Chapter 662

The sound of artillery fire sounded, and the Kovelli offensive and defensive battle began. The Prussian army was in charge of the command of the battle by the commander of the 22nd Division, Major General Luke, a rising star in the army who emerged in the last Prussian-Russian war.

Luke, who was born as an ordinary Junker landlord, can become a general, relying on extraordinary will and a little luck.

Originally, he thought that his will was firm enough, and no matter how cruel the battle was, he could not shake his heart.

At this moment, Major General Luke found that he was wrong, and his heart was messed up. Luke sighed deep in his heart: "It turns out that he is also an ordinary person."

The Russians did not hide in the fortresses. At the same time as the Prussian army launched the charge, the Russian army also launched a counter-charge, and a tragic hand-to-hand battle broke out.

The screams and screams echoed continuously on the battlefield. Luke saw with his own eyes a Prussian soldier was stabbed in the stomach by the enemy with a bayonet. While screaming, he held the enemy's gun tightly, just to create an opportunity for his comrades.

Once upon a time, he was one of them. It's just that because of better luck, I got lucky and made some military exploits, and then I have a smooth progress all the way.

Recalling the comrades who enlisted in the army together, the familiar faces, most of them fell on the battlefield in the end.

To a certain extent, Luke was able to rise steadily all the way, but it was also based on the background of the heavy losses of the Prussian army in the last war.

During the war years, the army spoke based on its record, and the influence of one's background was minimized.

A large number of middle and lower-level officers were killed in battle, and they caught up with the large expansion of the army. Luke, a lucky man with military exploits, naturally stood out.

Looking at the increasing number of casualties, Luke gradually calmed down. He found that something was wrong. The Russian army seemed to be deliberately luring them to attack.

As night fell, the fighting ceased temporarily, leaving only the wreckage on the ground.

Inside the headquarters, the more Luke thought about it, the more wrong, the Russians seemed to be fighting with them on purpose.

Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Luke asked, "Has the number of casualties been counted?"

Chief of Staff Pasqualino sighed and said, "According to the statistics, 526 soldiers were injured and 248 soldiers were killed in the daytime battle, and the strength of the two battalions was just wiped out."

Commander Luke stood up, took two steps and said, "It's two more battalions. From the start of the war to now, the casualties of our 22nd Division alone are close to 3,000. If the whole battlefield is like this, then this war I'm afraid it will be horrific."

Chief of Staff Pasqualino: "This is something that can't be helped. War is always cruel. The supplementary regiment sent to us by the headquarters has already set off and will arrive in two days at most."

The Prussian army has also established a complete wartime replenishment mechanism. Usually, a unit will not be exhausted, and the troop replenishment has not yet been carried out.

Under normal circumstances, when the casualties of the troops reach a certain level, they will be replaced, and they will be repaired and replenished in the rear.

Of course, this rear is also relative, still in the front. When you need it, you still have to go to the battlefield at any time.

After hesitating for a moment, Luke said again: "Forget it, it's not our turn to worry about these issues. Report our current situation truthfully!

Tell headquarters we need heavy artillery. If there is not enough heavy firepower, we have no way to guarantee the capture of the enemy's fortress within the specified time. "

No way, the generals are unlucky. The train transporting artillery and ammunition was attacked by a Russian airship on the way and suffered heavy losses.

Heavy artillery troops are a scarce resource in any country. There are only a few heavy artillery regiments in the Popo Federation, and a regiment was lost before they entered the battlefield. Naturally, there is no way to complete the replenishment in a few days.

Chief of Staff Pasqualino shook his head: "I'm afraid it's not easy, you don't have too much expectations. There are only so many domestic heavy artillery units, and now they are all dispatched to the front line, and new heavy artillery regiments are still being formed.

According to internal information, Krupp has sent technicians to repair it, and it will take at least a month to repair the damaged artillery.

Ideally, in about four weeks, we would be able to get heavy fire support. "

Luke frowned: "Can you let the headquarters coordinate and transfer the heavy artillery units around the attack to use it first.

Kovel is an important military area, and if you take it here, you will take the Warren area. Why waste your energy on such small places as Kamen and Novovorensk! "

Chief of Staff Pasqualino: "This is the strategy formulated by the General Staff. As long as there is a breakthrough in any place, it will be a great victory."

Luke waved his hand: "Don't explain, old man. I know what's going on, it's just that headquarters isn't sure if we can take Covelly.

