraph was still an important way for the commander to give orders to the front-line troops. After the disastrous battles of Tannenberg and Lake Masuria, the lack of ciphers and ciphers in the Russian army continued unabated; Those messages that had been encrypted in the first place were completely secret to the technicians of the German communications troops.

Xinglu, who has tasted the sweetness of knowing himself and his opponent, will naturally not let go of this shortcut that is almost invincible. At this moment, next door to the command post of the two, they are all equipped with a high-power machine to listen to the radio signals of the Russian army 24 hours a day. The ticking sound of the telegraph, the infield dispatch implemented by Grand Duke Nikolai, and the strength lineup of the various armies of the Russian army were almost guessed by the two. Hindenburg, who commanded the main attacking army, made the most effective response according to the enemy's situation.

In the early morning of 5 July, the German 25th Army under Hindenburg launched a fierce assault on the Russian 4th Army deployed in front of it after three hours of heavy artillery bombardment; Under the condition that the reconnaissance planes fired in the air and had absolute superiority in artillery firepower, the German attack appeared extremely fierce and domineering. At the same time, tens of thousands of German cavalry appeared on the outskirts of the south-central Polish town of Kielce, which threatened to cut off the Russian 4th Army from the rear of Warsaw and form an encirclement with the frontal attacking German army. The commander of the Russian 4th Army, Shatov, was slightly frightened, and hurriedly ordered the follow-up troops to shrink to Kielce to prevent a possible surprise attack by the German cavalry on this area. The Russian troops of one and a half divisions of Moyo abandoned their original route and began to collect knots towards Kell; The cautious Russian commander spilled a large number of scouts, lest he repeat the tragedy of the annihilation of Samisonov's army more than a month ago.

Two days later, German cavalry swept several towns in central Poland in succession; At this time, the frontal defense line of the Russian 4th Army had also retreated again and again under the onslaught of the German army. Under these circumstances, the Russian Grand Duke ordered the 4th Army to immediately retreat and implement a contraction defense in the vicinity of Kielce to avoid the unfavorable situation of being outflanked by the Germans. To the surprise of the Grand Duke, the Germans did not take advantage of the victory and chase after the retreat of the Russian troops in the front, but broke away from contact with the 4th Army and just let his army retreat!

Just when the Grand Duke was puzzled, another German cavalry of more than 20,000 men appeared in Częstoreva; Hearing this news, a lightning bolt flashed in the Grand Duke's mind, and he immediately understood the other party's intentions. The aim of the Germans was not at all the 4th Army in the front, but the 2nd Army, which was in the vicinity ready to strike at the German flank at any moment; The reason why the other party made so many expressions before was to let him focus his attention on the front of Warsaw, and contain the troops of his entire army group in the narrow area of the front. With the high mobility of the cavalry, the opponent can make a quick transition, and his main force obviously does not have this condition!

Grand Duke Nikolai immediately ordered the 2nd Army to retreat. But by this time it was too late. Having pushed back the enemy forces in front of them, Hindenburg's main army did not move another step in the direction of Warsaw, but turned straight to the northwest and pounced on the oncoming Russian 2nd Army with open arms. All the cavalry under his command poured out, like François's First Army at the Battle of Tannenberg, and determined their position according to the deciphered Russian combat orders, thus blocking all the main roads where the enemy was retreating. Unlike the Russian cavalry, which relied on sabers to slash and kill, almost all of the German cavalry had a standard Mauser rifle, and even had machine gun squads and mortar platoons in the troops; Once they seize the opportunity, even if the Russian army fills it with human lives, it will be difficult to achieve a breakthrough! (To be continued......)

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The author is now at the construction site in Inner Mongolia, and he is riddled with everything and the Internet is inconvenient