Chapter XXIV

In November, with the Ottoman declaration of war, the flames of war burned all over the world.

Rudolph reads the newspaper, and the news of the war is reprinted in various sections.

On the Western Front, the Germans launched a campaign to "run to the sea", and they were to face the layers of trenches of the British.

On the Eastern Front, the Russians thwarted the German offensive in the north, they defended Warsaw, and now the Germans are attacking the railway junction of Lodz in the west. In the south, the Russians pursued the Austro-Hungarian army, and according to internal information, the 14th Army was already in danger and could be removed along with the number.

In the Balkans, Serbia declared war on their feud Turkey. Conrad's performance was mediocre, and he had no choice but to confront the enemy when he was redeployed, and in Rudolph's opinion, as long as he did not squander his precious forces in the mountains, he would be considered successful. However, the upper echelons of the empire were still unhappy with Conrad's performance, believing that he had not immediately destroyed this weak enemy. Fortunately, the fuse of the war, Potiorek, is still on his sickbed, and the southern front can remain stable, and now he only has to wait for Bulgaria to appear.

In the Near East, the Turks launched an offensive in the mountains of the Caucasus, and according to Rudolph's memory, the cold would be their worst enemy.

In the Far East, the Germans lost Qingdao. In this battle, Plushov, piloting the only plane, shot down a Japanese plane with a pistol. If it weren't for the fact that the German-Austrian aircraft had achieved a large number of achievements with the firing coordinator, his results would have been extremely precious.

In Africa, the only German commander who had not tasted defeat, Falbeck, with his native soldiers, had a disparity of 1 to 8 in Tanga, causing the British to pay a heavy price of 2,000 killed and more than 2,000 wounded, while the German losses were only a few dozen. It was the most outrageous victory of the entire war, and the Allies were hyping it up, and the British government could only cover up the humiliation.

In South America, Count Spee's fleet sank two more British cruisers off the coast of Chile after moving to the Indian Ocean, while the German ships were unscathed, a classic example that disgraced the British navy.

The Russians continued to harass the lines of communication with cavalry, but their small forces were unable to break through in the face of defensive positions.

According to the reports of scouts and planes, the Russian horses began to gather, and these horse bandits and robbers came and went like the wind, they plundered and fought at the same time, and taking advantage of their gathering from all directions, Rudolph sent some mechanical troops to ambush the Russians.

Taking advantage of the maneuverability of trucks, these units often quickly arrived at the intended location, set up machine guns, and waited for the Cossacks to throw themselves into the net. An ambush can often wipe out a cavalry company.

However, there was confusion in mobile warfare, and Rudolph's troops usually fought in a company and five trucks as a combat unit. After five days in a row, some troops would also encounter the Russians unexpectedly, and after the encounter, the mechanized infantry fought and retreated, and the Russian cavalry was unable to continue the pursuit. However, some companies were surrounded when they encountered a large number of enemies. So far, Rudolph has lost seventeen trucks, two companies have not been heard from, and he is estimated to have become a prisoner.

The Russians had already gathered, and in order to avoid losses, Rudolph withdrew these scattered troops.

The weather began to get cold, and the wind blew across the vast plains. The Russians seemed to fear that the near snowfall would bury their footsteps, and on 14 November the Russians gathered their infantry and cavalry and launched an attack on Rudolph's position. At this time, the Third Army stumbled back, and Rudolph was guarding the last leg of their journey.

Before the Russians had time to deploy artillery, they directly used cavalry to open the way and flank the defensive positions. In front of them were a large number of infantry, who had to exchange their lives for the consumption of bullets.

The Russians are more numerous than they would like. In the first wave of the attack, they sent out thousands of cavalry, flanking positions to resist fiercely, under the intertwined fire network of machine guns and mortars, the cavalry turned on their backs, the Russians never seemed to fear or think about death, they soon sent a second group of cavalry. The Cossacks, wielding sabers and trampling on the corpses of their companions, quickly reached the position.

The battle was more fierce than Rudolph imagined, and he threw himself into his reserves in advance to stabilize the battle line.

The Russian commander seemed to have made up his mind, and the heavy casualties did not deter him. In addition to continuing to invest his forces in the front, he also sent cavalry to outflank the position.

Rudolph threw in the first mobile troops, and more than a dozen trucks attacked more than 500 cavalry. These infantrymen relied on trucks to block the cavalry's charge. Although the firepower was sufficient, there was too little time left for the infantry, and in an instant, the cavalry rushed to the ancient times, and as soon as someone arrived, the hastily assembled position was thrown into disarray, and Rudolph wanted to cry without tears, these Cossacks did not only know how to chop with swords, but when they approached, they often threw a grenade, and in an instant the line of defense was blown into a gap.

The mechanized infantry, on which Rudolph had high hopes, lost the first battle, and in desperation, Rudolph threw himself into his armored car in fear. Under the open path of armored vehicles, this cavalry was routed. With more than half of these cavalrymen already lost, and after trying to shoot the armored vehicles with rifles to no avail, they gave up the courage to fight these steel cavalry, and Rudolph took advantage of this opportunity to order his troops to cut into the ranks of the Russians attacking head-on.

Rudolph sent all the mobile forces, even the two cavalry companies, which were used to storm the Russian infantry ranks.

A scuffle broke out in an instant, first the armored vehicles rushed into the huge cavalry ranks of the Russians, strafing indiscriminately, and the motorized infantry behind also opened fire on the trucks, and under the combined fire of the two sides, the Russian cavalry struggled and fell on the battlefield.

The infantry in the trenches got on their bayonets and launched a counterattack on the enemy. Led by more than a hundred cavalrymen, they broke into the ranks of the Russian infantry. Fierce white-knuckle battles broke out on the battlefield, but the Russians were losing one after another.

The Russian soldiers, who adhered to the rules of war, bravely charged with bayonets held high. First, they were attacked by cavalry, but because the cavalry was too small in number, their array was not broken. Then the Austro-Hungarian infantry rushed over, first firing with a few light machine guns, and the unsuspecting Russian soldiers fell to the ground. When they got up close, the Russians were surprised to find that the non-commissioned officers and lieutenants were holding automatic pistols, skillfully aiming and shooting, as if they were killing one prey after another.