If it really starts from the overall strategy, the importance of Kovelli is not so great, and Brest is the focus. "

"You understand best!" Chief of Staff Pasqualino replied calmly

Luke: "Okay, let's put those issues aside for now. Did you notice that something was wrong with the Russians, they didn't seem to be doing their best to lure us into the attack.

If they were full of fire, our troops would never have reached their position, why would they make such a worthless sacrifice. "

Chief of Staff Pasqualino nodded thoughtfully, and after a pause: "I want to see the casualty figures, which may explain the problem."

Luke's face changed, and he suddenly woke up. If the Russian army is fully fired, the Prussian army, which lacks heavy firepower, will not be able to rush near their positions.

Seeing no hope of victory, the Prussian army naturally carried out unintentional

righteous sacrifice. If the Prussian army did not take the initiative to attack, what would the Russian army have achieved?

Most of the Russian troops stationed in Kovel are second-line troops. This is not the main battlefield chosen by the Russians. The order given to them by the tsarist government is to stick to it.

"Damn russians, they're playing with fire, aren't they afraid that we'll break through their positions. You know, this kind of battle is of no value to them at all."

Chief of Staff Pasqualino didn't answer. It didn't matter what the Russians thought. Anyway, as long as there was a chance to break Coveli, they couldn't stop.

...

The Russian army command, who also looked at the casualty report Major General Arden Ivanov, was in a much better mood. As a defensive side, always take advantage.

"Fick, your proposal is great. Damn Prussian barbarians, they really fell for it. They want to capture Koveli in a whimsical way, it's just a dream!"

As a military observer sent by Austria, under normal circumstances, he cannot participate in the command of the Russian army, but there are exceptions.

After so many years of the Russian-Austrian alliance, the Vienna government has also cultivated a large number of pro-Austrian factions in Russia, and Major General Arden Ivanov is one of them.

Fick and Arden are in the same class and graduated from the Austrian Army Academy together. Because of their good relationship, Fick was sent here as an observer.

It is also a student of the Austrian Army Academy, and there is also a difference between a scumbag and a scholar.

For a foreigner like Arden who came to gild, the school's requirements are naturally not so strict, as long as they can pass.

Foreign monks like to recite sutras. After returning to Russia, Arden, who went abroad to gild, naturally made a good progress, just in time to catch up with the major expansion of the army, and became a major general of the Russian army in less than 30 years old.

By contrast, Fick, the top student, was still a major. No way, the competition in the Austrian army is much more intense.

After the reform of the military system, there is no line of fire promotion in the Austrian army, unless it is a military exploit, or it can only be done step by step.

This is what the royal family began to lead by example. Crown Prince Frederick served for several years and was still a major, not to mention the people below.

Looking at the high-spiritedness of his classmates, Major Fick is still very envious, and there is no soldier who does not like being a general.

Even with a decent background, Fick couldn't guarantee that he would become a general in his lifetime. Austria produces thousands of officers every year, but not necessarily one general.

This is the case in peaceful times, even if you are good, it is difficult to have the opportunity to perform. If you can't show your abilities, how can you prove that you are better than others?

Fick rolled his eyes: "What's so exciting, you must know that you are on the defensive side, and now the exchange ratio is almost 1:1, which is already very embarrassing!"

Arden said indifferently: "No, this is already very good. In the last Russian-Prussian war, the exchange rate between us and Prussia was generally faster than one to two.

Being able to take a little advantage now, even with the advantage of defense, is a great victory.

The population of the Russian Empire is more than twice that of the Commonwealth, and as long as this is the case, the final victory will surely be ours.

Moreover, the division in my hands is a patchwork of second-line troops. If it were replaced by the main force, I would have ordered a counterattack long ago. "

Fick has no objection, and the combat effectiveness of the Russian army is still good. Although the training is not as good as the Prussian army, and the organization is lacking, it is really excellent in other aspects.

Especially in terms of toughness, the Russian military is one of the best in the world. As long as there is a stutter, an army that can fight a war is really rare.

After hesitating for a while, Major Fick reminded: "Arden, are you sure you want to continue? If you follow the current style of play, even if you kill the enemy, your division will be exhausted."

Although he suggested it, Fick didn't like this pointless consumption. If it hadn't been for them to find a way to make the Russians bleed as much as possible, he wouldn't have come up with this bad idea.

Arden smiled slightly: "War always requires sacrifice. As long as we can win, why not have more casualties?"

The location of the station is different, and the way of thinking about the problem is also different. Arden was not a fool, and naturally saw that Fick's suggestion might be malicious, but he didn't care.

In his opinion, as long as he wins and sacrifices some gray animals, it's not worth mentioning at all.