Chapter 293： Battle of Deva (3)

They are all soldiers, and of course they also act vigorously and resolutely. After leaving the 2nd brigade of the Guards Division that afternoon, the rest of the 1st Guards Division and the 9th Division marched towards Hateg.

Fortunately, Hateg was not far from Petrosani, and they set off in the afternoon and arrived at the outskirts of Hateg before the sun was about to set. When the troops stopped to station to establish a forward position, the two ambitious division commanders planned to use this time to choose a high place to quietly observe the Austro-Hungarian troops stationed here. This observation revealed that the Austro-Hungarian army, which was stationed only yesterday, has initially established a position here.

This surprised Major General Dortrid who was observing. "Unexpectedly, the Austro-Hungarian army is also well-trained. It was only a day before the position had its outline. This is a trench. The front is a foxhole, and the machine gun position is barely covered. The traffic trench is already half a person high. "

Both of them put down their binoculars and both saw dignity from each other's eyes. It seemed that this battle was not easy to fight.

It was Lieutenant General Ankodar who spoke first. "Let's go back first."

After speaking, the cat walked back to the position behind him with his waist, and Major General Dortrid also retreated with him.

Back in the command post of the forward position, Lieutenant General Ankodar spoke about it. "Hateg's garrison cannot allow the fortifications to be built to this level in just 24 hours. There must be a problem."

Lieutenant General Ankodar's words aroused the approval of Major General Dotrid. "That's right. It seems that the construction level of the fortifications has been built for three days, but they only arrived here yesterday. And I also specially observed the housing situation in this small town. According to my estimation, there are less than 500 residents in the town. , It’s impossible for them to gather residents to build it, so it’s also very strange.”

When the two Romanian division commanders were puzzled by the speed of building fortifications for the Austro-Hungarian army. In a house in Hategne, Major General Herman Kumanek, Commander of the 7th Division of the Austro-Hungarian Army, is discussing the emergence of Romanian troops with Major General Artur Arz, commander of the 35th Division.

"I didn't expect these Romanians to rush over so soon. It seems that there are not more people than us. Major General Arz, do we teach them a lesson tonight and let them not be too presumptuous."

What is talking about is Major General Arz, the commander of the 35th Division who was driven out of Petrosani yesterday. It seems that he is still upset about the surprise attack yesterday, and wants to teach the Romanian army who has just arrived here a lesson.

The words of Major General Arz did not attract a response from Major General Kumanek. Instead, the Major General who had rushed over from Deva persuaded the radical 35 division commander to come. "Major General Arz, I think the first task now is to step up the construction of the fortifications. We must know that now we only have the frontal fortifications built to a certain scale. But there is still a little to be built on the flanks and behind, if you can't help the opposite. Romanians, then we will have too much pressure on defense."

Major General Kumanek’s words completely ruined Alz’s attempt to raid Romania. Without the support of the 7th Division, the defeated 35th Division could not succeed. You must know that he did not have more than 3,000 casualties in the Petrosani raid yesterday, and the loss of weapons and equipment also made him distressed. When retreating yesterday, his division was damaged and lost artillery reaching the door.

You must know that the current Austro-Hungarian army is not comparable to that before the war. At that time, a fully loaded division had 72 artillery pieces, but after several years of war, the number of first-class artillery pieces in the Austro-Hungarian army is generally only half of that before the war. The first loss is more than 40% of the battle damage, and now there is no time to replenish, he can only count on the 7th division, you must know that as the 7th division composed entirely of Hungarians, it is not comparable to his 35th division.

As the top-ranked division with its own name (Warrior), the 7th Division generally has only half of the weapons and equipment in the Austro-Hungarian army than before the war, and the weapons and equipment are also among the best in the Austro-Hungarian army. Reach 2 doors. And there are many other equipment attached to this division. For example, machine guns attached to battalion level in other divisions are attached to company level in this division.

Moreover, as the commander of the division, Cunemak had a cautious and cautious character. Although the 7th division did not perform well in several years of battle, it did not cause the 7th to suffer any major losses. And because the character of the division commander is also trusted by the superior commander, the 7th division has been used to defend key positions in several battles. And this time the 7th Division was also arranged at the key point of Deva, and when encountering the Romanian army, Major General Kumanek chose the most secure way, so Major General Arz's desire to avenge his hatred died out.

That night, the two armies were in peace, and they were reserving their energy and preparing for the battle of tomorrow.

The early morning of the 7th arrived, and the invisible tension over Hateg was growing dignified. The armies representing the two sides are also preparing for the start of the battle. On the Romanian side, a large number of artillery pieces are making pre-war preparations, and boxes of ammunition have been placed next to the gun positions built overnight. And many ammunition boxes have been opened, and soldiers are responsible for the final inspection of the shells.

In the starting position, the soldiers who belonged to the 1st Guard Division were also making final preparations. Some of them are checking their weapons to ensure the normal use of weapons for the upcoming battle. Some people are bowing their heads and praying to God to ensure that they can walk off the battlefield alive Others are smoking cigarettes and chatting loudly with their comrades in order to relieve their inner tension. There are even people squinting their eyes to rest in this morning, it seems that this is either a strong heart, confidence in themselves or they don't care about it at all.

Lieutenant General Ankodar looked at the soldiers who were about to attack, and asked Lieutenant Colonel Malmo, who was next to them. "What should you do with this attack."

Facing the inquiry from the commander himself, Lieutenant Colonel Malmo, who belongs to the First Division, First Brigade, and Second Regiment of the Guards Division, was of course very clear. He stood up and told Lieutenant General Ankodar. "The mission of our regiment is to test the weakness of the enemy's position and find out the firepower on the position."

Lieutenant Colonel Malmo's words made Lieutenant General Ankodar very satisfied, and he patted the Lieutenant Colonel on the shoulder to show encouragement.

Then Lieutenant General Ankodar said to Major General Dortrid, who was waiting to watch the performance of the First Guard Division. "Time is almost up, let's go to the command post and observe."

"Okay, Your Excellency Lieutenant General. It's my honor to be able to observe the battle of the First Division of the Guards from close range."

When he arrived at the command post, Lieutenant General Ankodar picked up the phone to give orders. "I am Ankodar, and I ordered the shelling to begin."