Chapter 936: Battle of Pressburg

After receiving several batches of reinforcements from the country, Bajanyi had 73,000 troops.

However, the Austrian garrison in Pressburg received support from Heinau's troops, and the total force reached a terrifying 120,000.

Using 70,000 people to attack a fortified city garrisoned by 120,000 people was a foolish move no matter how you looked at it.

But if one party did not know the strength of the other party's troops, then this game that was doomed to end could continue.

Franz asked Heinau to lead his troops to support Pressburg, on the one hand to add a double insurance, after all, Bajanyi had been the supreme commander of Pressburg.

What if there were still internal responses that Franz had not found, or if the Hungarians had corrupted the five regiments that Franz temporarily transferred and the garrison troops that were ordered to reinforce later?

The troops led by Heinau came from Salzburg, and they had almost no relationship with the Hungarians, and there were no Hungarian officers in the army.

At the same time, Heinau's personal relationship with the Hungarian military was extremely bad, and the two sides looked down on each other.

Heinau was a Jewish mixed-race, and this kind of officer who rose from the bottom naturally looked down on those who relied on the merits of their ancestors.

On the other hand, this was also a kind of protection for Heinau by Franz, after all, the latter had just cleared a group of scourges that had been entrenched in Vienna for hundreds of years.

It is hard to guarantee that there are no loyal ministers and righteous men under these scourges. There are many heroes who died at the hands of ordinary people in history.

From the death of Caesar in BC to the little tyrant Sun Ce in the Three Kingdoms period, modern history will not give examples.

Although killing the donkey after it has done its job can solve a lot of troubles for Franz, he does not want to do something that has been repeated tens of millions of times.

Outside the city of Pressburg, Bao Jiani was at a loss. After many unsuccessful attacks, he knew very well that continuing to attack would not have any other results except increasing casualties.

At this time, Bao Jiani suddenly had a bold idea in his mind. He wanted to bypass Pressburg and go straight to Vienna.

After all, it was only a few dozen kilometers away from Vienna. If everything went well, he could take Vienna within three days.

But his reason told him not to do this, because no one had succeeded in hundreds of years.

Of course, if he succeeds, he will undoubtedly become a figure like Hannibal.

However, Vienna is different from Rome, because after Pressburg, there is a garrison of 100,000 people waiting for him outside Vienna, and there are no less than 30,000 armed forces in Vienna.

So if he wants to replicate Hannibal's success, Bao Jiani feels that he has no chance.

Bao Jiani and his subordinates are very clear about how strong Pressburg's defense is, but the subsequent reinforcements do not understand.

"Mr. Bao Jiani! I think we should take more decisive and courageous actions! The Hungarian people are still waiting for our good news!"

Bao Jiani is not a simple soldier or nationalist, and his passion has receded after several previous battles. Now here is an aristocrat and politician who has been in the upper class for many years.

"Then I can give you this glorious opportunity."

"Really? Great! We will definitely break through the gate of Pressburg! Dedicate this great victory to Mr. Kossuth and Hungary!"

Bao Jiani patted the young officer's shoulder, and a trace of helplessness appeared in his eyes that was not easy to detect.

On the other side, Heinau on the top of the city wall was also helpless. He really didn't know the intention of Franz and the General Staff.

There are now nearly one-third of the troops of the entire Austrian Empire around Vienna. There is no need to take a defensive position in the face of the attack of tens of thousands of people. In fact, he should rush to Budapest before the Hungarians complete their war preparations, just like in the Italian battlefield.

As for the enemy in front of him, he is not a threat at all. If he hadn't been ordered to defend the city, he would have rushed out and killed all those ignorant guys.

However, Heinau would not do this. He would only faithfully execute the orders from above.

Although there are many bad rumors about Heinau, saying that he is a maverick, in fact, he is purer than most Austrian officers.

Heinau is just a pure soldier, but he has assumed too many unnecessary obligations in this special era and special country.

Heinau looked at the group of enemies in front of him who couldn't even march in formation, and he really couldn't get excited. However, he still followed the process and waited until the other side approached before giving orders.

"Free fire."

One hundred artillery pieces fired at the same time, and the overwhelming shotgun shells splashed on the Hungarian soldiers, and people fell down in groups.

At the same time, the Austrian defenders also continued to pour firepower on the Hungarian army from the shooting holes.

And those Hungarian passionate young people who stepped onto the battlefield for the first time felt what despair was for the first time.

The defenders of Pressburg were the first military units to replace the shrapnel shells, except for the navy and the Vienna defense army.

There were shotgun shells at close range, and the lethality of the new shrapnel shells at medium and long distances was far greater than the solid shells in the past.

This new type of artillery shells not only had amazing lethality, but also had a loud noise from the explosion that was also shocking.

Many Hungarian soldiers lost their hearing due to the close-range explosion. When they looked around blankly, there were only bloody corpses and panicked fleeing crowds. Only a few officers were still waving their command knives.

Zoltan was one of them at this time. Just now, a shell hit their platoon, and the unlucky guy who was hit directly was blown to pieces.

With the unlucky guy as the center of the circle, all the people within three meters were blown up into the sky.

When he stood up again, he could not hear other sounds, only the buzzing sound continued.

Zoltan wiped his ears randomly, and his hands were covered with blood. There were corpses and deserters everywhere around, and only his platoon leader was still yelling something, and he tried to drive all the deserters back.

However, this was in vain. Finally, when the platoon leader tried to grab a soldier's collar and pull him back to the battlefield, the soldier stabbed him in the stomach with a bayonet.

The platoon leader fell slowly, but the soldier did not give him that opportunity, but kicked him away and continued to run desperately.

Zoltan wanted to say something, but he couldn't make a sound. He stopped the soldier who stabbed the platoon leader to death and wanted to escape. The latter looked like a devil.

But that look didn't last long, a bullet hit the deserter from behind.

The ferocity on the deserter's face instantly turned into despair, and then his eyes were filled with tears and he slowly fell down with a lingering memory of this world.

Zoltan looked at everything in front of him blankly, why is it like this? Shouldn't the Hungarians be invincible? Isn't the Austrian Empire corrupt, decadent, weak, and easily defeated?

The rumbling sound of artillery sounded, and another round of barrage splashed over, and he slowly closed his eyes.

In this battle, the newly formed Second Hungarian Army lost 13,000 people and killed 80,000 enemies, but failed to break through Pressburg.

-Baojiani, the latest battle report on May 23, 1848.